Taipingchun

On Renwu in December of the third year of Zhengde, Luo Jianzuo, the censor of the grain storage capital in the southeast of the governor, said: "The drought in the southeast and other places is very serious. Please convert it into taels of silver to save money."The Ministry of Household said: stop the salary.Follow it.

……

"My lord, there is a family outside the city..."

Thirty miles outside the city, there is a family surnamed Bao. In this family, the head of the family went to other provinces to study, and has not returned for many years, leaving only his wife and children to serve his elderly parents.

Now there is a severe drought sweeping across the southeast, leaving only the old and the weak, women and children, it may be difficult to survive.

In this family, the daughter-in-law is also a virtuous and virtuous person. She only cooks soup for her elderly parents-in-law when she receives white rice, while Baotong and herself only eat some wild vegetables and grass roots, which is barely enough to survive.

But after a long time, the wild vegetables are no longer visible, and the grass roots have been dug up. Even the woods outside the village, which were originally lush, were pulled out by the refugees who were short of food to satisfy their hunger.

Only solitary trees are left to accompany the loess, and I don't know if we can wait for the rain, otherwise death will be inevitable.

Everyone in the village knows that the grandfather of Jiangning County is still releasing grain, but it has changed from once a day to three days, and now it is once every ten days. Those who are interested understand that this is not a good sign, and some people are thinking about whether Fleeing to other places for refuge is like the refugees fleeing into Jiangning County.

Going north, the daughter-in-law of the Bao family also had the same intention, but seeing the elderly parents-in-law and the young children, she had no choice but to give up this idea.

Now that this is the case, no one can blame the magistrate, he has done enough, even the respected Grandpa Lizheng said that he has suffered a lot from his parents and officials.

The rice vat in the Bao family's house has long been unable to count a grain of rice, and there is no need to eat wild vegetables.

Ten days, turned into the current fifteen days again, other people's family has a man and a man to pick it up, but it's a pity that she is the only one in Bao's family who can still work, even if the soles of her feet shake when she is hungry, her head is tied tightly by cloth strips , It seemed like this, so she didn't get dizzy, she still resolutely walked to the east and west warehouses.

After finally walking to the granary, the grain in the east warehouse has been released, and the food in the west warehouse is also gone. The daughter-in-law of the Bao family is sad from the bottom of her heart, and she can't stop kowtowing and kneeling to the village chief Li Zheng, saying that she is hungry relationship, the elderly in-laws cannot face their husbands if they are starving.

Begging bitterly, kneeling in the dust.

The old Lizheng's eyes were very dim, and he couldn't hide his sadness.

She was a virtuous daughter-in-law in the past, and she is like this now, so she sighed and quietly gave her food for six people. Bao Lang of their family is the pride of the village. Even though Lao Lizheng was in trouble, he still gave her food.

I don't know if I can survive the next fifteen days.

The daughter-in-law of the Bao family was grateful for the kindness of the old senior, and went home with the disaster food on her back. Unfortunately, a few ruthless robbers were killed on the way, and the ashes dazzled her eyes, and took away her life-saving food. How do you feel? , naturally no need for a detailed table.

At the time of helpless despair, it seems that only by seeking death can he be freed.

I can only say that people don't deserve to die, but God will help. Seeing that she was pitiful, the elderly villagers gave her half of their food and asked her to go back to serve her parents.

The Bao family's daughter-in-law couldn't cry anymore, so she could only keep kowtowing and calling her benefactor.

The villagers sent her away, but they could only shake their heads and say nothing. They have lived a lifetime, and they have encountered many famine years, and never... There was no such situation, so they could only say that they did their best.

When I came back home, I made soup with white rice and honored my parents-in-law. The poor son couldn't bear the hunger anymore. Seeing his baby crying, the daughter-in-law of the Bao family had no choice but to give him a small bowl.

And she hid herself in the kitchen, swallowing chaff with a sobbing voice.

The father-in-law and mother-in-law couldn't see their daughter-in-law, so they became suspicious of her, thinking that she was eating some good food in the kitchen, but what was found in the pot was a spoonful of muddy water and a bowl of chaff...

A bowl of muddy water, a ladle of chaff, the in-laws were heartbroken from seeing it.

