Chapter 14 Dignity

June 20th of the first year of Xingping (399th year of the Han Dynasty, July 24th, 194 AD), the lunar calendar is expressed as: the end of the Jiashen year, Xin month, Jiawu day, Geng day

At noon. On this day, another famous disaster in Chinese history broke out in the north on time, that is: Xingping Locust plague.

At that time, a great plague broke out in the south, and a great plague of Xingping broke out in the north at the same time. This locust plague began in the first year of Xingping and ended in the early years of Jian'an, spanning the entire Xingping era, so it is called the Xingping Great Locust plague.

At that time, historical books recorded this: "In June, locusts rose and the people were famined. At that time, one hukou of 500,000 and two hundred thousand beans and wheat were eaten by each other. The bones accumulated and the road was covered with foul smell."

In other words, at that time, the north was at the point where people were eaten. No one had collected the corpses of those who had been eaten and were abandoned on the streets, revealing the thick bones. The whole city was full of human flesh. How could it be a word of miserable?

When the historical books describe this period, they further added: "All things are born in heaven and grains for the people. The nature of heaven and earth is precious. Now locusts are everywhere, and there are many evil people in the country. There are no loyal ministers in the court. The insects compete with the people for food, and they live in a position and eat like insects. If they do not rescue them, they will cause soldiers to rise; if they are rescued, they will place their powers in their positions and order the princes to try to understand the scriptures, which will eliminate disasters." The book believes that if there are no loyal ministers in the court, the insects compete with the people for food. Only by letting the princes read more books - it is best to read Confucian scriptures - the locusts will automatically disappear when they hear the Confucian benevolence, righteousness and morality.

The Book of Changes states: "If you don't see it clearly, it means not being frown. At the time, there will be grass monsters, and at the time, there will be evil spirits of worms. Abandoning the law, expelling the meritorious officials, killing the prince, and taking concubines as their wives, then the fire will not burn up." worms are the ancient name for locusts. Locust plagues occur, which means "the virtue of fire" is not obvious, and it is "the image of killing the prince."

Warlords fought in a melee, the people were hungry and food, their homes were destroyed, and they became officials. They did not think about how to eliminate locusts or how to provide relief to the victims. Instead, they studied the morals of the disaster. This history is too ridiculous.

Historically, China has had a large and small locust plague every six years on average. If it is true, it is a locust plague that indicates "killing the prince", and the emperor will not even have time to give birth to it.

At that time, locusts began to attack from Liangzhou. When locusts migrated into the Central Plains, the disaster was out of control. On June 20, the first year of Xingping, locusts entered Yanzhou, and then the locusts began to march towards Mount Tai, Qingzhou and Jizhou. On the same day, Liu Bei urgently ordered that the recruits from all counties and counties immediately return to each county to collect grain.

At the same time, Lu Bu's troops in Yanzhou also stopped expanding due to this huge change.

In history, if there had not been a locust plague, perhaps Cao Cao would have disappeared in the troubled times in advance. It was precisely because of the locust plague that Lu Bu stopped attacking Cao Cao. Cao Cao was good at managing the local area, and on the territory he retained were internal affairs experts such as Cheng Yu and Xun You. However, Lu Bu relied on the aristocratic families to occupy most of Yanzhou, so he could not seize food from the aristocratic families and collect their food and grass. As one went up and down, one year later, Cao Cao survived the locust plague and calmed down. However, because Lu Bu was unable to feed a large number of soldiers, his power was greatly reduced.

On June 22, locusts entered Qingzhou. Liu Bei issued a call for a ceasefire, demanding that all counties and counties stop fighting and make every effort to provide relief to the disaster victims. Lu Bu stepped down the donkey and agreed to Liu Bei's request. Cao Cao only had three counties left in control. In order to get a breather, Cao Cao agreed to all the conditions of Liu Bei. At the same time, since he was unable to feed all the soldiers for the time being, Cao Cao agreed to Liu Bei's request and did not return the prisoners of Cao's army for the time being. He asked them to renovate the Taishan road and city and participate in the Taishan anti-locust activities.

"There is no need to pay them a salary, just eat enough. Don't pay attention to them. They want to escape, so let them go. Once all the escaped soldiers are arrested, they will be repatriated to Yanzhou immediately." Liu Bei closed the list of prisoners and ordered: "When locusts enter the country, all counties will definitely lack labor. Tell Taishan all levels of the clubs (veterans clubs) to distribute the prisoners to them, so that the prisoners can form and manage themselves. The club will contact the work and earn money. The club can deduct the food expenses of the prisoners and leave 10% as the travel expenses for the final dismissal. The rest will be paid half of the dividends with the government."

