Xiahou Ren really couldn’t understand this. "From what they say and do, they clearly believe in the Great General and Guo Pu. Why won’t they obey the Great General’s orders then?"
The village chief said, "The Great General and Immortal Guo don’t know how to farm. They believe there will be heavy rain, but they also believe that if they plant wheat and rice, they’ll still get a harvest."
Tao Wu suddenly asked the village chief, "Does your family plant wheat and rice?"
The village chief said, "We planted some, but only half as much as in previous years. We plan to leave some land to grow sorghum and millet."
Tao Wu frowned. "Now I know why the Great General sent the two of us out to these rural backwaters, and I also understand why she had Zu Ti set out early for the Yellow River banks. If even the people here in Luoyang won’t listen to advice, there’s no need to mention those far from Luoyang."
"With the court issuing advance warnings of disaster, it’s already like this. Without any warning at all..." Tao Wu looked toward Xiahou Ren.
Xiahou Ren frowned. "But that also shows that warnings are useless to these foolish people; it’s only driven up grain prices for nothing..."
At the side, the village chief was displeased and shouted, "How can you call us foolish people? Where are we foolish? No one can say for sure what will happen in the future. The world is so big, and Immortal Guo never said the rain will fall only on our Luoyang. What if our wheat and rice do get harvested?"
"Besides, even if there are people who don’t listen, there are also people who do. Under my charge, out of a hundred households, seventy-two listened to the advice. Even if that whatever happens, won’t seventy-two households survive? Why do you scold all hundred of us just because of those twenty-odd households?"
The village chief kept talking, spraying spittle all over Xiahou Ren’s and Tao Wu’s faces. The two were caught off guard, unable to defend themselves or refute him, and could only apologize repeatedly.
Zu Ti stationed Zhao Shen along the banks in Si Province, then returned to Jizhou. Zhao Hanzhang also ordered Zhao Ming, Zhao Ju, and Zhao Kuan to prepare disaster-prevention measures along the downstream banks of Yu State, Yan State, and Qingzhou.
The great disaster had yet to arrive, but in this atmosphere, grain prices first rose and then rose again.
Commoners with surplus grain at home had originally planned to sell at a high price during the lean period between old and new crops, earn a bit of money, and once the winter wheat was harvested at the end of the fourth month, from the fifth month on they would no longer lack grain.
But as they kept hearing talk of natural disasters, those with surplus grain no longer dared to sell; they even began to cut back on their own consumption.
Families who could afford thick porridge switched to thin; those who could afford dry grain switched to thick porridge; and those who already could only afford thin porridge started taking advantage of the warm spring to gather large amounts of wild vegetables to mix in, eating less grain and more greens—whatever they could save, they would.
By Qingming in the third month, not a drop of rain had fallen in Luoyang. Instead, the sun was shining brightly, the weather had begun to warm, and the countryside was full of blooming wildflowers.
By Grain Rain, Luoyang had a small shower. It started raining at noon and stopped before dusk.
Debate broke out in court, and the commoners were also dumbfounded as they looked up at the sky. "Is this going to be a drought? On Grain Rain we only get half a day of rain. When it’s time for Grain in Ear, will we have water to plant our fields?"
Though puzzled, those who trusted Zhao Hanzhang still chose to sow sorghum and millet. Both of these are broadcast directly after plowing the land.
Those who didn’t believe started flooding fields to raise rice seedlings, waiting only for the Beginning of Summer to transplant them.
They occasionally went to look at the winter wheat in the fields. After Grain Rain, the wheat was trying hard to head out, but this spring was somewhat dry; in some plots, there wasn’t enough water, and the ears came out with great difficulty.
The farmers had no choice but to irrigate.
Those whose fields were next to ditches fared better; they could let water into the fields. Those far from any ditch could only carry water by yoke.
After toiling for several days to irrigate every wheat field, they looked at the wheat stalks swaying in the wind and were overjoyed.
After Grain Rain, not a drop of rain fell, only blazing sunshine. Some ground even began to crack. A farmer looked up at the big sun overhead and said, "If it doesn’t rain soon, I don’t know about floods this year, but there will definitely be drought."
The neighbors around him all agreed.
