Chastity Layman

Chang'an.

Li Shimin has temporarily canceled the regular attendance at the morning court. This routine court meeting is of no help to the current situation. With the rapid transformation of locusts, Li Shimin now stays in the Zhengshitang all day.

Fortunately, although locusts are growing rapidly, the results of catching and exterminating locusts in various places are amazing.

Originally, there was a big problem in Qizhou, but when Qin Qiong and his son arrived, they used thunderous means to quickly stabilize the locust situation.

In the political affairs hall, there are screens on both sides, and on the screens are pieces of jute paper with various numbers written on them.

Among them, Qizhou monopolized a screen, and the numbers on it were updated every two hours, and Li Shimin was extremely satisfied with each change.

As of today, Qin Qiong and Qin Lang's father and son have been in Qizhou for 12 days, and have successively caught more than 800,000 locusts. Qizhou is the third auxiliary of Gyeonggi, and its population is much higher than that of other states, although it is not as large as Chang'an's population of one million. But there are also nearly 300,000 people. Calculated in this way, each person catches more than two stones of locusts on average.

This figure was once doubted by Feng Deyi, Wang Gui and other prime ministers participating in politics. It is really amazing.

But Li Shimin was convinced.

Because although the governor of Qizhou is Zheng Yuanxuan, it is Qin Qiong, the governor of Pingzhang, and Qin Lang, the governor of Qizhou, who are fighting and catching locusts in Qizhou. These two are absolute confidants of the emperor Yuan Cong, and it is absolutely impossible to lie for him. Not to mention, Qin Lang has reported detailed data, and Li Shimin also proved it through Baiqi.

Qin Lang made a lot of IOUs in Qizhou, including Changping warehouse to buy grain from merchants at a high price, some grain money collected from rich landlords, and some IOUs from the common people for exchanging locusts for millet.

The numbers are equally astonishing.

But right now, although Li Shimin has a headache about how to deal with these IOUs in the future, he can't take care of them for the time being.

"Your Majesty, migratory locusts have started to take off as adults in many states in the pass, but the swarms are not large and do not pose a threat for the time being."

Fang Xuanling came to report with a small notebook, Li Shimin nodded.

"Xuanling, it seems that we have won this time, and the war locust has succeeded."

"Your Majesty, I think the current situation is the same as what Qin Lang reported. We will win one game first, but we must not take it lightly. We still need to make the states and counties step up their efforts to catch locusts. As Qin Lang said, it is better to use the remaining bravery to chase the poor. , You can’t live up to the overlord of fame and learning. If one is not careful, the migratory locusts from the states will gather in groups, and all previous efforts will be wasted by then!”

Li Shimin's spirit lifted.

"It is advisable to be brave enough to chase the poor, and not to be a famous overlord. Hahaha, this Qin Sanlang, these two sentences are full of arrogance and pride. It seems that he did a good job in commanding the extermination of locusts in Qizhou, and he showed great energy. If there were more Qin Sanlangs and fewer Zheng Yuanxuan in the states of the world, the situation would be even better."

As soon as Zheng Yuanxuan was mentioned, Li Shimin's face was not very good-looking. Zheng Yuanxuan's actions in Qizhou almost caused problems in the imperial court's anti-locust situation.

"Zheng Yuanxuan must be severely punished." Li Shimin set the tone directly, even if he was convinced by Qin Qiong and his son, he would actively correct his mistakes and assist in disaster relief. "Qizhou's disaster relief is due to Qin Qiong and Qin Lang's father and son. It has nothing to do with Zheng Yuanxuan. He not only has no merits, but also has serious demerits. If he has meritorious deeds, he must be rewarded, and if he has demerit, he must be punished. Otherwise, there will be more people like Zheng Yuanxuan, regardless of the overall situation." !"

Fang Xuanling did not refute the emperor's tone. In fact, Fang Xuanling and Zheng Yuanxuan did not come out of the same trench.

Although they are all Shandong gentry, although Zheng Yuanxuan and Zheng Shanguo of the Xingyang Zheng family are known as the Xingyang Zheng family, they actually moved to Chang'an in Guanzhong for several generations, and moved to Luoyang earlier. They belong to five surnames and seven families, and they are the leaders of the top gentry. The Fang family in Licheng is the same as the Qin family in Licheng.

On the other hand, the Zheng family used to belong to the Jiancheng Party, and Fang Xuanling was a staunch King of Qin Party. Now Fang Xuanling and the other old departments of the Qin Dynasty naturally hope to suppress the Jiancheng Party and even the Wushu Party that were originally on their heads. The veterans of Germany have defeated their superiors.

In this incident, the Zheng family ignored the overall situation, and Li Shimin had to make an example of others. He had given the Zheng family a face before and did not pursue Zheng Yuanrui's smuggling of grain to make a fortune, but Zheng Yuanxuan's incident was a hundred times worse than Zheng Yuanrui's.

"Xuanling, you are here to draft the imperial decree, take away all the official ranks of Zheng Yuanxuan, cut him off as the Duke of Pei, expel his nationality as a citizen, and order him to return to his original place to reflect on himself."

Fang Xuanling was a bit surprised by the result of this disposition, it was too severe.

It is very serious just to remove the nationality for the people. The removal of the nationality refers to the famous and eunuch status, which is the qualification to be an official. Even if ordinary officials are demoted and dismissed, they can at least retain their names and status, and there is still a chance of reinstatement at any time.

It's a real slog to the end.

Previously, Zheng Shanguo was pushed to the end, and at least retained his rank and title, but lost his job, but now Zheng Yuanxuan directly became a commoner.

"The author Yousi took back the rewards given by the imperial court in the past, and took back the job fields, official Yongye fields, and title Yongye fields, etc."

