Chapter 21: Spring rain is as precious as oil (1)

In the first year of Chongzhen.

February 16.

The Taihe Gate was in the morning.

The rain outside Taihe Gate was falling.

The courtiers in the Taihe Gate Hall were bustling with each other.

Yang Jing ignored these NPCs as always. He sat on the dragon throne in a daze. However, his eyes cooperated well and swept across the foreheads of his ministers from time to time. Everyone thought that the emperor was paying attention to me.

Last night, the rain started to fall. The spring rain was as expensive as oil, and it had not stopped until now. Yang Jie suddenly had a whim in the middle of the night, asking the little eunuch to use a copper basin to catch the rain.

The ministers "squirted" each other for a long time, and soon found that His Majesty the Emperor was sitting on the dragon throne in a daze, and he had no intention of quarreling anymore. The performers also found it boring to perform without anyone to appreciate the performance! Just like a novel that no one reads, the eunuch became as he wrote.

The hall finally became quiet.

"Have you finally finished arguing?" Yang Qiei came back to his senses and asked.

The ministers blew up blood. They thought that the emperor was too "bad", which made us waste a lot of effort, and they vomited dry mouth. They even asked if we had finished the argument.

"My dear friends, let's not discuss the quarrel for now. Let's talk about other things first and relax. I see that the dear friends are arguing about red faces and thick necks. How about taking a break?"

The ministers were speechless and thought to themselves that the emperor had made some trouble. Every time we talked about something else, it made us very embarrassed.

Yang Jie had already spoken again and said, "I saw the drizzle outside the hall, which has been drizzling from last night to now. I don't know if it is a good or a bad thing, but my dear friends all said it."

The ministers breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the emperor was fine, and nothing happened. They asked about this rain. Yesterday was the "Spring Equinox Festival". I guess they were inspired.

"I have come to the emperor, as the saying goes, 'Spring rain is as precious as oil'. This drizzle is as precious as oil. It is a good thing. It is a sign that the Ming Dynasty will surely be a year of bumper grains this year. It is a happy congratulations, Your Majesty." A minister who is good at flattering has already thought of a bumper harvest of food.

"Report to Your Majesty, this is a good thing. With so much spring rain, I believe that spring plowing will not be short of rain this year. It is a good omen of harvest!"

"Report to Your Majesty, yesterday was the 'Spring Equinox', and it was a pity to congratulate today."

"Your Majesty, this is a good omen from heaven!"

"Your Majesty is blessed..."

There is endless stream of flattery, and Yang Jing ignored it.

"You all love me first." As soon as Yang Jie said, the ministers below stopped talking, and see what the emperor said.

"Dear friends, do you know how long it has been rained? How much has it been? You all say that this 'spring rain is as precious as oil', and you say that there will be a bumper harvest next year. But, I ask you, how much rain has fallen? Can you know that?" Yang Jing expressed today's theme.

"Well……"

"this……"

"ah!"

Depressed, the group of ministers were so frustrated that we were the court officials who were in charge of the center of the Ming Dynasty, not the Dragon King who was responsible for how much rain, so what we were doing?

A group of ministers were holding their ears and thick necks below, but some didn't know where to start.

After a while, one of the old ministers came out to speak: "Report to Your Majesty, I guess the rain started to fall since yesterday's ugly moment. It's almost noon now, and it's been five hours intermittently. As for how much rain it has been, I don't know how much it has been, but I can't figure it out, and I've always been doing this like this."

"Well, right, my dear, I said it well. It was just the time when the rain fell yesterday, and I woke up. Seeing the spring rain falling, I sighed that the rain did fall in time. Yesterday was the 'Spring Equinox' and it rained today. I believe that there will be a good harvest this year. I - that's what I think."

Yang Jing changed the topic and said, "Since this is a good thing, who can tell me how much rain is needed for the seedlings in this land? How long will it take to make the food of the people in the world harvest? How much will it be considered a blessing from the sky, not a disaster?"

Speaking of this, it's a little cold.

The ministers thought to themselves, but they didn't expect the emperor to care about this matter. It seems that they are a bit more thoughtful. But does this have to do with us? We collect land rent. As for how much grain can grow in the land, it has nothing to do with us. It is the tenant's business. If there are too many, they can eat more white flour. If there are too few, they will go hungry, go to eat tree bark, borrow us loan loans, sell children and daughters to pay rent for us, and they can just put some seals out, collect a few concubines and buy a few girls to serve.

