Fu Shanhe

Chapter 406 Misfortunes never come singly
It was not only Qin Tianrui's troops who were unlucky. The flood launched an indiscriminate attack and all the fertile fields along the Yellow River were submerged.

Both the government troops and the rebel forces operating in this area became victims.

Unlike previous battles, facing the raging flood, the more elite the troops, the greater the losses they suffered.

The heavy armor became an iron coffin.

……

Capital.

The political struggle surrounding the case of Prime Minister Wan became increasingly fierce.

"Rumble..."

The sudden thunder broke the silence of the night.

"what sound?"

Emperor Yongning, who was awakened from his sleep, asked instinctively.

"Your Majesty, it's thundering outside."

The night maid stepped forward hastily and answered.

This answer made Emperor Yongning feel disappointed.

"Winter thunder" has always been regarded as an ominous sign.

This happening at such a critical juncture, someone is bound to make a big fuss about it and accuse the emperor of immorality.

"Change!"

Emperor Yongning gave the order coldly.

Before I changed my clothes, I heard crackling sounds outside.

A long period of drought followed by a downpour should be something worth celebrating.

Unfortunately, this wave of rain came too heavy, with hail mixed in the rain, dealing a heavy blow to the people who were suffering from hunger and cold in this winter.

Looking at the hail and rain outside, Emperor Yongning's face was terribly gloomy.

It's really a wave of unrest, a wave of another.

From the time he ascended the throne to the present day, the Dayu Dynasty has never had peace.

The case of the Prime Minister being attacked by bandits had not yet been resolved, and a natural disaster came knocking again.

Fortunately, the hailstorm came and went quickly, lasting less than an incense stick.

"Your Majesty, something is wrong!"

"The Yonghe Palace collapsed in the hailstorm due to years of disrepair!

Fengxiang Palace, Taihe Hall, Renshou Palace... also suffered varying degrees of damage, and thirteen palace servants were unfortunately killed..."

Su Haoyu ran over quickly to report.

Natural disasters cover everyone indiscriminately and there will be no leniency just because of the imperial palace.

Since Emperor Yongning ascended the throne, Dayu's finances have been rapidly depleted. Even the construction of Emperor Tianyuan's mausoleum was suspended several times, not to mention the funds allocated for repairing the palace.

Without daily maintenance, the consequences will become apparent when encountering extreme weather.

"Hey!"

"Provide compensation and arrangements for the deceased, and have the imperial physicians treat the injured palace maids.

The matter of the damaged palace will be brought to the court tomorrow, and the Ministry of Revenue will be asked to allocate funds for its repairs.

The emperor issued an imperial decree, ordering Shuntian Prefecture to issue a notice to reassure the people and to ensure the stability of the capital.

......"

Without time to feel sad, Emperor Yongning quickly issued a series of orders.

Compared with the economic losses, the political blow is more serious.

In this age of belief in destiny, natural disasters and the monarch's immorality are strongly linked.

Referring to the handling methods of past dynasties, they basically put forward a scapegoat with weight to take the blame.

Thinking of this, Emperor Yongning was filled with endless regret.

If he had not impulsively dismissed the Prime Minister earlier, and had waited until now, Wan Junhui would have resigned on his own without his intervention.

There would be no need to damage the harmony between the emperor and his ministers, and there would be no case of the prime minister being killed.

Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in reality. If you take a wrong step, you will lose everything.

The situation has developed to this point, and it is not easy to find someone to take the blame.

According to convention, the best person to take the blame is the prime minister, followed by the three ministers.

There was no prime minister in the Dayu Dynasty, and the chief minister was equivalent to a weakened version of the prime minister.

The position of Prime Minister is vacant, and letting other cabinet members take the blame is obviously not meaningful.

He did confer titles on officials at the level of the Three Dukes, but the problem was that these people were all serving in local positions.

It would take at least ten days to half a month for the message to be delivered.

Even if someone is willing to step forward and take the blame for him, it is too late.

……

When Emperor Yongning was in a dilemma, all officials in the capital were also in panic.

The situation in the court was already complicated enough, and this incident would undoubtedly make the situation worse.

Except for a few ambitious people, most officials are anxious about the situation that will follow.

Xu Mansion.

"Send someone out to check on the people in the city."

After the butler reported the losses, Xu Wenyue said slowly.

It’s not that he loves his people like his own children, it’s mainly because it’s winter now.

For ordinary people, this is already the most difficult season of the year. If the houses are damaged, it will be even more unbearable.

If you can't make ends meet, trouble will arise.

There was chaos under the emperor's feet, which slapped the faces of the ruler and ministers of Dayu.

