Datang: Just been appointed as the crown prince, the counterattack system is here

Chapter 211 Li Shimin: Speak softly, don't scare the prince! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Your Majesty! Please make the decision for us!"

Li Shimin was discussing the elimination of locusts with Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng when a sad and angry voice suddenly came from outside the door.

He couldn't help but frown and said with a stern face, "Who is making a noise outside?"

"Your Majesty, it's General Yuchi, General Cheng, and Lord Changsun!" Wushe reported hurriedly.

Li Shimin was slightly stunned. He exchanged glances with Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, then asked with a puzzled look, "What happened?"

"It's said that the latest issue of the newspaper clarified that the amount doesn't match the amount of grain they donated. Especially the Changsun family, who donated 7,000 dan of grain alone. But Changsun said he only donated 800 dan."

"This"

Hearing this, Li Shimin became even more confused.

Fang Xuanling, who was standing by, blinked and asked quickly, "How many dan of grain did my Fang family donate?"

"Mr. Fang, wait a moment. Let me read the newspaper."

"What are you looking at? Let them in first!"

Before Wushe could finish his words, Li Shimin seemed to react and scolded him.

"Yes Yes Yes"

Wushe nodded repeatedly and quickly summoned Changsun Wuji and others.

As soon as Changsun Wuji and others entered the hall, they knelt down before Li Shimin.

"Your Majesty! We have no grudges against the prince. Why does he treat us like this?" Cheng Yaojin said angrily.

"Yes, Your Majesty! When the Crown Prince was arguing with those aristocratic families, we repeatedly spoke up for him. Why would he want to harm us?!"

Yuchi Gong echoed, "We only have so much food in our house. The prince is leaving us no chance to survive by doing this!"

"Your Majesty, I am his uncle!"

"Okay, Wuji!"

Li Shimin impatiently waved his hand to interrupt Zhangsun Wuji, then said with a stern face: "Come! Go and summon the prince to the palace!"

"Yes!"

There was a response from outside the hall, and about half an hour later, Li Chengqian arrived at Ganlu Hall.

At this time, all the ministers had climbed up from the ground and were kneeling on both sides of the hall, looking at him with indignant expressions.

He had already learned the reason for being summoned to the palace on his way to the palace, so he remained very calm.

"My son, please see your father!"

"No gift!"

Li Shimin said this calmly, then glanced at the ministers and said, "Prince, I heard that you have distributed new newspapers?"

"Your Majesty, the newspaper issue is the responsibility of the News Department. I did not interfere with the distribution of the newspaper!"

"Do you know what's in the new issue of the newspaper?"

"Know!"

"So what do you think about this?"

"Officials aren't particularly concerned about disaster relief, so the Information Department is leveraging public opinion to help them. That's fine. After all, doing so can save many people from starvation. Therefore, I think the Information Department is doing the right thing!"

"absurd!"

Li Shimin suddenly stood up and shouted angrily, "Prince! How dare you! By doing this, the News Department is putting the laws of the court where they belong."

"If all government offices act in the name of profiting the people, won't they all be running their own affairs? Where will the dignity of the royal family and the court be?"

Hearing this, all the ministers applauded in their hearts.

That's right!

The prince is too lawless!
Your Majesty should have taught the prince a lesson like this a long time ago!
Although the News Department is now an office of the imperial court, the actual control is still in the hands of the prince!
It’s nonsense to say that we won’t interfere with the distribution of newspapers!
However, Li Shimin's anger did not make Li Chengqian give in.

But then he continued slowly, "May I ask Father, is the reputation of the court really more important than the lives of the people?"

"Rebellious son! How dare you talk back! Someone come!"

"Father, wait!"

After Li Chengqian finished speaking, he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Li Shimin, saying, "Your Majesty, this is the detailed list of donations raised by the News Department using the newspaper's appeal. The entire city of Chang'an, not including other places, has received a total of 103,216 strings of cash in donations!"

When Li Shimin saw the paper, he calmed down instantly and sneered, "What? You still want to bribe me in front of all the ministers?!"

"I don't dare!"

Li Chengqian then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. "This is the amount of grain the News Department collected from the public. A total of 561 dan (approximately 1,000 dan) was donated by ordinary people to the disaster-stricken areas. Moreover, this is only the amount of grain donated in Chang'an for one day."

