But even so, dozens and hundreds of people died every day due to the plague. It sounds scary, but it pales in comparison to the real history. According to records in Beijing at that time: "The children in the street were completely wiped out, and some With or without coffins, the nine-door count is more than 200,000." Between August and December of 1643, the death toll in Beijing was conservatively estimated to be as high as one-fifth of the city's total.
So when Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, the capital of the Ming Empire, in April of the following year, he faced a dead city where "people and ghosts were mixed, and people dared not walk in the sunset."
But this had just seen some effects due to the changes in the sanitary environment, but due to the entry of Tatar soldiers, the people in the city poured in, causing the capital city that had just been completely renewed to become chaotic again.
"No refugees are allowed to enter the inner city." Chang Yu thought for a while and decided to separate areas for isolation, not to engage in regional discrimination but to reduce the source of infection.
Chongzhen was right and said: "There are wars in Henan, Hebei and Shanxi. Countless people have been displaced. How they will make a living is a headache. I am afraid that many people will starve to death this year. No matter what, the court can do nothing. No matter what, let it go. If they starve to death, they will be so agitated that they will rise up one after another."
Chang Yu also had a head, lowered his head and remained silent for a while: "Let's put it off first."
Chongzhen didn't understand for a while, but Chang Yu elaborated: "The imperial court first waived taxes, and then provided grain seeds for free, and then did its best to provide relief and relief. After two or three years, it would be able to recover."
Chongzhen smiled bitterly, not to mention the limited ability of the imperial court at this time, whether it could provide such grain seeds and disaster relief grains, but also with the current urinary weather where God does not reward food, whether there is a harvest is also a problem.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes, Chang Yu had an idea.
In fact, both of these crops have been introduced to China for more than 20 years in the late Ming Dynasty, but they have not been promoted. They are mostly grown as supplementary crops in mountainous areas like Fujian. Take sweet potatoes as an example. Xu Guangqi imported them from Fujian only ten years ago. It was introduced to the Songjiang Prefecture area (today's Shanghai). During the Kangxi period, Chen Chuangui introduced it to Zhejiang, and his son Chen Shiyuan introduced it to Henan, Hebei, Shandong and other places.
Now, Chang Yu wants to promote the planting range of these two crops in advance. The reason is very simple. They are drought-resistant and cold-tolerant and have high yields. An acre of dozens of stones is twenty times better than growing grain." In addition, "Moisturizing and edible, or cooking Or grind it into powder, eat it raw like kudzu, cooked like honey, and taste like water chestnuts."
It is simply a must-have item in times of famine.
Emperor Chongzhen was surprised and delighted, not knowing that there was such a crop in the world. He was disgusted that the officials in the southwest did not know how to promote it inland, so he thought of issuing an order to the governor of Fujian to purchase seeds as soon as possible.
Chang Yu said that the speed was too slow. The potatoes had already passed the sowing period, and the sweet potatoes happened to be sown in April or May. The sooner the better, but the official work was too cumbersome and delayed. By the time they got it, it would be almost autumn.
"I sent people to Guangzhou for business a month ago, so that when they return to Fujian, they can make a lot of purchases and send them back by sea. They can arrive in more than a month at most, and they still have time to sow seeds."
"Hurry up and let the Jin Yiwei handle this matter. The sooner the better." Chongzhen heard that there was such a famine nemesis. Long Xin was very happy. He praised Chang Yu repeatedly for his ability. He was like a lucky star. Chang Yu was a little embarrassed by the praise. .
It wasn't that Emperor Chongzhen was boasting unconscionably in order to win over him. Different from his previous half-trust and even secret guard against Chang Yu, now he really had great trust in Chang Yu, because he felt that this little eunuch was simply an almighty, both civil and military. , can fight wars and make money, and now he can even be mentioned to share in the affairs of civil affairs. Take sweet potatoes as an example. It is ridiculous that the country has had such a crop for more than ten years. He is the emperor and does not know about it. No one in the court knows about it. ? At least the officials in Fujian know about it, but no one has proposed promoting it for many years!
I don't know why Emperor Chongzhen felt that no matter how difficult things were, Chang Yu would always solve them easily, which subtly made him feel dependent on the little eunuch.
