The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 502 Heavy rain is coming
On June 20th, the heat wave was rolling and the weather was crazy hot. Some gray air that looked like clouds but not clouds and fog but not fog gathered in the sky of Shenyang. The sky was so red that it made people's hearts palpitate, as if the end of the world had come.

There was no wind in the palace. Jin Yuji and Yang Qing'er fanned themselves desperately, but they only felt chest tightness and shortness of breath.

"Husband, the weather this year is really strange."

When Emperor Wu Ding came back from inspecting the army, he walked to the Jinshui Bridge and looked up to see the reddish-brown sky above the willow treetops.

"The Little Ice Age is over, and a new challenge is coming. What kind of disaster is this?"

Liu Zhaosun muttered to himself. He was no longer surprised by the disasters in this plane. Even if hailstones as big as faces fell from the sky, he would not feel strange.

"There are rumors outside, say."

Yang Qing'er wanted to say something but stopped herself. Perhaps because of her asthma, the beauty even had difficulty speaking.

"They say the plague and drought are God's punishment on Da Qi."

Emperor Wuding smiled coldly.

This statement was first spread by Zheng Chenggong, who believed in Tianzhuism.

Koxinga said that Da Qi was cruel and inhumane and would be punished by heaven. Tagawa Shichizaemon came to Weihaiwei to negotiate and cursed that Da Qi would soon suffer a devastating disaster.

"These are just foolish men and women spreading rumors. Don't worry. I've already sent Zhangdong Liu Xingzuo and his men to arrest the man. Anyone who dares to speak nonsense will be killed!"

Emperor Wuding downplayed it.

Perhaps due to the clash between continental and maritime civilizations, or perhaps due to the Zheng pirates' fickleness and double-dealing, Liu Zhaosun had no favorable impression of these pirates. From the outset, he felt they were not of the same ilk. If it were because of the influence of Zheng Chenggong, the historical figurehead, the time traveler would have already ruthlessly slaughtered these scoundrels.

"Three people can make a tiger, but if enough people say it, it becomes true. They also said that the Great Qi's invasion of Korea would be doomed to failure, and even made up a folk song..."

As Jin Yuji spoke, her brows were furrowed and she was feeling uneasy.

As the date of the army's eastward expedition to Korea draws closer, the Korean beauty's mood gradually becomes complicated.

War will result in casualties and great suffering. Moreover, the goal of Emperor Wuding's Eastern Expedition this time was to promote the "Kingly Way of Education" and completely annex Korea, unlike the last time when he only surrendered a few cities.

The so-called Kingly Way of Enlightenment is the Qi Dynasty's land system. Judging from the response to its implementation in Liaodong, Guannei and other places, I wonder how many people will die in Korea this time...
Although her parents have passed away and her feelings towards her homeland have become cold, she was born and raised here after all. On one side is the bright moon of her homeland, and on the other side is her husband's imperial ambitions. An inexplicable sense of tearing makes her feel anxious and uneasy.

Liu Zhaosun seemed to have seen through Jin Yuji's thoughts at a glance. He gently embraced the beauty's slender waist, looked towards the east and said:

"Don't worry, this time I will kill fewer people and do more good deeds. I am God, and no God will punish me."

~~~~~
The leaves of the willow trees by the palace gate were wilted, and their branches were motionless, drooping lifelessly.

There was not a drop of water in Shenyang, and the streets glowed white. Yellow sand and gray dust danced in the wind, covering half of the imperial city.

The hound lay on the ground with its red tongue hanging out, and the warhorse hid in the stable and dared not move.

Even the most fanatical instructors no longer dared to engage in propaganda easily, because their throats would become angry as soon as they opened their mouths.

The city was completely silent, with only the sound of cymbals and gongs from the military camp in the city wall emitting soul-stirring sounds every half hour, telling people that a great battle was imminent and that the new recruits were still training in the four-gate parade grounds.

"The gun shakes well, and the bed is full of food! There are no other tricks, just three: block! Grab! Stab! After two months of hard training, the streets will be full of knife-wielding soldiers when they go to Pyongyang!"

Shenyang Guangjimen Parade Ground.

You Menqing, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 10th Corps, stood on a bare platform under the scorching sun and yelled at the 1,500 new spear recruits on the parade ground.

A group of new recruits holding long spears were feeling dizzy from the early morning heat, but when they heard Men Qing's words, they burst into laughter. It was as if they had drunk a bowl of sour plum soup, and they immediately felt refreshed and stopped complaining about the heat.

“It’s so hot!”

You Menqing muttered softly, feeling the heat from face to toe, even the backs of his hands were sweating. The scorching sun was threatening to crack his hands and back.

"If I had known earlier, I would have gone to teach sword and shield soldiers!"

You Menqing was one of the veterans who joined the army after the bloody battle of Hunhe. His contemporaries have now become middle-level officers in the corps, or at least battalion officers. However, You Menqing was unwilling to lead troops and only liked to train them, so he never got promoted.

The Great Qi army trained its soldiers regardless of weather conditions, rain or shine. They trained in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer. This had become an iron rule in the army since the time of Kaiyuan.

As the Korean War was drawing closer, the troops in each unit were stretched thin, so the training of new recruits could not be delayed even for a moment.

The dozen or so wells around the city wall became the savior of the recruits. In less than half an hour, the instructor's bamboo whistle sounded, and the sweaty recruits rushed to the wells and drank frantically.

The people who came later didn't care about being clean or not, and plunged into the donkey trough beside the well. The cold well water went from their mouths to their stomachs, and they suddenly felt cold, their pores suddenly contracted, and the water was refreshing.

Looking at the new recruits who had just laid down their hoes and tow ropes, many of whom had never even touched a rifle, he knew the weight of the burden on his shoulders. "After you finish drinking water, come over here and continue training! Don't dawdle like a woman!"

