It was a cold moon, and Dasheng Pass, thirty miles southwest of Beijing, was bisected by the Qinhuai New River. A group of people who had just finished their work gathered around to let out the wind, but placed a charcoal stove for heating. Inside the hayloft.
"The sun and moon are gone, and there is no light in the sky."
"When do you think this snow will really stop?"
One of the leaders of Lifu looked deeply at the falling snow outside the hut built with only a few layers of thatch and reed mats.
These warriors all came from the same village near Dasheng Pass.
Dasheng Pass can be traced back to the Song Dynasty, when the imperial court again built a beacon tower and set up a patrol fortress. Later, in the former Yuan Dynasty, a water station was added and named Dacheng Port, which played a role in connecting the north and south of the Yangtze River for freight transportation.
In the twenty-fifth year of Zhizheng year, the Ming army set up an ambush here and defeated hundreds of thousands of troops brought by Chen Youliang. It was precisely for this reason that Zhu Yuanzhang changed the name of this place to Dasheng Port. It has always been a fortress upstream of Yingtian City's Jiangfang River and an important port for cargo transshipment.
Where resources circulate, more people will gather.
The people around Dashengguan usually cultivate the fields at home. In their free time, they will go to Dashengguan to do hard work to earn more money and rice for their families.
Originally, due to festivals in previous winters, Dasheng Pass would receive goods shipped from all over the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Although it was frequent, the volume was not too large.
It’s just that in the past ten days, Dasheng Port has stopped ships for loading. Countless grain and grass supplies are sent to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River every day, but it is still frequent.
Another person who came out of the same village as the leader Lifu sighed: "In the past ten days, the snow stopped for three days. Yesterday it finally stopped for a long time, and then it started falling again overnight."
Someone else sighed softly: "Otherwise, why would the imperial court send so much grain and grass out to our Dasheng Pass? It must be that all the prefectures and counties upstream were also affected by the disaster."
"Brother Chen, I have a relative who is serving in the Beijing Army. He told me that the imperial court even used their Beijing Army this time. This disaster is probably not small. We people are just asking for a living now. We can earn more. Some money. But if the disaster never gets better, what will happen to us people?"
Relying on the fact that his family had a relative who was a flag officer in the Beijing Army, Lifu spoke up. He looked at the leader Lifu, who was called Brother Chen, with a rather worried expression.
Chen Sheng stood up, picked up the shovel on the side, shoveled a shovelful of the poorest quality coal and put it into the stove.
The originally orange flame became much smaller in an instant. But soon, streaks of fiery red light came up from the coals, and quickly ignited the coals that had just been put in.
Chen Sheng walked to the door of the thatched shed and glanced at the laborers from other villages who were still carrying grain and grass goods outside. Then he turned around and looked at the laborers from his own village who came to Dasheng Pass.
He stood under the door of the thatched shed and suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Yesterday, my damn mother-in-law spent 30 yuan to go to the temple to burn incense. The chief priest in the temple told my mother-in-law in private, it's snowing. , I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop for a while!”
"ah?"
"Can't the snow stop?"
"How long will it last..."
For a moment, everyone in the hut looked terrified.
Although they have a way of doing things in Dashengguan and can make some money and food, the land at home is the fundamental thing.
If the snow continues to fall, there will definitely be flooding after winter and spring.
Lifu, who had a relative in the Beijing Army who was a flag officer, stood up immediately and said, "Brother Chen, which temple did my sister-in-law go to to offer incense?"
Chen Sheng responded: "It's the temple on Guanshan Mountain in the south of our village."
Lifu, who had a relative serving as a flag officer in the Beijing Army, immediately turned pale: "This temple is very spiritual. The host even said that the snow will never stop, so it must come true."
"How can this be good..."
"Next year the fields in our village are designated to be soaked in water!"
"Returning the fields to soaking in water? Our village might be washed away by the water coming up from the Yangtze River."
"Then what should we do?"
"What the hell is going on here, why is it snowing so heavily in the south of the Yangtze River?"
"..."
For a moment, the hut was a mess, and everyone looked uneasy.
They no longer have the hard work of Dashengguan, but they can still farm the fields at home to support their family. But if even the fields and houses are gone, then the family will lose their way of survival.
