Severe drought

  In the year 1589, the seventeenth year of the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty.

  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

  Seven years ago, reformer Zhang Juzheng died. Less than two years after his death, the Wanli Emperor sent people to confiscate his family's property, and Zhang Juzheng's eldest son hanged himself to death, while other family members either starved to death or were exiled.

  Two years ago, Hai Rui died, and before his death, he still remembered that he owed the Ministry of Revenue 5 taels of silver. After Hai Rui's death, the imperial court belatedly awarded him the posthumous title of Taizi Taibao and the posthumous name Zhongjie.

  One year ago, General Qi Jiguang died. Qi Jiguang spent his whole life on horseback, but in his later years, he was implicated in the Zhang Juzheng case and was dismissed from his position as commander of the Ji Town Garrison, reassigned to Guangdong as a garrison commander, ending up with nothing but a bare house, and died in depression.

  But as early as three years ago, the Wanli Emperor, who was only in his 20s at the time, had already suspended court meetings on the grounds of "dizziness and fatigue". In the following years, Wanli repeatedly refused to attend court sessions under the pretext of a relapse of his old illness. As a result, officials saw less and less of him, ushering in an unprecedented era of "30 years without suburban sacrifices, hunting trips or court meetings".

  A good minister is dead, a good general is dead, and the emperor is too lazy to attend court, but society continues to develop, and even more prosperously than before.

  According to historians, it was also during this period that people's concept of life shifted from hard work to enjoyment. As a result, Tang Bohu's paintings, Yongle's carved red lacquerware, Xuande's bronze stove, Shi Dabin and Gong Chun's purple sand teapots all became fashionable items that people pursued.

  In traditional Chinese culture, there are "firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea" as the seven things to open the door. By the Wanli period, they had changed to playing musical instruments, listening to opera, traveling, playing chess, visiting prostitutes, collecting antiques, and raising flowers, birds, fish and insects, known as the "new seven things to open the door".

  In the hustle and bustle, no one knew that on the other end of the continent, Europeans were setting sail to explore the world; amidst the clinking of cups and chopsticks, no one paid attention to the fact that in the far north, the Jurchen chieftain Hai Chi was sharpening his sword and horse, eyeing the vast lands and rivers of the Ming dynasty.

  Historians sighed that this was the turning point of the decline of the Ming Dynasty; literary critics praised it as the most prosperous era of urban literature; economists called this period the beginning of China's capitalist sprouts; and later generations of grassroots youths lamented, saying: If I had one chance...

  In the midst of these tumultuous reveries and grievances, a soul from a later age fell to the mortal world.

  ……

  It is recorded: In April of the 17th year of Wanli in the Ming dynasty, there was a great drought in Nanqi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Huguang...

  Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, Nanchang Prefecture Fengcheng County, located in the south of the city, in Zhugui Township Longkou Village.

  "Everyone, get down on your knees. In a moment, listen to my command and kowtow to the Well Dragon King together. No laughing, no making noise. If we provoke the Well Dragon King, the well won't yield water, and everyone will have to eat dirt for Chinese New Year this year!"

  A man with the appearance of a corrupt official stood in front of a group of people crouching on the ground, directing them with an air of superiority. Perhaps due to the sweltering heat, his forehead was covered in sweat and his face looked unusually gloomy.

  His name was Zheng Chun, a common clerk in the county government of Fengcheng. However, to the villagers, he was an unapproachable official. For over ten days, the villagers had been catering to his every need, treating him to good food and drink. If anything didn't meet his expectations, he would throw a tantrum, constantly mentioning the county magistrate and the female family members of the villagers.

  Zheng Chun was sent by the county government to arrive at Zhegui Township, and it wasn't specifically to bully the common people. He undertook a very important task, which was to dig wells locally to resist drought.

  Fengcheng is located in the lower reaches of Ganjiang River, with a dense network of rivers and lakes within its borders. It should not be short of water. However, this year's drought is so severe that the small rivers in the county have completely dried up, and the lakes and reservoirs are almost empty. As for the village wells, the little water left is quickly taken away by impatient villagers before it can even fill a bucket. The once-mighty Ganjiang River has been reduced to a trickle due to the upstream counties competing for water, making it impossible to use for irrigation when it reaches Fengcheng.

