202, Flood in the North
202, Flood in the North
When Lu Mingfei returned home from the Imperial College in the afternoon, he met his father and adoptive father.
After dinner, they talked about the recent situation in Kyoto Prefecture. His father told him that their village had arranged for some young and strong people to go up the mountain to reclaim land and build houses.
Recently, there have been more and more refugees outside Kyoto Prefecture, and their village has begun to take in some of them.
When Lu Youtian talked about this, he said, "The village has arranged for people to go up the mountain to reclaim the land. I discussed it with the village chief and others, and we have also arranged for some people from our village to go up the mountain to reclaim the land."
"In the past two years, the villagers have been busy raising rabbits and growing bean sprouts, and the land they rent is not as much as before. This is a good opportunity for the villagers to go up the mountain and open up a few more acres of land. It is also a good thing for us villagers."
"Dad, you have to remind the village chief and others that the land on the mountain should not be cultivated too much. If the trees are cut down, it is very likely to cause landslides when it rains." Lu Mingfei knew that people nowadays have no awareness of protecting the environment, but he still had to remind them.
"I have a method for growing wood ear mushrooms. Dad, you can take it to the village chief and others tomorrow. Instead of reclaiming more mountain land to grow ordinary crops, it is better to grow mushrooms there and dry them. We can eat them and sell them for money." Lu Mingfei gave his father the cultivation method he had written in advance.
"There are plenty of these things in the mountains, why do we need to grow them?" Although he said that, Lu Youtian still reached out to take it.
"I know there are some in the mountains, but I have to look for them everywhere in the mountains. How can I find them planted in one place so that they are convenient for picking and a large amount can be picked at one time?" said Lu Mingfei.
Lu Qingfeng reached out to take the paper from Lu Youtian's hand, unfolded it, and read it carefully from beginning to end. He nodded involuntarily, looked up at his adopted son, and asked, "Where did you get this method?"
"...I learned this from a book," Lu Mingfei made an excuse. In reality, he had learned this method of cultivating mushrooms from a video in his previous life.
Seeing that his adoptive father had no suspicions, Lu Mingfei changed the subject and talked about other things.
It was only after dark that he brought his men back to the courtyard on Chunxi Road.
In the evening, he came to Prince Ding's mansion to practice martial arts, and Master Zhao sparred with him.
The two of them practiced back and forth for a while, and Lu Mingfei was already sweating, but when he saw that Master Zhao's hair was not even messed up, he couldn't help but envy Master Zhao's calmness.
However, he also knew that Master Zhao was giving him a break, otherwise he would not be able to survive even two moves from Master Zhao.
"Let's take a break." Lu Mingfei was so tired that he called for a stop.
"What? You can't do it so soon?" Zhao Lang threw the sword in his hand, and the sword fell back on the shelf. He dared to insert it into the upright scabbard.
“…”
Lu Mingfei looked at the person who said he was not good enough, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Taking the handkerchief handed to him, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and body, and did not argue with Zhao Lang about his inability.
The two people moved from the martial arts training ground to the pavilion by the lake.
Lu Mingfei picked up the poured tea and took a big sip, then sat down by the railing of the pavilion, half of his body leaning on the railing, looking at the dark lake.
After a while, he turned around and looked at the person standing beside him and asked, "Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?"
"I've thought about it." Zhao Lang lowered his eyes, looked at the young man who was looking up at him, and said calmly.
Hearing Zhao Lang's answer without hesitation, Lu Mingfei knew that he had really thought about it. He turned around and sat facing Zhao Lang, and asked Zhao Lang, "What do you want to do?"
"I want to be a general." Zhao Lang remembered that when he was young, his father taught him to ride a horse and shoot arrows. At that time, he thought that when he grew up, he would be like his father, riding a horse to the battlefield and becoming a general.
Hearing this, Lu Mingfei nodded. He knew that Prince Ding was the general who led the troops to fight. Zhao Lang's dream of becoming a general should be inherited from his father.
If Zhao Lang hadn't been summoned to Kyoto Prefecture by the emperor's imperial edict, he would have joined the army long ago and might have been a general by now. Unfortunately, Zhao Lang's life was disrupted by the emperor's personal whims and suspicions. Not only could he not become a general, but he was now confined to this cage in Kyoto Prefecture.
He looked at Zhao Lang intently and hooked his finger at him.
Zhao Lang looked at Lu Mingfei hooking her finger at him and paused for a moment, but he still bent down and put his ear close to Lu Mingfei.
Lu Mingfei lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear and asked Zhao Lang, "Besides being a general, have you ever thought about being something else?"
"Anything else?"
"Hmm. For example, someone with a higher status than the general?"
Zhao Lang turned his head and met Lu Mingfei's eyes. The two of them were very close, so close that he could see his own reflection in the boy's eyes.
A status higher than that of a general?
When Zhao Lang heard this, his heart skipped a beat for no reason.
After having the guards send Lu Mingfei home that day, Zhao Lang sat alone in the pavilion for a long time, thinking about what Lu Mingfei said before he left.
***
In June, rains began to fall in the north, and some rivers entered the flood season.
Initially, only one local official submitted a memorial stating that the river water level during this year's flood season had risen significantly compared to previous years. However, this memorial did not attract the attention of the emperor or the court officials.