"What do you mean? Are you trying to impress me with this? Do you want me to indulge your lawless behavior?"

Li Shimin raised his eyebrows, then said with a stern face: "Anything else? If not, I will call for help!"

Li Chengqian shook his head, then took out a small notebook and said seriously:

"Your Majesty, this is your new plan for Chang'an. For all the civil and military officials who publish their names in the newspapers to clarify their assets and donate grain, I will provide them with corresponding subsidies according to this ratio!"

"For example, in the papermaking industry, I plan to add three paper mills in Guanzhong. They will produce up to 20,000 sheets of paper per day, and the quality will far exceed the current Qingteng paper. And the cost will be only one-tenth of Qingteng paper."

"Of course, in addition to the papermaking industry, Jiangling's other industries will also expand to the Guanzhong region. However, due to the disaster, I haven't had time to report this to the Emperor yet!"

After saying that, he handed the three things directly to Wushe and presented them to Li Shimin.

Li Shimin took the three documents and glanced at two of them. They were exactly the same as what Li Chengqian said, but when he saw the small notebook, he was obviously stunned.

Because of the above production and profits, even he, the emperor, was shocked.

The ministers who had been watching the conversation between the father and son looked at each other in confusion, full of curiosity.

"His Majesty."

"Wuji! Your voice was a bit loud just now. Don't scare the prince!"

Before Changsun Wuji could finish his words, he was interrupted by Li Shimin.

When the ministers heard this, they were all stunned and wondered what was going on.
But Li Chengqian almost laughed out loud.

real!

So damn true!

In the face of interests, royal relatives are useless.

Li Shimin coughed twice and said seriously, "Your Highness has a plan for disaster relief. I won't say more. But does Your Highness have any plans for disaster relief?"

"I have just discussed with the Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Right Chancellor how to eliminate the locusts. We haven't reached a consensus on some procedures. Since you are the one who advocates the elimination of locusts, do you have a specific process for eliminating locusts?"

"Yes! My people have already started to eliminate the locusts. If your Majesty is interested, you can take me with you to check it out!"

"What!?"

Li Shimin's eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief, "You've already started to eliminate the locusts?"

"Yes! I just received a report that a large army of locusts is passing through Chang'an. They are larger and more numerous than the previous wave of locusts. We have to eliminate them!"

"This"

Li Shimin and his ministers looked at each other in shock and confusion.

At this moment, a report suddenly came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, a large number of locusts have swarmed into Chang'an, and the city is in panic. Please make a decision, Your Majesty!"

"Quick! Come with me to kill the locusts!"

When Li Shimin heard the report, he didn't have time to think about it. He immediately called all the ministers in the hall and ran out.

At this moment, a few miles away from Chang'an.

A huge crowd was surging.

During this period, the publication of the pest list has made countless people realize that locusts are pests and can be caught and killed. The fire of eagerness in their hearts is burning fiercely.

Especially when they heard that all the officials and guards of the Prince's Palace had come out to kill the locusts, they all ran outside the city to watch.

The scene was extremely spectacular.

At the same time, many Confucian disciples also went there, including quite a few officials of the fifth rank and above in the imperial court.

Especially a great scholar like Kong Yingda could not tolerate the extermination of locusts. He immediately took the Kong family members and ran out of the city without hesitation.

"What on earth is going on? Why would people from the Prince's Mansion go out of the city to kill locusts during a locust plague?"

Kong Yingda asked a Confucian official with an extremely ugly expression.

But then this Confucian official angrily said, "It's all because of that pest list. Everyone knows about it these days, and the people are all clamoring to exterminate the locusts!"

"Stupid! How could the people in the Prince's Mansion be so stupid as to be foolish like those ignorant people? Can locusts be killed?"

"That's right! We hope Mr. Kong can persuade the Crown Prince to recall the people in the Crown Prince's Mansion and stop exterminating the locusts. It's a waste of time and money, and the gain is not worth the loss."

Kong Yingda nodded and said, "I have taught the prince before. Although he is a bit naughty, he is still reasonable."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Does Your Majesty know about this?"

