Chapter 219 — The Strike of the Heavenly Anomaly

The moment these words were spoken, a buzz of discussion filled the court. A single cloud, covering the whole domain of Jingping — such a thing was all but impossible, and yet it had happened!

The Kingdom of Jingping was vast: ninety thousand li from north to south, eighty thousand from east to west. And now snow was falling over every corner of it, and the heavy snow had lasted six or seven days — another thing that could not possibly happen!

Those who wield divine powers can summon wind and call down rain, but summoning wind and calling rain means rain over a small patch, wind over a small patch; no art could spread a spell over the whole of Jingping.

Nor was this any natural disaster. South of the Golden River snow was rare; south of the Surging River, rain and snow were less possible still; and by the Billowing River, where the four seasons are as summer, snow was out of the question.

Snow over the entire kingdom — more inconceivable by far!

Emperor Yanfeng coughed once, hushing the ministers, and said, "Minister of Agriculture, I fear many of my beloved ministers do not understand how terrible this snow is. Explain it to them."

An old minister stepped from the ranks — the Minister of Agriculture of the Jingping court, who oversaw the kingdom's farming — and bowed. "Your Majesty, my lords, in this snow disaster the northern crops were bred to endure cold and frost, so the harvest of next year is not in question. The crux lies in the south. Once the southern crops have come through a snow like this, I fear they will be frozen clean through and dead. Next year the south will reap not a single grain."

The Minister of Revenue said hurriedly, "By the south, the Minister of Agriculture means...?"

"South of the Golden River."

A cold breath went through the assembled ministers, and Shen Mu too was startled.

He had a map of the mountains and rivers of Jingping; the Golden River, likewise, rises in the Waste, and runs east several tens of thousands of li before it reaches the sea.

The land south of the Golden River was two-thirds of Jingping's territory!

That is to say, two-thirds of the kingdom would reap not one grain.

"This... Your Majesty, this minister holds that grain should first be transferred from every region and sent south, to prepare for famine relief!"

The Minister of the Imperial Stud stepped out and bowed. "The south has only just come through war; many commanderies and counties need relief. The granaries of those commanderies and counties must already be empty. I beg Your Majesty to move the granaries of the north, and save the common people from fire and flood!"

The Minister of Agriculture sighed. "As things stand, they cannot be moved. My lords do not know this: the great war consumed grain, and consumed a great deal of it. To send grain south now would only let the starving eat it all. And once it is eaten, next year there will not even be seed grain; nothing can be planted, and in autumn there will be nothing to eat. Minister of the Imperial Stud, when the starving have nothing to eat, they will eat people."

"Are we then to let the people of the south starve to death?"

The Minister of Agriculture said, "If grain is to be sent south, it must be rationed — only enough to keep the starving of the south alive at death's edge. In truth the south still has granaries, but they are all in the hands of the great clans, the powerful houses, and the landlords. Move their grain, and I fear they will stir the starving up to rebellion. Your Majesty..."

Emperor Yanfeng's face darkened. "The grain of the great clans, the powerful houses, and the landlords — I will find a way. Continue."

"Yes. Beyond the south, there is another great disaster, north and south alike."

The Minister of Agriculture said, "The north is cold in winter at the best of times, and this year colder still. Going a few rounds through several northern commanderies and counties, I found farmers already felling trees and burning fires for warmth. Many woods in the hills and wilds have been cut away, standing bare and bald. If the people of the north, who endure cold, have come to this, one can imagine what the south will be. And if the southern forests are cut to the last tree, mountain torrents, mudslides, great floods, will come without end. Natural disaster will brew human calamity, and human calamity will brew more natural disaster. Yet forbid the starving to cut wood for warmth, and I fear unknown numbers will freeze to death. By then, I fear nine houses in ten will stand empty..."

Emperor Yanfeng exhaled a breath of stale air. The ministers fell silent too, so silent that even the sound of breathing seemed heavy and grating. Cut no wood and burn no fire, and the farmers freeze; cut wood and burn fires, and the disasters multiply.

One snow disaster had caught the vast empire of Jingping in a double bind.

The Minister of Agriculture went on: "And the crux of it, we still do not know how long this cloud will last. If the overcast breaks in a few days, we may yet hold the losses to the least. If it does not break, the state is in peril, the altars of the realm are in peril!"

"I... understand."

Emperor Yanfeng sat down, somewhat spent. "Do my beloved ministers now understand how desperate the situation is? Some days ago, when those traitors rebelled, I remained at ease, thinking nothing of it. I knew they could not succeed; sooner or later the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and my beloved ministers would destroy them. But this snow disaster and this cloud will cut off the fate of my Jingping! Beloved ministers, is there a way?"

The whole court, civil and military, fell into silence.

Mighty as their powers were, they could neither dispel this cloud nor melt this snow.

Emperor Yanfeng looked at the ministers below the hall, angry and anxious at once. One snow, one cloud, and this empire must fall apart? And the toil of several hundred years must vanish like smoke?

One civil official said, "This minister holds that this is the reform of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, which has angered Heaven..."

Emperor Yanfeng flew into a rage. "Drag him out and behead him!"

The official dropped to his knees with a thump, wailing to heaven and earth, his voice hoarse: "Your Majesty, Heaven has Heaven's Way; the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's reform means to alter Heaven's Way, and so Heaven is angered. When Heaven is angered, the people resent; the people have no way to live, Your Majesty!"

"Attendants!"

Emperor Yanfeng's fury was past containing. "At the hour of the nation's peril he spreads monstrous lies. If I do not behead him, must I behead him with my own hands?"

The guards in the Golden Throne Hall hurried over and dragged the official away; his wailing faded into the distance.

Emperor Yanfeng paced two quick steps and pressed down his anger. "What I want is capable ministers who can get things done, not sycophants who can only open their mouths to slander. This reform is a reform I want, not a reform the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping wants! If Heaven is angered and the people resent, it is me they are angered at, me they resent! The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is a capable minister such as appears not once in five hundred years — even in a thousand, two thousand years, one would be hard put to find his like! Think me up a way. Fail me, and do not go home, and do not celebrate the New Year either!"

"Your Majesty, why not take this cloud away?"

Suddenly a voice came from below the hall: "Since the cloud cannot be driven off, then gather the cloud's vapor up."

The assembled civil and military ministers looked toward the voice, and Emperor Yanfeng's gaze followed. "So it is the Cavalier Attendant. If the Cavalier Attendant has some insight, speak it freely."