Chapter 270 Harvest (VI)
On his way back, Li Wei saw that the crops on the roadside were growing very well. The people were busy harvesting and cutting down the golden wheat. Seeing the density of the wheat fields, Li Wei frowned and wanted to stop his horse and go to the roadside to take a look.
As soon as he made a move, the officer in charge of escorting Li Wei shouted, "Don't move."
"Brothers, I just want to see how you dare to plant your wheat so densely. I have planted crops before, but I just want to take a look."
"What are you looking at!" the escort officer who had been very strict with Li Wei shouted. As soon as he finished speaking, the captain in charge of the escort said, "The governor ordered that as long as he doesn't run away, he can be allowed to watch."
Hearing that it was Huo Chong who gave his permission, Li Wei became alert. On the way out of Zibo, Li Wei's heart was churning. The hatred towards Huo Chong rolled in his heart like a raging wave. As a loyal minister of Yongzheng, Li Wei wanted to avenge his father and emperor.
However, there are more intense emotions above this hatred. Recalling the frank conversation with Huo Chong, Li Wei had to admit that Huo Chong did point out the core problem at the moment. The gentry have completely become a group of villains who only know how to exploit and plunder the people by occupying land and acting arrogantly.
It would have been fine if they were just villains, but the gentry who had lost their ability to run businesses became a bunch of rubbish, a bunch of calculating, vicious and cunning rubbish. And the Qing dynasty was built on this bunch of rubbish.
Huo Chong, the traitor, not only possessed power, but also had insight. Li Wei, who had recognized this fact, felt alert and uneasy. Having arrested so many bandits, Li Wei actually looked down on them. Because they were bad guys, and all their wisdom and courage were used to commit crimes.
At this time, Li Wei would rather Huo Chong was just an ordinary traitor. Only in this way can the Qing Dynasty have a chance to keep its throne. The Qing Dynasty, which was built on the foundation of incompetent people, might really lose completely when facing a traitor as wise and brave as Huo Chong.
But this was no longer the time to daydream. Li Wei jumped off his horse and walked to the edge of the field. The wheat in the field had just been harvested and the land had not yet been plowed. Rows and rows of stalks clearly showed the density of cultivation, while the wheat on the ground was full and abundant. Just by looking at it, you knew that a good harvest was inevitable.
The bumper harvest before him was beyond doubt, and this abundance plunged Li Wei into complete despair . Huo Chong could easily use the bumper harvest to recruit more troops, and the previous threat of "100,000 people marching into the capital" might not be a simple threat.
On the way back to the capital, he saw a lot of land. The whole Shandong province seemed to have been blessed, and all Li Wei saw was a good harvest.
The people who were hurrying to harvest did not show any fear of being ruled by the traitor Huo Chong. They were happily harvesting their own food. This scene made Li Wei even more terrified. These people really regarded Huo Chong's Han regime as the imperial court!
After leaving Shandong, Li Wei rushed to the capital day and night. After arriving in Beijing, he immediately asked to see Hong Zhou. At the Military Affairs Office, Li Wei first handed Hong Zhou a thick memorial he had written, and then reported to Hong Zhou. He told Hong Zhou the details of the mission.
Next to him were the ministers of the Grand Council, their faces becoming increasingly worse, but no one stopped Li Wei.
Hong Zhou's young face was slightly distorted. It seemed that his endurance was far worse than those military ministers and Li Wei.
After listening to Li Wei's description of Huo Chong's political system of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Zhou could no longer hold back and shouted, "Enough!"
Li Wei lowered his head and sighed in his heart. He could fully understand why Hong Zhou could not accept it, because Li Wei also repeatedly challenged his mood along the way before he reluctantly accepted Huo Chong's description of the Qing Dynasty system.
However, if we accept Huo Chong's description, we can only admit his evaluation. The people in the Qing Dynasty system are poisonous snakes that lie on the people and suck blood. The Qing Dynasty system itself can only produce dog emperors and dog officials. Even the most self-disciplined officials will become accomplices of dog emperors and dog officials after entering this system.
To admit these would be to deny all of one's own justice, which is absolutely intolerable for those who think they are the court.
"Li Wei, are you trying to defend the traitor?" someone shouted angrily.
Li Wei said nothing and endured the accusations quietly.
The military ministers accused Li Wei one after another, as if Li Wei was a member of Huo Chong's gang. There was even a sense that if Li Wei was killed, the rebellion caused by Huo Chong would be eliminated.
"Don't say a word!" Hong Zhou shouted. His voice was filled with anger and pain. "Let him speak, let him finish!"
Li Wei felt that Hong Zhou was going to take any action after he finished speaking, and would probably drag Li Wei out and behead him.
Thinking of death, Li Wei felt even more pain in his heart. Li Wei deeply hated himself for not having the courage of ten thousand men. If he had, he would have risked his life to kill Huo Chong when he saw him. As long as he killed Huo Chong, he would not hesitate to be chopped into meat paste by Huo Chong's men.
Li Wei deeply hated himself for not having the talent to help the people. If he had it, he could make the Qing Dynasty rich. Naturally, he would not give Huo Chong room to cause trouble. Not to mention Huo Chong's cold evaluation, "The Qing system will only make the whole world fall into poverty. The people are dying of poverty, and even the gentry are living in fear from day to day. The whole world is rolling down the slope of poverty, all the way to the bottom of the slope, where it is stinking and rotting."
Li Wei deeply hated that he did not have the extremely sophisticated and profound skills like Huo Chong, who could not make extremely sharp firearms, allowing a group of hastily formed troops from the mud legs to easily crush the well-trained official troops of the court.
Compared with the shame and pain caused by his own incompetence, being killed was nothing. Anyway, Li Wei had to be loyal to the court, and when Huo Chong entered the capital, Li Wei would be dead.
In this case, clearly pointing out to the emperor the abyss that the Qing court is facing may be the greatest loyalty Li Wei can show now.
As Li Wei continued to narrate, the abyss became clearer and clearer, and the Military Affairs Office fell into a terrible silence. It was as if there was no one else in the room, and Li Wei was just a madman, talking to himself about bizarre hallucinations.
After telling about Huo Chong's experience, Li Wei also described the bumper harvest he saw along the way. In conjunction with many things that were already known before, the Han regime had completely established a foothold in Shandong, and the reality that Huo Chong, a bandit, had successfully transformed into a Shandong official was also revealed.
After finishing the last part of the story, Li Wei felt as if his body was hollowed out. Squeezing out the last bit of energy and courage, Li Wei said, "Your Majesty, I have written down everything I have seen in the memorial. If you give Huo Chong another three or two years, he will only become more vicious. In any case, Your Majesty, please make a decision quickly. If you wait, I am afraid that Huo Chong will not fight among himself."
