Chapter 101: The Great Calamity Strikes, Control Reasserted (Requesting Monthly Votes)

The course of events did not surprise Gu Yi;

The world's political situation might change, but the celestial disaster had long been destined.

The sixteenth year of Yanxing;

A sudden drought brought Han's progress to a sudden halt.

—Jizhou, Yanzhou, the Three Auxiliaries;

Droughts across multiple regions seemed to press a pause button, abruptly stalling Han's forward momentum.

Of course, this level of drought, while able to affect Han,

Was not yet fatal.

With Zhuge Liang, Zhang Hua, Yang Hu, and others serving in court;

Added to Han's current foundations and clean governance,

Relief efforts proceeded with remarkable stability.

The disaster caused not the slightest impact on Han; merely tapping into granaries across the realm was enough to quell it, leaving all quarters perfectly orderly.

But events would not be this simple.

In the original history,

The brilliance and chaos of the turbulent age obscured the reality of the celestial disaster.

Yet the massive population decline in the late Eastern Han remained one of the unavoidable primary causes, due to the disaster.

Just as Yanxing entered its seventeenth year;

—The disaster persisted, even spreading to more commanderies and provinces.

Drought in Yanzhou and the Three Auxiliaries had not ceased; the Jiangdong region endured days of unrelenting rain, finally causing the Yangtze River to breach its banks and unleash a great flood.

This time, the celestial disaster finally posed a threat to Han.

Even the mightiest feudal dynasty's strength,

Under the limits of productive capacity, could not withstand such continuous, widespread calamities — they were enough to be fatal.

The most critical point was —

Han's massive population growth over these years had multiplied the number of refugees from this disaster beyond measure.

Yet the capabilities of these men in Han's court were no empty boast.

Gu Xi's earlier example of famine relief had given them an excellent model.

Though times had changed and the current situation was utterly different from before,

For these capable men,

They could fully adapt every method Gu Xi had used in his relief efforts to craft a strategy better suited to the present.

Open granaries to stabilize grain prices;

Leverage Han's accumulated foundations to hold the overall situation steady.

They even adopted Emperor Wu's "labor-for-relief" scheme, aiding refugees while simultaneously undertaking public works.

Zhuge Liang did not choose to reform the system.

Though under this situation, revising those beneficial systems would have eased the court's burden greatly,

Once a system had been fully implemented, abruptly canceling it would risk losing the people's trust.

Stabilizing the people's hearts was the most critical element in relief efforts.

As long as the people's hearts did not scatter,

The disaster's impact would be insufficient to shake the core of the state.

This year's hardships far exceeded those of the previous year.

Zhuge Liang had become like Gu Xi of old, worrying day and night over relief efforts.

The seventh-generation descendants of the Gu clan rushed to all corners, closely monitoring the details of relief while using the Gu clan's influence to stabilize public morale.

Ensuring Han's fundamental stability did not collapse into chaos.

Fortunately, Han was now rising steadily.

Had this occurred during the Huan and Ling eras;

The backlash from such a disaster would have instantly shattered everything Han possessed.

Zhuge Liang ordered all officials to practice frugality.

Even Liu Shan, the emperor who normally neglected state affairs, was affected, emulating the benevolent emperors of Han's past and setting an example.

Though this year was extremely difficult,

Under Han's accumulated foundations, the situation across the realm remained without major chaos.

Yet everyone remained cautious about whether the celestial disaster would continue.

Some advised Liu Shan to emulate Gu Xi and hold sacrifices by the Luo River;

Even suggested changing the era name.

But Zhuge Liang rejected the proposal.

After all, it was merely a tactic to soothe public sentiment.

If sacrifices and era-name changes were performed and the disaster persisted, the people's faith would surely waver.

This was precisely what Zhuge Liang feared most.

For Zhuge Liang,

Liu Shan now listened to every word — he had no objections.

And events unfolded exactly as Zhuge Liang had anticipated;

—Yanxing eighteenth year.

The natural disasters continued.

Though the scale of this year's disasters was not much different from that of the seventeenth year, after two years of depletion, the impact brought by disasters of the same scale was fundamentally different.

A great upheaval swept through the court and the realm.

An unimaginable gloom gradually descended upon the great Han.

The disasters lasting three years awakened memories deep within everyone's heart;

those were memories passed down by their forebears — the disasters endured during the reign of Empress Dowager Deng Sui!

No matter how steady the people's hearts, under such circumstances they would all be affected.

This influence even spread to the court itself.

Originally, the great Han's court had been thriving, with everyone eager to create even more glorious achievements.

But now — everyone was thinking only of how to safely weather this disaster.

The disasters of Deng Sui's era were known not only to the common folk.

These scholars of theirs were even more keenly aware of the impact that great catastrophe had caused back then.

Although no one was willing to believe that such a calamity would befall the realm once more,

their mindset was still affected.

The situation grew ever more severe.

