I want to be emperor

Chapter 1094 The mediocre heir

The winter of the 50th year of Chengshun was as cold as in previous years. In December, the cold wind was already blowing in Jinling City, and there was even a light snowfall a few days ago. Compared to later generations, winter came earlier. , colder weather was the norm during the Little Ice Age.

China in the Little Ice Age... No, it was relatively cold globally. Maybe if you just look at the average temperature, it might be only one or two degrees colder than later generations... Well, yes, if you just look at the average temperature, Little The average temperature during the Ice Age was actually not much lower than that in later generations, about one or two degrees.

Research by later generations of scientists has shown that during the period from the late 16th century to the early 17th century, the average temperature in Europe was about 1.3 degrees lower than at the end of the 19th century. The average summer temperature in London, England, in the 17th century was about 1.3 degrees lower than that at the end of the 19th century. Summer temperatures in London at the beginning of the century were about 0.6 to 0.8 degrees lower.

It's not like what later generations imagined. During the Little Ice Age, it was all ice and snow. It was several degrees or even more than ten degrees colder than later generations... It's not like that.

At first glance, it doesn't seem like much... after all, it's just a temperature difference of one or two degrees.

But... the earth's climate system is a very large and complex climate system. Slight temperature changes will cause a series of reactions, resulting in frequent extreme climates!

During the Little Ice Age, the fact that it was slightly colder by one or two degrees was nothing at all, but the frequent extreme weather it brought was a big trouble.

The climate is irregular, and various extreme climates occur intensively. Some areas are droughty, and some areas are flooded. Various extreme cold weather also often occur in winter...

These have seriously affected agricultural production.

This is also the reason why many researchers in later generations believe that the Little Ice Age is indirectly related to the many wars from the 17th to 18th centuries.

Extreme climate affects agricultural production. When agricultural production is affected, famine will occur, and famine will lead to war!

This is the power of the Little Ice Age... It not only affected China, but also had a certain impact on Europe, West Asia and other regions...

To a certain extent, the Chu Empire's rapid rise and eventual replacement of the Ming Dynasty and the establishment of a brand new industrial feudal empire also had the impact of the Little Ice Age.

The Little Ice Age caused a wide range of extreme climates in northwest China, the Central Plains, and the north, which seriously affected agriculture and animal husbandry, and then led to continued unrest... Various uprisings in the late Ming Dynasty were a direct consequence.

The Dachu Empire was born in the turbulent situation of the late Ming Dynasty.

It is precisely because of the severe impact of extreme climate and the presence of Luo Zhixue that the Chu Empire has attached great importance to the construction of various water conservancy facilities since its founding.

Extreme climate certainly poses a threat, but as long as it is dealt with properly, it is actually nothing... The reason why it was able to have such a big impact on the Ming Dynasty in the past was that man-made disasters far outweighed natural disasters.

In the Da Chu Empire, man-made disasters are not a big problem... After all, this is a new empire that is still in the rising stage. It is actually very difficult to cause internal turmoil... People have finally obtained a stable living environment, except for No one among those careerists is willing to destroy this stable living environment.

Of course, the more important thing is that the empire did not give those careerists a chance... Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, water conservancy facilities have been frequently built in various ways to promote the cultivation of various crops, and various large-scale water conservancy hub constructions, such as the artificial diversion of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River management project , water conservancy projects in Shaanxi and Gansu, etc.

The effect of these various flood and drought control projects that have lasted for decades and cost a lot of money is that although the extreme climate that could easily destroy normal agricultural production in the past still exists, the impact on agricultural production has been reduced to the lowest point... …

In the past, the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins suffered from floods almost every year, with a major flood occurring every three years... But now, the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins have not experienced large-scale floods for more than ten years, and only minor floods have occurred. A little fuss has no impact.

The Da Chu Empire has proven through practice that manpower can fight against natural disasters!

These also established the internal stability of the Great Chu Empire and provided sufficient impetus for industrial development... It is impossible to cultivate any industry in a country where various extreme climates occur frequently and agricultural production has been extensively damaged. Without this industrial system, it would not have been possible for the Chu Empire to conquer the world so easily.

