Changliu County is located to the south of Fengshui, south of the middle of Dachu. It is also adjacent to four or five counties. In addition, it is close to the canal and the land is fertile. The annual harvest in Chengdu is very good, so the people's life is also considered rich.
In this severe drought, Changliu County was close to the canal and had sufficient water resources. The people replaced them with new rice seeds under the leadership of the local officials. Therefore, the impact of the drought on Changliu County was limited. Although everyone was worried, they were reclaimed and planted. Well organized, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the harvest was about to be finished, but unexpectedly the locust plague happened suddenly.
The locusts covering the sky flew from a distance and fell on the fields and grasses. There was no grass left wherever they passed. The golden rice was eaten away by the hungry locusts, leaving only the bare stalks standing in the fields. Among.
The full-fed locusts fly away in groups, or fall in the fields to lay eggs and breed again.
The expectant farmers can only weep bitterly at the fields where there are no particles left and the locusts. These grains are their only hope this year. Now they have been eaten by the locusts, and their hopes are gone. After the farmers mourned. Only at a loss.
However, the locusts crossing the border have not stopped. Large swarms of locusts continue to fly to the surrounding counties and counties. Every time they pass, the crops in the fields must be cleaned up, leaving only a mess and countless satiated locusts.
Four or five counties were hit by the locust plague in succession, and the local memorials were sent up one after another. Chu Fengyuan could deal with it in the future, and the border crossing was in an emergency again.
In the year of the drought, both Chu people and foreigners could not avoid this disaster, especially the foreigners who lived by the water and grass. The foreigners who lacked food and clothing were gathered by the Mula tribe and concentrated their forces to attack the border of Chu. Want to plunder enough food from the great Chu.
Chu Fengyuan summoned several generals to discuss, and his expression could not hide his exhaustion, "The old leader of the Mulla tribe passed away, and his second son Mulla Kili succeeded to the throne. After he took the throne, he launched wars against several tribes, and several tribes followed suit. All those who were defeated were taken under his command and respected him as king."
The invasion of the border this time was an order from Mulla Kili.
Mulla Kili is not like his father, he is cunning, brutal, but also very ambitious. After he succeeded to the throne, through the drought and lack of food and clothing, he agitated the emotions of the various tribes and consolidated all the tribes into one. The huge cavalry invaded Shanyu Pass, intending to open the gap from Shanyu Pass and occupy the land of Da Chu.
"As a general of the army, Zhang Yixing guarded Shan Yuguan, but he was arrogant, acted rashly, did not listen to persuasion, and then fell into the strategy of foreigners. The 8,000 soldiers who fought in the battle lost half! If it were not for the lieutenant to block the city in time, I am afraid Lianshan Yuguan can't be held!"
Chu Fengyuan was furious when he shot the case, "This is my general of Da Chu!"
"Who can get back the hatred of four thousand soldiers?!"
Ling Li's gaze swept across a few people. Except for Chu Xiangtian, the others lowered their heads in shame. The border has been calm for many years. They also followed the dignity, and they had forgotten the passion of killing the enemy on the battlefield.
"The minister is willing to go to war, to pay homage to the dead souls of four thousand soldiers with Mulla's top rank!" Chu Xiangtian knelt on one knee, his back straight, his eyes firmly looking at Chu Fengyuan, who was disappointed.
Chu Fengyuan had known this result long ago, closed his eyes and patted him on the shoulder, "The war is urgent, and you will be on the march, and the troops and horses of Shanyu Pass will be commanded by you. Zhang Yixing executed it on the spot!"
He was very angry when he thought of Zhang Yixing. If he hadn't been so overjoyed, four thousand soldiers would not have sacrificed in vain. For such a serious crime, not killing him would not be enough to calm the anger.
Chu Xiangtian nodded his head, got up and strode out.
In the imperial study room, Chu Fengyuan's expression turned cold. He looked at the quail-like old generals who were afraid to speak, and said coldly, "Several generals are so old that it is inconvenient to work anymore. In the future, military affairs will be arranged separately. Please take care of it, generals, take a good rest at home."
The words "rest well" almost jumped out word by word. These people's corpses are vegetarian meals, and they usually receive salaries, but when they are employed, they all shrink back. Rather than leaving them an eyesore, it is better to take the opportunity to solve them.
A few people bowed to thank you, not daring to say anything, exited the Imperial Study Room, wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads and hurried away.
When Chu Xiangtian left the palace, he rode his horse directly to the camp outside the city to order troops. The battle was urgent and could not be delayed for a moment. He ordered enough soldiers and horses and sent people a letter to Zhou Chuanqing, and ordered him to prepare food and grass for support.
Before leaving, thinking that Fu Tian might still be waiting at home, he hurriedly brought a message back, and then galloped north with his soldiers and horses.
When Fu Tian received the message, Chu Xiangtian had left with someone for a while. Although it was not the first time, he was still a little confused when he suddenly heard the news.
After reacting for a while, I remembered asking about the specific situation of the war.
