Chapter 13

Seeing Liu Chang'an dare not speak, he only hung his head and listened to the reprimand. Zhao Junchen did not show the slightest courtesy, instead, he continued to scold with a cold face: "As a local official, you do not consider the livelihood of the people, but instead only believe in the ignorant and superstitious words of the common folk, repeatedly delaying important matters, causing the locust disaster to worsen. Now it has the potential to spread throughout Shanxi. What use is there for an official like you in our great Ming Dynasty?!"

"Your Excellency is right, this subordinate knows his fault, this subordinate knows his fault..."

Liu Chang'an did not dare to refute, only continuously pleaded for forgiveness.

In his panic, Liu Chang'an could not help but wonder why Zhao Junchen, who had been fine just now, suddenly took the locust disaster so seriously. Could it be that the silver given by the officials of Luan'an Prefecture to calm Zhao Junchen's nerves yesterday was not enough? Didn't he just say he wouldn't pursue the matter?

After all, Zhao Junchen's main purpose in coming to Luan'an Prefecture was to embezzle the disaster relief funds. Inspecting the disaster area, understanding the disaster situation, and even helping the disaster victims were all just for show. Liu Chang'an himself did not care about the severity of the disaster or the plight of the victims, and Zhao Junchen should not have cared either.

However, for some inexplicable reason, Zhao Junchen suddenly began to pay attention to the disaster situation and harshly condemned Liu Chang'an for a practice tacitly accepted in the officialdom. Liu Chang'an, in his panic, was naturally at a loss.

On the other side, Xu Qingyan, knowing Zhao Junchen's change of heart in advance, understood that Zhao Junchen no longer intended to embezzle the disaster relief funds but instead wanted to use this opportunity to win a good reputation. However, he could not understand why Zhao Junchen suddenly turned against Liu Chang'an.

Hadn't Zhao Junchen just said he would be more courteous to these court officials?

Zhao Junchen's sudden reprimand of Liu Chang'an also had his own considerations.

Zhao Junchen's original plan was simple: to use this disaster relief opportunity to properly arrange for the disaster victims, do more face-saving work, and then widely publicize it to gradually reverse his tarnished reputation in the court and the country.

Of course, using appropriate means to take care of the interests of local officials, thereby forming local factions for future support, was also part of the plan.

However, after discovering the ignorant views of the people of this era on the locust disaster, Zhao Junchen found a better way to achieve his goal.

That was to learn from the famous Tang Dynasty prime minister Yao Chong. When everyone was focused on "worshipping gods and praying for blessings," he alone advocated the extermination of locusts. At the appropriate time, he could also make statements like, "Exterminating locusts is a good deed, for the sake of the people's well-being. If heaven punishes, I, Zhao Junchen, will bear it all, and will not shift the blame to others."

In this way, when the locust disaster was eradicated under Zhao Junchen's leadership, and the disaster victims were properly settled, who would dare to say that Zhao Junchen was not a good official who cared for the people?

Yao Chong was once ridiculed over the locust disaster because Shandong was a frequent site of locust infestations, and his luck was extremely bad. Although the locust disaster was eradicated in the first year under his leadership, it recurred the next year. This was seen by the ignorant as the locust god's revenge on the people for exterminating the locusts, making Yao Chong very passive in the court and the country.

In fact, if the locust disaster had recurred a year later, Yao Chong would not have had so many troubles.

Luan'an Prefecture was different from Shandong. It was not a frequent site of locust infestations, and such a continuous disaster had never happened in history. This year's locust disaster, in Zhao Junchen's view, was just a coincidence. Once it was eradicated under his leadership, it was unlikely to recur the next year. Therefore, Zhao Junchen did not fear leaving any hidden dangers and would not end up like Yao Chong.

Therefore, personally leading the extermination of locusts in Luan'an Prefecture was something Zhao Junchen had to do in the coming period.

However, as Liu Chang'an said, the belief in the locust god and the theory of heavenly punishment had been prevalent for many years, deeply influencing both officials and the people. The resistance to Zhao Junchen's proposal to exterminate locusts was predictable.

Therefore, Zhao Junchen first had to unify the thinking of the officials, to prevent them from paying lip service while acting against his orders, which could result in the locust disaster not being eradicated and causing more trouble.

For this reason, as the head of the officials in Luan'an Prefecture, Liu Chang'an naturally had to be reprimanded.

