The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 165: Natural Disaster Strikes Again
On December 20th, the 38th year of Xianning in the Ming Dynasty, in Chunhe Palace in Yingtian Prefecture, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

The Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan of the Ming Dynasty sat at his desk, reading the situation reports that had been submitted from various places at the end of this year.

As the prince watched, he felt inexplicably melancholy. He looked up and saw that there was no one around except his own secretary Qi Xu, who was waiting beside him.

I couldn't help but sigh meaningfully:
"This year, the weather has been good and the harvest has been favorable everywhere in the country.

"It is expected that all the disaster victims accumulated in the past two years will be sent away by next spring."

Good weather and good harvests should be a good thing, and the monarch or ministers of the Ming Dynasty should be happy.

But the prince's tone did not seem very happy.

Qi Xu, the Prince's Secretary, has followed the Prince for more than ten years. Now, hearing the emotion in the Prince's tone, he immediately understood what the Prince was thinking.

Qi Xu is also familiar enough with the prince and is an absolute core member of the prince's team. In addition, there is no one around him.

Qi Xu replied in the same strange tone:
"Your Highness... This year the weather is good and there is no problem. The problem is if... a disaster strikes again next year..."

The prince didn't quite understand what Qi Xu meant:
"What do you mean, Qi Qing?"

Qi Xu looked around again, then lowered his voice slightly and said:

“From last fall to this spring, His Royal Highness King Wu was on his way back to the East from North America.

“But His Royal Highness the King of Wu eventually went to Australia and did not return to Yingtian Prefecture.

“I am worried that if a disaster strikes again next year, some people may continue to spread rumors.

"Because the King of Wu returned, the disaster stopped, but in the end the King of Wu did not return, and the disaster happened again..."

The prince finally understood what Qi Xu meant:
"Impossible, absolutely impossible, it can't be such a coincidence."

Qi Xu himself felt that it was impossible for such a coincidence:
"I didn't mean it, Your Highness, please don't take it to heart."

The prince shook his head helplessly, trying not to think about these imaginary things, and continued to read the documents in front of him.

Everyone did their own work step by step, and time slowly came to the end of the year.

As the refugee camps in and around Yingtian Prefecture were gradually emptied, the merchants and factory owners in Yingtian Prefecture began to treat their own workers better.

Many factory owners and business owners gave their workers extra red envelopes during the Chinese New Year.

In fact, they have made a lot of money in the past two years.

The workers and their friends also breathed a sigh of relief, looking forward to the next year when all the disaster victims would be sent away and their lives would return to the way they were a few years ago.

The 39th year of Xianning arrived as officials and civilians had great expectations for the coming year.

After the beginning of spring, the last victims were finally sent to Australia, and the cities around Yingtian Prefecture were completely cleared.

The refugee camps that had provided food for the victims for two years also began to be demolished one after another.

But as time passed, bad news gradually spread from all parts of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, and was reported in newspapers in Yingtian Prefecture and other places.

In February, Jiangxia and Wuchang suffered from severe drought.

In the northern Qing Dynasty, there was a severe drought in Jinan and Heze, and a strong wind uprooted trees in Yongchang.

In March, there was hail in Qianjiang, and famine in Yicheng, Guanghua, Suizhou, and Zhijiang. The Duke of E was unable to provide disaster relief, so people ate tree bark and the victims moved to Yingtian Prefecture.

The Yongchang earthquake in the northern Qing Dynasty.

After the beginning of summer, Jiashan, Tongxiang, Xuanping, Suzhou, Gaochun, Wujin and other places all suffered from severe drought, with rivers drying up and the land cracking.

After severe droughts in Suzhou, Huzhou, Taizhou and other places, locust plagues broke out.

In the northern Qing Dynasty, Zouping, Linyi, Dong'e, Feicheng, Tengxian, Ningyang, Rizhao and Ganquan were all hit by severe drought, and there was no rain in Jinan and Heze from spring to summer.

There was a locust plague in Rizhao, with flying locusts covering the sky and eating up all the crops; there was a severe famine in Zhangqiu, Zouping, Linyi, Dong'e, and Feicheng, and an earthquake in Wucheng.
After the beginning of autumn, Taiping, Guancheng, Yishui, Shouguang, Anqiu, Zhucheng, Boxing, Changle, Huangxian and other places in the northern Qing Dynasty were still suffering from severe drought and no rain.

On the tenth day of August, earthquakes struck Huangxian and Wendeng. Shouguang, Changle, Anqiu, and Zhucheng suffered from famine. The Qing government was unable to provide relief, so grain merchants hoarded grain and drove up prices, and fathers and sons ate each other.

At the same time, since the summer, a large number of disaster victims have moved south from Shandong and flocked to the border areas of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, disaster victims from Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other places flocked to Yingtianfu City, and the Yingtianfu disaster refugee camp that had just been emptied had to be established again.