Therefore, to a certain extent, the Chu Empire can be said to have defeated the Little Ice Age... Of course, this victory only reduced the impact of extreme climate to an acceptable level. It does not mean that the earth's temperature has returned to normal, nor does it mean that the earth's temperature has returned to normal. This does not mean that extreme weather conditions are gone.

In early December of the 50th year of Chengshun, Luo Zhixue of Jinling City received reports from many northern provinces. Northern provinces such as Mobei and Monan suffered from large-scale extreme snow disasters. The lowest temperature once again broke through the climate in the Great Chu Empire. The department has recorded history, and the amount of snowfall also exceeded the same period in history.

The widespread snowstorm has seriously affected normal production and living activities.

A large number of trains were suspended, material transportation was forced to a standstill, and there were many property and personnel losses caused by the snow disaster. Monan Province reported that their province conservatively estimated that at least 300,000 cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock were affected by the snow disaster. Death, a large number of herdsmen, livestock companies will suffer heavy losses...

According to the research and speculation of the weather forecast department, this large-scale cold wave will continue to move southward. In a few days, the entire North China, Northwest China, and Northeast China will be fully affected, ushering in sharp cooling and heavy snowfall!

At the same time, the climate department predicts that the cold wave will continue to move southward, and the entire Yangtze River Basin will usher in large-scale severe cooling and widespread snowfall in the next half month.

Not only that, according to the intensity of this cold wave, it is very likely that this wave of cold wave will go all the way down and directly hit the Guangdong and Guangxi regions in the south... Technical experts from the climate forecast department even speculated that it might even hit the city of Guangzhou in the south. Snow conditions occur.

This naturally attracted Luo Zhixue's attention... Even during the Little Ice Age, in the past fifty years of the Chu Empire, there were quite a few snowy years in southern coastal areas like Guangzhou... But that's not to say It's not Guangzhou City, but Guangzhou Prefecture, and Guangzhou Prefecture is quite big. Snow is common in some areas in the north.

But the city of Guangzhou, that is, the traditional urban area of ​​Guangzhou on the Pearl River, has very few snowfalls, and the number of heavy snowfalls in consecutive days is even fewer.

The most recent one was before the establishment of the Chu Empire, in the seventh year of Chongzhen in the pre-Ming Dynasty... Well, that year was also the most chaotic time in China. There were continuous droughts in Shaanxi, Gansu, Central Plains and other places, and then there was a drought that affected the whole country. There was super heavy snowfall all over the city, and even the city of Guangzhou was hit by heavy snowfall for days.

It is worth mentioning that it was during this year that Luo Zhixue traveled through time and started to rebel.

Now the meteorological department speculates that the Chu Empire may usher in a strong and widespread cold wave... It may snow heavily even in the city of Guangzhou. Luo Zhixue must pay attention to it... No matter whether it is so outrageous that it snows in Guangzhou city in the end, but It’s always good to be prepared in advance.

He didn't want another large-scale cold wave like last year's, which would seriously affect normal production and life, leading to a large amount of economic losses and casualties... It happened once last year, and a passenger train was suddenly grounded due to lack of preparation in time. The blizzard trapped them in the wilderness for several days. Although the local government rescued them in time, many people died of frostbite.

In response to this large-scale extreme cold wave, Luo Zhixue directly convened a meeting of the Imperial Council to inform the meeting of the cold wave information, and emphasized that local governments, units, and enterprises must be fully prepared to prevent cold waves. Get through this cold wave safely with minimal cost.

And this kind of imperial meeting to prepare for cold or flood prevention... is actually not very rare... it happens several times every year...

Because the Chu Empire was so large, extreme cold weather hit some places almost every year, not in East Asia...and Central Asia, and even Eastern Europe, but not in the Asian continent, and in the Americas...and then there are There are Nanyang regions and so on.

Every year there are always severe extreme weather events somewhere, whether it's floods, droughts or snow disasters... there are all kinds of things, and Luo Zhixue is not surprised by this.

There is no way, the empire is too big, there are too many places, and it is spread all over the world... These things will always happen. What Luo Zhixue can do is to make officials pay more attention and prepare in advance.

For example, the large-scale cold wave we are experiencing now was predicted by the meteorological department to be quite scary, so Luo Zhixue simply held a meeting to make special remarks.

