Chapter 346: The Difficult Second Year of Qianyou 2

From summer into autumn, Emperor Liu Chengyou of the Great Han led by example, guiding his subjects in a single endeavor: contending against heaven itself.

Earthquake resistance, locust resistance, drought resistance—though struck blow after blow, thanks to the court's active efforts, the situation was finally stabilized. In the original history, even the Later Han under such circumstances managed to hold on, let alone the "Northern Han" that Liu Chengyou had painstakingly improved with all his heart and strength.

Of course, how heavy the price the Later Han paid back then was—though not verifiable in detail—can easily be imagined. Corpses of the starving littered the land, unrest erupted on all sides, grievances filled the air, and the people suffered bitterly.

Even in the current Northern Han, under this succession of disasters, unrest in the various prefectures had been far from rare. In response, the court ordered the local authorities to strictly suppress disturbances. Natural calamities were already hard enough to bear; if man-made disasters were stirred up on top, it would be adding frost to snow—and even more severe. The court's money and grain were limited and could not relieve too many people, so the common folk of the various prefectures suffered no light injuries.

To calm the people's hearts, Liu Chengyou issued an edict granting tax reductions to all prefectures under heaven according to the extent of disaster they had suffered. In fact, in the directly controlled capital region, apart from Kaifeng Prefecture, areas such as Zheng, Xu, Ru, and Luoyang had not been severely affected and could still supply blood to the central government in terms of finances and taxes.

In contrast, the local military governors, generals, and officials who still held substantial financial power, in their efforts to maintain stability within their territories and guarantee tax revenues amid the disasters, inevitably resorted to actions that harmed the common people. In doing so, they both handed the court a handle against them and took the blame on the court's behalf.

Only when the disasters gradually eased and the crops were harvested did the court begin to exert real effort, relieving the disaster victims and maintaining order on the brink of collapse. Only then did things slowly return to stability, and peace prevailed within the four borders.

In this process, the most effective measure implemented was relief through public works. The disaster-affected people of the Central Plains were largely sent to assist Wang Pu in river management, supplemented by road repair. In Guanzhong, Liu Chengyou dispatched Chancellor Fan Zhi to go in person, touring and offering consolation, while gathering the strength of the various military governors to recruit disaster victims for building water conservancy works. As for Hebei, road repair was the main focus.

Because of the disasters, for as long as half a year Liu Chengyou shelved many plans—such as adjustments to the prefectures and garrisons on the Great Han's southern border like Xiang, An, Deng, and Chen. An Shenqi, Yang Chengxin, Liu Chongjin, and other regional commanders were all old officials appointed in Liu Zhiyuan's era.

Moreover, preparations for the southern campaign had almost completely ground to a halt. Stability outweighed everything; busy sorting out domestic affairs, Liu Chengyou temporarily had no energy to attend to much else. Of course, this was not entirely without benefit—at least strategically, it could deceive the Southern Tang. The Northern Han, unable to attend to its own affairs and wounded by its suffering, how much of a threat could it pose to a "paradise" like the Great Tang?

Just as Wang Qiwu had once said, the Southern Tang truly was on the decline. In the south of Tang, in the old Min lands, Liu Congxiao's elder brother, who had carved out Quanzhou, Liu Congyuan, poisoned Dong Si'an, the military governor of Nanzhou (Zhangzhou) appointed by the Southern Tang, allowing the Liu brothers to seize control of Quan and Nan prefectures.

The Southern Tang ruler and ministers responded very weakly—probably considering the quagmire the Tang army had fallen into in Min two years earlier, they had no intention of dispatching troops again. They tacitly accepted the Liu brothers' rule over Quan and Zhang prefectures and appointed Liu Congxiao as Surveillance Commissioner of Quan and the southern prefectures, merely stationing troops nearby to keep watch.

At this point, the Southern Tang, which had spent enormous wealth and military strength to destroy Min that year, had spat back out more than half of the old Min territory it had gained. Of the five prefectures of Min, it retained only two—though Li Jing had split them into three prefectures.