Various rumors also spread again along with the activities of the victims.

The possibilities that the Crown Prince and the Chancellor discussed at the end of last year have now become reality.

The Ming Dynasty Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan and the Crown Prince's Secretary Qi Xu were both numb.

The two men felt extremely helpless and surprised, but now they did not dare to express any opinions publicly for fear of further raising the old emperor's vigilance.

We can only devote all our efforts to dealing with the disaster victims.

Just like in previous years when various major news appeared, the news and articles in private newspapers quickly began to change direction, rapidly turning from the natural disaster itself to the Northern Expedition.

The related articles have different angles, but their purposes are very similar.

"The imperial court should send troops to the north to save the people of the Central Plains."

"The Central Plains was in great trouble under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. It was a good time to send troops to the north to recover the Central Plains."

"His Royal Highness the King of Wu has returned, but he has not returned to his homeland. This year, famine has come again, but it is concentrated in the north..."

Since the imperial court prohibited open newspapers from discussing matters related to the interaction between heaven and man, the correspondence between Zhu Jianxuan and natural disasters could not be published publicly.

However, many authors of articles also have ways to avoid this by simply presenting coincidental facts at the same time and letting readers think about it for themselves.

At the same time, the mental state of the civilian workers around Yingtian Prefecture became painful again.

A large number of disaster victims poured into the cities, making the employment conditions in the cities become poor again. The victims were willing to work as long as they could stay alive.

Factory owners and business owners naturally became unwilling to pay their existing workers.

The owners of factories and businesses began to rejoice. With the continued influx of disaster victims, they could save most of the wages for the next two years.

Many employers who gave out red envelopes during the Chinese New Year regretted it and felt that they should not have given them out.

Although the Ming Dynasty was in trouble, at least there was a stable supply of grain from Southeast Asia, and steamships were available to quickly transport supplies and victims.

The Ming Dynasty had just dealt with a famine that lasted for three years, and the personnel responsible for disaster relief had already been trained.

Therefore, the imperial court is able to cope with the current local flood and drought disasters.

The Qing Dynasty in the north was really starting to fall into chaos.

After the beginning of the new year, Emperor Qianlong Hongli received the first letter of drought report from Jinan on the first day of April.

There hasn't been a drop of rain in Jinan and Heze since the New Year.

Qianlong did not take it too seriously. He just responded casually and instructed officials to pay attention to the collection of summer grain and report again when it rains.

But this is just the beginning, with more and more reports of local droughts.

Qianlong began to realize that there would be a major disaster in Shandong this year.

The collection of summer grain this year will definitely be a problem, and if things go wrong some unruly people may rebel again.

Relevant officials were required to inspect granaries in various places and make preparations for disaster relief and quelling riots.

He also asked the Ministry of Revenue to adjust the location of organizing North American immigrants, focusing on Shandong, where large-scale droughts might occur.

Prepare to send the victims to North America just like the Ming Dynasty did.

The Qing court has been organizing immigration to North America in recent years, but the speed of transporting immigrants is far less than that of the Ming Dynasty to Australia.

The Qing Dynasty had no steamships and could only make two trips a year at most, and each trip could not carry tens of thousands of disaster victims.

At this time, the entire Shandong area was experiencing a large-scale drought, which lasted from spring to summer.

Not to mention grain taxes, the wheat harvest in many prefectures and counties was almost completely lost.

Most farmers and small and medium-sized grain stores usually store their grain until the summer grain harvest.

The summer grain harvest was almost a total failure, and last year's stored grain had been eaten up. Farmers and penniless citizens were starving, and famine naturally began.

The 9th day of the fifth month in the 39th year of Emperor Xianning’s reign in the Ming Dynasty and the 50th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty.

In the backyard of the Ke family paper fan shop in Heze County, Caozhou Prefecture, Shandong Province.

Ke Da, the owner of the paper fan shop, had dinner with his family.

My wife, three children, two apprentices, and a brother-in-law gathered together to eat steamed buns made from mixed grains and pickles.

Ke Da’s wife and brother-in-law are both surnamed Cui. His brother-in-law doesn’t have a formal name, so he’s just called Cui Er.

Cui Er is already eighteen years old this year and has no real skills.

In the eyes of serious people, he is a lazy street urchin. He has reached adulthood in this era, but he still hasn't found a wife.

I often eat and drink at my brother-in-law's house, and also tell him some news on the market.

Cui Er grabbed a steamed bread made by his sister and ate it while muttering:
"Big brother and big sister are still the best. They can provide me with food. Otherwise, I, Cui Er, might starve to death..."

Ke Da's wife, Sister Cui, subconsciously complained about her brother:
"What nonsense are you talking about? We have food to eat, so we can't go short of a bite, but you have to find something to do. Who will marry you if you keep messing around like this?"

