Chinese New Year

Chapter 665: Disaster (Additional chapter for the leader's night battle with the Eight Desolations Hidden Blade)
"How wonderful! God is really helping me!" On the bank of the Fen River, Liu Cong stepped on the muddy yellow soil and laughed towards the sky.

Since spring, there has been heavy rain in Hedong, Pingyang, Xihe, Fengyi, Shangjun and other places.

In summer, the rain is heavier.

The once arid sandy land is now lush with vegetation.

The rivers and streams that once dried up are now flowing gently.

Hedong and Pingyang, which were once rich in water and grass, - uh, there were floods.

Fortunately, the water was not strong. In the four counties of Hedong, Pingyang, Hongnong and Fengyi, only a thousand houses were flooded and several thousand people were affected.

The drought in Bingzhou and Jizhou last spring and summer is still vivid in my mind. Although farmers tried their best to irrigate the land, the grain harvest still dropped sharply, resulting in a large number of refugees. Hedong and Pingyang were seriously injured, their mansions were emptied, and the grain reserves in the manors of the wealthy families were also consumed. In the end, people from Hebei, Henan, and even Shangdang and Taiyuan recruited a large number of people.

This year the rain is more frequent and the situation is completely different from last year.

However, the rain in Hedong and Pingyang areas was not heavy enough to flood the counties. Although the grain harvest would be reduced, it was much better than the drought, because the latter had a very terrible side effect - a locust plague.

Drought is conducive to locusts laying eggs, and a locust plague is bound to occur in the second year. If there is more rain in the second year, many locust eggs will die directly, and it is less likely to form a locust plague.

This year, there were continuous rainy days in the southwest of Bingzhou, the Fenshui River and the Yellow River basin in the east of Guanzhong, so the locusts failed to swarm in large numbers, but other places were in dire straits.

A few days ago, Liu Cong returned from an inspection of Wuling Road and saw locusts covering the sky and heading east and south.

I heard that there were also large locust infestations in Taiyuan, Shangdang and other places.

Locusts suddenly swarmed in Jizhou and Sizhou and devoured the crops.

There was also a locust plague in the western half of Guanzhong. He had sent people to investigate, but they had not returned yet.

Chen Yuanda followed behind Liu Cong, feeling a little worried.

There has also been a locust plague within the territory of the Han Dynasty. Even though it's not as serious as the one in the Jin State, how can Your Majesty be happy?

But he didn't dare say it out loud.

It is true that he has always presented himself as a loyal and courageous person who dared to speak out, and he had risked his life many times in the past, but this time, when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed them back.

Your Majesty has changed a lot in the past two years.

In the past, he could stay in the harem for a month or three months without coming out, indulging in women every day and not listening to advice. He was so angry that he almost vomited blood and died.

Since the year before last, Your Majesty has worn fewer robes, played with women less, stopped some palace construction, and made many tours to various places. His desire to cheer up is very obvious.

Chen Yuanda was very satisfied, and sometimes he would say something pleasing to the ear. Forget about today's matter. If he could make His Majesty lose face and return to the harem to indulge in lust, he would not even be able to cry.

Furthermore, the situation in Pingyang has been unstable and bloody recently. Even someone as loyal and upright as him has to give way.

Liu Can followed closely behind his father.

He actually came back from Guanzhong with great news: he was already the Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty.

The crown prince Yi was killed on charges of treason.

Yes, Liu Yi, who was under surveillance and house arrest in the Eastern Palace, "rebelled".

Liu Cong and his son have "evidence".

Wang Ping, a member of Liu Can's party, secretly told Liu Yi that the situation in Pingyang was unstable and there might be riots, so he ordered everyone in the East Palace to wear armor under their robes. Liu Yi believed it and ordered to do so.

After Liu Can received the news, he immediately sent someone to report to Liu Cong in secret - this is called "fishing enforcement."

Liu Cong was unwilling to believe it, and was not willing to kill Liu Yi. After all, he was his younger brother, and he also missed the deceased Queen Shan very much.

