Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 306 - 221: Another Use of the Refugee Map (10,000-word update, seeking monthly passes)

Chapter 306: Chapter 221: Another Use of the Refugee Map (10,000-word update, seeking monthly passes)

At 10 p.m., Chuge once again entered the game world of "Dark Sand."

After a day of preparation, he had figured out how to deal with the "Heavenly Change."

In history, Wang Wenchuan’s attitude towards the Heavenly Change was "Heavenly Change is unworthy of fear," but actually this attitude couldn’t solve the problem.

For Chuge, if he wanted to better resolve this issue, he needed to conform to the ancients’ belief in the interconnection between heaven and humans to seek legitimacy for his reforms.

This was very superstitious, and also very helpless, but in that era, there was no other way.

"How to cope with the Heavenly Change?

"This is actually a systematic project..."

Chuge reviewed his plan again in his mind.

On the surface, the halting of the new laws was because Zhang Renxia presented a map of refugees and pinned several months of severe drought on the new laws. Moreover, Zhang Renxia assured with certainty that it would rain within ten days, which became the last straw that broke the back of the new reforms.

Some may wonder, what if Wang Wenchuan had stated beforehand that it would definitely rain within ten days?

What if Wang Wenchuan emphasized that the severe drought was due to local officials not properly implementing the new laws, thus resulting in heaven’s wrath and people’s resentment?

That wouldn’t actually be very effective.

Because the ancient theory of interaction between heaven and humans was a very logically consistent system.

At the time, the new laws were being implemented, so once a heavenly change occurred, in the eyes of most people at the time, especially the majority of officials and scholars, it was necessarily caused by the new laws, even the emperor himself would doubt it in his heart.

And Wang Wenchuan, in fact, also had difficulty refuting this point under the system of heaven-human interaction.

So, when faced with similar attacks, he could only stubbornly emphasize "Heavenly Change is unworthy of fear" and could not turn around and say that the Heavenly Change was due to local officials not properly executing the new laws.

And now, Chuge was thinking of a better solution. Under the system of heaven-human interaction, he wanted to solve the problem.

The ultimate focus still lay on the several months of severe drought and Zhang Renxia’s map of refugees.

"Zhang Renxia presenting the map of refugees was like the final blow within the entire system of heaven-human interaction. This was the old faction using a timely natural disaster to attack the new laws.

"According to the system of heaven-human interaction, the ’Heavenly Change’ was bound to fall on the new laws.

"Forceful excuses would not be very effective, because I have a god’s-eye view, but the emperor might not. The emperor himself was indecisive, and seeing such a serious natural disaster, he panicked instantly. So, even if I, in the identity of Wang Wenchuan, swore an oath, the effect would not be good...

"The best way to solve this was still to fundamentally reverse this direction from within the system of heaven-human interaction."

Once again, back in the Political Affairs Hall, Chuge, in the identity of Wang Wenchuan, made the following arrangements.

First, change the personnel arrangements, send Wen Junshi and some of the old faction’s senior officials to Da Ming Prefecture and the surrounding counties in Hebei.

Da Ming Prefecture was one of the five capitals of the Qi Dynasty and was also the northern bulwark of the capital. Should a war break out, this place would be the first to bear the brunt.

Second, in the reform articles, grant Da Ming Prefecture and the surrounding counties an exemption from implementing any new laws, and instead continue to follow the old laws of the old faction.

Third, require Da Ming Prefecture and the surrounding counties to increase the reserves of the Changping Warehouse.

As for why such arrangements were made?

Because Chuge found some details of turning the tables in the vast sea of historical materials.

Wang Wenchuan’s dismissal was directly caused by Zhang Renxia’s map of refugees. So, where had these refugees come from?

Many people had not considered this question.

In fact, these refugees were all from the surrounding areas of Da Ming Prefecture.

At the time, the severe drought did not affect the entire territory of the Qi Dynasty but mainly affected the area around Da Ming Prefecture.

Then, why did so many refugees suddenly gather around the capital, to the extent that refugees were everywhere, and Zhang Renxia used this as the material to create the map of refugees?

Because it was the officials of Da Ming Prefecture who intentionally drove them there!

According to historical records, at that time, the governor of Da Ming Prefecture was an old faction member who had not been completely purged.

After the outbreak of the severe drought, he first used the Da Ming Prefecture’s Changping Warehouse to attract the surrounding refugees, putting on the appearance of providing relief to the people.

However, after a few months, when the refugees were mostly gathered, he suddenly claimed that Da Ming Prefecture was a key military town in the north, which needed to save enough food for the army, so he simply drove these accumulated refugees towards the capital!

Thus, these refugees who should have been absorbed by the local area all surrounded the capital, creating a sense of "corpses everywhere, people not managing to survive."

Naturally, this became a tool for the old faction to criticize the new laws.

This record was hidden in historical materials and was not widely covered by many people. After all, to the ancients, the reason used by the officials of Da Ming Prefecture was reasonable, and people like Wen Junshi, who wrote the books, would rather blame this on Wang Wenchuan’s new laws.

But through this record, Chuge outlined a vast conspiracy.

For the sake of factional struggles, these old faction officials could completely disregard the safety of the starving people, forcibly driving them to the capital to become fodder for criticizing the new laws.

In this process, the angry refugees also vented all their anger on Wang Wenchuan’s new laws, giving Wang Wenchuan a huge blame to bear.

And now, Chuge wanted to firmly sling this blame back to the old faction, making them bear it tightly!