Cui Er, the street urchin, seemed to have some ideas:
"Sister, even if you don't go out, you should remember that there hasn't been a drop of rain since the beginning of spring this year, right?

"The sun has been shining so brightly for so many days, the summer grain harvest should be a total failure."

Sister Cui felt helpless when she saw her brother showing off:

"Where did you hear that and come back to teach me? Although your sister didn't go to the fields to see it, she knows that the price of rice and flour has been rising.

"At the beginning of the year, one dan of wheat was worth about two silver dollars, but now it has risen to ten silver dollars."

Cui Er nodded seriously, which was rare:
“Yes, the price of rice and flour has been rising, and will continue to rise after the summer grain harvest.

"Sister, you and your brother-in-law will soon not be able to earn back the money spent on your meals at this store."

Ke Da finally spoke at this time:

"A stone of wheat is already worth ten silver dollars, how can it continue to rise?
"If the summer grain harvest fails, the imperial court should open its granaries to release grain for disaster relief."

Sister Cui thought more:

"How much grain can we get from the imperial court?"

Ke Da seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. In the end, he said nothing and continued to eat.

That afternoon, the Ke family continued to busy themselves with their own affairs, and Cui Er went out to hang out on the street again.

As luck would have it, people on the street seemed to have heard some news and started running forward in a panic.

Cui Er was also curious, so he immediately followed and ran all the way to where the government office’s granary was located.

It turned out that the official granaries had started to release grain.

Cui Er didn't have any bags on him, so he ran back to his brother-in-law's house in a panic, calling his sister and brother-in-law to take the bags and go to get the food together.

When the family heard that the government had released grain, they were very excited and hurried to the granary with their bags.

As a result, when I just ran to the place, I saw a lot of people returning empty-handed. After asking around, I found out that the food had been distributed all over.

"It's finished? How is that possible? Didn't it just start?"

"Indeed, they have been released. I was watching there and opened a granary."

"There's not much food left in the granary, and there are so many people trying to grab the food, it will be gone in a little while."

"I heard that a few people from the trading companies went to get food yesterday."

"How could the officials give all the food to ordinary people like us?"

The excited spirit of the Ke family turned into decadence, and they turned around and went home helplessly.

In the next few days, the price of grain in Shandong continued to rise and soon reached twelve silver dollars per stone.

The Ke family thought the price was unbelievably high.

Although there was still some food at home, Ke Da was worried that the price would continue to rise, so he asked his wife and brother-in-law to buy some.

As a result, not long after, the government posted a notice in the city, ordering people to read the imperial edict issued by the emperor.

It was required that the price of rice and flour in Shandong Province should not exceed five silver yuan per stone.

He also asked government officials to patrol the market and deal with any grain shops that violated regulations and sold grain at high prices.

After hearing the contents of the imperial edict, Cui Er ran back happily to explain the situation to his brother-in-law and sister.

But after listening to it, Ke Da was not happy:
"With the court doing this, many people may not be able to buy food at all..."

Cui Er didn’t quite understand at first, but he soon discovered that his brother-in-law’s judgment was correct.

After the imperial edict was issued and read out, a large number of grain stores continued to close down, claiming that there was no grain in the warehouse, so they would not open for business.

At the same time, he asked the shop assistants to place bags of grain and flour in various corners of the city for private transactions.

Regardless of whether the stones have been sold, they are sold directly by liter.

All in all, the price has exceeded fifteen silver dollars per stone.

It is obvious that the merchants in the Qing Dynasty were the same as their counterparts in the south, and there were already a large number of southern counterparts among them.

Of course they knew how to deal with the price limit set by the court at this time.

That is to make Shandong's local grain become unsalable.

If you set a price, I won’t sell it.

Unless the imperial court has enough grain to sell directly to the people in the market, or has the power to enforce regulations on businesses, simply setting a price limit is meaningless.

Did the Qing court have food?

Of course there are, but not many.

The Northeast Plain has been developed over more than a hundred years and has accumulated a large amount of fertile arable land.

The problem is that both Northeast China and Shandong are some distance away from the capital of the Qing Dynasty and are both local provinces.

Emperor Qianlong was unable to command the two places with ease.

If there is even a little bit of corruption at the grassroots level in the two places, the effectiveness of his orders at the local level will be greatly reduced.

Although there is not much grain in Shandong's local granaries, it will definitely not be used up in one or two hours.

In fact, a large part of it was specifically targeted before it was publicly released.

The same situation happened to the official grain that Emperor Qianlong transported from the northeast to Shandong.

Whenever it appears in various places in Shandong, it will be sold out immediately.

There was no way to determine whether the buyer was an ordinary citizen or an employee hired by a grain merchant.

(End of this chapter)