Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 38: The use of national destiny, man-made disasters and new peace!
Ok Hee Palace.

Zhu Houcong fiddled with his rosary beads, sat on the cushion, closed his eyes and called up the system panel.

【Holy Emperor System】

[People’s sentiment: 505150]

【National Fortune Point: 10330】

[Title of God: Feiyuan Zhenjun, Zhongxiao Emperor, Wanshou Emperor]

[Magic Power: Thirty-six Heavenly Gang Techniques]

These days.

Killing corrupt officials and raising prison issues did not reduce public sentiment, and the rate of increase went from fifty to fifty-one. But tonight, it suddenly dropped back to fifty.

Obviously, a major change occurred somewhere in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Drought, famine, floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters flashed through Zhu Houcong's mind, but he denied them.

The Ming Dynasty had a vast territory, and the astronomical phenomena and geography of each place were different. In the first month of this year, there was an earthquake in Xishan, and this month, there was another earthquake in Jinan Prefecture, Shandong.

The earthquake happened in early spring, and the weather was freezing. To prevent the victims from freezing to death, Zhu Houcong, upon receiving the news, immediately spent 20,000 points of national luck to perform the magical power of reversing yin and yang in Xishan and Shandong, changing the weather and temperature.

Then, disaster relief officials were quickly dispatched to mobilize granaries in nearby provinces to provide relief to the victims.

In the 40th year of Jiajing's reign, in the first month of the year, a dragon turned over in the West Mountain. The sky was extremely strange, it became like spring in summer, and few people died.

In the 40th year of the Jiajing reign, in February, in Shandong, a dragon turned over, the weather was very strange, spring was like summer, and few people died.

Countless people in Xishan and Shandong praised the grace of Heaven and the Emperor, and this was recorded in the national history.

The earthquake was a natural disaster. According to Zhu Houcong's observation, it did not affect the people's morale. Moreover, after the disaster situation was greatly alleviated and the victims were resettled as much as possible, the people's morale even improved a little.

Zhu Houcong speculated that natural disasters would not affect people's hearts, but perhaps, improper handling would.

So, the loss of public support this time may very well be caused by man-made disasters!
The thirty-six magical powers of Tiangang are good in every way except that they consume a huge amount of national fortune points. This is why Zhu Houcong's national fortune points have never increased significantly. Normally, he would not dare to abuse his magical powers.

What we fear is nothing more than the sudden drop in public opinion today. The public opinion of fifty is on the warning line. If it drops again, the three great trumpets will be extinguished.

Changsheng, Yuanyang and Wulei are the reasons why Zhu Houcong is not afraid of being strangled by palace maids.

The black hair turned gray, probably a hint that public opinion was about to drop below fifty. Zhu Houcong was really panicked at that moment.

After returning to Yuxi Palace, Zhu Houcong gradually regained his composure and ordered Lu Fang to investigate what disaster had occurred near the capital.

but.

The Ming Dynasty was so huge that even if there was a disaster, it might not be near the capital, so it was difficult to know about it in time.

Until late at night.

Lu Fang came back and picked up a rosary from the altar next to him, fiddling with it as he walked.

Zhu Houcong stared at him and asked, "What's going on? Where has the disaster struck again?"

"Your Majesty, there is some drought in the north, but it cannot be called a disaster." Lu Fang glanced at the emperor and found that he had more white hair.

The emperor, who was once as young as a teenager, now looks more like a man with premature gray hair.

"Really?" Zhu Houcong asked urgently.

Lu Fang thought about it seriously and shook his head: "Your Majesty, no!"

Zhu Houcong calmed down, but then he became a little angry and almost shouted, "That's because you didn't find out!"

"Ask Lu Bing to check!" "Ask the Royal Guards to check!"

"I want to know all the unusual things happening in the two capitals and thirteen provinces!"

"Yes!" Lu Fang picked up a gauze lantern from the table and ran quickly towards the North Pacification Office outside the palace.

……

The governor's office of the Ming Dynasty had a large area of ​​four acres outside the gate, which implicitly reflected the meaning of "the imperial court governs the four directions."

