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At this time, the Hubu Yamen was in Zhao Junchen's office room.
Because of Emperor Deqing's decree, a eunuch from the Royal Study delivered the drought memorial in Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi to Zhao Junchen.
Between the two memorials, there was a small piece of paper with four small words written on it: "Literary disaster has occurred."
This was the intention of the inner court to secretly inform Zhao Junchen that Zhao Junchen's plan was going well.
After glancing at the note, Zhao Junchen picked up a brush and blackened the note completely, and then threw the note aside without any sign of concern.
Things that are expected are not worthy of joy or pride.
However, once this literary disaster occurs, the person who will suffer the most will undoubtedly be Prince Zhu Heyu.
Looking back at the performance of Prince Zhu Heyu in recent times, Zhao Junchen secretly sighed in his heart: "I think back then, the Prince ran rampant, made enemies everywhere, never looked back until he hit the south wall, and wasted all his advantages. Now the Prince finally has We have made progress, but we have also completely lost all opportunities, which is really sad.”
After secretly sighing for a few words, Zhao Junchen's mind returned to the official affairs of the court. He reached out and opened the drought memorial in Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi. After seeing the content inside, his expression finally became serious.
Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi have experienced droughts for several consecutive years, which seems a bit unusual.
Then, Zhao Junchen raised his head and called: "Here comes someone."
As Zhao Junchen finished speaking, a clerk from the Ministry of Revenue pushed the door open and entered the room, bowed to Zhao Junchen and said, "Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."
Zhao Junchen ordered: "Bring me the disaster relief account books from various places in the imperial court in the past thirty years. I want to look through them."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's instructions, the household clerk did not dare to neglect and quickly went to prepare.
Soon, the clerk from the Ministry of Revenue brought a thick stack of books, which recorded in detail all the disaster relief situations in the Ming Dynasty in the past thirty years, and respectfully presented them to Zhao Junchen.
After Zhao Junchen reached out to take the account book, he raised his hand and the clerk from the household department quietly left the room.
Zhao Junchen, on the other hand, was looking through the account books with a focused expression, looking thoughtful.
After a long time, Zhao Junchen finally finished looking through the account books, but his expression became more solemn.
In fact, Zhao Junchen's expression at this time was more serious than usual.
"Sure enough! In the past thirty years, the frequency of various natural disasters in various parts of the Ming Dynasty has become higher and higher, and the scale has also become larger and larger. Especially in recent years, they have become more continuous... If the Ming Dynasty had not already After many years of peace, there are still some grain savings, and the social order is still stable. I am afraid that these continuous natural disasters have already been dragged down... But if these natural disasters continue to happen, how long can the court persist?... The Ministry of Household Affairs The amount of grain stored is already very dangerous..."
After Emperor Deqing saw the disaster report in Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi, he just lamented the bad luck of the imperial court in recent years. Many places were suffering from natural disasters year after year, but Zhao Junchen thought of something more.
Little Ice Age.
In another historical time and space, many historians believe that the emergence of the Little Ice Age was the fundamental reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty. Starting from about the beginning of the 15th century, the global climate entered a period of extremely cold weather, commonly known as " During the Little Ice Age, due to lack of experience and untimely defensive measures, large-scale crop yield reductions occurred, followed by chain effects such as famine, refugees, and peasant uprisings. In the end, the Ming Dynasty also exhausted all its resources due to this series of natural and man-made disasters. The vitality is coming to an end.
In this historical time and space, the reason why the Ming Dynasty can continue to the present is not only because Emperor Chongzhen's scheming methods have become more sophisticated, but also because the Little Ice Age that was supposed to appear did not arrive as expected, so the Ming Dynasty's vitality also did not Even if you lose too much, you can still hold on.
But after seeing the summary of natural disasters in recent years, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but feel wary.
Perhaps, the Little Ice Age has just been postponed, and now it is gradually approaching... In fact, the Little Ice Age has already arrived!
Therefore, it is no wonder that Zhao Junchen's expression became so solemn. If the Little Ice Age is really coming, then all the disasters in recent years are just an appetizer. In the future, natural and man-made disasters will become more and more serious in various places in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, with the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, how long can it last?
You know, because it has not experienced the various catastrophes in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the population of the Ming Dynasty is approaching 200 million. Therefore, once the Little Ice Age comes, the pressure it will face will be far greater than that of the Ming Dynasty in another time and space.
Once the imperial court loses the power to provide relief to the victims, millions of refugees will inevitably appear. At that time, any unrest may occur!
What's even more ridiculous is that Emperor Deqing actually wanted to spend millions of taels of silver to build a large palace imitating the Jiangnan garden style! They even didn’t hesitate to use money from the national treasury!
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Manage your position and fulfill your duties!
Although Zhao Junchen is a corrupt official and considers himself a despicable villain, he still has his own bottom line of conscience. Now, as the Minister of Household Affairs of the imperial court, he is in charge of the world's money and food, so he naturally has the responsibility to do his part. .
So Zhao Junchen thought for a long time.
Finally, Zhao Junchen sighed softly.
He found there wasn't much he could do.