Tian Chou nodded, "The city should be repaired on Mount Tai. In the past, the labor force is insufficient, and now they are used to use them (captives). However, lord, the locust plague has soared, and the price of grain has soared. A hu of Qingzhou Valley has reached 2 gold coins, which has increased by nearly a hundred times compared to the past 20 coins. These 94,000 prisoners, just paying attention to their food is a large amount. It is better to send them back to Cao Cao...?"

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "These prisoners stayed in Mount Tai and Qingzhou for the first half of the year. They would know that even when the locust plague broke out, Qingzhou could still support 100,000 young and strong men. In addition, although they were not allowed to pay during their labor in Qingzhou, they would remember that when the Qingzhou government built various facilities, they did not recruit civilians and let them work for free. Instead, the people under the rule of Qingzhou would receive corresponding rewards for each work. This is the contract law of Qingzhou.

When they returned to Yanzhou, these 100,000 young and strong men were 100,000 mice. They had been brainwashed by us. If they were a little dissatisfied with reality, they would miss their days in Qingzhou. The more they were far away from Qingzhou, the more they would miss their life in Qingzhou. Then, these 100,000 young and strong men were 100,000 spies who informed us. Cao Mengde wanted to repeat it again, but it was difficult.

As for the food prices, the food prices in Qingzhou will not rise sharply. This is the locust plague. In addition, the fallow this year has caused panic, so the people are panicked.

We have a three-Korean support, and locusts cannot go across the sea. Liaodong, Lelang, the climate is cold, and the locust plague will not spread there. When these three autumn grains come down, the food prices will naturally stabilize. In addition, we are guarding a sea, a whale is equivalent to a hundred cows. When the food price rises, the fishery will definitely expand. When will we eat the sea and Qingzhou will be short of food. Can we eat the sea all?"

Tian Chou asked again: "The locust plague has begun and the war has stopped. We should stop the people's efforts. If we are repairing the civil engineering industry, wouldn't it make the people worse?"

It seems that although Tian Chou is smart, he still does not understand the principle of deficit finance. Locusts eat up all the food and grass, and most of the people's financial resources are used to buy food and maintain survival. At this time, the government must create opportunities for them to make money, so that they can buy food, and even further consumption. Deficit finance is the only way to deal with disasters. Simple relief will only increase people's idea of ​​getting something for nothing.

God only helps those who help themselves. Only by saving themselves and striving forever can one obtain a better life. Under the disaster, it is the time to cultivate people's spirit of struggle. The people of Qingzhou must develop the concept that only the money earned by working with both hands is the most glorious, and this can we build the spirit of national struggle from the core.

"Zi Tai, after the disaster, the people are short of financial resources. At this time, the government must give the people financial resources to support their families and give them money for no reason. This is not in line with the spirit of the contract. This simple alms will make the status of the people and the government unequal, and will cultivate the slave spirit of the people.

Qingzhou soldiers are known for their fierceness. Why? Because Qingzhou soldiers have a sense of honor, and honor cannot be bought even if they have a thousand gold coins. In order to maintain their honor, I would rather spend money to allow them to obtain their own income with their own labor. They have maintained their self-esteem and protected their honor. In the future, they will still be an equal and dignified person in their interactions with the government.

In this way, internally, corrupt officials dare not trample on their dignity, and the cost of managing the operation of the government will be much smaller - because there is no corruption. Externally, in order to protect their homes and to protect the government that they respect, they will fight to the end and never stop.

With this, what can I fear when the Central Plains fight for hegemony? With the support of these people, who dares to peek at my Qingzhou again?"

Tian Chou suddenly realized: "Chou has been in Qingzhou for many years, and today he knows the foundation of governing the country. Don't worry, lord, I will remind the people below."

On July 1st, Liu Bei returned to Guangrao. In the cathedral, Yin Dongping withdrew everyone and waited for Liu Bei's arrival.

"Religious power is higher than secular power, okay?" Yin Dong asked.

"Of course." Liu Bei also shook off the guard when he saw Yin Dong's posture, and walked into the cathedral alone. He answered as he walked: "Dostoevsky said in his later years: 'Social life depends on moral principles, and all moral principles cannot be separated from religion.' The purpose of establishing religion is to determine the moral constraints of people. If this moral constraint is subject to administrative intervention, political influence, influenced by high-ranking officials and nobles, and is arbitrarily distorted and fabricated by them, then such a moral law is not good."

Yin Dong asked again: "Worldly power stops outside the church door, can it be good?"

