Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 983 Winter City and the Peasants' Uprising

The Luo family had been in the Tang Dynasty for three hundred years, and their political development was just normal.

About two hundred years into the Tang Dynasty, another path emerged within the Luo family.

Most of the exchanges between the East and the West were cultural assistance from the Tang Dynasty to other regions, but among the mutual influences, one thing had a great impact on the Tang Dynasty, and that was mathematical symbols.

After suddenly realizing the importance of simple symbols, Luo spent about a month compiling a complete set of symbols. From then on, Luo had a powerful tool to change the world.

In the history of human science and technology, practice usually comes first, then principles are summarized from practice, and then the principles are applied to practice. This is called the unity of knowledge and action.

If a country or nation focuses too much on practice and does not summarize the principles behind it, it will continue to be stuck in a relatively low-level circle of practice and it will be almost impossible to break through.

Only by understanding the theory can one understand all laws.

No other family can compare to the Luo family in terms of practice, because the Luo family has been trying to solve various problems in production and life. With more practice, people will ask why.

It is like the ancient Roman sages were answering all kinds of seemingly useless questions, such as which one would land first, the light ball or the heavy ball. The answer they gave was that the heavy ball would land first, which is consistent with observations in reality. However, Rockefeller discovered that this answer was wrong. The light ball and the heavy ball landed at the same time.

Basically, most of the answers given by our ancestors are wrong.

But no one knows why this result occurred, as a large part of the Luo family has invested their energy in this.

Theoretical research will always be wasted and useless if it does not reach a certain level and does not have sufficient accumulation. However, Luo could feel that this would be the power to change the world, so he invested a lot of money and energy into it. Most of his talented children did not even want to be officials.

Luo Xingyun is the head of the Luo family, but he is more like a person who serves the researchers within the family. He is responsible for making money and ensuring the stability and status of the Luo family so that the researchers of the Luo family can have a stable research environment.

Most of Rockefeller's researchers devoted their energy to the study of theoretical mathematics. They roamed in the world of geometry and numbers, and even created irrational numbers.

When irrational numbers appeared, Rockwell was a little confused, but after calculations, he realized that they really existed. This became unstoppable, and more people began to devote themselves to the study of mathematics and could not extricate themselves.

There is also a group of people who seem to have nothing to do. They have started to study pure numbers, and then found that the current theories are difficult to calculate, so they invented new mathematical tools themselves.

In this way, Luo almost reached the point of obsession. Mathematics is the cornerstone of science, an omnipotent tool, and the law for exploring the mysteries of the universe. However, mathematics has no end, and it is useless to just study mathematics.

Now it seems like the tools have been updated several times, the electric saw has been invented, but the work of cutting down trees has not yet begun.

The foundation has been built to accommodate a skyscraper, but there is not even a thatched hut on it.

And the Luo family has not yet realized that because the beauty of mathematics is so addictive, a special family like the Luo family cannot extricate themselves from it.

During the transformation process of Rockwell Automation, some new things would occasionally be produced, such as black powder, and some strange and accidental materials.

When it comes to materials science, before you have thoroughly studied it, sometimes you just have to rely on luck.

Another major transformation of the Luo family occurred after the natural disaster.

Before the natural disaster, although the entire Tang Dynasty had various ills, it was generally prosperous. In this peaceful empire, from top to bottom, there was actually not much sense of urgency.

There has never been an empire as great as the Tang Dynasty in the world.

Even the proudest Romans admitted that the greatness of the Tang Dynasty far surpassed any period of Roman history.

The people of the Tang Dynasty have already disdained all the prosperity of the past.

Almost everyone was immersed in the grandeur and sacredness.

But natural disasters broke all the veils of warmth and tenderness and awakened countless people. Many people were at a loss as to why the world suddenly became like this.

The group of researchers from the Luo family were awakened from the digital world. In the past years, Luo Xingyun never interfered in matters related to this aspect, because as the head of the family, he must be the one who was better at politics or military affairs.

But now, he ordered everyone to "transfer their intelligence and talents to solving real problems."

Then many problems exposed by this natural disaster were listed in a list, such as how to increase food production again, how to solve the problem of lack of water, and how to solve the problem of increasingly dry and cold climate.

