Human beings seem insignificant in front of nature, and since ancient times, human beings have never stopped exploring nature. In ancient times, when productivity was low, the harsh natural environment often posed challenges to human survival.
During the Ming Dynasty, hail and cold disasters were frequent, and the number even exceeded half of that of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, some people believe that the Ming Dynasty was in a "Xiaoice period". At that time, it was so cold that heavy snow could fall on areas that did not snow all year round, and it was not uncommon for the cold regions in the north to be icy and snowy, and the snow was deep enough to bury people.
However, for southerners, watching a snowy scene is already a rare spectacle in film and television works.
Guangdong's climate is unique, and unlike the snow in the north, it is only sleet at most, and the chance of seeing goose feather snow is very slim. According to historical records, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was heavy snow in Chaozhou, Guangdong for several consecutive years, and the largest snow year was about 1506, with a snow depth of about 1 meter.
This is difficult to travel in modern times, let alone in ancient times when productivity was backward, and houses could not withstand such heavy snow.
As the global climate warms, some of the phenomena that were once taken for granted are changing. For example, in the past, we might have seen snow up to 1 meter deep in places like Heilongjiang and Jilin, while in other places, snow falls usually no more than 30 centimeters.
However, the situation is different now. The Qinling-Huaihe line, as we know it, used to be the dividing line between the south and the north, as well as the dividing line of the zero degree Celsius isotherm in January.
In areas south of the demarcation line, the average temperature in January usually does not fall below zero degrees Celsius, and there is little ice in winter. However, historical documents record that during the Ming Dynasty, the Yangtze River had a month of ice, and even the ice of Dongting Lake was more than 30 centimeters thick.
This phenomenon was uncommon in the past, but now, due to the effects of global warming, we are starting to see some unprecedented climate phenomena.
The Yangtze River is frozen, and the ice period is as long as a month, what a cold temperature it is to freeze the Yangtze River, which stretches for thousands of miles. In such a long cold period, ice and snow conditions, people at that time did not have enough warmth measures, and the level of housing construction was limited, how to survive this cold and biting winter, not to become a starving ghost, but to become a frozen ghost.
This is true of Guangdong, which is located in the south of China, not to mention the north, where there is ice everywhere, continuous heavy snow and hail, and even Nanjing, which is known as the "furnace", has also suffered heavy snowfall, and the people's lives are miserable.
At that time, the rivers were frozen and did not thaw for several days, and there was no problem playing on the ice, as if the free skating rink was right in front of you. Looking back on that "Xiaoice River" period, one cannot help but sigh that although Hunan citrus is of good quality and high yield, every family makes a living by growing citrus, and all the citrus harvested every year must be paid to the imperial court.
Years of low temperatures have frozen farmers' citrus trees, causing them to lose their harvest and have to switch to other hardy crops. At that time, it was expected that the "Xiaoice" period would only be a large-scale cold weather, with heavy snow and hail, but in fact, it was accompanied by a typical drought.
Ancient China was a large agricultural country, so the natural climate was crucial for agricultural production. In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, due to the frequent occurrence of cold and dry weather, North China experienced an unprecedented drought.
This drought lasted for a long time, and the precipitation was so low that even the Yellow River, which was running for thousands of miles, was cut off. Farmland in northern China is almost unharvested. Although the cold weather has caused great distress to the people, the most desperate thing is the lack of water, the source of life.
The drought has lasted for a long time and has affected a wide range of areas, causing great hardship to people's lives. The local ** could not cope with it, and the drought situation was also recorded in the local annals, and North China was full of barren land and dry rivers.
The drought has not only damaged agricultural production, but also deeply affected people's lives. Years of drought have made water scarce, making it difficult to obtain water, and even daily drinking water has become a problem.
According to local chronicles, people had to dig up tree roots, eat tree bark, and even feed each other saliva in order to survive.
In the 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty, the number of locust plagues was as high as more than 900, and an average of more than 3 locust plagues occurred every year, which is an astonishing number.
During the Chongzhen period, locusts were rampant, causing a serious food shortage. At the height of the disaster, Beijing, Nanjing, Henan and other places were almost barren, with no grass to see and no crops.
In this regard, Xu Guangqi, a scholar of the Ministry of Rites, once said that the destructive power of locust plague is no less than drought, especially in the harvest season, when locusts are rampant, and everywhere they go, there is no greenery, and the grass and trees are almost extinct.
In this case, the food has soared, and even the rich people have difficulty buying food. The most pitiful are the lower classes, who depend on the land for their livelihood, but now they are hit by the double blow of drought and locust plague, unable to harvest food and facing the threat of starvation.
There are even some places where there is a tragic situation of changing children and eating them, which seriously violates the ethical norms of society.
In this chaotic period, people are in a state of instability for a long time, which inevitably leads to riots. From the first year of Chongzhen to the eighth year of Chongzhen, there were thirteen large-scale uprisings, and many people who did not participate in the uprising also fled in all directions.
In order to survive, some of the people fled to Mongolia north of the Great Wall, where they cultivated land in the vast steppes. However, this behavior not only destroys the grassland ecological environment, but also increases the possibility of contact with grassland rats.
Due to the difficulties of life, the people with weak resistance came into contact with and ate rats in large quantities, leading to large-scale plague outbreaks. Refugees fleeing for their lives have been fleeing in terror as they witness the illness and death of their loved ones.
However, due to the low level of medical care and the lack of a clear ** and prevention and control plan, many infected people fled in all directions, which exacerbated the outbreak of the plague. Not only did the people who fled become infected with the plague, but food shortages and the harshness of the natural environment also weakened people's ability to cope with the plague.
The soldiers stationed in Beijing were also infected one after another, and the combat effectiveness of the Ming army plummeted.
During the "Xiaoice River" period of the Ming Dynasty, the rulers were eager for disaster relief, but the food reserves were insufficient, the plague was raging, and the speed of life and death was painful.
While the people were fighting the bitter cold, they also had to deal with the double blow of drought, hail, locust plague and pestilence, and life was miserable.