All the civil and military officials in the court turned their heads and looked outside the palace gate.
"Let him in quickly!" Xia Zhengqi shouted anxiously.
Then, a man emitting a sour and foul smell hurried into the hall.
Before he could even salute, Xia Zhengqi said, "No need for formalities! Tell me quickly, how is Jiaxiang doing?"
The man gasped for breath and said with difficulty, "When the epidemic control envoy arrived, Jiaxiang Town was already in a terrible state. Almost all the people in the town were infected with the plague."
"Nearly half of the people have died of the disease. Dead bodies can be found everywhere in the town."
When the messenger said this, a sigh of astonishment was immediately heard in the hall.
"The epidemic in Jiaxiang is actually real!"
“I didn’t expect the epidemic in Jiaxiang to be so serious!”
"Thankfully, the Emperor is wise and has given preventive medicine to all the people of the capital and the imperial guards."
"Thank goodness the Emperor has taken drastic measures, otherwise the Imperial Guards and the capital would be in utter disgrace."
The eyes of civil and military officials looking at Emperor Mingxi were instantly filled with a lot of admiration and gratitude.
How fortunate they were to have met such a wise and benevolent monarch as Emperor Mingxi.
Lord Zhao and Lord Niu, who had just been trying their best to persuade Emperor Mingxi to stop the preventive medicine in the capital, suddenly changed their expressions.
Xia Miaoyuan glared at Lord Zhao and Lord Niu, "See, this is the result of letting things go unchecked."
If you continue as you say, without taking precautions, the capital will become like this.
Xia Zhengqi felt extremely heartbroken and angry just a second ago, but prompted by his daughter's inner voice, he noticed the frightened face of Lord Zhao and instantly felt relieved.
I told you to be stingy, I told you to be stingy, now you feel slapped in the face, right?
Let’s see if you dare to mention stopping the medication.
Xia Zhengqi quickly gathered his thoughts and asked, "How are the local officials in Jiaxiang?"
The messenger's tone became heavier: "The pacification envoy's office is closed. The pacification envoy, Mr. Hu, and his subordinates have all fled."
"How outrageous!" Xia Zhengqi shouted loudly and slammed the armrest of the dragon throne hard. Xia Miaoyuan felt the dragon throne tremble a few times.
Even though he had learned from his daughter's inner voice that the local officials in Jiaxiang Town had concealed the truth and abandoned the people and ran away, he still couldn't help but feel angry when he heard the messenger's report again.
"Your Majesty, please take care of your health!" Lord Yan advised gently.
Then several other ministers echoed.
Xia Zhengqi suppressed his anger and continued to ask, "Tell me more about their progress in treating the epidemic these past few days?"
The messenger's eyes lit up, and he suddenly became excited. "All the patients in the town have been treated. After taking Doctor Yin's prescription for the epidemic, more than 2,000 patients have shown improvement. I believe they will be fully recovered soon."
"The people of Jiaxiang are grateful for the emperor's kindness and have asked local scholars to write a letter to the people, thanking your majesty for his kindness in saving their lives."
As he spoke, the messenger took out a small cloth bag from his bosom and presented it.
Debao opened the cloth bag and found a slightly wrinkled envelope inside.
Xia Zhengqi opened the letter, which described the experiences of the people of Jiaxiang since the outbreak of the epidemic. The second half of the letter was full of gratitude to himself. Every word was heartbreaking and every sentence was tearful, which was very touching.
At the end of the letter, I wish the Great Xia Dynasty a long and prosperous future, and I wish Emperor Mingxi a long and blessed life and blessings to all the people.
Behind them are rows of densely packed handprints, which were made by the surviving people of Jiaxiang Town. They are also their expression of their sincere gratitude to the court and Emperor Mingxi.
The messenger's eyes were now filled with tears. "The people also asked me to tell Your Majesty that when they recover, they will build a monument to your merit in the town, so that Jiaxiang will remember your kindness and be grateful to the court for generations to come."
At this moment, the court was completely silent, and all the civil and military officials were trying hard to suppress the emotions in their hearts.
Some people who have a low tear point are already secretly wiping away tears.
At that time, most people were hostile to the court and secretly cursed the emperor because of the heavy taxes and corvee labor.
Very few people took the initiative to write letters of gratitude to the emperor.
Emperor Daddy is truly amazing! He's earned letters of gratitude from the people through his own actions. Sooooo! I want to cry!
Xia Miaoyuan stretched his neck to read the letter, feeling both moved and excited.
Xia Zhengqi only felt a surge of blood in his chest, shaking him so much that he couldn't speak.
"I...tell them that I have received their kindness. The epidemic is raging, and the people are suffering. It is the court's responsibility to allocate funds to treat them."
Speaking of this, Xia Zhengqi's eyes flashed with shame.
"The Jiaxiang pacification envoy concealed the truth and led the escape. This is a disgrace to the imperial court. It is my responsibility to allow such a scum to serve as a local official."
He, Xia Zhengqi, feels guilty towards the people of Jiaxiang!
Local officials failed to take action and concealed the facts, which led to a large-scale outbreak in which more than half of the patients died.
If the court's system for selecting and supervising officials was more perfect, such a situation would not have occurred.
What virtue and ability did Xia Zhengqi have that the people of Jiaxiang not only did not resent him, but were also grateful to him from the bottom of their hearts.
At this time, Lord Yan stepped forward and said loudly, "The inaction of the local officials in Jiaxiang Town is a disservice to their official uniforms and to the Great Xia court. It has nothing to do with Your Majesty."
"You govern the entire Great Xia, and you are busy with countless affairs every day. How can you possibly be thorough and understand everything? Your Majesty, please do not blame yourself."
Mr. Yan has a loud voice, bright eyes, and every word he says is touching.
"On the contrary, Your Majesty was able to ignore the opposition and decisively sent people to Jiaxiang to treat the epidemic before it was reported. This saved the people!"
"You are a rare and wise ruler. It is a blessing for the people and for Daxia to have you!"
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