I

Page 488

The first emperor, Zhao Shilang, was well-known anyway, and at the beginning he was also helped by the chief sect.However, seeing a doctor for the old mother cost a lot, and the family also needed to support the family. The main sect gradually became impatient, and even beat Zhao Shilang, who had borrowed money, out.

Zhao Fang wiped away his tears and recounted the experiences of these years:

"During the reign of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought year after year. Many people in our village fled the famine. Even the main Zhao's family has no food left."

"That damned Tartar, he was robbed several times when he entered the customs, and our village suffered disaster every time. My eldest brother and third brother's family were all taken away by the Tartars because they couldn't escape in time, and their whereabouts are still unknown..."

"The Tartars left, but Li Chuang came again. Li Chuang didn't plunder wantonly, and he was a good emperor for a month or two. But Li Chuang was defeated, and the rear team was hunted down by the Tartars. They robbed our village all over. Li Chuang's soldiers left, but the Tazi soldiers came after them."

"Those are not Tartar soldiers, they are the Ming border soldiers who joined the Tartars. They didn't have enough food, so they forced the big households in the village to give food, and if they couldn't provide food, they would kill people..."

"In the past few military disasters, most of the elders in the village have fled, and there are not many Zhao family members left. Then the Tartars became emperor, and the county was short of people. I passed the scholar examination and knew the local situation well. I went to apply for a job as the magistrate of the Tazi county. The county magistrate is actually Han, and the raids are more ruthless than the officials of the Ming Dynasty. Especially when we were fighting with the Datong army, we sent officials to the countryside every day to collect food."

"All the farmers in our village ran away, and the tenants ran away because they couldn't pay the rent. There was still a plague at that time, and I didn't know where to flee. Many of them fell ill and died on the way."

"In the end, even the magistrate's salary was stopped, and the officials were allowed to find ways to make a living. The magistrates exploited the people more and more. Even the big families in the city couldn't bear to run away with their families. Those who died of the plague in the city, fled Yes, there are still people who starved to death, accounting for at least [-]% to [-]%. A good county town has become an empty city in a blink of an eye."

"No one grows the land in the village. Anyway, there is a severe drought every year, and there is no food for farming. The price of food in the city is soaring. I, the teacher of the county magistrate, really can't afford food to fill my stomach. I see my young son starving die……"

"Later the Tartars were about to withdraw from the pass, and the magistrate went with them. I dared not stay. If I stayed, I would die. The money and food had already been gone. I begged the magistrate to take my family with me. The big Zhao family, with the Tatars There were only four of them who went out of the customs with my son. I didn’t take away any belongings, except for the house, furniture, and bedding, there was only a room full of books.”

"The books were left behind, so the ancestors could not forget them, so they took a whole set of genealogy to Liaodong... When I got home to get the genealogy, there were only twelve households left in the village, and half of them were too hungry to walk."

At this point, Zhao Fang cried loudly: "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo L L K K K L L I S

No wonder Zhao Fang was so excited when he saw Zhao Zhenlan. With his experience, even when he saw his former enemy, he would have a feeling of old acquaintance in another country.

Zhao Han was silent, this is what the people in the north have experienced.

Zhao Fang was still the young master of the landlord's family, and he was also a scholar who was admitted as a scholar.It would only be worse if it were an ordinary person!

Man Qing had to leave Hebei at that time, because during the Chongzhen period, Hebei was a mess.After the Qing Dynasty came, they raced to enclose land around the capital, while the prefectures and counties in the outer regions were exploited day by day, and the people's livelihood was already in dire straits.In this case, the double negative buffs of drought and plague are superimposed.

If the Manchus did not leave, why did they stay in Hebei?

Zhao Han was silent, but the two princesses and concubines wiped away their tears.

Really male silent female tears.

Zhao Han asked, "Did you bring the Zhao family tree?"

Zhao Fang stopped crying, nodded and said: "Bring it here. Our Zhao family, the distant ancestor is Boyi, the ancestor of the Zhao surname is zaofu, and the surname Ying came from the pre-Qin..."

Zhao Han, who was silent just now, just wanted to roll his eyes.

This shit, the Three Emperors and Five Emperors have all come, thinking on their heels, they all know that the genealogy is purely made up.

Finally, Zhao Fang said something more reliable: "Our branch comes from the Zhao family in Tianshuitang. After the Qin Dynasty destroyed Zhao, our distant ancestors moved to Tianshui, Gansu.

Zhao Han asked: "It has nothing to do with Song Clan Zhao Kuangyin, right?"

Zhao Fang was stunned for a moment, and replied: "Your Majesty, all people surnamed Zhao in the world recognize Tianshuitang as their ancestor. This Song Dynasty is also known as the 'Tianshui Dynasty'."

