met free Chapter 721 If you want to die, then don't live!
Chapter 721 If you want to die, then don't live!
This old man is imitating me, shrug and act like a lazy bum!
This old man is mimicking how I said we were short-handed!
The key question is, don't you, old Deng, find this ridiculous?
Whether it's a lack of officials or a lack of soldiers, these are problems that you, Lao Deng, Heizhima Tangyuan, Li Shanchang, and Liu Bowen should find a way to solve.
As a mere Imperial Son-in-Law Commandant concurrently holding the positions of Prefect of Dengzhou, Magistrate of Ningyang County, Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Dengzhou, how could I possibly solve these two problems?
Yang Shaofeng was internally ranting, but his face showed no sign of anything amiss.
“What my father-in-law says is true. The court is indeed short of officials and soldiers right now.”
"However, when I read Han Feizi's 'First Encounter with Qin,' I quite agree with one sentence in particular."
"The army is exhausted, the people are sick, the reserves are depleted, the fields are barren, the granaries are empty, the neighboring lords are not subdued, and the name of a hegemon cannot be established. This is for no other reason than that his advisors have not been loyal enough."
"The court lacks officials, all because the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel have failed to fulfill their duties."
"The lack of soldiers is due to the failure of the Ministry of War and the Grand Military Commission to fulfill their duties."
"I believe that the only way to resolve this is to punish him by deducting his salary."
"..."
Faced with Yang Shaofeng's nonsense, Emperor Zhu simply snorted and said, "You are also one of our subjects."
"Although Dengzhou has a university, it is not enough to meet the court's needs for officials."
“Ningyang County has craftsmen, but not enough to meet the needs of steam engine manufacturing.”
"Is this not because you failed to fulfill your loyalty?"
After making a few sarcastic remarks to Yang Shaofeng, Emperor Zhu snorted coldly again and said, "Don't give me any more nonsense. If we let you continue to cause trouble like this, I'm afraid Liu Bowen and the others will come to Ningyang and strangle you before you're even born."
"As I said before, before we completely deal with Hu Yuan, we don't have the energy to deal with so many messy things, and the court can't spare enough energy to deal with them either."
"You can send someone to tell those local gentry about the affairs of those short and ugly Japanese, but we will never admit it, and the imperial court will certainly not admit it either."
"As for those who run away overseas and cause trouble, we won't deal with them for the time being. As the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, you should take responsibility for this matter."
"Just as you said, one must be loyal to the end when devising a plan."
As Emperor Zhu finished speaking, Yang Shaofeng was completely bewildered.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
I finally managed to show off my copy of "Han Feizi: First Encounter with Qin", but Lao Deng turned the tables and got me into a mess?
No, he's just a beggar cowherd, why would he bother studying Han Feizi when he has nothing better to do!
Yang Shaofeng gave a soft hum, inwardly cursing, while reaching for another memorial on the table.
"Please establish Gaizhou, Fuzhou, and Jinzhou."
This is not surprising, after all, a considerable part of Liaodong has already fallen into the hands of the Ming Dynasty. Places like Gaizhou, Fuzhou, and Jinzhou are located at the southernmost part of Liaodong, accessible by land to the Koreans and by sea to Dengzhou. It is normal to set up three prefectures to govern them.
"Japanese pirates raided Ningde County in Fuzhou."
"Licheng and other counties in Jinan Prefecture suffered from a locust plague."
"A major epidemic has struck the three counties of Dayu, Shangyou, and Nankang in Nan'an Prefecture."
"The capital city was hit by wind, rain, and an earthquake."
"Kaifeng is flooded."
"Locust plague in Xuzhou".
"Locust plague in Datong".
“Fengxiang and Pingliang prefectures have experienced months of heavy rain, and hail has damaged beans and wheat.”
"Floods in Haimen County"
"..."
After reading through several memorials in a row, Yang Shaofeng was completely numb.
Apart from the Japanese pirates' raids on Ningde County and the three counties of Nan'an Prefecture, which were plagued by a major epidemic, the rest were all locust plagues caused by drought or floods and rain disasters.
No, can the Ming Dynasty at least have a few days of normalcy? Why is it that every day there's either drought or flood?
And then there's Zhu Chongba, that old tyrant, who had a whole host of memorials reporting disasters waiting for him, but instead had the time to chat with me about those trivial matters overseas.
The key point is that he doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all!
Yang Shaofeng grew increasingly alarmed as he looked at the Zhu Emperor, and finally raised his head to look at him, tentatively asking, "Father-in-law, these...?"
Emperor Zhu chuckled and said, "Now you know why we were in such a hurry for water pumps and steam engines?"
Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement, but Emperor Zhu sighed slightly and said, "Drought, floods, and even epidemics are all things that can't be helped. All I can do is urge you to quickly get the water pump out to fight the drought and keep an eye on the Dengzhou University Medical School in the hope of curing the epidemic."
"As for the floods..."
Emperor Zhu shook his head slightly, sighed again, and said, "The Ministry of Works has tried every means to dredge the waterways to control the floods, but how can the problems of waterways, ditches, and lakes be solved in a day or two?"
"Moreover, the Ministry of Works has only a small number of officials, both high and low. In the entire Ming Dynasty, there are more than a hundred prefectures and more than a thousand counties. Even if the officials of the Ministry of Works are willing to risk their lives to implement the work of dredging rivers, digging ditches and lakes in local governments, they will inevitably be involved in various matters such as corvée labor."
At this point, Emperor Zhu said, both amused and helpless, "And this too, take a look."
Emperor Zhu pulled out a single memorial from the bottom of a stack of memorials and threw it onto the table in front of Yang Shaofeng.
"The people of Henan want to present us with white rabbits."
"Tell me, what the hell is going on here?"
"Is it the officials in Henan acting recklessly? Or are the common people spontaneously offering us white rabbits?"
"The key is that we can't accept this white rabbit. If we do, someone might present a Qilin tomorrow, and a phoenix the day after."
"Damn it, none of them use their brains for anything worthwhile."
Emperor Zhu grew increasingly angry as he spoke, and was about to vent his frustrations further when Xia Yu hurriedly approached and bowed to Emperor Zhu and Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, this is an urgent report from the Fuzhou Thousand-Household Office."
Emperor Zhu reached out and took the memorial from Xia Yu's hand. After only glancing at it a few times, his face turned as black as a horrible darkness.
Yang Shaofeng was curious, but Emperor Zhu just sneered and threw the unfinished memorial onto the table in front of Yang Shaofeng.
"Okay, okay."
Emperor Zhu gritted his teeth and said, "It's because I'm too weak-willed that I dare to trample on anything!"
After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu suddenly snorted coldly and said, "Since these bastards want to die, then they shouldn't live!"
Pointing at Yang Shaofeng, Emperor Zhu continued, "Draft an edict for us: the Commander-in-Chief of the Fujian Provincial Military Command, along with the commanders and officers of the guards and garrisons involved, shall be executed. All officers of the guards, garrisons, and stockades along the route shall be dismissed and ordered to return to their hometowns."
"By order of the Imperial Guard Commander Yu Xian and Deputy Commander Yuan Yi, lead troops to capture the Japanese pirates. All captured pirates shall be sent to Dengzhou Prefecture."
"Order that Yu Tongyuan be transferred to Dengzhou Prefecture as the Grand Admiral of the Navy, and select soldiers skilled in naval warfare to train into an army."