Inside Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin did not know whether he should laugh or cry.
The good news was that this year happened to be the fifth year of Zhenguan. Knowing in advance that there would be no disasters this year or the next allowed both him and his officials to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The bad news was that starting from the seventh year of Zhenguan, there would be more than twenty consecutive years of calamities.
These two emotions collided repeatedly in Li Shimin's heart. In the end, concern for the future years of disaster outweighed everything else, and before he realized it, he let out a long sigh.
Fortunately, it was still early in the fifth year of Zhenguan. There were still two full years of peace before the twenty-six years of continuous calamities arrived.
Upon learning in advance that there would be no disasters this year, Du Ruhui truly relaxed. At present, they needed to support Li Jing on the front lines in his campaign against Tuyuhun. If natural disasters were to strike the rear as well, this year would almost certainly become unbearably busy.
This news at least meant that this year they would not need to live in constant fear that Heaven might suddenly spring some catastrophe on them. Seeing the emperor's expression, Du Ruhui smiled and spoke in reassurance:
"Your Majesty, at the very least we have this year and next to protect forests and stabilize the land. Perhaps we can eliminate many disasters in advance."
Li Shimin slowly shook his head at Du Ruhui's words.
"Disasters do not come from Heaven. They are brewed by men themselves."
To be honest, what later generations spoke of was not some profound truth.
Tall trees form shade, but a single tree does not make a forest. Everyone understands this.
A thousand-zhang embankment can collapse because of an ant's burrow. Even small children know this.
During torrential rain, forests are difficult to wash away, while flat farmland easily floods and is destroyed. Everyone has seen this.
Yet when it truly comes time to look at forests themselves, no one seems able to notice.
Clearing forests to reclaim fields may solve the worries of a single day, but it destroys a century of labor, creates calamities lasting a thousand years, and leaves endless harm to later generations, bringing disaster upon descendants.
Keeping this firmly in mind, Li Shimin glanced again at the written records compiled by Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui. The fishy, acrid taste of locusts seemed to rise faintly in his mouth once more, making him shake his head hurriedly. Then his eyes landed on something that caught his interest.
"This Beijing should be the Beijing of the Ming dynasty… but where exactly is it?"
During the Zhou dynasty, Luoyang already bore the title of Eastern Capital, so when he previously heard about the Middle and Late Tang, Li Shimin found the title of Eastern Capital for Luoyang perfectly reasonable.
During the Eastern Han, Chang'an was also called the Western Capital, so he could likewise accept the later name Xi'an.
From later generations' discussions of the Three Kingdoms, he also knew that Jinling eventually became Nanjing. Considering how it controlled the Yangtze and linked the southeast, that too seemed reasonable.
But in the north, there was actually another place that could serve as the capital, and one that this later republic continued to use?
Li Shimin felt astonishment at the former, and from the perspective of a man of Chang'an, a slight dissatisfaction mixed with curiosity at the latter.
What advantages did this capital called Beijing possess that made later generations favor it so much?
And if Chengdu was magnificent and Xi'an resplendent, then what kind of grandeur must Beijing possess?
Naturally, no one could answer this question. Standing in Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin could only sigh sincerely:
"To be unable to personally visit the later ages and see it with my own eyes—what a regret."
...
As for the fate of the Tang dynasty, the reactions of the people in Han-era Chang'an were extremely straightforward.
"How vicious Heaven is!" Ma Chao exclaimed.
"How admirable the monarch and ministers of Zhenguan truly are!" Kongming sighed sincerely.
Ma Chao was, unsurprisingly, flicked on the forehead by Zhang Fei. He hurriedly covered his mouth, squatted down, and looked up in fear, afraid that the light screen might hear such words, flicker a few times, and extinguish itself. That would be a grave sin indeed.
Liu Bei, who had already given up trying to manage them, understood Kongming's thoughts perfectly well.
After all, judging from this, Early Tang endured natural disasters yet still managed both internal and external affairs without chaos. Monarch and ministers alike could truly be called capable.
"This Tang dynasty is really lively," Zhang Fei said with great enthusiasm after flicking Ma Chao.
"Expanding the borders without pause on the outside, natural disasters impossible to quell on the inside."
"Before it, the crown prince's rebellion; after it, a female emperor entering the palace."
Liu Bei could not help but imitate Zhang Fei and flick him on his bobbing head.
"You're spouting parallel prose with every sentence. Are you planning to sit for the doctoral examination?"
The hall erupted in laughter.
Pang Tong, who had worked with Zhang Fei the longest, immediately followed Kongming's lead to help draw some fire away:
"I don't even know whether to say that the climate of early Tang was exceptionally favorable, or to praise the founding monarch and ministers of Tang as truly admirable."
