In Zhao Huan's memory, the Yellow River had been breached three times during the Northern Song Dynasty, and the areas affected by the disaster were all in Hebei Province, in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

The self-destructive actions of three generations led to the complete decline of this important town in Hebei. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, Hebei had 100,000 armored soldiers, but by the time of Emperor Huizong, Dingzhou Prefecture in Hebei had only 6,000.

Moreover, Emperor Shenzong, at the instigation of Wang Anshi, did something that harmed his descendants: the Yellow River diversion project.

This project directly led to a terrible consequence: it irrigated 45 counties, with Pu, Qi, Yun, and Xu being particularly affected, destroying over 300,000 hectares of farmland.

Back then, Hebei was almost completely destroyed by the raging Yellow River, and the destroyed areas were important granaries in Hebei.

From then on, Emperor Shenzong backed down, and Hebei declined.

After Emperor Zhezong's self-destructive actions, Hebei fell into complete decline.

This is indeed a man-made disaster, and man-made disasters are often more terrible than natural disasters.

Now, Zhao Huan faces a thorny problem: given the limited productivity of ancient times, it would be difficult for the Yellow River disaster area to continue developing.

This time, the Yellow River flooding has put even greater social pressure on the Hebei region.

On June 20, an urgent document from the State Council was issued to more than 60 county governments along the Yellow River in Hebei Province, involving more than 700 villages and over one million people.

From top to bottom, all officials fully cooperated with the newly established Hebei Pacification Commission to carry out a rapid evacuation operation.

Throughout June, an unprecedented disaster loomed over Hebei Road and Jingdong Road, causing even more distress than the civil unrest of the previous year.

The commander of the Pacification Commission was Zong Ze, the governor of the Central War Zone. Before his departure, the emperor said to Zong Ze with great concern: "Spare no effort to protect the people of Hebei and the eastern part of the country."

Zong Ze said with a heavy heart, "Your Majesty, rest assured, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Armies of the Central Army, and the 200,000 Xiang Army of Hebei Road, are all prepared to die for their country."

This unprecedentedly tragic dialogue, consisting of only a few sentences, was recorded by the historians.

When future generations read this passage, they are often moved to tears.

This July was extremely hot; the entire city of Tokyo felt like an oven.

For half a month, every evening the sky looked as if it were ablaze with fire.

This strange phenomenon terrified everyone, and the charlatans begging on the streets cried out in despair: "This is a terrible omen!"

On July 8th, the Qizhou dike on Hebei Road collapsed, and the Yellow River rushed out, flooding nine counties in the north and mercilessly swallowing 300,000 people.

The messenger at the front ran so fast that two horses died, and the next day he stormed into Tokyo.

On this day, torrential rain enveloped the entire capital city.

There were no pedestrians on the street. The messenger rode along on horseback, saying nothing.

Upon reaching the palace, he could only muster all his strength to shout: "Urgent report from the front! Urgent report from the front!"

The guards in front of the palace dared not stop him and let him rush in.

Zhao Huan hurried through the palace, with Shao Chengzhang's voice echoing behind him: "Your Majesty, it's raining heavily. Do not let your body get wet and catch a cold..."

Zhao Huan was extremely anxious, and even somewhat irritable.

It seems that fate is deliberately working against him. After finally clearing away the internal strife, both Hebei and Jingdong are now in a period of recuperation.

But at this very moment, the Yellow River rebelled!

His face was gloomy and even a little pale.

Such a disaster undoubtedly greatly hindered his rise to power.

In his previous life, he grew up on the banks of the Yangtze River and personally experienced the massive flood of 1998. He witnessed the desperate and helpless eyes of the soldiers who jumped into the water without hesitation to form a human wall, but were still swept away.

His heart was in his throat, hoping there wouldn't be a major collapse!

The messenger rushed into the palace and arrived at the front hall.

Seeing that the emperor had already rushed down from the main hall, the people behind him could not keep up and did not have time to open their umbrellas.

But the emperor paid no attention to that; he was only concerned with the situation at the front!

The heavy rain instantly soaked the emperor to the bone. He frowned deeply, his eyes filled with a stubborn gaze.

The messenger dismounted, ran quickly over, knelt on one knee, and splashed a large wave of water.

His face was even paler. He was one of Zong Ze's personal guards and had not slept for three days and three nights.

Moreover, he witnessed countless people disappear and his comrades being swallowed up.

The mental torment caused him to rapidly lose weight, and he was barely holding on to his body with only an iron will.

Water kept dripping down his face; it was hard to tell if it was tears or rain.

He said with difficulty in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty! The dikes in Qizhou have collapsed, flooding nine counties! Before the dikes broke, 80,000 of our soldiers jumped into the breach to block the flood with their bodies, but they could not stop it, and all 80,000 soldiers were wiped out! All 300,000 people in the nine counties have perished!"

Every word he uttered seemed to drip blood.

Rainwater slid down the emperor's angular face. At this moment, Zhao Huan felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness, as if a huge stone was pressing on his chest, and even breathing seemed to become difficult.

Thick, dark clouds filled the sky, accompanied by muffled thunder.

The emperor was only briefly taken aback, but that brief moment felt like an eternity.

Zhao Huan helped the messenger up, and then Zhao Huan and Shao Chengzhang escorted him down to rest and summoned the imperial physician to treat him.

At this moment, the ministers who were working in their respective government offices also heard the commotion. They rushed over and saw the emperor, who was soaked to the bone, standing in front of the main hall. They were all terrified and went forward.

Xu Churen roared, “Shao Chengzhang! You deserve to die! How could you leave the Emperor in the rain? If His Majesty were to fall ill, would you be able to bear the consequences?”

Shao Chengzhang couldn't help but smile wryly. Just as he was about to explain, Zhao Huan interrupted him: "Arrange a carriage for me. I'm going to Qizhou!"

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