Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 570 Peace and Chaos

"The climate this year is still very unstable."

"The locust plague around Luoyang requires many birds to stay put and prevent it from spreading..."

When Empress Dowager Deng was troubled by the difficulties of governing the country,

When the young emperor felt grief and indignation at the limitations imposed on his status and power...

The dead in the underworld did not become lazy or idle just because God had given up.

After all, God always shirks responsibility.

Whether He is there or not, it often makes no difference.

"...No, it's still different."

Looking at the document in front of him that recorded the strange weather over the years, Ximen Bao felt that his already sparse beard and hair had suffered another heavy loss.

He originally thought,

Following the spirits and deities, it flowed from the Zhang River in the late Spring and Autumn Period all the way to the Yellow River, which now enjoys a new channel.

What kind of grand occasions haven't I seen?

Then God turned around and told him:
There are plenty of big events to come, so we must not be complacent!
Where had Dr. Ximen ever seen such a "God making trouble in the sea" scenario before?
God descends upon the sea like the sun bathing in a pool, and the chain reaction it triggers is always overwhelming.

Evaporating water vapor
The sweeping gale,
The drifting, unpredictable clouds,
It can easily cause great harm to the lives of ordinary people if one is not careful.

And initially,
The dead could not yet determine whether the sudden storm was caused by the workings of nature or by God bathing the Eastern Sea.
Fortunately, after observing for a while,

The rain that rose and fell intermittently,

The droughts and floods that roam freely across the north and south of the Yangtze River
All of this brought a relieved smile to the faces of the dead.

Subsequently,

They began to mend the hole that God had inadvertently created.

no way,
He is, after all, my boss.
Is it because they are under their protection?
God has raised them for so long just so they could work.

Surely they're not keeping it as a pet, are they?

Those dead men don't have that kind of looks!

In order to better resolve the disaster caused by God's disturbance in the sea,
Ximen Bao even hired some scholars from the West.

He knew that the seafarers of the Mediterranean always had more experience in such matters.

Unfortunately, Rome, which was blessed by God, failed to achieve the effect that Simon wanted.

They told the officials of the Central Kingdom:
"The Mediterranean Sea is a relatively enclosed sea area, which is quite different from the East China Sea, which is connected to the vast ocean."

Admittedly,

Before God poured into the East China Sea, He extended His invisible hand and drew a boundary line between the East China Sea and the ocean.

But the water vapor rising into the air is always free.
The sun's rays are also generous and abundant.

These transcendent beings that guide the operation of the laws of heaven and earth never restrict their light, heat, water, and wind because of so-called "boundaries".

then,

Even if the ocean doesn't rage because of God's actions in the East China Sea,
Even though He Bo was carefully measuring the force with which he thrust in and out,
It will inevitably stir up some wind and rain, which will then combine with the waves that are born in accordance with the natural order of the ocean and crash onto the land.

For this reason,

The former Grand Admiral of the South China Sea, who once boasted that he would "definitely fight twice for God after He goes to sea," has also been affected in recent years, suffering several hurricanes that have messed up his hairstyle.

Later, in order to make up for the losses caused by the flooding of farmland by the torrential rain, Zhao Tuo and his men were almost worked to death again.

However, the amount of water vapor in the world is finite.

When a storm absorbs all the clouds and rain, drought and locust plagues will naturally occur in some areas far from the sea.

This further squeezed the already emaciated spirits and deities, who were confined to a certain place and responsible for managing the water and soil, even more.

The last time we gathered to discuss matters,

Their faces looked like those of sickly people and starving ghosts.

This,

This is still the workload after deducting the natural disasters that should have occurred.

"The situation in Qi Kingdom in the East is probably even worse."

The old man, recalling some recent news, after lamenting that "being God's patcher is not easy," started talking about things in Japan.

Nearly two hundred years have passed since Jiang Qi was reinstated in Japan.

But time is always merciless.

The accumulated ills of human existence will not be halted or eliminated by the appearance of one or two wise and virtuous rulers.
Therefore, Jiang Qi has developed many internal problems to this point.

Although acting as a sea charioteer
And clinging tightly to the coattails of the Central Plains superpower,
This made life in the State of Qi much better than being confined to an island.

After enduring the hardships of the first few years, the overseas territories they opened up also brought considerable returns to the Qi state.

As a result, the people of Qi developed the habit of venturing out and braving the wind and waves.

However, the development of a country can never escape the rule that "what a ruler gains by, he will also lose by."

A long period of sailing and battling the waves,

This allows some newly developed overseas territories to gradually drift away from their homeland and focus more on their own identity.

After all, maritime nations are different from land-based ones.
They did not have a long, sturdy road network that spanned their territory, so they could "move the people to Hedong and their grain to Henei when there was famine in Henan."

Firstly, the resources were already scarce, to the point that people had to risk their lives at sea.

