Established a millennium family since King Wu defeated Zhou

Chapter 979: Two Hundred and Seventy Years of the Tang Dynasty

  As soon as Emperor Yuanyou ascended the throne, God gave him a great gift: there were severe droughts for years north of the Huai River.

This severe drought lasted for ten years.

The first two years were still manageable thanks to the water conservancy projects built in previous years, but later the drought was so severe that even the water in the rivers dried up, and there was yellow dry mud and cracks everywhere, like the scene after a dragon turned over.

The skinny and haggard people just looked up at the sky, hoping for some rain, but how could such a drastic climate change happen so quickly?

During the years of severe drought, there was a constant stream of ships passing through the Strait of Malacca, and almost all of them were requisitioned to collect grain.

Fortunately, the Tang Dynasty had already made plans. Over the past 100 years, it has been working hard to develop Central and South China. Now, basically even every island has been planted with the flag of the Tang Dynasty, and it has even conquered India all the way.

The land reclamation over the past hundred years has been quite effective, so it can still be maintained, but even so, it still makes people feel uneasy.

After all, the natural disaster tax imposed by the imperial court on Central and Southern China and India is already five times what it used to be. Now the nobles in the two places have begun to show signs of resistance.

But the imperial court had no choice. It couldn't just let the people of the Central Plains become refugees or starve to death.

Now we just have to make the people of Chu and Song, as well as the people in the southern part of the Central Plains suffer, so that the people in the northern part of the Central Plains can survive.

……

The capital of gods, the Tianshou Palace of the imperial palace.

"Your Majesty, there have been heavy snowfalls on the grasslands in recent years. Countless cattle and sheep have frozen to death. There have also been plagues. The people have suffered terribly. The grass on the grasslands is not as lush as in previous years. Last year, it should have been a season of lush vegetation, but because the snow melted too slowly, the grass only grew for a month before it began to fade."

"The babies on the grassland cannot survive, most of the cotton clothes from the Central Plains are unaffordable, and even charcoal is hard to come by. Your Majesty, please step aside."

"Your Majesty, please send food to save the people of Yan State!"

In the main hall, a group of people were kneeling, all of them bowing their heads on the ground, kowtowing to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty above them.

Li Shen, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, sat high on the throne and looked at the Prime Minister below him. "Lord Luo, how much grain do we have in the Tang Dynasty now?"

Luo Xingyun stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the disaster has lasted for too long. The grain stored by the court now is grain mixed with bran. If you eat it, you will be too hungry to move. Even so, it is only enough for the people in the north to eat for a few months. If the grain from Tianzhu cannot be transported in half a year, even the Central Plains will be in danger."

Li Shen was helpless when he heard this, "You see, my lord, it's not that I don't want to distribute food, it's just that the Tang Dynasty doesn't have any food in stock.

I really want to give it to you, but even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. The only solution now is to make the people of Yan suffer. After the harvest this year, I will send food to the people of Yan to relieve the disaster."

The Prince of Yan suddenly raised his head and said through gritted teeth: "Your Majesty, the population of Central Plains is more than 100 million, and my Yan State has only 5 million.

Even if the Central Plains can scrape out a little from their teeth, it will be enough for my Yan State to eat. Yan State does not ask for much. As long as there are 1.5 million dan of grain, 500,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes, and 200,000 dan of various medicines, the people of Yan State can spend this winter safely.

Your Majesty, please have mercy on the people.

Your Majesty, please have mercy on the people of the Tang Dynasty!"

The abnormal climate has caused far greater damage to the grassland than to the Central Plains. Nomads truly rely on the weather for their livelihood, and they cannot even accumulate wealth. Unlike farming, they can at least rely on reserves from previous years to get through the difficulties.

Although any reserves are ridiculous in the face of ten consecutive years of disasters, it is better to be a nomadic person anyway.

Li Shen sighed and cast his gaze towards the prime ministers again. Almost all of them had a confused look in their eyes. "My Lords, what can we do about this?"

This is how to do ah.

"His Majesty."

Finally, Luo Xingyun stood up and said firmly: "Your Majesty, we still have to give food to Yan State. At this difficult time for the whole world, we should overcome the difficulties together. Cut the salaries of all officials in the world by 10%, and cancel the rice subsidies of the nobles. These nobles and officials will not die. If we all pool our money together, we can still get 1.5 million dan of food."

