Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 398: Unprecedented Changes in a Thousand Years
"I never thought that the palace on Ganquan Mountain would be so magnificent. This shows that during the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, the Han Dynasty was vast, had a great territorial expansion, and was prosperous with a strong nine-day festival. It had a unique customs and its prestige spread all over the world."

Guo Jia looked at the gradually renovated Yunyang Palace. A Barbarian Residence was also specially built in this palace city to accommodate foreign tribes such as the Western Rong, Northern Di, Eastern Yi, and Southern Barbarians who came from afar to pay homage and meet the Han emperor.

Hearing Feng Xiao's sigh, Liu Bei turned around, pointed at the abandoned fields, and said with a smile: "At that time, the Han Dynasty had the right time, the right place, and the right people. Now it is still early. I and you all just need to lead the people from north to south, reclaim the fields, and focus on farming. In just ten years or so, we can heal the wounds of the world."

"The world prospers because the people and the imperial court have enough grain. Agriculture is the foundation of the world and the people of the world rely on it for survival."

"In the past ten years, while I was preparing to work in the fields, I often discussed with my father-in-law and farm officials about the late spring cold weather. It is more frequent now than during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling."

"If it's not an earthquake, then there will be drought, flood, or snowstorm. Once it occurs, it will affect all states and counties. After the disaster, there will also be famine and plague."

“What scares people the most is not floods or droughts, but the gradually colder and wetter weather, which results in too long ice and snow in spring and too early frost and snow in autumn.

I still remember that at the end of the first year of Chuping, the river froze, and in August and September there was heavy snow, forcing Bei to withdraw his troops from Jinan County and return to the plains. Fortunately, the weather warmed up again for several years afterwards.

Liu Bei paused slightly here and saw that not only Guo Jia and Fa Zheng, but also Sima Yi who had returned to the official team, as well as many well-dressed aristocratic families, clan leaders and crowded clerks in Guanzhong, were all respectfully listening to his words with their heads bowed, and no one showed impatience.

Liu Bei found it somewhat amusing, wondering if the nobles and aristocrats were just pretending or if they were planning to follow his example and please him in the future, so he listened with great interest.

Seeing that there were some young men from noble families in the crowd, they took out pens and papers and kept writing something down. After a few curious glances, Liu Bei paced back and forth and said, "I saw that the weather was so unpredictable, so I asked Master Lu, Master Zheng, and Cai Zhaoji, who had a large collection of books at home, to spend a long time looking through historical books. I learned that natural disasters had been common since the time of King Wen of Zhou until the time of King Ping of Zhou."

"Since King Ping, the rice harvest has increased dramatically, and the princes enfeoffed by the Zhou Dynasty have risen in response to the situation, and the various countries have begun to frequently attack each other."

"Hundreds of years later, Xunzi sighed and said: The way of heaven is constant, it does not exist with Yao, nor does it perish with Zhou."

"Wise men have learned from the past that natural disasters continued throughout the hundred years of Emperor Guangwu's restoration. This is the course of heaven and cannot be stopped by dismissing the three ministers."

"It has been nearly a thousand years since King Ping of Zhou, and the sudden change in the weather is unprecedented in a thousand years."

"You will be doing the same heavy work of promoting agriculture for the world in the future as Dayu did in controlling floods!"

When Liu Bei said this, he was suddenly filled with emotion.

Ever since Dong Zhongshu proposed the idea of ​​the connection between heaven and man to Emperor Xiaowu, Confucianism has believed that heaven can intervene in human affairs and man can also sense heaven. Once a disaster occurs in the world, it means that the Han emperor has violated the will of heaven, so heaven sends down the disaster as a warning.

If the emperor governs with wisdom and saves the world and brings peace to the people, auspicious signs will be sent down from heaven to encourage him.

But Dong Zhongshu was also afraid that Emperor Xiaowu would not respond to him, so he immediately thought of another way and put the blame on the prime minister.

If disasters occur frequently, it is not necessarily the emperor's fault. It is very likely that the prime minister who assists the emperor in governing the world is guilty. The solution is to dismiss the prime minister, and there is no room for explanation.

No matter how virtuous a person is, if he looks carefully for immoral behavior, he will definitely find it.

