I

Zhao Han had a lot of things to do. He discussed the compilation of "Datong Law" with Chen Wenkui at noon, and summoned Cao Xuequan who had written several resignation letters in the afternoon.

Cao Xuequan is one of the originators of Fujian opera and the author of the saying "Every man who is righteous will slaughter a dog, but a man who is unfaithful will be a scholar." At the same time, he is also the director of Qintianyuan Planetarium and the nominal editor-in-chief of "Datong New Calendar".

This year in history, the Qing army invaded Fujian, and Cao Xuequan committed suicide and died for the Ming Dynasty.

"Why does Cao Qing want to become an official?" Zhao Han asked.

Cao Xuequan said: "Reporting to your Majesty, I am old and decayed. I am already seventy-two this year. Last winter, I occasionally caught wind and cold, which caused an old illness. I took medicine for three months and did not get better. I did not recover until spring. I am eager to return home. I want to Return to my hometown in Fujian to take care of myself."

Several resignation letters had been written, and Zhao Han really had no excuse to force him to stay, so he only asked: "If you return home, who can succeed you as the director of the planetarium? There is no need to recommend those from Europe."

Cao Xuequan said: "A doctor from the Planetarium once wrote a novel, and he should be the first choice for the director of the museum. I recommend him, not because he is a fellow Fujian native of the subject. His knowledge of astronomy is not the most profound in the museum. But if your Majesty wants a scholar in the planetarium, , in the future, if you seek innovation, change, and truth, then this person must be the one.”

"What deviant behavior did Zeng Yi write?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

Cao Xuequan replied: "Zeng Yi wrote "Fangshou Tang Ji", saying that "Poetry" curses people, husbands, fathers, country, heaven, queens, friends, brothers and nine tribes. This view may be biased. , but it can be seen that Zeng Yiyi, the person who wrote this, is by no means a conservative person. There are many scholars in the planetarium who are knowledgeable, but it is difficult to break out of the traditional stereotypes, or it may go against the original intention of Your Majesty in establishing the planetarium."

Zhao Han praised: "Cao Qing knows me!"

The reason why the "Book of Songs" is listed as the Five Classics is that it has been endowed with political attributes since the time of Confucius. It is clearly written about the love between a man and a woman, but it is interpreted as a minister admonishing the Emperor of Zhou. Similar interpretations are used throughout the entire "Book of Songs", especially the study of the "Book of Songs" from the Han Dynasty is the most outrageous.

Zeng Yizhu dared to say that the Book of Songs was a curse, and he was truly a deviant!

Just like the couplet Zeng Yi wrote for the Iron Buddha Hall of Kaiyuan Temple: Ancient Buddhas are all iron men, but ordinary people say they have golden bodies.

If this kind of person is in charge of the planetarium, he is indeed what Zhao Han needs.

After receiving Zhao Han's approval to resign, Cao Xuequan presented another astronomical observation report: "Your Majesty, the south has become increasingly cold in recent years. Local officials should be notified to prepare for frost and snow disasters at any time."

The observation report is written very plainly, without any convoluted terminology.

Especially in the observation records of several fixed water bodies such as the Yangtze River, Taihu Lake, Poyang Lake, and Dongting Lake, scholars have found that the area of ​​floating ice on the water surface has become larger and larger in the winter of recent years. The primitive mercury thermometer has also been invented, and the number of severe cold days has increased in the past two years.

Zhao Han carefully read the observation report, nodded and said: "Gentlemen of the astronomical officer, you will be rewarded for your hard work."

The demise of the Ming Dynasty does not mean the end of the Little Ice Age.

As far as the south is concerned, the real severe cold period has actually just begun. In other words, the extremely cold weather is spreading from the north to the south and will last until sixty years later.

This is the second year of the "Mound Minimum", a period in which sunspot activity nearly ceases for the next sixty years. Under normal circumstances, tens of thousands of sunspot activities can be observed in 25 years. This number dropped sharply to dozens of times during the "Mound Minimum".