When Liu Chengyou heard of this in the Eastern Capital, he gave a faint, dismissive remark, deeply contemptuous—but then, thinking of his own situation, he could not help but laugh at himself.

It was already deep autumn; a chilling cold spread across the Han palace, but inside Chongzheng Hall it was warm and cozy. Liu Chengyou sat upright at the imperial desk, one hand holding a document for reading, the other holding a cup, occasionally taking a sip of tea, his expression very calm.

What he was reading was the State Finance Commission's compilation of the autumn harvest situation in the prefectures around the capital, along with estimates of this year's autumn taxes. The results were hardly cause for optimism, but Liu Chengyou had long since prepared himself mentally, so he appeared very composed.

It was only when he set down the memorial that he let out a silent sigh. There was no help for it—this year, they would just have to make do. After enduring this unlucky year, they would look to the next; he only prayed that the coming winter would not bring another snow disaster or war calamity...

However, judging from the past two years, whether they could safely survive the cold winter still depended on heaven's will. What they could be thankful for was that during this period of comprehensive disaster in the Great Han, the Khitan to the north had not taken advantage to invade southward.

The great enemy to the north had also fallen into trouble—again the problem of Liao's imperial succession. A group of nobles, dissatisfied with Yelu Ruan's rule, had rebelled against him, and precisely at the moment Yelu Ruan was planning to send troops south. One could not help but sigh that the Northern Han's luck had not yet reached its worst point.

"Your Majesty." Chancellor Feng Dao and Li Tao came for an audience in the hall.

Noticing the memorials in their hands and their grave expressions, Liu Chengyou wasted no words and asked directly: "What is it?"

After only a moment's hesitation, Feng Dao, being the more senior, spoke first: "The Prince of Linqing memorializes that Yedu has seen days of continuous heavy rain, damaging the crops in the fields and hindering the autumn harvest. In addition, the prefectures of Ci, Xiang, Xing, and Ming have suffered similarly; the specific details are still awaiting report..."

Feng Dao's voice sounded somewhat low and cautious, watching Liu Chengyou's reaction. Liu Chengyou's body stiffened slightly, and he murmured: "Calamity upon calamity!"

"Your Majesty, the rain has not ceased, and the grain in the fields has already begun to rot from soaking. The grain of the aforementioned prefectures may also face a poor harvest!" Feng Dao's tone was mournful.

Even Feng Dao, an old fox who had weathered countless storms, could not help but feel indignation at the Great Han's plight this year.

The prefectures of Ci and Xiang had been areas in Hebei less affected by the locust plague, but these prefectures had suffered the most severe war calamities that year—their populations were insufficient, and the farmland opened up was not much to begin with. Even so, they could not escape the "favor" of the old man in heaven. Sure enough, even the rain had to add trouble for them.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Liu Chengyou asked: "How is the autumn harvest progressing in Hebei?"

At this mention, some of the gravity in Feng Dao's expression dissipated, and he clasped his hands and said: "Thanks to Your Majesty's foresight, this year's early harvest has already entered its final stage."

"In that case, the losses may not be so severe!" Liu Chengyou breathed a slight sigh of relief. After a moment's thought, he issued an order: "Send decrees to the prefectures: once the rain eases somewhat, make every effort to rescue and harvest the crops—save as much as can be saved! Also, urge the authorities of the other circuits and prefectures to speed up the completion of the autumn harvest!"

Liu Chengyou was truly a bit frightened—what if some other disaster came...

When the Son of Heaven's gaze turned to him, Li Tao hesitated for a moment, but still steeled himself to report a piece of bad news: "Your Majesty, the Western Capital reports that the Luo River has overflowed its banks!"

"Bang"—the sound was not loud—Liu Chengyou's hand pressed down on the imperial desk. After a long while, he asked: "What is the damage?"

"Several dozen riverside dwellings destroyed..."