Although there were disasters during the apocalypse, they were not so frequent.Therefore, the Chongzhen period was often called "Chongzhen Zhiyuan" in later generations, which means a period of time when natural disasters occurred frequently.Zhu Youxiao also had a headache when he thought of the disasters that would happen next.Because if it only lasts for a year, it is nothing, the court is exempt from money and food, and the people will endure it, and it will pass.Even if it lasts for two years, the imperial court will be able to survive it with a little relief, and at most there will be only a small-scale peasant uprising.But for three or four years, that's a terrible thing.However, the drought and plague in the Chongzhen Dynasty all started in five years, or even ten years.Zhu Youxiao felt terrible when he thought about it.This is also the reason why he has been ruling too harshly in recent years, and he does not hesitate to risk being murdered by others, and frantically collects money and grain in the national treasury.He has to let the future Ming court have enough capital to deal with these catastrophes that last for several years, and even avoid such catastrophes, after all, locust plagues and plagues often appear when the drought is not solved at the beginning.In addition, what made him even more troublesome was that the elites of this era would blame the emperor's immorality in ruling by blaming the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, and then use this to incite people's hearts.Zhu Youxiao knew that he must pay attention to these disasters next, especially the first disaster of the "Chongzhen Abyss" recorded in the history books, the great drought in Shaanxi.Because this drought is the root cause of many of the disasters that followed.If it had not been for the failure of this five-year-long drought, there would have been no large-scale locust plague and plague, and there would not have been a large-scale peasant uprising, which would have led to a surge in the imperial court's military spending, a decline in disaster relief and water conservancy renovation capacity, and a failure to reduce taxes.In short, if the initial drought in Shaanxi is not solved well, it will cause a chain reaction."
It seems that the large-scale conquest of the north can only be suspended, in order to prevent a large-scale civil uprising, the army turned to Shaanxi, and sent Ma Maocai's report back to Beijing, and the household department immediately gave a grain transfer plan to relieve the drought in Shaanxi.Therefore, Zhu Youxiao immediately instructed Xiong Tingbi and other ministers with him."
Your Majesty!
At present, since the drought in Shaanxi is so serious, the number of victims in urgent need of relief will inevitably surge, and the method of cash-for-work is too slow, mainly because we don't know what project to build for a while, so it is better to recruit into the army first, and at the same time recruit into the army, determine the project that needs to be built. ”Xiong Tingbi agreed.After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded: "I do have this intention, when the time comes, these soldiers will be organized into engineering soldiers first, and the imperial court will arrange the corresponding project construction." ”"Yes!"
Xiong Tingbi and others replied.As soon as the holy driver entered the territory of Suide Prefecture in Shaanxi, Zhu Youxiao saw that there were many starving people along the way, which were full of official roads, and the surrounding fields were cracked and solidified.This is also the result of Zhu Youxiao's exemption from Liao salary and the world's forced labor.Zhu Youxiao didn't dare to imagine how serious Shaanxi would be in history, which was not exempt from Liao pay and forced labor, or at least there should be thieves everywhere."
Order, prepare the soup kitchen!"
Xiong Tingbi conveyed Zhu Youxiao's edict.The 100,000-strong army that had been sent out on the expedition moved according to the arrangements that had been laid down long ago, and began to participate in this war against the natural disaster.The firefighters in the army became the main force at the moment.A large amount of military rations were temporarily turned into relief food.The rest of the main army held flintlock pistols with bayonets to form a human wall, which was used to maintain order, forcing these victims not to dare to rob, so they had to line up to receive porridge, and were arranged to drink porridge in a centralized place.After drinking the porridge, these victims will be called up and directly recruited as engineers.Naturally, it is compulsory recruitment, rather than asking their wishes and letting them go home if they are unwilling.Because these people fled the famine because they could not survive in their hometowns, this recruitment was equivalent to forcibly re-employing them to prevent them from revolting due to hunger, just as the Song Dynasty would recruit peasant rebels into the army.Lu Xiangsheng was in charge of this matter, and it was the instructor of the Guards who did it.The instructors of the Guards are all martial arts, and they are also familiar with this kind of thing."
Name?""
Zhang Xianzhong!""
Where's the people?"
A native of Weidingbian County, Qingyang, Yan'an Prefecture.""
