There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 340 Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest

November of the second year of Xinghua.

It's snowing in the south.

In fact, by the mid-Kangxi period, the Little Ice Age disaster that had plagued the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years had basically ended.

June snowfall has almost disappeared in the south, and the rare phenomenon of the Yangtze River and Taihu Lake freezing over has been observed. Temperature differences between the north and south have also gradually stabilized.

Of course, this is bad news for the people of Guangdong and Guangxi, because they will never see snow in winter again.

The people of Guangdong and Guangxi know best just how powerful the Little Ice Age of the Ming Dynasty was. People in Guangdong at the end of the Ming Dynasty even witnessed the incredible weather of snow falling in summer.

Guangdong, snow in summer, what an obscure phrase!

This year's first snow fell in November, neither too early nor too late.

A timely snowfall promises a bumper harvest!

The heavier the snowfall, the more abundant the rainfall in the coming year, and the better the harvest will be.

However, while a timely snowfall can promise a bountiful harvest, it can also freeze people to death. In previous years, whenever it snowed in winter, many people in various places would freeze to death.

Unfortunately, this supposedly prosperous Kangxi and Qianlong era was so rotten that even historical records never truly recognized it. It was only through the far-fetched interpretations of some later textbooks with ulterior motives that it was given the title of "prosperous era."

To be honest, this is quite a little-known fact. Nie Yu only learned about it by chance. It turns out that the Kangxi and Qianlong eras, which he often heard about before, were originally based on TV dramas. Later, some textbook shamelessly began to label the Kangxi and Qianlong period as a "prosperous era."

Prior to this, no history books, textbooks, or official recognitions had ever regarded the Kangxi and Qianlong periods as a golden age.

On the contrary, during this period, China suffered extremely heavy losses in population and economy, literary inquisitions were rampant, cultural development was almost emasculated and cut off, wars broke out frequently, and official corruption reached its extreme. It was by no means a prosperous era.

As for the claim that China's population tripled during the Kangxi and Qianlong periods?
To tell you a joke, other countries are also increasing their populations. Britain even resorted to harsh laws and punishments to exile the surplus population to its colonies because of its large population.

Heavy snow was falling in Jingzhou as the heads of various cabinet departments gathered at the Prince of Han's residence for a meeting.

Lin Wenchang, holding a document, said, "Telegrams from Hunan, Jiangxi, and southern Anhui have all arrived. It's snowing in Hunan, southern Anhui, and Jiangxi. The snowfall in northern Hunan, northern Jiangxi, and southern Anhui is not too bad. Based on the snow situation, local officials believe there shouldn't be a snow disaster."

"However, in the southern Hunan and southern Jiangxi regions, the further south you go, the less snow there is, and the snowfall is very short-lived. Local officials are worried that there won't be enough rain in these areas next year, and that southern Jiangxi as a whole might even experience a minor drought."

"The Ministry of Revenue believed that it should make plans in advance so that if a minor drought really broke out in southern Hunan, it could provide timely disaster relief and rescue."

"As for southern Jiangxi..."

Lin Wenchang paused, then suddenly stopped talking.

Wang Ruoyu stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting: "The Ministry of War believes that we can take over Nangan next year!"

This was not a collaboration between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue to seize territory and gain military merit, but rather the Ministry of Revenue's analysis of reports from local officials, which concluded that a disaster might indeed break out in southern Jiangxi next year.

In ancient times, without weather forecasts, if it didn't snow much in winter, or if the snowfall was light and short-lived, it was highly likely that the coming year would be early.

Although Nangan is nominally part of the Han Dynasty, the actual controller here is the King of Shajin, who is now the Grand General of Nangan of the Han Dynasty, essentially a separatist vassal state enfeoffed by the King of Han.

The people of southern Jiangxi are known for their fierce and valiant nature, and there are also many Hakka people there. These Hakka people tend to stick together, especially when dealing with outsiders. They are very united and can fight to a standstill with the local gentry and commoners of southern Jiangxi.

When Zhu Wu, the King of Killing All, first received an official position from the Han Dynasty and entered Nangan with the Han banner, the local gentry of Nangan did not respect him, and the Hakka people of Nangan also ignored him.

Zhu Wu fought his way through southern Jiangxi with the help of his sword. With the assistance of his advisor Zhou Ji, he used both violence and goodwill to gradually bring order to southern Jiangxi.

Now, after nearly two years of fighting in southern Jiangxi, southern Jiangxi has basically become Zhu Wu's territory. The local gentry and Hakka people have all been defeated by Zhu Wu. Those who are not convinced have gone up the mountain to continue to fight Zhu Wu head-on.

Therefore, the Great Han can indeed take over Nangan. Zhu Wu has already dealt with most of the resistance forces, and what remains are the obedient people who can be swallowed whole.

Moreover, if a drought were to strike southern Jiangxi next year, the impoverished and barren lands of southern Jiangxi would have little chance of solving the problem on its own and would have no choice but to seek help from the Han Dynasty.