~~~
At 3 p.m. in the afternoon, a strong wind suddenly arose from the ground, bending the trees on the roadside and tearing the cloth awnings along the streets of Shenyang into pieces.

The howling wind rushed through the city of Shenyang, as if the devil had descended to earth and was rushing across the sky and the earth.

The wind swept through the streets, striking everything in its path, breaking branches, stripping roofs, and knocking down shacks.

Suddenly, dark clouds, like an overturned inkstone, covered half the sky. The stench of hot earth and dust and an icy wind whirled around, half hot and half cold. While the sun was still blazing east of Shenyang, dark clouds were already gathering in the west, a hint of impending disaster.

The pedestrians on the street had long disappeared, the schools and workshops had closed early, and even the birds on the treetops had disappeared without a trace. Only the low sounds of cymbals, gongs and trumpets were still wailing in the surrounding city walls.

At three quarters after noon, a strong wind brought raindrops and crashed into the city of Shenyang. The rain was so heavy that it soon suppressed the wind. Millions of flying raindrops turned into straight rain paths, falling from the sky. They soon changed from points to lines, and from lines to surfaces, one piece at a time, one surface at a time.

Like thousands of waterfalls cascading down, or like thousands of troops galloping, the city of Shenyang has lost its direction, and the sky and the earth are no longer distinguishable. Only a wet, dripping world remains.

At the Nanmen parade ground, Fan Qi, the instructor of new recruits of the First Battalion of the Second Corps, stood on a high platform, letting the rain and wind blow against him. He was like a ferocious beast, glaring at his new recruits through the rain.

The black uniforms of the new recruits were already completely soaked, with not a single dry spot on their bodies; even through their military caps, their hair buns were wet.

The water on the parade ground covered the boots of sword and shield soldier Jing Danli, and his leggings were completely wet. The heavy rain hit his head and back, and swept across his slightly childish face.

He held the long card tightly, rooted in the water like a banyan tree, motionless.

There were earth-shaking shouts coming from the Guangji Gate in the north gate. It was the spearmen who were training.

The Qi army's long spears broke the rain curtain in a chaotic manner. The sound of splashing water was in his ears. Jing Danli could no longer see the figures of his teammates six feet away.

The sound of drums rang out on the general's platform, and fifteen hundred sword and shield soldiers, like Jing Danli, were covered in water. They waded through the water, brandished their swords, and slashed at the rain curtain.

"kill!"

On the high platform, Fan Qi beat the drum with all his might. When the drumstick fell, countless water splashed and danced.

"kill!"

~~~~~
As if in revenge for the drought and low rainfall of the previous ten years, the first early summer after the Little Ice Age was hot and humid, with more than ten times more rainfall than in previous years. The sudden climate change left people at a loss.

There was a heavy rain in July, and the rain never stopped. The Shenyang Palace seemed to be pulled out of the water, and even the air was wet. For half a month, the rain kept falling. Occasionally, it stopped, and the sky was wet like a landscape painting soaked in water.

The low-lying areas of the palace were filled with rainwater, where frogs and water snakes roamed around. Otters climbed up the palace gates, making it dangerous to stand guard in the palace at night.

The water levels of the Liaohe River and Hunhe River rose sharply, and the raging floods broke through several river embankments. Song Yingxing led the engineers to guard the river embankments. Thousands of people fought for three days and nights and finally blocked the breach. However, the rushing floods drowned most of the summer crops on the Liaohe Plain.

The hay in the Imperial Stables had turned moldy and dark brown, and the war horses were losing weight constantly, which was heartbreaking.

~~~~
This flood was too unimaginable and too horrific. Although there were complete water conservancy facilities in various places, hundreds of thousands of people were still affected. In Tieling alone, dozens of people were swept away and killed by the rushing flood.

The loss of crops and grain was incalculable. One-third of the grain stored in more than a dozen granaries around Shenyang was swept away by the floods.

The plan to launch an expedition to Korea in September seems to be postponed.

What’s even more terrifying is that this flood once again cast doubt on the legitimacy of Emperor Wu Ding’s rule.

Since Liu Zhaosun ascended the throne, there has been first drought, then plague, war, and now floods. It is hard not to let people imagine.

So the rumors spread by Zheng Chenggong began to spread around Shenyang again.

Even Francisco couldn't help but mention the famous Ten Plagues of Egypt (the Ten Plagues of Moses), and carefully explained to the emperor the miracles of God in another ancient civilization.

The first was a plague of blood and water. The Nile River was an object of worship for the Egyptians and their primary source of drinking water. However, one morning, the Egyptians were horrified to discover that the river's water had turned blood red, with all the fish and shrimp dead. The water had an unbearable stench and was completely undrinkable. This phenomenon lasted for seven days.

The second was the plague of frogs. After the Nile River became clear again, the Egyptians found themselves infested with frogs in their homes and on their roads. Their croaking woke them at night, making it impossible for them to function normally. Because frogs symbolized the Egyptian god of fertility, they could not be killed at will. So, Pharaoh asked Moses to take the frogs and immediately release the Jews. Moses did so, but Pharaoh reneged on his promise.

·····
"That's all? You also think Da Qi is being punished by heaven? It's what they deserve!"

Faced with the gaze of Emperor Wuding, Francisco was terrified.

"I am God, and all others are heretics. If you dare to speak such nonsense again, I will throw you into the Hun River as a sacrifice to the river god!"

Emperor Wu Ding stared at the roof of the Qianqing Palace with wide eyes, listening to the sound of rain outside, and could not sleep all night.

In early August, the heavy rain and floods finally ended.

(End of this chapter)