The guilt is unbearable, the parents-in-law said that their own son is not as good as you, we are sorry for the virtuous daughter-in-law, we should not doubt you.

After saying the sad words, the daughter-in-law of the Bao family couldn't stop her. The elderly parents-in-law swallowed the chaff and poured muddy water. They were angry, anxious and ashamed. They had been starving for so long, and the two elders left in an instant. Huang Quan.

There is no need to express the sorrow in detail, the daughter-in-law of the Bao family is in pain, but she can't shed tears.

After hearing this, Li Zheng could only buy five reed mats for her, which was the limit that the villagers could do for her.

Three sheets cover the father-in-law, and two sheets cover the mother-in-law. The mat is short and the person is long. If you want to hide your head, you have to show your feet.

There is no bowl of rice on the head, no guide lamp under the feet, no mask on the face, no incense in the sleeves, no loincloth around the waist, and no good clothes on the body.

As a daughter-in-law, she should hold a filial staff in front, but there is no one to cry at the back, and if she cries at the back, there is no one in front to lead the way for her parents-in-law.

In addition to being sad, I also miss my husband who has not returned for many years.

After a total of seven days of digging, the burial hall was erected in the sackcloth pocket.

When the parents-in-law were buried, the Bao family's daughter-in-law died of exhaustion in front of the grave, leaving the child to see her parents-in-law.

……

Xu Xiu wiped her wet eyes and whispered, "My heart hurts."

Even the old scholar, who is used to seeing the warmth and coldness of the world, couldn't help sighing, and said after a long time: "The tragedy in the world."

Everyone was silent in this story without saying a word.

They knew that in a situation like this, there would be many years of famine, and more refugees would suffer even more than the Bao family, but among the victims of the disaster, no one would show them more sympathy.

For them, it is not a good thing to die in a foreign country, but Jiangning County has exhausted all methods, but they can't find evidence of where they came from, and those who fled together are silent.

The city was full of corpses and the fear of the epidemic caused Xu Xiu to order the fire to be buried on an unknown hill outside the city. He personally wrote a manuscript for mourning.

Seeing that the weather is getting colder and the life of ordinary people is getting more and more difficult, Xu Xiu finds it difficult to sit for a long time, but what can he do when he stands up? There is room for doing things, but right now, there is nothing to do.

To supply the whole city, or even the people of the county, it is impossible to realize the open supply of the million-dollar grain in the Changping warehouse. Even if several rice and noodle shops that are hoarding in succession are attacked afterwards, it is still a drop in the bucket.

These merchants now have food, but they don't transport it to Jiangning. Similarly, when more big landlords heard that Jiangning County came to their door, they cried together, which really annoyed Xu Xiu.

The eyes are desolate, the loess is all over the face, the Yangtze River used to be the country, the small rivers have dried up, the ponds have dried up, the dead silence and flying sand, covering the sky and the sun, it is hard to imagine that this is the environment near the ancient capital of Jinling.

Official documents from Jiangning County were sent to Nanjing every day instead of one every three days.

Not only Jiangning County, but the entire county under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture, and even many counties in the southeast have quickly delivered official documents, asking Nanjing City for support, but the people in Nanjing City also have reasons to say that Beijing has already set the tone, in order to ensure the normal water transportation , the land tax supplied to Beijing is normal for the autumn harvest, therefore, you continue to be patient, and it is okay to let the common people flee from famine.

This kind of statement naturally made Xu Xiu furious. He went to the court again and again, sent it to the court, and even forcibly withheld the tax. He had no choice but to do this to save people from dying. He didn't care about the consequences at all, and he had a clear conscience.

Perhaps the impression of the prosperity of the southeast is too deep. Even though the disaster described by Yushi Luojian is severe and the people are poor, in the eyes of the court officials, how could it be possible that there are refugees everywhere and no food?However, the memorials from the southeast officials were one after another, and they were discussed in the cabinet after all.

The court’s statement followed suit, and officials in the southeast region stopped their salaries. Although this is not a good solution, for Xu Xiu, it is a way to breathe a sigh of relief. The other is to convert silver to reduce transportation costs. of food consumption.

