"This is so simple, just listen carefully!"
Is writing poetry really that simple?
Zhuo Yihang and others suddenly widened their eyes. They did not go to Hanling Temple in person for the Wu Dynasty Literary Competition that year, but they all heard that Fu Xiaoguan wrote a poem in half a cup of tea and eventually won the championship of the literary competition.
In just half a cup of tea, His Majesty can now compose a poem off the cuff!
As everyone looked on in amazement, Fu Xiaoguan shook his head like an old scholar:
"This poem is called 'Song of Pity the Peasants'. Listen carefully!"
Dong Shulan's eyes sparkled with joy.
Gongsun Ce pursed his lips slightly and stared at Fu Xiaoguan intently - he had followed Fu Xiaoguan for such a long time, but had never seen this world-renowned literary master write poetry with his own eyes.
Eunuch Jia narrowed his eyes slightly, and every wrinkle in his old face was filled with joy.
"Song of Pity the Peasant, No. 1"
“Plant a grain of millet in spring and harvest ten thousand grains in autumn.
There is no idle land in the world, yet farmers still starve to death."
This is an extremely simple poem, but to the ears of Nangong Yiyu and the others, it sounded like a thunderclap!
Your Majesty’s intention is not the poem, but the deeper meaning of the poem!
Before they could savor it carefully, Fu Xiaoguan's face was solemn. He picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp. Then he said:
"Song of Pity the Peasant, Part Two"
"When I hoe the field at noon, my sweat drips down to the soil.
Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is the product of hard work? "
This is also an extremely simple poem, which also surprised Nangong Yiyu and others.
This first poem, "One Plant, One Harvest," depicts farmers working in the fields. From a single grain of millet, thousands of seeds emerge – this is a bountiful harvest, with no idle fields left in the world. This is the scene of abundant fruitfulness and a golden expanse.
The first three sentences describe how the farmers reaped a good harvest through their hard work, but the last sentence takes an abrupt turn - the crops that they had worked hard for a year finally had a good harvest, but the farmers still had empty granaries and were almost starving to death!
The second poem vividly describes the situation of farmers working under the scorching sun - at noon when the sun is high in the sky, the farmers sweat like rain on the scorching land, which reflects the reason why one grain of millet becomes ten thousand seeds and there is no idle land in the world in the first poem. They are watered by the hard sweat of thousands of farmers.
But how many people who eat know about such hard work?
They simply don't understand the hardships involved in every grain of rice!
Everyone fell into deep thought, even Dong Shulan's gaze became heavy.
There was complete silence.
After a moment, Fu Xiaoguan broke the silence:
"You all know that I used to be a small landowner. I'm afraid I understand farmers better than you do."
"The Wu Dynasty has a population of 120 million, of which nearly 100 million are farmers. They are the cornerstone and foundation of the Wu Dynasty!"
"I was hoping to have a relaxing dinner and a few drinks with everyone tonight, but Mr. Zhuo had to assign me this topic..." Fu Xiaoguan spread his hands and raised his eyebrows. "And I, on the other hand, had to write two such heavy poems. Now that we've finished writing them, why not talk about the three rural issues?"
Everyone pricked up their ears, and they heard a new term - the three rural issues!
"The so-called "Three Rural Issues" refer to agricultural issues, rural issues, and farmer issues. These three issues cannot be viewed separately. It is a systematic project that encompasses the comprehensive issues of the industries farmers work in, the regions where they live, and their main identity..."
Fu Xiaoguan talked freely and this banquet turned into a lesson!
In this class, he explained in detail to two prime ministers and a minister of the Ministry of Revenue his understanding of the three rural issues and his subsequent governance strategies.
In this era where everything is inferior except for education, although everyone talks about scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, in fact the status of farmers is extremely low.
But Fu Xiaoguan's words made them understand the importance of farmers, and for the first time they really took them seriously.
"As a court, we must protect the basic rights of farmers. As officials, we must lead farmers to prosperity. Only such officials will be loved by farmers all over the world, and only such a court will be supported by them."
"So my plan is to completely abolish the agricultural tax next year and completely liberalize grain prices. Even grain from the state reserves must be purchased at market prices. Only when 100 million farmers become prosperous can the Wu Dynasty, with a population of 120 million, be considered prosperous."
The Minister of Revenue You Xianzhi was shocked. The agricultural tax that had been in place for thousands of years was going to be abolished?
This... He glanced at the two ministers, but Zhuo Yihang nodded. "Although agricultural taxes account for 30% of our dynasty's tax revenue each year, Your Majesty's words are very reasonable. We are in high positions in the government, but we don't care about the people. We still need Your Majesty to enlighten us with two poems of 'Song of Pity the Peasants'. This is truly a dereliction of duty!"
Fu Xiaoguan didn't mean to blame them. He smiled and said, "The abolition of the agricultural tax is based on industrial development. In fact, as the Five-Year Plan progresses, the population engaged in agriculture will decrease significantly. These people will enter the industrial sector to create higher value."
"Then...what if there are fewer people farming?" You Xianzhi asked.
"Farming tools will continue to improve with the development of industry. You can understand this as one person who could only cultivate ten acres of land before will now be able to cultivate fifty or even a hundred acres."
You Xianzhi couldn't understand. There were many things his majesty had said these days that he couldn't comprehend. Judging from what the two prime ministers meant... it seemed that there was no need to understand.
Just as Lord Nangong said to him yesterday, listen and remember, just do as His Majesty says!
Is this too blind?
You Xianzhi took all of this to heart, intending to come back and verify it in a few years.
"When you return tomorrow, formulate specific proposals addressing the three rural issues. Let local officials first clarify the policy direction. Give them six months to change their mindset, and then...implement them at the beginning of next year!"
A feast and two poems finalized the next agricultural policy. No one knew how far-reaching the impact of this policy would be on the farmers of the Wu Dynasty, but the two poems written by His Majesty spread throughout the Wu Dynasty in a very short time.
Your Majesty sympathizes with farmers, and his poems deeply describe the sufferings of farmers!
Originally, only the farmers knew about this suffering, but now they realized that their Majesty also knew about it.
Such a Majesty is certainly a virtuous person!
It seems that there is great potential for agriculture!
Farmers' enthusiasm is unprecedentedly high because they see hope.
The next day, Fu Xiaoguan saw off Zhuo and his party. He stayed in Siyang County for another two days and left Siyang County on May 20th, and also left the Six Prefectures of Beixiao.
He took Gongsun Ce and headed towards Wuyuan Prefecture.
He had already received the information sent by Zhou Tongtong. In the Wuyuanzhou River Engineering Corruption Case, a total of eighty-two corrupt officials were uncovered!
"You are bullying me because I am young!" Fu Xiaoguan's tone was indifferent, but Dong Shulan seemed to have smelled a strong smell of blood.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
