In Liu Jin's hometown of Xiahetun, Liu Jin came to the seaside and looked at the completely frozen Bohai Sea. Next to him, there were people busy drilling holes in the ice.
"Master, master, we have already drilled out."
At this time, the servants hurried over to report to Liu Jinhui.
"Oh~"
When Liu Jin heard this, he quickly walked over and took a closer look. The ice on the Bohai Sea was estimated to be dozens of centimeters thick. The weather was really too cold.
"This cannot continue like this. Tianjin Port has been greatly affected. If it is blocked by ice for a long time, it will seriously affect Tianjin Port and also affect the external exchanges and trade between Beijing and Tianjin."
Liu Jin looked at the thick ice and fell into deep thought.
Tianjin Port is the most important port in the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, Tianjin can also be said to be the economic center and industrial center of the Ming Dynasty, which is related to the global economy.
Tianjin Port has always been responsible for important responsibilities. Massive amounts of goods are transported to various parts of the world through Tianjin Port. The Beijing-Tianjin area is the most important industrial and economic center in the Ming Dynasty.
The importance of shipping is self-evident. Now affected by the cold weather, the Bohai Sea has frozen, which has seriously affected the operation of Tianjin Port and the entire Bohai region.
"Send electricity to the Tianjin Shipyard and let them study icebreakers and use icebreakers to ensure the normal operation and exchanges of ports in the Bohai Sea region."
After thinking about it, Liu Jin also gave instructions to the servants around him.
Although the ice in the Bohai Sea is relatively thick, it is nothing compared to the ice in the Arctic. As long as there are icebreakers, these ice layers can still be easily broken.
The development of icebreakers is not too difficult. The most critical point is actually power.
If it were a traditional sailboat or a manually rowed boat, it would definitely be very difficult to break the ice. However, Ming Dynasty's internal combustion engine technology has been developed for many years and has already been applied to ships.
As long as a high-horsepower engine is used and a special design is carried out, an icebreaker can be built.
With the icebreaker, a road can be easily opened in the sea, thereby ensuring the navigation of ships and the operation of Tianjin Port.
"yes!"
When the servants in the mansion heard this, they quickly went to convey Liu Jin's order.
"The thirty-eighth year of Hongzhi is coming soon."
"Time flies so fast!"
Looking at the frozen Bohai Sea in front of me, counting the time, it will soon be the thirty-eighth year of Hongzhi.
At this time in history, the Jiajing Dynasty had already begun, and it was truly the beginning of the troubled period of the Ming Dynasty, the most prominent of which was internal and external troubles.
Externally, the Tatars in the northern grasslands, the Jurchens in Liaodong, the Japanese pirates on the southeast coast, and the chieftains in the southwest are almost endless and endless.
Internally, land annexation was serious, conflicts between man and land were acute, and the power of the Little Ice Age gradually emerged, the climate began to change, and various disasters and famines often occurred.
But this is nothing. The biggest contradiction is that the Ming court began to be unable to collect taxes and the national treasury was empty. For this reason, Emperor Jiajing had to send people to various places in the south of the Yangtze River to supervise tax collection and raise money.
However, after all, it is a temporary solution rather than a permanent solution. Sometimes money can be obtained, sometimes money cannot be obtained. Most of the time, we are still faced with the embarrassing situation of being stretched thin, and nothing can be done without money.
The wealthy gentry class did not have to pay taxes at all, but the poor people who had no money had to bear more and more tax pressure. The contradictions became increasingly acute and problems gradually broke out.
Because of Liu Jin, a time traveler, the Ming Dynasty has undergone too many changes.
Emperor Hongzhi is living well, and Zhu Houzhao is also living well, and is still creating people. As for Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong, he has now taken over the position of King Xing in West Africa and became King Xing of Xingguo. He is currently working on
The matter of rejuvenating the country was very troublesome.
Because of Xingguo's invasion of Jindao, Xingguo was spurned and isolated. Now Xingguo's life is actually very sad, and nothing can develop.
"Master, there is news from the capital."
While Liu Yuan was thinking, a servant hurriedly came over with telegrams and letters.
"Hmm~"
Liu Jin finally read the telegrams and letters carefully.
It contains Emperor Hongzhi's reply to Liu Jin, as well as telegrams from Han Wen, Zhong Fan, Li Kun and others.