Don't make it like last year. Many places were not prepared in time, and the losses were not small... Well, last year, Qiongzhou Island, a typical subtropical island, a place where it has not snowed for hundreds of years, unexpectedly experienced a snowstorm in Wenchang County, Qiongzhou Prefecture last winter. There was a frost... that shocked a bunch of people and caused serious financial damage.

The local government reported that even fish in many fish farms in some offshore areas along the coast were frozen to death. Many seafood farmers lost their money. A large number of commercial crops, such as betel nut and coconut trees, were withered by the freeze. A large number of Farmers lost all their money.

No matter what happens this year, you must prepare in advance and reduce losses as much as possible. After all, many losses can actually be avoided through advance preparations.

After the executive meeting, Luo Zhixue also ordered Prince Luo Ji to inspect several northern provinces and urge disaster prevention and relief work in several northern provinces.

In recent years, as he has grown older, after completing his global inspection, Luo Zhixue began to gradually involve the prince in many government affairs and let the prince appear in public places.

This is not to say that Luo Zhixue plans to hand over power in the next few years. This is naturally impossible. Luo Zhixue rebelled long ago and became emperor long ago. He is only sixty-seven years old now. In addition, as an emperor Being rich all over the world, he can also enjoy the most advanced medical treatment in the world... Well, although the current medical treatment is not very good, Luo Zhixue doesn't mess around, so his health is pretty good.

There's no telling how long he can live, but Luo Zhixue estimates that there should be no problem if he lives for another ten or eight years.

At first glance, these ten years and eight years may seem like a long time, but for the transfer of power in a huge empire, time is running out.

It is impossible for Luo Zhixue to say nothing and not care about anything. He only waits until he kicks off and then lets Prince Luo Ji inherit the treasure. This may lead to some unnecessary problems.

Therefore, after completing the global inspection, Luo Zhixue began to officially support the prince Luo Jian, allowing him to attend the council meetings, let him handle some non-important affairs on his behalf, meet with some ministers, etc., and frequently go out for inspections. In the newspaper Make frequent appearances.

He wanted to make sure that after his death, Prince Luo Jian would have enough authority in the hearts of many subjects to successfully take over the important task of power.

This is a process of power transfer... In order to maintain stability, the entire process is expected to last ten years. If he is not dead after ten years... well, this process will naturally continue to be extended!

However, Luo Zhixue himself was seventy-seven years old at that time, and it was time to step back to the second line to take care of his old age. He only needed to control the situation from behind, and most of the affairs would be handed over to the prince. Luo Zhixue is not like himself who is seventy or eighty years old and is as tired as a dog. He deals with countless things every day. By then, it is estimated that his body will not be able to support such high-intensity work now.

There are endless memorials, endless reports, endless meetings, and endless interviews with subjects every day... To be honest, he feels a little tired.

In the past two years, after he handed over some affairs to the prince, his work intensity has been significantly reduced... He thought that if this was the case, he might be able to live a few more years.

Luo Zhixue began to gradually transfer power to the prince. Although the whole process was like boiling a frog in warm water, step by step, there were many smart people in the world, and many people saw Luo Zhixue's plan.

Especially the other sons of Luo Zhixue, they still had certain illusions about the throne in the early years... Now they have basically given up completely...

Luo Zhixue made it clear on several public occasions that the succession to the throne of the Great Chu Empire would follow the system of direct descendants, and he wrote this article directly into the clan regulations as a permanent rule that cannot be changed by future generations.

The heir apparent system may have problems of one kind or another, but it is the minimum way to avoid all kinds of turbulence and even civil war caused by the succession of the throne.

Furthermore, as the various systems of the Great Chu Empire have gradually improved and matured, and in the past ten years, Luo Zhixue has strengthened the authority of the ministerial council system to a limited extent. By giving up some of his rights, he has strengthened the council minister , the authority of the Minister of Military Affairs, to avoid the possibility that the heir to the throne may have insufficient abilities, extreme personality, etc. that may lead to turmoil in the empire.

Giving up part of one's own rights and increasing the power of ministers. From the emperor's personal perspective, this decentralization is a self-weakening of imperial power. However, from the perspective of the long-term stability of the entire empire, this is an indispensable part... Because except for Luo Zhixue, it is impossible for latecomers to control all departments as strongly as Luo Zhixue.

