The five hundred and seventieth eighth day dream sign (1) [Happy National Day]
Spring has come to an end unconsciously.
The weather in Chang'an is starting to get hotter.
Several counties in Guanzhong even experienced drought.
The Neishi Yamen urgently mobilized hundreds of thousands of grains to provide disaster relief.
However, Liu Che knew that this disaster was just an appetizer.
A larger-scale natural disaster is already imminent!
"At the beginning of next month, that unprecedented typhoon is about to strike..." Liu Che held his cheek and pondered.
Liu Che remembered very clearly that in his previous life, in early April of this year, a typhoon unprecedented in the history of the Han Dynasty would land in Zhejiang and sweep across like a tornado, destroying cities and villages and moving mountains and seas.
Even the sturdy capital of Jiangdu and Guangling City collapsed in the face of this huge natural disaster! (Note 1)
In Han Dynasty alone, this typhoon turned eleven counties into ruins, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, died, and thousands of people were missing.
After the disaster, epidemics broke out and tens of thousands of people died.
This is only the loss within the territory ruled by the Han Dynasty.
Another hardest-hit area was Donghai (Dongou), a vassal state of the Han Dynasty. In the face of this natural disaster, the entire country's political power and rule suffered a fatal blow.
Three years ago, when the Wu-Chu Rebellion broke out, Liu Bi once coerced the armies of Dongou, Minyue, and South Vietnam.
At that time, Dongou Kingdom alone sent more than 4,000 servants voluntarily or forced to follow Liu Bi northward.
However, twenty years later, in the sixth year of Jianyuan, when the whole country of Dongou was annexed and all the people moved to Lujiang County for resettlement, the official statistics of the Han Dynasty revealed that there were only more than 40,000 people in the country of Dongou... (
Historical Records. Biographies of Dongyue, data contained in them)
From an army of 4,000 to a total population of more than 40,000.
Dongou Kingdom is very likely to suffer unimaginable losses in this disaster.
This is also conceivable.
Even the sturdy walls of Guangling City collapsed in this typhoon.
It is self-evident how hard Dongou, which is located at the landing site of the typhoon, must bear.
Moreover, it is different from the Han Dynasty.
The medical level and epidemic prevention level of Dongou country are approximately equal to none.
This means that when an epidemic breaks out after a disaster, Dongou people who believe deeply in witch doctors and witchcraft will be directly exposed to the germs.
If there were no outside forces to intervene, the people of Dongou would probably have to wait until all the patients died in order to prevent the epidemic from spreading.
In the world before the Christian era, it was easy for a natural disaster and a disease to directly exterminate a race.
The Black Death in medieval Europe is a good example.
Liu Che even had no doubt that in some cities and villages where Dongou people gathered, even if all the people in the city died, the outside world did not realize that this was extremely possible.
Now, the countdown has come until that unprecedented storm makes landfall.
Do you want a warning?
Should we immediately issue an edict as the emperor and urgently evacuate the residents of Jiangdu?
The answer is of course yes.
Liu Che had already started preparing for this a month ago.
He sent an envoy to Shu County to inspect the entire Shu County in the name of supervising the warehouse reserves.
A large amount of grain has been mobilized immediately. It is even placed on the dock of Shu County, waiting for loading. Of course, it is nominally transferred to Guanzhong, but in fact, with an order, these ships can go down the river.
Arrive directly at Guangling.
In Luoyang, Liu Che also instructed Zhidu to issue official documents to encourage and mobilize wealthy families to participate in "charity".
For this reason, Liu Che even authorized Zhidu to exempt charities from taxes and even grant tax refunds.
Even last year, Liu Che was already preparing for today's disaster.
The ‘emphasis on the people’ faction, which was born out of the Simeng school of thought, was a pawn laid by Liu Che.
The original intention was to encourage and mobilize wealthy businessmen to make donations when a disaster strikes, or even carry out moral kidnapping.
I just didn't expect that under the influence of Zhidu's oppression and various other reasons, this democratic sect could actually become a prominent scholar in Henan County.
But all preparations are just post-disaster plans.
Want to minimize losses.
Liu Che is still needed to return to his old profession.
"Hey..." After stretching and adjusting his emotions, Liu Che also sighed in his heart: "This is the only way!"
After becoming the emperor, Liu Che was determined not to do such things as pretending to be gods and ghosts.
The rulers pretend to be gods.
It will inevitably cause the rise of feudal superstitious thoughts and concepts in society.
Let’s look at the raging influence of prophecy thought in history after the Western Han Dynasty.
