How terrible is the "Ding Wu Qi Huang" in the late Qing Dynasty?

In the feudal society of more than two thousand years, in addition to the 300-year curse that was difficult to break, there was actually a similar phenomenon at the end of the dynasty, that is, natural disasters. At present, in addition to wars in the Central Plains, floods, locust plagues, and droughts continue year after year. In order to promote the productivity of the Central Plains, the Yongle Great Migration occurred.

During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there were also constant disasters, and even a mysterious natural disaster broke out. The "Wanggong Factory Explosion" left all the victims naked, so it ranked among the three unsolved mysteries of nature. But the biggest drought and famine was the "Dingxu Famine" in the late Qing Dynasty.

The Dingwu Famine was a rare drought and famine that occurred between the first year of Guangxu (1875) and the fourth year of Guangxu (1878) in the Qing Dynasty. This disaster affected Shanxi, Zhili, Shaanxi, More than 10 million people died of starvation in Henan, Shandong and other provinces. Zeng Guoquan, then governor of Shanxi, called it "a disaster unprecedented in more than 200 years."

The reason why this strange disaster occurred is that in the mid-to-late 1870s, the Westernizationists urgently increased taxes in order to develop the "Westernization Movement". Before that, another Taiping Rebellion broke out, and the Qing Dynasty The government mobilized troops from across the country and rewarded the three armies, and agriculture lost its labor force.

Coupled with taxes and war, food production continued to decrease. After the First Opium War, the circulation of opium was not eliminated. In order to enrich their own pockets, local officials openly allowed the cultivation of opium. In order to meet the food needs of the province, Officials stipulated that only grain could be imported and not exported.

In 1875, after the severe drought began, all provinces watched the fire from across the river, causing the disaster to further expand. Even the capital was affected, and the disaster in North China became more serious. Zeng Guoquan said in the memorial: "There are more than a thousand red fields." Here, there are five to six million people suffering from hunger, a disaster unprecedented in ancient times.

The imperial court’s solution was to give out porridge, but even the porridge stations set up in Beijing could not keep up with the number of victims. , in order to control the flow of victims, various provinces took strict precautions. Even so, millions of victims poured into Jiangnan, which was relatively wealthy. After the number of refugees increased dramatically, riots broke out.

We have always advocated foreign aid. Li Hongzhang also accepted foreign aid for the first time and began to vigorously provide disaster relief. However, it was mainly suppressed by soldiers. In just one year, all the edible things were eaten, even Guanyin soil was not spared. As the disaster continued to expand, people became food.

At first, the victims only used the dead as food. In order to prevent their relatives from being eaten, they did not even dare to bury them. By the third year, the living but weak people were also eaten. In just three years, North China became a hell on earth. According to the records of Yonghe County, young women had no one to take care of them, the beautiful ones were worth less than a thousand dollars, the inferior ones were not worth a penny, and the lives of human beings were worth less than chickens and dogs.

It was difficult to vigorously provide disaster relief, and the Qing government spent all the money in the treasury on the Westernization Movement and Cixi’s daily expenses. At that time, there was a famous couplet written by Li Hongzhang, "The prime minister Hefei is thin, the world is destitute, and the farmer Changshu is destitute. ".