It was supposed to be a sunny and breezy May, but it was supposed to be a scorching summer with unbearable heat.
However, an extremely strange scene appeared in the land of Jiangnan. Accompanied by the howling cold wind all night, everyone was extremely shocked to find that frost had fallen in the summer the next day.
"June blizzard~June blizzard!"
"God is going to eat people!"
The old people shouted in horror.
Then when everyone came to the field, they couldn't help crying again, because the rice that had been planted for more than a month had all frozen to death overnight.
"Oh my God!"
"All dead, all dead!"
"How can we people live like this?"
Some old farmers screamed in pain. For these old farmers who have experienced hard times, if the rice is frozen to death, it often means that this year's harvest will basically be lost.
Fortunately, we have to go back to cultivating seedlings and sowing seeds now, and we can plant them again. However, we could only get two crops a year, but now we can only get one crop a year. This year's harvest will be halved.
At the same time, in a field in the north, the ground was dry and cracked. The newly planted rice grew extremely slowly because there was no water, and even started to show signs of withering and yellowing. If it doesn't rain again, it may
There will be no harvest this year.
Thirty-eight years after the beginning of Hongzhi, almost no rain fell in the entire northern region until May. In the past, this was supposed to be the season of abundant rain and heat, and it was a critical time for wheat growth, when wheat entered the most important stage of grain filling.
mature stage.
However, in winter, the temperature was so low that the winter wheat froze to death. The frozen wheat had to be shoveled out and replanted.
However, after replanting wheat, frost and ice occurred this summer, which was really strange. What was even more worrying was that it was not until May, almost half a year, that there was not a drop of rain.
The northern region of the Ming Dynasty fell into an extreme drought.
The fields were cracked, and some small rivers and creeks had dried up. Even the water level of the Yellow River had dropped to an extremely low level, and there was a temporary cessation of flow in some sections of the river.
Among them, Henan is the most severely drought-ridden area. The ground is almost bare and the grass and trees are withered and yellow, just like autumn. It is really too dry.
And there was never any sign of rain.
People are praying to God to hurry up and get some rain, otherwise this year's harvest may really be a failure. The winter wheat will be frozen to death, and the newly planted wheat may dry out again, and the harvest will basically be a failure this year.
Memorials about severe droughts in various places flew to the capital like snowflakes.
In the study room of Qianqing Palace in the imperial palace in Beijing, Emperor Hongzhi summoned many ministers to discuss the matter.
"Your Majesty, the five provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beizhili, Henan, and Shandong are almost half a year old this year. So far, not a drop of rain has fallen, and they have encountered an unprecedented extreme drought climate."
“The four provinces of Liaodong, Black Tu, Hezhong, and Central Asia have received only about one-third of the rainfall this year in previous years. A large number of fields are facing drought, withered grass and trees, making it difficult to sustain pastures, and there are often significant coolings, seriously affecting agriculture.
Planting.”
"South Zhili, Huguang, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other provinces encountered an extremely rare phenomenon. A sudden frost fell in May in the summer. The rice crops were frozen to death and numerous people suffered frostbite. It is expected that the grain output of these provinces will decline this year.
A significant reduction.”
The Korean hand delivered a memorial.
No one expected that after entering the 38th year of Hongzhi, things would be as bad as ever, with drought and drought, and frost this summer. Not only did the rice crops get frostbite, but rumors also spread among the people.
Some people say that it offended the Dragon King, so the Dragon King never refused to rain. Others said that it was because of a huge injustice, so the snow in June was even more unfair than Dou E. God used this way to warn
, punish the world.
In short, when a disaster occurs, it will inevitably be accompanied by various rumors and rumors. In the feudal and ignorant era, people were always willing to believe in things like gods.
Listening to the report in Korean, Emperor Hongzhi frowned tightly.
The situation is really very bad. Almost all places in the Ming Dynasty have encountered unprecedented extreme drought weather. Except for the areas south of the Yangtze River, the situation is relatively better.
The vast area north of the Yangtze River is currently experiencing a drought that has been rare in decades, and it is also a large-scale drought.
Not only are several local provinces suffering from drought, but also Liaodong, Hezhong, Black Earth Province, Central Asia, Grassland and other provinces are also experiencing severe drought.
"My dear friends, let's talk about it."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at everyone and said.
"Your Majesty, I think we should hold a ceremony to worship heaven, apologize to God, and implore it to rain as soon as possible!"
A minister stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, I also think that we should carry out sacrifices to the heaven and pray for rain as soon as possible!"
"I also support it!"
Some ministers have expressed their views one after another. In ancient times, this phenomenon was very common.
