Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 312 The Lobbyist
"The Wusong River is frozen three feet, and Guangzhou has been snowing year after year?"

Haizhou (Lianyungang).

Zhu Yihai realized that he had made a mistake. He had overlooked an important thing, that was the extremely cold weather during the Little Ice Age in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. This Little Ice Age was very severe. In severe years, the Yangtze River estuary would be frozen for a month.

The three major lakes, Taihu Lake, Poyang Lake, and Dongting Lake, can freeze more than three feet thick in ice, which can pass cars and horses.

Even Guangzhou has a blizzard, and Hainan Island has snowfall.

He didn't take this matter too seriously before, and now he is going to withdraw some of his troops to Haizhou and Yuzhou Island, but when a local gentry came to see him, he mentioned the cold weather in recent years.

They told Zhu Yihai that according to the weather in the past two years, the temperature has been getting colder every year, and this year may be even colder. In the past few years, not only the canal north of the Yellow River has been frozen every year, but the canal from Huai'an to Hangzhou has been frozen every year. They have to be frozen for at least a month or two.

This is not the worst news. The worst news is that Haizhou Bay will also freeze, which means that Yuzhou Island will no longer be safe in winter.

Originally, Yuzhou Island was a large island in the sea far away from the mainland, but due to the alluvial sediment of rivers entering the sea, the land in Huaibei continued to expand, and it became closer and closer to Yuzhou Island. Now it is very close.

Historically, Yuzhou Island was completely connected shortly after the Qing Dynasty. Just like Jingjiang in the Yangtze River, it was originally an island and was later connected to the land.

Although Yuzhou Island is not connected yet, it is not far away.

In winter, Haiwan Island freezes and freezes, so the island is connected to Haizhou by ice.

The Qing army could directly step on the ice or even ride a horse to the island.

Then there is no room for the navy.

And Zhu Yihai's second Northern Expedition was not only to sweep Huaibei, but also to focus on operating Yuzhou Island and Miaowan Town as a base to fight for control of the canal.

Without such a support point, in the cold winter, the ship freezes, the water freezes, and the island connects to the land, which is no different from an ordinary land city.

With the strength of the Ming army at this stage, it is almost impossible to defend a land city in Haizhou Bay near Shandong.

He tried hard to recall the memories related to Little Ice River.

It seems that the Little Ice Age in the Ming and Qing Dynasties is also called the fourth Little Ice Age?

It seems that the first extreme cold period was from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of Ming Dynasty, and then there was a slowdown in the middle of a hundred years, and then there was another extreme cold peak from Jiajing to Wanli.

Then Wanli was also very powerful when it came to Chongzhen, but it seems that the most powerful peak was 50 years after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and then it picked up again, but it didn't really end until Qianlong?
So, the real coldest winter of the Little Ice Age in the Ming and Qing Dynasties is just about to begin?
During the Chongzhen period, disasters fell frequently, and winter was even colder. Even the canals in the south of the Yangtze River could be frozen three feet, and it was snowing in Guangzhou and Hainan. If it will be more serious from now on, how serious is it?
During the reign of Chongzhen, the winter was extremely cold. It is said that countless people froze to death on the south bank of the Yangtze River every year. In a place in the south of the Yangtze River like Changzhou, it is said that thousands of people froze to death in one year.

Even the citrus that was originally a tribute in the south of the Yangtze River froze to death in large numbers in winter because of the extreme cold. People in Jiangxi simply cut down the frozen trees and stopped planting them.

From time to time, things such as freezing crops to death in the extreme cold in summer and early frost in autumn to killing crops and livestock will happen.

Under natural disasters, the agricultural harvest failed, the people could not pay taxes, the government’s finances were tight, and frequent disasters exacerbated the famine, so peasant uprisings continued, making the court unable to defend the border. In addition, the dynasty’s long-standing abuses of more than 200 years, the ship was in trouble and turned around, so it quickly collapsed .