After the Prince of Yan left with many thanks, Li Shen said with some sadness: "Lord Luo, it is not an easy task to reduce the number of families and officials. If changes are triggered, the consequences will be disastrous."

How could Luo Xingyun not know this? He said in a sad voice: "Now it is just a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. If we don't give Yan State food now, they will not sit there and wait for death. They will immediately go south to fight with us in the Central Plains.

We are not afraid of simply going to war with the State of Yan, but we are afraid that once Yan moves, it will give other countries an opportunity to take advantage.

If something happens to Tianzhu and Zhongnan, the entire Central Plains will be finished, and an unprecedented bloody storm will be set off. At least the population of the Central Plains will die to the point where they can survive and there will be enough food to eat.

By that time, will our Tang Dynasty still exist? Who can say for sure?"

Luo Xingyun's words made the emperor break out in a cold sweat. Now Zhongnan and Tianzhu are the two hearts of Central Plains, and Jiangnan is another small heart. The emperor depends on these two places for survival.

Otherwise, with such a big natural disaster, there would have been wars everywhere and refugees fighting for their lives everywhere. How could the Tang Empire sit peacefully in the capital? There was no obvious sign of collapse of the Tang Empire yet.

Now the Tang Empire is in an extreme tightrope walking stage due to food problems, and no one knows where the Tang Empire will go next.

If Li Shen knew an emperor whose reign title was Chongzhen, they would probably have a lot in common.

Other problems are easy to solve, but the problem of food is that there is no food at all, even if Luo's Bank can make money in a fancy way and fill the national treasury with money.

but.

The Tang Dynasty itself and its vassal states have a population of more than 200 million, but the current grain production is only enough to feed 200 million people. If it were not for the empire's strong coordination ability, which allowed most people to just starve but not die of starvation, the ground would have been filled with starving people by now.

The population has expanded even more than originally expected. It was previously calculated that the population would be about 160 million, but now it has reached 240 million.

If it weren't for natural disasters, this number would continue to expand rapidly. In another hundred years, at the previous rate, the population would have swelled to more than 600 million, or even 700 million. Just thinking about it makes my scalp tingle. With such a large population, even if Emperor Taizong were alive again, he would not be able to feed it.

The Tang Dynasty today cannot afford to have any problems in any link. From the Central Plains to the vassal states, it seems as if it is sitting on the crater of a volcano. It will explode with just a spark and blow the Central Plains to pieces.

After leaving the palace, Luo Xingyun returned to Prince Luo's Mansion and sighed deeply. He had no idea how to overcome the current crisis. This was something that could not be overcome by human power.

The Luo family has made efforts over the years and has used climate-related artifacts, but for this kind of global climate change, it can only be described as a drop in the bucket.

The Tang Dynasty, which has been established for more than 200 years, has done its best to maintain the current peace. There are descendants of the Luo family in almost every major location. The Luo family really treats the Tang Dynasty as their own dynasty.

The Luo family is considered a royal family in the Tang Dynasty today. Basically, as long as the direct descendants of the Luo family enter officialdom, they will be granted the title of Duke within a few years. Although this kind of title is not hereditary, there were not many hereditary titles in the Tang Dynasty. Then, the official position of a frontier official is conferred once, and it has become a routine over the years.

Except in the Central Plains and the grasslands, the Luo family's reputation is now unparalleled in the world. According to the words of the previous emperor, "Now we can maintain the tribute of vassal states, all because of the Luo family."

This is not an exaggeration. The achievements made by the descendants of the Luo family in the Tang Dynasty are countless. They can be found in almost the most difficult places.

Luo Xingyun sat in his mansion, pondering what he should do in the future.

The housekeeper suddenly rushed in and said in a hurry: "Master, someone from the palace is here to ask you to come in. It is said that there is an urgent war report."

Luo Xingyun felt a darkness before his eyes. The war report was the last thing he wanted to hear. He hurried into the palace. He lived near the imperial palace. Other ministers had not arrived yet, so the emperor showed him the war report directly.

When Luo Xingyun saw it, he was shocked. The battle report was very simple.

The nobles of Yan State rebelled and the King of Yan has been killed!

Now, hundreds of thousands of people from Yan State have already headed for Liaodong from the Modong grassland, and hundreds of thousands more have reached the Monan grassland. They are determined to fight to the death.