From then on, when there was a disaster, the prime minister would be dismissed. When Emperor Guangwu established the Three Dukes, when there was a disaster, the court would unanimously request the dismissal of the Three Dukes to stop the disaster.

The idea of ​​heaven and man communicating with each other was nothing in the past, but now that the Little Ice Age is approaching, Liu Bei will definitely be the one who suffers in the end if he continues to use this trick.

In the face of continuous natural disasters, it is useless to dismiss anyone, as the final spearhead will certainly be directed at the emperor. At that time, officials all over the world will collectively submit memorials, either demanding an end to land measurement, or discouraging the accommodation of the Hu people, or stopping the gradual migration of clans to various states.

After much deliberation, Liu Bei decided to make his attitude clear in public and downplay the connection between heaven and man as much as possible. Otherwise, the small ice age would continue for hundreds of years, causing disasters in various places. Under the instigation of evil elements, all the dissatisfaction would be directed towards the Han Dynasty.

Even if the emperors of the Liu family were resurrected, they would not be able to take the blame... The lesson of Wang Mang is still before us. His head is still kept in the Luoyang armory. Even when the traitor Dong moved west to Chang'an, he refused to take it with him, perhaps because he thought it was unlucky.

When everyone heard the worried words of the King of Han, and also heard the historical materials that Kang Chenggong and Lu Gong had checked to prove it, they could not help but look at each other in surprise.

Is it true that a cold disaster that occurs once in a thousand years is about to come?

These disasters do not care about one's status or who owns the farmland. Once they occur, everyone will be affected. If the common people have no harvest, the same will happen to their own farmland.

When the prices of millet, wheat and beans rise, you will need to spend a lot of money to buy them.

This made many Guanzhong nobles change their faces instantly. The Liangzhou bandits had been wreaking havoc in Guanzhong for many years, causing many people to flee. Coupled with earthquakes and droughts, the price of grain and gold were almost the same.

After much difficulty, we have finally made it to the present day. With the grain and wheat from Jingzhou, Qingzhou and other places being transported to Guanzhong, the price of grain has finally dropped, and we no longer have to spend huge amounts of money to make a living.

If the cold disaster continues, even if the clan has many years of savings, they will not be able to withstand it.

Not only will the common people suffer, but some of the local wealthy families will probably also be wiped out.

Furthermore, the weather changed suddenly. Those who were strong could endure the cold and hunger, but what about the children?
If you are not careful, there will be a risk of extinction of the family line.

Some clan leaders thought of the more far-reaching benefits, their faces turned pale, and they could not help swallowing.

I didn't expect that after the Han Dynasty pacified the world, there would be a danger of extermination of all families and households.

"My lord, if this is true, what should we do?"

"Continued natural disasters will lead to man-made disasters, so we must respond as soon as possible."

"I hope the king can save the people of the world again. Although Yu worked hard, his achievements were unparalleled in the world. His reputation as a wise man far surpassed that of Yao and Shun, and the people still remember him today."

The head of the Pingling Dou clan also thought of the suffering of everyone, regardless of their status, under the natural disaster, and stood up in panic and bowed to pay homage.

As they were standing far away, Liu Bei could only raise his hand to support the other party. He smiled and tried to comfort the crowd, saying: "The cold winter is coming, but there are ways to deal with it. If everyone in the world is united, man can conquer nature."

"The winters in the north are getting colder and the rice harvest is gradually decreasing. We need to consolidate the north and reclaim the wasteland and forests in the south. It is known that many officials talk about the miasma and poisonous insects in the south and immediately look at each other in dismay. This is not without reason, but it is because the mountains, forests and swamps are too dense and the population is sparse."

"There is a lot of fertile land in Jing, Yang and Jiao states, hidden between the mountains, and a lot of trees are needed to open up the land."

"And the northern states should select cold-resistant and drought-resistant grains and promote their cultivation. When Marquis Bowang opened up the Western Regions, he brought back many plant species. Select the best ones and plant them."

"Moreover, when I was sent on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, I only traveled a thousand miles. How could I know that there were no crops that were better than rice, millet, and wheat?!"

"In order to survive the cold, the Han Dynasty must reopen the Western Regions. Anyone who blocks this will become an enemy of all people in the world!"

Liu Bei glanced at everyone and spoke solemnly.

(End of this chapter)