The Power of the Three Kingdoms at the End of the Han Dynasty and the Imperial Power of the Han Dyna

Chapter 360: 194, severe drought!

In 194, there was a severe drought!

The sun was scorching, the sky was cloudless, and the sun was mercilessly scorching the earth like a fireball. Rivers have dried up, wells have dried up, and deep holes have opened in the originally fertile land, as if crying to the sky for endless suffering.

The crops were withered and fell to the ground. The farmers were heartbroken as they watched a year's hard work go up in smoke. They looked up to the sky and sighed, praying for rain, but the only response was the endless heat wave and dry wind.

This severe drought affected the entire empire, including all the warring princes, and they had to change their original battle plans.

Everyone unanimously chose to cease the war.

Large tracts of land became dry and cracked, crops withered, and no grains were harvested. People's lives have fallen into extreme difficulties, and hunger and water shortage have become common phenomena.

People's lives have become extremely difficult, and drinking water has become the biggest problem. The originally clear streams and wells had dried up, and they had to rush to distant places, hoping to find any remaining trickles.

However, as the drought continues, even these trickles are disappearing. They had to drink "mixed water" full of silt, which was full of bacteria and germs, leading to large-scale outbreaks of disease.

In order to survive, many people had to abandon their homes and travel in groups to unknown places in search of life.

On the way, they faced the threats of hunger, water shortage and disease. Countless people struggled in misery every day. The weak, old and infirm fell on the road, victims of the drought.

If the fight continues, the people under your rule will overthrow you without anyone else taking action.

Everyone is worried about this sudden drought.

In order to cope with the drought, the princes took a series of measures.

Tao Qian of Xuzhou was burned, killed, and looted by Cao Cao last year. People in Langya, Pengcheng, Xiapi and other places chose to cross the Yangtze River south to seek a way out, so the pressure on Xuzhou was not great. But it also means that the prosperity that Tao Qian spent several years building is gone forever. Although Xuzhou survived, its vitality was severely damaged.

Jingzhou Liu Biao, he only controlled the two counties of Nanjun and Jiangxia in Jingzhou. The four southern counties were basically autonomous. Nanyang in the north was given to Yuan Shao. With the help of powerful local gentry, the severe drought had a great impact on Liu Biao. The gentry under his rule took advantage of the opportunity. By annexing land and hiding people, Liu Biao became even more dependent on the powerful local gentry.

Yuan Shao of Yuzhou, who captured the entire Yuzhou last year and had ambitious plans to capture Jiujiang County, now had to choose to temporarily put his plans on hold to help the victims and prevent the resurgence of the "Yellow Turban", and invested all the supplies he had saved.

However, Yuan Shao also has his own plan. After the disaster is over, he will squeeze the untouchables to the maximum extent and just leave the stuttering ones alive!

Compared with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Liu Yao's life can be said to be much better. After all, they occupy the Jianghuai River. Although the drought has an impact on them, it is not much, but it is a bit troublesome to resettle the refugees.

The worst thing happened to Cao Cao. There was a fire in his backyard, but now his territory was confiscated, and he was faced with a great famine, and there was simply not enough food! But he still had to grit his teeth and hold on. His hatred for Lu Bu and the powerful nobles who betrayed him increased to a higher level.

If it weren't for them, he might have captured Xuzhou by now. With the support of Yan and Xuzhou, why should he be afraid of a severe drought?

As for Liu Han... there had been a severe drought for several days, and Liu Han became angry and blistered at the corners of his mouth.

The Guanzhong area, especially the Sanfu area, experienced no rain for three consecutive months from April to July.

After three years of rest and recuperation, we dare not expand the army wantonly, let alone use weapons on a large scale, just to face this year's unprecedented drought.

"How is the Sili area?"

"Lord, fortunately, we have been prepared in advance. There are enough grain reserves in the Sili area, but the water source is a problem." Liu Han naturally knew that the only way to survive now was by the sky.

The reason why Tian Feng and Dong Zhao were placed in Sili was for today. With Tian Feng's selfless leader and Dong Zhao's years of experience in comforting victims and being responsible for logistics, they spent great efforts to prevent the tragic situation of "white bones exposed in the wild and no roosters crowing for thousands of miles" in the Guanzhong area, let alone "Chang'an people eating each other" Go against Tiangang!

