On the third day of June in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, at midnight, the earth dragon turned over in Pinglu. The earthquake damaged city walls and houses, and the cliffs collapsed.
On the fourth day of the lunar month, the earth dragon turned over in Anyi, Shanxi Province. Starting from the northwest, the sound was like thunder. The houses of officials and people fell down, and some people were crushed to death.
The people in Puzhou and Ronghe were crushed to death.
Linjin, Yuanqu, Jiezhou, Qinyuan, Yangcheng, Huguan, Xiaxian, Yuanqu in Shanxi Province; Tongguanwei in Shaanxi Province; Hanoi, Wuzhi, Shengchi, Shaanzhou, Nuxiang and other prefectures and counties in Henan Province, were affected.
This time, the earth dragon turned over and spread across dozens of states and counties in three provinces. There were continuous earthquakes. On the ninth day of the lunar month, there were another earthquakes, and again on the 13th, and they stopped for dozens of days.
Later generations judged based on the description that the epicenter intensity (Io) VIII and magnitude (M) were six.
This earthquake, in its original history, did not cause any waves at all in the Ming Dynasty.
If the earth dragon turns over, won't it just kill some people?
In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the decisive battle between the Ming Dynasty and the Manchu Qing Dynasty ended with the capture of Hong Chengchou and Zu Dashou, and the fall of all outside Shanhaiguan, which shocked the government and the public; Zhang Xianzhong conquered Shucheng, Luzhou and other places with great momentum; Li Zicheng's troops surrounded Kaifeng , Zuo Liangyu and other reinforcements were defeated.
For the monarchs and ministers in the Ming Dynasty, each of these things was much more serious than an earth dragon turning over.
However, in this dimension, Jianlu was having a headache to reorganize his own internal affairs; the corpses of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were cold early, and the people of the Ming Dynasty were basically in a state of living and working in peace and contentment. Although life in many places was still very hard, it was no longer the same as before. The desolation caused by military disasters, natural disasters, etc. in recent years.
Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen attached great importance to disaster prevention and relief in various places. Therefore, when the earthquake occurred, officials affected by the earthquake in the three provinces of Qin, Shanxi, and Henan began to provide disaster relief while rushing to report the disaster situation to the capital.
At the beginning, Emperor Chongzhen didn't care much.
He attaches great importance to disaster prevention and relief, which has a side effect: local officials often make disaster situations more public. In this way, if the disaster was solved by the local officials, it would be a great achievement. And if disaster relief is not in place and something goes wrong, you can still have something to say. It would be better if we could get more supplies from the court.
Emperor Chongzhen of course prohibited this situation and ordered the local procuratorate and factory guards to inspect and verify it. But, human nature being what it is, this will always be the case.
Therefore, this time, Emperor Chongzhen thought that the earthquake was not bad. At least in his impression, major earthquakes seemed to occur on the Xichuan side.
However, in the following days, a steady stream of messengers rushed to the capital to report the earthquake. When these messages were put together, it was discovered that the earthquake was widespread, and it continued to occur for many days.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen immediately paid attention to it.
Generally speaking, if a disaster like an earthquake occurs in the middle of the night, the harm will be great. If treatment is inadequate, other natural disasters may occur, such as landslides, subsidence, barrier lakes, mudslides, etc. What is even more frightening is that if no one takes care of the aftermath and the bodies are not disposed of in time, a plague is likely to occur.
In the Wenhua Hall, Emperor Chongzhen sat high on the throne, and in the two rows below were the eunuchs and civil servants from the six cabinet departments.
I only heard Emperor Chongzhen say solemnly: "I have sent people to supervise the disaster relief situation involving the three provinces of Qin, Shanxi, and Henan. Here, I have thought of something and must discuss it!"
The eunuchs and civil servants below heard this and had no objections. They knew that the emperor attached great importance to the disaster situation. This time, he was probably going to issue another edict on disaster relief.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty has always attached great importance to disaster prevention and relief since the founding of the country by Taizu. Emperor Chongzhen's early disaster prevention and relief efforts were mainly to restore and strengthen a series of previous systems.
In terms of disasters and famines, the Ming Dynasty had strict regulations on a set of procedures, which were: disaster investigation, disaster reporting, relief, relief, grain accumulation, donations, rewards, etc.
Among them, the disaster investigation stipulates that you can't just listen to what the district chief reports. The local chief official must go to the scene to investigate the disaster situation in person. From the beginning, disaster reporting emphasized not being afraid of time limits and not hiding the disaster, but later, it emphasized timeliness;
Exemptions and relief are the core of disaster relief. They mainly mean that the victims can be exempted from taxes or changed so that they no longer have to pay; or money and food can be given to the victims for free or with compensation so that they can tide over the difficulties.
