Gu Yong's problem is actually a problem for many court officials.

They don’t know why Guo Peng paid attention to climate issues and started the Grand Canal project due to climate issues.

Such a huge project is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and money-intensive. Isn’t it good to use this money to pay benefits to everyone?

It must be used in this kind of thing.

Guo Peng has never wanted to explain these things that are currently unclear, such as climate change, the Little Ice Age, and so on, which is difficult for people to understand at this time.

But sometimes it is impossible not to explain.

Especially when you are alone with your ministers, if you don’t explain, it will be a bit unkind.

So after thinking seriously about how to explain, Guo Peng spoke slowly.

"Because I have read some records of the previous dynasty, saying that during the Early Han Dynasty, the peach blossoms around the Chang'an area were brilliant. Every spring time, the surrounding area of ​​Chang'an City was full of peach blossoms, which were very brilliant and beautiful. But to this day, there are no traces of peach blossoms around Chang'an City.

I thought it was the war that caused the destruction of peach blossoms around Chang'an City, but after I sent someone to investigate, I found out that it was not because of the war that was destroyed, but now there is no living peach trees in Chang'an area because it is cold, so the peach trees cannot survive."

Guo Peng slowly paced and said, "So I wondered why the ancient Chang'an could live peach trees, but still cannot live peach trees? Now peach trees can only grow further south, but not in Guanzhong. What is the reason for this?

When I fought south and north, I realized that the northward, the colder, the warmer, the warmer. I was wondering whether the difference between the cold and warm between the north and the south was the cause of this problem. Some people also suggested in the Spring and Autumn Period that oranges grow in the north of Huai are citrus, and oranges grow in the south of Huai, and oranges grow in the south of Huai.

Why, the same species is completely different from being born in Huainan and being born in Huainan? Why? I thought about it for a long time and felt that it might be caused by the difference between cold and warmth. When I attacked Yuan Shu from Huainan from Huainan, I felt that the difference between the cold and warmth of the two places was very different from each other.

After crossing the Huai River, the more we went south, the warmer it became. When we arrived in Huaibei, we felt that it seemed drier and colder than Huainan. Then, I felt that the surrounding areas of Chang'an during the Han Dynasty were as warm and wet as those in Huainan today?”

When Gu Yong heard Guo Peng's statement, he was very surprised.

"I have never thought about this... this aspect of the problem, but I also know that the warmth and moisture of Jiangdong is definitely not comparable to Youzhou Shanggu County, or even the Central Plains."

"So, the peach trees that could grow in Chang'an during the early Han Dynasty cannot survive now. Does this mean that the climate on the entire land of China is much colder than before?"

Guo Peng came up with another conclusion.

This surprised Gu Yong, absurd and unheard of, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was inexplicably possible.

"Because food production requires a warm climate, and Your Majesty feels that the climate is colder than when he was in the early Han Dynasty, so Your Majesty thinks this will affect grain production?"

"Yes, I'm so worried."

Guo Peng nodded.

Gu Yong frowned and said, "But grain production has increased year by year, and agricultural taxes have increased year by year even when His Majesty reduces and exempts taxes. Doesn't this just mean that the impact between these two things is not great?"

Guo Peng disagrees with this statement.

"The reason why grain production has increased and agricultural taxes has increased is that the number of cultivated land and the number of production population controlled by the court is also increasing.

The more people and the more land you have, the yield will naturally increase. If the more people and the more land you have, the more production will decrease, will I be the only one who is worried now?"

Gu Yong felt that what Guo Peng said made sense, but he was speechless.

"Although grain production continues to increase, this is because the amount of cultivated land continues to increase. While the number of cultivated land increases, the population is also growing. Although the labor force increases, the labor force also needs to eat, and there are more people eating.

The amount is large and the consumption is also large. Overall, the crisis is still very large. Once this cold climate really affects the grain harvest, what will happen? So, the Grand Canal exists for this.”

Guo Peng said slowly: "The court officials think that I built the Grand Canal mainly to better control Jiangnan and Hebei and shock the unintentional officials. This is just one of the reasons. I will not start a large project of millions for such a reason."

Gu Yong felt that was right.

No matter how much the emperor wanted to better control the south of the Yangtze River, he would not have spent many years and countless money to build a Grand Canal for this purpose.

This Grand Canal must be a very important existence in the eyes of the emperor, so it was built at a huge cost.

"And even if the climate is not affected much, the existence of the Grand Canal can fully mobilize the wealthy food and fodder in Jiangnan to support the Central Plains, and timely stabilize prices so as not to panic about the rise in food prices. This is also a big event."

Speaking of this, Gu Yong felt that he had already understood almost everything.

Although the emperor's main reason sounds a bit surprising, Gu Yong thought about it carefully and felt that there was still a possibility.

Even if it is not for the overly fantasy saying that the climate is getting colder, for the court to better control the layout of Jiangnan and Hebei, and to use abundant materials from various places to calm prices in other places, the existence of the Grand Canal is also very necessary.

Moreover, such a vast project, which crosses the boundaries of space, is completely comparable to that of the Great Wall of the First Emperor.

The First Emperor is the emperor of the ages, and His Majesty the current emperor cannot touch the name of the emperor of the ages.

Whether it is civil and military achievements, Your Majesty will not lose to Emperor Qin Shi and Emperor Wu of Han today.

The First Emperor had the Great Wall, and now His Majesty had the Grand Canal. Emperor Wu of Han had expelled the Huns. Now His Majesty had the merit of expelling the Xianbei and occupying the desert. He also had the merit of annexing the Western Regions, pushing the territory of the Central Plains Empire to a point that the former Han Dynasty could not reach.

