HLnovel Chapter 989 A Sign of Incompetence
Chapter 989 A Sign of Incompetence
"If I remember correctly, this is a member of the Fan family, right?"
Zhang Ping'an looked at the familiar face who had hurriedly said goodbye and left as soon as he arrived, and asked with a smile.
But I already have an idea in my mind.
He always had a very good memory and was certain that this person was the cousin of the former Minister of Revenue, Minister Fan.
Although Minister Fan fell from power, causing him to suffer from exclusion in officialdom, the Ministry of Personnel did not dismiss him from his post, and he is still an official.
This person is now so closely connected with Li Chong that it's likely most of the ancestral property of the Fan family has now fallen into the hands of the Li family.
Li Chong knew that Zhang Ping'an was seeing through things but not saying anything. In his heart, he cursed the steward half to death. He was so tactless. He knew that this matter was not easy to talk about, but he still brought Zhang Ping'an in without any restraint.
Although he thought this in his heart, Li Chong's expression remained very calm. He laughed it off and said, "They are indeed members of the Fan family. They are having a hard time these days and have come to me for help. We are all colleagues, so it is not right to sit idly by."
Then, she quickly changed the subject and asked, "By the way, you're off today, why did you suddenly come over? I remember you were supposed to take Heming to the dock to catch a boat back to his hometown to visit his relatives, right?"
Zhang Ping'an nodded: "Heming has already left. I just came back from the dock. I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you."
Seeing Zhang Ping'an's serious expression, Li Chong involuntarily sat up straight: "What is it? Tell me!"
“I’ve noticed a lot of locusts flying in from elsewhere at my estate in the suburbs these past two days. The number is much greater than in previous years, which is obviously abnormal. I suspect there’s a locust plague elsewhere. I wonder if any local officials in the Ministry of Revenue have reported this? As you know, the snow fell too late last winter, and there has been a drought since the beginning of this year, which are signs that locusts are more likely to infest the land!”
"Locust plague?" Li Chong was surprised, then shook his head and pondered, "Although I have not been the Minister of Revenue for long, I have a good understanding of the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. As of yesterday, no one under me has reported any disasters."
Regardless of Li Chong's character, his competence is undeniable, so Zhang Ping'an had no doubt about this.
"But a locust plague is almost certain. It is precisely because you are now the Minister of Revenue that I have come to you. In any case, you must discuss a countermeasure with your subordinates in advance to avoid causing public resentment after the disaster breaks out on a large scale."
Li Chong thought for a moment after hearing this and said, "Thank you for your advice. The locust plague is a matter of great importance or small importance. There is no one reporting it to me right now, so I cannot make a decision rashly. Besides, this is a problem left over from Minister Fan. Perhaps you are overthinking it."
Zhang Ping'an frowned, not entirely satisfied with the answer. "The issue now isn't about who stayed behind, but about how to deal with the impending locust plague. If the summer locusts aren't eradicated, the autumn locusts will be even more ferocious. You and I have both been sent to serve as officials in other regions and are familiar with agricultural matters; we should understand the stakes involved. Even if I'm overthinking it, eradicating the locusts is always necessary!"
Li Chong did not refute this, but nodded calmly and replied, "What you say makes sense. Exterminating locusts is one of the responsibilities of local officials. Tomorrow I will have my subordinates pay close attention to the locust plague. I know what you are worried about, but there is really no need to worry. Even if there is a locust plague and the people's harvest is damaged, the national granary is full and can be used for disaster relief!"
Seeing that Li Chong clearly didn't take the matter seriously, Zhang Ping'an was somewhat disappointed and shook his head, saying, "It's true that the late emperor built a rich foundation, and the national treasury and granaries are full, but who knows what the future holds? How can we ignore the suffering of the people just because our ancestors built a solid foundation? It's only April now. If we actively eradicate the locusts at this time, there is still room for recovery. As the Minister of Revenue, your attitude is crucial. If even you are so careless, the local officials below will be even less likely to take it seriously."
