Chapter 1823: The villain in the spoiled text 24
Natural disasters and man-made disasters often appear together. Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice, and it is the most prosperous and prosperous place in Daxia.
Here the mountains are high and the valleys are deep, the rivers and waters are abundant, and the products are very rich. The imperial court can collect a lot of taxes here every year.
It stands to reason that even if there is a drought, the people will not be unable to live by relying on previous years to save food.
Moreover, droughts are not as sudden as earthquakes and floods, and there are signs several months or even a year in advance.
As long as the local officials use a little snack and respond early, they will not cause the people to be displaced and starved, and finally force the refugees to revolt.
As the saying goes, the Taoist officials forced the people to rebel, and Shu Ange came to Jiangnan ahead of time, in order to prevent problems before they happen.
The uprising started in Muzhou, so the first place she and Quan Yunqing visited was Muzhou.
In any case, Shu Ange will not sit back and watch the common people encounter bandits, rogues, or rogue officials exploited and harassed.
Since ancient times, the elimination of local officials has required iron and blood means. The richer the place, the more hands behind it, and the more people who want to profit from it.
The sky is high and the emperor is far away, and the central government's control over the localities is not strict enough in this era.
The triennial assessment, for local officials, is just a painless spell.
As long as you don't make big mistakes during your tenure and manage the officials responsible for the assessment, promotion will not be difficult.
It is natural to rely on money to manage Shangfeng and other contacts.
As for where the money comes from, the people who have been looted and complained have something to say. As long as there is a chance of survival, who would be willing to rebel?
Muzhou is really a good place with beautiful mountains and clear waters. Shu Ange stood on the mountain overlooking the exposed river and shallows, which made her frown.
"The drought was worse than we thought, and the river was moving a bit oddly."
Shu Ange was not aimless. Before she came, she had looked at the topographic map of the waters in the south of the Yangtze River.
Qiuyue Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the south of the Yangtze River. The blue waters stretch across all counties and counties, and Muzhou is one of them.
But looking down from the mountain, Qiuyue Lake has shrunk a lot, and many ditches have been dug around to divert water.
It’s just normal water diversion. In ancient times, when there was a drought, water diversion for irrigation was a normal operation, but what Shu Ange saw was by no means a normal water diversion method.
In some places, the fields have dried up and cracked, leaving large tracts of land abandoned.
But some fields are well supplied with water and, despite months of drought, water-hungry rice is still being planted, and now it's harvest time.
Under normal scheduling conditions, in the event of drought, the fields will be replanted with winter wheat that requires less water.
"Well, it's not normal."
Quan Yunqing was wearing a light blue robe embroidered with bamboo, and her long hair was simply rolled up with a jade crown, and her eyes were a little more worried when she looked at the fields at the foot of the mountain.
He went out to Beijing with the Lord of Fengyi County. Although he had selfish intentions, he was for the common people of the world.
God has sent a warning that there will be disasters in the south of the Yangtze River. Quan Yunqing hopes to be able to turn the tide and reduce the impact of disasters on the people.
In order to verify their guesses, the two went down the mountain to ask local people to ask questions.
The land is the root of the common people. Even if the land is dry and cracked, there are still people who try to cultivate it.
"Uncle, is this land yours?"
Shu Ange picked an old man with gray hair and wearing a padded jacket full of patches to ask questions.
"What? This place is mine? It's mine!"
The old man was a little deaf, he answered with a loud voice, and a word of Sichuan was squeezed out of his forehead because of sadness.
"The drought has been severe recently. How do you water the land?"
Shu Ange imitated the old peasant, squatted on the ground and questioned modestly.
The old peasant sighed, his cloudy eyes scrutinized the pair of young people.
This pair of young men and women, dressed in fine silk and satin clothes, with jade pendants tied around their waists, looks handsome and has extraordinary temperament.
It must be the young lady of an aristocratic family, who is free to go to the countryside to play, curious about the daily life of these ordinary people.
"Well, the water is all picked up from the village's well. It hasn't rained for a few months, and the well at the head of the village is almost dry. It's the Dragon King who is angry."
The old man was downcast, obviously giving up hope for next year's harvest.
Shu Ange squatted on the ground, rubbed the soil with his fingers and asked, "Old man, I saw on the mountain that many fields are being irrigated by water from Qiuyue Lake. Why don't you dig canals to divert water to the ground?"
"Hey, you young man, how can the water in Qiuyue Lake be used by ordinary people?"
The old man smacked his lips, looking like he was making a fuss.
Quan Yunqing, who had been silent all the time, interjected: "Old man, who is irrigating the fields with the water from Qiuyue Lake?"
"Aren't the two distinguished guests from Jiangnan?"
"We came from the capital to visit relatives here. I've always heard that Jiangnan is rich, and I'm a little surprised to see the severe drought here."
"It's no wonder that in the southern region of the Yangtze River, whoever does not know Marquis Wuying and Uncle Shanyang, dare to use Qiuyue Lake to irrigate, naturally these two."
In Muzhou, this is not something that needs to be avoided, so the old man blurted out the names of the two families.
"So many fields belong to Marquis Wuying and Uncle Shanyang? Then they are very rich."
The old man frowned and shook his head: "Alas, the wealth of dignitaries and nobles, we ordinary people dare not even think about it. We just hope that God will rain sooner, so that we can have food next year."
"Yes, old man, don't worry, I have some scraps of silver here, you can accept it and buy some food for storage."
Shu Ange took out some pieces of silver from his sleeve, and the old man hurriedly declined: "Hey, the son is old and old, and he won't get paid for his merits. How can I dare to accept the money from distinguished guests."
"It seems that the old man has read some books. You have done a good job. This money is used to reward you."
Shu Ange couldn't help but put the broken silver into the hands of the old man and left with Quan Yunqing.
They didn't listen to it for a while, and they changed places, asked other people, and even went to Qiuyue Lake for a turn.
Don't ask, don't know, the results of this investigation are shocking.
Ordinary people's fields are cracked, and there is no good harvest this autumn. The government is not caring for the people's feelings at all, and the tax is higher than in previous years.
That's all, the local tyrants occupied the water source, and the people were not allowed to divert water to irrigate the fields, and there were even murder cases.
Local officials blindly favored the tyrannical, and ordinary people suffered grievances.
As for Marquis Wuying and Uncle Shanyang, they are nothing but pawns that certain forces have placed on the bright side.
Among the thousands of hectares of fertile fields, there are many just under the guise of their names, and the real owners are other people.
Officials levied and plundered indiscriminately, and local tyrants lived extravagantly and domineeringly. No wonder the people rebelled.
"Let's go, go to see the local prefecture and prefect first."
Shu Ange pursed her thin lips tightly, her eyes were sharp and her expression solemn.
This is a tough battle, she can only win but not lose.
"Wait until General Yang arrives, and then meet the state and county officials, so they don't jump over the wall in a hurry."
Quan Yunqing frowned slightly and made different suggestions.
It's not that he's afraid, he just doesn't want Shu Ange to be at risk.