When encountering extreme droughts, floods, locust plagues, etc., the imperial court would often hold large-scale sacrificial activities to atone from God and ask for forgiveness for everyone's sins, ignorance, etc.
Although it turns out that this kind of sacrifice is of no use, it is still important to be able to pray and calm people's hearts, because in ancient times everyone believed this, and sometimes people's hearts are more important than anything else.
"Well, let's leave this matter to the Minister of Civil Affairs. It will be an auspicious day and auspicious time for worshiping heaven!"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded and decreed that worshiping heaven and ancestors were extremely important matters. The imperial court would send special personnel to do this every year. Sometimes even the emperor would personally go to worship heaven and ancestors.
"Your Majesty, I believe that this year's land tax should be reduced or exempted, and at the same time, the world should be granted amnesty to show your Majesty's kindness, to benefit all people, and to reduce the impact of disasters."
Yang Tinghe stood up and remonstrated.
"Well, the land tax is exempted this year."
"In addition, there is a general amnesty for the whole world. Except for the heinous people, all will be forgiven!"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded, thought about it and issued an order.
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
When the ministers heard this, they all flattered him.
In fact, reducing or exempting land taxes is a routine operation. The Ming Dynasty's treasury is now full, and there is no shortage of the grain collected. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's granaries have already piled up mountains of grain, and they can't finish it.
Not collecting land taxes this year will have no impact at all. In the past, Emperor Hongzhi often reduced or exempted land taxes in some places.
This year there is a drought in Henan and the land tax is exempted. Next year there is a flood in the south and the land tax in the south is exempted. Anyway, there are areas that have the land tax exempted every year.
Nowadays, the proportion of land tax in the revenue of the Ming Dynasty treasury is very low, very low. The main tax revenue of the Ming dynasty treasury comes from commercial tax. This is the real big part, and there will be no reduction or exemption easily.
"Your Majesty, I believe that according to the population of each province, food should be mobilized and distributed from various places. Once a famine occurs, the imperial court can distribute food for disaster relief."
Zhong Fan thought about it and put forward his own suggestion.
"Well, that's right, the Ministry of Revenue will take care of this matter!"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded in approval.
"yes!"
Upon hearing this, Li Kun, the Minister of Household Affairs, also quickly replied respectfully.
.....
"Sell newspapers~ sell newspapers!"
"Severe drought has occurred in many areas in the north, and not a drop of rain has fallen in nearly half a year!"
"Sell newspapers~ sell newspapers!"
"Chaotian will conduct large-scale sacrificial activities at the Temple of Heaven to pray to heaven for rain!"
"The Emperor exempted many provinces in the north from paying land taxes this year, and at the same time granted amnesty to the whole country. Except for the heinous people, all will be pardoned!"
"Our reporter exclusively interviewed Li Kun, the Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. Li Shangshu said that the Chaotian treasury was full and the grain reserves were sufficient. Even if there was no farming for ten years, the Ming Dynasty would still have enough grain."
"So please don't panic or rush to buy food. The imperial court has mobilized food from granaries in various places to various provinces, which is enough to meet the food needs of various places."
"At the same time, Li Shangshu also warned unscrupulous traders not to enrich the country. It is strictly forbidden to increase the price of food and all life-related materials. If found, they will be severely punished!"
Soon, the Ming Dynasty Morning Post began to report the drought in detail.
In an instant, the news quickly spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, and even spread to all parts of the world.
Only then did everyone suddenly discover that it was not just their own place that was suffering from drought, but other parts of the Ming Dynasty and even the world were facing an extremely dry weather at this moment.
Even North Korea and Japan have encountered unprecedented drought weather, and it has not rained for more than half a year. Even Japan and North Korea are very close to the ocean, but this year's situation is abnormal and unusual.
extreme.
In the past, we have had rain and heat at the same time, which is very suitable for the growth of rice. We can prepare for the first season of rice harvest in a while.
However, at this time, Korea and Japan were also affected by the Little Ice Age and encountered an unprecedented drought climate. A large number of farmers turned yellow and rice fields dried up.
For this reason, King Yeonsang of Korea and the Japanese king and shogunate of Japan had to quickly write memorials to the emperor of Ming Dynasty, asking Ming Dynasty to support them with food.
Korea and Japan are different from the Ming Dynasty. They have many mountains and little arable land, and they are not able to carry out large-scale mechanized farming. Therefore, their food production is limited. Once they encounter a dry climate, it is easy to cause famine.
Fortunately, the Daming family next door has a lot of grain production, a lot of production areas, and a very large output. They are still their suzerain country, so they can't just ignore it.
So naturally they chose to hug the Ming Empire tightly, hoping that the Ming Dynasty could support them with some food.
The drought continued, but in the following months, there was still no rain, and the invisible plague began to spread.