Seeing his father's hesitation, Liu Can immediately sent people to arrest more than ten Diqiang chieftains who were in Pingyang, and performed the "great memory recovery technique" - the heads of the Diqiang chieftains were imprisoned on a high wooden frame with wooden shackles so that their feet could not touch the ground, and red-hot iron tools were used to burn the chieftains' eyes. As a result, the chieftains were forced to hand over Liu Yi's "confessions" of treason.

The "evidence" was conclusive and there was nothing more to say, so they first deposed Liu Yi as King of the North and then killed him.

Upon hearing the news, the Qiang and Di people in Fengyi were in an uproar, and some of them even rebelled.

Liu Can had been prepared for this and sent troops to quell the rebellion. As many Di and Qiang chieftains had died in Pingyang, the rebellion was leaderless and did not gain momentum, so it was quelled within the same month.

Liu Can also took the opportunity to start a massacre, purging officials from the Eastern Palace and those who were on good terms with Liu Yi, and exterminating entire families at will. No less than 15,000 people were implicated and died.

Now, two months have passed since the incident, and all the civil and military officials in the court are somewhat frightened.

Liu Can's reputation for cruelty spread throughout Pingyang and beyond, and no one dared to oppose his ascension to the throne.

The dark clouds dispersed and the sun was shining brightly.

Liu Cong continued walking along the Fen River, saying, "The locusts are flying south, let the thief Shao suffer. I heard that he just took Qingzhou, is there a locust plague over there?"

Liu Can thought for a moment and replied, "Jizhou is infested with locusts, and Qingzhou is no exception. It's a pity that this locust plague is not as severe as it was seven years ago, otherwise Shao would have been unable to move."

Chen Yuanda's eyelids twitched.

Looking forward to a locust plague, is this human language?

But the weather has really been bad in the past ten years or so.

Seven years ago, there was a plague of locusts that destroyed the world, and even the hair of cattle and horses was eaten. At that time, the king's army attacked Henan, but was finally forced to withdraw.

The locust plague this year is slightly less severe, but still spectacular.

Yongzhou, Bingzhou, Jizhou and Sizhou were all affected, and Henan was most likely not to escape, although the disaster was only slightly less severe.

The reason is actually drought.

As the proverb goes, “extreme drought brings locusts.” The great locust plague seven years ago caused the Luo River to dry up, and this year’s disaster is due to the drought of the previous two years, which has caused the crops to fail to grow.

It’s really not easy to live in this world.

He thought of the more than 10,000 people who died because of Liu Yi's affair, and couldn't help but sigh.

Would so many people die in the struggle for power in Jin?

Last year's drought caused a large number of people to flee, and this year's floods and locust plagues have already damaged the vitality of the Han Dynasty. As a result, 15,000 people were killed in the Pingyang pit, and more than 10,000 people died in the Fengyi rebellion. The Han Dynasty's national power was really declining.

Last month, the Crown Prince went against all odds and relocated more than 10,000 herdsmen from various tribes west to Guanzhong, which seemed to be the right thing to do.

If this continues, Bingzhou will be in real trouble. It would be better to close off and defend itself.

However, such self-defense is not easy.

Shao thief pacified Qingzhou, and his power extended to the Huai River in the south, Youzhou in the north, Hongnong in the west, and the sea in the east, covering the heart of the Central Plains. He was already a huge and unshakable behemoth, unless he suddenly died suddenly, but how could that be possible? He was only thirty years old.

Chen Yuanda sighed again, and followed Liu Cong and Liu Can, father and son, to inspect the counties.

******
In fact, Qingzhou was hit by a locust plague before the locust army from Jizhou moved south.

At the touch of their wings, the locusts immediately turned red (from green to brown) and became extremely ferocious. They swarmed over the sky like a swarm of bombers, landing on the fields that were not yet fully ripe and feasting on the food.

At that time, Shao Xun had just returned to Guanggu. When he heard about the locust plague, he immediately knew that something was wrong.