They all talked about the same thing, which was about the Little Ice Age mentioned by Liu Jin.
"It seems that everyone still doesn't know enough about the Little Ice Age."
"Maybe it's because the Little Ice Age hasn't really shown its power yet, so I feel like I can handle it easily."
Liu Jin read it quickly and understood the decision of Emperor Hongzhi and the ministers. Everyone felt that even if there was any disaster, the Ming Dynasty was fully capable of dealing with it.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty already had many granaries and now has convenient transportation, so there is no need to spend a lot of money to do this.
"If they knew that during the Chongzhen Dynasty in history, there was extreme drought for seven or eight years, with no harvest, and this was the case in almost all provinces in the north, would they still have such confidence?"
"What's more, in addition to drought, what's even more terrible is plague and plague."
"In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, plague and bubonic plague were rampant and rampant, and I don't know how many people died."
"Nowadays, a large number of people are concentrated in urban areas. If the control in this area is not appropriate, the measures are not strict, and there are no corresponding systems and mechanisms, big problems will occur by then."
"Is it just a matter of food?"
Liu Jin thought carefully.
What I am worried about is not only the problem of food, but also the problem of plague and plague.
The extreme cold and extreme drought in the coming year will not only affect the survival of people, but also the survival of rats.
At this time, rats will continue to gather in cities where humans live. Overly dense rat groups will inevitably cause plague and various plagues.
Once this happens, the situation will be very serious.
Famine is visible, but plague is invisible at all. The most terrifying thing is the invisible spread.
"Forget it, with the singing and dancing and the banquet at the sea and river, everyone naturally thinks that such a situation will not happen. Even if the weather is colder now, it doesn't seem to have any impact on the ministers in the DPRK."
"They should eat and drink. No matter what time, their little life will still be comfortable."
"Perhaps you will understand it only after experiencing several years of extreme weather and all the chaos it brings."
Liu Jin shook his head slightly and didn't care about this matter anymore.
If you are not in your position, you will not pursue your political affairs. If you are idle at home, you should be idle at home. You have fulfilled your responsibilities by submitting the memorial. As for other things, you should not worry about them anymore.
"That kid Liu Qing seems to be dating two girls at the same time. He is really a playboy."
Liu Jin soon thought about the children at home.
Liu Jin pays attention to his own children, especially his youngest son Liu Qing, who is in the capital and can be considered as being by his side, so he pays more attention to them.
People in this period were very particular about having three wives and four concubines. It was possible to be in love with several girlfriends at the same time. In future generations, one would be scolded to death.
But it seems to be a normal phenomenon in this era, and everyone seems to be able to accept it. As long as you are willing, it doesn't seem to be a big problem.
"Forget it, just let them young people do it."
Soon, Liu Jin also shook his head.
As long as your son likes it, it doesn't matter if you marry more. Anyway, everyone is the same. It is normal to have three wives and four concubines. Even ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, many have concubines.
It is a very common phenomenon to buy white slaves from Europe, or find people from Korea, Japan, or Siam as concubines. This is also an important reason why the population of Ming Dynasty is growing very fast.
The people of Ming Dynasty, who have the highest status in the world, not only swept wealth and resources from all over the world, but also swept a large number of women to Ming Dynasty.
From another aspect, women are also a resource, and they are the most important resource, because they are related to the important matter of reproduction and reproduction.
Looking at future generations, there are too many people who worship foreigners. I don’t know how many women have married outside. It can be said that this is also a huge loss. The more you marry, it means how many people in your side will be single, which means that there will be fewer people.
A large new population also means the loss of a large amount of wealth and labor.
Time passes slowly.
Soon, with the arrival of the New Year, Ming Dynasty officially entered the thirty-eighth year of Hongzhi.
The beginning of the thirty-eighth year of Hongzhi was extremely unfavorable.
Because the cold has been continuing, even at the beginning of spring, the weather still showed no sign of warming and was still extremely cold. It was already the time to start spring plowing and spring planting, but the cold weather brought great difficulties to spring plowing and spring planting.
problems and difficulties.
At the same time, the winter wheat grown in the northern region was also too cold. A large number of winter wheat was frozen to death and suffered frostbite. We originally hoped that the weather would warm up and recover in the spring, but who knew that the cold would continue.