"Someone has gone to inform His Majesty, he should have known by now!"

"That's good!"

Kong Yingda nodded slightly and was about to turn around to find Li Chengqian.

At this moment, a shout suddenly came over: "Your Majesty and the Crown Prince are here to eliminate the locusts!"

"What!?"

Kong Yingda and the other Kong family members and Confucian officials seemed to have been struck by lightning, and their faces were filled with helplessness.

However, before they could react, a large number of imperial guards stopped them outside.

Until the carriages of Li Shimin and Li Chengqian arrived in front of the crowd.

The descendants of Confucius and Confucian officials all shouted out.

"Your Majesty! The locusts cannot be destroyed!" "Your Highness the Crown Prince! Stop!"

Hearing these shouts, Li Shimin and Li Chengqian, who had just got off the car, couldn't help but feel a toothache.

These corrupt scholars are truly hopeless.

Not only that, after hearing about this, all the people from the aristocratic families came here.

However, they did not approach the crowd, but just watched from a distance.

Ever since Li Shimin and Li Chengqian jointly suppressed these aristocratic families, the attitudes of all the aristocratic families, including the Five Surnames and Seven Families, towards the Li Tang royal family suddenly changed and became extremely indifferent.

Therefore, even though their family had countless disciples, they could only watch coldly when the locusts were eliminated this time.

Weren't the things they learned Confucianism? And didn't they know that exterminating the locusts would offend Confucian scholars and cause a huge uproar? But they did nothing, said nothing, and just watched coldly.

Some wealthy people also came, most of them came out of curiosity to see how to eliminate locusts.

"Your Majesty, the Prince!"

When Sun Fujia saw Li Shimin and Li Chengqian coming, he hurried to greet them.

Li Chengqian smiled and nodded, but Li Shimin looked at Sun Fujia with interest and said calmly, "My dear Sun, was it you who initiated this locust eradication operation?"

"This"

Sun Fujia subconsciously glanced at Li Chengqian. Seeing that Li Chengqian smiled but said nothing, he knew that Li Shimin must have agreed to exterminate the locusts. He straightened his back and said righteously, "Yes, it was I who initiated the locust extermination! I am solely responsible for my actions, and it has nothing to do with the Crown Prince!"

"Ah!"

Li Shimin sneered, "You are quite loyal! How dare you mobilize troops without the order from me and the Crown Prince?"

"Ah? This"

Sun Fujia was shocked, as if he didn't expect Li Shimin to care about him.

However, before he could respond to Li Shimin, a cry of surprise came from behind him: "Here they come! The locusts are coming!"

Hearing this, everyone looked in the direction of the voice.

I saw the sky in the distance. It was hazy at first, but it became clearer the closer I got to the skyline.

The sky was clear at first, but it turned dark in an instant.

Next, the first thing people heard was the buzzing sound of wings, like yellow sand blowing in their faces.

Everyone was stunned.

"Gulu!"

Some people swallowed their saliva involuntarily and fell silent.

Even the Confucian disciples and Confucian officials who had been so noisy just a moment ago became silent and their faces turned pale.

This scene.
So this is what locusts sound like?
Why is it so big?
It was like a wind from hell.

Everyone was stunned by the scene of the locust plague.

This is not a passing locust like before, but a real locust plague.

The fear in everyone's heart surged like a tide, knocking people over and making it impossible to breathe.

People were terrified, their legs went weak, and finally they were so scared that they couldn't help but scream.

"Oh my God! That's so scary!"

"Can locusts of this size really be eliminated?!"

"Oh my God, can we really kill these locusts?!"

"I'm going to die! There are so many locusts, they might eat us too!"

At this moment, even those people who had previously seen the pest lists posted on the streets and were confident in eradicating the locusts began to waver.

When the civil and military officials saw this scene, their hearts couldn't help but beat fast.

Not only were the civil and military officials and the common people like this, but Li Shimin's arms were also shaking.

"Whoo~"

Li Shimin's eyes flickered. He suppressed the fear in his heart and took a deep breath.

After so many years of fighting, he had seen all sorts of battles. How could he be frightened by a swarm of locusts?
If I retreat at this time, will these people have any way out?
not to mention.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin couldn't help but look at Li Chengqian who was calm and composed beside him, thinking that if this kid didn't run away, he would not be able to run away either.