The current crown prince Luo Li can't do it either... not to mention that there may be some trashier heirs to the throne in the future.

After Luo Zhixue's death, the high-level power structure of the Chu Empire will inevitably enter a situation where the emperor and his ministers rule the world...and this process may be accompanied by large-scale court battles or even civil war. !

In order to avoid this situation, Luo Zhixue simply took the lead and carried out a new round of balancing design for the high-level power structure, weakening some of the imperial power on his own and increasing the power of the ministers... but it also further consolidated the relationship between the ministers. Balanced architecture.

Let the future heir, the emperor, have supreme imperial power, but not be able to do whatever he wants, so that the monarchy and ministerial power can maintain a state of mutual checks and balances as much as possible.

Of course, it is difficult to say whether this structure of mutual checks and balances will be useful in the future... After all, there is no reference for this kind of thing in history. Luo Zhixue can only design the power structure based on his many years of experience, and whether it can play a role in the future? It’s also impossible to see... because he was dead at that time.

All we can say is that Luo Zhixue did everything he thought he should do. As for what will happen in the future, let’s see who comes after him.

Of course, according to Luo Zhixue's estimation, at least after the prince inherits the throne and becomes emperor, there should be no problem with this power structure.

Although in Luo Zhixue's opinion, Prince Luo Jian has no talent for playing with power, nor is he extremely intelligent, he is an heir to the throne who has been trained as an emperor since he was a child!

Prince Luo Jian also had enough time to learn slowly and accumulate political experience.

As of today, although he can't be said to be outstanding...at least his various political methods are inferior to those of the ministers...but he can still be regarded as a qualified heir to the throne.

Well, that's right, a barely qualified heir to the throne, this is Luo Zhixue's evaluation of Prince Luo Jian...

In fact, for so many years, Luo Zhixue has never really liked this son in his heart... What he really likes is the emperor's eldest son Luo Xie. Luo Xie, the emperor's eldest son, is not only his first son, but also has been in poor health since he was a child. , which broke Luo Zhixue's heart. The more emotionally involved he is, the more he will like her.

At the same time, Luo Kai is extremely smart and has excellent learning ability. When he was a teenager, he was able to understand various historical allusions, especially the deep political and economic implications behind them... He also has a dark heart, Xiao Xiao At such a young age, he dared to do things that people at the time considered rebellious and unethical, which appealed to Luo Zhixue.

If it weren't for the poor health of the emperor's eldest son, Luo Kai, Luo Zhixue would have made him the crown prince no matter what he said... Such a son is the most ideal heir in his mind. He is smart, studious, erudite and knowledgeable, and has a good understanding of the world. He has enough awareness of the evil and ugliness of politics, and the most important thing is that he is also evil enough!

But again... His health is so bad... He often got sick when he was a teenager, and he would go to hell from time to time... It got even worse when he was in his twenties, and he relied on everything. Years of constant medical treatment has kept me from dying, and after the age of thirty, I have been bedridden all year round.

In the end, he couldn't stand it anymore and died of illness in the 42nd year of Chengshun... After the death of his eldest son, Luo Zhixue was actually greatly hit. He even ignored the opposition of the ministers and traditional etiquette and insisted on giving birth to the eldest son of the emperor. The posthumous title of Prince Airen.

So in terms of love and affection, Luo Zhixue’s favorite is the eldest son of the emperor...

But Luo Zhixue has always been a person who is more rational than emotional... he determined the system of direct eldest son very early and established the eldest son, the second son of the emperor, Luo Jian, as the crown prince.

The establishment of Luo Li as the prince is a very purely political consideration...it basically does not involve personal feelings.

Nowadays, power has begun to be gradually transferred to the prince Luo Li, and the prince is allowed to appear frequently in public places to increase the prince's prestige among his subjects. This is also due to political considerations.

Although Luo Zhixue has not said this, some people close to him can feel it.

Especially Prince Luo Li!

When Luo Zhixue summoned him and asked him to inspect several northern provinces, he looked businesslike and dignified as usual... This way of getting along was almost not like a father and son, but more like a monarch and his ministers!