There are many such problems, and Luo Xingyun doesn’t know whether he can solve them, but he has no choice.

The cost of the God of the Four Seasons is too great.

When King Zhaosheng used the artifact, the loss was so small that just using it in Hetao drained a quarter of the Luo family's accumulation. Later, in order to activate the God of Four Seasons, countless people died.

Unfortunately, the time is too short.

The development of science and technology, if it does not have a clear direction, especially in the early stages, is basically a matter of luck.

What is even more frightening is that if you make a little progress on a certain path and then focus all your energy on this path, you will stagnate.

For example, black powder.

Many weapons were born from black powder, but if you insist on developing black powder and keep studying it, you will be abandoned by the times, and a lot of manpower and material resources will be wasted without any effect.

Because black powder and modern gunpowder cannot be said to have no connection, but they are not very related either.

When we started to solve practical problems, the first thing was to solve the food problem and how to make more efficient use of the limited water resources in the north. At this time, water wheels appeared in front of everyone.

then.

After coming out of the world of mathematics, Rockwell's researchers plunged into the big pit of physics and began to study mechanics. In this regard, the law of buoyancy that Archimedes of ancient Rome had studied long ago gave Rockwell some inspiration. With higher-order mathematical tools, Rockwell's research went smoothly. He calculated many formulas, proposed many principles, and explained many phenomena that could not be solved before. Everyone was very happy. Mankind's analysis of the essence of the world has made a great step forward.

The development of science and technology, and the development of mechanics, have made great progress in just a few years. If Rockwell had been given another 20 years, he would have been able to establish the edifice of classical mechanics.

But the Tang Dynasty could no longer hold on.

War broke out.

A large number of Luo family members who had no talent in research went to the battlefield.

However, those who have research talent will remain in Winter City.

Winter City.

Rockwell's research base.

When a large number of brave warriors left the family, everyone felt suffocated, and the empire was really at a critical moment of survival.

If they cannot solve the problems that the empire cannot solve, what they will have to endure will be pain that life cannot bear.

Outside Winter City.

A young man was sitting quietly by a stream, watching the water mill in action. Suddenly he lowered his head and muttered, "Why can't it turn by itself?"

……

Gunpowder had become quite popular in the imperial army, but the early black powder was not as powerful as imagined. It could neither completely replace the function of bows and crossbows, nor was it powerful enough to destroy the walls of a city.

But it did have an important impact on the war situation. For example, the heavy cavalry, which should have been booming, soon disappeared on the battlefield.

The war in Guanzhong was dangerous and fierce.

The fighting capacity of the Song State was not very strong, especially on land. Living in the tropics for many years had made them lose their bravery, and they could only fight with the navy and the imperial navy.

The power of the empire was displayed to everyone. Even if Yan and Song rebelled together, they could not cause any military pressure on the empire.

For the past two hundred years, the vassal states have obeyed the rule of the empire, and this is the fundamental reason, the empire has the most powerful fist.

The empire's fist is supported by every farmer working in the fields.

A handful of rice and a handful of wheat ears.

Build the magnificent empire.

And now the foundation of this edifice has collapsed.

If there is no skin left, how will the hair be attached?

The empire will also collapse as a result.

……

Finally, rebellious people appeared in the heart of the empire.

At the end of every dynasty in the past, there would be people who rebelled against the tyranny of the dynasty. They cursed the emperor and sang simple songs in their resistance.

But this time is different.

This time the rebellion was more like a struggle for survival.

This rebellion occurred because the central government could no longer fulfill its responsibility of keeping the people alive, so the people organized themselves spontaneously.

This kind of organizational power was also endowed and cultivated by the empire in the past years, and now it has become the driving force behind the overthrow of the empire.

The empire was short of food, but not everyone was short of food. It was impossible for the officials of the empire to distribute all the food. That was impossible.

The people of the empire have never been willing to live as slaves.

Now I am unwilling to survive on the charity of others, or wait for death in despair.

Attacks on government officials broke out in large areas north of the Huai River.

They called this behavior "raising the banner of justice and clearing out the treacherous and flattering people."

That's right.

Most of the rebels did not want to overthrow the rule of the Tang Dynasty. They simply wanted to kill the corrupt officials and release the grain from the treasury.