It can be regarded as a symptomatic method.

Compared with reducing foot consumption, the suspension of officials' salaries gave him more confidence.

Xu Xiu's experience in Yingtian Mansion is still young, and he can delay for a while when faced with pressure from other yamen officials, but after a long time, it will inevitably make him unsustainable, and there are many refugees, so he will inevitably need the help of soldiers and horses to control, but it doesn't matter They are already stiff, they don't work hard, and Jiangning County is not enough staff, so they will inevitably need help from other yamen, but they are also perfunctory.

It broke him, and the pressure he faced was very difficult. Even if Wei Xiaolu Lu Shen was in Nanjing to help him, it would not be of much help.

Right now, it's much better.

It's not that I don't give you food, but that the imperial court stopped paying you.

Standing on the originally bustling street, there are many fewer people at this time.

Xu Xiu shook her head and said to Zhang Cong who was beside her, "This is the eighth month of the drought. If it's two or three years, what will it be like?"

Zhang Cong seemed to have experienced it before, and he said without even thinking about it: "Flying locusts, covering the sky and covering the sun, the locusts are so big that they eat whatever they see, straw hats on men, clothes on women, books, etc. Gnawing on the door panels, locusts enter the country, hehe, that's the end of it."

Xu Xiu frowned and said, "At that time, it will be too late."

"If it was in the border province, no, if it wasn't in the southeast, the imperial court would have already released food by then. How could it take so long?"

Xu Xiu also knew why he said that. It was nothing more than the fact that since the beginning of the Republic of China, the southeast had not been favored by the emperor. It had always been a region with heavy taxes. Very upset, all kinds of local tyrants and evil gentry killed many, and even imposed heavy taxes.

It is only natural that the southeast will miss the Yuan Dynasty.When Zhu Di, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, moved the capital again, built seagoing ships, and imposed heavy taxes in the Jiangnan area, he has always been a group that is not expected to be seen soon.

The current situation can only be said to be high-level inertial thinking.

Xu Xiu couldn't make an expression, she shook her sleeves and said, "It's not that there is no food."

Zhang Cong also sighed: "That's the reason, but no one dares to make a decision. The current officialdom is not very good."

Hearing what he said, Xu Xiu stopped answering. Liu Jin became more and more arrogant. It seemed that no one was afraid. It was indeed a very bad environment. There were so many ministers in the cabinet who listened to orders. There is no other way but to do what we can and plan for the future.

After returning to the county office, Xu Xiu hadn't sat down for a while, when Liang Xing came in and said, "As your lord expected, a lot of fertile land has flowed into the names of these families."

Looking at these names, Xu Xiu didn't show any expression. He wanted to be angry, but what's the use of being angry?

Even if he ordered to suspend all farmland transactions, but when thousands of peasants cried and asked Master Qingtian to let go of the transaction and let them live, Xu Xiu really lost his confidence. All he has now is the will of the people. He did it with ease, and once the popular support ceased to work, he would have no other means.

He was forced to let go of the deal, but he is not a fool. A temporary compromise does not mean that you can be unscrupulous. He was forced to trade up to a hundred acres of land every day, which relieved him of the pressure.

The old scholar couldn't eat well, he looked a lot older, he said to Xu Xiu: "Now we can only try our best to let these refugees have something to do, otherwise they will be idle outside the city all day, and it will definitely cause trouble."

"What did sir teach me?"

The old scholar said: "Near Zouma Village."

After finishing speaking, the old scholar returned to the inner office. Xu Xiu looked at his slightly bent back and felt a little emotional. The old gentleman has reached the age of hearing, and he has been accompanying the horse non-stop in recent days, so he needs a good rest.

Xu Xiu stood up and said, "Thank you sir, please rest well."

These words reminded him that the Ming Dynasty was not without land, on the contrary, there were still most of the uncultivated wasteland. Although nothing can be planted right now, all the prerequisites can be established first, and recruiting refugees to open up wasteland is also an important step. This is an established national policy, so there is no reason for Nanjing not to give food.

When the time comes to play a book, they will not be able to eat well.

Xu Xiu hurriedly edited a letter, which he wanted to write to his teacher, Yang Tinghe.