Later studies of ancient ice cores showed that this situation began in the 14th year of Chongzhen, coinciding with the peak of the drought in the late Ming Dynasty.

There is no convincing scientific conclusion on how sunspot activity is related to Earth's weather.

But according to historical records and scientific research, southern China will usher in truly extremely cold weather in seven years. The Yangtze River, Hanshui River, Taihu Lake, Dongting Lake, and Poyang Lake were frozen for three or four consecutive winters during the coldest period, and it was even impossible to sail on the Yangtze River in winter!

The last time the Yangtze River was frozen was recorded in the 39th year of Kangxi, which was 54 years later. Zhao Han would have been 82 years old if he were still alive.

Cao Xuequan bowed and retreated, while Zhao Han fell into silence.

Without any scientific observation, people can experience it firsthand that the winter in Nanjing has been getting colder and colder in the past two years. Cold winter weather, along with floods and droughts, are moving southward, but the situation in the north is getting better.

After sitting there for a while, Zhao Hanfu laughed again. Kangxi could create a prosperous age, so could he be afraid of the power of God?

As long as we pay close attention to the administration of officials, frequent natural disasters can actually strengthen the execution ability of the imperial court!

In late March, Cao Xuequan, director of the Astronomy Museum, took office. Because he was the chief editor of "Datong New Calendar", he was specially given the title of Prince Shaobao to show the emperor's favor.

With Cao Xuequan's resignation and return to his hometown, this year's severe drought in Jiangnan has also begun.

In late April, three cabinet ministers, Pang Chunlai, Li Banghua, and Song Yingxing, brought various ministers to visit the emperor urgently.

Pang Chunlai said: "Your Majesty, there is a severe drought in Jianghuai and Jiangnan this year. In some prefectures and counties, there has been no rain since the beginning of spring. Although local officials have organized disaster relief and the water conservancy in Jianghuai and Jiangnan is very complete, it is still difficult to withstand the power of God. Please suspend the war in the north and consolidate the newly occupied areas. Do not go out to fight and wait until next year to deal with the Tatars. Please also reduce the amount of the immigration plan in the northern provinces by half this year. The Ministry of Household Affairs needs to allocate money and food for disaster relief."

"well!"

Zhao Han couldn't help but sigh: "Let the Tatars survive for another two years."

The Lianghuai region is better this year, but the drought in the Jiangnan region is simply worse than during the Chongzhen period.

Historically, June of this year was supposed to be the rainy season with continuous rain. However, the Qiantang River dried up due to drought, and Qing soldiers took the opportunity to cross the river and occupy Jinhua and Shaoxing. As for the Nanming army, without the Qiantang River for defense, King Lu could only flee to Zhoushan in a hurry.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Pang Chunlai originally planned to retire after regaining Liaodong and return to his hometown to spend his old age, but now he has been delayed due to a severe drought.

Zhao Han asked: "This year, droughts have been reported in various southern provinces. In addition to Jiangnan and Lianghuai, which other provinces are suffering from serious droughts?"

Song Yingxing replied: "The drought in the south of the Yangtze River is the most severe, followed by the disasters in the Jianghuai River, followed by Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Hubei, and Sichuan."

Zhao Han felt very confused after hearing this. The Dongting Lake plain is a granary. In the past few years, there was only one good harvest year, and the remaining years were dominated by severe droughts followed by minor droughts.

As for Jiangnan, more cotton and mulberry trees are planted, but the number of grain fields is very small. Drought will only cause a shortage of raw materials for the textile industry. As long as the relief efforts are effective, there won't be any major food problems.

After listening to the reports from various ministries, Zhao Han made a decision: "This year's immigration amount will be halved, focusing on consolidating the territory of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi-Gansu, and Liaoning. Order the army not to enter the Hetao, and just let Li Zicheng fight in the grasslands. The Datong Army in Hebei should not seize Zhangjiakou. The Liaodong Army should maintain the current occupied area, guard the Liao Great Wall in the east, and do not attack Sarhu again."