Nie Yu looked at the memorial submitted by the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War's plan was to take advantage of the severe drought in southern Jiangxi next year and send people into southern Jiangxi to provide disaster relief and win over the hearts of the people.

At the same time, another decree was issued to Zhu Wu, ordering him to stop guarding Nangan and instead move south to Chaozhou, while also allowing him to be granted a title.

This method looks somewhat familiar; it seems to be the same method used by the Han Dynasty to deal with King Han Xin of Qi. By constantly transferring his fiefdom, Han Xin lost the foundation for rebellion, and was eventually easily eliminated.

Nie Yu asked, "What if he refuses?"

“If a subject refuses to obey imperial orders, is that not treason and rebellion?” Wang Ruoyu frowned and shouted.

Okay, I understand.

If Zhu Wu agrees, the Great Han will easily take over Nangan and incorporate it into the Great Han territory, thus truly unifying Jiangxi, which is equivalent to plucking the peach from Zhu Wu's peach.

If Zhu Wu refuses to comply, then the Han Dynasty will directly order its troops to execute Zhu Wu on charges of treason.

Sure enough, these scholars are all ruthless; they can kill without a trace with just a few words!

No wonder the cabinet included southern Jiangxi in its previous agricultural development plan for the province; it seems this was premeditated.

Although Nangan is a poor and remote area, it is still a good place to grow ramie, tea, and tung oil. The cabinet's agricultural development plan for Nangan is to turn it into an important production area for tea and ramie, so as to provide the Han Dynasty with a continuous supply of tea and ramie cloth.

“Yes,” Nie Yu nodded, “If there is indeed a disaster in southern Jiangxi, the people must be helped. Have the local officials in Jiangxi prepare to go to southern Jiangxi to provide disaster relief if a drought occurs next year. I will deliver the imperial edict and the decree for the transfer of the title. Let the title be Marquis of Chaozhou!”

With just a few simple words from Nie Yu, southern Jiangxi became the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Nobody took Zhu Wu seriously. If Zhu Wu had resisted the Great Council in Ji'an back then, even if he had lost the battle in the end, the Han Dynasty would have respected him a little more.

But this guy didn't even dare to fight. He voluntarily gave up Ji'an Prefecture and accepted the condition that the Han Dynasty would only appoint him as a Grand General. He then led his troops south to take on the tough nut of southern Jiangxi.

Regardless of Zhu Wu's personality, his series of actions have made it impossible for his army to continue fighting the Han army.

The Great Han army will be heading south to Guangdong next year to join forces with the Heaven and Earth Society there to wipe out the Qing forces in eastern Guangdong. If Zhu Wu refuses to submit, the southward-bound Han army will simply eliminate him as well. Having discussed taking southern Jiangxi next year, the Great Han's strategic plan has suddenly expanded significantly, with military operations planned for Guangdong, southern Jiangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Huainan.

The financial pressure looks immense, and it truly is immense, but it's much better than at the beginning. Because the areas we'll be attacking next year are no longer without a base of operations for the Han Dynasty, we no longer need to conscript and recruit laborers on a large scale, and the logistical supply pressure should be significantly reduced.

Wu Taining from the Ministry of Commerce then said, “Your Majesty, although the snowfall in various regions this year has not been very heavy, the government-run coal shops in various regions have begun to sell honeycomb briquettes at affordable prices. At the same time, market inspectors have been dispatched to prevent private shops from taking advantage of the situation to hoard goods and speculate, ensuring that the people can buy high-quality coal for heating.”

Honeycomb briquettes, as the name suggests, are the honeycomb briquettes used in later generations. The craftsman who made them was a craftsman surnamed Hu, but the inventor came from the Han Dynasty.

Seeing the heavy snow in the winters of the past few years, Nie Yu felt it was unsafe for people to still be using traditional coal, so he gave the craftsmen the formula and production method. After spending a lot of time, they finally made honeycomb briquettes.

In addition, they successively conquered the provinces of southern Anhui and Jiangxi, where several large coal mines were discovered.

For example, Pingxiang Coal Mine is known as the Coal Capital of Jiangnan.

Moreover, foreign merchants saw the potential of the Han Dynasty to conquer the world and began smuggling various goods to the Han Dynasty.

Cheap coal was no longer in short supply for the Han Dynasty, so as early as May or June of this year, various regions had already begun to establish government-run coal shops.

Along with salt shops and cotton shops, it was a government-run coal shop that only sold honeycomb briquettes.

At first, people were unaware of the specifics of honeycomb briquettes, so they were hesitant to buy them.

It wasn't until later, when news spread that the Queen and several royal consorts were also buying honeycomb briquettes from government-run coal shops, that the common people tentatively started buying honeycomb briquettes to burn.

And then, it got out of control.

These honeycomb briquettes burn incredibly well, especially when paired with the special coal stoves sold in official coal shops; they burn even longer than regular coal.

For an ordinary household, three or four honeycomb briquettes a day are enough to keep the fire going day and night.

Moreover, honeycomb briquettes are not only durable and burn well, but they are also very cheap.