"Hebei and Henan are in chaos due to military disasters. Officials from various prefectures and prefectures are dying and fleeing. The whole situation is chaotic. In addition, the people of these prefectures are homeless. It is necessary to send a capable official to take charge of the overall situation. Do you have any "Recommend candidates?" This was the first time Emperor Chongzhen took the initiative to ask Chang Yu.
Although Chang Yu had been behind the scenes to recommend some people to the position, such as Li Banghua, Wang Jiayan, etc., Chongzhen also knew it, but did not mention it clearly. After all, he still remembered the ancestral precept that eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in politics, although this ancestral precept had long been a decoration.
But now the direct question undoubtedly shows that Chang Yu is regarded as a confidant, a confidant within a confidant.
"Yu Chenglong" Chang Yu didn't hesitate at all!
Emperor Chongzhen was startled. He seemed to have heard of such a person. Wu Mengming once said that Chang Yu had brought a sheepherder from some ravine in Shanxi, and he seemed to be working as a sinecure in the East Palace at this time.
"This person is unknown, how can he be of great use?" Chongzhen hesitated slightly.
"The emperor is using his talents, not his reputation. I can guarantee my life, and it must be this person." Chang Yu was categorical. Emperor Chongzhen was silent for a while, and finally nodded silently.
Chang Yu came out of the palace at nearly Hai hour (9 p.m.) and hurried to the Dongchang Yamen. He immediately summoned a thousand households from Dongchang and Jinyiwei, issued several orders, and then several groups of people went out to the south of the city. Soon, the soldiers and horses of each city We have also received orders that refugees will not be allowed to enter the inner city from tomorrow, and road control will be implemented on all main roads from the barracks to the city gate.
It was late at night, and Chang Yu felt very energetic after sleeping all afternoon. After handling official business in the yamen, he led half a hundred personal guards out of the yamen and went to the streets. He and Chunxiang sat in a carriage and walked around the imperial city. Then he went to Dongcheng again. The homeless people sleeping on the streets ran away from his convoy when they saw his convoy. The bars of the wine shop on the roadside were filled with laughter. Chang Yu sneered: "I guess many people inside are taking advantage of the case and scolding the court for its incompetence. Maybe we are also there." .
"I wish I could go in and beat him all over the ground," Chunxiang said fiercely. Chang Yu shook his head: "We are civilized people, and Dongchang is also a civilized unit. You must not do this, at least not openly."
The carriage passed Huang's house, and Chunxiang asked in a low voice if he wanted to go in and take a look. Chang Yu thought for a while: "I'll wait for you for a few days." This is his home, his own harbor. Entering this home not only makes him feel at ease, but also He could be distracted, but now that the war was about to begin, he didn't want to be distracted.
When the car arrived at Dongzhi Gate, Chang Yu got off the car and went up to the city. At this time, there were guards from Jin Yiwei and Dongchang on duty at the city gate and the upper city entrance. This was an order from Chang Yu. During special periods, Dongchang and Jinyiwei were responsible for supervising the Beijing camp. city defense tasks, and if any dereliction of duty is discovered, they will be investigated immediately.
After going up to the city and heading north, the sky was overcast and there was no light in the sky. The wind above the city was slightly cool. When I climbed up and looked into the distance, I could vaguely see some firelight. I didn't know what it meant. Looking down at the city, there were still refugees who had not had time to enter the city. Chang Yu frowned and whispered to Chunxiang. He said: "Tomorrow they will be released for another day, and they will be prohibited from entering the city from the day after tomorrow, so that they can go south to avoid the war."
Chunxiang smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid that the Tatars will attack the city tomorrow and it will be too late for him to enter the city."
Chang Yu looked to the north and smiled coldly: "It's not necessarily a bad thing if soldiers approach the city."
At this time, the personal guard reported in a low voice that Wu Mengming, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, had arrived. Chang Yu turned around and saw Wu Mengming staggering over. He could smell the smell of alcohol before he was three feet away. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said: "Wu Mengming was staggering over." You are such a good person."
"P's elegance is just for drinking to strengthen his courage." Wu Mengming opened his mouth with a big tongue.
Chang Yu laughed: "How did you get it?"
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