……

The situation in Yan State was actually far more serious than what the Prince of Yan said, but the Prince of Yan did not dare to say it.

It is very difficult for a purely nomadic country like Yan to centralize power. Even if it obeys the orders of the royal court, there are bound to be great nobles under its command, because cattle and sheep will always be scattered among different people.

In the State of Yan, in addition to the King of Yan, after so many years of development, there are also several tribes that are very powerful.

In the State of Yan, some people had long been dissatisfied with the weakness of the lineage of the King of Yan, believing that the lineage of the King of Yan was using the name of the State of Yan to seek benefits for their own family, and that this way of seeking benefits harmed their interests.

They believed that the King of Yan was a capitulator and was using the entire State of Yan as a bargaining chip to exchange for his own wealth and glory.

In Yan State, especially among the young people, there is a trend of thought that "Yan people are not born to live in this bitter and cold land. Yan State has enough power to seize a warmer place. This bitter and cold land should also be left to others, such as the nobles living in the south."

Thought is the sharpest weapon in this world. In the process of unifying the world and communicating with all parties during the Tang Dynasty, various thoughts broke out again, which can be said to be no worse than the original hundreds of schools of thought.

It’s just that there are no clear-cut schools and sects now. However, from the fact that the imperial examination has discarded most of the Confucian classics, it can be seen that traditional Confucianism is gradually being abandoned.

The coup in Yan State was quick and urgent. These young men from various noble families, each leading a youth army with an average age of no more than 25 years old, launched a coup in the capital of Yan State, Karakorum. The personal guards of the King of Yan were also instigated to rebel.

The Prince of Yan was hacked to death, and then they announced the takeover of Karakorum and killed all the officials sent by the Tang Dynasty. The branches of the Luo family, such as the Qianhang, which were left here, saw that the situation was not good and quickly slipped away. Although even if they did not slip away, they would not die, after all, the Qianhang still had to cooperate, but it was impossible for them to cooperate without the order of the master.

So slipping away was the only option.

After the coup, due to the support of the people and their status, they quickly took over more than half of the Yan State's military forces.

The Yan State at the end of the Han Dynasty was so prosperous that even the emperor did not dare to say no because the entire country wanted to move south. The same is true for the Yan State today. The natural environment of the Yan State is too harsh, so harsh that they pray to be born in the south in their next life.

It would be fine if the Central Plains could provide them with food to survive, but in reality, even if there was food, many people would still starve to death on the grassland, and these people were their die-hard supporters.

The cavalry of Yan State came to the grassland south of the desert with almost a desperate charge. This place was also affected by the natural disaster, but it was still much better than the grassland north of the desert.

… In the divine capital Luoyang, before everyone else arrived, Luo Xingyun said sternly: "Your Majesty, this matter can no longer be resolved amicably. If it was the King of Yan, this matter could still be discussed, but these extremists cannot be discussed at all. They must be severely punished before there can be any subsequent discussion."

In any political force, there are always doves and hawks. Emotionally, most people prefer the tough hawks, but in fact it is not such a simple division. Among the doves, there are also capitulationists and peace advocates, and the two are completely different things.

Not to mention the surrender faction, the peace faction advocates resolving the issue through dialogue. If war can be avoided, then there will be no war, as it will not be good for both sides. However, if war is unavoidable, they will not show mercy.

In the State of Yan, the lineage of the King of Yan is a dove faction that advocates peaceful dialogue with the Central Plains. Considering the current situation, this is obviously a better choice. The hawks in the State of Yan, or rather, all the hawks, are relatively extreme. Many times, when there is no need to fight, they must rush forward.

Luo Xingyun saw through this point. Now that the State of Yan was controlled by these pro-war factions, there was no chance that the war would stop. Dreaming of peace talks at this time was a typical act of appeasement.

Only by giving these people a head-on blow can their impulsive minds be calmed down and there is a slight possibility of them coming to the negotiating table.

Of course, the greater possibility is that they will never reach the negotiation table. Usually, the outcome for the war faction is to kill them all after the war, and then negotiate with the peace faction.

The emperor knew this truth, but he was still a little hesitant. "Lord Luo, can you send someone to negotiate again? We have already promised to give Yan 1.5 million dan of grain. If we can avoid a war, it is better not to fight.

Didn’t you say before that if we went to war with the State of Yan, the consequences would be disastrous?”

