Ming politicians

For several consecutive years, there were still many natural disasters in various places in Ming Dynasty. Drought is very common, and it is nothing.

At the beginning of the year, an earthquake occurred in Xi'an, Shanxi. Originally, the earthquake was a natural disaster. Hundreds of years later, science and technology clearly revealed the cause of the earthquake, but this was not the case in the Ming Dynasty. This was considered to be God's dissatisfaction and was Thinking that there is a vision of change, everyone from the emperor and the court ministers down to the people of the Li people said that they prayed for God's protection, lest there was something wrong with their words and deeds, which would anger the sky and bring disasters.

Strange to say, in the second half of the year, due to the severe drought in the south, a large-scale locust plague occurred in Huzhou Prefecture, which belongs to Zhejiang. panic.

Beizhili and Zhejiang in the south are the granary of Ming Dynasty, and they are also the most affluent places, but for several years, large-scale disasters occurred, even in the most affluent Suzhou, in the 14th year of Chongzhen. There were droughts and plagues of locusts.Such a situation was a great blow to the imperial court.

When Yang Sichang served as the chief assistant of the cabinet, he inherited Sun Chengzong's tradition and paid great attention to disaster relief. Although there are famines every year, because of the timely relief, there are no problems. The south is generally stable. It's a pity that such a situation , in the 15th year of Chongzhen, there were changes.

The conflict between Zhou Yanru and Yang Sichang caused Yang Sichang to lose his position as the chief assistant of the cabinet. Zhou Yanru, who once again served as the chief assistant of the cabinet, did not care about the famine in the south at all, and was still intoxicated in the control of power. An ethos of not reporting worries.It began to spread unscrupulously in the imperial court, and officials in Zhejiang and other places were unwilling to report on the famine, so as not to affect their promotion and reuse, so the disaster was concealed.

What's more terrible is the officials from all over Zhejiang.Not only did they not care about the famine problem, but they also collected taxes as usual, and even a considerable number of merchants were affected. For a while, a large number of victims began to appear, and many victims starved to death every day. Many villages and towns even saw There are less than one common people.

A large number of victims began to wander.Governments around the country are also strictly guarding against victims of disasters and are not allowed to enter the city. Even if some places have brought out food and set up porridge sheds, it is not very effective. The good thing is that no one has dared to rebel. The victims just endured silently. They know very well .At that time, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others were so powerful that they led an army of hundreds of thousands.They were all wiped out by the imperial court. If they thought about rebelling, they would definitely end badly.

Because of the obstruction of the local government, some refugees who can afford it slowly came to the territory of Shandong.

The victims who were able to walk to Shandong were all in good health, but they arrived in Shandong.There was only one breath left.

The news that the victims came to Shandong was quickly reported to the Governor's Office.

In terms of how to deal with the disaster victims, Su Tiancheng, Zhu Shenxuan and the others agreed surprisingly that relief must be provided.And let these victims survive.

The prefectures and counties in Shandong began to provide relief to the victims, and the set up warehouses were opened to provide sufficient food every day, and cotton clothes were also provided to prevent the victims from freezing to death.

The news of Shandong's relief for the victims spread quickly. The victims of Zhejiang and South Zhili began to flock to Shandong in large numbers. These victims knew that as long as they could reach Shandong, they would be able to survive. With hope, their tenacious vitality began to show. , a large number of victims, with their families and mouths, are rolling towards Shandong.

Zhu Shenxuan began to worry. He did not expect that there would be so many victims. After all, it would take a lot of silver and countless grains to rescue the victims. Even if the relief goes on like this, there will be times when it will be too much, not to mention that the Jiangning battalion army will rush to Fujian after the new year, and it will need a lot of silver.

However, Su Tiancheng's attitude was very clear, no matter what he said, he had to stick to it. If the grain storage was not enough, he would buy a large amount of grain from places such as Luzon and Southeast Asia to ensure the storage and the daily supply of the victims.Moreover, these disaster victims not only have enough to eat, but also have oil and meat, so as to ensure that they can survive the long winter.

Su Tiancheng made up his mind to help the victims, not entirely because of his reputation. He knew very well that it was the responsibility of the government to help the victims. He was an official of the imperial court. It would be better to be killed, and the government will lose support from the people. Therefore, in the process of helping the victims, Su Tiancheng repeatedly emphasized that the people are our parents. When the people encounter difficulties, the officials are obliged to help.

