Chapter 2218 - The Damage of the Cold Wave!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The massive Imperial Palace had become like an icehouse. Li Heng had lived in the palace since he was a child, but this was his first time seeing it like this.
The Imperial Palace was an important place, and its location was specifically chosen as a place where Dragon Qi coalesced. Moreover, the Imperial Palace had the protection of the Three Emperors Formation, which had formidable anti-cold abilities.
If even the Imperial Palace was this cold, then the people…
Upon thinking this, Li Heng became deeply worried.
The country and people were the first priority while the gods and sovereign were secondary. But in the face of this unprecedented cold, even he, the Emperor of the Great Tang, was very limited in what he could do.
“Your Majesty!” A concerned voice came from behind him.
“The weather is cold. Your Majesty, please rest and leave everything to this old slave.”
A thin figure swiftly came up and closed the window.
A few moments later, fwoosh! A fire was lit in the room. Li Jingzhong had ignited the coal in the large bronze cauldron in the bedroom, and the fierce flames swiftly began to warm the room.
Li Jingzhong stood behind Li Heng and respectfully said, “Seeing that Your Majesty was sound asleep, this old slave did not dare to light too fierce a fire and disturb Your Majesty’s slumber.”
Li Heng stood as motionless as a tree, not at all surprised by Li Jingzhong’s appearance and actions.
“What of the cabinet’s arrangements?” Li Heng asked.
After the arrival of Wang Chong’s letter, the Board of Imperial Astronomy had estimated the time of the Great Ice Age’s arrival. The cabinet, led by the Grand Preceptor and Grand Tutor, had convened the officials and had discussed through the night the plans to resist this ice age.
Li Jingzhong bowed and sincerely said, “The announcements have been posted. In this period of time, all doors and windows were ordered to be shut, and the common people were ordered to enter their cellars and prepare to resist the cold.
“In addition, after our long and strenuous preparations, all families should have enough food. Even those people who were too impoverished to appropriately prepare, after an investigation by the Imperial Court, were supplied with food to pass the winter.”
Li Heng nodded, his expression relaxing. He paused a moment before continuing.
“In addition, pass on Our order. All soldiers of the Imperial Army are to return to their residences to avoid the wind and cold!”
“This old slave will obey!”
Though taken aback, Li Jingzhong replied quickly.
The Imperial Army had a duty to stand guard, and they needed to man their posts outside. In an ordinary snowstorm, this would be no problem, but not even the Imperial Army could stand outside in the middle of this cold wave.
With that brief glance, Li Heng had seen that thick layers of frost had appeared on the armor of the Imperial Army soldiers, and the men were on the verge of turning into ice statues.
Li Jingzhong quickly turned around to relay the orders.
Within his bedroom, Li Heng fell quiet, leaving only the sound of the crackling flames in the bronze cauldron.
“I hope that everything will go well!”
Li Heng placed his hands behind his back and deeply frowned as he muttered to himself.
……
Whoosh!
The winds howled as the cold wave surged southward. In the space of a few hours, all of the Central Plains had been engulfed. Even those regions which were clear and sunny throughout the year were now engulfed in snow and ice.
The snowy mist was so thick that it was impossible to make out anything.
From as far north as the north pole all the way to Jiaozhi in south, and from the Bohai in the east to the Arabian Empire in the west, the cold wave had swept over all.
After several thousand years, the continent finally welcomed a Great Ice Age.
At this time, countless people were awakened from their dreams by the cold.
“Daddy, I’m cold.”
Deep in the night, a boy shivered as he peeked his head out from the blankets and hugged his father tightly.
The boy’s body was cold. Not even the cotton blankets were able to keep out this cold.
In front of this cold wave, everyone felt like they were naked.
“It’s fine. It will pass soon.”
On the bed, the father comforted his son, then he got off the bed and fumbled around in the darkness. Fwoosh! With the sound of striking flint, a ball of flame lit up the crude and simple room, driving away some of the chill.
The family cuddled together around the slowly burning coal basin, trying to draw heat from each other.
The boy raised his head and innocently asked his father, “Daddy, they all say the end of days is coming, and the world will be destroyed. Is that true?”
“Nonsense! Who told you that?”
The father’s face turned stern as he looked at the boy.
The arrival of this unprecedented cold wave had stirred up many rumors throughout the realm.
Even though the Central Plains had yet to experience that sort of unstoppable cold, and the change in climate was still within a tolerable range, the news of the cold wave had ceased to be a secret some time ago.
