Chapter 15: Birth of the Beast

In the face of disaster, the collective power is best reflected.

The collective strength of Lantian County has always been unparalleled.

More than 400 houses that collapsed in Yushan City stood back on the ground two months after the disaster.

The bricks and tiles in Yushan City are ready-made, and the wood belongs to the county town. As for people... After Yun Zhao personally participated in the construction of the house, he devoted all his strength to Yushan City. It was not difficult to rebuild a long-row bungalow with a herringbone beam and column structure that could accommodate two thousand people in two months.

The bricks and tiles in the ruins were picked up, and the remaining adobe was soaked in water and then the foundation was raised again. Each household had a yard, which was separated by wooden fences. The harder-working families had planted fruit trees in the yard.

In the past two months, Lantian County has not had any military struggle, but the rectification movement has not stopped. Yun Zhao is preparing to engrave the belief of the Lantian family in the hearts of every Lantian person in this reconstruction work.

The house has been built, and the red bricks and green tiles are very beautiful. They are rows and neatly arranged. The gatehouses made of red bricks are not tall, but each house has one. If a small plaque of "Filial Piety and Brotherly House" or "Glorious House" is hung on the lintel, the owner will raise his head and stand up when he goes out, and he will feel that he is superior.

In the Ming Dynasty, it is purely a dream to want people to give up their hierarchy concepts. My family uses meat sauce to eat noodles, and your family uses tofu sauce to eat noodles, and even if you want to show off, it is nonsense to talk about equality.

The houses in Yushan City have been built, and the houses in other places in Lantian County are naturally under construction.

Most of the houses that collapsed in this earthquake were adobe houses and old houses. Most of the newly built houses in recent years have used wood and bricks, and not many of them have collapsed.

When the new house was built, everyone worked together, but after the house was built, the government announced the allocation plan, and various places were in chaos.

In the past, everyone felt sorry for those families whose houses collapsed during the earthquake. After the houses were built, they thought that these families would owed the government a sum of money... When everyone heard that these families who lived in houses could build houses with only a small amount of money for bricks and wood, they would only have to pay thirty money to the government in a month. Ten years later, the houses belonged to the family, and in one night, more than 12,000 houses collapsed in Lantian County.

But this time, no casualties were found.

After Yun Zhao came back from the construction site with a dirt, he had just taken a sip of tea when the new secretary Yang Xiong brought a book to ask Yun Zhao to sign and print it.

"Why are there so many houses that need to be rebuilt?" Yun Zhao hurriedly glanced at the final statistics and had nothing to say.

"It's 360 yuan a year, 360 yuan a year and 5 taels of silver in ten years. It's a big profit to rent a house. This is how the people settle the score. They are very simple."

Yun Zhao collapsed on the chair and smiled bitterly: "Isn't there a smart person who can make a calculation?"

Yang Xiong smiled and said, "Of course there are smart people, but they just have their teeth blown off by the people, and then they don't dare to be smart."

"Don't they know that after concentrated residence, the land they cultivated has increased a lot of land, and the foundation area they live in is actually shrinking?"

"I know, but we built brick and tile houses, which are beautiful and sturdy, with reasonable layout. There is a yard in front and can be used as a valley farm, and pigs, chickens in the backyard, and toilets... The most important thing is that the house has become a red brick house!"

Yun Zhao frowned and said, "Let this truth be explained clearly to the people, otherwise we will have more houses."

Yang Xiong carefully looked at Yun Zhao's face and coughed in a low voice, "Build, the bricks and tiles accumulated in our bricks and tiles in recent years have accumulated like mountains. The wood cut by the people from the Qinling Mountains has been piled up for six years. This time, all these materials can be consumed.

Bricks and tiles are originally soil. Lantian County has many kilns and a large population. As long as these kiln workers are ordered to make bricks and tiles day and night, they can turn soil into money. Wood grows in the Qinling Mountains and countless people. As long as they order people to go into the mountains to cut down and finally turn bricks and tiles and wood into real wealth in Lantian County, this will be of great benefit to Lantian County.

If possible, I suggest building more houses.”

Yun Zhao looked up at Yang Xiong and sighed: "Everyone said that the graduates behind Yushan Academy are always inferior to the first three classes. I don't think so. Now it seems that it is true."

Yang Xiong was not ashamed and angry when he heard this. He bent down and bowed and said, "Please give me some advice."

Yun Zhao whispered: "Your advice is actually very good. You can earn back the benefits we have given to the people of Lantian County over the years.