Zhao Han: "..."

After experiencing so much suffering, Zhao Fang has long learned to read words and expressions, and has already seen that Zhao Han does not want to have anything to do with Zhao Kuangyin.He quickly said: "Subdivided, it is definitely not a family. Zhao Kuangyin is the Zhao family of Zhuozhou, and our ancestors lived in Shanxi during the Tang and Song dynasties. Later, the Song and Yuan wars caused the branch to migrate, and moved to Beizhili in the early Ming Dynasty. .These are clearly written on the genealogy, and there must be no mistakes."

Compiling the royal family tree is also very important.

Before the Ming Dynasty, emperors liked to put gold on their faces.For example, Zhao Kuangyin said that he came from the Zhao family in Tianshui, but he didn't know if it was true, or if he insisted on moving closer to a famous family.

Until Zhu Yuanzhang came to the sentence "Yu Ben Huai You Commoner".

I was born as a grassroots, so I don't have any distinguished ancestors.What, you bite me?

Zhao Han said: "Leave that copy of the Zhao family tree, and I will have someone make a copy for you."

Zhao Fang hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, just take it. The Zhao family has been dispersed. The genealogy can be offered to the royal family and the Zhao family will be prosperous. The spirits of the ancestors in heaven must be gratified."

Zhao Han thought for a while, then said: "You can stay in Tianjin, and you will be settled and allocated land, and guard the Eastern Suburb Cemetery for generations. Of course, only one person is left to guard the tomb in each generation, and this person can receive a salary from the government. The rest of the descendants , free to choose a career.”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!" Zhao Fang said happily.

He also never thought that he would be so prosperous, most of his relatives were separated without a trace, and he was lucky to be able to guard the tomb of the late emperor.With the ability to divide the fields and receive wages, life is finally stable.He still has a wife and a son alive, so he just needs to live an honest life.

Moreover, guarding the tomb of the late emperor, no one would dare to bully him.

Zhao Han called Li Xiangjun and asked her to draft an imperial edict and send it back to Nanjing for Li Banghua to embellish.The general content is to put aside the relationship with the Song family, the royal family tree has been found, and I am not the descendant of the Zhao Kuangyin brothers.

It saves the folks from making up stories in a mess, which makes people upset when they look at it.

Zhao Fang suddenly said: "Your Majesty, does the ancestral grave in our hometown need to be repaired?"

Zhao Han waved his hand: "Repairs are fine, but you don't have to do it deliberately, let alone build ancestral tombs all around. Those lands should be reserved for the common people to cultivate."

Zhao Fang said: "Your Majesty, please allow the grass-roots people to go back to their hometown every year to pay respects to their ancestors and visit their graves. The grass-roots people will also take good care of your majesty's ancestral graves."

"That's right."

Zhao Han asked someone to take another 100 taels of silver, and asked Zhao Fang to resettle his family in the eastern suburbs of Tianjin.

Zhao Zhenlan had a lot to say, and wanted to catch up with this clan brother, and the two of them talked until evening.When eating dinner, Zhao Zhenlan's eyes were red, and she obviously cried again because of sadness.

Immediately, Zhao Zhenlan took her husband and went back to her hometown on behalf of the emperor to visit the tomb and pay respects to the ancestors.

Chapter 613 [A small country is like a beggar]

Zhao Han really wanted to visit Beijing, but he gave up on it.

The canal from Tongzhou to Beijing was silted up in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and only some small boats could pass through it, and water transport ships could not pass through it.

The river next to the capital was silted up, and water transportation was also involved, so the Ming court was actually powerless.The first dredging of the river was dragged from the Hongzhi period to the Jiajing period.After it was dredged, it was silted up again for decades, and it has not been cleared until now. When the grain arrives in Tongzhou, it goes to Taikuang. If it wants to transport it to the capital, it needs manpower and livestock.

There are a large number of royal driving teams. If the boat cannot be sailed, it must be recruited to transport things.Zhao Han didn't bother to make any fuss, so he returned directly to the south and organized the local people to dredge the river after Beijing's population was full.

Traveling all the way south to Jining, I couldn't go any further and was blocked by the flood.

This year, the south is dry, and the north is flooded again!

The rivers along the Huanghuai River swelled so much that the embankments couldn't bear it at all, so they had to take the initiative to burst the embankments to release the flood.Not daring to flood the more affluent south bank, they had to dig a dam to the north. Caoxian, Chengwu, Shanxian, Yutai, Jinxiang... several counties were affected.

At the same time, the banks of the Han River were also flooded.

