In the summer and May of the tenth year of Kaibao, the Han Dynasty suffered the most serious flood since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The vast Central Plains region was hit by continuous rain, and dozens of counties in Henan and Hebei were affected by bitter rain.
What is even more shocking is that the Yellow River, which has been "behaved" for more than ten years, has begun to make waves. The water level has skyrocketed and floods have occurred frequently. The embankments of Chanzhou, Daming and dozens of counties downstream are in danger of overturning, and millions of people have been affected. , is under threat.
Although the response was a little late, after confirming the level and harm of the flood, the Han Dynasty court also showed the efficiency of its current administrative capabilities. With an extremely strict attitude, it issued a series of orders and issued orders to various prefecture and county officials, asking them to take strict precautions and resist the disaster. Save the people.
This time, it was almost a general mobilization, targeting the local governments in the Huang and Bian river basins. The officials and the people mobilized together, the army and the people cooperated, and the momentum was comparable to that during the Northern Expedition, or even worse. After all, this time it really affected them. interests, and lives are at stake.
In order to attract attention and express his determination, Zhao Pu even conveyed an attitude to the relevant officials in a less formal way: wherever trouble occurs, it will be dealt with; whoever is slack and negligent will be punished.
There is no fuss or sloppiness, it is crisp, neat, simple and direct, and can be called a crude threat. And in order to alert the local monkeys, the chief and deputy officials of Chanzhou who were the first to speak became the chickens who mobilized flags for flood relief and disaster relief. Regardless of whether they were aggrieved or not, there was no reason to say anything.
The trick of killing chickens to scare monkeys is very old, but it often works. Many lessons are sometimes not easy to learn, but with this example, not many people dare not take it seriously. Even if they don't consider the people under their rule, they still have to be more careful for the sake of their official title.
In terms of disaster relief and relief, the Han Dynasty had enough experience over more than 20 years. But even after reacting and taking a series of strong and decisive measures, Lianghe Prefecture and County still could not survive this huge flood smoothly.
Continuous heavy rain is the main cause of floods. If the rain does not stop, the disaster will continue. Millions of people in dozens of states and counties have become victims of floods and rain disasters.
Especially in Chanzhou, where the outbreak first broke out, the opening was the biggest loophole that could not be stopped at all. The raging floods surged indiscriminately, submerging the fields and destroying villages and towns. The property losses of the officials and the people were insignificant. It was necessary to save lives. Just a lucky break.
In order to fight the floods and provide disaster relief, the three governments of Gyeonggi, Henan, and Hebei mobilized a total of more than 300,000 soldiers and civilians to fight the floods. All local troops were dispatched, and even the imperial troops from Tokyo, Daimyo, and important towns along the river were dispatched.
The people mobilized are huge, and the court dares to invest. However, in the face of such natural disasters, people always seem so fragile and powerless. Millions of officials and citizens, more often than not, can only struggle and huddle together for warmth in the face of violent storms and wild beasts.
This is because the imperial court has played a certain role in river defense projects in recent years. Otherwise, if the embankments in various places are broken, the vast area of the lower reaches of the Yellow River will be flooded with water and the vast area will become a Zeguo in a very short period of time.
If the rain doesn't stop, the disaster will continue. However, what made the court and the local government feel tremendous pressure was precisely the heavy rain that never stopped. Not only did it not stop, it was rather unrelenting, giving people the feeling that it was going to break through the embankments and destroy everything.
The continuous heavy rains not only test the embankments everywhere, but also test the will of the people. From the outbreak of the disaster in May until June, the rain continued in various places, and the intensity varied, but it did not stop and no one could see the end.
By this time, everyone realized that this rain and flood would not end in a short time. The embankments along the river also appeared to be crumbling and dangerous under the continuous impact of the flood.
Needless to say, the situation in Chanzhou was the worst. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians took advantage of the rain and risked their lives by throwing sand and rocks into the breach, which only had a negligible curbing effect.
The situation in Daming Mansion is also not good. Soldiers and civilians are stationed on the embankments such as the Chao City, and more materials are stored. The embankments are widely camped, so they can barely stop it. Even so, the danger of overturning is incomprehensible, and several dangers depend on it. The manpower was snatched away.
In other places, the situation may be better, but only relatively speaking, the critical situation has not been truly alleviated. Millions of soldiers and civilians along the river experienced a doomsday feeling, as if there was a knife hanging above their heads and could be chopped off at any time.