It seems that when the people have houses, we get money, the people are satisfied, and the government is satisfied, only the earth is suffering from losses, and the potential of the earth is infinite, and we can ask for endlessly.

This is understandable.

If the earth actively gives it, we can of course do this. Unfortunately, this is not the gift of the earth. What drives all this is our selfish desires and desires for profit.

As long as we are involved in anything, a good thing will always turn into a bad thing.

Today, you, Yang Xiong, are satisfied with obtaining 3,600 coins from the people and their extra land. Tomorrow, you will feel that this is too slow to make money. 3,600 coins will become 36,000 coins. In order to save more land, you will build a bungalow into a small building... In short, there will always be ways to withdraw money from the people.

In this way, you will find that the responsibilities of the government have changed. It is a group that manages the people, helps the people, and protects the people. After having the desire for profit, it becomes a group that grabs benefits from the people.

What is the difference between such a group and the current government in the Ming Dynasty?

You have studied the same course, so do you think Xu Wu and others can’t think of such a way to make money?

The difference between their views and you is that they believe that the changes in people's lives are a gradual process. People want better houses because their lives have undergone major changes, so they take the initiative to pursue better houses, more delicious food, and more appropriate clothing.

We are the government officials, and we can only guide them to pursue a better life. All changes come from the consciousness of the people, rather than using strategies on them.

All our strategies should be used on the enemy, so that they can feel the power of the strategies and the pain of being plotted against by us.

Instead of using strategies to our people through the information we have, such victory is meaningless. One day the people will understand that at that time, we will lose the most precious hearts of the people. Nothing is more important to an official than the heart of the people. Even if our warehouse contains the wealth of the whole world, it will be harmful to our career.

As of now, the people of Lantian County have just escaped from the worries of hunger. We need to accumulate more wealth among the people, so that the people can believe every word we say, believe that with us and accept our rule, they will get an unprecedented good life.

This is the purpose of our rectification of Lantian County this time.”

After hearing Yun Zhao's words, Yang Xiong was silent for a long time and whispered: "I still stick to my own opinion. However, since the county magistrate has already made a decision, I will tell every Lantian County person to confess this matter in the form of a document and let them make a choice."

Yun Zhao smiled when he heard this, pointed at Yang Xiong and said, "You are leveraging the power to borrow the general trend that the Lantian County government has developed over the past ten years. You should put aside your identity and go to the people to tell them this truth to see what their reaction will be."

Yang Xiong smiled and said, "I only have a pair of eyes and a nose, and I am afraid I can't stand the fights of the people. I still think that using the government's notice to inform the people would be better."

Yun Zhao waved his hand and said, "Since that's the case, you can try it. Remember, be fair and confess!"

Yang Xiong smiled and took the document reviewed by Yun Zhao and said, "Lu Xiangsheng is now in Dali County. He does not contact the government. He takes two old servants and uses his feet to trek across the land of Guanzhong."

"What is he doing?"

"It is said that he was writing "Ghost Words and Memorials". Xu Wu wanted to read a part of it, saying that Lu Xiangsheng thought he was dead and was a ghost. However, this ghost was still a minister of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he walked from the capital to Lantian County and recorded what he saw, heard, thought and thought along the way, and wrote a memorial in the form of a memorial. I hope the emperor could see...

Alas, he is too pedantic. Even if he gives the emperor a heavenly book at this time, it will probably be useless. The danger of the Ming Dynasty was due to Zhengde, his neglect of Jiajing, and his manifestation in Wanli. Until now, he is just a stagnant."

Yun Zhao laughed, stood up and patted Yang Xiong on the shoulder and said, "You are too pessimistic. There are always some people in this world who will live as gods and look through the history of our vast Chinese. There are countless such people. Lu Xiangsheng insists that there is still hope in the Ming Dynasty, so he is not wrong to work hard for this.

Remember, no one’s efforts are wrong. Some people work hard all their lives to live a good life. Some people are loyal and loyal to the country. It is these people who make our history look wonderful and wonderful.

Of course, there is a big problem for those who work as hard as Fan Wencheng to be a traitor, but this is also his own choice. Since he has made a choice, then one day he will be judged by the world in the future, he will not be able to complain about his injustice!”

Yang Xiong nodded, shook his head again, and went out with the document thoughtfully.

He studied at Yushan Academy for eight years and had already formed his own worldview. He still couldn't accept the new and advanced thinking methods that Yun Zhao told about today.

Yun Zhao knew that as long as this guy came up with ideas that could refute these theories, he would debate it again.