Since he wanted to do something, Li Shimin decided to be more ruthless.

He wants to take advantage of this to kill the arrogance of those gentry again. Now it is a new dynasty and a new era. If he still dares to disrespect the emperor and the court, he will end up just like Zheng Yuanxuan.

Li Shimin has always been very jealous of the Shandong gentry represented by the five surnames and seven families. He could not drive the entire five surnames and seven families out of the court. The feet are still fine.

On the one hand, he stepped on the opportunity, and on the other hand, he showed favor from time to time to win over, but it was still effective. Now Li Shimin's relationship with Taiyuan Wang, Qinghe Cui and Boling Cui is pretty good.

Only this Xingyang Zheng family is now being stared at by Li Shimin. Time and time again, he steps on a few feet when he has the opportunity, from Zheng Xuanli to Zheng Shanguo to Zheng Yuanxuan, and even Zheng Yuanxun, Zheng Yuancong, Zheng Shanyuan, etc. are also sought by the emperor. Cleaned up.

From the glorious time when she was the concubine's mother's family, to being watched by the emperor now, the Zheng family is also miserable, but now the Zheng family still refuses to surrender allegiance, Zheng Yuanxuan dares to talk about locust disasters this time It's because the emperor's virtue is not enough. Doesn't this imply that Li Shimin's rebellion usurped the throne?

If a person like Wei Zheng said a few words about this kind of thing, it would be fine, after all, Wei Zheng is just a direct minister. But whoever said that it would not be the Zheng family's turn to speak, the Zheng family is the best friend of King Xi Ling, the former leader of the gentry, if they are allowed to be careless, how will they control public opinion in the future?

"Qizhou is an important place in Gyeonggi, and the position of governor must not be vacant. Your Majesty, please choose a good official to fill it."

"Who can recommend Xuanling?"

"I think Qin Lang is capable of serving as a minister, and the current command to control locusts is also effective and effective in appeasing the people. How about using Qin Lang to check and correct the governor of Qizhou?" Fang Xuanling recommended Qin Lang.

But the emperor shook his head again and again.

"Qin Langzhen can't do without left and right, so I recommend someone else."

"How about Chai Shao? He was the governor of Qizhou before, and he is quite popular in Qizhou!"

This is a good candidate, but Li Shimin thought for a long time and shook his head. Although Chai Shao is his brother-in-law, Chai Shao did not stand on his side in the previous battle between him and Jiancheng, which always made him a little bit worried, especially Chai Shao was able to fight with troops and rule the land well. Qizhou is still well-known, which inevitably makes Li Shimin a little apprehensive and worried.

"What do you think of Dou Yun?" The emperor himself proposed a personal choice.

"I think it's good!" Fang Xuanling directly agreed with this candidate for no other reason. Dou Yun's surname is Dou, and he is from Li Shimin's mother's natal family.

Dou Yun's father, Dou Wei, was the prime minister in the early Tang Dynasty and served as the internal history order. His grandfather, Dou Chi, was the Taifu and Deng Guogong of the Sui Dynasty. Dou Wei is the cousin of Empress Dou Mu, so Li Yuan will call Dou Wei uncle, and Li Shimin will call Dou Yun uncle.

Dou Chi's family is famous for their bravery and ability to fight, but Dou Wei prefers literature and history. He was once ridiculed by his brothers as a bookworm, but he was recommended by Prime Minister Li Delin in the Sui Dynasty. He refused to be transferred from the Secretary Prison, and devoted himself to studying knowledge, and his brothers in the clan were all distinguished because of their military exploits, and everyone laughed at him. Don't you want to become a saint? Dou Wei smiled but did not answer.

Later, Dou Wei was very talented and famous in the court. He served as the internal historian of Yang Guang. Doctrine, excellent performance.

After Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, he appointed him as prime minister. He told Dou Wei that there were Eight Pillar Kingdoms in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and my family and your family were among them. Now I am the emperor, but you are the prime minister, which is not equal.

Dou Wei said, Dou's family was relatives in the Han Dynasty, and there were three empresses in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Now that His Majesty founded the country, and the minister was appointed because of his in-law status, the minister was very afraid, afraid that he would not be able to do the job.

Li Yuan laughed and said that the five surnames and seven families including the Cui family and the Lu family in the Guandong gentry were complacent when they married each other. Isn't it very valuable for your family to be a relative of the imperial family?

But not long after Dou Wei became prime minister, he died of illness.

Back then, Li Yuan compared the Dou family with five surnames and seven families. Now Li Shimin uses Dou Yun, the son of the founding prime minister Dou Wei, to replace Zheng Yuanxuan from the Zheng family of Xingyang as the governor of Qizhou. Obviously, this choice is not easy.

How could Fang Xuanling fail to see it, and naturally he was in full agreement.

The third family of the Dou family in Henan, Wei, Zhou, Sui and Tang can be called relatives of the four dynasties. The emperor obviously felt that his relatives were more reliable.

Dou Yun's cousin, Dou Gui, is currently serving as the governor of Yizhou. The last time he was awarded the meritorious officials, Dou Gui was also awarded the meritorious officials of 600 households.

"Qin Qiong and Qin Lang have made great contributions in controlling locusts and disaster relief, and gave Qin Qiong Qizhou 200 hectares of land, and Qin Lang Qi Prefecture 100 hectares of land!" The emperor gave generously, and directly rewarded Qin Qiong and his son with many fields.

Later, Li Shimin called the people from the Baiqi Division, "Send Qin Lang an oral order. Now that the locust situation in Qizhou has been controlled, it will be handed over to Dou Yun, the Duke of Yan'an County. He will make another hard trip to Jingzhou to replace me." Take a look at what Jingzhou Inspector Li Yi is doing, why is the locust situation in the Jingzhou newspaper not well controlled?"