Chapter 175 174 Since Ancient Times, There Has Been No Disaster so Tragic

I got up early this morning and only ate some breakfast. After a morning's passing ceremony, Wei Guangde followed the second and third overall picks and ate ashes for a long time. By the time the ceremony was over, he was already ravenous.

People are like iron rice or steel. At this time, Wei Guangde was really afraid of hunger.

In fact, it wasn't just Wei Guangde, most of the other Jinshi who followed him were in a similar situation. Perhaps only the three riding horses and boasting officials felt better.

When he saw the restaurant on the roadside, Wei Guangde couldn't help it anymore. When he turned around and saw Lao Kan, Wei Guangde immediately waved to him and walked towards the restaurant.

Lao Kan ranked 77th in the second class this time, which was a pretty good ranking.

When he came up to him, Wei Guangde said bitterly to him: "Brother Lao, I'm here to say hello. If anyone I know is the same year, please come to the restaurant for a meal. I'm very hungry."

Well, this department will try to recruit 300 people, and Wei Guangde will not invite them to dinner generously. He just invites people he knows well to eat and drink.

At this time, I was wearing a Jinshi uniform and went into a restaurant alone to show off. What would I think if someone of the same year saw me?

It's better to ask Lao Kan to do this for him, and he can rest inside and order some food.

"Okay, I'm hungry too, so I just want to have a meal here."

Lao Kan is about the same now. Can he not be hungry after walking all the way?

Wei Guangde strode into the restaurant and went up to the second floor. He occupied a few tables by the window and sat down. The waiter came over, bowed his head and called out: "Master"

Wei Guangde's clothes mainly indicate who he is after staying in the capital for a few years, not to mention that the streets are so lively today, so there is no need to ask.

Wei Guangde waved his hand and interrupted directly. He didn't bother to ask for the menu now, so he said to the waiter: "Prepare a few dishes that are good at the store. Take care of the three tables first. You can prepare as many people as you think will be there at that time. Give them first." I'll get the tea."

At this moment, the official praise had just ended, and Wei Guangde was too lazy to find Zhang Ji and the others, and took care of his own five internal organs temple first.

This is an alley near the end of the street where Yujie Kuaguan is located. When Wei Guangde came over, he saw many new scholars walking back along the avenue and looking for restaurants on the street.

But Wei Guangde wouldn't do that. There were so many people on the street. After watching their parade now, it is estimated that many people would rush into the roadside wine shop to eat and drink. Only if they could find a place would there be ghosts.

This restaurant is not big, with about a dozen tables upstairs and downstairs.

Not long after, Lao Kan brought more than 20 people from outside, most of whom were fellow Jiangxi residents.

When they went upstairs, Wei Guangde smiled and said, "I'm afraid everyone is like me. I'm the host today, so let's have some food here."

Wei Guangde had already asked the store owner to prepare tea. Everyone didn't even get a sip of water during the whole journey. They were really tired and hungry now, and four tables were quickly occupied.

"Follow it."

Although the three tables were mentioned first, Wei Guangde also asked them to prepare. The two waiters who came up hurriedly poured tea for everyone. Everyone tested whether the water was hot or not, and drank it in one go.

Not long after, the waiter brought out several plates of food to go with the wine, and a few bottles of wine for each table. Now everyone no longer looked like a scholar, they just picked up their chopsticks and started eating without saying any nonsense about courtesy. .

Not long after, another group of Jinshi came, and I don't know how they found their way here, but they were smaller than Wei Guangde and others.

There were a total of six tables upstairs, but Wei Guangde and the others occupied four of them. At first they wanted to eat upstairs, but they had to give up when they saw that there were only two tables left.

We are all new scholars, so we can just hold hands with each other on the stairs.

Not long after, the tables upstairs and downstairs were occupied by people coming from behind.

As Wei Guangde expected, the restaurants on the street had long been occupied by busy people, so there was no room for them.

After the food and wine were served, Wei Guangde didn't feel hungry after eating for a while. He heard the sounds upstairs and downstairs again, and said with a smile: "I think this restaurant is a real Jinshi restaurant. There are all Jinshi people upstairs and downstairs. "

"Haha, I didn't think the restaurant food was that good in the past, but today I know what delicious food is."

"I came here early in the morning and have been standing there until now. I was really hungry at that time."

After eating to fill their bellies, everyone was no longer as hungry as before and started to talk and laugh.

There were also two groups of Jinshi who came to sit upstairs. There were not many people, only six or seven people, each occupying a table. They all knew each other, but were not familiar with each other, and everyone just shook hands with each other.

Not long after, the two tables over there also stopped eating in a hurry and started talking while eating just like Wei Guangde here.

"How come you didn't see Jinda Jintanhua?"

Someone suddenly asked.

Lao Kan shook his head, "I didn't see anyone when I went there. Maybe he was riding back to the clubhouse. I guess he was also very hungry."

