More and more people came over and knelt down before Yu Jian, ignoring the dirt on the ground.
At this moment, their gratitude to Yu Jin could no longer be expressed in words, and they could only kowtow continuously to vent their extremely tense emotions.
What they are even worried about is not depression, but the fate of surviving because of a choice made in a single thought.
Especially when people see their familiar town reduced to ruins, they feel more and more how lucky they are to be alive.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" Li Zheng was completely impressed by Yu Jin and obeyed his every word.
"How many people are returning to town?"
"Those families with men going back, or brothers or uncles going back, insisted on going back, but were stopped by the old man."
Yu Jin nodded: "Li Zheng did a good job. Generally speaking, after an earthquake occurs, there may be several aftershocks. In addition, it is still dark now. Going back will not only be useless, but may also be dangerous."
Li Zheng wiped his sweat and shouted, "Did you listen to the prince? Don't even think about running to the town before dawn! Before, the prince said there was an earthquake, and he tried to persuade people and gave them money, but some people still insisted on going back. What about now? This time, you must listen to the prince!"
"We listen to the prince..." the people in the town shouted one after another, some with fear, some with tears.
The countryside was pitch black, with only a few torches lighting up the surroundings, so people could barely see each other's faces.
Yu Jin didn't look at those people much, and said to Li Zheng: "You guys should take a rest first, there will be a lot of things to do when the sun rises."
"Then the prince——"
"We will go back first and bring people back when daybreak."
Li Zheng was very attentive and sent Yu Jin and the others out for a long distance: "It's dark and the road is slippery, please have a good walk, Your Majesty."
This time, I send it with sincerity from the bottom of my heart.
"It's better not to send it off."
Yu Jin waved his hand and left with Minister Zhao and others.
The people who returned to Wuji Town did not go to sleep, but gathered together to discuss.
"An earthquake really happened in Jinli Town. This way, the money that the prince promised to give to the people in the town will be settled..." An official from the Ministry of Revenue didn't know whether he was sighing or relieved.
The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the disaster relief money. Even though Prince Yan had said that before, if he denies it when they return to the capital, the loss will still fall on the Ministry of Revenue, and they will be in tears then.
It was different when an earthquake occurred. The imperial court would provide monetary assistance to the people after a disaster, and sometimes even provide silk.
"Is this the time to think about this?" Minister Zhao glared at the subordinate and scolded him, but his mood was even more complicated than his subordinate's.
If nothing had happened in Jinli Town, their troubles would have become a joke, and the emperor would have been scolded if it had gotten to his ears. But now—
Think about it, it was said that Jinli Town became a ruin, but Jinli Town with a population of more than 1,000 people survived. This political achievement is amazing...
Minister Zhao felt a little uncomfortable thinking further.
After all, earthquakes still cause casualties, so it's not something to be happy about.
Seeing that everyone gathered together to discuss excitedly, it was unknown how long they would stop, Yu Jin, who had little experience in post-disaster reconstruction, stood up and said, "Everyone, please take your time to discuss. I will go and close my eyes first."
After Yu Jian left, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Someone said, "Why don't we just go away? We have to wait until we see the extent of the disaster in Jinli Town before we can start disaster relief."
"Well, let's go."
Unconsciously, without Yu Jin's presence, these discussions seemed a little dull.
Minister Zhao returned to his room and tossed around a few times on the not-so-comfortable bed. He couldn't sleep for a moment and looked out the window.
The window was open and it was dark outside.
An earthquake occurred in Jinli Town, so the miracle that the King of Yan had a divine person appear in his dream to warn him must be spread throughout the world...
Minister Zhao had a complicated expression, and no one knew what he was thinking about. He finally fell asleep slowly.
Before dawn the next day, everyone got up in a hurry and called in soldiers to rush to Jinli Town to help with the disaster relief.
The prince's first reaction was to refuse.
Disaster relief is hard and dangerous, so he doesn't want to join in the fun.
The eunuch advised, "Your Highness, the earthquake has just happened. It is a good time for the people to thank you for your kindness. If you don't go, wouldn't it be a waste of money for the King of Yan?"
The prince hesitated for a moment.
There was some truth in what the eunuch said. Of course he wanted to gain a good reputation when he went out, but he felt that a good reputation was not as important as his life.
If there is no danger——
The eunuch seemed to have anticipated what the prince was worried about, and whispered, "Your Highness, the dog of the Prince of Yan can predict danger. With the dog around, we can detect danger in advance, and then we can leave."
The prince was immediately convinced and said unhappily, "What dog? That's Erniu, a legitimate fifth-rank official, who is no worse than you."
The eunuch twitched his lips silently.
Your Highness hasn't even gotten Erniu yet, but he's already started maintaining it.
As someone who had accompanied the prince for more than 20 years, the eunuch naturally knew that the prince had fallen in love with Erniu.
The prince ignored the eunuch and walked over to Yu Jin: "Seventh brother, will Erniu go with you today?"
Yu Jin glanced at the prince and nodded slightly: "I will go."
The prince smiled and said, "Then I'll go too."
Yu Jin: “…”
The prince used the word "也" very cleverly.
Including the prince, a group of people rushed to the place where the people of Jinli Town were staying, met with the people in the town, and then rushed to Jinli Town together.
It only takes two quarters of an hour to get from here to Jinli Town. In a hurry, I sped up and the time was even shorter.
After arriving, people suddenly fell silent.
In the morning light, everything is much clearer and more shocking than at night.
The once bustling and prosperous town had long since become a ruin. There were almost no houses standing, and the air was filled with a strange smell mixed with dirt and blood.
The people of Jinli Town, led by Ri Zheng, fell to their knees and cried bitterly.
They were completely unable to control their grief.
More than a hundred people chose to return to the town, all of whom were related to the people there. Even if no one had lost a relative in the earthquake, the destruction of their homeland was enough to make even a six-foot-tall man cry bitterly.
This is where they have lived for generations, but now it has become a purgatory on earth.
People were divided into teams and began to enter the town to search for survivors.
The soldiers who entered Jinli Town searched in an orderly manner because they had experience in rescuing Qianhe County. Compared with the calmness of the soldiers, the people of Jinli Town were much more fragile, especially when they saw the mutilated bodies in the ruins, they couldn't help but collapse and cry.
The prince was bored waiting at the edge of the town, so he said to Yu Jin, "Seventh brother, I'll go take a look at where these people are staying temporarily."
"Go, second brother."
The prince glanced at Erniu and said, "Can you please take Erniu——"
Before he could finish his words, Erniu rolled his eyes at him. The big dog shook his fur and ran towards the ruins.