Chen Sheng saw that the fellow villagers were getting uneasy, and he sighed deeply: "Who knows what happened, maybe God thinks that we in Jiangnan deserve to suffer this disaster, so this snow fell. "
These words were like the red coals that were burning in the furnace at this moment. They were suddenly picked up and thrown into the basin, and then the entire basin seemed to explode.
In an instant, the crowd was excited.
"We did something wrong again, God is going to bring this disaster!"
"This is none of our business, why should we suffer disaster?"
"My family goes to the mountain to offer incense every ten days. I am the most pious person. My family should not suffer this disaster."
"We did nothing wrong!"
"..."
"The government must have done something wrong to cause such a natural disaster!"
Suddenly, I don't know who shouted so loudly, and then the whole hut fell silent.
Chen Sheng, who was standing under the door of the thatched shed, snorted coldly, glared and reprimanded: "Bold! You don't want your life? Don't want your life, and don't get us all covered in blood!"
After finishing speaking, Chen Sheng did not give these people a chance to explain, then turned around and stretched his head out of the hay shed door. It seemed that he retracted his head after confirming that there was no one outside.
After taking a long breath, Chen Sheng snorted heavily: "If you say this in front of our own family, if you go out, it will be a crime of beheading!"
Lifu, who had a relative serving as a flag officer in the Beijing army, stood up with a groan: "If it's because of God and it's not the government that did something wrong, how can it still be us, ordinary people?"
After cursing, the man turned around and looked at everyone, with a sinister look in his eyes and whispered: "Don't forget, we are all citizens of the capital. In my opinion, not only did Yingtian Mansion do something wrong, but also Yingtian Mansion did something wrong. The imperial court may have done something wrong! What do those scholars read in the history books? If the imperial court and the emperor do something wrong, God will send disasters to warn him...ah..."
"Peng!"
Chen Sheng rushed to the man with a livid face, stretched out one hand to grasp the man's collar tightly, and with the other hand, he clenched a fist as big as a sandbag and hit the man's face hard.
Lifu, who had relatives serving as flag officers in the Beijing army, immediately had blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.
This man was not angry, but instead flicked his tongue, lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood, and then looked directly at Shen Sheng with his head raised: "Brother Chen, I was right! It's the imperial court's fault!"
Chen Sheng was almost out of his body because of the anger of the Three Buddhas. His teeth were itching with hatred, and he waved his fist and tried to hit the other person in the face again.
Fortunately, at this time, the people around him had already stood up and gathered around. Several people hugged Chen Sheng, and one person even hugged Chen Sheng's waving arm heavily.
"Brother Chen, Sanhu just said this in front of us and didn't say it outside, so don't beat him up."
"Yes, yes, we are all members of our own family. What we say is what we say. How can anyone spread the word?"
"Actually... I think what Sanhu said is right. Didn't the play also say that in the past, an emperor wrote a book because of a disaster, and then the disaster would disappear."
"Yes! Sinner's edict!"
"The emperor is the emperor. If he does something wrong, God will use these disasters to remind the emperor and ask him to correct himself. Then the disasters will be taken back and the world will be peaceful again!"
"Brother Chen, just let Sanhu go."
"..."
There were a lot of chatter in the hut, and their opinions were unified in an instant.
Chen Sheng glanced at Chen Sanhu, who was in his hand, snorted coldly, and pushed the other person to the ground: "I will teach you a lesson this time, so that you don't go out and talk nonsense, which will harm our Chenjia Village."
Chen Sanhu, who was thrown to the ground, lowered his head and reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, but a strange smile appeared on his face.
Chen Sheng, who left Chen Sanhu behind, turned to look at the crowd and sighed: "Sanhu, the dog, says that the government, the court, and the emperor have done something wrong. Don't take it seriously. The emperor takes us common people Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it can’t be said that every family has been rich in these years, but there has never been a time when we really didn’t have enough to eat.”
But at this time, the people present in Chenjia Village would not listen to these words.
Someone curled their lips: "I think Sanhu is right. If His Majesty writes that edict of sin, maybe the snow will stop immediately."
Someone else immediately echoed: "Yes, yes, I feel the same way."
"Otherwise there wouldn't be such a scene in the play!"