"Of course." Liu Bei looked around and looked for the chair, saying casually: "Religious power must be respected in order to check and balance the infinitely expanding military power. In addition, the absence of power cannot be guaranteed at any time. As the last refuge for the people, secular power should respect the right of refuge in the church. War and war should stop outside the church. The church should be the holy land of the human heart."

"The church should decide the establishment of the Pope's inheritance, okay?"

Liu Bei chuckled and finally found a chair for himself. While walking towards it, he replied: "I have no objection to God's power."

Sitting on the chair, Liu Bei shook comfortably and asked, "Everyone is equal under the law, and monks must be punished by the law when committing sins, okay?"

Yin Dong nodded and said, "This is what it should be, and the church will never stop it. However, before the judgment, please inform the church first, that the church must expel the other party's church."

Liu Bei waved his hand: "I can't do this, this is special. On-site trial, what do you want to do afterwards is your business. Be more cheerful, can you do it?"

Yin Dong hesitated for a moment and replied: "Yes."

"Local administrative officials handle matters in accordance with administrative regulations, and religious forces shall not interfere. They shall not interfere with local officials' policy strategies because of whether the other party is a religious citizen."

Yin Dong replied: "Yes."

"Faith is purely a personal matter. What faith is purely a personal matter. The church must not force it, nor ask the government to interfere, nor attack or exclude other religions, can it?"

"Can."

Liu Bei slapped the back of the chair and said, "Okay, you three, I have thought of so much for the time being. I plan to go home now."

Yin Dong asked again: "This time, Qingzhou mobilized so much manpower, but you finally let Cao Cao go. Can you do it?"

Liu Bei slowly sat back on the chair and said, "Do you remember our oath when we first came here?"

Yin Dong whispered: "Yes."

Liu Bei said in a heavy tone, "At the beginning, we built a city in western Liaoning and started a business, named it Izumo, and Japan also had an Izumo City. There was a famous person named Kanosuke Yamaaka. He once said a famous saying: "I am willing to go through seven or eight difficulties, but I only wish to revitalize the Nizi family." When I was building the city, I often recalled this sentence in my mind, I am willing to go through seven or eight difficulties, but I only wish to revitalize the Han people. If my Han people are prosperous, why bother to be criticized? If I don't go to hell, who will go to hell?

At this moment, the plague in the south and the locust plague in the north, our nation is suffering. Although Cao Cao was cruel, it was just as he once said: "If there was no self, how many people would be kings and how many people would be emperors." At this time, the Han Dynasty was facing a crisis in the nation. Who would be strong and who would be weak? He would kill and kill, and all his compatriots would be his own compatriots. What should he be proud of himself?

Lu Bu, a treacherous person, is his biggest feature. He is not even loyal to his father. When foreign races come to invade, can he expect him to be loyal to this nation?

Lu Bu and Cao Cao's fight for Yanzhou, and just one loyalty determines our tendency.

What is loyalty? It means being brave enough to assume one's own responsibilities and fulfill one's own obligations. With the word loyalty, one has faith and keep one's own promises;

There is righteousness, and the place where righteousness lies is not to avoid misfortunes and good fortune; there is courage, know shame before being brave; willing to assume one's own responsibilities, to one's own parents be filial son; to one's wife be a kind husband; to children be kind father; to superiors be good subordinates; to subordinates be good leaders. The quality of loyalty is the first priority of all morals. Lu Bu's just the crime of infidelity is enough to make me regard him as an enemy, and the enemy of the nation, not to mention that he even kidnapped Zhang Yan'er.

Based on the principle that the enemy is a friend, it is natural for me to support Cao Mengde at this moment. However, don’t worry about these secular things. I just hope that you will encourage me with this sentence: I am willing to go through hardships and hardships, and only wish to revitalize the Han people.

In the future, you will be the things that conquer people's hearts and establish morality. I will handle the rest."

Looking at Liu Bei's back as he left, Yin Dong murmured to himself: "I am willing to go through hardships..." A burst of tears came up. Yin Dong took a few steps and then stopped helplessly.

Guangrao City Lord's Mansion, Huang Ying and Madam Mi have received the news of Liu Bei's return and are looking forward to it. At the same time, the carriages and horses that have offered prisoners in Bingzhou have begun.

When he entered the city, Yu Fuluo's cage was finally trapped in four tiger cages and arrived in Guangrao all the way.

Cai Yan was worried, not only because of the timidity of seeing Liu Bei again, but also because of Yu Fuluo. I don’t know whether Yu Fuluo can maintain his mental health by staying by the evil tiger day and night. She once heard the servants in the mansion whispering: Until now, no matter how vicious the bandits are, they have not survived the punishment of accompanying the tiger cage. This is a torture that destroys people’s mental health.
Chapter completed!