The four tables of Jiangxi Jinshi scholars mostly talked about Jiangxi, but not long after, Wei Guangde's attention was attracted by the topics mentioned by the Shanxi Jinshi scholars at the next table.

"Who says it's not the case? A letter from home said that it was pretty good and the losses there were relatively small. I heard that the situation in Shaanxi next door was so bad that more than 300,000 people were killed."

"Shaanxi is miserable. It is said that there are not 200,000 people who died in Shanxi."

Then I heard my colleague from Shanxi over there sighing.

When the words reached Wei Guangde's ears, Wei Guangde felt funny in his heart.

Wei Guangde still vaguely remembered what they had said before, as if he had heard someone say that the Earth Dragon in Shanxi Province had turned around in December last year.

Well, Wei Guangde, who experienced the Southwest Earthquake in later generations, naturally knew that the magnitude 8 earthquake he personally experienced was in a densely populated area, and there were not as many as they said.

Wei Guangde couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, is the Shanxi and Shaanxi earthquake as exaggerated as they say?"

Wei Guangde did not deny that natural disasters such as earthquakes must have caused huge losses, but he had some doubts about the hundreds of thousands of people they said were lost at any time, strong doubts.

"Wei Chuanlu, we are not talking nonsense, the letter from home said so."

A Jinshi who spoke earlier said hurriedly.

"Yes, merchants come to the guild hall from time to time. Although we all heard what they said, we are all from the same village. No matter what, we won't curse our fellow villagers."

"No, I just said that the hundreds of thousands you said are a bit exaggerated. I'm afraid you are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who were affected by the disaster."

Wei Guangde laughed. He jumped from the third class to the second class and got the position of Chuanlu. Even if people didn't know him before, they knew him now. Moreover, he was the first person to flatter the champion all the way, so he was recognized directly.

"Yeah, the earth dragon turned over, and hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the disaster. That's for sure."

Zhang Ke beside Wei Guangde nodded in agreement and echoed.

"It's not the victims, it's the dead."

"Maybe you heard it wrong."

"Yes, I took the victims as."

"No, there are really a lot of people lost in Shanxi and Shaanxi this time."

Soon, the Jinshi from Jiangxi talked to the Jinshi from Shanxi about the earthquake disaster in Shanxi and Shaanxi. The Jinshi from Jiangxi felt that the loss of hundreds of thousands of people they said was too exaggerated. You know, the population of those large counties in Jiangxi is only a few hundred thousand or a few hundred thousand.

Well, such a debate is naturally fruitless. The Jinshi from Jiangxi said frankly that he was guessing, while the Jinshi from Shanxi heard it from letters from his family and fellow villagers.

"The loss in Shanxi and Shaanxi this time is huge. As far as I know, it's more than what you said."

At this moment, one of the Jinshi from another table upstairs stood up and said.

Wei Guangde looked at him and had a vague impression of him. It seemed that his name was He Bangli. He ranked 150th in the third class in the palace examination. He was from Fuqing, Fujian. Because his ranking was close to Wei Guangde, the two had said a few words before.

"Brother He, why do you say that?"

Wei Guangde was a little puzzled. How could he, a Fujian Jinshi, know about the disaster in Shanxi and Shaanxi?

"Yesterday, I met with my fellow villagers and heard from the Tongzhengsi that Shanxi reported that the earthquake had caused a loss of 100,000 people, and the post-earthquake disasters and plagues caused another 100,000 people to die. The total loss was more than 200,000."

At this point, He Bangli sighed and continued, "Shaanxi was even worse. The direct loss of the earthquake exceeded 300,000 people, and the post-earthquake loss was also nearly 200,000. Weinan, Huazhou, Chaoyi, Sanyuan, Puzhou and other places suffered huge losses, and only one in ten people survived."

When Wei Guangde heard He Bangli say 100,000, 300,000, and 200,000 in a row, his heart twitched, and he couldn't help but say, "Brother He, how many people were there in the Shanxi and Shaanxi earthquakes? Casualties, have the local authorities reported it? "

"The local authorities are still counting, and there is no doubt that more than 800,000 people have died."

He Bangli shook his head, then lowered his head and stopped talking, and He Tingjin, who was also a Fujian Jinshi, took over the conversation: "It's a pity that the court's money was embezzled by those corrupt officials. This time, Shanxi and Shaanxi suffered a major disaster, and the Ministry of Revenue and the Cabinet said that they had no money to provide disaster relief. Later, they moved the money for repairing the wall and deducted some of the border army's military pay to collect 150,000 taels of silver. 150,000 taels of silver"

When Wei Guangde heard He Bangli say the number of "800,000", he was shocked and opened his mouth wide. This number was something he dared not imagine, it was too big.

