--May
According to Dingzhou reports, "the people of the tribe were kidnapped and relocated one after another, about five thousand households."
Qingzhou reports, "One hundred and twelve families were killed in the whole family."
Yizhou reported, "Huainan... should be the leader of the traitor, Chang Zhiji."
The hungry people's uprising in today's Shandong and Jiangsu areas was supported by the Huainan forces. Please don't get me wrong. The Huainan forces were not providing humanitarian assistance, but sending troops to respond to them, cooperating internally and externally, and capturing the lands of the Later Jin Dynasty.
--July
"The Yangliukou River breaks through the west bank and is forty miles wide."
"All the river water and rainwater in Gushu County, Songzhou, flowed eastward, destroying the autumn crops."
"Since the beginning of summer, tens of thousands of people have died of starvation in the counties and counties of Henan and Hebei. Bandits have sprung up and raided counties and towns. Rains have continued, and rivers and lakes have swollen, damaging autumn crops."
Last year was a drought and drought-induced locust plague. This year is a peasant uprising caused by floods and famine. In less than two months, tens of thousands of people died of starvation. The disaster also affected autumn sowing. If nothing else, There is no food stored for the winter this winter.
--August
"It rains in Qinzhou for more than two decades."
“The rain in Yedu (Weizhou) is ten feet high.”
"Luojing (Luoyang), Zhengzhou, Beizhou Dashui."
"In Yedu and Xiajin and Linqing counties, 3,300 people starved to death."
"Stealing into Linpu and Feixian counties."
——In September, the states of Henan, Hebei, and Guanxi reported, "The heavy rains will not stop, the ditches and rivers will overflow, and the water will enter the city and damage the autumn crops."
At the end of the year, the Later Jin Dynasty completely surrendered to the Khitan, and the Later Jin Dynasty was declared destroyed.
5. The Young Emperor’s Government
In the more than four years since Shi Chonggui became emperor, there have been many natural and man-made disasters. Internally, there were the above-mentioned continuous disasters, and externally, there was an unprecedented fierce battle with the Khitan for many years. The word "war" basically runs throughout "The Chronicles of the Young Emperor".
We strike while the iron is hot, starting from responding to natural disasters, analyzing the internal affairs of Shi Chonggui's regime, and gradually uncovering the mystery of this subjugated king.
5.1 Disaster response
At first, in terms of dealing with natural disasters, Shi Chonggui was not much different from other emperors. After all, the world belonged to him and the people were his subjects. When the people suffered a disaster, the emperor would of course have to make amends and appease them.
Generally speaking, it means tax reductions and exemptions, and then opening warehouses to release grain. These are relatively affordable, and occasionally there are spiritual aspects, such as issuing an "edict to sin against oneself." If there is still no improvement after a set of combination punches, then there will be no suspense about hungry people rioting and swarms of thieves.
At first, Shi Chonggui did follow the general routine. He announced amnesty for the whole country, exempted taxes from disaster areas, policy allocations (such as exchanging locusts for the same volume of official grain) more than once, and also issued a "sinful edict".
Tianfu seventh year (942)
——In July, the system was reduced and tax exemptions were reduced. "There are locusts everywhere in the world, and the rent and taxes were eliminated."
——In August, the An Congjin rebellion in Xiangzhou was put down
"The people in Xiangzhou City are given millet, two husks of dendrobium to the big households, and one to the small households, so that they will be trapped for a long time and besieged."
"The imperial edict exempts the households in Xiangzhou City from house taxes this summer and autumn, and exempts the households outside the city from rent taxes for two years."
Tianfu eighth year (943)
——In the first month of the year, an edict was issued to open warehouses and release grain to provide relief to the victims. At the same time, it is stipulated that "those who have accumulated millet among the people should borrow it equally to help the poor."
This is to announce in the form of an imperial edict that robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Of course, I do not deny that the emperor’s starting point is good. He hopes that all people in the world will help each other and overcome difficulties together. It's just that it's very difficult to operate. What standards do they use to judge "people who have accumulated millet" and "poor people" who receive relief? Obviously, it relies on local officials, which leaves a lot of room for corrupt officials to display their talents.