Furthermore, the sea voyage is fraught with peril, and the dangers of nature are fully revealed to one when traveling by ship.

most of the time,
If the waves were a bit rougher and the sea breeze a bit wilder, the overseas territories would lose contact with the Japanese mainland.

in this way,

How can they possibly return home?

When they were struggling to survive on their own, they didn't see any locals coming.

They rebelled...

Haha, even if you rebel in your homeland, it doesn't necessarily mean anyone will come!
Other than that,

The island of Japan is mostly mountainous with few plains, making it difficult to become a central hub that commands the world, like Chang'an or Luoyang.

During the reign of the Lü family in the state of Qi, even with Tian Heng's talent, a policy of enfeoffment was still needed.

During the reign of the Jiang family in the State of Qi, only Lü Peng and the three generations after him maintained the centralized power structure by utilizing their prestige and the resources brought by overseas expansion.

Following this, feudal lords rose up in Japan, and many defied orders.

There have been many storms in recent years.

Even though the gods and spirits of Japan were swayed by the winds and some appeasement was given, it still couldn't stop the unruly ones from using this as a reason to rebel against the court's orders.

Lu Peng, who had long since died and turned to dust, with even the trees on his grave uprooted by the fierce winds, lamented:
"I wonder who will rule this place after Jiang Qi."

"It is unknown whether those who come after will continue the work of those who came before."

For this,

The Japanese emperor, whose actions perfectly embodied the saying "Time flies like an arrow," offered comfort to Lü Peng as he drifted past him.
"Don't worry."

"Even if the State of Qi blocks our path forward, there are still people from Song following us!"

After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, in addition to demonstrating its abundant military prowess by fighting against the suddenly emerging Xiongnu in the north and against the Romans in the west, which had been encroaching on the territories of the various Chinese states since ancient times,

They've put a lot of thought into making money and developing their business.

Not to mention that Zhao Yu's family was originally engaged in business.

Once he had enough power, Zhao Yu found a way to gather manpower and open up trade routes.

Wherever his army marched...

The Song people's business extended to wherever they could.

Even Rome was the same.

After all, territorial disputes and wars are merely political issues.
Ordinary people still need to do business with each other!

As the mighty Song Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu, clashed with Rome, and its national strength grew, the Song people gradually became more active.

A little careless,

The Qi state, this maritime coachman, might very well be replaced by this group of middlemen.

Lu Peng, comforted, became even more sorrowful and shed tears while looking at the fallen tree on the grave.

"Qi is a country in the sea, far from the mainland, so we don't need to worry about its fate yet."

During the conversation, one of the dead men said, "Right now, we should keep an eye on Luoyang!"

The Central Plains, this land cherished by God, the origin of the virtuous men of the Xia people, is the real focus!

And every action on this land naturally affects the entire world of China. If the Han dynasty continues to prosper, all will be well...
If it declines...

If the Japanese in the east are bombed, there will be many ships coming to harass the coast.

It should be noted that back then, one of the followers of Lu Mu, the pirate king of Qilu, went to Japan to seek refuge with distant relatives.

The State of Song was even more willing to come and compete for legitimacy.

He is the successor of the Black Bird!

"But didn't Empress Dowager Deng govern the country quite well?"

With the help of ghosts and gods, they patched up the holes everywhere.

In addition, Empress Dowager Deng's annual disaster relief and aid measures,

The Han Dynasty did not experience any additional turmoil due to the natural disaster, and generally maintained the peace that had existed since its founding.

It's just that many aristocratic families are dissatisfied.

After all, Empress Dowager Deng implemented the dialogue between Mencius and King Hui of Wei, relocating large numbers of disaster-stricken people from the north to the south of the Yangtze River, and transporting large quantities of grain produced in the south of the Yangtze River to the north for disaster relief and to replenish the treasury which was severely depleted due to the annual grain distribution.

This gave ordinary people a way to survive, but cut off the source of wealth for the powerful and wealthy.

However, their desire for armed resistance had diminished considerably with the submission of the four barbarian tribes in the fourth year of Yongchu, and in the following years, Empress Dowager Deng's actions of building military horse farms, strengthening the soldiers' combat capabilities, and clearing out the surrounding Rong and Di tribes.

The object of their patience changed from Empress Dowager Deng to powerful and influential families.

The struggle with others has entered a new phase.

This year, the female ruler who controls the country even led the emperor and other members of the royal family to preside over a sacrificial ceremony at the ancestral temple, at the strong suggestion of her ministers.

This demonstrates that her power is only one title away from being "emperor".

The government and the public alike erupted in support of her.

"But this is not eternal."

"With such a small diet and numerous duties, it is unlikely that Empress Dowager Deng would enjoy a long life."

"The world will eventually be handed over to the current emperor to manage."

"And this young emperor..."

Taking advantage of the fact that his jurisdiction was near Luoyang, he often went there to watch the royal family's life. At this point, the ghosts and gods stopped talking and just waved their hands.

