GBP Chapter 65 Zhu Chong's Teaching of His Son
Chapter 65 Zhu Chong's Teaching of His Son
Wang Qiong was naturally unaware of the scheming thoughts in Yang Shaofeng's mind, and even less aware that Yang Shaofeng had already set his sights on Old Zhu and Little Zhu.
If eating locusts requires advertising, is there anyone in the world more suitable for advertising than Lao Zhu and Xiao Zhu?
No!
Old Zhu and Little Zhu were the pinnacle of endorsement during the Ming Dynasty. Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, even came up with an advertising slogan: "Locusts from Ningyang County, even the emperor and the crown prince said they were delicious. You deserve to have them!"
Unfortunately, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, only thought about it in his heart. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu De were far away in Nanjing. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang was about to go to Henan for an inspection, he would not make a special trip to Ningyang County to eat locusts, let alone act as a locust spokesperson for Yang Shaofeng.
Just as Magistrate Yang Shaofeng was secretly lamenting, Lame Five approached him and whispered, "Your Excellency, the drought is here, the locusts have appeared, and what about this lake..."
"Keep digging!" Yang Shaofeng didn't hesitate at all: "Tell the heads of each village and hamlet that, without delaying the crops, this lake must be dug up. After digging the east side of the city, dig the south side, and after digging the south side, dig the north side."
"Damn it, who knows if God will have another drought next year after this year's drought? If it doesn't happen, that's fine, but if it does, with these four artificial lakes, the people can save their harvest."
Magistrate Yang Shaofeng remembered clearly that the Ming Dynasty was in the Little Ice Age. Although he didn't remember exactly which emperor started it, it was always better to be prepared in advance than to be unprepared at all.
Limpy Wu immediately bowed and agreed, but Wang Qiong, who was standing next to Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, sighed slightly: "Magistrate Yang, I have been staying in Ningyang County for quite some time now, and it is time to return to the capital to report back. I will also report the drought and locust plague in Ningyang County to His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince."
……
When returning to the capital, Wang Qiong did not follow the large group as he had when he came to Ningyang County. Instead, he rode a fast horse ahead of them, leaving the militiamen who had come with him to return to the capital on their own.
Upon returning to the capital, Wang Qiong went directly to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to report for duty, and then requested an audience with Crown Prince Zhu Biao, presenting a memorial he had written during a rest stop on the way.
As Zhu Biao flipped through the memorial, Wang Qiong provided explanations based on the page numbers Zhu Biao turned to.
"When I first arrived in Ningyang County, I was misled by the words of a shrewish woman, and thus I mistakenly thought that Magistrate Yang was a tyrannical and oppressive official. It was only when I arrived at the artificial lake that I learned the truth."
"The so-called artificial lake was dug by Magistrate Yang and the people ten miles west of Ningyang County. The lake was fifty zhang long and thirty zhang wide. The deepest part was about three zhang deep, and the shallowest part near the lake was about three chi deep. Magistrate Yang called it Daming Lake."
"Magistrate Yang ordered the people of Ningyang County to dig a canal day and night. The canal was named Taizi Canal. It drew water from the Dawen River and stored it in the lake so that the people would have a place to draw water for irrigation during droughts and would not suffer from a complete crop failure."
"When I returned, signs of drought had already appeared in Ningyang County. The locusts had already molted once. Magistrate Yang ordered people to drive ducks to peck at the locusts. After beating and scolding the village heads and ward chiefs, he personally burned two locust larvae and swallowed them, saying that the locusts were meat given to the people by the Locust God."
"..."
Wang Qiong recounted to Zhu Biao everything he had seen and heard along the way, as well as the actions of Magistrate Yang Shaofeng. He then gave a final summary: "In my opinion, although Yang Shaofeng's actions are often outrageous, he is indeed loyal to our Great Ming and cares about the people. He is not the kind of cruel person who harms the people."
Zhu Biao nodded, and Wang Qiong took out a household registration book from his sleeve and presented it to Zhu Biao: "Your Highness, please take a look. This was made by Magistrate Yang. It records the number of people in a household, their birth dates, ages, residences, ancestral homes, specialties, and the amount of property and land owned. Local officials can govern the people with this information as easily as reading the lines on the palm of their hand."
Zhu Biao put down the memorial in his hand, reached out and took the household registration book, flipped through it and looked at it for a few moments, then suddenly laughed and said, "Not bad, really not bad. No wonder Father Emperor said he was worth ten thousand gold pieces or a million gold pieces. Just this household registration book alone is worth far more than a million gold pieces."
After praising and comforting Wang Qiong, Zhu Biao simply took the household registration book and the memorial written by Wang Qiong to find Emperor Zhu Chongba.
"It's not easy."
After reading the memorial and hearing Zhu Biao's retelling, Emperor Zhu Chongba first sighed deeply, and then said to Zhu Biao: "Regardless of whether the magistrate surnamed Yang was prepared in advance, and regardless of whether Ningyang County has no harvest in the fall, the court should still provide the necessary relief."
Zhu Biao nodded: "Yes, I've got it. I'll have someone send the prepared grain to Ningyang County later."
Emperor Zhu Chongba grunted in agreement, then picked up the memorial and glanced at it a few times before suddenly letting out a cold snort: "Unexpectedly, a mere old woman from the countryside almost ruined the reputation of a seventh-rank county magistrate. Interesting, very interesting."
Zhu Biao nodded solemnly: "Yes, this matter has also served as a reminder to me that I should never listen to one side of the story in the future. I must consider things carefully and verify them from multiple sources before making a decision."
Emperor Zhu Chongba then grunted in agreement and pointed at the memorial, saying, "So, have you figured out what kind of person that Magistrate Yang is?"
Zhu Biao lowered his head and pondered for a moment, but finally shook his head slightly: "I don't quite understand."
"If you say he's not greedy, he's always thinking about selling the chickens from his chicken farm to the people. But if you say he's greedy, he's willing to take the money that Uncle Xu and Uncle Chang gave him and help those women open a steamed bun shop. He often says that if he wants to make money from the people, he has to make them rich first."
"If you say he's not lustful, he told Wang Qiong that he wanted to listen to music in brothels every day, and Wang Qiong said that it didn't seem like he was faking it. But if you say he's lustful, he hasn't touched a single woman in Ningyang County. The people forced a maidservant on him, but he only let her serve him tea and water, and he still hasn't started a family."
"If you say he cares about his reputation, he doesn't care at all about the old woman's slander against him; but if you say he doesn't care about his reputation, he says that justice will prevail."
Zhu Biao scratched the back of his head: "Actually, I'm not afraid of him being greedy for money, lustful, or seeking a good reputation, nor am I afraid of him being a saint who doesn't indulge in any of these vices. I can think of ways to deal with either of them. It's just a matter of using the former and guarding against the latter. But someone like him is different from others in every way, and he seems awkward in every way. I really can't figure out what kind of person he is for the time being."
Just as Zhu Biao was secretly having a headache, Emperor Zhu Chongba chuckled and said, "You are still too young. Just like you said last time, you are the crown prince and the future emperor. What does it matter if you see through things or not? As long as you can use them, that's all that matters."
After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu Chongba added, "Let me teach you another trick: some people can be tempted by profit, some can be driven by fame, but there are also some people who are unmoved by fame and profit. You can't talk to such people about fame and profit, so you talk to them about friendship. If talking about friendship doesn't work, hehe."
After chuckling, Emperor Zhu Chongba simply changed the subject: "Let the Ministry of Revenue transport grain to Ningyang County. After all, we've already made a promise, and we can't go back on our word."