We have reason to believe that those who are robbed are not necessarily the rich, and those who receive relief are not necessarily the poor. For example, today some people drive a Mercedes-Benz and BMW to receive subsistence allowances and public rental housing, but some poor people cannot receive it due to material issues.
The sutra is a good sutra, but it has been recited incorrectly by bad monks.
——In June, the imperial court sent dozens of special commissioners from the central government to local states and counties to forcibly plunder people's food.
These central special commissioners were like wolves and tigers, very harsh and ruthless. As long as they found anyone who dared to hide food, they would be killed on the spot. This is the imperial court openly robbing the people.
The direct result of this forced requisition of food rations from the people was that in September this year, "27 locusts from prefectures and counties killed hundreds of thousands of people from starvation." Hundreds of thousands of people starved to death in one month. The locusts said that they could not shoulder the blame entirely.
As the war with the Khitan officially broke out at the end of the year, the finances of the Later Jin Dynasty became even tighter, and strategic materials such as grain, military pay, and war horses were severely lacking. As a result, Shi Chonggui's exploitation of the people became more serious.
The first year of good luck (944)
——In the first month of the year, "The imperial edict was issued to command all the public and private horses in the world to support the cavalry army."
Stealing folk horses.
——In March, "The emperor was ordered to recruit some rural soldiers. Every seven households would have one soldier, and six households would contribute to it. They would still have their own troops and use 'Wu Ding' as the military name."
Forced conscription means that ordinary people either go to the front line to serve as soldiers or pay money. As for the militiaman who goes to the front line, age, physical fitness, etc. are not important, and armor, weapons, horses, etc. need to be prepared by themselves. "Buy a horse in the east market and a saddle in the west market." For bridles, buy bridles in the southern market and long whips in the northern market."
The militiaman who went to the front line may be an old farmer in his forties or fifties, or he may be a frail and sickly man. Anyway, he was sent to be cannon fodder. One can imagine what the combat effectiveness of this "Wuding Army" is like.
——In April, "Thirty-six civil and military officials were ordered to go to various prefectures to collect money and silk for military use."
Then send special commissioners from the central government to go to local areas to grab money.
Whether they are snatching grain or money under orders, local officials are very motivated to work. The imperial court issued different targets to various places based on their economic development levels and other factors. Rest assured, all places have exceeded their targets.
The imperial court knows that the water flows slowly, but the tiger and wolf officials want to drain the water to catch the fish.
For example, in Luoyang, the task quota assigned by the imperial court was 200,000 guan. Jing Yanguang, who was left behind in Luoyang at that time, quickly grabbed 370,000 guan from the people's pockets, and he did not intend to stop. His staff Lu Yi couldn't stand it anymore, so he persuaded him that the country was encountering serious difficulties, and he had no choice but to collect money from the people according to his ability. You are already a general, and your status has reached its zenith. What else is there to be dissatisfied about? What about? If you are so greedy and unbridled, aren't you afraid that your descendants will be harmed in the future?
Jing Yanguang was so ashamed that he stopped at 370,000 yuan.
Of course, these 370,000 yuan may not be the actual amount. The reason why officials at all levels are efficient is that they can justifiably steal money under the banner of the emperor, and then line their own pockets. A large part of the money that exceeds the quota goes to themselves. pocket.
Another example is An Shenxin, the envoy of Yanzhou Jiedu. He had previously forcibly apportioned money to the local people on the pretext of building city walls and responding to the war, and collected a lot of money. When the central government sent a special commissioner to Yanzhou, An Shenxin happened to not be in the office, and the central government gave him a lot of money. Yanzhou’s target is 100,000 guan. The special commissioner arrested An Shenxin's warehouse manager and ordered him to open the warehouse. It was full of money hoards (large bamboo baskets for storing food or cash, as big as houses). The special commissioner casually opened one of the money hoards. , the money inside exceeds 100,000 yuan. The special commissioner stood blankly on the spot, looking at the warehouse full of money, and couldn't help but sigh, how much people's wealth and money this grandson has plundered!