It can be said that it has carried forward the past and opened up the future on the basis of two generations of emperors, pushing the peak of the Central Plains Empire to a higher level.

It has advanced to a point where they all feel a little incredible.

If later emperors want to catch up with the achievements of His Majesty today, they don’t know what kind of achievements they have to do to match them. First of all, they must wipe out the barbarians from all directions, otherwise, it won’t count.

There are many more left, anyway, Gu Yong could not have imagined it. He felt that Guo Peng had already achieved the best. As for whether he had more ideas, Gu Yong could not guess.

But it doesn't matter. I think His Majesty no longer cares about this matter.

From his words, Gu Yong could only feel his worries about the future, his worries and foresight about the future state affairs. There was only national affairs in his words, but no one in himself.

He no longer cared about his achievements, but began to care about the future of the country.

Putting aside the black material that His Majesty likes to launch political storms to purge the ministers, he is an excellent emperor who is very conscientious and responsible.

After becoming emperor, he did not do anything extraordinary in terms of personal enjoyment, but took everything into consideration.

Except for the obvious black dot he likes Power very much, there are almost no black dots found in other places.

He said he was very fond of merit and he also cherished the people's strength.

He repeatedly launched foreign wars, but did not cause the tragedy of Emperor Wu of Han's [half of household registration in the country]. Instead, the population of the Wei Empire flourished, reaching the level of 70 million, and began to catch up with the level of 80 million.

He said he was cruel and bloodthirsty, and he also cared about people's livelihood.

He has continuously reduced the proportion of agricultural tax, continuously reduced the agricultural tax, and even abolished the population tax, and continuously reduced the life pressure of the farmers, the main body of productivity.

Since his rise to his power, no peasant uprising happened under his rule, and nothing happened because the peasant could not survive and rose up.

He has no special measures in life.

He did not pursue the ultimate enjoyment like Emperor Qin Shi and Emperor Wu of Han, build a large-scale palace building, or accept beauties from all over the world for himself to enjoy it.

There are only six women in his harem, and one person is still ill and only five are left, and there is no sign of increase.

In this regard, it is generally believed that His Majesty's simple style today is a bit unlike an emperor.

In terms of personal behavior and personal life style, the simple life of Your Majesty is recognized by the world.

He didn't even allow the place to give him tribute.

He asked the eunuchs in the inner court to go out to buy whatever he wanted, and he bears the cost himself, and is unwilling to pass on the cost to the people.

Gu Yong himself also tried to give some fruits and seafood from Yangzhou specialties to Guo Peng for him to enjoy. Guo Peng scolded him and said that he would not allow this to be done again, otherwise he would be angry.

The Luoyang Imperial Palace was also repaired in the pre-Han period, and the first thing I enjoyed was Liu Jian.

After Liu Jian abdicated, Guo Peng did not repair the palace again. He left the back garden and hot springs to leave the palace, so he did not build any palaces for leisure and entertainment, and this cost was very little.

In various senses, Guo Peng is a good emperor. If he had not been so tightly pursuing power and working hard to mess with his ministers, his reputation would have been very good.

If he could live in harmony with his ministers, everyone would discuss everything, and not harm the interests of the gentry and powerful people. If the ministers had any needs, just sign and stamp them.

In this way, he must be the most wise and benevolent king in the world, and he was widely sung by later generations.

In the future, his reign will definitely be evaluated as a prosperous era that has cleared all directions from all directions.

What a pity, what a pity.

The emperor caused so many political storms. Didn’t it clearly tell the future generations that their rule is corrupt and their hearts are not the same, or did it clearly tell the future generations that their dynasty and empires are very unpopular?

If so many people are against you, you are against so many people. You must be wrong, not so many people.

Killing scholars and powerful men, killing tens of thousands of people at all times, it would be strange if everyone doesn’t feel afraid.

It would be strange if your reputation is good.

well……

Gu Yong really feels a pity for Guo Peng.

Of course, it is impossible for Mr. Guo to feel any regrets about this. The reason why he doesn't care about personal enjoyment is not to make his ministers feel relaxed.

On the contrary, he made himself unhappy in order to make unhappy for his ministers.

If the ministers were happy, wouldn’t it seem meaningless to be unhappy as the emperor?

If you want to be an emperor happily, you can do it, don’t worry about anything, eat, drink, and have fun, and give power to others, you will definitely be very happy, but it is hard to say whether the dynasty will be destroyed.

It’s a pity that the ministers will never think so.

Of course Gu Yong is the same.

Guo Peng originally wanted to go to Jiaozhou to see the situation now, but considering that his itinerary should not be too far and there were not enough troops around him, it was not appropriate to travel rashly.

Guo Jin was just the crown prince, not the emperor. Guo Peng was inspecting and constantly dealing with government affairs.

This time it is better than the last Northern Expedition. Wherever you arrive this time, you will call local officials to handle government affairs on the spot.

Don’t give me a memorial book. Let’s hold a conference to solve the problem, so that these local officials who have never had the chance to see what the emperor looks like in their entire lives and have a good look at what the emperor looks like.

Whenever Guo Peng goes to a place, he will hold a conference, so that all the local executives who speak well will come to participate, discuss issues together, take out some important and important matters, and talk directly in front of the emperor, and the emperor will deal with it directly to you.

This really saves a lot of trouble for many officials.

From north to south, Guo Peng kept handling state affairs, and on average he could handle about 200 state affairs a day.

He felt that he was becoming more and more aligned with Zhu Yuanzhang.

This time Guo Peng made his southern tour to Linhai County, and had a seafood meal in Linhai County, and met Zhang Liao.
Chapter completed!