I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 403 Drought (6k)

When Xun Yu left, he was Shangshu Zuocheng. When he came back, he and Chen Qun had become Shangshu of the Shangshutai.

A Shangshu Lang can be called Shilang after working in the Shangshu Tai for three years, which is considered senior. This year is already Xun Yu and Chen Qun's fifth year in the Shangshu Tai.

Although they were relatively young, the abilities they had demonstrated in the Shangshutai were recognized. When they were promoted to Shangshu, there were not many complaints in the Shangshutai...

Well, there are.

Kong Jun thought it was okay for him to have sex with him.

Although he entered the Shangshu Tai several months later than the other two, Kong Jun felt that he should at least be promoted to Shangshu like Xun Yu!

Unfortunately, God did not wish.

Although Kong Jun was resentful, he had worked with Xun Yu and was aware of Xun Yu's talents. Hidden in his resentment was a bit of admiration that he had to admit.

However, Kong Rong was very confident that if there was another vacancy for the position of Shangshu, it would definitely be him!
Liu Bian also felt that things did not go as planned.

Liu Bian estimated that due to the heavy rain in Youfufeng last year, the spring rain at the beginning of this year was still not very abundant.

This made Liu Bian hesitate. Originally, Liu Bian planned to make some adjustments to the tax system this year. However, documents were sent to Luoyang from all the northern provinces and counties, from Qingzhou in the east to Liangzhou in the west, stating that the spring rains would be delayed or reduced. Such a large-scale movement once again gave Liu Bian a bad feeling.

One year is flood and the next is drought...

Although Liu Bian didn't want to admit it, this worst-case scenario was very likely to happen.

The first thing Liu Bian thought of was Youzhou. If there was a drought, he would need to save food and could no longer go out of the border to fight as planned.

However, by the time the news came and went, it was already too late.

In early spring, the Han army marched out of the border.

Guan Yu and Lu Bu who resolved their rift, Zhao Yun who was supported by the Wuhuan people for his justice and bravery, and Ding Yuan who had been in the border area for many years...

Under Liu Yu's management, all kinds of supplies had been stored in Youzhou for several years, and grain had also been transferred from Jizhou in advance.

No worries, no superiors to hinder, no colleagues to hold back...

When Chen Lin, the messenger sent by Liu Bian, arrived at the border of Youzhou, what he saw was the victorious Han army.

Chen Lin saw a soldier driving a cart pulled by two horses, with a happy smile on his face.

After asking, he learned that although the horse that pulled the carriage when the soldier went out of the border had been left outside the border forever, he got two other horses as trophies, which was why he was so happy.

Soon, Gao Shun, who heard that an angel had arrived, came here. After confirming Chen Lin's identity, he hurriedly led Chen Lin to see Lu Bu.

Lu Bu blurted out the question in his mind: "Why is the angel here?"

Gao Shun almost couldn't help but sigh: Is this a question that a captain leading an army outside should ask an angel?

Chen Lin, who had been entrusted by the emperor, answered Lu Bu's question flexibly: "Your Majesty knows that my great Han cavalry will win this battle, so he sent me here in advance to comfort the soldiers!"

And the response Liu Bian received in Luoyang was a series of good news.

Last year, Kobineng, who was found to have repeated actions, became the main target of the Youzhou army. His people were scattered, and Kobineng was suspected to have been lost in the battle. The three Xianbei armies of the Eastern Xianbei Suli and Mijia tribes and the Central Xianbei Fuhanluo tribe, who heard the news and came to help Kobineng, did not have time to support Kobineng's troops.

Influenced by Kobinen's army, the three armies lost their morale as soon as they arrived at the battlefield and were defeated by the Han army. All three armies fled northward.

……

A great victory is a happy event, but this time, Liu Bian was worried. For the first time, he felt that the victory report was not good. In addition to the victory report, Liu Bian had to pay more attention to the large amount of grain spent behind the victory report.

The cattle and horses could still be replenished by captured supplies, but the grain could not be replenished.

Although the most captured items besides cattle and horses were sheep, the largest number of captives were Xianbei captives.

But the rewards that are due cannot be missed.

Liu Bian absolutely did not want to hurt the hearts of his meritorious officials because of his own worries.