Chen Sheng's eyes widened: "You don't want to die anymore! Your Majesty is the Holy Emperor, and that is a saint. A saint can still do wrong things, is it wrong?"
"Why can't saints make mistakes?"
Chen Sheng was so angry that he was about to speak and continue to remind these people.
There was already a sound of footsteps coming from outside the hut.
Then, someone shouted from outside into the hut: "People in Chenjiacun, have you had enough rest? The ship is coming, come out quickly to move the goods and load it!"
Chen Sheng immediately raised his head and responded: "Coming, coming."
After replying, Chen Sheng looked at everyone: "Go to the dock quickly and remember what I said!"
Everyone nodded: "You know you can't say those words outside."
As they spoke, these people shrank their heads, put their hands in their pockets, and walked out of the hut despite the wind and snow.
After everyone had gone out, Chen Sheng turned around and looked at Chen Sanhu, who had already climbed up: "Today's things were done well. Later, remember to go to the temple to get the money and hide it secretly. Wait for some time to live. Take it out and use it.”
Chen Sanhu nodded and sneered: "Do you think they will believe it?"
Chen Sheng stretched out his hand and patted Chen Sanhu on the head: "You don't care if they believe it or not, as long as we solve the matter and get the money, that's all."
Chen Sanhu chuckled: "When this matter is done and we get the money, I will ask my relatives to put it on the list for us to go to Jiaozhi Road. I will take my family and money to buy some land in the south and live a happy life. .”
Chen Sheng also showed a smile that he couldn't hide at this time: "Let's go to the pier."
…
In the cold month, ten days pass.
In the imperial palace of Yingtian City, which has countless palaces, there is such a building that looks very inconspicuous.
After entering the Meridian Gate, you can see the Inner Wulong Bridge and Fengtian Gate. Passing through the Fengtian Gate is the Fengtian Hall.
And if you enter the Meridian Gate, you no longer go in, but turn east and pass through the Zuoshun Gate. To the north are the Wenhua Hall and the Ciqing Palace, which is the East Palace further behind.
With Wenhua Palace and East Palace here, the other buildings behind Zuoshun Gate are less eye-catching.
However, directly south of the Wenhua Palace, there is a row of palaces and houses built against the palace walls.
Counting from Donghua Gate in the east, they are the Ancient and Modern Classics Library, Incense Library, Nei Chengyun Library, and Wenyuan Pavilion.
At this moment, in Wenyuan Pavilion, the incense charcoal was burning red, conveying a hint of warmth.
However, the officials from all the temples and yamen of the six divisions and three Dharma divisions of the Ming Dynasty gathered in Wenyuan Pavilion were a little restless, and even felt a chill rising from the soles of their feet and from the bottom of their hearts.
Xie Jin, a Hanlin scholar who was walking in the Wenhua Hall, was holding a memorial in his hand and stood in front of the officials, facing the grandson who was sitting in front of the officials.
"Above, all counties in Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang, and along both sides of the Yangtze River are experiencing heavy snowfall."
"Reports from the three departments in Shandong and Henan have been sent, stating that the two regions will be severely cold this winter, but there will be no snow. There are rumors among the people that this is because the land is harmful and natural disasters will occur."
"The commander of the Shandong capital reported to the commander-in-chief that there seem to be White Lotus sect thieves in Shandong Province. He asked the imperial court if he could dispatch the guards from Huai'an, Xuzhou, Kaifeng, Daming and other places to cooperate with the Shandong capital commander to conduct a strict investigation of the area."
"Jiujiang Prefecture reported that the people's houses were crushed by the heavy snow. Now they can only live in the prefecture and county cities. I hope the court will allocate grain, grass, money and relief as soon as possible."
"The Wuchang Prefecture reported and asked for food and grass relief."
"Huizhou Prefecture reported that a heavy snow avalanche occurred in Huangshan Mountain, burying countless villages. The people were wailing and asking the court for relief."
Reports were brought to Beijing from the local area one by one, and Xie Jin reported them one by one about the snow conditions on both sides of the Yangtze River in the 27th year of Hongwu.
The memorials requesting relief from the imperial court were like mountains pressing down on the officials present, and many of them swallowed saliva with difficulty.
