Chapter 825 Balloons are flying all over the sky

After three days of heavy snow and continuous disasters, Li Shimin's desk was constantly reported by officials from all over the country, all of whom were begging for relief from the imperial court.

The key is that in addition to the ground of Chang'an, the heavy snow and the disaster situation are also the critical Luoyang, Xingzhou, Dingzhou, etc., anyway, most of the areas near the Yellow River have been affected, and some places have even more than three days, and the disaster is even more serious.

The heavy snowfall that has not been seen in 30 years has disturbed Li Shimin now.

I have just heard that Di Zhixon's rough statistics on the disaster situation show that it will take almost two million yuan to barely calm the situation, and if heavy snow falls in a few days, this number will continue to increase.

Two million guan is comparable to the harm caused by the last major flood of the Yellow River. Originally, after half a month of raising, the treasury already seemed to be a little full, but because of this heavy snowfall, it suddenly lost a huge hole.

On the one hand, it is imperative to send troops to Gaochang, and on the other hand, it is urgent to help the victims, Li Shimin is very entangled sitting in the court, money money, money is used when the money is used, if the court has sufficient money and grain reserves, he is an emperor of the Tang Dynasty, why should he be so anxious and worried at this moment?

"Your Majesty," Di Zhixun said: "In the past, the household department raised a total of more than 5 million yuan of money and more than 500,000 tons of grain, and this time 2 million yuan was allocated for disaster relief, which did not affect our dynasty's plan to send troops to Gaochang, and the emperor should not be too worried." ”

"Again," said Di Zhixun, "judging from the palindromes from all over the world, although the snow disaster was serious, it was better than the casualties of the victims, and it was much better than the floods of previous years." ”

"Also, the emperor" took over Di Zhixun's words, and Su Bingren also stood up to consol: "Although this year's snow disaster is serious, it has also indirectly eliminated many hidden dangers for the crops in the coming year. ”

"Originally, Weichen was still worried about whether the drought in the middle of summer this year would cause a large locust plague in my Datang realm in the coming year," Seeing that his words attracted the attention of the emperor, Su Bingren continued: "The sudden fall of the heavy snow now can be regarded as eliminating the memory in Weichen's heart. At the same time, Weichen also dares to guarantee that all the lands that have suffered from snowstorms will not only have few locusts in the coming year, but even ordinary small insects and pests will not be too many. ”

"Therefore, as long as the people in these regions can survive the cold winter of this year," the old man said in a fixed voice: "The autumn harvest next year will usher in a rare harvest year, and I Datang will no longer have to worry about the lack of rice and grain as now." ”

"I hope it's really as Aiqing said." Li Shimin's face softened slightly, looked down at the many courtiers in the court, and said: "But for the sake of today, it is still mainly to help the victims in various places, and don't want to have another tragedy of 'nothing happens during the disaster, and people die after the disaster', which will chill the people of the world." ”

"The emperor is benevolent, and the ministers must do their best," the ministers all bent down and replied, but none of them could put forward a practical suggestion.

Whether it is an earthquake, a flood or this snowstorm, there is a common and very serious problem, that is, the road is long and obstructive. Every time, it is ten days or even half a month after receiving reports from various places to the imperial court to allocate relief funds and sending materials to the affected places in the nearest places.

It is also the case that disaster relief is not in time, and the shortage of various materials has caused the tragedy of "nothing happens during the disaster, and people die after the disaster" as Li Shimin said more than once.

"Emperor" Just when everyone bowed their heads and was silent, Tao Yande, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, stood up from the crowd, bowed and saluted Li Shimin: "The minister has a strategy, or he can postpone the disaster situation in various places and ensure that the victims have no worries about their lives." Just ......"

"Speaking" saw that Tao Yande seemed to be a little hesitant, Li Shimin directly commanded, signaling him not to take anything into consideration.

"Yes, Your Majesty." After taking a reassuring pill, Tao Yande straightened up and said in a fixed voice: "Weichen thinks that since the land is inconvenient, the soldiers might as well leave the ground, and the nearly 1,000 hot air balloons made by the Ministry of Industry may be used for disaster relief." ”

"Hot air balloons?" Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he said in his heart This is a good way, why didn't he think of it before?

However, looking down at Tao Yande, Li Shimin frowned slightly, and continued: "Although the hot air balloon can leave the ground, the load is not much, if they are used to transport grain and grass, I'm afraid it's a drop in the bucket, right?" ”

A larger hot air balloon, at most five people, is only more than 500 catties, and it is a little more than four quintals, even if there are 1,000 hot air balloons, the total amount of grain that can be transported is only more than 4,000 quintals, 4,000 quintals of grain, there may be a little surplus to help a county, but to relieve dozens of counties and counties, it is undoubtedly a fool's dream.

You must know that it was because the load-bearing capacity of this tool was too small to transport too many soldiers, and it could not achieve the effect of attacking the city or attacking the enemy, so it was forgotten by Li Shimin and put aside, and now Tao Yande brought it up again, and Li Shimin couldn't help but worry about this issue again.

