Chapter 74 Jiangnan Tragedy
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"Every good time of the year must be remembered, the most beautiful time is orange and green."
Autumn, especially late autumn and early winter, in the eyes of literati, is the most beautiful season among the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan.
But on the way south, Qin Hao saw everything was desolate, with refugees scattered in all directions. Many of the original towering city walls collapsed along the way, and the rows of private houses turned into ruins. People usually call it a paradise. Jiangnan, with Suzhou and Hangzhou below, seems to have turned into a refugee concentration camp.
All he could see were refugees begging with their hands outstretched, which was completely different from the plain and peaceful Jiangnan he imagined.
It is only seven years since the Apocalypse, and the Ming Dynasty has not yet reached its end. How could it be so desolate?
Besides, this is Jiangnan, the most prosperous place in Ming Dynasty.
After careful questioning, Qin Haocai learned from Chen Hu that the prefectures of Yingtian, Suzhou, Songjiang, Fengyang, Sizhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Chuzhou in southern Zhili suffered attacks in December of the third year of Tianqi. There was an earthquake.
The epicenter was in Yangzhou Prefecture. In Yangzhou, more than 380 battlements and more than 20 city walls collapsed. The walls shook in the sky, the ridges and beams of the roofs each made a sound, the city wall stacks collapsed, the Gaochun earthquake made a sound, the houses collapsed, water overflowed, and Jurong tiles fell down and covered the house.
In Changzhou, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou, the sound was like a huge thunder, shaking down countless houses and killing many people.
The lake in Huai'an Prefecture rolled over the house and the buildings moved: the walls of Taizhou shook and the rivers roared. The walls and houses of Changshu shook, and all who walked fell to the ground.
The top of the Dongcha pagoda was also shaken, and the ground inside and outside the city was cracked. Chongjiao Xingguo Temple has a sloping top. Wujiang, Zhenze, Jiading, Jiangdu, Tongzhou (now Nantong), Taixing, Wusong, and Yixing, Changzhou Prefecture, all shook like thunder. In Songjiang Prefecture, Huating, Shanghai, Nanhui garrison, Yishabao, Wuxi, and Jingjiang, all the houses shook, and the water in Wujin broke the house and the lake flew away. Yingtianfu, Shangyuan, Jiangning, Wuxian, Danyang, Jintan, Dantu, Liyang and Jiangxi were all shaken on the same day.
In the first month of the fourth year, another mutiny occurred in Hangzhou. Because of the fire, soldiers rose up in the chaos and ordered ten watchtowers outside Qiantang Gate.
On February 30, there was an earthquake in Luanzhou, the capital (now Luanxian County, Hebei Province). First, on the 13th, there were repeated earthquakes in Jizhou, Yongping, Shanhaiguan and other places, damaging the city walls and houses. Then, there was a big earthquake in Luanzhou, which damaged countless houses, cracked the ground, and water and foreign matter poured out. In the old village of Leting, the ground cracked and black water gushed out, and it was more than a foot tall. The sound of Qian'an was like a huge thunder, which destroyed countless city walls and houses. Lulong knocked down many houses of officials and civilians. The palaces in the capital were shaking and making noises, and the water in the copper vats was trembling with waves.
Late at night on July 16th, while the residents were sleeping, the river burst through the Kuishan embankment, and turbid waves rushed into the city of Xuzhou. In a matter of seconds, private houses, government offices, temples, cultural relics, classics, calligraphy and paintings, gold and silver belongings, and all the residents were destroyed. Submerged in six to seven meters of water, the bustling and noisy city of Xuzhou turned into a lake overnight.
Six years ago, an explosion occurred in the area near the Wanggong Factory gunpowder depot located in the southwest corner of the capital. All firearms and ordnance were lost, and more than 20,000 people were killed or injured, which shocked the country.
"There are disasters every year. This is a sign of the country's subjugation!" On the mountain road, Qin Hao stopped his horse and looked at a refugee camp on the hill in the distance, feeling a lot of emotion.