"Sir, don't worry too much.

Faced with other natural disasters, people might not be able to survive, but hail is different.

When encountering hail and rain, thatched roofs can withstand it better than tiled houses. "

The butler promised solemnly.

This is correct in theory, but in practice, it is always full of unexpected events.

After development by successive dynasties, there are no trees near the capital city anymore.

The wood used to build houses is all transported from other places, and the price has always been high.

The people had no money in their pockets, so you can imagine the cost of materials for building houses.

Many of the houses were inherited from ancestors and have long been dilapidated, and are barely usable by patching them up.

Every winter, a large number of houses in Beijing are crushed by wind and snow.

What's more, the hail was accompanied by heavy rain.

Whenever a roof is damaged, leaks will occur.

Many people have a hard time this winter.

"Ok!"

"Take my name card to Shuntian Prefecture and Wucheng Military Command and ask them to stabilize the situation in the capital."

Xu Wenyue nodded and said.

There is not much he can do about this problem.

It is impossible to expect the government to provide disaster relief.

When repairing a house, the officials’ property should be repaired first.

Only after the work of the big shots is done, it will be the turn of ordinary people.

Xu Wenyue had worked in the local area and knew very well how hateful the clerks below him were.

If these people are really arranged to go into disaster relief, it will be a bigger disaster for the people.

Given the organizational capabilities of the Dayu Dynasty, it would be best not to assign difficult tasks with heavy workloads to lower levels if possible.

No matter whether it is good governance or bad governance, it is bad governance when it reaches the grassroots.

……

Shu land.

Looking at the heavy rain outside the window, Li Yuan's expression of worry deepened.

The promotion of the new policy seems to be going smoothly, but in fact it is full of hidden dangers.

Under pressure, the local gentry temporarily chose to give in.

Once this powerful governor leaves, there will definitely be a counterattack.

He couldn't be happy when he thought that the current reform achievements would be wiped out in the future.

"My Lord, Governor Lu and Governor Li want to see you."

The butler's voice broke Li Yuan's thoughts.

"Take them to the living room and treat them well. I'll be there in a moment."

In the division of powers in the Dayu Dynasty, the governor and the provincial governor were a pair of enemies who checked and balanced each other.

Not arguing when meeting someone is a sign of good manners.

At this point, it will definitely be bad news if a team comes here.

“Governor, due to heavy rain, mudslides occurred in western Sichuan.

The Yellow River was badly affected. The local chieftains asked the imperial court for help.

Lu Junliang said in a deep voice.

When the rebels were being encircled and suppressed earlier, the chieftains of western Sichuan also made great efforts.

If these people had not joined, the government troops would not have been able to defend Chengdu Prefecture.

After the war, Xu Ge Lao resigned as governor-general, and his promises also came to nothing.

After Li Yuan succeeded as governor, he directly denied a series of previous agreements to cede power, which made the chieftains in western Sichuan very dissatisfied.

Under pressure from the military might of Governor-General Li, the chieftains of western Sichuan could only hold back.

Now that a natural disaster has occurred, if the imperial court does not come to the rescue, no one can predict what the local chieftains, who are forced into a desperate situation, will do.

If the situation is not handled properly, the Shu region, which has finally been stabilized, might be plunged into war again.

The governor and the provincial governor cannot afford such a life-threatening thing.

"The governor's office allocated a batch of disaster relief grain to them to help them tide over the difficulties.

You guys should catch it yourselves and don’t let the people below do anything rash.

I will report this matter to His Majesty and explain the situation."

Li Yuan thought for a while and said.

The reason why we vetoed those agreements before was to safeguard national interests and not allow the emergence of warlord separatism.

Providing assistance now is also to maintain national stability.

Although the chieftain policy of the Dayu Dynasty did not help much in developing the economy, it was of great significance in stabilizing the local area.

Remote mountainous areas were directly governed by the imperial court, which not only had high ruling costs, but was also prone to rampant banditry.

The existence of toast can solve these drawbacks.

However, the autonomy of this kind of country within a country is not unlimited.

In order to maintain local stability, while allowing the chieftains to exist, the imperial court was also gradually transforming the chieftains into officials.

The most typical case is Guangxi, where a White Lotus rebellion sent all the local chieftains to hell.

The situation in Shu is special. The local chieftains are on the side of the imperial court, so they naturally cannot be killed all of them brutally.

Of course, if the chieftain does not appreciate it and wants to start a rebellion, Li Yuan will not show mercy.

From the current perspective, the probability of chieftain rebellion is very low.

He took two of the five towns in Huguang and selected young and strong men from the official army of Shu to reorganize the troops into three towns.