Yun Zhao actually doesn't care about the house, because the current situation is generally beneficial to the people.

The construction cost of five taels of silver was originally a loss, but the surplus land could be returned to the government and then distributed in a secondary manner.

The land price in Lantian County is expensive. Even Yun Zhao has vigorously called on people to open up land, so that the arable land area in Lantian County has expanded by three times in the past ten years. Unfortunately, the population here has increased by more than ten times.

No matter how much fertile land people reclaim, in the end, it is always insufficient.

And being a real Lantian County native is to obtain a piece of land that can be cultivated...

This requirement is not official. The workers, merchants and craftsmen who are officially recognized as being from Lantian County, but the people still persist in thinking that only those with a piece of land are real locals.

It is hard to imagine a wealthy rich man who would personally lead his family to lead a ox to plow and plow a piece of land that is only the size of two acres.

It is hard to imagine that this guy with a caravan would collect the best soil he thought on the way to business, and eventually take it home, steam it and then throw it on his own land.

The land of Lantian County people is said to be extremely precious. If you want to obtain land in the form of buying, it is basically impossible. However, as long as you are a newborn with both parents, regardless of gender, he or she will automatically obtain a piece of land.

Nowadays, the newborns in Lantian County have only one acre and three cents of land allocated to Gutian.

This is something that cannot be done. The land resources are constant, but the population is increasing rapidly. Fortunately, the people of Lantian County do not have to rely on land to make a living, and more commercial activities support the livelihoods of the people of Lantian County.

It is because of this that the disaster reduction and relief activities in Lantian County have become profitable.

Lu Xiangsheng squatted in the field, pinched a handful of soil, then let go, checked the soil in his hand, and thought to Xu Wu: "The soil moisture is very good."

Xu Wu wanted to point to the wheat that was about to be harvested in the field and said, "At this time, you should look at the wheat fields to judge the soil conditions, rather than grabbing a handful of soil."

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said, "I am not pedantic, I want to cultivate my way of looking at things."

"See the basics?"

"Yes, look at it. For many years, my eyes have been covered by clouds. Now I want to re-understand the world through my hands and feet."

Xu Wu wanted to laugh and said, "What did you see in Dali County?"

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while and said, "I see equality."

“Where did you see it?”

Lu Xiangsheng took out a notice from his arms and handed it to Xu Wu and thought, "Your Lantian County Government Office wrote a letter to the people."

Xu Wu wanted to take the notice and glanced: "This is an announcement to prevent the people from destroying their own houses in exchange for disaster relief."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded and said, "This announcement shows that Lantian County has not deceived and concealed anything, and so on, everything you do to the people is selfless."

Xu Wu wanted to shake his head and said, "It's not that everything is said, the means are still necessary, and it's not a good thing to tell the people everything.

You must understand that it is not a certain person who ruled Lantian County, but the "law"! It is not Yun Zhao, it is not Confucianism, the government is the rules, the truth, and the last support of the people.

Lantian County’s explanations are based on “law”, not on some truth, nor is it the embodiment of the benevolence and righteousness of scholars and officials governing the world.

The reason why the disaster relief house is compared with the original houses of the people and finally gives a fair number is based on the law of Lantian County, which must be said."

Lu Xiangsheng smiled, sat by the ditch, washed his hands, and then stood by the wheat field and said, "Will a major disaster have no effect on Lantian County?"

Xu Wuxiang said coldly: "In the past ten years, Lantian County has suffered six droughts and once floods. In addition, the Earth Dragon Turnover this time has caused eight disasters in total."

Lu Xiangsheng thought for a while and said, "It's no different from many prefectures and counties in Henan!"

Xu Wu wanted to frown and took out a piece of paper from his arms and said, "This is the most proud thing in Lantian County. We use facts to tell people all over the world that people can conquer disasters. As long as everyone is united, great disasters can be overcome. Since ancient times, our ancestors have relied on this ability to survive in this land with difficulty.

We can do what our ancestors can do.

This time, the Earth Dragon turned over is just a small matter. We have encountered worse things and will encounter even more unlucky things in the future.

It doesn't matter. As long as we are alive, we can turn over again and again. In the end, we will be the masters of this land.

Mr. Lu, welcome you to Lantian County, which is still the land of the Ming Dynasty and will also be the land of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

There is nothing wrong with the Ming Dynasty. The sun and the moon are bright, and we are light!

The one who is wrong is the emperor, the literati, the local tyrants and evil gentry, and each of us.
To be continued...