Only the village chief looked worriedly at the sky. If Immortal Guo hadn’t miscalculated, then Heaven was holding back for a big move, wasn’t it?
At that moment, the village chief sincerely hoped Guo Pu had gotten it wrong.
But the heavy rain came out of nowhere.
The first place it rained was Xincai.
Xincai is far from the Yellow River. Although there was a torrential downpour right on their heads, no one linked it to the heavy rains the Yellow River region was bracing for.
But it rained there for three days straight. The rain was so heavy that a corner of the county seat flooded. The Xincai County Magistrate sensed something was wrong and hurriedly reported to Zhao Ming.
Uneasy, Zhao Ming sent people to support Xincai while also reporting to the court.
The telegraph was slightly faster than the wind. The court received the telegram first, and only then did it start raining in Luoyang. In the morning it was a gentle drizzle; by noon, there was no sign of it letting up, and instead it grew heavier.
The commoners only sighed over the rain. "We watered the fields for nothing these last two days. If we’d known it would rain so soon, we’d have waited a bit longer. Carrying water made my shoulders swell up."
But by evening the rain still hadn’t stopped. The raindrops were as big as soybeans, drumming violently on roofs and the ground; anyone walking through it felt them sting painfully on the body.
Now no one joked anymore. Inside and outside Luoyang, whether officials or commoners, all gazed anxiously at the pitch-black night sky, speechless, a chill rising in their hearts.
Zhao Hanzhang also stood under the veranda watching the rain, her expression dark as ink. She would rather be scolded for a disastrous decision than have this kind of wish come true.
Fu Tinghan draped a cloak over her shoulders and looked out at the rain with her. "This rain should stop by tomorrow. Guo Pu and I measured the wind speed—by now the rain should have reached Mengjin."
Zhao Hanzhang sighed. Faced with this kind of natural disaster, they couldn’t stop it; all they could do was reduce the damage it caused.
The next day the rain began to lessen. Wearing straw rain capes, Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan went to court. The ministers silently followed; not one dared to ask for leave.
In this atmosphere, even the Little Emperor didn’t dare sneak naps and could only sit and listen to their deliberations.
At this time, although the ministers were busy and miserable, they were still fairly relaxed. Floods? They had just endured a once-in-a-century locust plague two years ago, fighting a war while combating disaster, and still made it through. This time was just a small matter by comparison.
But as the area of rainfall expanded and the downpours dragged on, the ministers realized that a flood serious enough for Zhao Hanzhang to arrange for in advance might not be the usual sort.
As they entered the fourth month, Luoyang was still getting heavy rain from time to time. With no sunlight, the wheat that had just headed almost stopped growing. Water in the fields submerged the roots, and much of the wheat fell sick.
The farmers did not give up. They carried hoes and went out in the rain to drain the fields. They let the water run into the ditches, and the rain gradually eased. After two overcast days, everyone thought fair weather was about to arrive—only for Luoyang to start raining again...
Still, Luoyang’s situation was considered good among many places. Some areas had unending overcast skies and rain.
The court, too, fell under a constant drizzle of gloom. Throwing down a memorial, Zhao Hanzhang said angrily, "Jixian, a county seat of an entire commandery—within a mere ten days, grain prices have soared to 333 cents. Even during the locust plague and war two years ago, they only reached 352 cents. What, are they pegging prices to that fifteen-percent margin? At 333 today, will they be quoting 383 tomorrow?"
The ministers lowered their heads in silence.
"Yuan Li!"
Yuan Li stepped forward. "This general is here."
"Go to Jixian in person. I grant you full discretion."
Yuan Li raised his head; the scar on his face seemed to leap. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he said, "This general receives the command!"
Even Ji Yuan couldn’t help feeling a tightness in his chest; he knew people would have to die.
He sighed, just about to step out and ask Zhao Hanzhang to give Yuan Li a few more restraints, when a courier rushed into the hall and knelt. "Great General, urgent telegram from Jiankang: Shouchun and Jiankang have had torrential rain for five days straight. In Jiangnan—Jiangnan is suffering severe flooding and epidemic; good farmland has been destroyed."
Zhao Hanzhang and the ministers were all stunned. She hadn’t expected Jiangnan to have torrential rain as well. Was this going to be rain over half of China?

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