The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

Chapter 155 The Little Ice Age

Su Chen was telling the fundamental reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and the faces of the ancients from various dynasties were particularly heavy.

For ordinary people in ancient times, the most tragic thing was living in the last years of the dynasty.

As the saying goes, it is better to be a peace dog than a person in troubled times.

In troubled times, especially troubled times like this with dynasty changes, the lives of ordinary people are worth less than a piece of grass.

The people who felt it the most were the people of the Chongzhen Dynasty.

Their lives were already miserable enough, and they almost couldn't live any longer. They just wanted to end this terrible troubled world as soon as possible.

But now when they heard what the anchor said, they just felt deep despair.

Either the officials were corrupt or the emperor was negligent. The bosses at the top were messing around, but in the end it was the poor people like them who suffered.

They don't know when this will end, and every day they live is filled with despair.

But what they didn't know was that what was in front of them was just an appetizer. What Su Chen said next made them completely despair.

"The third fundamental reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty was natural disasters. By the Chongzhen Dynasty, various natural disasters continued."

When the anchor said this, the people in the Chongzhen period nodded frequently and agreed very much with what the anchor said.

They are the ones who feel the most, and no one understands natural disasters better than them.

In recent years, there have been severe droughts every year and food production has decreased. Their lives have become worse day by day.

But even so, the imperial court's taxes continued to increase, which made them breathless and gave them no way to survive at all.

Regarding natural disasters, Chongzhen only felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

In the few years since he ascended the throne, there have been serious natural disasters every year. Before one natural disaster has subsided, another one has come.

He often suspected that this natural disaster was God's punishment for him.

He even heard rumors that many ministers were talking privately, saying that God was dissatisfied with him, so he sent disaster as a warning.

In response to frequent natural disasters, he not only carried out disaster relief, but also issued edicts to show his correction.

But the result was still useless, and various natural disasters still broke out one after another.

Sometimes he cried helplessly in the dead of night. He had obviously worked so hard to rebuild the country, but God still kept sending natural disasters, as if he would not stop until the Ming Dynasty was destroyed.

This often made him have self-doubt. Could it be that he had made such a big mistake that God was so angry that God sent such a severe punishment and vowed to destroy his Ming Dynasty?
  Just when Chongzhen fell into self-doubt again, Su Chen's words made his thoughts clear and he no longer felt guilty.

"The reason why there were so many natural disasters in the late Ming Dynasty was that the late Ming Dynasty was unfortunately in the Little Ice Age."

Chongzhen looked stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then his face became overjoyed and showed a hint of relief.

It turns out that the cause of frequent natural disasters is Xiao Glacier, which has nothing to do with him. It is not a disaster sent by God to punish him.

Although he didn't know what Xiao Glacier was, it didn't matter, as long as it wasn't his fault.

The anchor comes from later generations, and later generations of scholars have done very in-depth research on the Ming Dynasty. Since the anchor said that the Little Ice Age caused frequent disasters in the Ming Dynasty, it must be true.

At this moment, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a lot.

Now he wanted to tell the ministers and the people personally that the natural disasters that occurred in the Ming Dynasty had nothing to do with him and were not caused by his lack of morality.

The subjects of the Chongzhen Dynasty looked puzzled and confused. What was this Little Ice Age?
  Shouldn’t the reason why Ming Dynasty is experiencing constant disasters be caused by His Majesty’s inaction?

Why do you think the host is saying that the disaster that God brought down to punish the Ming Dynasty has nothing to do with His Majesty, but the reason for the Little Ice Age.

The anchor's remarks not only surprised the ancients of the Ming Dynasty, but also the ancients of other dynasties were also very confused.

Especially the emperors of various dynasties had a lot of thoughts in their hearts and thought of even more.

If the Little Ice Age was the culprit of natural disasters, then there would be an excuse for natural disasters occurring in their dynasty later.

Li Shimin: Anchor, what does this little ice age have to do with natural disasters?
  "His Majesty Taizong asked this question well. I believe many people also have this question. Now the anchor will introduce to you the Little Ice Age."

"The Little Ice Age of the Ming Dynasty refers to the decades of extremely cold winters throughout China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties."

"In the late Ming Dynasty, the average annual temperature across China was very low. Severe droughts and floods occurred one after another in the summer, and the winter was extremely cold. Not only Hebei, but also Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong and other southern regions experienced heavy snowfall."

"A total of 1101 natural disasters occurred in the Ming Dynasty from Hongwu to Chongzhen, including floods, droughts, locust plagues, snowstorms, and earthquakes. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, more than a thousand natural disasters also occurred in the Qing Dynasty, so strictly speaking, the Little Ice Age was The process of hundreds of years from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.”