Zhang Guowei, governor of the northern rivers, rushed to Jining to meet the saint, and his distress was beyond words: "Your Majesty, the floods in the Huanghuai River and Han River this year are the worst since the 11th year of Wanli! It seems that the sky has been pierced, and the water of the Milky Way Letting it out in the world, I really... really can't do anything."

Zhao Han wanted to scold his mother very much at this time, not scolding Zhang Guowei, but scolding God. .

The drought in the south this year has finally eased compared to last year.But the flood in the north is actually once in 60 years. From the 11th year of Wanli to the present, it has been more than 60 years!

Zhao Han asked blankly, "How is the flood situation in various places?"

Zhang Guowei replied: "I only know the situation on the north bank of the Yellow River. The flood has flooded several cities. As for the Han River, I heard that the disaster was serious, but I don't know the details."

There is no way around this. During the flood, ships and horses were unable to move. With ancient communication technology, it was impossible to quickly grasp the news.

At this moment, the southernmost point of the flood has spread to Gaoyou and Taizhou.

The Yangtze River Basin, which has always been dry in spring, also suddenly experienced heavy rain for days. Only because of the continuous drought in the past few months, it has not yet caused flood disasters.

Chongzhen suffered from drought every year, and Zhao Han suffered from floods every year.

It seems that in the past ten years or so, God forgot to rain, and it has been made up for in the past few years.

If you look at the historical data of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, you can see how outrageous the climate is. The Chongzhen and Shunzhi dynasties have never stopped natural disasters.Especially in the cold winter weather, seven years later, in several counties in Hebei, according to historical records, "it snowed for more than [-] days, wild birds froze to death, and travel was cut off."

It's okay now, it's just floods and droughts, and it's not the coldest year yet.

"You go to control the water. You don't have to stay in Jining," Zhao Han said. "My accompanying guards, you take 500 people away, whether it's disaster relief or suppression, you can use it as you see fit."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The five hundred emperor's personal guards followed him, more powerful than holding Shangfang's sword.

Looking at the light rain outside, Zhao Han wondered whether he should encroach on Vietnam ahead of time.Or, simply destroy Champa, where there is the Mekong Delta, and Champa relies on the grain-producing areas of the delta to barely resist the invasion of the Nguyen regime.

It is necessary to build an overseas grain production base, otherwise, if the climate worsens, how can the national treasury store grain?

As for the excuse for sending troops, it is disobedience to Wang Hua.

Champa is a vassal state of Ming Dynasty, but it is a vassal state of Vietnam behind the back of Ming Dynasty.Now, the Datong New Dynasty rules China and naturally has the legal system left by the Ming Dynasty. The Champa Kingdom must bow its head to the Celestial Dynasty!

First of all, a diplomatic envoy must be sent to reprimand the ruler of Champa.

Zhao Han could fully imagine the joy that King Champa felt when he went out to find the treasure when he was scolded by the Chinese envoy.Its psychological activity must be: Chinese father, you are finally here, beat me, scold me, after beating and scolding, I will still be your good son.Dad quickly sent troops to help, the guy next door surnamed Ruan bullied me!

The Champa Kingdom in the early Ming Dynasty had a relatively large territory. Facing the invasion of Vietnam, Zheng He helped it when he passed by.

After that, it will not work anymore. Ming Dynasty no longer manages overseas, and the land of Champa was gradually eroded, and even the king was killed and the capital was occupied. Now only the land in the Mekong Delta is left.

After the division of Vietnam, the Nguyen family married their daughters and wanted to control Champa.

The king of Champa took the opportunity to stand on his own, and was punished by the Ruan family, and now he is in the state of paying tribute to his ministers.The food harvested in Champa every year is paid a large amount of tribute to the Nguyen regime, and at the same time, Vietnamese are allowed to immigrate to Champa.

Once Zhao Han sent an envoy, the Champa Kingdom would bow down and become a vassal, and the Ruan family would threaten Champa with force.

If the Ruan family mobilizes troops to occupy the city, the Zheng family may launch an attack in advance.

The Vietnam Civil War broke out ahead of time, so Zhao Han could send troops ahead of time!

It's a good plan.

After waiting for half a month in Jining, the flood finally receded.Zhao Han continued to go south by boat, and everywhere he went was devastated.

Nanyang Town, where Fei Ruhe and Duoduo confronted each other back then, which is later known as Yutai County, was completely destroyed by the flood, and a large number of houses collapsed in the muddy water.Further south, both sides of the Grand Canal were completely flooded, Gaoyou was flooded into the city, and several city gates were blocked by mud.

"Father," Zhao Kuanghuan asked looking at the miserable situation, "my child knows the story of Dayu's flood control, can't we dig ditches to divert the flood?"