The little soldiers with oral messages know only a little bit, "I heard that foreigners have been surrounding Shanyu Pass, trying to forcefully break through the pass. The situation is very urgent."
Fu Tian's heart tightened, suppressing the worries in his heart, and rewarding silver to send the soldiers away.
On the second day, news came again that Zhou Chuanqing counted the people and escorted grain and grass to Shanyu Pass.
The three armies did not move the grain and grass first. This time the situation was urgent. Instead, Chu Xiangtian led the people to go first. Zhou Chuanqing fell behind.
When the army outside the city pulled out their camp and rushed to Shanyu Pass, news of the invasion of Da Chu by foreigners finally spread.
Natural disasters plus man-made disasters made the people panic, and even the rumors from where they came from said that this was a punishment from heaven. Only by asking the emperor to sin against himself and asking the heaven for sins could he calm the anger of heaven.
Especially in several counties and counties that have just suffered from locust plagues, the people looked at the locusts flying in the sky and the grainless fields outside their houses, and they became more and more trusting in such rhetoric.
The rumors of Heaven's Punishment spread more and more, and some people even splashed black dog blood on the gate of the official office late at night, and local officials did not even dare to leave the gate at will, for fear that angry people would hurt others.
Some people in the court urged Chu Fengyuan to open an ancestral temple to worship and pray for blessings. Chu Fengyuan was furious, and his angry appearance looked even worse than King Yu, who had the reputation of killing gods.
"Check! Check it out for me! Someone secretly spread rumors to confuse the people. You can't wait to find out how to find out the source, but instead fuel the rumors! What do I want you to do?!"
There was no sound in the court hall, panic silence spread, and Shangshu of the Criminal Ministry standing in the front asked for orders, "The minister is willing to share the worries for your majesty and find out the rumors."
Later, the Xing Department servant also appeared, "The minister is willing to go!"
The two stood in front of the courtiers, their eyes firm, and they looked forward.
Chu Fengyuan swept across the civil and military forces of the Manchu dynasty, his biting gaze forced the minister who had just proposed offering sacrifices to pray for blessing, his scalp numb, and it took a long time before he said coldly, "Quick!"
Officials of Qin and Wei Yang were appointed as ministers of imperial envoys, holding gold medals from the imperial court, and visiting Changliu and other counties unannounced to find out the source of the rumors spreading rumors to confuse the people.
Since it was an unannounced visit, the two of them planned to go low-key, but unexpectedly they were found by Fu Tian before leaving.
Fu Tian took two strong men, carrying his own parcel, Shi Shiran stopped the carriage, and said with a smile: "You two will take me on the way?"
Wei Yang frowned and stopped him, "Changliu County is very chaotic now, you can't go." If you get people through and something goes wrong, Chu Xiangtian will fall out.
Official Qin knows a little, "I heard that Lord Hou entered the palace yesterday?"
Fu Tian nodded, as if disasters continued to occur today, Chu Xiangtian rushed to the battlefield to kill the enemy. He didn't want to just take refuge at home, but wanted to do his best for the people.
He had some thoughts about the locust plague in Changliu County and the surrounding counties, so he went to the palace and offered to go to Changliu County for disaster relief.
Chu Fengyuan thought for a long time before agreeing to his request. For safety, he sent two guards to protect him.
Wei Yang glanced at the two guards behind him, and waved his hands tiredly, "Let's go, let's go, I don't know if you are coming, the carriage is a bit small, let's squeeze."
The two guards followed one side on horseback, and the three got into the carriage and slowly headed towards Changliu County.
The three of them were not idle on the carriage either, but looked through some news from Changliu County.
Since the outbreak of the locust plague in Changliu County, although the government has quickly launched disaster relief, the locusts outside are overwhelming, and they must be packaged strictly when they go out. In addition to the destruction of farmland, many people are discouraged. The local county guard has posted it. Several announcements to encourage the people to participate in the hunting of locusts were not very effective.
Later, I didn't know where a group of monks came from, praying for the people under the guise of Buddhism. At first, the group of monks tried to pray for blessings. The county guard saw that they were really helping the victims, but they did not stop them.
But over time, they found that what these monks were doing was getting more and more wrong. The rumor of Heaven's Punishment was originally spread from these relief victims. The victims even praised the group of monks as living Buddhas, even if the family is no longer able to open the pot, they must donate the remaining rice and property to " "Living Buddhas" accumulate merits, let them pray, and let the disaster pass earlier.
Official Qin put away the letter in his hand and said coldly: "Stupid!"
Wei Yang sighed, "Natural disasters and man-made disasters go hand in hand. These people always find a sustenance to live on, and only then will these evil monks take advantage of this vacancy."
"In reading the letter, these monks should have a certain foundation in Changliu County. We should not have a head-on conflict. There is also Fu's Mipu in Changliu County. Then we will settle down in Mipu first, and then look at other things."
Both of them had no objections and accelerated to Changliu County.