"The Little Ice Age caused a significant drop in temperature, which greatly reduced food production, which caused violent social unrest and a sharp decline in population. Therefore, the Little Ice Age is also said to be one of the main reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty."

Chongzhen: What? 1101 natural disasters? In other words, there will be many natural disasters in the future?
  Chongzhen took a breath of air-conditioning, feeling extremely frightened in his heart, and for a moment he did not dare to accept the result.

According to royal records, although the natural disasters that have occurred from Taizu to the present have not been calculated in detail, they are obviously far from the number of 1101.

If we put it this way, the current natural disasters in Ming Dynasty are just the appetizer, and there will be many more natural disasters in the next ten years or so.

Upon learning of this situation, he stood frozen on the spot, his face filled with grief.

Ever since he ascended the throne, natural disasters have occurred every year without interruption and have continued until now.

Originally, he thought that things would gradually get better in the future, and that the natural disaster would be somewhat improved.

But who knows, what we have now is just a side dish, and the real big dish will come later.

If there are natural disasters every year in the future, food production will inevitably be greatly reduced, and the people will definitely choose to rebel if they have no food to eat.

When he thought about the increasingly difficult situation in the next ten years, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

However, the only thing that makes him somewhat relieved is that he has now found a way to solve it.

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, these extremely high-yielding staple crops, can certainly solve the food dilemma faced by the Ming Dynasty.

As long as the food problem can be solved, everything else will also be solved, and the entire Ming Dynasty can be revitalized.

When the common people in the Chongzhen period heard this, they looked desperate, and many even knelt down and cried bitterly.

There were more than a thousand natural disasters in the Ming Dynasty, and more than a thousand natural disasters in the Qing Dynasty. There were certainly no shortage of natural disasters in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

This means that natural disasters will occur basically every year during their lifetimes.

The current natural disasters are enough to make them despair. Natural disasters that will happen every year in the future will make them lose the courage to live.

If everyone hadn't known that His Majesty Chongzhen had turned over high-yielding grains such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, many people would have committed suicide out of despair.

Now everyone's only hope is that His Majesty will cultivate enough staple food seeds as soon as possible so that they can plant potatoes and sweet potatoes as soon as possible.

Qianlong: It turns out that the many natural disasters that occurred in the Qing Dynasty were not caused by the loss of the Ming Dynasty. They were purely caused by the Little Ice Age.

While he was relieved, he was also very curious about how the small glacier was formed, and how it could be so powerful and last for hundreds of years.

Yongzheng: Anchor, why is there the Little Ice Age, where did this thing come from, and why did it last so long.

This question was not only what Yongzheng wanted to ask, but also the ancients of the Ming Dynasty also had such questions.

"The Little Ice Age is closely related to solar activity. When the sun is active, the temperature rises, the solar activity decreases, and it enters a short dormant state, which causes the temperature to drop."

"The activity of the sun is closely related to the temperature of the world. When the sun is inactive, the world will enter the Little Ice Age."

"Ten thousand years ago, there was a period of sudden increase in temperature, and it remained quite stable for more than 7,000 years. This climate gave good conditions for human development."

"Then the arrival of the Little Ice Age caused a sharp drop in temperatures, causing drought in the north, which resulted in a large-scale reduction in food production. This would lead to famine, leading to decades of violent social unrest and war. Long-term famine would lead to unlimited war. The root cause of the expansion.”

"From the information on China's meteorological history written by Zhu Kezhen, we can know that several of the largest periods of social unrest in history are indeed closely related to the four Little Ice Ages."

"The first Little Ice Age lasted from the late Yin Shang Dynasty to the early Western Zhou Dynasty. War caused by famine led to a sharp decline in the country's population."

“The second Little Ice Age occurred during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, and the Western Jin Dynasty. The Han population at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was 60 million. After decades of famine and war, by the time of the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Han population was only 7.7 million. "

"The Third Little Ice Age spanned the late Tang, Five Dynasties, and early Northern Song Dynasty. The Han population at the end of the Tang Dynasty was also 60 million, and by the early Northern Song Dynasty, there were only 20 million left."

“The fourth Little Ice Age was in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Thanks to the drought-resistant and high-yielding crops potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes introduced from the Americas, the population lost in the war quickly recovered.”

When the anchor mentioned that the Little Glacier was related to solar activity, ancient people from all dynasties listened with interest.

This is the first time I heard this statement, and it feels very strange.

And the key is that it is easy to understand and everyone can basically understand it.

When the sun is active, the temperature is high.

When the sun is not active, the temperature is low.

This is like the temperature when the sun comes out during the day is much higher than at night.

But when the anchor mentioned that there were four Little Ice Ages in history, the ancients from all dynasties were shocked.

I originally thought that the Little Ice Age only happened in the late Ming Dynasty, and everyone just listened to it as a story.

But as I listened, I discovered that there were also small glaciers in their period.

