Fengyang suffered from drought, and the court had already prepared for it.
But as we entered May, things got serious.
As early as early April, in response to the drought in Fengyang Prefecture, the imperial court prepared relief food for two states and five counties, three more counties than in previous years. But by the end of April, the drought became worse day by day, spreading to three states and eight counties. In mid-May, all 13 counties in Fengyang Prefecture, five states, and 13 counties were severely drought!
However, the drought is far more than that, and urgent messages are constantly arriving in the capital.
Huai'an Prefecture Huai'an is experiencing a severe drought!
There is a severe drought in Hefei and Lu'an, Luzhou Prefecture!
Severe drought hits Luyi, Yongcheng, Shangqiu, and Ningling in Guide Prefecture, Henan Province!
Zhu Yunwen's heart was trembling as he looked at Xie Jin's memorial. Each word was like a knife piercing his heart.
"My minister Xie Jin paid his respects again in Linhuai. Starting from the fifth month, the sky and ground in Fengyang became dry, the sun was burning, the earth was cracked, and there was no harvest! The people were mourning all over the land, wandering around, and had no place to live. They belonged to the Tao, and the vegetation was Food is unspeakable..."
Through the text, Zhu Yunwen could imagine what the scene would be like. Although the imperial court had prepared countermeasures in advance and even planned to use the Huai'an granary, the disaster situation changed three times a day, and the Huai River was so dry that it was impossible to sail. To transport food, you can only use people to push it!
The sun is scorching, and it is extremely difficult to transport food during the day. We can only rush early or late.
The large-scale drought in the north was enough to strain the imperial court, but at this time, severe floods occurred in the south.
The flooded area is along the Wusong River, affecting Songjiang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture and other places. This is an important grain-producing center of the Ming Dynasty and an important economic center, so there is no room for loss!
Xia Yuanji investigated the Wusong River and Taihu Lake Basin, pointed out the problem of its vulnerability to waterlogging, and came up with a strategy for dredging the Wusong River. However, the strategy was inspected by the Ministry of Industry and had not yet been implemented, and waterlogging occurred in the Wusong River.
Yao Shan, the prefect of Suzhou, wrote: "It rained for more than ten days in May. The floods flooded Wuxian County, all the crops were gone, the ruined houses were drowned, and the city was flooded with floods..."
Zhou Jiyu, the prefect of Songjiang, wrote: "The Songjiang River overflowed, and the water surged. Boats sailed on the bridge, countless houses were destroyed, and the people had no way to satisfy their hunger..."
Ru Yu and Yu Xin were doing disaster relief in Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture. They did not ask too many questions, but made two requests:
Give food!
Give the boat!
Zhu Yunwen ordered the Ming Dynasty Navy to dispatch 80% of its ships to Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture despite the rain, and fully participate in the disaster relief. He ordered all Zhongdu garrison stations to be dispatched and converted into food and water transportation teams. At the same time, he mobilized 50,000 Beijing troops, led by Xu Huizu himself. , went to Fengyang to transport grain.
The setting up of granaries and grain reserves played a huge role at this moment. Whether it was the Huai'an granary or the Jinchuan Gate granary in the capital, each of them transferred 300,000 shi of grain to disaster areas in various places.
The imperial envoys, two and four, rushed out of the capital in no less than five batches every day, and the documents sent to various places contained an imperial edict that could not be violated:
Go all out to provide disaster relief and protect the people!
Zhu Yunwen did not allow the disorderly movement of victims, and ordered the disaster-stricken areas to centrally resettle all affected people and open all open granaries. Even if the local grain storage was insufficient, he would borrow grain from local wealthy households. Anyone who hoarded grain and drove up grain prices would have their property confiscated. !
Ordered the Chief Envoys of Henan Province, Shandong Chief Envoys, and Beizhili to fully support Fengyang, Huai'an, Luzhou and other places, and ordered the Chief Envoys of various places to allocate military grain reserves to drought relief, and ordered the Hangzhou Prefecture, Jiangxi Chief Envoys Adjust grain and ships to the east to provide disaster relief in the Taihu Lake Basin.
Fengtian Temple.
Zhu Yunwen summoned Yang Shiqi, dean of the Imperial College to offer wine, Kuang Yu, dean of the medical school, and Yu Zhen, vice dean, and said solemnly: "The imperial censor reminded me that the victims of the disaster would gather together. Once they have no food to eat, I am afraid something will happen. I know the harm, but if If we allow the people to be scattered, begging for their own lives, and running around in the wilderness, how many people will die? Starving people all over the road is not my Ming Dynasty!"
