Qiongzhou Is Not Just a Problem of Being Poor, It's a Problem of Survival
qiongzhou Prefecture
In the Prefect's Yamen.
Qiongzhou Prefecture Magistrate Yuan Chongli was currently reading official documents.
Yuan Chongli was originally from Guangdong and Guangxi. Like Censor Zhongcheng Liu Bowen, he had once held a local official position under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
Later, Emperor Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang, unified the world and established the Ming Dynasty.
In the third year of Hongwu, Yuan Chongli relied on the imperial examinations to enter the official ranks.
Because of his talent and certain political ability, he was promoted several times and entered Nanjing City, becoming a capital official at the feet of the emperor.
But three years ago.
Yuan Chongli was slandered and demoted by Hu Weiyong because he had offended Prime Minister Li Shanchang's favorite.
at this point
Yuan Chongli, who was nearly forty years old, was demoted from the most promising position in the capital to the prefect of Qiongzhou.
Although he was a rank 6 official in the capital, he was now a rank 4 official in Qiongzhou.
However, this was indeed a well-known promotion.
Moreover, the place where he was banished was Qiongzhou.
Coming here to be an official was no different from being exiled.
When he first arrived in Qiongzhou, Yuan Chongli, who was not even forty years old, was naturally not convinced.
He was secretly competing in his heart.”
As long as he could do something earth-shattering in Qiongzhou, it was not impossible for him to be transferred to the capital again.
so
Yuan Chongli, who had just taken office, began his road of struggle.
However, Yuan Chongli was truly stunned after he took the position of Jingzhou Prefecture Magistrate.
It was said that Qiongzhou was very poor and desolate.
However, the reality was even worse than what people said.
As time passed, Yuan Chongli realized that Qiongzhou was no longer a problem of poverty, but of survival.
First, there was a shortage of food.
Logically speaking, Qiongzhou was rich in heat. If crops were left in Qiongzhou now, they could produce one or two more seasons a year than in other places.
However, during this period of the Ming Dynasty, planting grain in Qiongzhou truly experienced what Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty had said: " The grass is abundant, but the bean sprouts are sparse."
Qiongzhou was rich in heat, but the abundant heat not only provided energy for the crops, but also benefited a large number of weeds.
Most importantly, the crops at this time had not been improved and bred.
In the same environment, crops could not defeat weeds!
therefore
The crops in Qiongzhou were invaded by wild weeds.
The crops had greatly reduced in production.
As a result, there would be a few months every year when Qiongzhou had no choice but to shamelessly borrow grain from Guangdong and Guangxi.
Even so, most of the time in Qiongzhou, the officials and commoners could only rely on seafood to survive.
The prefect of Qiongzhou, Yuan Chongli, had slowly erased his original dream in the days of eating dried fish and rice.
Other than the food shortage, there was a more serious problem in Qiongzhou.
This problem directly affected the living conditions of the people in Qiongzhou.
That was the lack of water!
That's right, water shortage!
If there was no food, he could borrow food from Guangdong and Guangxi. At most, he could exchange it with dried fish.
But how could he borrow water without water?
Sending someone to carry it all the way?
Obviously, such a situation was impossible to achieve in the Ming Dynasty.
Some people said that Qiongzhou was on the sea.
Was there not enough water in the sea?
I'm sorry, but seawater is not drinkable.
Not only were there a large number of microorganisms in the seawater, but there was also this high level of saltiness!
This was because the salt concentration in seawater was about four times that of human fluids, and the function of human kidneys to exhale salt was very limited.
As a result, drinking seawater not only failed to replenish water, but also caused dehydration.
When many people first arrived in Qiongzhou, they did not understand this and did not communicate with the locals.
Drinking seawater directly resulted in vomiting and diarrhea, and there was no timely replenishment of fresh water.
Then…
Someone said," Doesn't Qiongzhou often rain heavily?"
The rain must be fresh water, right?
It was true that the rainwater was fresh water, but…
There was nothing he could do. He couldn't keep the fresh water!
The terrain of Qiongzhou was high in the middle.
The river was short, and there were no large lakes to store rainwater.
There was a lot of rain in Qiongzhou, but a large amount of rain would flow into the sea in a very short time.
It mixed with the seawater.
There might be some small valleys in the mountains in the middle of Qiongzhou that could store some fresh water.
However, this led to another problem.
- Barbarians!
In other words, they were savages.
They were the earliest residents of Qiongzhou. They occupied the mountains and forests in the middle of Qiongzhou all year round and were very aggressive.
Not to mention ordinary people, even the government of Qiongzhou did not dare to provoke these local tyrants.
Because of these reasons, in Qiongzhou.
Whether it was the officials or the common people, they were all facing a huge water shortage problem.
On rainy days, regardless of officials or citizens, they would take out all the items in their homes that could catch rainwater and put them in the open air.
Fortunately, Qiongzhou had abundant rain all year round.
After receiving a rain, he could still endure until the next rain.
If someone unfortunately forgot to catch rainwater on rainy days, they could only bite the bullet and go to every household for the next ten days to half a month to beg for some fresh water to maintain their basic survival.
It was these factors that caused the number of people in Qiongzhou to decrease.
A large number of people, especially young people, could not stand such a life and chose to leave their homes.
Those who stayed behind were either old, weak, sick, or young people who had to stay at home to take care of the elderly.
In a place where even survival was a problem, Jingzhou Prefecture Magistrate Yuan Chongli had completely destroyed his dream of transforming Jingzhou in less than half a year.
at this time
Magistrate Yuan Chongli, who was almost forty years old, simply reviewed official documents at the magistrate's office every day and did some of his own work.
As for the rest, he no longer had the ability to think about it or care about it.
Yuan Chongli, who was reading official documents, heard the sound of hurried footsteps.
He looked up.
It was the Tongzhi of Qiongzhou, Ma Ningyuan, who was also his deputy.
Ma Ningyuan's face was filled with nervousness. He stood in the hall, trying to regulate his breathing.
"Lord Ma?" Yuan Chongli raised his head and frowned. Why are you so flustered?"
"Are those foreigners coming down to rob again?”
Ma Ningyuan was still panting, but his head kept shaking.
"No…no!"
" Lord Prefect, it's King Xiang, no, King Qiong…"
Yuan Chongli was confused by Ma Ningyuan's words." What King Xiang and King Qiong? What happened?"
Ma Ningyuan finally calmed down and said,""The previous King Xiang, which is now King Qiong, will become a barbarian if he comes to our Qiongzhou!”
"Who is it?"
"Xiang Wang Zhu Bai! It's going to be King Qiong Zhu Bai soon!"
"King Qiong's troops have already left the Guangdong and Guangxi regions. They are expected to arrive at Jingzhou tomorrow morning!”
" What?!"
Hearing this, Magistrate Yuan Chongli suddenly stood up and stared blankly at Ma Ningyuan.
Bang bang bang! (Kowtow)
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]