The others all nodded. Jian Yong also sighed:
"Moreover, for him to care so deeply for the people that he angrily swallowed locusts—this truly has no precedent in antiquity."
In truth, the light screen did not say very much about this emperor, who was praised as one of the greatest of all ages.
Pacifying the realm was mentioned only in passing, and governing the realm mostly credited the merit of generals and capable ministers.
But if one thought about it carefully, the ability to command so many outstanding talents was itself the clearest proof of his capability.
And this act of swallowing locusts out of concern for the people was something never seen before in antiquity.
Zhang Fei, standing to the side, felt that Jian Yong made a great deal of sense, and his eyes filled with thoughtfulness.
If it came to caring for the people, his elder brother absolutely could not lose!
[Lightscreen]
[If we extend the timeline forward from early Tang, the An Lushan Rebellion also shows quite obvious traces of climate change.
Looking across the entire span from the founding of Tang to its fall, the northern nomadic peoples were clearly driven by climate conditions.
Examining the temperature change chart of ancient China, the first significant climatic shift during the Sui–Tang period occurred around the time of the Kaihuang era.
During this period, a major event occurred among the northern Turks: internal strife.
Using the Altai Mountains as the boundary, the Turks split into Eastern and Western Turks.
Looking back at history, internal conflict among nomadic peoples was not uncommon, but for them to retain strong power after such conflicts and yet not launch large-scale southward invasions was relatively rare. This shows that at the time, the northern climate did not place survival pressure on the nomads, and thus there was no motivation to migrate south.
The Eastern Turks that emerged during this period were extremely powerful. In the late Sui, many northern warlords had dealings with the Turks, either seeking their protection or their support—figures such as Liu Wuzhou, Guo Zihe, Dou Jiande, Xue Ju, and Li Yuan among them.
However, once the Central Plains' internal chaos ended, its emperor finally began to take the threat of the Eastern Turks seriously. During the Zhenguan era, under Li Shimin's orders, Li Jing and Li Shiji successively destroyed the Eastern Turks and Xueyantuo.
At that time, the northern climate was pleasant. For the Hu peoples, it was nothing more than changing their leader; life went on as usual. Thus, for the first hundred years of early Tang, the north was generally stable.
The An Lushan Rebellion can be considered a critical threshold in Tang dynasty climate change. From around 740 to around 820, overall temperatures first rose slightly, then fell sharply.
Reflected in history, the drop in temperature caused northern border troubles to gradually emerge. The Turgesh and Later Turks rebelled in succession. The Uyghurs allied with the Tang dynasty to destroy the Turks, after which the Uyghurs became the de facto leaders among the northern nomadic peoples.
Subsequently, a rise in temperature allowed the Uyghurs to once again maintain northern stability. With no survival pressure, they maintained relatively stable relations with the Tang dynasty and established the Uyghur Khaganate.
The period of slight warming was also a brief resurgence for Tubo. Taking advantage of the An Lushan Rebellion, Tubo aggressively invaded Tang territory, ultimately forming a vast power dominating the plateau and spanning Hexi, Yunnan-Sichuan, and the Western Regions.
Some scholars also believe that this slight temperature rise was one of the reasons the An Lushan Rebellion did not end quickly.
However, this warming was ultimately an illusion. At the beginning of the ninth century, as the Sui–Tang Warm Period officially ended, both the Uyghur Khaganate and the Tubo Kingdom met their doom.
From the early ninth century onward, heavy snow fell year after year within Uyghur territory, leading to famine and epidemics, massive deaths of sheep and horses, and rapid decline. Twenty years later, the Uyghur Khaganate was defeated by its subordinate tribe, the Kirghiz. Most Uyghur nobles migrated south and assimilated into Han lands. In 840, the Uyghur Khaganate was destroyed.
Tubo did not escape either. Drastic climate change triggered rebellions throughout its territory. Zhang Yichao launched an uprising and returned to Tang, causing Hexi and Longyou to break free from Tubo control. At the same time, weakening national strength led to years of internal warfare at the upper levels, triggering large-scale slave uprisings. Around 877, the Tubo Kingdom collapsed.
That Tang did not completely collapse after the An Lushan Rebellion, and even managed to hold on for more than a hundred additional years, was largely because mid-to-late period temperatures made a comeback.
The year after the Tubo Kingdom collapsed, the Huang Chao Rebellion erupted within Tang territory. At that point, the Tang dynasty was essentially a state in name only.
Thus, the saying that Tubo and Tang lived and died together is not inaccurate.
The one who finally stamped Tang's destruction beyond doubt was Zhu Wen.
In 907, Emperor Ai of Tang abdicated in favor of Zhu Wen, and was soon after poisoned by him. With this, the Tang dynasty officially came to an end.]