Zhuge Liang: I asked why the severe drought in the world lasted for decades. It turned out to be the Little Ice Age, and it seemed that it would continue into the Western Jin Dynasty.

He had been wondering before that the drought lasted for too long, and it was obviously something abnormal.

Throughout history, no drought in any dynasty lasted for decades.

If it were the Little Ice Age, it would all make sense.

What worries him is that the Little Ice Age will continue into the Western Jin Dynasty, which means that the drought will continue for decades.

This is simply an unprecedented disaster for the people of the world. Fortunately, there is a solution to this catastrophe, and that is the blind potato box he grabbed yesterday.

With the potatoes he grabbed and the sweet potatoes his lord grabbed, it won't be long before everyone in Shu Kingdom can eat potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Zhao Kuangyin: It turns out that my Song Dynasty also had a Little Ice Age! Fortunately, the Little Ice Age only lasted until the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is about to end in the past two years. It is really gratifying.

He had never carefully analyzed the underlying reasons for the constant war in the world before, but now that he knew about the Little Ice Age, he was suddenly enlightened and understood it completely.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, when the common people learned that Xiao Glacier was coming to an end, they were all extremely happy and wanted to run around to tell each other and celebrate.

They were born in an era of war, which has to be said to be a tragedy. They always want to end the chaos and live a peaceful and stable life.

His Majesty Taizu established the Song Dynasty, and they were relieved and finally had hope.

But deep down, everyone still has deep worries. After all, the severe drought is still continuing, and the peaceful situation will fall into war again at any time.

But now everyone no longer has this worry. The Little Ice Age will end in the early years of the Song Dynasty, which means that droughts will be a thing of the past, and they will usher in a peaceful and stable life.

Chongzhen: Drought-resistant high-yielding crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes were made cheaper by the Qing Dynasty. They were obviously my Ming products, but in the end they were all made into wedding dresses for others. However, I will definitely not repeat the same mistakes this time. Even if the Little Ice Age will continue, I will not panic at all. With the high-yielding staple food I grabbed from the anchor, I will definitely be able to turn the tide and save the Ming Dynasty from disaster.

He was depressed when he thought that in the past, he didn't know that high-yielding crops were in the Ming Dynasty, and in the end they were all cheaper for the Manchus.

If you guard the treasure mountain without knowing it, everyone will be depressed if you know it.

But now the situation has changed. Not only does he have a treasure mountain, but it is also a treasure mountain that is more productive than before.

"In the late Ming Dynasty, a large number of natural disasters occurred. It can be said that one or several natural disasters wreaked havoc on the land of China almost every year."

"In the seventeen years of Chongzhen's reign, there were great disasters every year. Various snow disasters, floods, droughts, and locust plagues occurred year after year, resulting in countless deaths and injuries."

"In the decades from the first year of Tianqi to the Chongzhen year, several earthquakes occurred in Nanjing and Beijing, causing massive material losses and casualties to the Ming Dynasty."

"Such frequent natural disasters wreak havoc on the people at the bottom. It is almost like one natural disaster has not yet recovered, and another natural disaster continues to arise."

"The outbreak of natural disasters has seriously affected agricultural production, causing hungry people everywhere and a hell on earth where people cannibalize people."

"This is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is the plague caused by famine. The reason why Beijing was defeated so quickly was largely due to the raging plague."

Chongzhen: What? Anchor, are you saying that the plague has spread to Beijing?

He had heard from the anchor that a plague broke out in Henan before, but at that time, although he was sad that the people were suffering from the plague, that was all.

But now that he heard that a plague had broken out in Beijing, it really didn't scare him half to death.

That was a plague, an inexplicable infection followed by rapid death, which was more terrifying than the Lord of Hell.

At least the Lord of Hell still has an image, but the plague is so evil that it can't be seen or touched, and he doesn't even know what it looks like.

The unknown is the scariest thing, especially the invisible terror that kills people like the plague.

When the people of the Ming Dynasty in the capital heard the word "plague", their faces turned pale and their eyes looked frightened, obviously thinking of the horror of the plague.

When they thought about the plague that would appear in the capital in the future, everyone was frightened into confusion.

Plague is something that everyone talks about with dismay, and even people don’t know how to die.

Many people have even planned to flee the capital and come back when the storm is over.

Although history has changed and we don’t know if there will be a plague in the capital in the future, it’s better to stay away to be on the safe side.

However, some people in the capital disagree and believe that the plague will not occur in the capital as it did in history.

After all, the plague occurred because of famine.

But His Majesty has already confiscated potato and sweet potato crops. In a few years, they will be planted all over the country, and famine will never happen again.

Everyone in the world will have potatoes and sweet potatoes to eat, famine will not happen again, and plague will naturally disappear.