On this day in history, one hu of grain is worth half a million, and one hu of beans and wheat is worth 200,000." In Chang'an, "people eat each other, and the bones are piled up."

In this desperate situation of hell on earth, corrupt officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty were still greedy. Liu Xie once ordered disaster relief, but "as time went by, the dead remained the same as before." Liu Xie was furious and conducted a thorough investigation, and found that the relief officials were responsible for theft.

What's even more ridiculous is that the Han emperor's handling of this bad behavior was hasty and perfunctory. He slapped the relief officer fifty times and stopped talking.

It can be seen that the prestige of the imperial court at that time was completely gone, and the decrees were not effective.

Now, due to Liu Han's early intervention, the Sili area resumed production in the first year, and also recuperated in the second year. It finally slowed down a bit in the third year, but unexpectedly, it was all given away without saving much.

Bingzhou also actively transfused blood to Sili and to the grassland at the same time, so that stability could be achieved.

Liu Han tried his best to capture Qingzhou a year ago. Qingzhou was able to withstand this severe drought. First, it was a test of the wealth Youzhou had saved over the years. Second, along the coast of Qingzhou, people in some areas depended on the sea for their livelihoods and did not rely on the sea. arable land.

Everyone under Liu Han, including Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Xi Zhicai, Jia Xu, Cheng Yu and others, were all very fortunate to have accumulated enough food over the years.

Among the five prefectures currently under his control, Sili has the smallest population. Years of war have caused the population to plummet. Even if Liu Han took action in time, the population has dropped from 3.2 million to 1.7 million, a decrease of nearly half. Sili The area is recuperating, but the food supply is less than three months.

The second is Qingzhou, with a decrease of 1.5 million people and maintaining at 2.3 million. Qingzhou's grain harvesting is less than a month.

The third is Jizhou. Although there was the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the chaos among the princes, the population of Jizhou decreased by 3 million, but it still remained at 3 million. After all, Jizhou is a major grain-producing state, and it recovered very well in three years. Well, we have been storing grain for half a year and have become self-sufficient in this drought.

The fourth is Youzhou. The original 2.5 million people in Youzhou increased to 6 million in ten years (including nearly 600,000 people from Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Southern Xiongnu). After ten years of hard work, they are not only self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency also meets the people's demand for meat. Ordinary people can eat meat once a month. Everyone in the village and small families raise chickens and ducks. The drought has affected them, but the imperial government provides relief, increases revenue and reduces expenditure, which makes it a bit harder. But I can get by.

The best one is naturally Bingzhou. Before Liu Han came, there were only 700,000 people in Bingzhou, but with the continuous migration, the population exceeded 7 million. Even if people are moved now, they will not move to Bingzhou. For such a large state, strategic materials The reserves are naturally astonishing. Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping spend a lot of money every year to purchase grain from other places (Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Yizhou), with at least four granaries in each county.

Since the powerful nobles handed over the hidden population, there were no illegal households. Liu Han occupied five states and the population reached 20 million, which was more than the population after the end of the Three Kingdoms in the original history (on the surface).

There was no problem in the Sili area that he was most worried about. Liu Han felt relieved. He looked at Hua Tuo and said, "After a major disaster, there will be a major epidemic. Yuanhua has a heavy burden on your shoulders."

"Don't worry, my lord, medical schools are currently under construction in Qingzhou, and other medical schools in other places have prepared emergency medicines."

Under Liu Han's rule, drinking hot water has become a habit for the people (it is good for the upper body and effective for the lower body). The medical school usually has various lectures and free clinics, which are very prestigious among the people.

This is also partly due to retired soldiers. The relationship between military doctors and soldiers is the best, and military doctors are all from medical schools. When retired soldiers return, they will either serve as police officers, township chiefs, or district chiefs, so they will naturally cooperate fully.

At present, the medical school itself is also undergoing reforms, recruiting female doctors and female nurses. There are some diseases that are inconvenient for men to treat, and there are some things that men are not as careful as women. This is inevitable.

The first test point of the reform is the army. Female doctors and nurses appear in the military camps. At present, no one who is short-sighted dares to molest women.

(End of this chapter)