Chen Hu also sighed for a while,
I came back to see my mother and found that everything was fine. The elders of the family still took good care of them. They had enough food and clothing, and even invited a few maids and servants to take care of them.
When Qi Li saw Chen Hu, she burst into tears. She didn't expect that her youngest son was still alive, so she covered her mouth and couldn't speak.
She is also from a scholarly family and has read books. She knows that Chen Hu's luck in surviving death may not be a good thing for him. She is on the pension list and the county government has issued the list. If she is found to be alive at this time, she will not be able to escape the connection with a deserter. Wanted.
Knowing that this was a serious crime, Mrs. Qi was so frightened that she quickly gave her servant some monthly money and sent him home for a few days.
Hearing the death of Qi Jin and his son in the battle, she burst into tears, choked with sobs, and fainted for a while. It took a long time to recover. Later, she found out that Chen Hu had a family and was afraid to return home all these years. It was also comforting. She was left with this You have a son. Now that you are back, don’t go out again.
In response to his mother's request, Chen Hu still persuaded her with good words, saying that he would follow an adult and soon he would be able to shine and no longer be blamed for being a deserter.
In Chen Hu's heart, he always believed that Qin Hao was a man of great achievements, especially in the Ming Dynasty, which was plagued by disasters. He would definitely make a name for himself.
Turn the tide before it falls, and support the building before it collapses!
However, after hearing the "Light of Nation's Subjugation" from Qin Hao's mouth, Chen Hu felt a little gloomy. He had been favored by the Ming Dynasty for generations and was still loyal to the court. After seeing his master, he thought he could save the Ming Dynasty.
When I mentioned this idea to Qin Hao, the adult smiled and said nothing.
Qin Hao ignored Chen Hu's thoughts. He was not a loyal minister and filial son: "Chen Hu, look at those refugees. They are homeless and half-clothed. This can happen in the most beautiful places of the Ming Dynasty. To the north and west are There is no need to say more about the situation.”
Qin Hao wants to save all the people in the world, not the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty has its own glory and courage. The king died in the country, and the emperor guarded the country. But his era has passed. The officers, merchants and merchants are the common people, and thousands of students are here. Under the guidance of the Donglin Party, he began to "only read the books of sages and ignore the things outside the window."
"Sir, is Daming really hopeless?" Chen Hu still refused to give up and looked at Qin Hao longingly, hoping that he would give him hope.
"Don't you already know these days?" Qin Hao said lightly.
The Ming Dynasty is in a state of deep trouble, unless the emperor can wake up and no longer be bound by bureaucrats and scholars, unless the merchants in the world are kind and generous, cut their meat to feed the people, unless there are no more disasters and the Little Ice Age will not come.
However, all this is impossible to happen. At present, Emperor Tianqi has just passed away, and Prince Xin Zhu Youjian will soon ascend the throne. Compared with his brother, he is not a good emperor. He dismantled the Jinyiwei and Dongchang as soon as he came to power, and lost his eyes and ears, so that he was deceived and applauded by civil officials. He patched up his short life and still lost the country.
"Send some food over." Qin Hao pointed at the refugee camp with his whip. They were almost there. They didn't need too much food. Fortunately, it would be good to provide some relief.
Hearing this, the guards behind him immediately moved a few bags of food to send.
As soon as the food was delivered, a group of people gathered around and scrambled for food like crazy. The originally quiet camp was noisy and chaotic in an instant, with children and women crying, and young men fighting for a bite of food.
Qin Hao quickly sent people to stop them, but it was useless and attracted the attention of the refugees.
"Where do they get food?" Someone shouted, and the whole camp fell silent for a moment, and everyone looked towards Qin Hao.
Those eyes that were green with hunger were chilling!
"Retreat!"
I shouldn't have shown any kindness at this time. I want to save people with my small fortune. I really think too much.
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