Everyone thought that the officials deliberately withheld the food, and they did not think that the royal family would deliberately starve them to death.

But even if it was like this at the beginning, some things were difficult to stop once they started, especially when they found that even after releasing all the food in the treasury, it would only last for a while longer.

The nature of the rebellion changed completely. Everyone who was still alive became an enemy, and the leaders of the rebel army quickly became bureaucratic. The government officials wanted to preserve food and gave priority to the court officials and soldiers. Now the leaders of the rebel army followed suit and chose to give priority to their own confidants.

By this time.

A naked and bloody reality has been laid before everyone.

The reality of too many people and too little food is an objective reality.

The most correct way is for everyone to starve. At least they won’t die and can still hold on.

But now that order has collapsed, the correct method can no longer be used.

Now is the era of the law of the dark forest. We must prioritize ensuring our own strength and ensure that we can survive in such a world, and then we can do more things.

In Hebei and Qi, where the riots first broke out, a large number of people had starved to death, and the situation was horrific.

Government officials in various places began to defend themselves and recruit local militia. Almost every powerful core was collecting food. Food had reached the point where there was no market for it even though it was priced. This exacerbated the famine in the periphery. The famine caused more people to die. The survivors who saw this scene once again intensified their search for and control of food. A terrible vicious cycle emerged under this situation.

There must be someone who is deliberately causing trouble, but when almost everyone is doing so, it is difficult to tell in a short period of time. This is a panic in which almost everyone is involved.

The convenience of sending messages by carrier pigeons has become a burden at this time. Places where disaster had not yet occurred also started to do the same after receiving the news in advance.

The rebellion should have been started by the common people, but in many areas it was started by the government. In the vast rural areas, many rebel armies appeared and attacked the towns and villages. They waved hoes and sickles, then gathered together, and after gathering enough strength, they began to attack the cities.

Who can stop this surging uprising?

……

The emperor, kings, ministers and officials in Luoyang were all asking this question.

Li Shen vomited blood and fainted again. After waking up this time, his face was so pale that it was difficult to recover. It was obvious that he had suffered too much mental damage.

He has been under too much pressure these years.

This kind of problem that is difficult to solve by human power should not be placed on a mediocre monarch like him.

The popular uprising was anticipated from the beginning of the incident, but when it really happened in front of him and it was in full swing in a short period of time, he still couldn't accept it.

"My dear ministers, what can we do?"

Li Shen didn't know how many times he had said "what can I do about it", but apart from "what can I do about it", he couldn't say anything else.

Luo Xingchen took a step forward and said in a deep voice: "The only solution now is to defend Heluo and Jianghuai. As long as we can keep Jianghuai in our hands, there is still hope for the Tang Dynasty.

Then, a senior official will be sent to govern Hebei and Qi to maintain order as much as possible. According to the information we have received now, even the rebellious people are not rebelling against the Tang Dynasty, they just want to survive.

As long as the imperial court has the ability to keep them alive, recovering them should not be a difficult task. But if we wait until chaos really breaks out and they are on a path from which there is no turning back, then there will be really nothing we can do.

Your Majesty should make a decision earlier. The result of delaying will be unpredictable and beyond our control. My brother is fighting against Yan in Guanzhong. If we cannot stabilize the Central Plains soon, he will inevitably be implicated."

It is too easy to enter Hedong from Hebei, and the current defense of Hedong is empty, so it is easy to be attacked from behind.

Li Shen seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, but immediately became depressed. "Where can the court raise food to keep the Shandong disaster victims alive? If the food is transported from Heluo and Jianghuai..."

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

Almost at the moment when Li Shen finished speaking, voices rose one after another in the court, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. If the grain of Heluo is shipped out, once Shandong is not pacified, Heluo will be in chaos. Will Your Majesty abandon Luoyang and leave at that time?
Chang'an has already fallen. If Luoyang also falls, what will the imperial court use to control the world? This will be a huge blow to the prestige of the entire Tang Dynasty.

Although there are some rioters in Guandong, it is not enough to put the imperial court in such great danger."

Luo Xingchen knew what they meant. Although the disaster victims in Guandong were serious, people died quickly in such a chaos. Guandong was short of food, not without food. As long as enough extra people in Guandong died, the remaining food would naturally be eaten.

