Wanli 1592

Chapter 1138 Developing the Great Southwest
In February of the first year of Longwu, one month after Xiao Ruxun ascended the throne, he arranged for astronomical observers from the Qin Tianjian to investigate the local climate change in the north and south of the Yangtze River, compared the climate with previous years one by one, and wrote detailed investigation reports.

After receiving the specific investigation report, Xiao Ruxun realized that it was not too bad now, and it was not the most terrifying time of the Little Ice Age.

The grain output in Jiangbei is still decent, Liaodong can still grow grain, the canal has been frozen for less than three months, many places in the south of the Yangtze River have a bumper harvest, and peach blossoms bloom in March, which means that the Little Ice River has not really begun to show its power.

The Little Ice Age of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is just a rehearsal at the moment, and the original Chongzhen period will only be a prelude in two to three decades.

The real coldest period was the Shunzhi and Kangxi years of the Manchu Qing Dynasty after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. The Little Ice Age receded slowly in the early 1650th century. The entire second half of the 1700th century, from [-] to [-] AD, was the most terrifying time of the Little Ice Age.

The officials of Qintianjian said that the temperature has dropped significantly in the past five years, but it has not affected the overall situation of agricultural production. Both the south and the north of the Yangtze River can continue to maintain without major worries. The only thing that needs attention is the problem of harnessing the Yellow River. The biggest worry is the Yellow River.

However, Xiao Ruxun knew very well that the hazards of the Yellow River were far less than those of the climate. During the most terrifying period of the Little Ice Age, a large-scale crop failure in Jiangbei would become a reality. The previous cold snap during the Battle of Datong in Shanxi was nothing at all.

Therefore, he decided to use the opportunity of Yang Yinglong's rebellion to pacify the Southwest immediately after pacifying Liaodong, develop the Southwest, slowly move the population from north to south, move the population of the Central Plains to live in the south, and gradually reduce the excess population in the North of the Yangtze River, and transfer it to the production area. Jiangnan with more food.

On the one hand, this will reduce the burden on Jiangbei, and on the other hand, it will also strengthen the central government's actual control over the Southwest. It is imperative to develop the Southwest to increase food production.

At the same time, some people are also relocated to Myanmar and Luzon, and Myanmar and Luzon are firmly in their hands, and vigorously developed into food production bases.

When the Little Ice Age comes, these areas close to the tropics will not be affected. These areas will become important food bases for Daqin, transfusing blood for the Central Plains.

In another 50 years, when the Little Ice Age really began to show its power, he may no longer be alive, and Daqin does not know whether it is the second or third generation of emperors who are ruling.

However, Daqin, which has been fully prepared, will not be in a hurry, and the population of Daqin will not drop by half because of this, and the prosperity of Daqin will not be a pure sweet potato prosperity.

There are still 50 years. Although there will be many natural disasters during these 50 years, as long as there is food and money, these natural disasters can be overcome. The truly terrible natural disasters will come 50 years later.

While the outlook is grim, the only consolation is that there are still 50 years to go.

There is no doubt that there will be more natural disasters in Jiangbei than in Jiangnan. Moving the population in advance is to prepare for the disaster in advance.

In the future, various disasters will occur frequently in Jiangbei, such as severe droughts, severe colds, and even severe floods. This will be a severe test for the rule of Great Qin.

Xiao Ruxun needs to train a group of shrewd and capable officials, and find out a set of emergency response mechanisms that can be used to respond to disasters as quickly as possible.

Emergency granaries were overhauled in various parts of the south of the Yangtze River, and the large-scale storage of grain was also a preparation for this. The central government officials scattered all over the place for this. Never allow it to mess up again.

He didn't want to see the desperation of the people and the uprising, and he didn't want to mobilize the army to suppress those who just wanted to eat their stomachs.

Now increase the planting area of ​​potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn, increase the planting area of ​​peanuts, reclaim wasteland to grow food in Luzon and Myanmar, call on wealthy rural areas to raise as many livestock as possible, and promote new crops in suitable areas in the south of the Yangtze River Planting techniques, promotion of new farm tools, arrangement of cattle and so on.

The collection of feces and the production of manure were also taken over by the central government to the government, and private touch was not allowed. In the past, people such as feces tyrants who would appear in rural towns were severely cracked down. Manure, used to increase food production.

In addition, Xiao Ruxun also realized the problem of locust control from the problem of Yellow River governance, and then thought of some very special things.

Since the Han Dynasty, Confucian scholars have fully grasped the right to speak for a period of time. Led by Dong Zhongshu, the Confucian school combined the experience of the predecessors and summed up a thing called the induction between heaven and man. When human beings do wrong things, God will sense them. , down the disaster punishment.

The emperor calls himself the son of heaven, representing the heaven to rule the world, so the emperor is the one who can anger the heaven and make the heaven send disasters and punishments.

Therefore, no matter what disasters occur in the world, it is the emperor's fault. Natural disasters such as floods, droughts, locust disasters, ice disasters, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. are all caused by the emperor's bad deeds.

This kind of statement can objectively limit the imperial power and make the emperor do things with his hands tied. It was the only way in that era that could confront the imperial power head-on and the emperor had to admit it.

The emperor had to give up when he encountered this kind of thing, because he exercised the ruling power on behalf of the sky and was the son of the sky.
Therefore, when the emperor encountered this kind of thing, he would personally sacrifice and pray for blessings, and if he encountered such a thing, he would punish himself and admit his mistakes.

However, this kind of statement is often used as a bargaining chip in political struggles. When a disaster occurs in a certain place, the emperor, the prime minister, and high-ranking officials are also responsible.

Disaster relief is not the first priority, nor is thinking about how to prevent disasters and rescue the common people. It is the first priority in political struggles to overthrow opponents and seek interests for oneself.

Xiao Ruxun scoffed at this statement.

Natural disasters are attributed to the superiors who did something wrong and then punished by heaven. I have to say that Dong Zhongshu is a talent. He actually grasped the only weakness of the imperial power and restrained it, allowing Confucianism to have a decisive blow against imperial power.

In fact, not everyone believes this kind of thing.

Because when the well-known emperor is in power, there will be natural disasters, and there will be times when the wind and rain are good when the incompetent emperor is in power. It is just for a nirvana to limit the imperial power and seek benefits for themselves. Everyone pretends to be confused.

Of course, there are also some people who fool themselves into fooling themselves. This kind of person is the scariest, because he believes in everything.

In the past, Confucianism was so powerful that even emperors like Tang Taizong would shy away from such things and had to compromise, not to mention those emperors of the Ming Dynasty who were panting in the previous court were suppressed to move under such rules no.

Breaking the superstition is not something that can be done in a day or two, but when Confucianism is weaker than ever and imperial power is stronger than ever, it would be a pity if we don't make fuss about this kind of thing.

This is an act that touches on one of the core interests of Confucianism, and can even be compared with land reform.

(End of this chapter)