  Facing such a severe situation, the provincial governor, Nanchang prefecture and Fengcheng county leaders made important speeches one after another, requiring villagers to unite together to fight against drought. The provincial governor, prefectural magistrate and county magistrate donated several months' salary first, and then squeezed out a batch of money and grain from various places to support the people's well-digging. Zheng Chun was one of the team leaders sent by Fengcheng County Government to dig wells.

  Although the weather is extremely dry, in Fengcheng, which is located in the Ganfu Plain, groundwater resources are still very rich. For more than a decade, all counties and towns have been reporting good news about high-yielding wells, although the water output of these wells cannot alleviate the drought situation in the whole county, it has given Magistrate Han Wen some hope.

  Of course, there is also bad news. The efficiency of the drilling teams everywhere is really unbearable. Han Wenjun mobilized all the wizards and Taoist priests in the county to be responsible for surveying well locations. However, it often takes three or four abandoned wells to drill a well with abundant water, and a large amount of money is thrown into one deep dry well after another.

  The most tragic one is Zheng Chun's team. I don't know what evil they have committed, but every well drilled by Zheng Chun's team is a useless well. Some are even dry wells, while others can only produce a few cubic meters of water in a day and night, with no practical value at all.

  Zheng Chun knew how much investment was needed to dig a well. Although some earthwork projects were completed by villagers voluntarily, wages still had to be paid to the well-digging craftsmen. In addition, there were also some material expenditures for digging wells. To alleviate the burden on farmers, these things were provided by the county government, and the expenses were not small either.

  After spending so much money, not a single well has been drilled, and Zheng Chun feels under tremendous pressure. He calls in Chen Guanyu, the feng shui master who located the well site, to scold him. Chen Guanyu says: "It's possible that some villagers have shown disrespect to the gods, angering the Dragon King of the Well, which is why the water has been taken away. To ensure a successful drilling, all male villagers must come out to offer sacrifices."

  Zheng Chun was also half-believing and half-doubting Chen Guanyu's words, but things had come to this point, and there was no other way out. So, at noon that day, he let the village head call all the men in the village to kneel down in front of a well that was being dug, and perform a ritual sacrifice.

  In the fourth month of the lunar calendar, which corresponds to May in the Gregorian calendar, it is early summer in the south. The scorching sun at noon makes all the men in the village dizzy and disoriented. But Chen Guanyu said that this was not enough to show their sincerity in seeking water. This was also a sign of Chen Guanyu's relative benevolence, as some places were said to have used iron hooks to pierce the bodies of people carrying gods' images, covered in blood, in order to move heaven.

  After the people had all knelt down, Chen Guanyu, wearing a Taoist robe, came to the front of a small slope and began to recite a long memorial text. He read for nearly half an hour before starting to direct the crowd to kowtow:

  "One bow! Dragon God have mercy, grant me clear water, save all living beings..."

  "Two bows..."

  “……”

  "A mountain flood is coming, evacuate quickly!" A loud shout interrupted the Taoist's muttering, causing everyone to turn their heads and look. They saw that in one corner of the crowd, a young man dressed as a scholar was struggling with his eyes closed, shouting something incoherently. Next to him, a peasant of similar age was holding him, using his hand to cover his mouth and prevent him from making any noise.

  "Hao Ge, Hao Ge, wake up quickly!" The young peasant shouted softly to the young life guard.

  "A mountain flood..." The young man named Su Hao suddenly opened his eyes, and in front of him was a dazzling sunlight, as well as hundreds of villagers and officials staring at him. He subconsciously closed his mouth, and his eyes flickered with fear and astonishment.

  "What kind of person is disrupting the worship!" Zheng Chun walked over with a dark face and shouted at the two in anger.