It is under the support of this belief that all parts of Shandong have mobilized and started to rescue the victims in an orderly manner, helping the victims to build shacks, temporarily living in them, allowing the victims to survive the winter, and returning to their hometowns when they are warmly dressed and flowers bloom. .

Ordinary people are not stupid, they know very well that in Zhejiang and Nanzhili, they were rejected by the government, and some places even drove and suppressed the victims. Only in Shandong, they received relief, and the government not only cared about food, but also Concerned about the issue of clothing and accommodation, the difference is too great, Su Tiancheng's name quickly spread among the common people.

The people in the south are not very familiar with Su Tiancheng. Although Su Tiancheng has done so many things and made so many contributions, those things are only things that can be understood by scholars. As for ordinary people, it is impossible to know Yes, but this time the situation is different, the victims are all ordinary people at the lowest level, illiterate, but they remember Su Tiancheng, and also remember many things that Su Tiancheng has done, including exterminating the bandits, severely injuring the Jin Tartars son and so on.

The common people are simple, they don't know how to thank, and they know that they can't thank Su Tiancheng, but they can do the simplest thing, that is to set up a tablet for Su Tian, ​​enshrine it, and beg God to bless this Lord Su every day .

Su Tiancheng would never have imagined that this move of his would bring about a huge effect in his subsequent conquests in the south.

Zhou Yanru also knew about the famine in the south, but he thought it was an unlucky thing, and the relief needed a lot of money. The south was the imperial court’s granary. A substantial reduction is unbearable, so Zhou Yanru did not care about the famine in the south.

Afterwards, the disaster victims received relief in Shandong. Zhou Yanru was very happy when he heard the news. He wished that all the disaster victims would go to Shandong. , can escort the victims to Shandong.

Zhou Yanru believed that after the disaster victims arrived in Shandong, they would need to spend a lot of silver and food. For Su Tiancheng, this was also a weakening of his strength. Perhaps at a certain point, Shandong could not bear it anymore and asked the imperial court for help. Taking advantage of this time, put forward certain conditions.

It's a pity that Shandong resisted, or Su Tiancheng resisted.

This surprised Zhou Yanru greatly. One must know that the amount of silver needed to relieve the victims is astronomical. In some places, as well as some places under Nanzhili, Su Tiancheng was able to bear so many victims. How strong financial resources were needed, not to mention the military pay of the Jiangning camp and the salaries of Shandong officials.

It was precisely because of this incident that Zhou Yanru made up his mind not to become an enemy with Su Tian. Even if the conflict between Su Tiancheng and the court broke out and the soldiers met, he should not get involved. Su Tiancheng's ability is extremely As in general, it is no longer under the control of the court.

Secretly, Zhou Yanru entrusted merchants to give Su Tiancheng 1 taels of silver, which means the money donated for the relief of the victims. Zhou Yanru’s approach is very interesting. The imperial court will not give out a penny, but he will take it personally. 1 taels of silver came out, which is tantamount to expressing our opinion to Su Tiancheng. I, Zhou Yanru, personally don't want to be against you, Su Tiancheng. Everything is decided by the court and ordered by the emperor.

Su Tiancheng didn't care too much about these things anymore. Governments at all levels were doing disaster relief, and it had already been carried out in an orderly manner, so he didn't need to worry about it. As for the attitude of officials at all levels, he didn't have to worry about it. Yes, all of them were sent from Dengzhou and other places, and they knew what to do. As for the original officials, some returned to the capital and made other arrangements, and some were directly dismissed.

Su Tiancheng was thinking about conquering Fujian. However, Zhejiang has encountered such a great famine. The government's actions have already chilled the common people. This is his chance. When he wins Fujian, he can consider taking it as well. Zhejiang, so Nanzhili will be directly caught in the middle, and it will be a matter of time before it is won.

After careful consideration, Su Tiancheng made up his mind to bring Fujian and Zhejiang under his command.

Now that he has made up his mind, Su Tiancheng will not waste time. He began to plan and think. He originally planned to lead an army of 5 Jiangning battalions. Now it seems that he still needs to increase his troops. He will lead at least [-] people and divide them into two armies. All the way to Fujian by boat, and all the way to enter Zhejiang by detour. Xiong Zijian has laid a good foundation in Quanzhou. The situation is different for the army in Zhejiang, and they all need to prepare themselves.

As for the reason for the crusade, it is very simple. After seeing the disaster of the people, not only did not provide relief, but also concealed it from the court and exploited the people. Such officials should naturally be punished. (To be continued..)