"His Majesty has been in power for eleven years, devoting himself to governing the country and showing great concern for the people. He is a rare and sage ruler throughout the ages."
"There are still more than ten days before the locust plague occurs. As the saying goes, everything has its destiny, and we cannot force things. Your Majesty's concern for the country and its people is sufficient, but there is no need for self-blame or guilt!"
These words not only eased the tense atmosphere in the hall, but also brought some comfort to the emperor.
Even Li Gancheng and Yao Tianzheng, who were standing to the side, felt a sense of admiration for Sun Jian.
This kid really knows how to talk.
In just a few words, he not only extricated the emperor from the predicament but also indirectly praised Emperor Ganwu's merits.
Upon hearing Sun Jian's words, Emperor Ganwu's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.
He sighed softly, "Even if it is not my fault, the continuous natural disasters have emptied the national treasury, and with wars raging everywhere, the people of Daqian are already overburdened. Now we are facing such a large-scale locust plague... Alas! How should we deal with this!"
Li Gancheng cupped his hands and said with a serious expression, "Father, throughout history, locust plagues have occurred in every dynasty. The methods for controlling locust plagues are nothing more than the following: burning eggs, catching locusts, and spreading pesticides."
"In my opinion, there are three urgent matters at present."
"First, quickly determine the extent of the locust eggs, predict the specific situation of the locust plague, and formulate detailed countermeasures."
"Second, news of the locust plague should be blocked, and all government offices should prepare grain reserves in advance to cope with disaster relief in various counties."
"Third, store up the seeds after the disaster to facilitate planting later."
Yao Tianzheng was quite satisfied with Li Gancheng's three strategies.
He cupped his hands in greeting to Emperor Ganwu and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is concerned about the country and its people, and the strategies you have proposed are reasonable. This old minister seconds your proposal."
Emperor Ganwu fell into deep thought at this moment.
Sun Jian could roughly guess what the old emperor was thinking; he understood it.
Although Crown Prince Li Gancheng's three strategies were good, they could not solve any problems.
It can only be described as a passive response, no less than trying to mend the fence after the sheep have escaped.
Currently, the entire country is facing a severe food shortage, and even the front-line battlefields are at risk of running out of food. Furthermore, the previous disaster victims have not yet been fully relieved, so where can we find new food to provide disaster relief when the locust plague strikes?
As for the later grain varieties, it goes without saying that before the locust plague, the people were so hungry that they started eating corpses, children, and even tree bark, grass roots, and clay!
Putting aside the question of where the new grain seeds would come from, even if there were grain seeds available, distributing them under these circumstances would be useless.
For a moment, the hall fell silent once again.
Everyone fell into deep thought, the oppressive atmosphere intensified, and everyone's breathing became rapid.
This state of affairs lasted for a long time until the eunuch reported that several ministers from the Imperial Study had arrived, and the oppressive atmosphere in the hall eased somewhat.
"Summon them to the palace!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
With a command from Emperor Qianwu, several high-ranking officials strode into the Taiji Hall.
There were seven people in total. The leader was Lin Xuanfu, the powerful prime minister. The others were, in order, Yi Youwei, the censor-in-chief; Mi Zhu, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue; Zhuang Qishi, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and tutor to the crown prince; Wei Xian, the minister of the Ministry of War; Li Kui, the minister of the Ministry of Personnel; and Xing Kang, the minister of the Ministry of Works.
With the addition of Yao Tianzheng, eight of the eleven ministers of the Imperial Study have now gathered.
Those who did not arrive were the Governor-General of Bingzhou, the Governor-General of Yizhou, and the Governor-General of Sizhou.
These three individuals are not usually in court, so they can be ignored.
The officials all knew perfectly well that for Emperor Ganwu to summon them so urgently, especially since they were all top leaders of Gan, something of great importance must have happened.
After the seven people finished paying their respects to the old emperor, they began to pay their respects to Crown Prince Li Gancheng.
During this time, Wei Xian's gaze met Sun Jian's, and both of their expressions twitched almost imperceptibly.
As the saying goes, enemies are especially hateful when they meet. The moment Sun Jian and Wei Xian locked eyes, his anger quietly surged up. However, given the current situation, he could only suppress this anger for the time being.
"Show them all."
With a cold face, Emperor Ganwu handed the memorial in his hand to Wang De beside him.
Wang De dared not be negligent. He bowed and quickly handed over the memorial, which was then reviewed by several ministers of the Imperial Study.
After reading it, everyone's eyes widened, their faces turned ashen, and they looked incredulous. Some even had beads of sweat on their foreheads.
"This...this!"
After reading the memorial, Master Zhuang, the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, began to stammer.
"May I ask Your Majesty, has the statement in the memorial been verified?"
Lin Xuanfu's expression wasn't much better, but compared to Mr. Zhuang, he was more shrewd and calmer in the face of adversity.
Emperor Ganwu did not speak, but instead gave Wang De a look.
Wang De immediately understood and handed over the straw roots he had prepared beforehand for the officials to inspect.
Everyone who saw it was speechless.
The densely packed locust eggs, combined with the analysis in the memorial to the throne.
It seems that an impending locust plague is now a foregone conclusion!
"My lords, this is straw from the Eastern City Imperial Estate. The news was brought to us by Lord Sun Jian, the Deputy Commandant of the Tiger Army."
Wang De explained from the side.
Emperor Ganwu, with a cold face, said to the crowd: "This locust plague is a once-in-a-century event, and it seriously threatens the country and the lives of hundreds of millions of people in my great Gan. I have summoned you all here urgently to discuss this matter."
"What are your opinions on this, my esteemed ministers?"
The ministers who served in the Imperial Study immediately began to discuss the matter.
Before long, the group reached several conclusions, which were then put forward by Prime Minister Lin Xuanfu.
The general meaning is similar to what Li Gancheng said, but it is more detailed.
Besides blocking information, stockpiling food, and preparing seeds, they all advocated killing and capturing the locusts before they spread.
In short, before a locust plague occurs, every effort is made to eliminate the locust eggs. After a locust plague occurs, every effort is made to catch them. Money is paid to soldiers to actively catch them. At the same time, based on historical locust plague experience, people are encouraged to raise poultry that feed on locusts. The method of setting fires at night, digging pits next to the fires, and burning and burying the locusts is adopted to deal with the situation.
"Is this the consensus you all hold?"
Emperor Ganwu's gaze swept over the assembled officials, his eyes revealing a profound depth.
After exchanging glances, everyone nodded in unison; this was the only solution they could come up with.
Emperor Ganwu sighed. The methods were all the same old ones, but where would the money and grain come from? The national treasury of Ganwu had long been empty. There was no money or grain left for disaster relief, let alone for locust plagues.
"Your Majesty, in recent years, Yizhou and Bingzhou have suffered greatly from natural disasters, and the people are in unbearable pain. The only solution now is to transfer troops, money and grain from Sizhou."
"Although the Sizhou area was also affected by the floods, fortunately the crops still yielded a harvest last year."
"Perhaps this can solve our immediate crisis!"
Minister of Revenue Mi Zhu cupped his hands in greeting and expressed his thoughts to the emperor.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Minister of War Wei Xian chimed in, "Your Majesty, this old minister does not agree with Minister Mi's idea."
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