"The long-term drought has led to poor harvests in the fields and a sharp reduction in grain production. This has not only had a huge impact on the people, but also made the rats weak and their immunity weakened, causing the plague bacteria to multiply and spread."

"Rats that can't find food flood into human settlements in large numbers, and they infect humans with the viruses they carry."

"And people moved around due to famine, further spreading the virus, and a great plague broke out in the late Ming Dynasty."

"The epidemic was raging, and tens of thousands of people died every day in the capital. There were even tragic situations where ten rooms and nine empty houses had no one to collect the bodies."

"After the plague spread to Beijing, it caused a large number of deaths, and the death toll accounted for one-fifth of the total number of people in the city."

"In addition to the capital, plague broke out in many places across the country, killing almost all soldiers and war horses in the army. The number of people who died from the plague in the entire Ming Dynasty reached tens of millions."

The anchor's words made the brains of all the ancients in the Chongzhen period buzz and go blank.

Of course, everyone knows how terrible the plague is, and even talking about it is not enough to describe it.

But we never expected that everyone still underestimated the horror of the plague.

Tens of millions of people died from the plague. Just thinking about this number makes one's head spin.

That's tens of millions of people, not tens of thousands.

At this moment, people all over the world during the Chongzhen period were terrified, fearing that history would happen again.

Even people who were optimistic that the plague would not happen now have a look of fear on their faces.

Chongzhen looked at the live broadcast room with a dazed look on his face, his eyes dull, obviously frightened by the number of tens of millions of people dead.

Not to mention the ancients from the Chongzhen period, the ancients from other dynasties also had frightened faces and gasped.

Plague occurred in most of their dynasties, but it was not as severe as in the late Ming Dynasty.

Plague has been incurable since ancient times, and anyone who catches it will die.

From the extremely high death toll in the late Ming Dynasty, ancient people of all dynasties once again became deeply aware of the horror of the plague.

After a long while, Chongzhen slowly came back to his senses, but the frightened expression on his face had not yet eased.

After a major disaster, there must be a major epidemic. This is the experience summarized in history.

In the past few years of the Ming Dynasty, there have been major disasters every year, and he also guessed that there would be a plague.

He knew the horror of the plague, but in the end he underestimated the fact that the plague could kill tens of millions of people.

The moment he heard the numbers, his heart ached and it was difficult to breathe.

It was hard for him to accept that tens of millions of living people died from the plague like this.

But fortunately, such a tragic tragedy has not happened yet.

But then he thought that it would take another three to five years to plant high-yielding crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes on a large scale across the country.

In other words, until potatoes and sweet potatoes became popular throughout the country, famine would still occur every year.

Famine was also accompanied by plague. Although it was not as serious as in history, it was still a huge threat.

If the plague got out of control, history would likely repeat itself, which he would never want to see.

But the plague was an unsolvable problem, and he had no good way to solve it.

Just when he was at a loss, he suddenly noticed the anchor in the live broadcast room.

An idea came to him instantly. He didn't know how to deal with the plague, but the anchor must have a way to solve it.

Chongzhen: Anchor, I am worried that the plague will break out in the Ming Dynasty and the tragedy of hell on earth will once again be staged. I wonder if the anchor has any good ways to avoid the plague.

Chongzhen's words made the eyes of ancient people from all dynasties brighten, and they also wanted to know the answer.

Plagues were not only something that would happen in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, they were also possible in their dynasty.

If the anchors have a way to deal with the plague, then they can also benefit from it, and they will have a way to deal with the plague in the future.

After Su Chen saw Chongzhen's question, he thought for a moment.

He knew very little about plague. He only knew that the most famous plague in ancient times was smallpox.

After all, if many costume dramas feature plague plots, most of the plagues will be smallpox.

He still knew the solution to smallpox, which was just vaccination with cowpox.

As for the plague, he didn't know.

Plague was a very serious disaster in ancient times. We can take this opportunity to introduce it carefully so that ancient people of various dynasties can have a detailed understanding of plague, so that there is no need to panic when plague occurs in the future.

"Let's do this. After the anchor goes off the broadcast, he will look for videos about the plague. Not only will there be plague, but there will also be smallpox. Tomorrow morning, the anchor will play the video for everyone to watch. Rulers and doctors from various dynasties can focus on the video. The prevention and treatment methods introduced in it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the ancient people from all dynasties looked overjoyed and expressed their gratitude to the host one after another.

Ying Zheng: Anchor, on behalf of the people of Da Qin, I thank you.

Liu Che: The anchor’s great kindness will be remembered by our fellow citizens.

……

Li Shimin: Host, I will let all the imperial doctors learn from it tomorrow.

……

Chongzhen: Anchor, not much else to say, in order to express my gratitude, I give you the sword I carry with me.

Chongzhen rewards the anchor with a five-clawed dragon sword!
  (End of this chapter)