I

  Chapter 585 582 [Another catastrophe]

  Zhao Han had a lot of things to do. At noon, he discussed with Chen Wenkui the compilation of "The Law of Datong", and in the afternoon he summoned Cao Xuequan who had written several resignation letters.

  Cao Xuequan is one of the originators of Hokkien opera, and the author of the phrase "Every time there is righteousness, more dogs are slaughtered, and most of them are scholars when they are heartless". At the same time, he is also the director of the Qintianyuan Planetarium and the nominal editor-in-chief of "Datong New Calendar".

  In this year in history, the Qing army invaded Fujian, and Cao Xuequan committed suicide for the Ming Dynasty.

   "Why does Cao Qing want to become an official?" Zhao Han asked.

Cao Xuequan said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I am old and rotten. This year I am seventy-two. Last winter, I caught wind and cold occasionally, and caused an old disease. I took medicine for three months and didn't get better until the spring. Go back to my hometown in Fujian to live up to my old age."

   Several resignation letters have been written. Zhao Han really has no excuse to force him to stay. He just asked: "If you return to your hometown, who can succeed as the director of the planetarium? Those who came from Europe don't need to recommend any more."

Cao Xuequan said: "The doctor of the planetarium once wrote different articles, and he should be the first choice for the director. The minister recommended him, not because he is a fellow from Fujian. His knowledge of astronomy is not the most profound in the museum. But if your majesty wants to be a scholar of the planetarium In the future, it is this person who seeks innovation, change, and truth.”

   "What deviant act did Zeng Yizhuan do?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

Cao Xuequan replied: "Zeng Yi wrote the "Fangshoutang Collection", saying that "Poems" curse people, husbands, fathers, countries, heavens, queens, friends, and brothers and nine clans. This theory may be biased. , but it can be seen that Zeng Yi wrote this person, and he is definitely not a conservative. There are many scholars in the planetarium, and there are many knowledgeable people, but it is difficult to break out of the traditional pattern, or go against the original intention of His Majesty to establish the planetarium."

  Zhao Han praised: "Qing Cao knows me!"

  The reason why "The Book of Songs" is listed as the Five Classics is because it has been endowed with political attributes since the time of Confucius. It is clearly written about the love between men and women, but it is interpreted as a minister persuading the emperor of Zhou. Similar explanations run through the entire "Book of Songs", especially the study of "Book of Songs" in the Han Dynasty is the most outrageous.

  Zeng Yi dared to say that "The Book of Songs" is cursing people, he is really a deviant person!

  It’s like the couplet written by Zeng Yi to the Iron Buddha Hall of Kaiyuan Temple: Ancient Buddhas are all iron men, but ordinary people are said to be golden.

   This kind of person is indeed what Zhao Han needs if he is in charge of the planetarium.

  Having obtained Zhao Han's resignation approval, Cao Xuequan presented another astronomical observation report: "Your Majesty, the south has become increasingly cold in recent years. You should notify the local officials and be ready to prevent frost and snow disasters at any time."

  The observation report is written very plainly, without any twists and turns.

  Especially in the observation records of the Yangtze River, Taihu Lake, Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake, and several other fixed waters, scholars have found that the area of ​​floating ice on the water surface has become larger and larger in winter in recent years. The original mercury thermometer has also been invented, and the number of severe cold days in the past two years has also increased.

  Zhao Han read the observation report carefully, nodded and said: "The gentlemen of the astronomical officer have worked hard, and they will all be rewarded."

  The demise of the Ming Dynasty does not mean the end of the Little Ice Age.

  As far as the south is concerned, the real severe cold period has just begun. In other words, the extremely cold weather is spreading from the north to the south, and it will last until sixty years later.

   This year marks the second year of the "Munder Minimum," a near-stop sunspot activity for the next sixty years. Under normal circumstances, tens of thousands of sunspot activities can be observed within 25 years, and this number drops sharply to dozens of times during the "Maunder Minimum".

