Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 2048, extreme drought
It was supposed to be sunny and sunny in May, and it was supposed to be hot and unbearably hot in summer.

However, an extremely strange scene appeared in the land of Jiangnan. Accompanied by the howling cold wind all night, the next day, everyone was shocked to find that there was a frost in summer.

"Flying snow in June~Flying snow in June!"

"God, this is going to eat people!"

The old people cried out in horror.

Then when everyone came to the field, they couldn't help crying again, because all the rice that had been planted for more than a month froze to death overnight.

"My God!"

"All dead, all dead!"

"This is how we ordinary people live!"

Some old farmers yelled in distress. For these old farmers who have experienced hardships, the fact that the rice has been frozen to death often means that this year's harvest is basically going to be wiped out.

The good thing is that we should hurry up to raise seedlings and sow seeds again, and we can plant them again. However, we can only harvest twice a year, but now we can only ripen once a year. This year's harvest will be halved.

At the same time, in a certain field in the north, the land was dry and cracked, and the newly planted rice grew extremely slowly due to lack of water, and even began to show signs of withering and yellowing. It's going to be dead this year.

Since the thirty-eighth year of Hongzhi, the entire northern region has not seen a drop of rain until May. In the past, this time should have been a season of abundant rain and heat, and it was a critical time for wheat growth. period of maturity.

However, in winter, the temperature was too low, and the winter wheat was directly frozen to death. These frozen wheat had to be shoveled out and replanted.

But when the wheat was replanted, it was really strange that there was frost and ice this summer. What was even more worrying was that until May, almost half a year, there was not a single drop of rain.

The northern part of the Ming Dynasty fell into an extreme drought.

The fields are cracked, and some small rivers and streams have all dried up. Even the water level of the Yellow River has dropped to an extremely low level, and some river sections have temporarily stopped flowing.

Among them, the most drought-stricken Henan area is almost a thousand miles away, and the vegetation is withered and yellow, as if it is autumn. It is too dry.

And there was no sign of rain at all.

People are praying to God to go down quickly, and there will be a little rain, otherwise this year's harvest may really be wiped out. The winter wheat is frozen to death, and the new wheat may be dried up again. Basically, the crop will be wiped out this year.

A copy of the memorials of the severe drought in various places flew to the capital like snowflakes.

In the Study Room of the Qianqing Palace in the Imperial Palace in the capital, Emperor Hongzhi summoned many ministers to discuss the matter.

"Your Majesty, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beizhili, Henan, and Shandong have been in the five provinces for almost half a year this year. So far, there has not been a single drop of rain, and they have encountered unprecedented extreme drought."

"The rainfall in the four provinces of Liaodong, Heitu, Hezhong, and Central Asia this year is only about one-third of that of previous years. A large number of fields are facing drought. The grass and trees are withered and yellow. Plant."

"Nanzhili, Huguang, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other provinces encountered extremely rare phenomena. It was the summer of May when there was a sudden frost, and the rice was frozen to death and countless frostbite. significantly reduced."

Han Wen handed over a memorial.

No one thought that after entering the [-]th year of Hongzhi, it would be as bad as before, the drought was so dry, and there was frost in this summer, not only frostbite the rice, but also rumors among the people.

Some said that he offended the Dragon Lord, so the Dragon Lord refused to rain all the time, and some said that because of the great grievances, June Feixue was more grievous than Dou E. The Lord used this way to warn , punish the world.

In short, disasters will inevitably be accompanied by various rumors, gossip, etc. In the feudal and ignorant age, people are always willing to believe in some gods and the like.

Listening to the report in Korean, Emperor Hongzhi frowned tightly.

The situation is really very bad. The whole of Daming, almost all places have encountered unprecedented extreme drought weather, except that the situation in the south of the Yangtze River is relatively better.

The vast area north of the Yangtze River is currently experiencing a drought that has been difficult to encounter in decades, and it is still a large-scale drought.

Not only the few local provinces were drought, but even Liaodong, Hezhong, Black Earth Province, Central Asia, Grassland and other provinces also suffered severe drought.

"My dear friends, let's all talk about it."

Emperor Hongzhi looked at the crowd and said.

"Your Majesty, I think that we should hold an event to sacrifice to the heavens, plead guilty to the heavens, and implore the rain as soon as possible!"

A minister stood up and said.

"Your Majesty, I also thought that the ritual of worshiping the sky and praying for rain should be carried out as soon as possible!"

"The minister also supports it!"

Some ministers expressed their views one after another. In ancient times, this phenomenon was very common.

