aircannonsinc Chapter 2272 Earthquake Relief
Chapter 2272 Earthquake Relief
After Li Chengqian left, Li Shimin began to change his clothes with the help of his maid.
"Wang De, I want to go to Anxi." Li Shimin suddenly spoke.
"Ah?" Wang De immediately opened his mouth wide, looking surprised.
"Your Majesty, the Anxi Protectorate is a long way off, and winter is approaching. If Your Majesty wishes to see Prince Ji, you may wish to recall him."
Wang De hurriedly dissuaded him, saying that His Majesty was most likely going to Anxi to find Prince Ji.
But it was not easy for the emperor to travel. Anxi was a borderland, full of dangers, and winter was about to come.
He didn't understand why His Majesty suddenly wanted to go to Anxi. (Tomato Novel Free Reading)
"Now is not the time to call him back. The incident in Xizhou just happened. Now is not the right time.
And he is needed to guard there.
As long as he was there, others dared not move. His actions in Xizhou in the past few months had already told others that he was a person who did not follow the rules.
This is the kind of person they fear the most," Li Shimin said.
"But...but Your Majesty, the court officials will object. The situation in Anxi Protectorate is unclear right now. For Your Majesty's safety, I think it's better to wait until the situation stabilizes before going."
Wang De continued to persuade him that the emperor could not just go out with a bag when traveling, there were many things to prepare.
"I just had this thought, but it's indeed winter now, and I'm afraid it will snow before I arrive.
Let me think about it again." After Li Shimin finished speaking, he lay down on the couch and slowly fell asleep.
Li Chengqian did not work after returning to the palace. Instead, he drank tea in the study in Liangyi Hall and recalled what had happened that day.
Occasionally, he would write something down on paper with a pen.
"Your Highness, urgent news from Jinzhou!"
An eunuch came in hurriedly from outside, holding a memorial in his hand.
Wang Zhong immediately stepped forward to take it and handed it to Li Chengqian.
Li Chengqian frowned as he opened it and saw the following words:
On the night of Guiyou, an earthquake struck Jinzhou. The tremors were particularly severe near the capital, killing more than 5,000 people.
The charity granary collapsed and was buried, and there was heavy rain, so all the grain was soaked and could not be used. We could only rescue a small amount. We ask the court for quick assistance.
"Guiyou day..." Li Chengqian read it out. Guiyou day is the first day of the month, and it has been more than twenty days.
Jinzhou is not far from the capital, so why does it take so long to get there?
But now is not the time to think about this. Li Chengqian stood up and gave Wang Zhong an order:
"Immediately summon the officials from the three provinces and six ministries to the Liangyi Hall for a meeting. Also, summon the messenger who delivered the letter."
After giving all the instructions, Li Chengqian ordered someone to copy the memorial and send it to the nursing home for Li Shimin.
After about half an hour, the talents from three provinces and six ministries finally arrived.
Today was supposed to be a day off, and I had just attended a banquet and drank a lot of wine. When I got home and was about to go to bed, a eunuch came over and said that the prince had an urgent matter to summon him.
These people came again dressed neatly.
"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Everyone saluted.
"No need to be polite. Take a seat."
Li Chengqian nodded.
"I wonder what urgent matter His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has summoned us for?"
Changsun Wuji asked after sitting down.
"A major earthquake occurred in Jinzhou." Li Chengqian asked Wang Zhong to circulate the memorial to everyone.
After reading it, everyone looked solemn.
Jinzhou is the birthplace of Li Tang. Such a big thing happened here, and more than 5,000 people died. This is no small matter.
They all worked in official circles and understood the truth. They said that 5,000 people died, but the actual number of deaths must be more than that.
This is a major disaster.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, the court should urgently dispatch personnel to appease the people and also mobilize a batch of food.
After that, we will help the people rebuild their homes." Changsun Wuji spoke first.
"Indeed, winter is approaching. If reconstruction is not done in time, who knows how many people will freeze to death this winter."
Ma Zhou also followed suit.
"My dear minister, you are absolutely right. This matter is urgent and cannot be delayed. The three provinces should immediately draft an imperial decree to handle this matter and decide on the candidate. They will set off immediately tomorrow.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs dispatched grain from the nearest charity granary and sent it to Jinzhou urgently without any mistakes.
The Ministry of Works sent personnel to repair bridges and roads to ensure smooth traffic, and did not conscript corvée labor. Instead, it recruited able-bodied men in Jinzhou to provide them with work instead of wages.
The Jinzhou governor was ordered to appease the people and all the Zhechoufu were ordered to patrol to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to incite the people.
Those who commit crimes will be sentenced to two years of forced labor, and those who cause harm to others will be beheaded on the spot as a public display."
Li Chengqian calmly issued orders one by one.
"I obey your command." The ministers of the departments involved and the heads of the three provinces all stood up and saluted.
In the past, the imperial court’s disaster relief was mainly in the form of distributing grain, but it is not known when it began to switch to work-for-relief.
This has many benefits. It can give the people affected by the disaster something to do sooner, avoid chaos, and reduce the risk of disaster relief food being embezzled by local officials.
It can also accomplish what the court wants to do, such as road construction, water conservancy, etc.
"Ministry of Rites, always pay attention to the news from the people. If there is any unfavorable news, notify Prince Ji's Mansion immediately and have them clarify it in the newspaper."
Li Chengqian issued another order to the Ministry of Rites, which had never happened before, but after he had talked with Li Shen several times,
Li Chengqian was quite concerned about the public opinion about Li Shen's actions, because in the past, whenever a natural disaster occurred, there would always be a saying among the people.
Moreover, most of the statements are related to the emperor, the prince, and the royal family, such as the emperor's immorality, the prince's unworthiness, the royal family's actions against heaven, etc.
It caused a very bad influence among the people and allowed many rebels to take advantage of the situation.
The most effective method is the newspaper of Prince Ji's Mansion, because the newspaper of Prince Ji's Mansion always gives the people a reasonable and convincing explanation.
Anyway, it's Li Shen's thing, so it would be a waste not to use it. The newspaper of Prince Ji's Mansion now cooperates with the court and often publishes some court decrees.
This is of great help to the imperial court. At least the officials below will not be able to conceal it even if they want to, because the newspaper of Prince Ji's Mansion is aimed at everyone.
If a local official wants to take action against a local newspaper, he'll die even faster.
"I obey your command." Minister of Rites Xu Jing quickly stood up and accepted the order.
The Ministry of Rites now has an additional function, which is to pay attention to news from the outside world and the people. If there are any rumors, it will issue a notice to refute them.
"My dear ministers, do you have anything to add?" After giving the order, Li Chengqian looked at everyone and asked.
Afraid that I might make any mistakes.
At this time, Minister of Works Yan Lide stood up and saluted to report:
"Your Highness, it is already late autumn and winter will begin next month. It is unknown when snow will fall in Jinzhou.
The memorial said that most of the houses in Jinzhou Prefecture collapsed and the people were displaced, but it was difficult to rebuild them in such a short time.
But the stones and wood have to be transported from outside, which will take a lot of time, and I'm afraid it won't be completed before the snow starts to fall."
(My cold is healed, my butt is fine, etc. I feel like I’m being too pretentious and a sickly person.
I've been going to banquets every day these past two days, which may be related to this. They're all graduation banquets.
Anyway, I don't know how many points I'll get on the test, but I know how many dishes I'll serve.)