However, there were still many things that would rely on Liu Chang'an in the future, so after giving him a beating, it was also necessary to give him a sweet reward.

Therefore, seeing Liu Chang'an's puzzled expression, Zhao Junchen's expression softened somewhat, and he said slowly, "I understand your concerns, Liu. The people are ignorant and deeply believe in the locust god. If we act rashly, it might cause chaos among the people. However, as a court official, you cannot only focus on the stability of one place; you must prioritize the interests of the entire country. You know that these are troubled times, the court is in financial difficulty, and the emperor is worried about it every day. The disaster relief funds for Luan'an Prefecture were hard-earned. At this time, how can we let the locust disaster spread just because of the belief in the locust god? As you said, the locust disaster has already spread to Hedong and Taiyuan. If these places also suffer from a locust disaster like Luan'an Prefecture, where will the court get the funds to provide relief? If this leads to unrest, how can we repay the court's cultivation and the emperor's trust?"

Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Liu Chang'an nodded repeatedly, with a look of utmost admiration, and said, "Your Excellency is right, this subordinate was foolish. Listening to your words is better than reading ten years of books. Your Excellency is devoted to the country, this subordinate admires you, admires you."

Instinctively, although Liu Chang'an kept nodding and continued to flatter Zhao Junchen, he was even more puzzled in his heart.

He knew very well what kind of person Zhao Junchen was. When had he ever been so devoted to the country?

In Liu Chang'an's view, if the locust disaster spread throughout Shanxi, Zhao Junchen should be happy because he could embezzle more disaster relief funds.

After all, disaster relief funds were a murky account in the local government. Unlike other expenditures, they did not require detailed accounting, visible results, or strict supervision. As long as the local officials sold the relief supplies and reported to the court that they had been distributed to the victims, the corrupt officials would have a large sum of money. If the court investigated due to the victims not being controlled, the corrupt officials could say that the relief supplies were insufficient and the number of victims was too large, and they could create fake accounts to get away with it. They might even be able to request more disaster relief funds from the court, which would be another source of income.

For this reason, disaster relief funds have always been a fat target for corrupt officials and the easiest place for problems to arise.

Now, Zhao Junchen was actually thinking of controlling the disaster? Was he planning to give up this fat target? Liu Chang'an found it inconceivable.

However, this topic was too sensitive, and Liu Chang'an did not dare to ask directly.

Zhao Junchen was very clear about Liu Chang'an's thoughts. Through inherited memories, he understood the intricacies of the situation.

However, Zhao Junchen did not intend to explain his true thoughts to Liu Chang'an. He only sighed and continued, "For this reason, as court officials, we should prioritize the court and be devoted to relieving the emperor's worries, and understand the difficulties of the court and the emperor. If we can control and quickly eradicate this locust disaster, reducing the court's expenses and easing the emperor's concerns, when we submit our reports, the emperor will certainly be pleased. At that time..."

At this point, Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and said meaningfully, "Liu, as court officials, we must have a long-term perspective."

Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Liu Chang'an thought he finally understood Zhao Junchen's intentions.

Zhao Junchen wanted to use this opportunity to establish his merit!

Liu Chang'an had long heard that the current emperor favored Zhao Junchen greatly. As long as Zhao Junchen achieved something, the emperor would seize every opportunity to reward and promote him. Compared to the disaster relief funds, a promotion and power were clearly more beneficial.

Promotion and wealth, promotion and wealth. After a promotion, where would he worry about the means to get rich?

Thinking of this, Liu Chang'an could not help but feel a sense of joy. After all, if the emperor rewarded Zhao Junchen in the future, he, as a local official who had followed Zhao Junchen and contributed, would certainly benefit as well!

Understanding this, Liu Chang'an looked resolute and said to Zhao Junchen, "This subordinate understands. Relieving the court's difficulties and sharing the emperor's worries is our duty as local officials. For the sake of the people, as you said, the locust disaster must be controlled, and the locusts must be exterminated. Your Excellency has a far-sighted vision, and this subordinate admires you. In the future, I will follow your lead!"

Saying this, Liu Chang'an had already forgotten about the locust god.

Would exterminating locusts offend the locust god? As a corrupt official, Liu Chang'an had done many bad things and was not afraid of the judgment of the King of Hell after his death. How could he be afraid of the revenge of a small locust god?