Zhao Han stroked the crown of the prince's head: "It's not that easy. Zhang Guowei is under orders to control the water. It will take fifteen to twenty years to divert the Yellow River from Shandong to the sea. The reason for the flooding this year is that the Ming Dynasty In order to ensure water transportation, they took a wrong path in water control. This year when floods and droughts come together, the Yangtze River and the Yellow River will have poor harvests. In this way, the food in the national treasury is always not enough, and it has never been able to keep it.”

Zhao Kuanghuan said: "Sir, it took more than ten years for Dayu to control the water. It took more than ten years for the father to let Zhang Guowei control the water. It will definitely be fine in the future."

Zhao Han smiled: "Remember, people's livelihood is important, water control is not a temporary thing, and it will be controlled every year in the future."

"Yes, my child remembers." Zhao Kuanghuan nodded.

Before returning to Nanjing, Zhao Han wrote a letter and ordered the Clippers to send it to the Ministry of Rites and send diplomats to Champa to negotiate.

Liu Xiangke, who had contradicted Li Zicheng face to face, was again given the mission of envoy, and went to Champa with a festival to denounce his monarch.

Liu Xiangke took a warship to Binh Thong Long, which is also the coast of Binh Thuan Province in later Vietnam, more than 200 miles east of Ho Chi Minh City.This is the capital of Champa.

As for Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, it is still a small fishing village at this time.

The estuaries of the Red River Delta and the Mekong River Delta should be natural harbors, and the soil is fertile and suitable for farming.But it is full of wetlands, and the two banks are mostly mangroves, so it is relatively difficult to develop, and it will take dozens or hundreds of years of continuous transformation to turn it into farmland.

The south of the Yangtze River in China used to be full of tidal flats and wetlands, and it was not until the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties that it was fully developed.

And Beidacang in the northeast is still part of the Great Northern Wilderness, and the swamps everywhere are in urgent need of large-scale reconstruction.

Bintong Dragon City is prosperous in business and trade, gathering merchants from all over the world, but the Portuguese are not allowed to come ashore.Because the two sides belonged to sworn enemies, Portugal once destroyed the country of Malacca, and the royal family of Malacca and the royal family of Champa had the same origin.

After the fall of Malacca, a large number of citizens fled to Champa to settle down.Later, Champa was once destroyed, and the citizens of Champa also fled to Malacca.

Historically, before Champa was annexed by Vietnam, it even dispatched an expedition to Malacca, trying to restore the country from the Dutch colonists.

More than a dozen Chinese warships came, but everyone didn't take it seriously. It is normal for the fleet to pass by Bin Tonglong for supplies.

Liu Xiangke was escorted off the ship by the navy, and he was neatly dressed in official uniform.

He walked straight towards the city gate, and the Chinese merchants who were urging the unloading of goods at the pier immediately trotted over to meet them, and asked the officials of the Celestial Dynasty what they were doing here.

Liu Xiangke turned a deaf ear, and soon came to the gate of the city, but was stopped by the soldiers guarding the city.

"China's envoy, get out of the way quickly!" The accompanying interpreter scolded.

The translators were recruited in Guangzhou, and they had to speak Cham, which belongs to the Indonesian branch of the Austronesian language family.

Several soldiers, looking at each other in blank dismay, all backed away in fright.

The city wall of Bintonglong is low and short, made of rammed earth.However, the royal palace in the city was built in a grand manner, and the castle was built with stones.

King Po Lai drank some wine and was taking a siesta, when suddenly he heard the minister begging for an audience, saying that the Chinese envoy had come.

"What are the Chinese envoys doing here?" Po Lai wondered.

The minister's name is Hetu, he is a green cultist, and Hezhuo is in Xinjiang.He said: "Your Majesty, I heard that China has established a new dynasty, and Champa has always been a vassal of China. We have never paid tribute, maybe the Chinese emperor sent someone to question the crime."

condemn?

Po Lai was a little nervous: "Then what should I do?"

Hetu smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this is a great event. According to the records in ancient books, when Champa was more powerful, it was once invaded by Annan. The Chinese eunuch Sanbao led a fleet to pass by Champa, and helped Champa stop the enemy. Since then, the city has regarded China as its suzerain. Now the Ruan family has been bullying us and forcing us to pay tribute grain. Not to mention paying tribute, but also asking us to sell grain at a low price. We can take this opportunity to honor China and let the Chinese deal with the Ruan family!"

Po Lai worried: "I'm afraid China will not help. And even if it helps, it is nothing more than changing the suzerain, and we have to pay tribute for our food."

Hetu explained: "Your Majesty does not know that the emperor of China does not lack that little food. China is very rich, and the emperor only wants face. When we pay tribute, the emperor of China will be happy and reward more goods back."