As for accumulating grain, it started during the Hongwu period. Preparatory warehouses were set up in various places to store grain and rice for relief. Tongna means that wealthy people who donate grain to warehouses can be rewarded by the court with official officials, and the same meaning is basically the same as the reward.
Before Wanli, when it came to disaster prevention and control during the Ming Dynasty, local officials were generally lazy and concealed; but the emperor was still very active. Even Emperor Zhengde, whose legend was absurd, and Emperor Jiajing, who only wanted immortality, attached great importance to fighting and preventing disasters.
The most serious Guanzhong earthquake in history, with as many as 870,000 casualties, occurred during the Jiajing period. The imperial court also worked hard to provide disaster relief. Even the imperial envoy sent to the disaster area, Zou Shouyu, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, contracted the plague and died in the line of duty.
However, when the Wanli period began, Emperor Wanli's neglect of government included such important matters as disaster prevention. As a result, the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty took a sharp turn from the Wanli period. After the late Ming Dynasty, it became very common to even deceive superiors and deceive subordinates, and treat human life as nothing.
For example, Hu Ke was ordered to bring 300,000 silver to Yang Wenju for disaster relief, but he ended up eating, drinking and having fun all the way. The local officials were also happy to flatter and entertain the victims. As for the victims, they had long forgotten them and followed them.
Also, state and county officials will find out in advance when and where the land surveyors will pass by. So, they put on the posture of giving porridge and providing disaster relief at that necessary place; they piled up storage materials, rice, salt, vegetables and fried beans, and hung a yellow flag on a high pole with the words "Fengxian Porridge Relief" written on them. They were surrounded by villagers who had been recruited. When the official arrives, nothing moves; when the official arrives, the bell is rung and the porridge is served; when the official leaves, he immediately packs up his things and leaves.
All this happened once, twice, many times, starting from the Wanli era. By the time of the Chongzhen era, all the accumulated evil consequences exploded together. It would be strange if the Ming Dynasty did not die!
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was heard saying to his ministers: "The Ming Dynasty has a vast territory. If a natural disaster occurs far away from the capital, such as this time, it will be too late by the time the capital reacts." During the Jiajing Period The Guanzhong earthquake in Guanzhong and the rampant plague in the disaster area are also a manifestation of the untimely disaster relief. Therefore, I absolutely want to discuss the details of the disaster relief in the Ming Dynasty with you, and then promulgate it to the world, asking local officials to comply with it, so that the disaster relief can be carried out More timely to reduce the impact of disasters on the people of Ming Dynasty!"
Naturally, the civil servants and eunuchs would not object to this.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen conducted an in-depth discussion on the disaster prevention and relief system established since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. After deliberation for a whole day, or it can be said that under the leadership of Emperor Chongzhen, the existing system was supplemented. The main differences are:
First, specific disaster levels are stipulated for local officials such as county governments, which are more specific than before, making it clear that disaster relief can be provided first and then reported. This was also done in the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, but later local officials did not dare to do it. This time Emperor Chongzhen gave specific evidence and emphasized it.
Second, the garrison troops participated in disaster relief. In the past, the military was quite sensitive to those in power. Moreover, the duty of the army is only to farm and fight.
However, in the past few years under the leadership of Emperor Chongzhen, some local guards and troops have been ordered to participate in disaster relief. Now, Emperor Chongzhen took advantage of this large-scale earthquake to officially add disaster relief functions to the garrison army. And the relevant details are also clarified: under a certain disaster level, the local chief officer can first mobilize what level of garrison troops for disaster relief.
Third, the details of the disaster relief, including the follow-up measures such as plague prevention and control, were also detailed to form a rules and regulations so that the officials in various places in the Ming Dynasty could have laws to follow, so that they would not be in trouble when something really happened. Not knowing what to do will not only miss the golden time for disaster relief, but also lead to the expansion of the impact of the famine.
The most critical thing is that local governments are also held accountable for their actions during disaster relief, and there are rewards and punishments. When a natural disaster occurs, if the treatment is effective, you can take this opportunity to gain extra points; of course, if the treatment is not effective, points will be reduced or even punished.
Fourth, it is clearly stipulated that in the disaster investigation process, there are two fronts: light and dark. There will be imperial envoys to inspect the place to see the disaster relief situation; there will also be factory guards to investigate secretly. As for whether the factory guards will be one wave or several waves, whether it is Dongchang or Jinyiwei, This depends on what the emperor wants.