"Back to the emperor," Hearing the emperor ask about the disadvantages of hot air balloons, Tao Yande replied preparedly: "Weichen means that he does not transport grain and grass, only medicine and Langzhong." ”

"Huh?" Raising his eyebrows, thinking of the possibility, Li Shimin's face couldn't help but be slightly soothed: "If you only transport medicine and Langzhong, it can be regarded as a different way, more than 1,000 hot air balloons, and hundreds of thousands of catties of medicinal materials, to help the victims, it is enough." ”

Traveling off the ground, not restricted by ground conditions, and flying at a speed comparable to a thousand-mile treasure horse, it is best to use it to transport medicinal herbs and Langzhong.

It's just that Li Shimin is somewhat worried, after all, this tool is the first large-scale use, and the safety issues in it can not be completely guaranteed, even Liu Yiyi, who invented it, once said that although the hot air balloon is convenient, it is too limited by the climate of heaven and earth, and once the climate changes, it is very easy to fall accidents.

"Your Majesty," seeing the hidden worries in Li Shimin's heart, Tao Yande opened his voice: "In order to ensure the safety of the hot air balloon flying into the sky, Wei Chen specially went to the volcano Yuan Tiangang yesterday to ask for advice, and learned that there will be no north wind in the snow-stricken area in the next five days, and the climate is stable and snow-free, which is suitable for hot air balloon lift-off and transportation." ”

"Your Majesty, relief for the victims of the disaster is urgent," standing on the court, Tao Yande said with great righteousness: "For the sake of hundreds of thousands of people affected by the disaster in my Tang Dynasty, in order to appease the hearts of the soldiers who went to Langzhong and controlled the hot air balloon, Weichen is willing to accompany him and rush to the disaster area together, and ask the emperor for permission."

In the palace of King Wu, not long after Li Ke returned to the mansion in the early dynasty, Cen Wenwen asked to see him in front of the mansion.

personally went out to invite Cen Wenwen into the living room, and ordered someone to bring tea, Li Ke asked Cen Wenwen in a somewhat puzzled voice: "Mr. is in such a hurry to come over today, but what is the urgency?" ”

In the past, Cen Wenwen came to the mansion, in order to avoid people's eyes, he would usually choose to go at night, and rarely came to the door during the day like today, so Li Ke couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart, what was it that could make Cen Wenwen put aside his previous caution and go directly to his Wu Wangfu just after leaving the court?

"Above the court," Cen Wenwen took a sip of hot tea, glanced at Li Ke, and asked softly: "What does His Highness think of the words and deeds of the Ministry of Industry?" ”

"Tao Yande?" Li Ke chuckled disapprovingly, and said: "What you say is high-sounding, and you also have the courage to sacrifice your life for righteousness, but you can't help but be suspected of grandstanding. He never thought that his father would really agree to his suggestion and let him go to the disaster area in a hot air balloon with medicine. ”

"If this king expects it well," picking up the tea bowl and taking a sip, Li Ke continued: "Tao Yande is now timid and scared at home, and regrets his Haikou in the court. ”

"His Royal Highness thinks that Tao Yande is grandstanding," Cen Wenwen glanced up at Li Ke and said, "Those suggestions he made in the court were just to please the emperor, and he didn't intend to really go to the disaster area with the medicine and Langzhong to adventure?" ”

"Don't you think so, sir?" Li Ke asked Cen Wenwen rhetorically: "Mr. Performance of hot air balloons should also know that there is a great danger in the magic, as long as the weather changes slightly, or the coal is insufficient, there is a danger of falling at any time, this king does not believe that Tao Yande is really not afraid?" ”

"If," without answering Li Ke's question, Cen Wenwen stared at Li Ke and asked lightly: "The purpose of Wei Chen's coming to the mansion today is to persuade His Royal Highness to go to the disaster area with Tao Yande?" ”

"Why?" Li Ke's face changed, and he was stunned for a long time before he replied: "This king needs a reason." ”

"Because His Highness needs such a merit" Cen Wenwen said: "Compared with the performance of the crown prince in the Yellow River flood last year, His Royal Highness still lacks some performance in popular support and popularity, and this snow disaster is undoubtedly the best opportunity for His Highness." ”

"But ...... hot air balloon" Li Ke frowned tightly, didn't Cen Wenwen let him gamble with his life, wouldn't there be any problems with betting on that hot air balloon?

"If there is no danger, how can the emperor, the courtiers and hundreds of officials and millions of people of my Tang Dynasty see the hard work of His Royal Highness to share the emperor's worries and relieve the difficulties of the people?"

"Besides, the so-called danger here," Cen Wenwen shook his head disappreciatively, and said, "It may not be as serious as His Highness thinks." ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Tao Yande is not the kind of righteous man who can sacrifice his life for the sake of righteousness, he is very sorry for his life." Cen Wenwen said in a calm voice with certainty: "Moreover, as the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, after nearly a year of dedicated research, no one will know better about the performance and danger of hot air balloons than him, not even Liu Yiyi, who was the first to make hot air balloons." ”

"What does Mr. mean," Li Ke's expression moved, and he asked in a somewhat uncertain voice: "Tao Yande deliberately behaved so righteous and awe-inspiring on the premise of determining his own safety, and forgot to die like that?" ”