At least in Jiang Wan's head, he clearly knew how the Ming Dynasty perished. Perhaps the Ming Dynasty in this time and space has changed a lot because of his arrival, but this does not mean that in this time and space, those who led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty
The factor no longer exists.
Later generations studied this period of history and attributed the demise of the Ming Dynasty to Emperor Chongzhen, to the corruption and dictatorship of the Donglin Party in the court, to the greed of money by the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty, and the fear of death by the military attachés.
Jiang Wan did not agree with this kind of research. When Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he did not want the decline of the Ming Dynasty to end in his hands. Just like when a person gets married, he must be aiming to grow old together and have children.
I went there, not for divorce.
Zhu Youjian worked very hard to be the emperor. No matter what problems he had with his character, as an emperor, he was definitely not a faint king. As for the struggle for power in the court, corruption and dictatorship, this was definitely not the patent of the Ming Dynasty, no matter what
Every dynasty has this problem.
In fact, Jiang Wan's understanding of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, after learning about the large and small events in the Chongzhen era, he could only sigh and attribute all of this to "Qi Shu". The fate of the country is such that no human effort can save it.
What really destroyed the Ming Dynasty was actually four words: "natural and man-made disasters!"
Natural disasters were the main factor, while man-made disasters only amplified this factor infinitely in this era. In the end, the amplification caused the entire Ming Dynasty to completely collapse amidst internal and external troubles.
There were four Little Ice Ages in Chinese history. The first was at the end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, when King Wu conquered Zhou; the second was at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the Three Kingdoms Rebellion occurred; the third was at the end of the Tang Dynasty, when the Five Dynasties Rebellion occurred; and the last one was when the Ming Dynasty
Up.
These were the times when the Chinese nation was at its weakest when it fell into civil strife. The biggest impact of the Little Ice Age was the weather, which led to widespread famine and social unrest.
The civil unrest, plague, and fighting caused by famine are the main reasons for the change of dynasties.
The same was true in the late Ming Dynasty. The effects of the Little Ice Age had already appeared. Jiang Wan had witnessed the famine in Shaanxi and Henan. Jiang Yanran even managed to survive in the cannibalistic Luochuan.
When people reach that stage, as long as they can survive, they dare to destroy all social orders and trample all morals under their feet.
However, Jiang Wan also did not forget that every time the Little Ice Age came, what caused the most casualties was actually not famine or war, but plague. And if it fell on the Ming Dynasty, it would be a person that made Jiang Wan think
A name that makes me shudder even thinking about it.
"plague!"
If this name is not shocking enough, then if the name were changed, both Catherine and Tang Ruowang would be so frightened that they would jump up and down.
"Black Death!"
In medieval Europe, the spread of the Black Death took away almost one-third of the population. Bustling cities turned into cities of death. Vehicles hauling corpses were everywhere. The thick smoke rising from the cities was caused by burning.
The thick smoke generated by the corpse was comparable to hell.
Based on the death conditions of the people in this village on Pi Dao and the reaction of the General Military Mansion's order to burn down the village, Jiang Wan judged that it was probably the plague that had spread in this village, and one of the characteristics of the Black Death was that it infected people.
The time between illness and death was extremely short, and when they died, their skin turned black, which is where the name Black Death comes from.
This incident has happened for a few days. Logically speaking, the soldiers who came into contact with that village should have been infected, and they have already been infected and even died. Contact with several soldiers in the General Military Mansion should not lead to infection. risk.
Moreover, since the General Military Mansion ordered the burning of the entire village, it means that they have also realized that the death of these villagers is not just a simple matter of poisoning, but more likely a plague.
Setting fire to burn out all possible sources of the plague is undoubtedly one of the correct methods.
However, life must be taken seriously. The Ming Dynasty’s term for plague is too general. All kinds of plagues, large and small, can be called plagues as long as they are easy to spread and cause people to get sick. It is difficult for non-professional doctors to distinguish these plagues clearly. The difference is that the plague is undoubtedly the most contagious and fatal among all plagues.
Jiang Wan asked his people to completely isolate the entire Huwei Camp. This was a gamble and a desperation remedy. If the Huwei Camp was infected with the plague, then isolation could not solve it now. Something happened, and even he himself might be infected.
However, if everyone is fine, then you only need to guard against outsiders and prevent them from contacting your own people, and it won't be a big deal.
As for recruiting more officers and soldiers, Jiang Wan decided not to consider it for the time being. He also reserved his attitude towards Liu Xingzhi for the time being. No matter how he planned to solve Liu Xingzhi's matter, he had to wait until this matter was over.
He could only pray that his judgment was wrong, that this was not a plague, and that the timely response of the General Military Office nipped the matter in the bud.
The sudden movements in Huwei Camp at night not only made the officers and soldiers of Huwei Camp start to speculate one by one, but by the time it got daybreak, the entire Huwei Camp seemed to be a hedgehog with thorns exposed all over its body, looking at the outside with eager eyes. Arming himself, this moment made the officers and soldiers outside the Huwei camp become nervous.
They felt that this was the rhythm of the Huwei camp preparing to cause trouble. Considering that Marshal Jiang had not made any movement for so long since he arrived at Pi Island, and when he sent an envoy to contact Liu Xingzhi, he made some moves, so he must be preparing for a war.
These people did not take refuge with Liu Xingzhi, but also remained neutral under Jiang Wan's solicitation. Naturally, they were unwilling to get involved in the fight between the two. However, if Marshal Jiang's Huwei Battalion, fully armed, passed through their territory , under the guise of going after Liu Xingzhi, but with the purpose of eating them?
Anyone with a little bit of brains can't help but be on guard against this kind of thing.
As a result, these neutral territories also showed their fangs one by one, as if they were all soldiers. Not to mention other soldiers and horses passing by their territory, even if they approached, they would immediately be greeted by a shower of arrows for free.
Pi Island is short of food, but there is no shortage of ordnance. Even if the imperial court does not supply the weapons stored in it, it will not be a problem to fight the Tatars for a year or two. Unexpectedly, these ordnance are now used in this place.
This kind of movement is like a pond blown by the wind, with ripples spreading layer by layer, spreading past the General Military Mansion, until it spread to the entire Phi Island.
Now, almost everyone in Pi Island is on alert and ready to fight with others at any time.
The last time the whole island was on alert like this was when the Tatars tried to cross the icy coast and completely wiped out the island.