When encountering extreme drought, floods, locust plagues, etc., the imperial court will often come forward to hold large-scale sacrificial activities in order to atone for sins from God and ask for forgiveness of everyone's sins and ignorance.

Although it turns out that this kind of sacrifice is useless, it is still important to be able to pray to calm people's hearts, because everyone believed in this in ancient times, and sometimes people's hearts are more important than anything else.

"Well, this matter will be handed over to the Minister of the Ministry of Officials to do it, and it will be an auspicious day and auspicious time to worship the heavens!"

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and decreed that offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors is extremely important. The imperial court would send special personnel to do this every year, and sometimes even the emperor himself would go to worship heaven and ancestors.

"Your Majesty, I think that this year's land tax should be reduced or exempted, and at the same time, the world should be amnesty to show His Majesty's grace, to benefit all people, and to reduce the impact of the disaster."

Yang Tinghe stood up and remonstrated.

"Well, the land tax is exempt this year."

"In addition, amnesty for the world, except for the heinous people, all pardons!"

Emperor Hongzhi nodded, and after thinking about it, he ordered.

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

When the officials heard this, they all flattered and said.

In fact, reducing or exempting land tax is a routine operation. Now that the treasury of Daming is full, there is no shortage of the grain collected, and Daming's granary has already piled up like a mountain of grain, which cannot be eaten up.

This year's land tax does not have any impact at all. In the past, Emperor Hongzhi often reduced or exempted land taxes in some places.

This year there is a drought in Henan, and the land tax will be exempted. Next year, there will be a flood in the south and the land tax in the south will be reduced. Anyway, every year there are areas that are exempted from land tax.

Now the land tax accounts for a very low proportion of the revenue of the Ming treasury. The main tax revenue of the Ming treasury comes from the commercial tax. This is the real big one, and there will be no reduction or exemption.

"Your Majesty, I think that according to the population of each province, we should mobilize and distribute food from various places. In the event of a famine, the imperial court can distribute food for disaster relief."

Zhong Fan thought about it and made his own suggestion.

"Well, that's right, except for this matter!"

Emperor Hongzhi nodded his approval.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Li Kun, Minister of the Household Department, replied quickly and respectfully.

"Sell newspaper~sell newspaper!"

"Severe drought has occurred in many parts of the north, and there has been no rain for nearly half a year!"

"Sell newspaper~sell newspaper!"

"Chaotian will hold a large-scale sacrificial activity at the Temple of Heaven, and pray to heaven for rain!"

"The Son of Heaven exempts the land tax of many provinces in the northern region this year, and at the same time pardons the whole world, except for the heinous people, all are pardoned!"

"Our reporter exclusively interviewed Li Kun, Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. Li Shangshu said that the Chaotian treasury is full and the grain reserves are sufficient. Even if there is no farming for ten years, Daming still has enough grain."

"So please don't panic, and don't rush to buy food. The imperial court has already mobilized food from various granaries to the provinces, which is enough to meet the food needs of various places."

"At the same time, Li Shangshu also warned the unscrupulous traders not to make money for the country. It is strictly forbidden to increase the price of food and all life-related materials. If found, they will be severely punished!"

Soon, Daming Morning Post began to report the drought in detail.

All of a sudden, the news quickly spread throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, and even spread to all parts of the world.

It was only then that everyone suddenly discovered that it was not only their own place that was in drought, but all parts of Daming, and even all parts of the world were facing an extremely dry weather at this moment.

Even North Korea and Wa have encountered an unprecedented severe drought, and there has been no rain for more than half a year. Even Wa and North Korea are very close to the ocean, but this year's situation is abnormal and extreme.

In the past, it has been rainy and hot at the same time, which is very suitable for the growth of rice. After a while, we can prepare for the harvest of the first season of rice.

However, at this time, North Korea and Japan were also affected by the Little Ice Age and encountered an unprecedented drought. A large number of farms turned yellow and rice fields dried up.

For this reason, Lord Yanshan of the Joseon Kingdom and the King of Wa and the shogunate of the Wa Kingdom had to write memorials to Emperor Daming as soon as possible, asking Daming to support him with food.

North Korea and Japan are different from Ming Dynasty. They have many mountains and less arable land, and there is no way to carry out large-scale mechanized farming. Therefore, the food production is limited. Once they encounter a dry climate, it is easy to cause famine.

Fortunately, the Daming family next door produces a lot of grain, and the production area is very large, and the output is very large. It is still their suzerain country, so they can't just do nothing.

So it is natural to choose to hold on to the thighs of the Ming Empire, hoping that Daming can support them with some food.

The drought continued, but in the next few months, there was still no rain, and at the same time, the invisible plague began to spread.

(End of this chapter)