The most severely affected was Wuning Prefecture.

After the earthquake, a plague broke out. In many villages, only one in ten survived, and people fled in large numbers.

The imperial court issued an order that people from Wuning Prefecture were not allowed to leave the prefecture.

People from Wuning Prefecture who arrived after October of last year, based on their travel permits, were all sent back to their place of origin.

In addition, due to the large number of deaths and injuries among the people, the imperial court encouraged men and women of marriageable age to get married.

The imperial edict should arrive in about seven days.

Ordinary people must get married within one month of the imperial edict arriving.

Those of marriageable age who do not marry, regardless of gender, shall be punished with twenty strokes of the cane and a fine of ten taels of silver.

Upon hearing this, Chi Yu couldn't help but widen her eyes and gasp.

"Two hundred thousand people? And those who don't get married must be caned?"

To be honest, I had thought that this earthquake might kill a lot of people, but I never expected that there would be as many as 200,000.

In ancient times, the population was small, and the sudden death of so many people had a tremendous impact on the imperial court.

Moreover, there was also the plague.

No wonder the imperial court, on the one hand, forbade people from going out, and on the other hand, urged everyone to get married and have children as soon as possible.

In this dynasty, the size of the population determined whether the country was prosperous.

Oh no! There are so many eligible young men in Chijia'ao. It will be too difficult to find a wife in such a short time.

Besides, even if we find them, we probably don't know anything about their family situation, and things will definitely get chaotic.

Moreover, she has eight nephews, three of whom are already married, and five of whom are not.

Thinking this, she didn't wait for Qin Mu's answer and quickly asked again:

"Amu, has the imperial court specified a particular age for those of marriageable age this time?"

Qin Mu knew about the situation in Chijia'ao and understood why she asked that question, so he said:

"The death toll in the Jianzhou Prefecture area has not yet been tallied. The official report states that it is 200,000."

In my opinion, it should far exceed that.

Wuning Prefecture governs seven cities, ten counties, twenty towns, and over a thousand villages.

It has a population of over three million, and its territory is larger than our Jianzhou Prefecture, with an additional population of over forty thousand.

The area most severely affected by the earthquake was theirs. It was also there that the plague first broke out.

Furthermore, the imperial court will not allow anyone to settle this matter by spending money this time.

The legal marriage age is stipulated as thirteen for women and fifteen for men.

Upon hearing this, Chi Yu felt a chill run down his spine; it seemed that many people had indeed died in this earthquake.

Otherwise, the imperial court wouldn't have allowed girls who hadn't reached marriageable age to get married!

"Okay, I understand!"

Now, not only was Chi Yu preoccupied, but Chi Da Hu was too.

Seeing this, Qin Mu said, "There is also a plague in our Jianzhou Prefecture. Several villages in Anning County have been sealed off."

If you don't have anything else to do, don't go out. If you really can't, go back to Chijia'ao first.

As for the wedding, let's move it forward. I plan to hold it directly in Chijia'ao after the county examination. What do you think?

Since it was already agreed upon, Chi Yu naturally had no objections.

Hearing this, she mustered her spirits and said, "Okay, you arrange it, I'll fully cooperate."

However, Amu, they've also appeared in Anning County, which means it's not very safe here either.

"Don't you still have to take the county exam? Why don't you just focus on preparing and stop going out?"

Qin Mu shook his head: "If conditions permit, I certainly won't run away."

But the situation is special now, and I have no choice but to do this.

Fortunately, we have the cement formula you sent. As long as we build the outer city wall first, the rest will be much easier.

Okay, that's all for now. I'll go keep an eye on things over there and won't be home for dinner tonight.