Luo Xingyun's heart was bleeding, but he still said firmly: "We can go and talk, but don't hold out any hope. We still have to prepare for a full-scale war. I will send the sons of my family to guard some key cities. Your Majesty, don't worry, the Tang Dynasty will not fall here."

When hearing about the Tang Dynasty's national destiny, the emperor suddenly realized one thing, that is, the people who came to attack the Central Plains were not the princes of the Li clan, but people from outside the clan. In other words, this was no longer a civil war within the Li clan.

Li Shen suddenly sat up straight and told Luo Xingyun what he had just thought of. Luo Xingyun nodded, "Your Majesty, didn't you think of it just now? The reason why I said that we must crack down on them is because they are the real traitors."

Li Shen's attitude changed a little now. He paced in the hall, thinking about this matter. He felt that what he had thought before was indeed too simple.

For those people in Yan State, this was a rebellion, and a rebellion by the nobility. Since ancient times, not many noble rebellions could have a good ending.

"Lord Luo, what you mean is that they will not stop until I am dethroned."

Luo Xingyun nodded as a matter of course, "Once the rebellion begins, there is no turning back. They will certainly do their best to drag Your Majesty into the water and overthrow the Tang Dynasty before they will stop.

  Did they really rise up in rebellion for the sake of the people of Yan State?

You know, we are the only ones who are truly thinking about the people of the world right now."

Li Shen was completely convinced.

"Just as Prince Luo said, I will hold a royal meeting on this matter later."

Once there is a possibility of war breaking out, the entire empire will fight around the empire.

Especially in the current situation.

Soon all the ministers of the empire entered the palace. After the emperor informed them of the current situation and what he and Luo Xingyun had discussed, everyone's faces changed drastically.

"Your Majesty, we really don't have the capital to fight a war right now. We may not even be able to prepare the food and fodder needed for a war."

The loss of food and fodder caused by war is unpredictable. Even in normal years, continuous wars will make the empire empty, not to mention that it is already empty now.

"The Yan State is really crazy. They don't have the energy to fight anymore. If they fail in this war, countless people will die on the grassland."

A minister cursed bitterly.

What he said was absolutely right. The State of Yan was almost gambling on its national destiny. For this war, basically all the remaining resources of the entire State of Yan, including cattle and sheep, were brought out. If they could not plunder enough supplies from the Southern State, the State of Yan would soon fall into collapse.

By that time, large numbers of people will starve to death, and of the current population of five million, only one in ten will survive. The development achievements of the Tang Dynasty over more than 200 years may be destroyed in an instant.

As for whether we can steal something from the Central Plains, although I am reluctant to admit it, it is really possible.

In the treasuries of each city, there is food sent as disaster relief. As long as these treasuries are seized, food and supplies can be obtained. For the relatively small State of Yan, as long as all the cities in the northern border of the empire can be plundered, there may be a way for Yan to survive.

But the price may be that many, many people will die in the Tang Dynasty.

These foods are divided into portions, and every portion missing means one person will starve to death.

In more extreme cases, one less portion means not just one person starving to death, but ten or a hundred people dying in the fight for the right to survive. The war will not stop until everyone feels that there is enough left to survive.

Moreover, once the war begins, order will collapse, which is a very scary thing. The reason why the Tang Dynasty can still walk the tightrope is because order is still there. The Tang Dynasty still controls the macro distribution of grain. Although there are definitely some things they don’t know at the grassroots level, generally speaking, food and grass can still be distributed to those who deserve them.

If order is broken, human nature will immediately destroy everything. People will tend to store enough supplies for future life. When hoarding supplies, if one person survives, five or six people may not survive.

Especially now that the imperial court is suppressing the rebellion vigorously, implementing martial law, and distributing food according to demand, once order is disrupted, those wealthy families will immediately deprive the common people of their right to survival.

  Luo Xingyun would never overestimate those noble families, including the Li royal family. If the critical moment really comes, what will they choose?

This is a realistic problem that we have to face.

"We have to fight this war. Are we just going to surrender here? Those villains killed the King of Yan directly. They are too arrogant and have no regard for the imperial court at all. This is a provocation to the Tang Dynasty."

The emperor, who had just tried to make peace with the State of Yan, immediately changed his attitude after realizing that it was his throne that was threatened this time. This is a king.