   Later generations, through the study of ancient ice cores, showed that this situation began in the 14th year of Chongzhen, which coincided with the peak period of the drought in the late Ming Dynasty.

  There is no convincing scientific conclusion on how the sunspot activity is related to the earth's weather.

  But according to historical records and scientific research, southern China will usher in real extreme cold weather in seven years. The Yangtze River, Hanshui River, Taihu Lake, Dongting Lake, and Poyang Lake, in the coldest time, have been frozen for three or four consecutive winters, and it is even impossible to sail on the Yangtze River in winter!

  The last time the Yangtze River was frozen was recorded in the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi, that is, 54 years after this time. If Zhao Han was still alive, he would be 82 years old.

  Cao Xuequan bowed and retreated, while Zhao Han fell silent.

  It doesn’t require any scientific observations at all. People can experience it personally. The winter in Nanjing has been getting colder and colder in the past two years. Cold winter weather, together with floods and droughts, shifted to the south, while the situation in the north has improved.

  After sitting there for a while, Zhao Hanfu laughed again. Kangxi was able to create a prosperous age, so would he be afraid of Tianwei?

  As long as we pay close attention to the administration of officials, frequent natural disasters can actually exercise the executive power of the imperial court!

   In late March, Cao Xuequan, director of the astronomical museum, retired. Because he led the editor-in-chief of "Datong New Calendar", the crown prince was specially added to protect the title to show the emperor's kindness.

  With Cao Xuequan's resignation and returning home, this year's severe drought in the south of the Yangtze River also kicked off.

  In late April, three cabinet ministers, Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua, and Song Yingxing, brought various ministers to meet the emperor urgently.

Pang Chunlai said: "Your Majesty, there has been a severe drought in Jianghuai and Jiangnan this year. Some counties have not had a drop of rain since the beginning of spring. Although local officials organized disaster relief, and the water conservancy in Jianghuai and Jiangnan is also very complete, it is still difficult to resist Tianwei. Please suspend the war in the north and consolidate the newly occupied areas. Don’t go out to fight, and wait until next year to clean up the Tartars. The immigration plan of the northern provinces should also be halved this year, and the Ministry of Households needs to transfer money and food for disaster relief.”

"Ugh!"

  Zhao Han couldn't help sighing: "Let the Tartars live on for another two years."

  The Lianghuai area is better this year, and the drought in the Jiangnan area is even worse than that of Chongzhen.

  Historically, June of this year was supposed to be the rainy season with continuous rain. But the Qiantang River was so dry that the Qing soldiers took the opportunity to cross the river and occupy Jinhua and Shaoxing. However, the Nanming army did not have the Qiantang River to defend, so King Lu could only flee to Zhoushan in a hurry.

   "Your Majesty is holy!"

  Pang Chunlai originally planned to retire after regaining Liaodong and return to his hometown to take care of his life, but now he is delayed due to severe drought.

  Zhao Han asked: "This year, the southern provinces have reported drought one after another. Apart from Jiangnan and Lianghuai, which provinces have severe droughts?"

  Song Yingxing replied: "The drought in the south of the Yangtze River is the worst, followed by the disaster in the Jianghuai River and Huaihe River, and Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Hubei, and Sichuan."

  Zhao Han's head was so dizzy when he heard that the Dongting Lake Plain was a granary. In the past few years, there has only been a good harvest for one year, and the remaining years are full of severe droughts and minor droughts.

  As for Jiangnan, there are more cotton and mulberry trees, but the number of grain fields is very small. The drought will only cause a shortage of raw materials for the textile industry. As long as the relief is effective, it will not cause too many food problems.

After listening to the reports from various ministries, Zhao Han made a decision: "This year, the number of immigrants will be halved, and we will focus on consolidating the territory in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Liaoning. Order the army not to enter the Hetao, and just let Li Zicheng fight in the grasslands. The Datong army in Hebei should not seize Zhangjiakou. The Liaodong army should maintain the current occupied area, defend the Liao Great Wall in the east, and stop attacking Sarhu."