It can be said that as soon as the honeycomb briquettes from Guanmeipuzi were launched, they immediately became popular in Jingzhou City, and then spread outwards from Jingzhou as the center.

Because of the booming sales of honeycomb briquettes, many coal merchants were forced to lower their prices to sell coal, let alone hoard it for speculation.

Even so, they still couldn't compete with honeycomb briquettes. Many merchants simply bought honeycomb briquettes themselves and had their craftsmen try to imitate them, as well as those special coal stoves.

Nie Yu flipped through the memorial submitted by Wu Taining and said, "The Ministry of Commerce has done a good job, but we must continue to strictly supervise it. This includes not only private coal shops in local markets, but also all kinds of firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Anything related to people's basic needs must be given special attention. We also cannot relax our supervision of government-run shops."

"My lords should know that the people are the foundation of the country. Only when the people are prosperous can the country be strong. Why does the pseudo-Qing claim to be a golden age, but now the whole world is in rebellion? It is precisely because the pseudo-Qing Tartars cannot see this point. They think that once they sit on the dragon throne in Beijing, the people of the world should listen to them and allow them to oppress and exploit them."

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," Liu Jun added aptly.

If we set aside everything else, the various actions taken by the pseudo-Qing dynasty since its founding can indeed be described as abstract.

First, the hair-shaving order intensified local resistance. After barely managing to get through it, they seized land, established Manchu cities, and explicitly implemented ethnic discrimination, practically pointing their fingers at the Han people and saying, "You are the inferior people."

The last dynasty to do this was the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty that didn't even last a century. It's fair to say that the Qing Dynasty's luck was ridiculously good.

In the late period of the Later Jin dynasty, Nurhaci passed away. Due to his brutal rule in his later years, conflicts between various ethnic groups intensified, and even the Jurchens fought among themselves, bringing the Later Jin to the brink of collapse.

Then, the mighty Huang Taiji arrived. His abilities were simply unparalleled. He was able to stabilize the internal situation in such a critical moment, and then established the Manchu Eight Banners to ease the conflicts between various ethnic groups. Through the Manchus, he bound the various ethnic groups together and transferred the original ethnic conflicts to external forces, turning them into military power.

Moreover, Huang Taiji deeply understood the importance of Mongolia and successfully absorbed Southern Mongolia into his Manchurian bandit group through a combination of force and persuasion.

The Ming Dynasty's defenses against the Mongols collapsed as a result, and the strategy devised by Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan was a complete failure.

Later, Huang Taiji went a step further, weakening the power of the Eight Princes' Council, and ascended the throne himself, establishing the political and legal system of the Qing Dynasty.

Only then did the Qing court have the political capital to contend with the Ming Dynasty, and only then did it gain the support of Han gentry, surrendered generals and officials.

After the Qing dynasty seized control of the Central Plains, it was already in decline by the first half of the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns.

Corruption plagued the bureaucracy, the national treasury was empty, tensions between the Manchus and Han Chinese were acute, and the powerful Dzungar Khanate was also a formidable enemy to the west.

Just when the dynasty was about to reach its decline, another emperor, Yongzheng, appeared.

In just thirteen years, he cleaned up the bureaucracy (which was indeed much cleaner than the Qianlong era), filled the national treasury, appointed a large number of Han officials, personally intervened to ease the tensions between the Manchus and Han, and actively developed firearms, which restored the Qing army's fighting strength and successfully extended the life of the puppet Qing dynasty.

Otherwise, given Qianlong's incompetence—his stubbornness, ambition, and love of grand achievements—do you really think he could create a prosperous era?
They fought a war in Burma, leaving a complete mess, yet they shamelessly called it a perfect military achievement.

Gee!

However, sixty years of revelry and enjoyment had squandered all the wealth left by Emperor Yongzheng.

During the Yongzheng era, the Qing dynasty was able to increase its annual revenue from 40 million to 70 million during the Kangxi era, while during the current Jiaqing era, it's doubtful whether it can even reach 30 million annually.

But Jiaqing was neither Huang Taiji nor Yongzheng, and he was not even as good as Qianlong.

He can only be considered a "Chongzhen plus version"—more benevolent than Chongzhen, less prone to causing trouble, and with a slightly larger fortune.

On the Han side, things were thriving, with the emperor and his ministers united and the people loving and supporting them, while the pseudo-Qing side was truly declining.

Ruan Yuan, the governor of Zhejiang, is now a good friend of Pang Wencai and particularly likes the "refined item (opium)" that Pang Wencai sent him.

Pang Wencai made contact with the governor of Zhejiang and took the opportunity to enter Jiangsu through his connections, where he began to corrupt the Jiangsu officialdom.

As expected, Fu Chang is likely to remain the General of Jiangning, and he has even transferred Ai Long'a, the General of Xuzhou, to Jiangning.

Ailonga is probably not going to be able to leave either. The Han army hasn't even reached Jiangnan yet, and the local officialdom has already been corrupted by Pang Wencai. Local officials are all opium addicts.

(End of this chapter)