For this reason, in addition to responding to the government's flood relief efforts, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have abandoned their homes in the areas along the river, and a large number of people, including the elderly and the young, have left their homes and homes just to avoid the floods.
For a time, the lower reaches of the river were in chaos, and the social and economic order was seriously damaged. The rule of the imperial court and the administration of the government were all subjected to great tests.
Huiguo Gong Song Yanwo was the "commander-in-chief" on the flood relief frontline appointed by Emperor Liu. Every memorial reported from him was always full of words such as severe, urgent, and crisis, which was heart-stopping.
As for the Prime Minister Zhao Pu, who was in charge of dispatching and commanding in the capital, he was also frightened for a month. What he was most afraid of was that there would be another breach wherever he received it, or there would be another disaster somewhere.
Due to his lack of vigilance and foresight about the rain disaster, Emperor Liu had already been blamed. If the follow-up disaster relief work went wrong again, he would definitely not be able to gain favor from the prime minister after the disaster eased.
What makes people feel the most heaviest is that this disaster is far from being alleviated, let alone over.
In view of the flood situation, Emperor Liu did not continue to retreat behind the scenes and enjoyed the cool weather in the Han Palace. It was difficult for him to feel like this in the face of such a natural disaster and national disaster.
After entering June, Emperor Liu issued a series of orders to urge the court officials, encourage the subjects and the people, and called on everyone to work together to fight the disaster.
Due to the continuous heavy rain, which was almost strange, many officials in the court called on the emperor, hoping that Emperor Liu could offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for blessings to relieve the disaster.
Such a petition was naturally rejected by Emperor Liu without hesitation. The reason was also very simple. If he got lucky and prayed effectively, it would only increase his sanctity.
However, if the sacrifice to heaven is ineffective, it will cause people to change their minds even more. Such a result will not be what Emperor Liu is happy to see. In particular, Emperor Liu consulted the "astronomy experts" in the Qintian Prison and judged from their words that there were no signs of relief from the heavy rain and flood.
At the same time, Emperor Liu was also extremely sensitive under this situation. In times of peace, it was just a matter of offering sacrifices to the heavens and worshiping the gods. But at this time, Emperor Liu was suspicious of whether someone would use the concept of telepathy from heaven and man to say that you have lost your virtue. , the government lost its way, causing disasters from heaven to warn the world.
Fortunately, there is no such fool in the court who dares to jump out and cause trouble for Emperor Liu at this time. Even if someone has similar thoughts in their hearts, they dare to keep it in their hearts for the time being.
Emperor Liu also issued a special edict. It can be seen from the uneducated edict that it was drafted by Emperor Liu himself and was not polished by Li Fang.
Emperor Liu bluntly reprimanded those who did not work hard to provide disaster relief, but instead expected God to be merciful and merciful. He pointed out that people with such ideas were mediocre people who passively resisted disasters and did not think about relieving people.
The wording was extremely harsh. After the edict was issued, at least in Xijing, the imperial court's thinking was basically unified, and the officials involved were more attentive to the task of fighting floods and disaster relief.
In June of Jichou (the second day of the Lunar New Year), the officials of Zhengzhou, Tokyo, and Songzhou successively submitted reports, saying that the water conditions of the Bianhe River were different. These reports aroused great attention from the court as the river was still in danger.
The political hall issued successive decrees asking the county governments along Bianzhou to upgrade the prevention level, reserve manpower and material resources, and respond in advance to prevent changes in the Bianshui River.
There is no way to ignore it. The Bian River is the core water vein of the Central Plains, a golden waterway that connects canals and connects the north and the south. If the Bian River is in trouble, not only important cities such as Tokyo will be harmed, but even Xijing will be affected.
After all, Luoyang, Xijing, also receives a large amount of material support every year from the southeast region.
It has to be said that the Han Dynasty has managed rivers and canals for 20 years, and the most remarkable achievements are the Central Plains waterways dominated by Bianshui River. Later, the impact of the flood spread from the Bianhe River Basin. However, thanks to the government's early response and strict prevention, coupled with the convenience of river engineering, the Bianhe River eventually did not cause a disaster and was able to survive smoothly and safely. risk.
Throughout May and June, the Han Dynasty spent its time fighting against heavy rains and floods. Man could not defeat the weather, but he never surrendered. It was not until June 21 that the two sides reached a "reconciliation", the rain stopped, the floods subsided, and the disaster was successfully overcome...