Another minister couldn't bear to see it and came out to report: "Report to Your Majesty, this matter is related to the celestial phenomena. You have to ask the people from the Imperial Heavenly Prison to know, and I'm afraid we don't know either."

Very good, it is very artistic to shirk, but it is also a matter. In ancient times, there was such an institution that specifically dealt with this matter, the Imperial Heaven Supervision. Yang Jing nodded and said, "Well, then, let's announce the people from the Imperial Heaven Supervision to come quickly."

Yang Jie and the ministers have been "confronting each other" in the hall for a long time. Without saying anything, everyone is embarrassed.

Fortunately, the people from the Imperial Heavenly Prison came, otherwise, if this was awkward, I would probably have no food to eat.

"I am the Imperial Heavenly Prison... I will beg you to see my emperor long ago." A group of "green robe officials" and "green robe officials" kowtowed on the ground. I was probably afraid that the emperor would ask, so I called all the people who could call the Imperial Heavenly Prison.

"Get up. I have something to ask you."

"Thank you for your kindness." They all got up. In this hall, the green and green robes are serious "little officials", and they are quite conspicuous among a group of red robes.

"I discuss this spring rain with my dear friends today. They all say that spring rain is as precious as oil, but I want to know how long it took and how much it has fallen. My dear friends have introduced the Imperial Heaven Superintendent to solve my doubts. Tell me."

The people from the Imperial Heaven Criminal were stunned. What is this? It rained. It was a good thing. Yesterday was the vernal equinox, and it rained today. It seemed that this year was a good year, but how long it took to get a platter to pick it up... It seems that it was too much. Who would get up in the middle of the night to pick it up?

Everyone in the Imperial Heavenly Prison was hesitating whether to answer the emperor's words.

Suddenly one of them came out and said, "Report to Your Majesty, I have also observed this spring rain. It is indeed timely. This year will definitely be a good harvest. As for how long it takes to check and how much it has been, I am incompetent and I am not prepared. Maybe I will be prepared in the future and I can count how much rain will come."

"Well, what's your name?" Yang Jingwei also became interested in seeing that there was a "capable person".

"Report to Your Majesty, I am the empress dowager Li Zubai from the Imperial Heavenly Supervision Department."

"Li Zubai?" Yang Jing recited it silently in his heart, and seemed to have no impression. He didn't care too much.

When Yang Jie saw this person, he looked like a show. He thought that he wanted to tease the scholar-official elites of the Ming Dynasty, but he didn't expect that someone would come to know the goods. He immediately became happy and said, "Li Aiqing, this is how much rain happened yesterday. He thought of my Ming Dynasty's grain harvest. He asked how much rain it had happened. He asked the little official to use a basin to collect the rain. Li Aiqing quickly calculate it for me. I am eager to know..." Yang Jie was very happy. Finally, he met a person who liked him and "soaked" himself with those sour and rotten things all day long.

Yang Jie shouted again: "Come on, bring the basin."

The little eunuch immediately walked over slowly, held a basin in his hand, covering it with a wooden cover. He uncovered the cover and it turned out to be a copper basin, all yellow, and the water inside was about one knuckle-deep.

"Li Aiqing, hurry up and calculate how much water is in this basin and how much rain has it?"

In fact, Yang Jie himself has experienced nine-year compulsory education in New China. This is calculated by counting the area, volume, weight, and rainfall. He has also learned it. However, since he graduated, he has left it to the teacher. If he wants to calculate, he has to review it again.

However, since we have been the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, how can we calculate it yourself? What does the emperor do? That is, people who are served by all the people in the world, of course, they should look for others to forget about it.

The ministers were confused and muttered to myself that the emperor really dared to think about it and really dared to do it. Isn’t the Jade Emperor’s decree to issue an order or the Dragon Prince running errands? Why do we all mortals also count this thing?

However, the emperor asked about the food this year, which was natural and he was diligent and loved the people. It was hard to say anything. He could only stretch his neck to see how the supervisor Li Zubai measured the rainfall.

Li Zubai is not vague either.

He also replied: "Your Majesty, I want to measure the diameter and size of this copper basin. If you need tools, please allow me to take it."

Yang Jing couldn't wait to see how the Ming Dynasty people measured the rainfall. He immediately said: "Good companion, ask someone to take it at a speed."

"Yes, Your Majesty, the old minister is asking someone to take it." Wang Chengen agreed immediately. When this was the time to go to court, Wang Chengen called himself a "member". Yang Jie did not pay attention and did not care about this.
Chapter completed!