Fifth, Emperor Chongzhen also emphasized the two aspects of encouraging people to participate in disaster relief through donations and rewards. Those who donated grain or contributed greatly to disaster relief would be given the highest honor of being interviewed by the emperor.
Being able to meet the emperor is more than just an honor. If the local government knows that you are going to meet the emperor, they are afraid that you will talk nonsense and will certainly give you preferential treatment. If you suffer injustice, being able to meet with the emperor is also a very powerful way. This new measure is definitely an effective means to encourage wealthy households.
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From these various measures, especially when compared with previous Ming emperors, Ming's civil and military officials, as well as the people, all know that the current emperor cares about the people, cares about the people, and is concerned about the people's needs. He absolutely truly loves the people like a son. As soon as the new regulations were announced, Emperor Chongzhen's prestige was refreshed.
While Emperor Chongzhen was busy with this matter, the city of Shengjing rarely became festive.
The army that conquered North Korea came back. Not only did they bring back a lot of food and supplies, gold, silver, jewelry and other wealth, they even brought over North Korea's monarchs and ministers.
It was a rare victory, so Huang Taiji naturally wanted to publicize it widely and even went out of the city in person to greet the victorious army. Of course, since he has left the city, those who can leave the city in Shengjing City will naturally also leave the city.
This time, it was Hauge and Yue Tuo who led the expedition to North Korea. Under the attention of the whole city, the two of them stepped forward to salute Huang Taiji and loudly reported the results of the Korean War.
Every time he reported something, Huang Taiji's personal guards shouted in unison and repeated it so that everyone could hear it.
This time, Hauge and Yue Tuo copied the entire North Korea. The royal palace of North Korea and the homes of civil and military officials were not spared. As a result, more food, supplies, gold, silver and jewelry were obtained than ever before.
Every time the loot data is announced, these people in Shengjing City become more excited. The joy of victory diluted the terror of these days, and also brought back the impression they remembered of the "invincible Qing Dynasty".
Afterwards, cartloads of grain and supplies were transported into the city under everyone's attention. Even the gold and silver jewelry, silk and satin, etc. were all deliberately removed so that everyone could see clearly.
There were so many of them, one car after another, that everyone was very excited to see them. This time, Qing Dynasty made a huge profit.
Later, the monarchs and ministers of North Korea were escorted to the front of Huang Taiji. Without any need to be scolded by Jianlu, the leader of North Korea, Li Ju, knelt down first, his face was pale, and he lowered his head and shouted: "The leader of North Korea, Li Ju, comes to see His Majesty the Qing Emperor. ,Long live Long live Long live!"
The other Korean courtiers all did the same and shouted together. As for those who had the backbone among the Korean officials, they had been killed by Jianlu before they came.
Seeing these North Korean monarchs and ministers kneeling on the ground, servile and servile to the Qing Emperor, with a very low attitude, made these people in Shengjing even more proud.
This triumphal ceremony restored Huang Taiji's somewhat damaged prestige, allowing his people to regain their confidence in him.
Since all the Korean monarchs and ministers had their homes confiscated, Huang Taiji would naturally no longer treat them with mercy. On the contrary, at this time, he wanted to kill chickens and scare monkeys to warn other tribes.
Therefore, seeing the North Korean monarchs and ministers kneeling on the ground, Huang Taiji had a serious face and shouted sternly: "Even if you North Korea disrespects me, the Qing Dynasty, over and over again, and secretly colludes with the Ming Dynasty. I will treat you North Korea, too. I have always treated you favorably, and I only hope that you can feel my sincerity, repent, and truly regard the Qing Dynasty as your suzerainty."
"However, the Qing Dynasty suffered a secret loss before, and you think that the Ming Dynasty is more powerful, and actually colluded with the Ming Dynasty openly." Huang Taiji shouted sternly, "The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was fatuous, and the treacherous ministers in the court were in power. I have no strength to fight back. Occasionally a flash in the pan is just a flash in the pan. Now wait and see for yourself, your North Korea may be able to bear the wrath of my thunder. Where is the Ming Dynasty? Can anyone really save your North Korea and dare to fight with me? Are you ready for a confrontation?"
At this time, in order to survive, Li Zhu was ashamed. Of course, he hurriedly apologized and admitted that he was wrong while scolding Ming Guo. The North Korean officials kneeling behind him felt Huang Taiji's anger, and they were all as servile as their king, just thinking about surviving.
Although North Korea is weak, it is a country after all, and it must have a higher status than ordinary tribes. But at this moment, these North Korean monarchs and ministers behaved so servilely towards the Qing Dynasty, which made Jianlu feel very happy in his heart!
