It was a cold moon, and at Dasheng Pass (Dasheng Port), thirty miles southwest of the outskirts of Beijing, which was bisected by the Qinhuai New River, a group of people who had just finished their work gathered around to leak wind, but placed a
Inside the hut heated by a charcoal stove.
"If the sun and moon are missing, there will be no light in the sky."
"When do you think this snow will really stop?"
The leader 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 at that time built beacon towers and set up patrol fortresses. Later, in the Yuan Dynasty, a water post was added and named Dacheng Port, which played a role in connecting freight between the north and south of the Yangtze River.
In the 25th year of Zhizheng, the Ming army set up an ambush here and defeated hundreds of thousands of troops brought by Chen Youliang. It was for this reason that Zhu Yuanzhang changed the name of this place to Dasheng Port. It has always been the Jiangfang of Yingtian City.
The fortress in the upper reaches and the important port for cargo transfer.
Where resources circulate, more people will gather.
The people around Dashengguan usually cultivate the fields at home, and when they have free time, they will go to Dashengguan to do hard work to earn more money, rice and grain for their families.
Originally, due to festivals in previous winters, Dashengguan 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 shipping and loading, and countless grain and grass materials 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 half a day, 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 this time the imperial court even used their Beijing Army. This disaster is probably not small. We people are just asking for a living now. We can make more money."
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 furnace.
The original orange-yellow 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 were coming 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 abbot of the temple told my mother-in-law in private that it was snowing.
, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop for a while!”
"Ah?"
"Will the snow never stop?"
"How long will it last..."
For a moment, all the people in the hut looked frightened.
Although they have a way to work in Dashengguan and earn some money, the farm at home is the fundamental thing.
If this snow continues to fall, there will definitely be flooding after winter comes and spring begins.
Lifu, who had a relative in the Beijing Army who was a flag officer, stood up immediately: "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 who served as a flag officer in the Beijing Army, immediately turned pale: "This temple is very spiritual. The host even said that the snow will not stop, so it will definitely 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 may be washed away by the water coming up from the Yangtze River."
"Then what should we do?"
"What the hell is going on in this world? It's so good that we have such heavy snowfall in the south of the Yangtze River?"
"..."
For a time, the hut was a mess, and everyone looked uneasy.
Without the hard work of Dashengguan, they can still farm the fields at home to support the whole family. But if the fields are gone and the house is gone, the whole family will lose their livelihood.
Chen Sheng saw that the fellow villagers were getting uneasy, and he sighed deeply: "Who knows what happened? Maybe God thought that we in Jiangnan deserved this disaster, so this snow fell.
”
These words are like the red coals being burned 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 has nothing to do with us, 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 became quiet.
Chen Sheng, who was standing under the door of the thatched shed, even 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 outside the hut 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 be us, ordinary people?"
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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 the history books read by those scholars say, if the imperial court and the emperor do something wrong, God will send disasters to warn him...ah..."
"Bang!"
Chen Sheng rushed up 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 a relative serving as a flag officer 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 not wrong! 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, so what we say is what we say, how can anyone spread the word?"
"Actually... I think what Sanhu said is correct. 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! You are guilty!"
"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 he will take back the disasters 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 abandoned Chen Sanhu, turned to look at the crowd and sighed: "Sanhu, what kind of government, court, and emperor do something wrong? Don't take it seriously. The emperor takes us common people with him."
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 they really didn’t have enough to eat.”
But at this time, how could the people present in Chenjia Village listen to these words?
Someone curled their lips and said: "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 think so too."
"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 filled with hatred that he was about to speak and continue to remind these people.
There was already a sound of footsteps 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: "I know that those words cannot be said 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 will see the Inner Wulong Bridge and Fengtian Gate. After passing through the Fengtian Gate, you will find the Fengtian Hall.
And if you enter the Meridian Gate, 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 behind.
With the Wenhua Hall and the 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 walls of the imperial palace.
Counting from Donghua Gate in the east, they are the Ancient and Modern Classics Library, the Incense Library, the Inner Carrier Library, and the Wenyuan Pavilion.
At this moment, in Wenyuan Pavilion, the incense charcoal was burning red, conveying a hint of warmth.
However, the officials of the Ming Dynasty's six departments, three Dharma divisions and monasteries and yamen halls 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.
Walking in the Wenhua Palace, Hanlin scholar Xie Jin was holding a memorial in his hand, standing in front of the officials, facing the grandson who was sitting in front of the officials.
"Above, all the counties in Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang, and along both sides of the Yangtze River are experiencing heavy snowfall."
"The three departments in Shandong and Henan have reported that it will be very cold this winter, but there is no snow. There are rumors among the people that this is harmful to the land, and natural disasters will occur."
"The commander of the Shandong capital reported to the commander-in-chief that there seemed to be White Lotus sect thieves in Shandong Province. He asked the 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, and 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 to the government to mobilize grain and grass for relief."
"Huizhou Prefecture reported that there was a heavy snowfall in Huangshan Mountain, burying countless villages. The people were wailing and asking the court for relief."
One report after another was brought to Beijing from the local area, and Xie Jin reported on the snow conditions on both sides of the Yangtze River in the 27th year of Hongwu's reign.
The memorials asking for relief from the imperial court were like mountains pressing down on the officials present. Many of them had difficulty swallowing the saliva in their mouths.
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. Is he criticizing the local officials or the people in Wenyuan Pavilion?
Zhai Shan turned his eyes, then cupped his hands and said: "Fortunately, Taisun was wise enough to allocate 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 others echoed: "Your Majesty is wise."
Zhu Yunxi curled his lips silently and looked at Ru Ru, the Minister of War with his head lowered: "How many Beijing troops are left in Yingtian City now?"
After her name was called, Ru Yu raised her head and looked at Taisun.
More than half a month has passed since the first snowfall in the south this winter, and there have only been 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 Jin 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." p>
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 to nearly 100,000 troops.
After grasping the latest situation of the Beijing army's mobilization, Zhu Yunxi turned to look at Yu Xin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, who was sitting on the stool with only half his buttocks.
"Household Department."
Yu Xin suddenly stood up: "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 grasses have been transported from Jiaozhi Road to Fucang in Hangzhou? Does the Ministry of Household Affairs also have the number? Shouzhou, Ningxiang, and Pingxiang.
Coal, how much 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 will allocate 800,000 tons of grain and grass from the warehouse in Hangzhou and one million kilograms of coal in the three places. Then as long as the snow does not stop, the Ministry of Household Affairs will continue to allocate grain, grass and coal to help local areas.
The current disaster situation is severe, but fortunately, His Highness had the foresight to allocate food and grass before the disaster collapsed, and supplemented it with the court's troops and horses. Now the court can calmly deal with it."
This is a person who manages an official career.
Finally, don’t forget to point out who deserves 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 20 days. How are the people in the place living now? Everyone.
Did you ever know?
Every time I hold up a history book and read it, I see that the people are in dire straits. If there is a disaster like today, they will have to sell their wives, children, land and houses just to have a bite of food to survive. I wonder if there is such a thing in the local area this year.
Something happened?"
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.