So, not only did he not take a step back, he even walked towards the approaching locusts.

"His Majesty!"

When Fang Xuanling, Changsun Wuji and others saw Li Shimin heading towards the locusts, they were immediately shocked and rushed forward.

The other generals and imperial guards were immediately filled with anger upon seeing this.

Even the eyes of the people around who were afraid of the locust plague began to shine, and they watched intently how the government would eliminate the locusts.

"Humph!"

Kong Yingda snorted coldly.

The rest of the Kong family members and Confucian officials all sneered in disdain.

So what if you face a locust plague?
Do you really think you can kill so many locusts?

It’s just the last bit of stubbornness!

Wait until the locust plague arrives completely, and see how miserable you will be!

In fact, they had thought about the possibility of eliminating the locusts, but after much thought, they concluded that the only way to eliminate the locusts was to sound the horn and burn them.

But with locusts on such a large scale, these methods will certainly have little effect.

However, before they could sit back and watch Li Shimin and others make a fool of themselves, their eyes became filled with surprise.

Because just as the locusts were about to fly over them, an extremely huge net was being pulled up one after another by the guards of the Prince's Mansion.

这 是
Seeing this, the pupils of all the noble families shrank suddenly.

The guards of the Prince's Mansion held up the large nets high in the air. The common people behind them also held up the rags and straw they had prepared.

The methods of making these things were either published on pest list leaflets or in newspapers. Due to the short time, everyone could only try their best to form net bags to catch locusts.

Followed by.

The locusts visible to the naked eye fell into the net like a tide.
"Oh my god! There are so many chickens!" someone exclaimed.

Someone exclaimed happily: "Hahaha! We caught them! We caught a lot!"

Some people were dancing with joy: "They really stopped it! Hurry up! Change the net!"

"Crash!"

A large number of locusts encountered these net bags and naturally fell into them.

The East Palace guards and the people who had been prepared were all excited.

At this moment, people finally reacted.

It turns out that the methods in the flyers and newspapers are true, locusts can really be caught and killed!

Li Shimin and others were also slightly stunned when they saw this scene.

However, after being stunned for a moment, Li Shimin ordered the imperial guards to take out the prepared hunting tools and follow the East Palace guards and the people to hunt and kill locusts together.

Unconsciously, ordinary people who had been stunned in place due to fear also joined the locust extermination operation.

People were surprised to find that these scary-looking locusts would just jump around randomly after being caught. If they were thrown into a fire, they would burn to death instantly.

"I didn't expect locusts to be so easy to kill! That's great!"

"What the hell is this divine insect?! Damn it!"

"Yes! That's right! This is clearly a pest!"

"It's so exciting! I didn't know locusts could be killed so easily!"

"Hey, hey, hey, do you smell it? These burning locusts smell so good! I'm starving!"

"Hahaha--!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became joyful.

The Kong family members, Confucian officials, and all the aristocratic families around them were all stunned.

At this moment, they felt like clowns.

At this moment, they felt like the sky was falling.

Because they couldn't imagine that the locust plague could really be stopped by humans.

It is truly something I have never seen or heard of before.

After a while, they finally came to their senses.

Especially those aristocratic families who were originally prepared to watch from the sidelines, all looked at Li Shimin and Li Chengqian with a dazed look.

If Li Shimin and his son had really succeeded in eradicating the locusts, the impact of the locust plague would have been greatly reduced. How could they have used food to make a fortune from the national disaster?

So what should they do with the grain they purchased at high prices?

At this moment, they couldn't help but feel anxious and fearful!

"A sin!"

"How could you treat the divine insect like this! Confucianist Dong Zhongshu has long stated that this is a divine insect and a punishment from heaven! Killing the divine insect like this will anger heaven!"

"Throughout history, whenever there has been a locust outbreak, His Majesty and his ministers have always apologized to the heavens. But you are acting like this! Where is the moral code?"

"It's a mess! It's all a mess!!"

Before the aristocratic families could take action, the descendants of Confucius and Confucian officials were the first to break through the defense.

　Please give me a monthly ticket. Please give me a monthly ticket.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)