After the army was formed, Li Yuan led the troops to travel around western Sichuan.

All the toasts were trembling with fear and became good children.

“Governor, this rain is not normal, and disasters have already occurred in many places in Shu.

It is said that it is also raining in Huguang and Shaanxi, and there is a fear that floods may occur in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

This should be the dry season, and when something unexpected happens, I'm afraid that all places are unprepared."

Governor Li Yongliang said worriedly.

The weather in the sixth year of Yongning was completely unreasonable.

It is dry during the rainy season and has heavy rains during the dry season.

The abnormal climate clearly doesn't want people to survive.

"Ok!"

“These are indeed a problem, and we need to send people to work as fast as possible to issue early warnings to various places.

Whether or not we can catch up, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate!"

Li Yuan said with a bitter look on his face.

He had read history books, and he knew that whenever such abnormal weather occurred in history, it would foreshadow chaos in the world.

After a brief moment of absence, he quickly recovered from his grief.

The world was in chaos, and the Dayu Dynasty had just experienced it.

The White Lotus Rebellion shook the foundation of Dayu's rule.

It seems that the world is peaceful now, but that is because of the several governors appointed by the imperial court, all of whom are decisive and ruthless.

The local forces were suppressed by force and no chaos was caused.

But a military general can only serve as governor temporarily.

Perhaps he will be recalled by the court before the end of his term.

Without the suppression of these powerful figures, local forces will inevitably rise.

The central government, which has lost its authority, can hardly suppress the local tyrants by relying on a few corrupt officials.

Compared with the rebels, these local tyrants hidden within the system are the most troublesome.

The emperor had strong political skills, and the court was able to make an example of someone in time to scare the local authorities.

But Emperor Yongning's performance really disappointed him.

Wan Junhui was holding a good position as the Prime Minister, but he was dismissed for no reason just because he disagreed with the emperor's political views.

It’s okay to replace the Prime Minister, but you must quickly replace him with a capable one!

As a result, the successor was not established, and the former prime minister was killed by bandits on his way home.

He was too tired to complain about the trifling result.

……

Liaodong Camp.

After running all the way, they finally entered the nearest county town before the flood arrived.

However, only the cavalry escaped, and the infantry still paid a heavy price.

"Fifth brother, the situation is not good. The flood waters receded yesterday, but now they are suddenly rising again.

The Yellow River shouldn't have so much water at this season.

Could it be that there was a heavy rain in the upstream area? "

Shi Jingzhong couldn't help but complain.

Over the past year, the north has been suffering from severe drought.

It wasn't until the beginning of autumn that it rained a few times.

"pretty close.

Apart from this reason, I can't think of a more reasonable explanation.

Let the brothers work harder and reinforce the bottom of the city wall.

Once the flood enters the city, we will suffer."

Shi Jinglin thought for a moment and said.

Deep down in his heart, he hated the bastard who dug up the Yellow River.

The great achievement of blocking the rebels was about to be achieved, but what happened instead was the surging Yellow River.

If he had not reacted quickly and ordered his troops to flee in time, the army would have suffered heavy losses.

"Ok!"

"Fifth brother, don't worry, I know the severity of the matter.

However, due to this incident, our plan to encircle and suppress the rebels also failed.

I think it would be better to report this to the court immediately and explain the situation to His Majesty.

Otherwise, if other troops report first, we will be in a passive position.

After all, during the military deployment, the Shanxi governor asked us to defend the Yellow River."

Shi Jingzhong said with a depressed look on his face.

In order to gain more military merits, they did not take guarding the Yellow River seriously at all.

Under normal circumstances, who would be so desperate as to dig the Yellow River?

The rebels had crossed the Yellow River several times before, jumping back and forth several times, but no one had attacked the Yellow River.

I never expected that I would meet a madman this time, and he was so cruel.

……

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The morning court was filled with sadness as soon as it began.

It can be seen that last night's hail rain had a great impact on everyone.

"Shuntian Prefecture Governor, what was the loss in the capital last night?"

Emperor Yongning asked.

But what he said was obviously meant to embarrass people.

Because of the heavy rain, the morning court was postponed for an hour, but it was still very early.

The officers and soldiers in the yamen have not yet returned to work.

It would take at least ten days or half a month to count the losses in the capital relying solely on the few people on night duty.

“Your Majesty, the losses are still being counted.

Last night's hailstorm came too suddenly, without any signs, and Shuntian Prefecture was completely unprepared."

Su Zhicheng explained apprehensively.

As the new governor of Shuntian Prefecture, he was very busy since he took office.

(End of this chapter)