First of all, Zhao Junchen is not a crop expert, and he does not understand how to prevent large-scale crop yield reductions during the Little Ice Age; secondly, Zhao Junchen is not a historian, and he does not know what opportunities can be exploited in this era; finally, Zhao Junchen also He was not a convincing prophet. Even if he predicted frequent natural disasters to Emperor Deqing and officials in the future, no one would believe him. He would even attract many people because of his "monster words" unnecessary trouble.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen will earn money, but he cannot eat the money. Because of the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban, it is impossible to purchase overseas grain on a large scale for emergency storage. Zhao Junchen knows a little about reforms and can stimulate the potential of the Ming Dynasty. But if he does this, it will inevitably cause a backlash from all those with vested interests, and he will eventually die without a burial place. Zhao Junchen knows that at this time, he should invest a lot of resources in building irrigation facilities such as canals, dams, and waterwheels, as much as possible. Reduce the losses caused by various natural disasters, but Emperor Deqing and his officials would not allow Zhao Junchen to invest too much money in these "insignificant matters"...
Therefore, Zhao Junchen does not have the conditions to do most of the things that he has the ability to do, and Zhao Junchen does not have the ability to do most of the things that he has the ability to do!
In the end, there were very few things that Zhao Junchen could really do.
“However, we still need to do our best to do many things within our power, and we should also make preparations for many things that we are temporarily unable to accomplish...
...Let me think about it. During this period, people in Guangdong and Guangxi should have been planting potatoes. This crop is cold and drought tolerant and has a large yield, which can be promoted by the court...and corn, this plant should have been widely planted. , but the scale is small, and should be further promoted... The Nanyang side is very little affected by the Little Ice Age, and people should be sent to check it out as soon as possible...
...Also, although I don’t know how to farm, I can order people to collect farming books and summon experienced farmers, and more or less, I can always find some solutions; although the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry cannot build irrigation facilities on a large scale, But it can still be done with small-scale investment, and it would be better to do more...
...By the way, there are also Mongolia and Northeast China. They may have also been affected by natural disasters in the past two years, and we must prevent them from jumping over the wall in a hurry..."
After thinking about all the things within his ability, Zhao Junchen found that they were all trivial means and were not enough to change the overall situation.
Then, Zhao Junchen's eyes flickered slightly, and he whispered to himself: "It has only been more than a year since I came to this world, and I have the power I have today. Logically speaking, I have developed rapidly, but now it seems that if I I really want to do some practical things, but the power I have is still too small! Whether it is the hidden dangers of border defense or the emergence of the Little Ice Age, I have seen it all, but due to the lack of power in my hands, there is really too little that I can do. But all I can do is be anxious..."
While muttering to himself, Zhao Junchen secretly made up his mind - many of his plans should be accelerated.
At the same time, in the study room of Zhou Mansion.
Zhou Shangjing sat on the rocking chair with his eyes closed, his old face full of contemplation.
During today's court meeting, Emperor Deqing's attitude regarding Guo Tang was completely beyond Zhou Shangjing's expectations.
Zhou Shangjing vaguely felt that without his knowledge, the future development of the temple situation had quietly changed, and it seemed that there were some very important factors that he had overlooked.
But Zhou Shangjing couldn't figure out what he had overlooked.
After thinking for a long time, Zhou Shangjing slowly opened his eyes and whispered to himself: "I am old. I am old after all. My brain is not as sharp as before, and my energy is not as good as before. I just thought for a moment, and I felt a little tired. ”
Just as Zhou Shangjing was muttering softly to himself, Zhou Shangjing's intelligence chief Zhou Lu pushed in the door, holding a book in his hand and delivered it to Zhou Shangjing, saying: "Master, these are the intelligence that the informants in the inner court have passed on recently. .”
Zhou Shangjing nodded lightly, reached out to take the information and read it carefully.
After reading all the information, Zhou Shangjing slowly closed his eyes and fell into deep thought again.
Unlike Zhao Junchen or Zhao Shancai, Zhou Shangjing did not know the ambitions of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. In his eyes, Zhu Hejian was just an insignificant and sick prince, so he could not deduce the truth of the matter through some clues, and it was inevitable that he would know the truth later. Afterthought.
However, after reading the information, Emperor Deqing's recent special attention to the seventh prince Zhu Hejian still attracted Zhou Shangjing's attention.
Coupled with the attitude of Emperor Deqing in the court this morning, it seems that he wanted to take the opportunity to suppress Qingliu, and Qingliu has always been the foundation of Prince Zhu Heyu's power. If Qingliu is suppressed, then the status of Prince Zhu Heyu will also be unstable. Already...
Faintly, Zhou Shangjing felt that he had finally touched the truth of the matter.
Could it be that Emperor Deqing finally made up his mind to change the crown prince? Is Prince Zhu Heyu going to be deposed? Will the seventh prince Zhu Hejian be the new crown prince?
So, Zhou Shangjing slowly opened his eyes, a trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes.
If Zhao Junchen knew Zhou Shangjing's guess, he would definitely admire him. Just because of Emperor Deqing's abnormal attitude and some clues of information, Zhou Shangjing had already deduced the truth of the matter!
And, vaguely, Zhou Shangjing always felt that the seventh prince Zhu Hejian was very extraordinary.
Zhou Shangjing is the most powerful official today and often has the opportunity to come into contact with the princes and grandsons. However, Zhou Shangjing has no impression of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. It seems that the seventh prince has always deliberately hidden himself in front of Zhou Shangjing.
"Zhou Lu, please pay more attention to the movements of the Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian during this period, and also send people to collect more information about the Seventh Prince and send it to me as soon as possible." Zhou Shangjing ordered softly: "I have ignored this person in the past... "
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Well, first update.
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