The Little Ice Age cannot directly destroy a dynasty, but it exacerbates many problems.

It's like the Little Ice Age at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but the same Little Ice Age at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, but one died and the other prospered.

But in the final analysis, the Little Ice Age did exacerbate many difficulties of the Ming Dynasty.

Just like now, Zhu Yihai, who had been making great strides, had to face many new challenges brought to him by this Little Ice Age.

Obviously, Yuzhou Island cannot be garrisoned in winter, let alone serve as a frontier base against the Qing Dynasty.

Even if the canal is frozen in winter, then his advantage in the water will be gone in winter.

Even the canals in the south of the Yangtze River and the Wusong River will be covered with several feet of ice, so there will be no water advantage north of Wuling.

Taihu Lake will be covered with ice several feet thick, so Taihu Lake will be a naval base, and it will not be safe in winter.

"Will this winter be colder than last year?"

"definitely."

After receiving this answer, Zhu Yihai fell silent again.

Mistake ah.

I thought that the Little Ice Age was a long period, lasting as long as 200 years. The problem should not be too serious, and it might even be an occasional outbreak of extreme cold. Whoever imagined it was much more serious than imagined.

Little Ice Age, extreme cold.

This kind of winter is actually beneficial to the Tartars from Liaodong. They grew up in the bitter cold of Liaodong, and they have adapted to the cold. cold.

For example, oranges grown in Huainan were originally tangerines, and oranges grown in Huaibei were oranges, but now the winter in Huainan is the same as that in Huaibei before, Lingnan is equivalent to Huainan, and oranges north of Lingnan and south of Huaihe River will freeze to death in winter. It may also cause other crops such as rice crops to be affected and so on.

The canal from Wujiang to Jiaxing is frozen, and even the Qiantang River is unsafe in winter.

Originally, I thought about setting up a small navy to fight guerrillas in Weishan Lake, Hongze Lake, and Gaoyou Lake, threatening the Jiangbei Canal, but now it seems that I made a mistake.

Even Taihu Lake can freeze three feet of ice, let alone Weishan Lake, which will be as frozen as an iron plate.

This plan can only be implemented in summer and autumn.

It's already mid-September, and it's already snowing outside the customs, and it's almost here in the Huanghuai area.

"Prepare to retreat to the Yangtze River." Zhu Yihai thought for a long time, and finally made a helpless decision.

······
Jiangxi, Nanchang.

In the east of the city, General Military Mansion, Wang Tizhong was a little surprised by the sudden visitor in front of him. The other party's name was too big, Jiang Riguang, known as one of the three sages of Nanzhong.

"I don't know that Mr. Jiang came to visit suddenly, what advice do you have?"

Although Wang Tizhong used to be in the Shunjun army and was not from the Ming Dynasty, but the other party was a former court elder of the Ming Dynasty after all. This kind of celebrity always deserves his respect, not to mention the other party's sudden secret, which made him feel Things are not simple.

Jiang Riguang looked at Wang Tizhong for a while, then said, "The general's face is full of death, he's dead."

Wang Tizhong couldn't help frowning, "Why did Jiang Lao come to scold me? I never offended Jiang Lao, did I?"

"The old man knows a little about the art of face-to-face. I watched the stars at night at home. From a distance, I saw a cloud of dead energy covering the east of Nanchang City. I followed the cloud of death energy to find this place. Now the general is covered in death energy, which is a big crime. General I don't have more than three days to live."

"Presumptuous!" an officer shouted angrily.

Wang Tizhong smiled instead.

"I know that you scholars like to pretend to be shocking. If Mr. Jiang has something to say, just say it directly, without turning around."

Jiang Riguang smiled, but didn't speak.

Wang Tizhong waved his hand to make the others retreat.

"It's just you and me here, it doesn't matter if you have something to say."

