Chapter 650: Liu Zheng's Contemplations

A certain brothel in Jinghua.

In a courtyard with an exquisite environment.

"General, General..."

Several Wa people, at the entrance of the attic, called out anxiously.

Inside the attic, the panting of a man and a woman was incessant.

"General, General!"

They shouted a few more times.

Clanging sounds rang out.

"What are you doing! Can't you see I'm busy? What are you doing!"

A disheveled Mizuno Masashige ran out with a gloomy face and shouted angrily.

The two servants were terrified: "General, those Grassland barbarians have withdrawn their troops!"

"Oh?"

Mizuno Masashige patted the brothel woman beside him, and she giggled as she left.

He straightened his clothes and said angrily, "Idiot, is this Tie Mucheng really such a coward?"

Withdrawn their troops?

Originally, he had hoped that with Tie Mucheng causing trouble outside Jinghua City, he could accelerate the Wa's encroachment on Joseon. After all, for this Offering Ceremony, the Longyan imperial court had promised that beauty as fair as a fairy, Li Xuanya, that they would help her.

Tie Mucheng's massive army would surely have left the Longyan Dynasty overwhelmed.

But now...

You withdrew your troops?

How is he supposed to play this?

The land of Liaodong?

Mizuno Masashige fell into deep thought.

Liaodong Economic Special Zone, what are they trying to do?

The land of Liaodong, what kind of hellish place is that? In recent years, the environment and climate have been extremely unstable. Most of the time, the land of Liaodong has had no harvest at all. This has caused the population of many indigenous people there to plummet—what else could they do? They couldn't beat Longyan in a fight, and they didn't dare come over to seize food.

That place is simply a place where demons are banished.

Can such a place really be governed?

Mizuno Masashige is not a brainless general. He also knows that in terms of geography, the land of Liaodong looks east toward Joseon and Wa.

If this place were truly governed...

"Ha, wishful thinking!"

However, he soon sneered and shook his head.

Dreaming!

Even if it could be developed, it would probably take decades, or even a hundred years! What does that have to do with him? For now, the most important thing for him is how to marry that Longyang Princess!

Longyun Games.

No matter what, he must win this time!

"Never mind that coward, how are the brothers prepared?"

Mizuno Masashige asked.

Several people smiled at the same time.

"General, this time, we will surely win!"

"Hahahaha, don't worry General, we are very well prepared!"

"Good!"

Liu Zheng had been holed up in the Post House for several more days.

He really didn't dare to go out!

The public's clamor to beat him to death simply would not stop.

Not only that.

Although Xie Tianyao's iron-fisted methods had completely settled the matter of the Liaodong land, the verbal attacks and criticisms from the public had never stopped during this period.

Traitor.

Traitor to the country!

Eating inside and out!

Many great scholars even began writing all sorts of articles to attack him.

Very intensely.

It was as if a dead Huoshan that had been dormant for a thousand years had suddenly been ignited, and it became uncontrollable just like that. The number of people hurling abuse grew and grew.

For many people, it was even more than that.

This move by Liu Zheng completely meant that their faith was beginning to collapse.

Liu Zheng suddenly thought of the late-era Li Zhongtang from his previous life...

This was a kind of deep helplessness.

This shameful title, he feared, would follow him for a long, long time.

But to be honest, he actually felt a sense of relief now. Because being called the "Contemporary Sage" for so long had been too much. That near-perfect persona had almost made him unable to breathe.

Appropriately self-deprecating.

Telling the world that he was not that perfect after all.

He, too, is an ordinary person.

To be human is to make mistakes.

To be human, and not a sage.

Time is something that will make people forget certain things.

Thinking of this, he continued to lower his head and write furiously.

Because he knew that the Liangzhou Chamber of Commerce was currently supporting far too many major projects. The Grand Canal was still being excavated, and the Yinliang Industrial Corridor had also just begun. Both of these were money-burning projects. This time, there was another Liaodong Economic Special Zone.