Now no matter what the cost of war is, he will defeat everyone at all costs.

Seeing that the emperor had made the final decision, the other ministers could only agree, but they also had opinions on how to fight the war.

The first thing is to decide how many troops to withdraw.

"Your Majesty, it is absolutely impossible to have too many troops. The food supply cannot support us to use too many troops."

"Your Majesty, I think that we should use the method of exhaustion to deal with Yan State, so that Yan State will fall into chaos. As long as we can exhaust Yan State to death, we will win."

"It's ridiculous. There is a border of several thousand miles between Yan State and our Central Plains. They can attack any city on our border. How can they wear Yan State out?"

"Moreover, Yan State is probably still thinking of using war to deplete its population, which is also a common method used in the north. Our rear will be unstable instead."

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall immediately became quiet.

The battles this time are all taking place in the northern passes, and the areas affected by the disaster are basically all in the north. These areas are not stable to begin with, and once a war breaks out, food will definitely have to be drawn from nearby.

  What if we are fighting a war with the State of Yan in the front and a large-scale rebellion breaks out in the rear?

Simple rebellion is fine, but if the source of logistics is cut off, then no matter how strong the city fortress is, it will be of no use.

"My dear ministers, where do you think Yan State is most likely to attack after it conquers Mo Nan?"

"Guanzhong."

Several generals said in unison.

"After conquering Mo Nan, the best option is to head directly south to Guanzhong. For the enemies coming from the north, the route to Guanzhong is the easiest to take. Moreover, Guanzhong is quite remote from the Central Plains, and it is difficult to transport food. They can be said to have taken advantage of this place."

"That's right. As for the Yan army in Liaodong, there is no need to worry. They may just want to prevent the An Dong Jiedushi from going to war with them, so they are just taking the initiative.

Our army can take the canal directly to Jizhou. The defense in Liaodong is much easier than in Guanzhong."

After hearing this, the emperor said, "If they don't go through Guanzhong, then they will have to attack directly from Yunzhong, Yanmen and other places. After passing through Taihang Mountain, they can reach Luoyang, but there are many passes along the way, so I am not too worried.

It seems that the biggest possibility is Guanzhong. Tongguan is very important. We must guard it well to prevent a real rush from Guanzhong. We must reorganize the army on the spot in Guanzhong to resist.

Send a message to Hedong County Prince Li Keyong, asking him to lead the Hedong Army to guard the birthplace of the Tang Dynasty. There must be no mistakes. I allow him to collect food and grass in Hedong by himself. "

Li Shen felt uncomfortable saying this, but he had to say that in this situation, raising food and fodder meant taking the relief food out for the army, and then the people who needed the relief food to survive would naturally be in trouble.

But in this situation, what other solution is there?

After saying this, Li Shen suddenly became angry and said, "When I defeat these traitors, I will kill them all to comfort the souls of those who died because of them."

Li Shen had never hated some people so much in his life, and now he felt this extreme emotion.

When Luo Xingyun left the palace, he was also a little confused.

But he soon cheered himself up. He couldn't fall into such a moral dilemma. Once he fell into such a moral dilemma, nothing would be accomplished.

The top priority now is to suppress the rebellion of Yan State at the lowest cost, and it would be best to end it before other vassal states react.

This way we may be able to return to the previous model, continue to operate, and quietly wait for the end of climate change. The ten-year drought should be about the end.

----

The Tang Empire was labeled both "an unprecedentedly powerful feudal dynasty" and "a fragile feudal dynasty". Although the empire had already shown various ills during its 270th year, it still maintained a fairly smooth operation compared to previous national dynasties.

Although the empire's politics was corrupting and the army's combat effectiveness was declining, its culture, technology and other aspects were still in a stage of continuous upswing. The overall social productivity was increasing and the population was growing prosperously. Overall, it was still a prosperous empire.

But in fact, no matter how prosperous it was, it was still a feudal dynasty. Global climate change, the occurrence of extreme weather, and successive natural disasters dealt a heavy blow to the imperial economy. Even after tearing off all the prosperous cloaks, the Tang Dynasty was still a feudal regime based on a small peasant economy.

So it was still troubled by the things that troubled all feudal dynasties. We had to admit that the Tang Empire had reached a turning point in its fate. Even a phoenix that spread its wings high would eventually break its wings. - "The Rise and Fall of the Tang Empire"

(End of this chapter)