I Can Control My Ancestors-Chapter 282 - 8: The Great Calamity Strikes Again, Taking Control Once More
The development of events was not beyond Gu Yi’s expectations;
The world may change, but natural disasters are already predestined. .....
....
In the sixteenth year of Yanxing;
An unexpected drought brought the development of the Great Han to an abrupt halt.
——Jizhou State, Yan Province, Sanfu;
The drought in many areas seemed to press the pause button, causing the unstoppable momentum of the Great Han to suddenly stall.
Of course, though such a level of drought could affect the Great Han,
It was not enough to be fatal.
With Zhuge Liang, Zhang Hua, Yang Hu, and others in the court;
Combined with the current foundation of the Great Han and the clarity in governance.
The relief work proceeded very smoothly.
This disaster did not cause a bit of impact on the Great Han; just mobilizing the granaries from all sides was enough to stabilize, with everything remaining orderly.
But the development of events will naturally not be so simple.
In the original history.
The brilliance and chaos of troubled times concealed the fact of natural disasters at that time.
But at the end of the Eastern Han, the large-scale population decline, natural disasters remained one of the inevitable main reasons.
In the seventeenth year of Yanxing;
——The disaster continues and even spread to more states and counties.
Yan Province, Sanfu’s drought did not stop; Jiangdong experienced continuous rainy days, eventually causing the Yangtze River to burst its banks and a great flood to occur.
This time, the natural disaster finally posed a threat to the Great Han.
No matter how strong the national power of a feudal dynasty is,
Due to the limitations of productivity, such relentless and widespread disasters are still lethal.
The most crucial point is ——
The large-scale population growth of the Great Han over the years, also significantly increased the number of refugees in this disaster.
But now the capability of the people in the Great Han’s court is not just talk.
The example of Gu Xi’s disaster relief from years ago provided them with an excellent model.
Although times have changed, the current situation has completely transformed compared to the past.
But for these talented individuals,
They can totally devise strategies more suitable for the present based on everything Gu Xi used during the disaster relief in the past.
Opening warehouses to stabilize grain prices;
Using the foundation of the Great Han over the years to stabilize the overall situation.
They even adopted the ’work-for-relief’ scheme from the era of Emperor Wu of Han, relief efforts proceeded while aiding the disaster victims.
Zhuge Liang chose not to modify the system.
Although under such situations, modifying those beneficial policies to the people would significantly reduce the court’s pressure,
If a system is thoroughly implemented, suddenly canceling it would cause a dissipation of people’s hearts.
Stabilizing the people’s hearts is also the most severe issue in disaster relief.
As long as the people’s hearts do not disperse,
The impact disasters can cause would not be sufficient to entirely influence the core of the state.
This year’s struggle far exceeded the previous year.
Zhuge Liang seemed to become the Gu Xi of old, worrying day and night about the disaster relief matters.
The seventh generation of the Gu Clan hurried to all directions, keeping a close watch on the specifics of relief efforts while using the Gu Clan’s influence to stabilize the people’s hearts.
Ensuring that the core of the Great Han does not fall into chaos.
Also, it was fortunate that the Great Han was currently rising.
If it were during the times of Huan and Ling;
The backlash brought by such a disaster would absolutely have immediately dissolved everything of the Great Han.
Zhuge Liang ordered government officials to be frugal.
Even Liu Shan, the Emperor who usually paid no heed to government affairs, was affected and began to emulate the benevolent predecessors of the Great Han, setting an exemplary role.
Despite the year being extremely difficult,
With the foundation of the Great Han, the situation remained stable without large-scale chaos.
However, regarding whether this natural disaster would continue, everyone remained highly cautious.
Some suggested that Liu Shan should emulate Gu Xi by holding a sacrificial ceremony by the Luoshui River;
Or even change the reign title.
But Zhuge Liang rejected this proposal.
After all, it was a measure to soothe people’s hearts.
If post-sacrifice and reign change, the disaster remained, then the previously steadfast hearts would surely waver.
This was the situation Zhuge Liang was currently most concerned about.
As for Zhuge Liang,
Liu Shan now complied entirely with his words, naturally having no objections.
And events did not fall beyond Zhuge Liang’s prediction;
——In the eighteenth year of Yanxing.
The natural disaster continued.
Although the scale of this year’s disaster was not much different from that of the seventeenth year, after two years of exhaustion, the impact of disasters on the same scale had fundamentally different consequences.
Major changes in the court and the public.
A cloud of unimaginable gloom gradually descended over the Great Han.
The three-year-long natural disaster awakened the deepest memories in everyone’s heart;
That was the memory passed down by ancestors—the natural disaster experienced during the time of Empress He Xi, Deng Sui!
No matter how stable people’s hearts are, they will be affected under such circumstances.
Such impact even spread to the court.
The court of the Great Han once thrived with everyone eager to create greater achievements.
But now—everyone was thinking about how to peacefully get through this natural disaster.
Not only were the common people aware of the natural disasters during Deng Sui’s time.
These scholars were even more profoundly aware of the impact caused by that great catastrophe.
Although no one wished to believe that such disasters would return to Kyushu,
Their mindset would also be affected.
The situation became increasingly severe.
Zhuge Liang had to adjust the entire strategy of the Great Han, abolishing the policy incentivizing childbirth and simultaneously reducing the Border Army’s expenditures.
——Reviving the military farm strategy.
The military farm strategy is a double-edged sword.
This strategy was abolished by Gu Chen after the world stabilized.
Because the power of the guarding generals in the four directions was already not low, handing over the grain matters to them would further test the loyalty of the generals in all directions.
