In the eleventh and twelfth months of that year, the Ji River basin entered its coldest season right on schedule, with three or four snowfalls scattered throughout.
According to the reports coming back, things were better downstream. Perhaps because it bordered the Eastern Sea, or because the terrain of Dongyi sheltered it, the snow melted quickly between falls, preventing excessive accumulation. Upstream along the Ji River, however, all the way to Liang Commandery and Xingyang, cold winds blew day after day, and the heavy snowfall left distinct layers piled atop one another.
This was, of course, an excellent thing, because it benefited the farming season.
In this era, agricultural production remained the foundation of society as a whole.
At the same time, in this age of ever-accelerating turmoil, the accumulated snow and bitter cold seemed to have pressed pause on the times, allowing everyone to poke their heads up for breath like fish beneath the ice and consider their own futures and the direction of the age.
Of course, some of this reflection was conscious, and some unconscious. And some people seemed forever incapable of seeing their own fate clearly.
On the fifth day of the twelfth month, an enormous procession comprising large numbers of palace eunuchs and palace attendants, a small contingent of the Jinwu Guard, and three Patrol Groups from the Jing'an Directorate crossed the Si River, passed through Xiao Pass, and entered Xingyang.
As soon as they arrived, Chancellor Zhang Shizhao, who was stationed in Xingyang, and the local governor led the local officials, six thousand garrison troops, and several thousand civilian laborers out to welcome the imperial party.
An even larger procession, fully twenty to thirty thousand strong, immediately took shape.
Three days later, this immense procession reached the commandery seat of Guancheng, where it moved