Although this idea is cruel, it is indeed effective. The only drawback is that by the time there is enough food, it is hard to say whether Guandong will still belong to the Tang Dynasty.

The vassal states of the Tang Dynasty were already alienated from the Central Plains due to their long distance. If it were not for the policy bias over the years, there would have been reversals long ago. If Hebei and the Central Plains, which account for the majority of the world's population, really rebelled, the difficulty of rebuilding the Tang Dynasty would increase to a higher level.

Moreover, once Hebei is out of control, Liaodong will once again be isolated from the Central Plains. Penglai and Jizi Peninsula may take the opportunity to break away from the Central Plains and become independent.

Once the Central Plains court is unable to suppress the surrounding areas, wars between local factions and pro-Tang factions will break out in all regions, such as the current Chu State and many countries in Central Asia, as well as Lingnan. If the Central Plains is in chaos, they will also be in chaos, and vigorous civil wars will break out in their countries.

The Tang Dynasty was not only a stabilizer for its own region. As the only superpower in the world, its existence also allowed other countries to maintain relative stability. Without the Tang Dynasty's suppression, many princes and nobles in the vassal states would have been overthrown.

Some people in the State of Song blocked the Strait of Malacca, but in fact the State of Chu did not need to block it at all, because the State of Chu, which had always served as the food baby of the Central Plains, was now short of food itself.

Moreover, this food shortage is not caused by natural disasters. Of course, floods are also a small reason, but the main reason is still man-made destruction.

The original act of splitting the country in order to divide the State of Chu has now brought about another result.

Because of the rainy season, it was difficult for India to form a centralized unified empire. This was very different from the Song Dynasty, which was able to form a unified country.

Coupled with the policies of the Central Plains, India is now carrying out an unprecedented campaign of production destruction. Both grown and newly planted rice seedlings are being artificially destroyed, with the sole purpose of making the other side lack food.

The war had completely violated the rules originally set by the Central Plains, namely that both sides would not intentionally destroy farmland. However, in India, the fierce struggle had already reached a point where they could not coexist, and everything seemed natural.

"Not even a grain of food can leave the State of Chu."

This is a slogan advocated by some people, which contains an obvious political purpose, which is to cooperate with the policies of the Song Dynasty.

Li Shen set his gaze on Luo Xingchen. After King Luo Xingyun left the Divine Capital, Luo Xingchen was now the most prestigious person in the court. Luo Xingchen was also the one that the rebellious people in Guandong could trust the most. Luo Xingchen himself was also ready to go to Guandong.

But unexpectedly, Li Shen only glanced at it and took it back, "Let me think about it again."

Luo Xingchen suddenly became anxious, "Your Majesty, I will go to Guandong and I will not let you down."

When Li Shen heard Luo Xingchen's words, he no longer hid it and said bitterly, "My dear, Prince Luo went to Guanzhong to resist the State of Yan. There are not many people in the court that I can trust. I am not in good health now and I faint from time to time. If something unexpected happens, I can't even find a son of the Luo family to entrust my orphan to. My dear, you can't leave me."

Luo Xingchen was speechless now. Although there were basically few cases of entrusting an orphan to someone else in the Tang Dynasty, once the orphan was entrusted to someone else, there would be fixed candidates: a relative of the Li clan, a direct descendant of the Luo family, a civil official, a military general, and a relative by marriage. Among them, a relative of the Li clan or a direct descendant of the Luo family would usually be the first person to be entrusted with the orphan.

Now in the Divine Capital Luoyang, there is only Luo Xingchen, the son of the Luo family. Li Shen will never let Luo Xingchen leave. Luo Xingchen gritted his teeth and said, "Alas, the big thing is over."

He personally felt that although entrusting the orphan to someone else was important, it was obviously more critical than dealing with the affairs of Guandong. But the emperor didn't think so now. He believed that ensuring the inheritance of the throne of the Tang Dynasty was more important.

The emperor believed that Guandong could be pacified eventually, but if there was a problem with the central imperial throne, then things would really get into trouble.

Seeing that Li Shen had already made the decision, Luo Xingchen had no choice but to bow and say, "Your Majesty, please order the defense of Jianghuai first. If Jianghuai is destroyed, then the Tang Dynasty will really be finished."

