Chapter 119 Drought Relief Strategy

Zeng Yuanshu had rich experience of failing the exam, so he was the only one who knew how to comfort Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde was really devastated when he suddenly failed.

Although he had a premonition before, to be honest, Wei Guangde was still a little reluctant to believe that it would become a fact.

But as the newspapers kept passing the door of the inn, Wei Guangde knew that he really failed this time.

Fortunately, because Wei Guangde was the youngest among the people present, no one laughed at his performance, and many people came to comfort him.

In fact, everyone's mentality was similar at this time, and they were disappointed.

Everyone thought that it was because Wei Guangde was young that he behaved so badly after facing the blow of failing the exam, and shed tears in public.

But only Wei Guangde knew in his heart that the tear that fell was not because of failing the exam, but because the belief that had been established in his heart for several months collapsed.

He was not a chosen person, not a son of God, but a time traveler with a lot of bad luck, who accidentally came to this place.

As for the previous exams, well, maybe it was just luck.

Of course, facing the gazes of Zeng Yuanshu, Lao Kan and others, Wei Guangde would not say it.

Wiping the remaining tears on his face, Wei Guangde smiled, "I'm fine, I just feel a little sorry for my mother at home and my father who is still fighting against Japanese pirates in Zhejiang."

Hearing Wei Guangde say this, Zeng Yuanshu and others breathed a sigh of relief.

In their minds, although Wei Guangde is already a scholar, he is still a child at such an age.

Perhaps, only such children have not been stained with the dust of imperial examinations and official careers, and their hearts are still empty and clean.

When he failed the exam, he didn't think of anything else, but that his parents and elders who were eagerly looking forward to it would be disappointed.

"Brother Guangde, filial son, Shilong is not as good as you."

At this time, Zhu Shilong, who had been in the limelight before, said in a very low tone.

Wei Guangde didn't know that his tear had established a golden signboard for him in the circle of Jiangxi scholars - the filial son of the Ming Dynasty.

What no one knew was that in order to show the character of Jiujiang students, Zhu Shilong spread Wei Guangde's story everywhere, and even shared it with other candidates in the province at the subsequent Luming Banquet.

Well, the story naturally reached the ears of the chief examiner of Jiangxi this year and many examiners.

The Wei Guangde in the story became a model of loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness. His father was fighting for the country on the battlefield, and his mother was also eagerly waiting at home. Wei Guangde withstood the pressure and participated in this year's imperial examination, from the county examination to the provincial examination.

Then, there was nothing else. He failed the provincial examination. The tears he shed were not for himself, but for his father who fought for the country on the battlefield and his mother who was waiting at home, disappointing them.

"Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trustworthiness" is the core of Confucianism, and has always been respected by scholars and officials.

Among "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness", "loyalty and filial piety" are the most basic. Loyalty is the foundation of a country; filial piety is the foundation of a family.

The two words "loyalty and filial piety" support the "building" of this country, nation and even the entire family, just like "four pillars", standing still; otherwise, the building of the country and family will collapse.

"Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness" are called "five constants", which are the five constants in the old saying "three cardinal guides and five constants". The three cardinal guides refer to the monarch as the minister's guide, the father as the son's guide, and the husband as the wife's guide, while the five constants are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, which are the foundation of life.

The chief examiner and the examiners heard that there was such a candidate who failed the provincial examination. Naturally, no one knew what they thought in their hearts, but at least on the surface, they all sighed with regret.

An examiner turned over Wei Guangde's paper and took a closer look. Indeed, the eight-part essay was not sophisticated enough, and it was not unfair to fail. When you see the policy essays at the back, it makes people feel refreshed.

This year's weather is abnormal. Since the beginning of spring, there has been no heavy rain in Jiangxi Province, and droughts have occurred in all parts of the province.

Yes, Jiangxi is suffering from drought again.

In fact, if the information of this era can be as smooth as in later generations, people will find that it is not only Jiangxi, but many prefectures and counties across the country are suffering from disasters.

What only the high-ranking officials in the capital know is that since the fifth year of Jiajing, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian provinces have suffered from severe droughts; in the seventh year of Jiajing, North China provinces have suffered from severe droughts; Hubei has also suffered from severe droughts, and people are eating each other; Sichuan has also suffered from severe droughts; in the seventeenth year of Jiajing, Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, Fujian, Hubei, and Hunan have suffered from severe droughts, and hungry people from all over the place have gathered in the capital; in the twenty-fourth year of Jiajing, Zhejiang and Hubei have suffered from severe droughts; Fujian has suffered from severe droughts for two years, and people have starved to death on the road.

Naturally, the essay test questions of this Jiangxi provincial examination are about how to deal with the current drought, which is to test what candidates should do if they are officials to deal with natural disasters.

Extreme droughts broke out continuously across the country. Severe droughts ravaged the nine provinces in the north and south, causing a large-scale reduction in grain production in areas that paid more than 70% of the national tax revenue. The Ming court had to significantly reduce taxes and grain in the interior while increasing fiscal expenditures on a large scale for inland relief and border defense supply, resulting in a huge fiscal deficit for the central government.

The continuous droughts exposed the drawbacks of the Ming court's corruption in salt administration, occupation of farmland by royal families, and deserted military settlements. The border defense supply system failed. The Ming court had to prepare for relief and border supply through a series of reform measures such as reforming the salt administration, checking the six ministries, and even checking the farms of honorary relatives to cope with the crisis, which eventually led to the start of the "Jiajing Reform".

However, all this gradually ended after Emperor Jiajing chose to practice Taoism. Perhaps he thought that if he succeeded in practicing Taoism, this series of disasters could be easily solved.

Perhaps Emperor Jiajing chose to practice Taoism because disasters had been repeated in the empire for more than ten or twenty years.

If Wei Guangde knew the above information and someone reminded him, he might think of a word he had seen before: "Little Ice Age in the Late Ming Dynasty". Without anyone reminding him, Wei Guangde would never think of it.

Besides, even if he thought of it, what would happen? He didn't have the ability to call the wind and rain.

Maybe he would think of some bad ideas, such as sending troops to Southeast Asia to plunder food.

However, the military strength of the Ming Dynasty was not high at that time, and sending them out might be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth.

And Wei Guangde's initial answer was actually the same as that of most candidates, which was to reduce taxes and accumulate wealth, hoping to report to the court in time to reduce money and grain, relieve the suffering of the people, and at the same time build water conservancy facilities to prevent floods and droughts.

He did not say that the drought was caused by the existence of treacherous officials in the court and that they needed to be killed.

However, as a later generation, Wei Guangde was more open-minded.

In fact, in later generations, there was nothing to do in the face of disasters such as large-scale droughts.

Digging wells or delivering water over long distances can only solve the problem of water for people and livestock. Replacing drought-resistant crops in time is the main means to ensure agricultural harvests.

Therefore, Wei Guangde proposed in his answer sheet the idea of ​​setting up a special department to study crops, especially drought-resistant crops. In fact, it is to establish the Academy of Agricultural Sciences in later generations. In his vision, a special department will be set up to study crops and find high-quality and high-yield crops for promotion.