Seeing that Zhang Ping'an was getting really angry, Li Chong thought for a moment and then backed down, since it was just a matter of talking anyway.
So he assured them, "Alright, I will discuss a plan with my subordinates tomorrow. As the Minister of Revenue, this is my duty. If the people really suffer, I will not be able to bear it."
Knowing that Li Chong always kept his word, Zhang Ping'an felt slightly relieved after receiving the guarantee.
He also apologized for his hasty actions to avoid straining the relationship between the two families later.
“I’m a straightforward person, I say what I think. You know I come from a farming family. Every grain of rice on the plate is the result of hard work. This isn’t just a saying; every grain of rice is harvested from the fields by the people with great effort. They have it tough! The people don’t ask for much, just enough to eat and stay warm!”
Li Chong waved his hand, "No need to explain, I understand. We are all working for the court. When the people live in peace and prosperity, we can relax too."
“That’s exactly right!” Zhang Ping’an nodded.
After the two finished their conversation, Li Chong specially invited Zhang Ping'an to have dinner at his residence as a sign of their close relationship.
The two families will be in-laws from now on, and they will be united against outsiders. In other people's eyes, they are a team, so Zhang Ping'an also wants to maintain a good relationship with Li Chong as much as possible before going back after dinner.
In officialdom, everyone has their own responsibilities, and it is a major taboo to overstep one's authority to report to higher authorities, which is equivalent to filing a complaint against the emperor.
Now that Li Chong has agreed to seriously handle the locust plague, Zhang Ping'an has no reason to report it to Zhou Pu anymore.
Therefore, regarding the locust plague, he instructed Chibao to keep a close eye on the situation in secret and to monitor the progress of the Ministry of Revenue.
Li Chong did not outwardly comply but inwardly defy him; he put effort into dealing with the locust plague and instructed his subordinates to focus on eliminating the locusts.
However, the disaster spread at lightning speed until the local officials could no longer cover it up and it finally broke out!
In just over a month, memorials from various disaster-stricken areas poured into the capital like snowflakes, giving Li Chong a major headache.
Zhou Pu also lost his temper over this matter at the court meeting, scolding Li Chong severely and ordering him to provide disaster relief as soon as possible to quell the disaster.
Li Chong could only reply with a dejected expression.
Cui Ling felt extremely pleased to see this!
Zhang Ping'an felt a pang of regret; he wished he had discovered it sooner.
Now even his hometown of Ezhou Prefecture has suffered severe disasters, and this year's tax revenue will probably be cut by more than half. The imperial court really has to live off its savings.
Once is fine, but what if it happens again...?
Regardless of the disasters suffered in other places, the capital city remained prosperous, except for rising prices. In particular, the lives of high-ranking officials and nobles were not affected in the slightest.
After finishing his shift, Zhang Ping'an declined his colleagues' invitation to drink and eat together, and went straight home by carriage. On the way, he chatted with Chi Bao about the disaster.
Even after eating his fill, he remained worried. "Our villagers all own land in the south. Thanks to you, sir, it's been tax-free for all these years because it's registered under your name. So we've all accumulated some savings. Although we've suffered from the disaster, we can manage to get through it without having to sell our children. But I'm afraid that if God doesn't punish us this year, he won't give us a good life next year either. That would be a real problem."
"Sigh, I was worried about this too. I didn't expect the locust plague to come so suddenly. In areas like Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the situation is so severe that there has been no harvest at all," Zhang Ping'an sighed.
What terrified him even more was that he discovered that Zhou Pu's temper had become increasingly erratic since he became obsessed with alchemy, and he looked more and more tired and perfunctory when attending court, which was clearly abnormal.
Under normal circumstances, with the support of senior officials, no major mistakes would occur.
However, with border markets closing one after another, tax revenue has already been greatly reduced. Now, affected by the locust plague, not only can taxes not be collected, but the imperial court also has to provide disaster relief.
If this continues, even the thickest foundation will eventually crumble.
But Zhou Pu was completely unaware of this, which was truly worrying.