The trend of prophecy has even profoundly affected the entire classical era of China, and finally gave birth to the ultimate weapon like Tuibeitu.
However, in such an era, pretending to be a ghost is an essential skill for a ruler.
But then again, the human species, even in an era of prosperous science, still has a yearning for mysticism and reliance on religion. Even great powers like Einstein and Newton will eventually be attributed to religion.
Even the great commander of the United States had to say: God bless Amiriga when delivering his speech.
What's more, the emperor of China is a political and religious being.
Therefore, Liu Che did not have any psychological pressure.
"Come here!" Liu Che clapped his hands and pretended to have just woken up.
Several attendants who were guarding outside the curtain immediately came in and said, "I'm waiting here. What orders does your Majesty have?"
"Immediately summon the prime minister, the imperial censor, the nine ministers, and the princes to enter the palace!" Liu Che said with a serious expression: "In addition, Taishi Ling Sima Tan was also invited, as well as the people in Chang'an who are good at interpreting dreams.
Find it for me too!"
Upon hearing the emperor's words, the attendants immediately reacted.
One person asked weakly: "Did your Majesty have a dream?"
Meng omen, this thing, can be said to have an important position in the political history of ancient China.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which is well-known to everyone in later generations, there are many scenes similar to the story of the queen dreaming of a landslide, and then the general was killed.
In fact, in the classical Chinese era, dream omens were quite popular.
The story of King Wen dreaming of a flying bear and getting Jiang Taigong, at this time, is not a feudal superstition, but a real symbol of destiny and political correctness of the king's divine power.
Chinese people in the classical era believed that the emperor was entrusted with the task of heaven. Ghosts and gods in heaven and earth would tell the emperor anything they wanted to say to him through dreams or even celestial phenomena.
Whenever the emperor dreamed of something strange, he would invite courtiers and experts (usually professional dream interpreters or even Taishi Ling who was in charge of monitoring astronomical phenomena) to discuss and discuss the meaning of the dream.
And things like this were extremely serious and important political events in ancient China.
A typical example is that Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty dreamed of a golden man at night, so Buddhism was introduced to China and White Horse Temple was built.
Without this opportunity, how could our majestic dynasty allow the introduction of the Yi and Di religions?
The rulers would immediately suppress this ignorant foreign teacher who dared to pollute the spiritual world of Chinese nobles.
Therefore, Liu Che nodded and said: "That's it. Go and deliver the order quickly. This matter is extremely important. All courtiers must be notified. In addition, from the East Palace, the Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother are also invited to discuss it together.
stop!"
"No!" At this moment, the attendants immediately cheered up and their expressions became extremely serious.
The emperor's dream is never allowed to be careless.
You know, this is a top priority that concerns the foundation of the country, the stability of the country, and the peace of the world!
……………………………………………………
An hour later, courtiers of all sizes were urgently summoned from their respective official residences, homes and even Shanglin Garden.
The three princes and nine ministers, including the prime minister, the censor, the general, and the important princes in Beijing arrived at Weiyang Palace one after another.
Everyone's face was heavy and their expressions were solemn.
Historically, there have been similar incidents where the emperor had a dream and solemnly summoned his ministers. The seriousness of such a matter has directly risen to the key to the survival of the country and the continuation of the country.
What's more, three years ago, when he was still the crown prince, Jinshang accurately predicted the rebellion of Wu and Chu, the coming of a comet, and the thunder striking the main hall of Luoyang East Palace.
No one dared to despise, let alone ignore, another dream of the emperor after three years.
"I wonder, Your Majesty, what did you dream about this time?" Prime Minister Zhou Yafu said worriedly to the servant Yuan An who was following him: "I hope it's not bad news!"
Three years ago, Jin Shang accurately foresaw the coming of a comet and the lightning strike in the Luoyang East Palace. Subsequently, Wu and Chu rebelled, and the war lasted for three months, affecting one-third of the Han Dynasty's territory.
Three years later, a similar dream struck again.
What will the emperor dream about this time?
Even Yuan An, who has always adhered to the concept of "respecting ghosts and gods and keeping away from them", had a serious expression and sighed worriedly: "I'm afraid, dreams are not good dreams!"
Very simple logic, if it is a good thing, why do we need to summon all the ministers to be so solemn?
Only when there is a bad omen, it is necessary to summon the ministers to discuss seriously and deploy countermeasures.
On the other side, Chao Cuo, the imperial censor, climbed the steps of Xuanshi Hall step by step.
Behind him, several young Legalist officials followed closely.