The Turkic steppe had been sealed under ice, and all the livestock had frozen to death. Even those extremely cold-resistant trees that reached the heavens had been frozen into ice statues. And in the Bohai Bay, it was said that the raging waves had even frozen over…
These various rumors had already made their way from the frontier to the interior so that even children knew about them. Moreover, the Imperial Court had been extremely active as of late, which had created an invisible atmosphere of tension as the people began to notice something odd.
The caravans returning from the north had also brought back some news: the great cold wave would not stop at the north. It would continue southward, and one day, the cold wave would arrive at the Central Plains!
The accumulation of all these rumors made everyone uneasy.
“My dear child, you must remember that as the sun has a time where it will set, the stars have a time where they will fall. The dark night cannot last forever. One day, spring will return to the world, and this cold wave will pass.”
The father lightly patted the boy on the back as he spoke in a profound tone.
The boy placed a hand under his chin and looked at his father in half-understanding.
Suddenly, the boy thought of something and looked hopefully at his father.
“Daddy, the King of Foreign Lands will save us, right? He’ll take care of the cold wave, right?”
The father hesitated a moment before nodding.
“Yes, that’s right! He will!”
The Great Tang was not just suffering from cold. In Youzhou to the northeast, the Great Tang’s main force of around one million soldiers had gathered and was fighting a life-or-death battle with the Youzhou rebels and the armies of the northeastern countries. It was still unknown what the result of this war would be.
The current Great Tang was truly troubled by problems internal and external.
There was nothing any of them could do except place their hopes on Wang Chong, hoping that he could lead the Great Tang out of danger just as he had done before.
Wang Chong had now become the spiritual leader of all of the Central Plains, from the officials in the Imperial Court all the way down to the common people.
King of Foreign Lands, it’s all up to you!
Next to the coal fire, the father’s eyes glimmered with hope.
……
The long night quickly passed, and when dawn broke and the people of the Central Plains saw the world covered in ice and snow, they finally understood why the Imperial Court had required them to store so much food and items to weather the cold, even having each family excavate a cellar.
“Lord Zhang, what is the situation?”
At this time, in the western part of the city, in a temporary government office, ten-some coal basins blazed. Xu Qiqin was wrapped in a thick fox fur coat and was seated on a chair, a pile of documents on the desk in front of her.
In front of her was Assistant Minister of Revenue Zhang Song.
Besides these two, there were many other officials gathered in the room.
“The situation isn’t very good. Although we started preparing a long time ago, several thousand people still froze to death. It was primarily the elderly and children who passed while they were sleeping.
“The capital is a place of utmost importance, and the Imperial Court made repeated announcements and went house to house to make sure everyone was prepared, but still there were many casualties. Other areas might be even worse off.”
Zhang Song’s heart was heavy as he spoke.
The cold wave had sealed the continent in ice in the space of a single night. The Imperial Court had immediately sent out men to see what the losses were and supervise the follow-up work.
Even when they were prepared, several thousand people had still frozen to death. Zhang Song did not dare to imagine what would have happened without Wang Chong’s warning and the Imperial Court’s constant supervision.
Xu Qiqin said nothing, but her heart was heavy.
With Wang Chong’s recommendation, she had been coordinating the cold resistance response.
The Great Tang had fifteen circuits in all, and this meant that on the first day of the cold wave, tens of thousands of people had died. As the cold wave increased in intensity, the losses would turn even more severe.
“What is the state of the food stores?” Xu Qiqin asked after a few moments of silence.
“Our food stores are still quite abundant. In the current situation, if we ration carefully, we should be able to last a long time,” Zhang Song sternly said.
The Great Tang had a flourishing material culture, and after many years of peace, it had been able to accumulate massive food stores.
This was where the Great Tang’s advantage in resisting this cold wave lay.
Zhang Song paused before adding, “But based on the current situation, I judge that our heating resources won’t last very long. All of the coal and kerosene was extracted within half a year. Getting all of these resources to the people is no easy task. In addition, we organized teams in the other provinces to head to the mountains to cut down wood and burn it into charcoal, but in the end, we’re just pouring a cup of water on a burning cart.
“I have heard that His Majesty has already ordered that all the palaces in the Imperial Palace without inhabitants be dismantled and used as firewood.”
At this moment, the dignified voice of King Song rang out. “If that’s not enough, then we’ll have the people dismantle some buildings and use the wood for heating. All of the losses will be compensated by the Imperial Court afterward. His Majesty has already ordered the Imperial Army to carry out this task!”
After a few moments of silence, Zhang Song bowed and assented. “Yes!”