"At present, people affected by the disaster are gathering in various places. Deep wells are being dug and grain transportation is in progress. Documents from various places in Fengyang are being received. Although the people are panic-stricken, they still believe in the imperial court and have no conflicts with the county and state government. They all obey Placement. Jie Jin sent a document, saying that no matter how hard the disaster is, it will be even more difficult to overcome it. When an epidemic comes, it will be difficult for gods to save it. He asked me to send people from the medical school to participate in the disaster relief."
Kuang Yu said solemnly: "If we don't deal with it properly, there will be a big epidemic after the disaster. If the people gather together, once the plague occurs, it will definitely kill countless people. Please take people to Fengyang and other places to deal with the disease."
Yu Zhen said: "Please go to the Taihu Lake area."
Yang Shiqi also knew that the situation was urgent and that the drought could not be solved in a day, so he said: "Then the medical school will conduct training in advance and disperse the places. However, to ensure safety, please arrange for escorts to accompany you."
"No need to."
Kuang Yu rejected Yang Shiqi's kindness: "Doctors come to the countryside only to cure diseases and nothing else. The people will definitely not harm them. If we can send more people, we might as well arrange to transport grain. I am afraid the drought will last for several months." "
After careful consideration, Zhu Yunwen agreed to Kuang Yu and Yu Zhen: "Then please ask the two gentlemen to each take a manpower to Fengyang, Taihu and other places. If necessary, please inform the local authorities and I will order their full cooperation. If there is an urgent need, , you can look for sergeants to deliver documents to the capital."
"I will receive the order."
Kuang Yu and Yu Zhen agreed.
Zhu Yunwen sent Yang Shiqi away. Zheng Ci, Minister of Industry, Huang Fu, and Yao Guangxiao had arrived outside the palace. Before they could salute, Zhu Yunwen asked: "The resettlement of the people is a big problem. There is a drought in the north, and countless people are pouring in." Counties and state capitals need to be resettled. Floods in the south have destroyed countless houses, Suzhou has also been affected by disasters, and people in Songjiang Prefecture have been displaced. The Ministry of Industry should arrange for important officials to come to the place to take charge."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Your Majesty, the construction of the Great Baoen Temple and the Martyrs' Monument is now on track, and there is no need to supervise the work every day. I am willing to go to Fengyang and other places to supervise the construction of resettlement sites."
Huang Fu was a little surprised and looked at Yao Guangxiao.
Zhu Yunwen waved his hand and said: "Wuxian County of Suzhou Prefecture was hit by a disaster, and Changzhou and Suzhou City were also affected by the disaster. You'd better go to the Suzhou area."
Yao Guangxiao's hometown is Changzhou, just next to Wuxian County. Zhu Yunwen arranged for him to go there so that he could help the villagers.
Huang Fu immediately asked for orders to go to Fengyang.
Zhu Yunwen nodded in agreement and emphasized: "We will take in the old, young, sick and disabled first. If the Imperial College of Medicine needs it, we will build houses or tents for them first."
"According to the order."
Zheng Ci and others followed the order and left.
Shuangxi stood anxiously outside the door of Wuying Hall. Seeing Chen Di just being summoned in, Tie Xuan ran over again. He couldn't help but stop Tie Xuan and begged: "Tie Shangshu, if it is not urgent, please see me another day."
Tie Xuan said with a gloomy face: "If it is not urgent, how can you come here? As a chamberlain, you dare to block the minister's request for an audience. Have you forgotten the palace rules?"
Shuangxi hurriedly apologized: "How can I, a chamberlain, dare to stop the minister? It's just that Concubine Ning from Zhongcui Palace is about to give birth. The Queen Mother and the Empress are both in Zhongcui Palace. A maid just sent a message that Concubine Ning is weak and has difficulty giving birth. Please Your Majesty, hurry back. Now the ministers are playing one after another, and Your Majesty is at a loss for what to do..."
Tie Xuan looked at the open door of Wuying Palace and frowned.
Seeing that Tie Xuan didn't speak, Shuang Xi added: "In ordinary people, the father You is outside the door waiting for the birth of his child... In order to deal with the disaster, the emperor has met with more than a dozen ministers one after another. He was not allowed to take a break for several hours. He also invited Tie Shangshu is considerate and considerate of the emperor..."
Tie Xuan had a cold face and asked angrily: "Then you are still standing here, why don't you report it?"
Shuangxi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said helplessly: "When disasters hit various places, one urgent letter was sent in, and another urgent letter was sent out. The emperor has told us that there should be no other matters during government affairs. If government affairs do not stop, we will I don’t dare to say anything at home. A king is a father, a king is a father, the king comes first and then the father, how difficult it is..."