  The young farmer's name was Su Xiaohu, a neighbor of the Su family. Just now he and Su Hang were kneeling together in prayer when suddenly Su Hang let out a loud, frantic cry, scaring him into hastily covering Su Hang's mouth, but it was too late. Seeing the officials approaching to reprimand them, Su Xiaohu quickly knelt down to plead for mercy:

  "Your Honor, sir, it's possible that Haohao was overcome with heat and had a seizure, which is why he suddenly cried out and frightened Your Honor. Please forgive him."

  The villagers next to him saw that the person who was shouting was Su Hao, and they also twitched their mouths, with a look of disdain and some expected meaning on their faces. The village head, Su Zhong, walked over and explained to Zheng Chun with a bow: "Lord Zheng, this Su Hao is a scholar, his body is weak, and he has been exposed to the sun for so long, it's possible that he has developed a mental illness, please forgive him."

  "Oh, I see." Zheng Chun saw Su Hua dressed as a scholar and knew he couldn't do anything to him. Scholars were also people of merit, and it wasn't something that a minor official like him could punish. He was about to say a few words to save face when suddenly he saw a young girl rush over from the side. The girl ran all the way to Su Hua's side, touched his head, and anxiously asked: "Hua brother, what's wrong? Is it serious?"

  "Who are you?" Zheng Chun asked angrily.

  Chen Guanyu had already told him before that seeking the divine was a sacred matter, and women were absolutely not allowed to participate. That's why all the men in the village came here to worship, while the women were chased away to a hundred paces outside, only able to watch from afar. Now this girl actually ran over, wasn't she going to profane the dragon god?

  "She... She is Su Huo's sister, named Lu Xiuer." Su Zhong explained. After explaining, he shouted at Lu Xiuer: "Xiuer, why don't you leave quickly? Is this a place where women can come?"

  "Uncle Su, look! My brother has heatstroke." Lu Xiuer turned her head to say to Su Zhong, the village chief was also a cadre, and Su Hao's family in the village was considered a weak household, so Lu Xiuer still had some fear of the village chief, let alone with an official standing beside her.

  "It's all over, all our previous efforts have been wasted." Chen Guanyu also walked over at some point and saw Lu Xiuer. There was a hint of schadenfreude on his face as he cupped his hands in respect to Zheng Chun and said: "Master Zheng, I just saw the Dragon King manifest earlier, but this woman charged forward and scared him away. This well, I think it's more ominous than auspicious."

  In Chen Guanyu's heart, he was extremely grateful to Lu Xiuer. He actually had no idea that he was pretending to be a god and had dug so many dry wells. As for whether the next well would yield water or not, he had no confidence in his heart either. Having made such a big fuss about this worship thing, if there's still no water coming out, he wouldn't know how to get away with it anymore. Who knows, the county magistrate might get angry and pin some crime on him.

  Now it's all good, with Lu Xiuer rushing to the scene of the crime, Chen Guanyu can push all the responsibility onto Lu Xiuer, and he himself will be completely clean.

  "Master, are you saying that this well is abandoned again?" Zheng Chun asked Chen Guanyu with a quivering voice.

  Chen Guanyu pretended to be serious, pinching his fingers for half a day, then sighed and said: "Not only this well, but also within a radius of 10 miles around it, don't even think about getting water out. The Dragon King is the most disgusted with women among the people, and women are the most unclean things..."

  "You wretched woman, you've ruined everything!" Zheng Chun's anger reached a boiling point as he lifted his right leg to kick Lu Xiuer.

  Lu Xiu'er was worried about her brother Su Hang at this time and didn't notice Zheng Chun's movement. It was Su Hang, who was confused and saw the situation, his brain flashed like lightning, and he kicked out a foot without thinking, hitting the ankle of the foot that Zheng Chun had kicked out.

  What is meant by "four ounces moving a thousand pounds" is precisely this situation. In terms of physical strength, Su Hao was just a weak scholar, and Zheng Chun's strength was at least twice his. However, Zheng Chun kicked forward with his foot, while Su Hao gave him a force from the side, and Zheng Chun immediately lost his footing and flew out to the side.