Zhuge Liang had no choice but to adjust the great Han's overall strategy, abolishing the policy of encouraging childbirth while simultaneously reducing the expenditures of the frontier armies.

— Reinstate the military-agricultural colonies policy.

The military-agricultural colonies policy was a double-edged sword.

This policy had already been abolished by Gu Chen once the realm was stabilized.

Because the authority of the Four Quarters' garrison generals was already considerable; entrusting the matter of grain to them would further test the loyalty of those generals.

Fortunately, the current Four Quarters generals were all elites personally cultivated by Gu Chen.

Toward the great Han; toward Gu Chen;

these men's loyalty could still be trusted.

With the frontiers stable and the army's morale intact,

the great Han's fundamental foundation could be secured.

Naturally, no one would pay this any mind.

What the common folk truly cared about was the abolition of the policy encouraging childbirth.

In truth, this was also a choice Zhuge Liang had no choice but to make.

In normal years, this measure would not have had any great impact.

But in a year of great disaster like this,

there would inevitably be those who chose to bear more children for the sake of survival, in order to reduce their tax burden — even including common folk in regions untouched by the disaster.

The great Han's taxes were already exceedingly low.

Zhuge Liang had to prevent such behavior from becoming the norm.

As this matter spread, criticism arose unceasingly throughout the realm.

The great Han's popular support instantly began to waver.

For the common folk, the court's move was enough to show that the court was already stretched beyond its means.

Having no alternative —

while carrying out disaster relief on one front, Zhuge Liang could only memorialize Liu Shan to change the era name.

Changing the era name was indeed a good idea.

Before the common folk had completely lost hope, this move could greatly bolster their confidence in facing the disaster.

The eighteenth year of Yanxing, the seventh month;

Liu Shan proclaimed at Luoyang the change of the era name to "Yankang."

Its meaning — the great Han's prosperity endures.

In truth, the common folk naturally hoped that Liu Shan would perform a sacrifice at the Luo River.

Prophecy and superstition had always been the most effective means of soothing the people's hearts.

But this was the court's final safeguard.

Given Zhuge Liang's character, he would never gamble with the people's trust.

If the disasters continued unabated even after the sacrifice, the people would only feel that the great Han had lost the Mandate of Heaven — a burden the great Han could not bear.

He would never take such a risk lightly.

Disaster relief continued without cease.

No matter how deep the great Han's reserves, under sustained deficit spending, the current situation grew ever more perilous.

Zhuge Liang could only plan with even greater care.

Only thus did he steady the gradually unsettled hearts of the Four Quarters.

But no matter how hard he strove, he still could not change the great Han's current dire situation.

Yet just at such a moment, Deng Ai once again stepped forward.

His skill in military colonization astonished everyone once more.

The contributions sent back from Shu greatly reduced the pressure on the great Han's court.

But how could the disasters end so simply?

No matter how hard the court tried, such disasters inevitably claimed lives.

Although the great Han of today already had detailed strategies for plague, among the common folk living in the Four Quarters there were still those unaware of this.

The plague spread silently through the Great Han.

Fortunately, the seventh-generation disciples of the Gu clan were outside.

They detected the danger at the first moment, then immediately carried out large-scale quarantine, which prevented the plague from spreading on a massive scale.

The Gu clan's current method of handling the plague can absolutely be called the finest under heaven.

Whether it was Gu Xi or Gu Chen.

Both left the Gu clan disciples an abundance of usable methods.

But for the current Great Han, the truly fatal problem is when the natural disasters will end.

Even though the court continues to dispense relief without cease.

As long as the disasters do not stop, the people's hearts will eventually collapse, and the court will one day be completely dragged down.

The first year of Yankang;

Disasters continued without cease.

The chain reactions caused by years of natural disasters reappeared this year — locust plagues once again spread across the lands of Jiangdong.

Zhuge Liang finally had to employ every method at his disposal.

First, in the sixth month, he personally accompanied Liu Chan to perform rites at the Luo River, to steady the people's hearts.

At the same time, he also employed the methods Gu Xi had used in years past.

— First, he spread news of various divine omens.

Then he built granaries throughout the regions, showing countless refugees that the court still had the capacity to dispense relief.

Zhuge Liang's administrative methods were fully displayed under these circumstances.

He reformed the relay-station system.

Reducing the grain and fodder consumed during transport.

He cast the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse, making it far more convenient to transport grain from Shu.

Then, according to the severity of the disaster in each province, he formulated more detailed relief strategies, striving to keep everything under control.

Everything he did was in no way inferior to Gu Xi of years past.

— No!

With Gu Xi's experience to draw on, Zhuge Liang has now even surpassed Gu Xi.

Under this kind of large-scale natural disaster.

The fact that he could stabilize the overall situation is enough to demonstrate his extraordinary ability.

With the experience of those continuous disasters back then, the people's hearts drifting apart this time would only become easier.

Being able to accomplish all of this is already extremely rare.