Zhu Yunxi leaned on the armchair and looked at the courtiers quietly: "Have you heard it? Do the subjects not know the power of God? Do they think that being an official in the south will not encounter heavy snow disasters? Snow disaster in Zhejiang Road in the 24th year of Hongwu Have you forgotten all the things?"
These words make people a little confused. Whether they are criticizing the local officials or the people in Wenyuan Pavilion.
Zhai Shan turned his eyes, then cupped his hands and said: "Fortunately, my great-grandson was wise and allocated money, food and coal in time to relieve the local crisis and save the people's suffering."
The civil servant took the lead and spoke, and the rest of the people echoed: "Your Majesty is wise."
Zhu Yunxi curled his lips quietly and looked at the Minister of War, Ru Ru, who lowered his head: "How many Beijing troops are left in Yingtian City now?"
Ru Ruan, whose name was called, raised her head and looked at Taisun.
More than half a month has passed since the first snowfall in the south this winter. There have been only five or six days without snow in the past twenty days.
Everyone can see clearly that the snow will be difficult to stop this year.
The more than 100,000 Beijing troops garrisoned inside and outside Yingtian City were finally mobilized.
It is precisely because of this that Mu Ying and other meritorious generals in the army, just as they had promised to the general affairs envoy Si Yamen, all boarded the walls of Yingtian City to guard the capital.
Ru Jun held up his hands and spoke in a deep voice: "Early this morning, ten thousand Beijing troops boarded the ship at Longwan Wharf and swam down to Hangzhou Fucang to transport grain and grass. Today, there are sixty thousand Beijing troops remaining in Yingtian City."
Zhu Yunxi pondered, there are now 20,000 Beijing troops on the Japanese side, and Chang Sheng on the Jiaozhi Road leads 30,000 troops.
Excluding the 60,000 people currently staying in Yingtian, the 200,000 Beijing troops have been mobilized and nearly 100,000 troops have been mobilized.
After grasping the latest situation of the Beijing army's mobilization, Zhu Yunxi turned to look at Yu Xin, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, who was sitting on the stool with only half his buttocks.
"Tobe."
Yu Xinzeng stood up immediately: "I'm here."
"On both sides of the Yangtze River, how many prefectures and counties are currently affected by the disaster? Does the Ministry of Household Affairs have detailed numbers? How many grains and grass have been transported from Jiaozhi Road Fuchang in Hangzhou? Does the Ministry of Household Affairs also have the number? In Shouzhou, Ningxiang, and Pingxiang, How much coal is sent to local areas?”
Zhu Yunxi put a series of questions on Yu Xin's face meticulously.
Yu Xin couldn't help but wrapped his sleeves and raised his hand to wipe his forehead, and swallowed: "I... I would like to report to Your Highness. There are currently 223 disaster-stricken prefectures and counties, and 34 are seriously affected. Buildings collapsed or roads were blocked, making it difficult to connect.
The remaining prefectures and counties are limited to severe cold weather, and in the long run, there may be a shortage of food and clothing.
The Ministry of Household Affairs allocated 800,000 dans of grain and grass from the warehouse in Hangzhou and one million jins of coal from the three places. As long as the snow continues, the Ministry of Household Affairs will continue to allocate grain, grass and coal to aid local areas.
The current disaster situation is severe, but fortunately, His Highness had the foresight to allocate grain and grass before the disaster collapsed, and supplemented it with the court's troops and horses. Now the court can deal with it calmly. "
This is a person who runs an official career.
Finally, don’t forget to point out who gets the credit.
Zhu Yunxi smiled, just when everyone thought they had passed this test and were about to breathe a sigh of relief.
Zhu Yunxi suddenly spoke again: "All of you ministers and ministers are my Ming Dynasty humerus, and you naturally care about the people of our Ming Dynasty. It has been snowy this winter for more than twenty days. How are the people living there now? Everyone. Did you ever know?
Every time I hold up a history book and read it, I see that the people are suffering. If there is a disaster like today, they will have to sell their wives, children, land and houses, just for a bite of food to survive. I wonder if something like this is happening in the local area this year? "
After finishing speaking, Zhu Yunxi leaned back on the chair and silently stared at the people in front of him.
The officials who were about to breathe a sigh of relief couldn't help but feel tense.
This topic is so unfriendly!