Just after June, a flood occurred in the lower reaches of the Han River, submerging several counties.
When the news reached Kyoto Prefecture, the emperor in the imperial city and the ministers in the court learned about it.
When news of the flood in the lower reaches of the Han River reached Kyoto, Lu Mingfei was still studying at the Imperial College. His heart skipped a beat when he heard the news.
"It's over..." Ye Zhuoran had just opened his mouth to say the first word when his mouth was covered by someone.
The person who covered his mouth was none other than Zhang Lingxuan who was sitting next to him.
"Don't talk."
Two voices sounded at the same time.
The two people who spoke were Lu Mingfei and Zhang Lingxuan. They looked at each other and then at Ye Zhuoran.
"Yeah, yeah!" Ye Zhuoran nodded desperately, signaling Zhang Lingxuan with his eyes to let go of his mouth.
Fu Boming looked at Ye Zhuoran and shook his head, but didn't say anything.
When they returned to their courtyard, Ye Zhuoran chased after Lu Mingfei and said, "Two years ago, there was a flood in the south, and this year there's a flood in the north again. Tell me, is this God's will..."
Lu Mingfei made a silencing gesture and told Ye Zhuoran, "Don't say that."
"Oh." Ye Zhuoran understood and didn't dare to continue.
The four of them ran to the room where Lu Mingfei lived at the same time. Ye Zhuoran sat on Lu Mingfei's bed, while Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming both stood.
Speaking of floods, Fu Boming couldn't help but sigh, "Ah, I don't know how many people will die in this flood."
Lu Mingfei knew that a flood would definitely result in casualties, especially in this era when technology and rescue operations were very backward. Waiting for the court to send people to provide disaster relief was tantamount to waiting to die.
As for the snowstorm this year, the imperial court delayed for half a year before sending an imperial envoy to provide disaster relief.
The rescue efforts for this flood will most likely be the same as previous ones. After most of the people in the disaster-stricken areas have died and the officials at the court have finished arguing, the imperial envoys sent by the emperor will slowly go to the disaster area with people and relief supplies to provide disaster relief.
What’s even more ironic is that it is hard to say how much of this disaster relief money and supplies will ultimately reach the hands of the victims.
Glancing at everyone, Ye Zhuoran asked something that had been a little worrying in his heart, "Do you think this year's provincial examination will go on as scheduled?"
This sentence caused the other three people present to look at him.
"Did I say something wrong?" Being stared at by these three people, Ye Zhuoran was afraid that they would beat him, so he crawled to the corner of the bed and huddled up, looking at the three people who were staring at him with a vigilant look.
After a while, Lu Mingfei said, "Zhuoran, compared to human lives, the provincial examination is not that important."
Ye Zhuoran scratched his head and said with a guilty conscience, "I didn't say the provincial examination is more important than human life. I'm just a little worried that under the current circumstances, the provincial examination can't be held as scheduled."
"If it can't be held as scheduled, it can't be held as scheduled. It's not a big deal. You don't have to worry." That was all Lu Mingfei could say.
If the imperial court is willing to devote all its national resources to disaster relief, what does it matter if the provincial examinations are delayed? The real fear is that the imperial court would rather spend a lot of manpower and material resources on this year's imperial examinations than postpone disaster relief.
In fact, just as he expected, this year's provincial examination was indeed held as scheduled.
However, the court's policies and measures for disaster relief have been slow to come out.
The Imperial Academy was well-informed, with news about the court coming in almost every day. Although the provincial examinations were approaching, many people had no interest in studying and spent the whole day discussing state affairs.
Lu Mingfei had originally planned to postpone this year's provincial examination, but after talking with his teacher Mr. Ouyang, he decided to take part in this year's provincial examination according to his original plan.
Last year, he chose the Spring and Autumn Period subject, so he studied with his current teacher, Mr. Ouyang.
Among the four of them, he and their senior brother Fu Boming were noticed by their current Mr. Ouyang when they were choosing subjects, and the two became his disciples.
Originally, Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran also wanted to follow their teacher, but their teacher did not agree to accept Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran as apprentices. Instead, he recommended them to other teachers.
So now Ye Zhuoran followed Mr. Chai, who majored in the Book of Songs, and Zhang Lingxuan chose etiquette.
Now the four of them are studying with three different teachers.
In the past, the four of them would work as a team to attend large classes. Now, in addition to large classes, they also have small classes with teachers of their own choice.
However, Lu Mingfei also discovered the benefits of choosing a mentor: having a mentor personally guiding them is a completely different learning experience than not having one. Furthermore, after choosing a teacher and establishing a mentor-apprentice relationship, their mentors were more attentive in guiding them.
If Lu Mingfei is hesitant about something, he will talk to his teacher and get some better advice from him.
This time he talked with his teacher about the provincial examination, and it was his teacher who suggested that he must take the exam. His teacher said something very right: if he was just a scholar and didn't even have the opportunity to enter the officialdom, how could he save the people?
Only by passing the imperial examinations, entering officialdom, and reaching the center of power can one be qualified to work for the people and speak for them.
Lu Mingfei knew that his teacher's words were right, he needed a qualification! Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading
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