Tie Xuan shook the document in his hand, put it in his sleeve, turned around and said, "I remembered something, come back tomorrow."
Shuangxi looked at Tie Xuan leaving and saluted.
On the way back, Tie Xuan blocked Lian Zining from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Mao Taiheng, the Minister of Civil Affairs and others who asked to see him.
At present, three of the four cabinet members have gone out. Chen Di is sitting in the court. Zhu Yunwen needs to discuss many decisions with Chen Di. Chen Di is not a pedantic and incompetent person. Although he has some small thoughts, he is also capable.
Chen Di proposed ten strategies to stabilize the people, with grain as the main focus and other supplements as supplements. This indeed provided a lot of support for Zhu Yunwen's decree.
Zhu Yunwen and Chen Di discussed and decided to use the deep-water port built by Qingjiang Shipyard, and use the four treasure ships that had just completed sea trials to leave the Yangtze River and take the sea route to transport grain to Huai'an Prefecture, with Huai'an Prefecture as the center, to Fengyang Prefecture, Henan and other places. Transport food to the ground. If the water depth of the Qingjiang Deepwater Port continues to drop and treasure ships cannot sail, grain will be unloaded and transported directly to small coastal towns such as Yunti Pass. As for Luzhou Prefecture, it raised grain through Anqing and transported it to Hefei and other places.
Chen Di took the order to leave, and Zhu Yunwen stared at the map. The people of the Ming Dynasty had suffered natural disasters, so they could no longer suffer man-made disasters. In order to prevent the court from misappropriating food and money, and to prevent the situation from deteriorating further, he directly sent cabinet ministers to supervise the place. , there should be no corrupt officials who enrich the country and waste the lives of the people.
Judging from the current situation, although the disaster is serious, the situation is still under control. There will not be a tragedy of starving people and people exchanging children for food, nor will there be a civil uprising and the refugees turning into bandits.
Having food is Zhu Yunwen's greatest confidence.
After recuperation and the bumper harvest in the main grain-producing areas in the past two years, Zhu Yunwen promoted the eight major granaries, and then successively set up a number of small granaries. Local relief grains were also replenished. With the increase in the harvest of three-season rice, the food problem was not a crisis. The problem, the real crisis comes from the governance of the court.
Shuangxi came over and called out "Your Majesty" softly.
Only then did Zhu Yunwen come out of his thoughts, and Shuangxi quickly reported: "The maid from Zhongcui Palace has come to report that Concubine Ning is weak and having difficulty giving birth. The Queen Mother and the Empress are both here..."
Zhu Yunwen's heart tightened. He looked at the documents on the desk and asked, "Are there any ministers outside the door?"
Shuangxi shook his head and said, "There are no ministers asking to see you anymore."
Zhu Yunwen pointed to the document on the desk: "Take it with you and go to Zhongcui Palace."
Concubine Ning had a difficult delivery, and Empress Dowager Lu and Ma Enhui were both anxious. Po Wen was waiting inside, and the female doctor Mei Hui stood at the door and called for ginseng soup, and then brought it in.
Empress Dowager Lu and Ma Enhui frowned, and Concubine Shu, Concubine Xian and Yicai were also at a loss. Han Xiayu was not allowed to be admitted to the hospital and stood outside the door, holding Zhu Wenkui's hand very hard.
"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law is here."
Han Xiayu heard the footsteps and shouted quickly.
Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly to Han Xiayu and Zhu Wenkui, indicating that they were waiting outside, and then walked into Zhongcui Palace.
"emperor."
"Stop saluting, Queen Mother, Queen, how is Concubine Ning?"
Empress Dowager Lu's face sank: "Why are you here, Your Majesty? Concubine Ning has been in labor for nearly an hour and is exhausted. The doctor just ordered ginseng soup."
Zhu Yunwen was anxious to go in, but Ma Enhui held him back: "The emperor is not allowed to enter, lest he be bumped into and damage the luck of the royal family."
What kind of luck, Zhu Yunwen didn't want to understand, his heart was trembling just listening to Concubine Ning's painful cry. Giving birth to a child in ancient times was like going through a "ghost gate". If there was any accident, it might lead to the death of the mother and the child...
"You see the end, push harder, push harder."
Wen Po's voice spread outside.
Zhu Yunwen felt his hands go cold and looked down, only to see Ma Enhui's hand stretched out.
"Concubine Ning must be fine."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Ma Enhui, clasped her cold hands, and shouted to the delivery room: "Concubine Ning, I'm waiting for you and the baby!"
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