……

In March, rainfall is still not much.

Liu Bian then issued an official document, ordering many counties and states in the north to report rainfall conditions in a timely manner.

However, in April, no rain fell in many places, and the water level of many rivers dropped.

The water-irrigation carts that have been promoted in various places can only guarantee the output of a small part of the wheat fields, and the water-irrigation carts further aggravate the drop in river water levels, creating a vicious cycle.

April and May are the most critical filling period for wheat ears. If there is a lack of water at this time, even if wheat grains grow later, they will be empty shells.

Although the people did not understand what the filling period was, they all knew that the wheat fields must not be cultivated at this time.

While Liu Bian was in the palace, he had already heard that villages under the jurisdiction of Henan Yin were fighting over water in the ditches. This kind of bad phenomenon was by no means an isolated case.

Yuan Shu was furious about such an image-damaging incident under his rule, but no matter how angry he was, he had no good solution for the chaos caused by natural disasters.

He could only adopt Yan Xiang's suggestion and continue to accelerate the promotion of manufacturing rollovers.

Sharpening a gun in the face of battle will bring displeasure.

No matter what other consequences the rollover might cause, the key was to preserve the wheat planted before winter last year.

This is also the consensus of officials in the north.

After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Bian had to admit that the best approach was to try to maintain the yield of winter wheat when many places did not know when the next rain would come.

But with today's productivity, even if there is a failure, how much can be saved?

In mid-May, there had been no rain in the Three Prefectures since April, and Liu Bian received a report that some shallow wells in Chang'an had dried up.

Logically speaking, as it rained so many days in Youfufeng last year, there should be a lot of groundwater deposited. Jingzhao is adjacent to Youfufeng and is even downstream of Youfufeng. Why did the wells dry up so easily?

Then he suddenly thought of the answer - earthquakes, two Jingzhao earthquakes after the heavy rain in Youfufeng...

However, although Liu Bian figured out the reason, he still couldn't solve the problem.

Not only him, but all the officials in the court, like Liu Bian, watched the drought coming and were unable to do anything.

A sacrifice to the gods? Just a placebo.

Although the wheat harvest is bound to drop sharply at the moment, if the wheat output in many places can even reach one-tenth or one-twelfth of its original level, it would be a blessing from heaven.

Even if the situation eases in September, the next wheat harvest will be in May of the following year, and the earliest time to harvest mustard, mallow, turnips, etc. will be in April of the following year.

With nearly a year's worth of food supply and the disaster-stricken areas spread all over the north, the food reserves of the court must be insufficient.

As for the people who had no food to feed themselves, Liu Bian only thought of an old idea.

Go south!

Although the south is now more livable than before, most of the land near the Yangtze River has already been developed. If the population is to be resettled, they can only go further south.

Liu Bian still remembered the lesson he had learned.

When the Seven Commanderies and States were hit by a flood, it was originally planned to resettle 50,000 households in the four counties of Southern Jing, but in the end only 20,000 households were willing to go. Even though Ma Ridi, then the Grand Commandant, personally coordinated the entire process, and two famous doctors, Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing, accompanied the victims along the way to help them solve their problems, in the end thousands of people still did not live and work in peace in Southern Jing.

Ma Ritian has been very busy recently.

This is the first time he has been so busy since he stepped down as the Grand Marshal.

But although he was physically tired, Ma Riti still gritted his teeth and continued writing at his desk.

He had to sum up the lessons learned from when he led 20,000 households of disaster victims to the four counties in southern Jing. As there might be millions of disaster victims involved, he dared not slack off in the slightest.

Ma Riti would rather have a heavy rain after he finished, turning his hard work into nothing.

But until he accomplished this, the heavy rain he longed for still did not come.

In Shanyang County, the county's inspector Zhuge Xuan was at a loss when faced with the sudden arrival of the knights.

"Your Majesty, do you want me to go to Luoyang with you now?"

"That's right! There's no time to lose! Send someone to inform your superiors and their families as soon as possible, and set off today!"

At the same time, officials from all over the country, such as Zhuge Xuan, who had participated in the resettlement of disaster-stricken people in the four counties of southern Jing, were recruited.

(End of this chapter)