"I said that the general can't live for three days. I didn't mean to scare you. I have actual evidence. Let me tell you one by one. First, you and Jin Shenghuan are in the same town in Jiangxi. He is the admiral and you are the chief soldier, but he borrowed you You are brave and good at fighting, and you are strong and strong, but you are inferior to him. You feel unwilling, and he feels uneasy. The two of you have long been incompatible. Fire is not a matter of time, but they are both waiting for someone Wedge machine."

"Secondly, the wedge machine already exists, and Jin Shenghuan has mastered it first."

Wang Tizhong remained calm, "Oh?"

"The Qing court ordered the Qing troops everywhere to shave their hair and leave their braids. Jin Shenghuan was originally a general of Zuo Liang's department, so he shaved his hair long ago, but general, you were originally a general of the Shun army. I am willing to shave my hair, so far I have not ordered the army to shave it, right?"

Wang Tizhong nodded, "The body is hairy and skinny, how could it be lightly shaved by the parents."

"That's right, but the Tartars ordered their hair to be shaved on purpose to force us and other Han people to change their obedience. Jin Shenghuan shaved it, but the general didn't. Naturally, he has a reason to attack the general."

"He doesn't dare, he doesn't have the strength." Wang Tizhong said confidently.

"Wrong, on the surface he is indeed not as powerful as General Wang, but General Wang's troops are not monolithic."

"What do you mean?"

"Who is the most powerful general under the general's command? Wang Deren, the miscellaneous hair? I heard that Wang Deren was originally Bai Wang's confidant general, or his adopted son. He promised to pass on to him in the future, but Bai Wang died at the hands of the general. Wang Deren always remembered this. As for Qiu, it's just that his strength is not as good as the general's, so he has been forbearing, but now Jin Shenghuan also knows about it, and has been secretly wooing Wang Deren."

"Wang Zamao dare not!"

"Now there is a second wedge, and these are making things develop in a direction that the general does not want. Previously, the Ming army besieged Huguang and asked Jiangxi for help, but Jiangxi did not send troops for a long time. Now Huguang rescued the siege. Hong Chengchou and Le Ke Dehun is also about to go west from Anqing and pass through Jiangxi."

"Do you think these changes are beneficial to Jin Shenghuan or to the general?"

Wang Tizhong sat up straight, "Mr. Jiang please continue."

"I don't hide it from the general. I am a minister of the court. I begged to go home before, but now that King Lu supervises the country, and old Zhang Ge supervises Liangjiang. Naturally, I have to work for the court. I have definite information. The court secretly impeached the general for refusing to shave his hair, not because he was sincerely attached to him, and he blamed the general for not leaving Hubei in time, and even said that the general was transparent in secret, so that the situation in Jiangxi was corrupted."

"So all the while, the Qing government has already made the intention to solve the unstable chess piece of the general. Their original plan was to wait for Hong Chengchou to quell the Huguang Rebellion, then turn around and transfer the general to Huguang, and then take the opportunity to lift the military power. Let me say a word.

Of course, there is even worse news. Jin Shenghuan couldn't wait any longer. He planned to wait for the Luke Dehun troops to cross the border. The United King Deren suddenly launched an attack, assassinated the general, and then took advantage of the might of the Qing army passing through the border to recruit your troops. "

"Why did Mr. Jiang tell me this?"

"Because an enemy's enemy is a friend. My Ming Dynasty wants to recover Jiangxi, and Jiangxi Admiral Jin Shenghuan is the first enemy. Now that he wants to get rid of the general, we are certainly willing to help the general and work together to get rid of Jin Shenghuan."

"General Wang, you have always refused to shave your hair, which means that you still cherish your identity as a Han Chinese and don't want to be a slave to the Tartars. Now Jin Shenghuan and the Qing court can't tolerate the general anymore, why don't you return to the Ming Dynasty anyway?"

Jiang Rigong persuaded, "General Li Guo of the former Shun Army, etc., is now our Daming Zhongzhen Camp. All the generals will be awarded the titles of Marquis and Chief. , and conferred the title of Marquis, how about it?"

(End of this chapter)