If I can save the people of a town, why would I regret sacrificing my life?
Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and when they looked at Yu Jin again, the look in his eyes was different.
Minister Zhao seemed to see again the young man with the sad eyes standing on the city wall of Qianhe County, firing three arrows in succession to calm the scene by ringing the morning bell, and then jumping down from the city wall and picking up the fallen child.
If even a prince is like this, what is he worried about?
If he called on the people in the town to temporarily move out, if an earthquake occurred, he would have saved the lives of the people in the town. If no earthquake occurred, at most he would be ridiculed and rebuked.
It goes without saying which is more important.
"What do you think, gentlemen?" asked Minister Zhao.
The officials from the capital understood that Minister Zhao agreed.
The chief officer agreed, what else did they say?
Singing a different tune at this time would only offend the prince, and there would be no benefit.
Local officials had mixed feelings.
These gentlemen from the capital were actually willing to follow the Prince of Yan in making trouble, and then return to the capital afterward, leaving them to be stabbed in the back by the people.
But they seem to have no right to object.
The chief clerk of Qianhe County moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but was pulled back by the magistrate of Qianhe County.
Seeing that no one had any objections, Minister Zhao said, "Since all the gentlemen agree, let's call Li Zheng here."
Soon an old man appeared in front of everyone.
The old man was quite excited and greeted them one by one.
"I have met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Prince, and all the gentlemen—"
Seeing that Li Zheng was about to faint from excitement, Qianhe County Magistrate coughed and said, "Li Zheng, I called you here because I have something important to tell you."
"Please give your orders, sir." Compared to his awe for such an unreachable figure as the crown prince, Li Zheng's awe for the county magistrate was obviously more genuine.
Where is the domineering county magistrate - ahem, that's wrong, the majestic county magistrate.
Li Zheng quietly wiped the sweat off his face.
The magistrate of Qianhe County said with a stern face: "Last night, the prince was resting in Jinli Town. Suddenly, a god appeared in his dream and warned him that there would be an earthquake in Jinli Town within five days——"
Li Zheng was greatly shocked: "Is this really true?"
Qianhe County Magistrate frowned in displeasure: "Why, would the prince make such a joke?"
Li Zheng glanced at Yu Jin quickly.
The young man he saw was the most handsome he had ever seen, like a tall green pine or white poplar, a delight to the eyes.
Such a good-looking young man would not normally make jokes.
Li Zheng didn't know why this strange thought flashed through his mind, but then he regained his senses and waited for Qianhe County Magistrate to continue.
"What the adults mean is that you should immediately mobilize the people in the town to evacuate as quickly as possible..."
Li Zheng was stunned. After Qianhe County Magistrate finished speaking, he stammered, "This, this won't do..."
"Why not?" The Qianhe County Magistrate frowned.
Li Zheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "My Lord, even though the prince has a god appear in his dream to warn him, where will the people live after evacuating the town? How will they eat and drink? How will they arrange for their belongings?"
"That's easy." Yu Jin took over the conversation. "Although there are more than a thousand people in the town, it's no problem to camp in the suburbs for a few days and have the court provide food and drink. As for the family's property, take what you can take with you, and leave what you can't take with you for now. Life is more important than these material possessions."
Li Zheng mustered up his courage and said, "But what about the pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks? The chickens and ducks are fine, but we can't take the pigs and sheep away, right? If we leave the pigs and sheep alone for a few days, they will starve to death, and the people will not be willing to let them go."
Yu Jin's eyes twitched slightly when he heard this, but he also knew the importance of these livestock to ordinary people.
He hesitated for a moment, then made a prompt decision: "Please ask someone here to quickly count the number of animals that are inconvenient to take away. The court will compensate the households according to the current price... No, double the compensation——"
"Your Majesty!" everyone shouted in unison.
The disaster relief funds allocated by the imperial court are all based on regulations. If an earthquake really happens in Jinli Town, it will be fine. But if it turns out to be just a random incident, there is no way to fill this huge hole.
Yu Jin said calmly: "If there had been no earthquake, the loss would have been made up by the Prince of Yan's Mansion."
After hearing what he said, everyone was speechless and couldn't help but look at the prince.
The Prince of Yan was willing to use the money from the palace to make up for the deficit, but didn't the Crown Prince show any reaction?
The prince was very calm.
He has no money!
How much savings could he have as someone who had lived in the East Palace since childhood? He almost starved to death after living in Jingyuan for a few months.
Everyone felt even more disappointed with the prince, but they naturally did not show it on their faces.
"Li Zheng, is this okay?" Yu Jin asked.
Li Zheng nodded hesitantly: "I will mobilize everyone to move out of town..."
It's really unreliable. It's almost dark and every household has already started preparing dinner.
Dangdangdang——
The loud sound of the gong quickly gathered the people in the town.
Using the sound of a gong to warn or announce important events was a common practice throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty, so once people heard the sound of a gong, they would immediately run out of their homes to investigate.
"Fellow villagers, the prince stayed in Jinli Town last night. A god appeared in our dream and warned us that an earthquake would occur in Jinli Town within five days. So for the safety of the villagers, everyone should go home immediately, pack up your belongings, and temporarily evacuate the town..."
The people in the town were immediately shocked, and their first reaction was disbelief.
"Li Zheng, our Jinli Town hasn't experienced an earthquake in a hundred years." An elderly man shouted.
Who would be willing to leave their comfortable home and go to sleep in the wild?
Li Zheng couldn't help but look at Qianhe County Magistrate.
The Qianhe County Magistrate was quick-witted and shouted, "Fellow villagers, have you forgotten that there has not been an earthquake in Qianhe County for a hundred years? What's going on now?"
When the Qianhe County Magistrate mentioned the earthquake in the county, people fell silent.
Jinli Town is not far from Qianhe County, so there must be some kind of relationship between them. Many people's relatives died in this once-in-a-century earthquake.
The magistrate of Qianhe County was very satisfied that he had calmed the situation with one sentence, and then said: "If the county town can have an earthquake, why can't Jinli Town have one? A god came into your dream to warn you, this is a great fortune for the villagers!"
good fortune?
Not only the people in the town were stunned, even Yu Jian was stunned.
How does this have to do with fate?
The Qianhe County Magistrate said in a serious tone, "Why didn't the people in the county escape this disaster? It's because there is no one as noble as the prince in the city. Even if the gods and immortals wanted to come into the dream to warn us, there was no one to choose. And His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the prince happened to come to our Jinli Town to rest, so we were able to get the warning. Tell me, folks, is this your good fortune?"
The people in the town nodded blankly.
What the county magistrate said seems to make sense.
Yu Jin touched his chin lightly.
I never expected that the Qianhe County Magistrate was such a talented person.
On the one hand, out of awe for the miracle, on the other hand, out of natural obedience to the court, and more importantly, the promise of silver subsidies for pigs, sheep and other living creatures that were inconvenient to take away, the people of Jinli Town reluctantly agreed to temporarily move out of the town under the call and lobbying of Qianhe County Magistrate and Li Zheng.