Chapter 264: Harvest (I)
In the left column are the third apprentice brother Li Tieniu, the eldest apprentice Qian Qing, the second apprentice Yang Wangfu, and the sixth apprentice Wan Qian.
On the right column are the top scholar Gao Pang, Chief of Staff Lei Hu, Director of Maritime Trade Feng Yukuan, and Commander of the Sixth Regiment Hu Yue.
Huo Chong was sitting in the middle of the large office in the Marshal's Mansion, and there were other civil and military officials sitting in the outer circle.
Wan Qian stood up first and reported the news she had received, "... Jinan Prefecture discovered that the Qing army had crossed the Daqing River and headed straight for the Xiaoqing River. When they arrived, the Qing army was trying to dig open the Xiaoqing River..."
After the report, everyone's faces were very ugly. Huo Chong knew that everyone was very angry. Although Huo Chong was also surprised by the Qing Dynasty's choice, he surprisingly did not hate it. Compared with the evil deeds of the Qing Dynasty, this action was really nothing.
It was Xiaoqing River that made Huo Chong feel like he had a strange connection with her. Several of his important changes happened to be related to the people connected by Xiaoqing River.
Third apprentice brother Li Tieniu said angrily: "Big Brother, we must not let this go. Why don't we send more troops to kill the Qing army?"
"Third brother, of course we can't let them go . But... well... after the fall, when we expand our army to 100,000, we will first send troops across the Daqing River and pretend to attack the capital. At the same time, we will send troops to threaten Jining. That's almost enough."
Everyone had different looks. Li Tieniu frowned and thought for a moment, then asked in confusion, "Big Brother, why is this happening?"
Huo Chong knew that his third apprentice brother was absolutely loyal and had a simple affection for the people. But when it came to the brutal military struggle, he really couldn't keep up with the thinking.
Not wanting to embarrass his third apprentice brother, Huo Chong simply expressed his thoughts, "When I heard about Xiaoqing River, I remembered that the Qing army had read about the Daqing River and moved south. If we fight across the Daqing River and show that we are going to deal with the Qing army, they may not be afraid. But if we show that we are going to attack the capital directly, the Qing army will probably remember that we killed Yongzheng, and they will have to gather heavy troops to defend the capital. Tie Niu, don't you think so?"
Li Tieniu thought for a long time and nodded reluctantly, "I think so."
"Then let's pretend to attack the capital, and then send troops to attack Jining. Whether we take it or not, at least we have cut off the canal transportation. At this time the Qing army will face a food shortage. Without enough food and money, the Qing army will of course be more honest."
After saying that, Huo Chong looked at the important civil and military officials on his left and right. Qian Qing on his left seemed to be thinking about something, while Gao Pang on his right had bright eyes. Lei Hu frowned slightly, looking like he was thinking hard.
As for the others, their expressions were different. It seemed that they could not find any clues from Huo Chong's jumping thoughts. Huo Chong called out, "Gao Pang, what should we do next?"
Gao Pang immediately responded: "Go south to Jiangsu."
Lei Hu was stunned for a moment, and could not help but nodded slightly. Qian Qing was not very excited, but just glanced at Gao Pang.
Hu Yue was shocked when he heard this and said loudly: "Governor, it's good to go south. It's really good."
"Okay, then we'll see what happens to the Qing army." After saying that, Huo Chong suddenly remembered something, "Brother Feng, I suddenly remembered something. Do you think Mount Fuji in Japan erupted a few days ago?"
Feng Yukuan didn't expect Huo Chong to ask this out of the blue. After thinking about it for a moment, he answered decisively, "That's right. Mount Fuji erupted once 20 years ago, and it was very powerful..."
After Huo Chong got confirmation from Feng Yukuan, a question came to his mind: the weather at this time.
According to Feng Yukuan, more than 20 years ago, in 1707, a major earthquake occurred in southwestern Japan, called the Ho-ei Earthquake. Its magnitude should have been very high. The volcanic ash that fell in Kawasaki was so deep that it buried the feet, and it should have been 5-10 cm thick. The earthquake and volcanic eruption caused the death of about 20,000 people and destroyed more than 60,000 houses.
Huo Chong really didn't care about the loss of life and property of the Japanese people, he really didn't care at all. This news just made Huo Chong understand why it was so cold now.
Huo Chong originally thought that the Little Ice Age climate in the late Ming Dynasty had continued to the present day. However, he did not expect that earthquakes had occurred everywhere in recent decades. When a volcano erupts, it will spray hundreds of millions of tons of volcanic ash into the atmosphere, covering the sky and causing a cold climate.
The most famous event in history that Huo Chong remembered was the end-Permian mass extinction event, the Emeishan Traps event, which was not an eruption of underground volcanic lava reservoirs, but an eruption of a mantle plume rising directly from the mantle. It literally erupted the Emeishan system.
The Siberian Traps event a million years later was much more violent than the Emeishan Traps event. Like a ruptured aorta, lava gushed out of the crater from the mantle plume, creating a volcanic zone in Siberia with an original area of 7 million square kilometers.
These two mantle plume volcanic eruptions directly led to the end-Permian mass extinction, which wiped out more than 90% of the world's biological species. The ancient Trilobite subphylum became extinct in this catastrophe, creating a " family extinction .
The most recent famous volcanic eruption in history that Huo Chong remembered was the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815, the last year of the Napoleonic Wars. That year, there was no summer in the world.
Just as he was thinking, Feng Yukuan asked in confusion: "Commander-in-chief, why are you asking this?"
These senior personnel had all received compulsory education from Huo Chong. Whether they believed it or not, they had all learned that the earth revolved around the sun. They also understood that all things grew with the help of the sun.
Huo Chong used paper to block the candlelight and explained the theory that volcanic ash entering the stratosphere would affect the sunlight entering the atmosphere, causing the climate to cool.
Everyone who heard this was completely confused and had no idea what Huo Chong was trying to say.
Finally, Qian Qing broke the silence caused by confusion, "Sir, what's next? Or do you want to give us a lecture? Isn't this what you said: Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be in danger; know the heavens and the earth, and you will never be in trouble."
Huo Chong felt a little warm in his heart. His daughter was as considerate as the boys. In this completely confusing situation, Qian Qing could always find a way out for Huo Chong.
Huo Chong was so happy that he couldn't help but smile. "Teaching is one thing. Let me finish. The volcanic ash will always settle to the ground under gravity, and the sky will eventually become clear and transparent again. At that time, the temperature will rise, the precipitation will increase, and everything will grow better."
Gao Pang listened with great interest and asked quickly, "Governor, grain production will continue to increase by then!"
Huo Chong shook his head. "That's not what I care about. Once the rainfall increases, it means that the Yellow River will have water. At that time, I will send troops to Kaifeng during the flood season to blow up the riverbank on the north bank. The Yellow River will flow eastward along the Daqing River into the sea. The river channel to the south will dry up."
After hearing Huo Chong's roundabout way of talking, he actually attributed it to the bombing of the Yellow River embankment. The high-ranking officials of the Han regime were dumbfounded. The expressions on their faces ranged from shock, surprise, confusion, to horror. There were really all kinds of expressions.
Huo Chong said to his third apprentice brother Li Tieniu who looked bewildered: "Tieniu, then we can avenge the Qing Dynasty for trying to dig up the Xiaoqing River to flood us. Are you happy to hear that?"
Li Tieniu blinked a few times in confusion and was completely speechless.