After finishing speaking, Luo Zhixue waved his hand and asked him to leave quickly so as not to be an eyesore... After the prince Luo Jian bowed and exited, the winter sun shone on him, but he could not feel the slightest warmth. .

Just like in the past forty years, he has never felt the warmth of father's love!

Why is this happening?

He has been working hard since he was a child, and he did everything he could to please his father... He studied hard when he was young, and his level of study was no less than that of those diligent students among civilian students, although his studies were not very good.

After he became an adult and joined various ministries to oversee politics, he was very nervous and tried his best to handle everything without daring to make any mistakes... just for his father to say: Well done... Unfortunately, he never got this sentence. talk!

At the age of thirty-five, after more than ten years of rotating views of government in various ministries, he entered the Senate to continue to observe politics, even more cautiously.

But despite this, he has never received a few compliments from Luo Zhixue in his life. The limited few times were when he was young. He has not received praise from Luo Zhixue since he began to observe politics as an adult.

Not a single word!

And all this is because there is Luo Kai, the eldest son of the emperor, before him... When he was young, Luo Kai was ahead of him in studying and other aspects. He obviously didn't study hard because of his poor health, but he was extremely knowledgeable and talented. He is agile and the strategies he writes are more than one level above him.

For almost the first half of his life, he lived in the shadow of the emperor's eldest son, Luo Huan!

Even he himself and everyone knew that his position as prince was extremely stable... Luo Xuan, who could die of illness at any time, could not pose a threat to his position as prince, let alone other princes.

But Luo Li would still dream many nights that he was deposed as the crown prince, and that the eldest son of the emperor, Luo Xie, replaced him as the prince... It can't even be said to be a replacement. To a certain extent, it should be the return of the eldest son of the emperor, Luo Xie. To his original position of prince!

Many people know that at first, Luo Zhixue planned to make the emperor's eldest son Luo Xie the crown prince... but his health was really bad. For this reason, Luo Zhixue delayed for many years, counting on the emperor's eldest son Luo Xie's health. It couldn't get better... Later, it couldn't be delayed any longer. The health of the emperor's eldest son Luo Xuan still didn't improve, and he would become critically ill from time to time...

Under this situation, Luo Zhixue finally made up his mind to make his eldest son, the second son of the emperor Luo Li, the crown prince to consolidate the foundation of the country!

Some of the important ministers at that time knew about these things, and Luo Li, who was one of the parties involved, knew it even better.

I originally thought that after Luo Xuan's death, I would be able to get rid of Luo Xuan's shadow influence... My father would also turn his attention to me...

it is a pity!

Still not!

As for Luo Zhixue... he really doesn't like this second prince. He is too mediocre and annoying to look at... When he was young, he was very stupid and couldn't study well. Not to mention things like thinking and logic, even some in liberal arts Basic rote learning is difficult.

He actually had some expectations before the prince came to watch the government... He felt that although the prince was not good at studying, he might be surprised when he handled things, such as being ruthless in doing things, playing intrigues, and playing intrigues with ministers and even other princes. of……

As a result, when the various ministries were rotated to observe the government, he did not bring any surprises... He was also afraid of some princes' attempts to challenge the crown prince's position, and he was still smiling when he was wronged... What if he had been replaced by Luo Zhixue came by himself and had already killed the other princes, but the prince insisted on continuing to act like a brother and brother...

Although there is nothing wrong with this means and way of handling things, it does not have any bright spots. It is mediocre to the extreme... He looks like a good baby.

Sometimes watching him do things makes Luo Zhixue anxious... You are the prince. You are here to learn how to be an emperor and the top and dirtiest politician.

Damn it, you are starting to conspire and become ruthless and ruthless. How can I believe that you are capable of ruling a global empire when you look like a good baby?

If you do this, you will be played to death by those ministers in the future!

This kind of prince can't really praise him...let alone praise him, sometimes Luo Zhixue feels annoyed just looking at him.

However, this is just Luo Zhixue’s personal attitude!

And among the government and the public... the prince's evaluation is quite good... many ministers believe that the prince's calm character will be a blessing to the empire.

The empire is already so powerful that it does not need a heir to the throne who is tossing around, but a mature and steady heir to the throne who does not mess around or mess around...