After finishing speaking, Zhao Han added: "The war in the southwest must not stop. There was no war in the southwest last year. Western Guangxi, southern Sichuan and Guizhou were consolidated. This year we must win Yunnan."

Li Banghua said: "Last year we did not go to attack Sha Dingzhou. This person became more and more powerful and expanded everywhere in Yunnan. On the contrary, it aroused the public indignation of the chieftains in Yunnan. This is a great time to send troops to Yunnan. The chieftains from all over Yunnan will not help Fight on Shading Island."

"Then send troops after the summer grain harvest!" Zhao Han said.

Although the Yunnan Puppet Emperor and Mu Tianbo had already surrendered to the Datong court. But only in name, they still have troops, and the troops are not allowed to enter the territory of the Datong court.

Sha Dingzhou, the chieftain of Yunnan, rebelled for nearly two years and was beaten so hard that Mu Tianbo fled everywhere. Mu Tianbo could only hide in Zhanyizhou (Xuanwei) and eat ham. If it weren't for the fear of provoking the nearby Datong Army, Sha Dingzhou would have probably killed Mu Tianbo.

Shadingzhou was unable to expand northward, so he fought towards the west of Yunnan. The chieftains along the way surrendered one after another.

Surrender is just the beginning. Although you can keep your power, you will have to pay tribute and taxes to Shadingzhou every year. In order to expand his army, Sha Dingzhou set the tribute and tax quotas higher and higher, which made the Yunnan chieftains miserable.

By the way, in March of this year, Sha Dingzhou's envoy arrived in Nanjing, submitted a petition for the second time to submit his request, and begged Emperor Zhao to appoint him as the ambassador of comfort to Yunnan.

In order to show his sincerity, Sha Dingzhou also donated 20 Yunnan horses and some Yunnan specialties. Thirty Yunnan girls were sent. I don’t know which state or county they were plundered from. They said they were for Emperor Zhao to serve as maids.

Zhao Han accepted the gift with a smile and then drove the envoy out of Nanjing.

When the delegation returns to Yunnan, Sha Dingzhou will definitely be furious. This humiliation is tantamount to a slap in the face. But the angrier the better, it is best to be so angry that they take the initiative to attack the Datong Army, so as to save the Datong Army from traveling over mountains and ridges to find its main force.

"Can we squeeze out food for disaster relief and still fight in Yunnan?" Zhao Han asked Fei Chun.

Fei Chun said bravely: "Yes!" He added, "Please cooperate with the Ministry of Commerce to prohibit grain merchants from hoarding and set official prices for grain in various places. If there are any violations, the grain merchant license will be revoked at the least, and the home will be confiscated and exiled to the wilderness. !”

Zhao Han nodded and said: "Yes! In the year of natural disaster, we should use strict methods."

In the evening, Zhao Han came to the queen's palace and lay down to rest physically and mentally exhausted.

Fei Rulan sent the palace maid away, massaged Zhao Han's shoulders in person, and asked, "Is there any difficulty in the court today?"

Zhao Han enjoyed the massage with his eyes closed and said: "God is not kind to us. This year there will be another spring drought in several provinces, so the food harvest will definitely be severely damaged. I heard from local officials that the water in the Qiantang River is almost bottoming out, and the drought is worse than during the Chongzhen period." "

"Husband, don't worry. As long as the monarch and his ministers implement benevolent policies, everything will go smoothly one day." Fei Rulan consoled her.

Zhao Han said helplessly: "I don't ask for good weather, only minor disasters. This God, big disasters happen all the time, who the hell can bear it? Fortunately, there was no severe drought last year, otherwise the war in the north would not be possible."

By the way, South Vietnam and North Vietnam have been at war again in the past two years. There is not enough food in Vietnam. It is equally difficult for the court to buy food in Vietnam.

What kind of civil war is this? Isn’t it good to grow and sell grain to China with peace of mind?