The listener, understanding his unspoken meaning, echoed:
"Being young and intelligent is not necessarily a good thing."

"I hope that the emperor after he assumes power will not let down the hard work of his elders."

After all,

The gods from various regions, who had gathered in Haoli to report their recent work to Prime Minister Ximen, dispersed again to continue pasting paper decorations for God.

In the mortal world,

Feeling relieved that the natural disasters were gradually subsiding, Deng Sui issued an order to change the era name.

She hoped to express her inner joy through this action.

Over the years, whenever Empress Dowager Deng heard news of local disasters and famines, she would be unable to sleep all night.

She reduced her own living expenses as the most honored person in the world, punished many dissolute nobles in Luoyang, and used the money she had saved to relieve disasters.

Seven or eight years passed by with great difficulty.

Last year, news of a bumper harvest came from many places, and warehouses were once again filled with grain produced north of the Huai River, finally showing signs of restoring peace to the land.

Thus, the reign title changed from "Yongchu" to "Yuanchu".

Yuan means beginning.
"初" means "beginning".

When she chose this reign title, she already had the idea of ​​returning power to the emperor.

However, she was too busy in the past few years.

The constant misfortunes also prevented her from testing it on the emperor.
The emperor has made a mistake here.

The ink that drips from the brush will turn into a flood that engulfs the people.

The nation is already facing such difficulties; we really cannot add any more burden to the people.

Fortunately,

The hardest days are finally over.

This is also why, this spring, the usually cautious and reserved Deng Sui agreed to personally preside over the ancestral temple sacrifices:
She is a very normal person emotionally.

When hard work bears fruit, and the heavy responsibility on our shoulders is about to be handed over to future generations...

It's inevitable that one might have the urge to talk to one's ancestors and show off one's achievements.

And now,
She just needs to work herself out a bit more and make up for the oversights in her previous instruction of the emperor.

Once the emperor is familiar with the affairs of state, she will be able to relinquish control with peace of mind.

unfortunately,

Things in life are rarely as one wishes.

Just as Empress Dowager Deng felt that the world was in great shape and was even selecting a new batch of concubines to enrich the harem for the increasingly robust emperor,
The late emperor's only remaining child
Liu Sheng, the Prince of Pingyuan of the Han Dynasty, died in Luoyang.

He had no children.

His health has always been poor.
In the Han Dynasty, there were also instances of retaining adult princes to live in Luoyang.

Therefore, although Empress Dowager Deng granted him a vast and wealthy fiefdom, she still regarded him as a child who needed the care of his elders, and kept Liu Sheng in Luoyang until he came of age and got married.

Empress Dowager Deng had hoped that he could be as energetic as the late emperor and carry on the family line, but unexpectedly he died of illness.

She was deeply saddened by this, feeling that by keeping people under her nose, she had caused the late emperor's bloodline to end, and that she had truly failed the late emperor.

The emperor was initially saddened as well.

After all, Liu Sheng and he grew up together, and there was still a bond between them from their childhood.

But seeing Empress Dowager Deng's sorrowful appearance, he couldn't help but think:
Shedding tears like this

Was it because he had extra expectations for Liu Sheng?

Does she want to replace me with Liu Sheng as the emperor?

Was there a deeper meaning behind the previous change of reign title?
fortunately,

Liu Sheng died in time.

He no longer needs to worry about certain things.

after that,

Empress Dowager Deng's attention was drawn to the funeral of Prince Pingyuan.

She also planned to select an outstanding young man from the imperial clan and adopt him to the prematurely deceased Liu Sheng, so that the child she had raised would not have the ancestral rites cut off.

The emperor did not go to disturb her, but simply strolled around the palace with a calm and pleasant demeanor.

en route,

He met a beautiful palace maid and thus favored her.

Young and impetuous,

The palace maid soon became pregnant with the emperor's first child.

Lady Yan, who had received the emperor's great favor since entering the palace, was very jealous of this.

Because the emperor had already promised during their intimate moments that he would make her empress and her child crown prince.

Therefore, Yan often referred to herself as "the most important person in the harem".

How could she tolerate a palace maid stealing the honor of giving birth to the emperor's eldest son!
What if she is unable to have children later?
Harboring resentment, Lady Yan wanted to execute the innocent palace maid, Lady Li.

But when the news reached Empress Dowager Deng's ears,

Having just lost a loved one and filled with regret at not being able to see the continuation of her bloodline, the Queen chose to protect Lady Li and help her safely give birth to the child.

"Whether it's a boy or a girl, as long as they can give birth, that's fine."

Can give birth,

This was a very important matter for the emperor.

such,

She felt more at ease after returning power to the emperor.

just,

When the emperor, in an attempt to appease the weeping Consort Yan, complained that the Empress Dowager shouldn't have protected the palace maid who was pregnant with his child...
Empress Dowager Deng suddenly felt faint.

She withdrew her idea of ​​returning power to the government.

(End of this chapter)