"How is Yanyu?" This is what he cares about most.

The shogunate's right secretary Yang Chen was still in Guanggu and immediately reported: "There is also a disaster."

Shao Xun's face turned ugly.

Zhang Bin pulled out an official letter, pushed it in front of Shao Xun, and said, "Don't worry, my lord. The disaster in Sizhou is indeed serious, but only some counties and states in Yanzhou and Yuzhou have been affected by the disaster."

Upon hearing this, Shao Xun immediately had someone spread out the map. He ran his finger over the official letter that had just been delivered and breathed a sigh of relief.

Simply put, there are no "native locusts" in Yan and Yu states, and the counties affected by the disaster are mostly close to Si, Ji and Qing states, which are external disasters.

Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Sizhou all hatched a large number of locusts, which first wreaked havoc in their local areas and then flew to other places with the wind. Fortunately, it was summer now, and the southeast wind was mostly strong, so even if there were locusts flying over, there wouldn't be too many - of course, the locusts in Qingzhou might invade the eastern part of Yanzhou and the northeastern part of Yuzhou, but the disaster level would definitely decrease.

As long as the whole army wasn't wiped out, it would be fine! He breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Yuzhou is there, he will be able to provide disaster relief.

Alas, at this point, we still have to rely on Yuzhou!

"Order: Suspend the construction of Liang Palace. Load grain and beans from Yuyan Mansion and Pavilion to Qing, Si, and Ji."

There are still many conscripts in the palace, who were originally refugees and now have been joined by captives from Qingzhou. After the project is suspended, food consumption will be greatly reduced.

"The grain and beans that the counties and nobles of Yuzhou are to be allocated are limited to 5 million hu. That's it. We'll consider this number and get as much as we can."

Yuzhou is a region where the two-year three-cropping system has been promoted relatively well.

Recalling the super locust plague seven years ago, Shao Xun relied on the winter wheat harvested in May to withstand the disaster.

Many counties in Yuzhou planted winter wheat after the autumn harvest last year, and the harvest was completed in May. Now there is relatively sufficient food, which is perfect for disaster relief.

"In the counties affected by the disaster, rush to harvest the grain, regardless of whether it is ripe or not."

In places where the two-year three-cropping system is not implemented, they still plant in spring and harvest in autumn. Now there is still a month before the harvest, and we can't wait any longer, so we have to force the harvest. It's good to recover some losses.

"Let's do this first." Shao Xun looked at the locusts everywhere outside the door and said, "Deliver it immediately, without any mistakes."

"Mingsir," Zhang Bin reminded, "It would be best if Mingsir personally came to Yuzhou, otherwise I'm afraid we won't be able to collect much food."

Shao Xun thought about it.

As a political animal, he wanted to stay in Qingzhou to provide disaster relief and improve his reputation. Now it seems that Zhang Bin is right. The landlords in Yuzhou will not hand over the grain happily, and he still has to go back and negotiate in person - as for sending officials to negotiate, the landlords themselves are officials.

"Okay, I'll go back now." Shao Xun said decisively.

"Mingsir, if possible, collect more food." Zhang Bin added, "Sizhou is in serious disaster, and the people of Hu and Han are suffering. It is time to pacify them."

Yang Chen couldn't help but glance at Zhang Bin.

What's wrong with this guy's brain? When others received the news, their first reaction was to provide disaster relief, but Zhang Bin was already thinking about how to take advantage of this locust plague.

Should we say he is calm or cold-blooded? However, such qualities are indeed a good strategy.

Yang Chen remembered this person.

"Mengsun's strategy is quite impressive." Shao Xun nodded and said, "I will consider it."

Zhang Bin clasped his hands and said no more.

He doesn't care what other people think.

In the more than three years since he surrendered, he has basically not mingled with the scholar circle and has always lived a secluded life.

As a counselor, you should do your job well.

On July 13, Shao Xun left most of the military supplies in Guanggu and led his troops back west to Bianliang.

(End of this chapter)