Gu Yi had been silently watching all of this, and the tension in his heart grew ever thicker.

— As expected!

Things really were not so simple!

Gu Yi could not be certain whether this was the correction of history striking again — after all, in the original history, large-scale natural disasters had already occurred at this time.

But what he could be certain of was that the impact of this disaster would surely be enormous.

He had no choice but to act.

The reason he had not chosen to act before was simple — with Zhuge Liang and the other figures whose names would go down in history present, the matter of relief did not require Gu Chen.

If even such a lineup could not resolve the disaster.

Then even if he stepped in, unless he could truly spark an industrial revolution, it would surely be in vain.

But how easy could crossing eras ever be?

But now it was different —

Although everyone's eyes were currently on the interior of the Great Han.

What Gu Yi truly concerned himself with was the external threat.

Time would not be kind — the great generals Gu Chen had left behind were no longer young.

Although everything had now changed, Gu Yi could not determine how much longer their lifespans would last.

But he still had to make preparations.

The Great Han's natural disasters were bound to weaken the Great Han's overall strength, causing its influence to steadily diminish.

And the barbarians on all four sides would certainly grow stronger during such a period;

— Even reunite once more!

When the time came, if the Great Han weakened, history would once again go into reverse, returning to its original course of development.

This was something Gu Yi could not accept!

Judging from what Gu Chen had done to those barbarians.

If history returned to its roots, the Gu clan would surely face a fatal threat.

— When rites and music completely collapse, no one will care about the Gu clan's reputation among the people.

If everything truly returned to the old path.

The Gu clan's reputation would no longer count as a protective talisman, but a death warrant.

Including the crisis within the Gu clan itself.

No matter what, Gu Yi had to resolve everything this time.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Yi directly summoned the four great characters "Clan Information" in his heart.

After a brief hesitation, he still did not choose the more outstanding seventh-generation disciples.

And still chose Gu Ye.

The seventh-generation disciples were no longer young, while the eighth generation was just beginning to rise.

This was the fundamental reason.

The game's prompt instantly flashed before Gu Yi's eyes.

【Confirm immediate character control?】

【Cost: 300,000 Achievement Points.】

Seeing this prompt, Gu Yi immediately selected Confirm.

——He had no choice.

Although, by Gu Yi's current Achievement Points,

he could have used a lottery to fully max out the system's Luck value, and at the very least obtain a Heaven-grade item, perhaps resolving this disaster entirely.

But there was still uncertainty.

And most crucially—

for Gu Yi, he needed to restore the Gu family's morale and fundamentally resolve the effects caused by the chaos across the land.

The prompt before him shattered like a dream or a bubble.

In an instant, the scenery around Gu Yi blurred violently.

He felt his viewpoint plummet rapidly; the third-person "God's-eye view," which had once overlooked all things, switched instantly back to the first-person perspective.

At the same time, memories surged like a tidal wave—every detail of Gu Ye's life, from his first cry at birth to his fourteenth year, rushed in and was swiftly absorbed and digested by Gu Yi.

Darkness enveloped his vision, as if trapped in an endless abyss.

He did not know how long he endured it, but when Gu Yi felt time had stalled, the sunrise slowly rose, and the first ray of dawn pierced the window lattice, quietly spilling into the room.

As Gu Ye on the bed slowly stirred and opened his eyes.

All the scenes before Gu Yi's eyes solidified and sharpened at once.

Finally, dawn had come…

"In the summer of the sixteenth year of Yanxing, the rivers of Yanzhou dried up; the Three Auxiliaries suffered no rain from spring to autumn, leaving a thousand li of barren land.

The Governor of Jingzhao reported: 'Wheat and millet in Fufeng and Feng Yi withered completely; the people dug up mice and trapped birds for food, and corpses littered the roads.'

On the sixth day of the seventh month, Venus crossed the heavens; the Grand Historian reported: 'The Fire Virtue is out of order; the fault lies in excessive heat.'

In the first month of the seventeenth year, the Three Auxiliaries suffered drought again; Kunming Pool dried up.

On the tenth day of the third month, Jiangdong endured fifty days of torrential rain; a dragon fought in Qu'e, Jiangdu County; fields and homes in Danyang and Wujun were submerged.

On the eleventh day of the fifth month, the Yangtze River breached the Guangling Dam; waves flooded the city; the Governor of Kuaiji cast his official documents into the floodwaters.

On that day, Jiankang suffered a massive earthquake; Zhongshan rang for three days before falling silent.

In the seventh month of autumn, in Yanmen, Bingzhou, the earth split open for two li; black water gushed forth, too foul to approach.

On the third day of the eighth month, Mount Linqiu in Wuwei, Liangzhou, collapsed, burying three hundred households.

An epidemic began in the north of Huai; in Beihai Commandery, Qingzhou, over two thousand died within ten days; every household hung white cloth, and wailing shook the fields.'

——The Book of Yan Han, Treatise on the Five Phases

(End of Chapter)