However, He Tingjin then brought the topic to the corruption of the court. In his heart, Wei Guangde labeled this person as "idiot", but he didn't know whether he was really stupid or pretending to be stupid.

Although the imperial court has a large amount of tax silver deposited into the treasury every year, this money has to supply officials and government offices inside and outside the capital, as well as the military pay of the border troops in the nine important border towns. It is already stretched to the limit. In addition, the current Emperor Jiajing often reaches out to the treasury to take money to build Taoist temples and hold festivals, so the deficit has long been serious.

Greed, even if you are a Jinshi, you dare to say the word "greed". Isn't this referring to people of your own class?

Speaking of corruption, all the Jinshi in the world are "big corrupt officials".

However, with such a big disaster in Shanxi and Shaanxi, the imperial court allocated 150,000 taels of silver, which is indeed too little.

However, as soon as this idea came into his mind, Wei Guangde was shocked. This is the misappropriation of border funds. Now the north is still being harassed by Altan Khan's troops. At this time, if you cut military spending, will the northern border troops still have the morale to fight?

Shut up and Wei Guangde fell silent.

In the peaceful years, the imperial court could not allocate money for disaster relief in the face of the disaster in Shanxi and Shaanxi. What would the situation be like during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty?

Wei Guangde unconsciously felt a little sympathy for the emperor who was not even a caterpillar yet.

The restaurant became quiet. All the Jinshi were stunned by the bomb thrown by He Bangli. The loss of 800,000 people would mean that several counties in Jiangxi would be empty.

"How could it be so serious?"

After a long while, Wu Chaoyi, a Jinshi from Linchuan, spoke.

"The earthquake occurred at midnight. According to reports, there were cracks in the ground and springs gushing out, with fish and animals in them, or houses and castles sinking into the ground, or flat land suddenly turning into hills. After that, there were several earthquakes a day, and the earthquakes continued for days. Alas."

He Bangli raised his head and said: "According to the summary of the memorials, a total of 101 counties were damaged in the earthquake, including the provincial governments of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan.

The earthquake reduced local houses, government offices, temples, and academies to ruins, and all the more solid tall buildings such as towers, pagodas, and palaces collapsed.

The people were all pressed under their houses in their dreams, and they had no time to escape. The civilian and military households suffered heavy losses. Later, the congestion of the Yellow River caused floods. The earthquake happened in the middle of winter, and the victims died of freezing, starvation, and the subsequent plague. Countless people died."

"There are 800,000 people with names and surnames?"

Wei Guangde still felt that this number was unbelievable and beyond his cognition.

With the current level of technology in the Ming Dynasty, the death of 100,000 or 200,000 people could be barely accepted, but this time it was 800,000. According to the current Ming Dynasty order, the loss of population must be calculated with names and surnames. Wei Guangde knew that there were still many hidden households without household registration.

Although it is not known how many hidden households there are in Shanxi and Shaanxi, Wei Guangde is still sure that there should be some.

These people are not registered in the household registration, and they are unlikely to be counted when calculating the population loss.

Seeing the delicious food on the table, Wei Guangde felt that it was not fragrant for a while.

Thinking that there are still millions of disaster victims in Shanxi and Shaanxi who are crying for food, while they are enjoying fine clothes and delicious food in the capital, Wei Guangde felt a little uncomfortable.

Most of the people in the restaurant looked sad at this moment. Although they did not know their true thoughts, as long as they were normal people, or scholars who knew etiquette, righteousness, and shame, they should be sad and cry for this.

"Since ancient times, there has been no such tragic disaster. I wish I could take my place."

Someone suddenly sighed.

"We are already Jinshi, and we will be officials in the future. We will shepherd the people on behalf of the heaven. As long as we are frugal and let the people live and work in peace and contentment, it is the right way. What nonsense are you talking about."

Someone else started to rebuke.

"It is said that the Rongen Banquet tomorrow costs thousands of gold every time."

Wei Guangde suddenly said leisurely.

Speaking at this time naturally attracted the attention of others, and everyone wanted to hear what he, a second-class Chuanlu, had to say.

Wei Guangde knew that most people would be dissatisfied with being inexplicably promoted to the second-class Chuanlu position from the bottom of the third class. In fact, he himself was also very surprised. How could he rank so high without paying any money?

When Guo Dong from Shanxi called him "Wei Chuanlu" before, Wei Guangde had already heard the sour taste in his tone.

"The court has no money to provide disaster relief."

Wei Guangde still said slowly, "And we study and learn etiquette just to take the imperial examinations and become officials, to enjoy ourselves in high positions and ignore the suffering of the people.

Rong En Banquet is a system that cannot be abolished, but the state affairs are difficult. I want to go to the Ministry of Rites to request the Grand Master of Rites to reduce the banquet and replace it with water, and all the saved money will be sent to the disaster areas in Shanxi and Shaanxi."