The pressure on Liangzhou must be immense, right?

It is alright.

The current industrialization process in Liangzhou is rapid. Moreover, all the goods produced in Liangzhou are still in the stage of highest profit. White liquor, perfume, soap, weapons, equipment—these things are all super-profits.

But Liu Zheng cannot help but realize a very terrifying problem.

That is, the impact of the Little Ice Age in the seventeenth century on the land of Liaodong.

The so-called Liaodong region refers to the area of the three Northeast provinces in his past life. In Liu Zheng's memory, the Liaodong region was quite active during the Little Ice Age. The Jurchen in the north, because they faced the problem of having no food to eat, were constantly attempting to move south. This is to say, these indigenous people and ethnic minorities in the land of Liaodong were always looking for places more suitable for survival.

It is alright.

In the Longyan Dynasty, the Jurchen were not as powerful as they were in his past life. It might be because of the Qiang tribes that the rise of the Jurchen was not permitted. This also allowed Liu Zheng to heave a sigh of relief in his heart.

There is no large-scale resistance from indigenous people, which is a good thing.

But Liu Zheng must consider the Little Ice Age.

The Little Ice Age refers to the period in history from approximately 1350 to 1850, when the annual average temperature in many regions, including Huaxia, was lower than it was later; summer droughts and floods appeared one after another, while winters were bitterly cold. And the seventeenth century, which is exactly this current juncture, also happens to be the peak period of this Little Ice Age.

In ancient times, severe weather could very easily affect the stability of a country.

If the people have nothing to eat, what else are they waiting for but to rebel?

For example, during the Little Ice Age of the seventeenth century, the great drought of the Chongzhen era triggered the Li Zicheng uprising, which directly led to the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

In the nineteenth century, the great drought in the southwest during the cold phase of the Little Ice Age triggered the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, which dealt a major blow to the society of that time.

The River Thames froze over, strong winds razed communities in Britain to the ground, and tens of thousands of farmers died of famine.

London experienced the most notorious fire.

The Black Death swept across Europe.

All kinds of storms began to devour farms.

Half the population of Norway and Sweden perished in the famine.

Parts of Ethiopia in Africa were covered in snow.

Lake Superior on the American continent began to freeze.

Even the most famous Crusades in Europe were a large-scale war launched because the European population was excessive at the time and food was insufficient, in order to find a way for these people to survive.

Of course.

Opportunities also emerged at this time.

At this time, Europeans were forced to seek change due to poverty, and in their predicament, they discovered deep-bottomed ships that were more resistant to wind and waves. They rode fishing boats, and when they had no food to eat, they actually discovered two world-class fishing grounds—Labrador and Newfoundland. However, due to the lack of preservation technology at the time, they could only make them into canned cod and send them back to Europe, saving many people's lives.

And with the development of fishing routes, they discovered the West Indies and the American continent.

Thus, a large-scale colonial movement began just like that.

During this period, various European countries began to take the stage, Spain, Portugal, and so on and so forth.

By the seventeenth century, the Netherlands and Britain became the two most powerful countries in Europe at the time.

To speak of the present, the decline of the Longyan Dynasty actually has a great deal to do with the Little Ice Age.

Fiscal revenue plummeted, and the people could not fill their stomachs.

Added to the backwardness of the system, it was for various reasons that the Longyan of today was on the verge of collapse, old and decrepit.

Therefore.

At this time, referring to the history of Europe's development.

Cultivating the land of Liaodong is a challenge, but at the same time, it is also an opportunity.

It is a challenge because the conditions will certainly be more arduous and the process will be very difficult.

But what about the opportunity? If the cultivation is successful, it will greatly solve the food problem of the Longyan Dynasty. During this climate disaster ravaging the globe, if Longyan can solve the food problem, it will inevitably provide a solid foundation for continuing to stand at the pinnacle of the world.

But.

How to solve the cold and variable climate of the Little Ice Age?

This is a headache-inducing problem.

Liu Zheng.

Thought once again of the London of that era.