What have you done before, but you have joined the army, what have you done, whether you are literate in reading, and whether you can ride and shoot martial arts?""
I was a border soldier, and then I was dismissed, I know a few words, and I can ride and shoot."
At this time, the instructor Yang Zhan asked the name of a red-faced man who looked quite burly and registered it.However, Zhang Xianzhong of this world has not yet had time to become a rebel.Yang Zhan, who was born as a landlord in Sichuan, did not know that the Shaanxi disaster victims standing in front of him would be his future opponent in the late Ming Dynasty in another world."
You were assigned to the first team of the Third Banner Team of the Sixth Bureau of the Third Division of the Third Battalion of the First Town of the First Army of the Engineer Corps, and you received a cotton coat and a number plate."
Therefore, Yang Zhan did not directly let him be the team leader.Zhang Xianzhong took the initiative to ask at this time: "Dare to ask this military master, there will be soup soup later, but I can't hide it, the grass people haven't drunk enough." ”Zhang Xianzhong smiled a little humbly.Yang Zhan glanced at him and said, "After enlisting in the army, I will be full directly, bear with it first!"
”"Hey!
That's good, Master Xie!
”Zhang Xianzhong smiled and retreated, and then went to get the cotton clothes and number plate."
Your Majesty, the number of victims recruited has exceeded 30,000, and the drought in Shaanxi seems to be very serious, especially in the Yan'an area, most of them are farmers from Yan'an, and even many of them are large households with their own fields, and there are even border troops who have failed to harvest and cannot repay the loan to Shangguan."
Xiong Tingbi reported to Zhu Youxiao here.Zhu Youxiao nodded after hearing this, and asked Ma Maocai, the governor of Shaanxi who had come to Suidezhou to see him: "How much grain is there in the official treasury of Shaanxi now?"
”Ma Mao replied: "Back to Your Majesty, the drought lasted from last year to this year, and then the scope of this drought is large, and the food that can be used has long been used up, but there is still grain on the losing side, but this is naturally not moving, otherwise, it will cause a mutiny, and the people lack food even if the riot is easy to suppress, but if the border army has no food, once the riot occurs, it will endanger the community, and the minister will not dare to embezzle it even if he has a hundred heads." ”"Isn't there any grain in Shaanxi now?"
Zhu Youxiao asked."
Not really, as far as the ministers know, many big families still have them in their hands, but they are unwilling to sell more to the government, in order to sit on the ground and raise the price, and when the court gives relief, they can make a profit."
Ma Maocai himself is also from Shaanxi, and he is from a large family in Shaanxi, so he naturally knows that he is a person of his class, but because he accepted the concept of Xingming Society and has a sense of responsibility and mission for his hometown, he chose to tell the truth.Of course, as a governor, he could actually force these big families to give grain, but he didn't do it, so he naturally took care of his hometown.But now that he can take the initiative and hope that Emperor Zhu Youxiao and other people in the court will do so, it is already rare for him, who is also from a big family in Shaanxi.Zhu Youxiao could also understand this, so he did not blame him, knowing that the big households were hoarding, and he did not dare to punish him severely, so as to avoid natural disasters from aggravating due to man-made disasters.Zhu Youxiao only said: "At an extraordinary moment, we should use extraordinary methods to immediately draw up an order, and in the future, all areas where disasters and wars are in the area, and the area where the imperial court has sent a minister for disaster relief and peace to the people, can temporarily issue a wartime ration order, and all population, money, grain, six livestock, houses, etc. should be forcibly distributed by the minister, and those who violate the order can be cut off first and then played!"
”Zhu Youxiao said to Zhu Youzhen, the king of letters who followed him: "Brother Yu, now as the chief officer of the Imperial History and Engineering Corps of the Left Deputy Capital, you will supervise the disaster relief and security affairs in Shaanxi for me, and hand it over to others, I don't worry, you remember, try to ensure that one less person starves to death before the food arrives in the capital, and even one person is hungry, because as long as there is one less hungry person, there will be one less rebel person, and I will have more protection for the Ming Sheji, don't be afraid of offending the gentry, how can I kill the royal family because of them?"
”At this time, Zhu Youxiao knew that he had to use the royal family, because the royal family cared about the stability of the society as much as himself, and he was not afraid of retaliation because of his identity, and at the same time, he could reduce the possibility of being favored by the gentry because of his royal status by offending the gentry.