Tingwei Zhao Yu was holding a ribbon and walking alongside him.
In the current political arena of the Han Dynasty, Legalism is ushering in its most prosperous era since the Qin Dynasty.
From the law enforcers (Tingwei) to the supervisors (Yushi Dafu), everything is controlled by the Legalists.
In addition to having no legislative power, Legalists have already taken the power of interpreting and executing the law, as well as the right to maintain the law, all in their own hands.
Many current ideas and policies, such as the Yantie Guanying, suppressing local powerful people and cleaning up local officialdom, have added fuel to the rise of Legalism.
Today's Legalism can be said to be a raging fire cooking oil, reaching its peak.
Under such a situation, Chao Cuo, as the leader of Legalism, already had huge power matching his official position.
"This dream of the Emperor may be an opportunity for us, the Legalists, to make further progress!" Chao Cuo said to Zhao Yu in a low voice.
Legalist politicians have always viewed crises as opportunities for reform.
Starting from Zichan, Legalists have been accumulating their own strength through crisis after crisis and promoting changes one after another.
Therefore, walking the tightrope is actually the daily life of Legalists.
If the wire is stretched too much, it will inevitably break.
Chao Cuo also knew how many enemies he had both internally and externally.
Once the steel wire under his feet breaks one day, he will immediately be shattered into pieces.
But he is not afraid.
Since Lord Shang, disciples of Legalism are not afraid of death.
They are only afraid that after they die, there will be no successors and the revolution will be interrupted.
Therefore, Chao Cuo started preparing to cultivate a successor very early.
Zhao Yu was chosen by Chao Cuo to be the banner bearer of the Legalist family after him. In recent years, Chao Cuo has almost treated Zhao Yu as his own son and taught him almost everything he knew.
.
Of course Zhao Yu also saw what Chao Cuo meant.
He was grateful and worried.
Because Zhao Yu knew very well that Chao Cuo had never given up the idea of reducing the feudal vassal.
Even if the emperor does not support it, the imperial censor is still working under pressure to reduce the vassal status.
Moreover, it constantly touched the painful feet of the princes and kings.
Last year, Chao Cuo promoted the policy of abolishing the policy of appointing officials with more than two thousand shi in the country by princes and kings, and achieved success.
This year, he began to work towards taking back the minting and mining rights of the princes and kings.
This time, Chao Cuo encountered strong resistance.
The princes and kings can do without the power of appointing and removing officials with two thousand stones, because they know that after Wu Chu's defeat, Chang'an will not allow them to continue to control the military and political power of the country.
However, taking back their rights to mint coins and mines would cost the lives of those Liu clan members.
Not only the princes and kings reacted fiercely, but also the princes and classes strongly opposed it.
Minting coins and mining are also important sources of income for the princes.
Zhao Yu was really worried that Chao Cuo would fall under opposition and siege from all sides.
I also tried to persuade him tactfully a few times.
But Chao Cuo had already made up his mind.
He even used Qu Yuan's answer: "If you live and die for the benefit of the country, how can you avoid it because of misfortunes and blessings?"
This made Zhao Yu a little confused what to say.
But as a disciple of Legalism, Zhao Yu understood why Chao Cuo was so determined.
As Legalists, there are only four words engraved in their bones: "rich the country and strengthen the army".
In order to achieve this goal, they will do whatever it takes, even their own lives.
Zhao Yu knew that one day, when he found his own path of "riching the country and strengthening the army", he would be like Chao Cuo and carry it out resolutely, thoroughly and without hesitation until the end of his life.
This is the mission and destiny of all Legalist disciples.
"What Mr. Chao said is very true..." Thinking about these things, Zhao Yu nodded and said: "We, the Legalists, have always been in times of national crisis, when the country is overturned, to turn the tide and support the building.
The one who will fall!"
From the day Legalism was born, they have stood up to solve various problems faced by the country, enriched the country and strengthened its military, and existed to promote social change.
At this time, the door of Xuanshi Palace slowly opened.
Wang Dao, the eunuch who was a close servant of the emperor, stood at the door of the palace and said to the ministers: "My lords, please wait here. Your Majesty is summoning Tai Shi Ling and several well-known alchemists from Chang'an..."
When everyone heard this, their faces became even more serious.
What kind of dream caused His Majesty to summon Tai Shi Ling, who was in charge of monitoring the astronomical phenomena, and several well-known alchemists from Chang'an alone first?
I am afraid that the seriousness of what Your Majesty dreamed about has exceeded expectations.
Countless people began to feel anxious, fearful and uneasy. (To be continued)