Usually, there is a three-meter-long flagpole with a flagpole standing in the middle of the square, facing the gate and the two huge stone lions on both sides of the stone steps, and its spaciousness shows its majesty.

Now, in Daping, including the stone-paved official road leading to the gate, are crowded with kneeling people from the nine counties of Xin'anjiang. They all kneel quietly, and only the southeast wind makes the flag on the pole flutter.

There were two eight-shaped walls on both sides of the stone lions at the gate, and in front of each wall stood a row of personal soldiers with swords.

In the distance, the personal guards escorted Hu Zongxian's sedan chair.

Across the street was the government building, which was crowded with people. Neither horses nor sedan chairs could enter the building, so they stopped there.

Hu Zongxian, Governor-General of Zhejiang and Governor of Zhejiang, walked out of the sedan chair and saw the people kneeling on the ground in the white rain. His body seemed to be hit by something and he shuddered suddenly. Raindrops dripped from his iron-blue face, and there was no expression on his face.

Only those eyes were trembling, and tears were slowly overflowing from them.

Ma Ningyuan, the prefect of Hangzhou, came over quickly and pointed at the people in front of the gate: "Sir, they are rebelling! They are all rebelling! These are all rebelling against the people..."

Hu Zongxian interrupted him and said, "Let me ask you, why are the people kneeling?"

"Reporting to the Governor, the people want to build a dike on the Xin'an River, and also open the sluice gates of nine weirs to release water." Ma Ningyuan was stunned and answered respectfully.

Hu Zongxian's body shook violently, his face pale, "When did the Xin'an River sluice gate close to store water?"

Take Chun'an County as an example.

Located in the mountainous area of ​​western Zhejiang, it is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The Qianligang Mountains pass through Chun'an County, like a giant dragon flying low in the sky, puffing up clouds and mist, and below it are layers of hills like fish scales, stretching and undulating.

The Xin'an River winds its way out from the depths of the mountains and, after reaching Chun'an County, it turns into dozens of streams. From a bird's eye view, it looks like a ribbon wrapped around the undulating hills, which is a spectacular sight.

With mountains and rivers, it should be a land of fish and rice, and the people should live a rich life. However, Chun'an is just like a small basin. Whenever there is a peach blossom flood or a Dragon Boat Festival flood, it will cause disasters, making the people who depend on the weather for their livelihood miserable.

It is now the peach blossom season. Even if nothing is done, it may be a disaster for the people of Chun'an County, and survival will be extremely difficult.

It is difficult to drain all the water in Chun'an even if the sluice gates release water day and night. Hu Zongxian could even imagine the current situation in Chun'an if the sluice gates were closed for a long time to store water.

This is not the most terrifying thing. All those who are good at water control say that it is better to drain water than to block it. If the water is blocked for a long time, the nine counties of Xin'an River will surely turn into a swamp.

Ma Ningyuan hesitated and said, "To answer your question, sir, three days ago, the river administration issued an order to close the weirs, saying that the Chaotian Temple issued an order that Zhejiang would suffer a severe drought in the summer, and ordered all places to store water in advance to avoid a crop failure and the people dying of starvation."

"The people will die because they have nothing to eat?" Hu Zongxian was furious. "If the weir is closed like this, the people of Zhejiang will die immediately!"

“What about river supervision?”

"Report to the Minister, I have gone to the Governor's Office, the Provincial Surveillance Office and the Textile Bureau to report the rebellion!"

"You're still rebelling? In this place of seven rivers, two mountains and one piece of land, when the people of Zhejiang are flooded, that's when there will be real rebellion! By then, there will be Japanese pirates outside and rebellion inside. My head, Hu Zongxian, and your crimes should all be in the capital!"

Hu Zongxian shouted, tears streaming down his face, "Fellow villagers, get up, go back, and repair the dike! Open the weir!"

The people shouted loudly and stood up one after another.

Hu Zongxian turned back and ordered the captain of his personal guards: "Go to Chun'an!"

(End of this chapter)