   After finishing speaking, Zhao Han added: "The war in the Southwest will not stop. There was no war in the Southwest last year, and Western Guangxi, Southern Sichuan, and Guizhou have been consolidated. This year, Yunnan must be taken."

Li Banghua said: "We didn't go to fight Shadingzhou last year. This person became more and more swollen and expanded in Yunnan, which aroused the public anger of the chieftains in Yunnan. This is a good time to send troops to Yunnan. The chieftains in Yunnan will not help Go to Shadingzhou to fight."

   "Then send troops after the summer harvest!" Zhao Han said.

  Yunnan puppet emperor and Mu Tianbo, although they have long belonged to the Datong court. But only in name, they still have an army, and the army is not allowed to enter the territory of the Datong court.

  Yunnan chieftain Sha Dingzhou rebelled for nearly two years, beating Mu Tianbo and fleeing everywhere, so Mu Tianbo could only stay in Zhanyizhou (Xuanwei) to eat ham. If it wasn't for the fear of provoking the nearby Datong Army, Sha Dingzhou would have wiped out Mu Tianbo.

  Shadingzhou was unable to expand northward, so they fought towards the west of Yunnan, and the chieftains along the way surrendered one after another.

  Surrender is just the beginning. Although you can keep your power, you have to pay tribute and taxes to Shadingzhou every year. In order to expand the army in Shadingzhou, the amount of tribute was set higher and higher, which made the chieftains of Yunnan miserable.

  By the way, just in March of this year, Sha Dingzhou's envoy arrived in Nanjing, and for the second time he descended to ask for a vassal, and begged Emperor Zhao to appoint him as a Yunnan consolation envoy.

   As a token of sincerity, Sha Dingzhou offered 20 Yunnan horses and some Yunnan native products. Thirty girls from Yunnan were sent, and they were looted from which prefecture or county, and they were said to be used as court ladies by Emperor Zhao.

   Zhao Han accepted the gift with a smile, and then drove the envoys out of Nanjing.

  When the envoys returned to Yunnan, Sha Dingzhou must have been outraged. This kind of humiliation was tantamount to a face-to-face slap. But the angrier the better, it is best to be so angry that you can attack the Datong army actively, so as to prevent the Datong army from looking for its main force across the mountains.

   "Can you squeeze out food for disaster relief, and at the same time fight in Yunnan?" Zhao Han asked Fei Chun.

Fei Chun bit the bullet and said: "Yes!" Then he said, "Please cooperate with the Ministry of Commerce to prohibit grain merchants from hoarding, and set the official price of grain in various places. If there is any violation, the license of the grain merchant will be revoked, and the house will be confiscated and exiled to a barren land." !"

  Zhao Han nodded and said: "Yes! In the year of natural disasters, we should use heavy methods."

  In the evening, Zhao Han came to the queen's bedroom and lay down to rest exhausted physically and mentally.

  Fei Rulan sent the maid away, massaged Zhao Han's shoulders himself, and asked, "Are there any difficulties in court today?"

Zhao Han enjoyed the massage with his eyes closed, and said: "The weather is not good, and this year there is a spring drought in several provinces, and the grain harvest must be severely poor. According to reports from local officials, the water in the Qiantang River is almost bottoming out, and the drought is worse than during the Chongzhen period. "

   "My husband, don't worry, as long as the monarch and his ministers implement benevolent government, there will be a good day." Fei Rulan comforted.

  Zhao Han said helplessly: "I don't want good weather, I only want minor disasters and minor troubles. God, who the **** can bear the disasters every now and then? Fortunately, there was no severe drought last year, otherwise there would be no war in the north."

  By the way, South Vietnam and North Vietnam have been at war for the past two years, and there is not enough food in Vietnam. It is also difficult for the imperial court to go to Vietnam to buy food.

   What kind of civil war are you fighting? Isn't it good to grow and sell food for China with peace of mind?

  (end of this chapter)