NOVEL NEXT Chapter 257: Natural and Man-Made Disasters
Yingtian Prefecture, Temporary Cabinet.
"Bastards, a group of bastards!" Huo Jing was in his position, responsible for its affairs. Now that he became Grand Secretary, he could enjoy the many benefits brought by the reform, directly transforming from a Conservative Faction leader into a pillar of the Reform Faction.
This entire transition was extremely smooth.
He had no choice but to change; old Liang next to him was always ready to make a comeback.
That damned old Deng, with nothing to do all day, just wandered around the Temporary Cabinet. Who told Xu Qing to suggest to the old Emperor, giving old Liang a "Cabinet Advisor" title?
Although he had no participation rights, just being on the side was enough to disgust people.
Huo Jing wished he could immediately pass a mandate in the Cabinet, banning old retired Deng from participating in state affairs.
After all, Ying Tian Prefecture still has an Elder with qualifications far deeper than Zhang Tai'a.
But he can only fantasize about it, as old Huo knew he too would face retirement one day.
Sigh!
But old Huo was too busy to deal with these bothersome matters right now.
Currently, there are two difficult issues that have him at his wit's end; one is the "Guanzhong Great Drought" triggering civil unrest. Calling it civil unrest, it's essentially rebellion.
This time, it was led by Taoists from the Xuandu Temple in Guanzhong.
In fact, Guanzhong has been suffering from drought for consecutive years, and the Court indeed has been providing tax exemptions and disaster relief funds annually.
But the severity of Guanzhong's drought is far more critical than reported by the officials.
It has now reached the extent where the land is vast and barren.
Due to the Great Yu Dynasty's system issues, unless the trouble was too big to hide, they would conceal whatever they could. Small-scale civil unrests were always quelled or pacified by local officials.
However, this time the situation is extremely unique.
There is truly no food left.
As to why there's no food?
Blame it on South Zhili now engaging in major infrastructural development.
Once these projects start moving, money and food vanish like the sea.
Moreover, they also have to secure money and food for the capital's canal, and coupled with the mediocre harvests in recent years in Jiangnan, even Jiangnan is experiencing a drought this year.
Additionally, the Emperor's southern tour also consumed a huge sum of money and food.
You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you manage the household.
Huo Jing used to only criticize, but now that he experienced it himself, he's at his wit's end, wondering how Zhang Tai'a managed to hold on, could he possibly conjure money and food out of thin air?
Moreover, aside from the chaos in Guanzhong, the Lianghuai salt transport also encountered problems, and the salt households are rebelling!
Now, external threats have almost been pacified, it should be the time for vigorous development to boost national power.
Huo Jing thought he could tag along and earn the title of a revitalizing Prime Minister.
Unexpectedly, these natural and man-made disasters are still unavoidable.
"Yan Weizhong, quickly bring Xu Gongming here!" Huo Jing used to look down upon Zhang Tai'a and Elder Liang, thinking they relied on Xu Qing for everything, truly useless.
Unexpectedly, after he rose to power, he has to rely even more!
Frankly speaking, the world could do without the old Emperor, might be even better off, but can never do without Xu Gongming.
Huo Jing now sincerely feels if it weren't for Xu Gongming, there would probably be rebellious lords everywhere now, with people declaring themselves kings and dukes all over!
Xu Qing arrived at the Temporary Cabinet, listening to Yan Shan explain the situation along the way.
Xu Qing was also quite helpless about it.
Indeed, the Court's military might is formidable now, but the issue is that no amount of military strength can resolve the food reduction brought by natural disasters.
Without money and food support, the Court's military becomes a burden instead, continually consuming the Court's already scarce reserves.
For the people, food is as important as heaven.
If the people have no food to eat, it would be strange if they didn't rebel.
This actually indicates that the land of the Great Yu Dynasty is indeed unable to bear the current populace and simply cannot sustain so many people. Additionally, Xu Qing wants to develop Martial Arts and Dao Skills, which all significantly consume money and food.
To speak of nothing else, just the Emperor's Shadow Guards alone consume as much money and food as maintaining tens of thousands of soldiers.
Don't think this is a lot. It's because the Shadow Guards are fewer in number, hence the money spent reaches them more effectively.
Since the Shadow Guards are powerful and have flesh and blood, naturally, they need solutions for family matters and compensation for their social status, otherwise, who would risk their lives?
This investment is continuous and cannot be saved.
Not to mention the resources consumed by the Shadow Guards themselves.
The previous dynasty adopted the Fubing system, and our country implemented the hereditary military household system, ultimately all aiming to save money and food.
But this issue is unsolvable.
The human heart's desire is insatiable, yearning for more with each gain.
If these desires did not exist, history wouldn't advance.
Actually, to resolve this, there's another way, which is to reduce the population by half through massacres, and many problems will naturally resolve themselves.
This isn't to say Xu Qing defied the Heavenly Dao without reason.
Without Xu Qing, the Great Yu Dynasty would enter the normal late stage of a dynasty, completing the historical cycle of renewal through plagues, wars, and various natural or human-induced factors.
Only through chaos can there be peace!
But Xu Qing refuses to believe in evil and insists on treading a third path, which is external expansion.
Since the land of the Great Yu Dynasty can't support the current population, then let's venture out.
If all else fails, after dealing with the Black Mountain old demon, let's plough the world once over.
Retreating from fear is simply not in Xu Qing's nature.
Because life is just a game, if it's too easy, it quickly loses its charm.
It's better to be challenging; it's fun that way, and it's less likely to fall into nihilism.
The Heavenly Demon is also an emotional being, even more so than ordinary people in this aspect.
Xu Qing is just used to restraining his emotions.
Xu Qing understood clearly, if he didn't control himself, it would be harmful to others and himself.
A simple fact is that although he can have his consciousness exist within the "human heart," his Heavenly Demon Body is not immortal, and an old sage like Elder Fang can resolve his Heavenly Demon Body, let alone a creator like the Black Mountain old demon.