Today's Jianghuai, namely the Huaihe River Basin and the plains south of the Huaihe River and north of the Yangtze River, as well as the Taihu Plain in the south of the Yangtze River and the plains in Shuzhong, are the last grain producing areas of the Tang Dynasty.

Especially Jianghuai and Jiangnan, which are extremely important because of the canal. The supply of Heluo basically depends on Jianghuai. If there is a problem with Heluo, the emperor must leave Luoyang, otherwise this city with a population of over one million will explode directly. No one knows what will be the end of him as the emperor.

Moreover, with the fall of Guanzhong, Yizhou's food supply was no longer necessarily safe. After all, Guanzhong and Shuzhong were one, while Luoyang and Shuzhong were separated by mountains and rivers.

The food supply for the imperial army now fighting in Guanzhong is also sent north from Luoyang through the Yellow River, and the food supply for the garrison in Tongguan is also supported by Luoyang in the rear.

This requires ensuring the safety of Jianghuai.

Once Jianghuai was breached, or its economy was destroyed, the Tang Dynasty would really have no place to stay. At that time, the whole world would be in a bloodbath, and the population would be reduced by at least 60% to 70% before we could talk about reconstruction.

Li Shen was well aware of this. Not only that, if there was any real danger, he, as the emperor, would rather abandon Luoyang than not protect Heluo. Once he saw that things were not going well, the center of the Tang court would have to move south of the Yangtze River and then rely on the Huai River and the Yangtze River for defense.

This was the retreat route that had already been agreed upon between the emperor and his subjects when Luo Xingyun was still in Luoyang.

……

In the vast land of Guandong, most people still don’t know how the emperor in Luoyang City will choose to treat them. Most people are waiting for the imperial army to encircle and suppress them, while some are looking forward to the imperial edict of amnesty.

But in fact, the court did not express any opinions and seemed to have tacitly approved the current situation.

Only the local governments that could still be contacted received the imperial edict from the capital. The content was very simple, that is, to defend the state and try their best to gather the people, saving as many as possible.

The imperial court is making every effort to deal with the State of Yan, and will march eastward once the Yan army is defeated.

If it were any other empire, they certainly couldn't say it so directly, but the Tang Dynasty could. During the 300 years of the Tang Dynasty's glory, there were countless people who were willing to go through fire and water for the Tang Dynasty.

There are countless people in Kanto who can understand the difficulties of the imperial court.

Even though the current situation seems so difficult, except for people like Zhu Wen and Li Maozhen who are born rebellious, most of the court officials would not think of rebelling. Greed, violence and disloyalty do not necessarily go together.

Unless the prestige of the central court suffers another serious blow, many people will follow the Tang Dynasty whenever it marches east.

This is also why the court officials rejected Luo Xingchen's idea of ​​going directly east.

In the eyes of almost everyone, the rule of the Tang Dynasty was extremely stable. No matter how violent the situation in Guandong was, those rebellious people could not really overthrow the rule of the Tang Dynasty.

Since ancient times, if one wanted to overthrow the imperial rule, one had to have the leadership of the ruling class within the empire, but this situation is almost impossible to happen in the current Tang Dynasty.

The Li family and the Luo family, the Tang Dynasty had dual royal families and a powerful bureaucratic system.

If you want to break such a powerful ruling force, it will take at least three to five years of war.

Three to five years.

Prince Luo will defeat Yan Ni in Guanzhong.

Everyone thinks so.

----

The economic crisis encountered by the Tang Empire was not comprehensive, and it could not even be called an economic crisis. Prices in the empire remained stable to a certain extent during the turbulent times. It was not until the imperial order collapsed that shortages of goods and soaring prices occurred in areas where the imperial order was lost. Even so, paper money still maintained its exchange value, and the empire's financial situation did not encounter large-scale problems.

But the crisis encountered by the empire was so devastating that historians called it "a prosperous empire in a famine". Contemporary historians commented that "agriculture is the foundation of a country, and an empire proved the correctness of this statement with its tragic reality."

This tragic reality profoundly affected all subsequent policies, and even affected the empire's persistent pursuit of agriculture. The Tang Dynasty continued to collapse in the famine. - "The Rise and Fall of the Tang Empire"

(End of this chapter)