"The earth has turned over..."
The people rushed out shouting, each with a look of horror on their face.
Especially for the refugees who had just settled in Jiangnan, their hearts were filled with despair.
One natural disaster after another, it seems that God really doesn't want to give them any chance to survive!
Qi Chenglang leaped onto a tree, looked around, and pointed into the distance, saying, "Chief Secretary Xie, look over there."
Dust billowed up in the sky above Xinliang in the north, quickly obscuring the entire sky.
Chief Secretary Xie's expression changed drastically: "This is bad, it's in the direction of the iron ore mine!"
With such a commotion and dust, there must have been a collapse at the iron mine.
If the iron mine collapses, how could the exiled personnel who served in the iron mine still be alive?
Xie Changshi closed his eyes, secretly wishing he could beat himself to death!
He kept saying he would report to the Emperor about the amnesty for Xin Liang, but one thing after another caused delays, which led to the current situation!
Chief Secretary Xie dared not think any further, turned around and bowed deeply to Gu Yuzhi: "Your Highness, the Xinliang Iron Mine has collapsed, and the lives of the exiled people are in imminent danger. Please grant your permission, Chief Guard Qi, to lead the Xinliang guards to the iron mine to rescue them!"
Gu Yuzhi didn't understand what the earth's upheaval had to do with the iron mine collapse, so he nodded his head blankly and said, "Guard Qi, you should set off quickly."
It has been almost a year since Chief Clerk Xie came to the northern desert with him. In this year, Chief Clerk Xie has always been calm and composed no matter what happened. This is the first time he has shown such a flustered expression.
Gu Yuzhi tried hard to recall all the arrangements made by Chief Secretary Xie and Prefect Qi during the snow disaster relief: "Chief Guard Qi will lead the men to set off first, and Chief Secretary Xie and I will take the able-bodied men of Xinliang, as well as food and other supplies, and leave later."
He blinked his big eyes, trying to calm himself down: "And also, send someone to invite Imperial Physician Qin to bring some medicine."
Judge Qin would certainly know what medicine to bring.
After Gu Yuzhi finished speaking, he pursed his lips and looked at Chief Secretary Xie, who nodded at him and said, "Your Highness did a very good job."
He turned to Qi Chenglang and said, "In that case, Captain Qi, you should take your men and go ahead. I still have some things to hand over with Chen Dianyi."
Qi Chenglang cupped his hands in greeting and gave an order, at which point the guards quickly assembled and set off.
Chief Secretary Xie arranged for people to pack some relief grain and led the second batch of able-bodied men to set off.
Gu Yuzhi originally wanted to leave with Xie Changshi, but when he returned to the temporary post, Xueye grabbed his clothes and wouldn't let him leave.
“Xueye, you need to be good. I can’t play with you right now.” Gu Yuzhi pointed outside. “Xie Changshi’s face looks terrible, and his eyes are very anxious. I think the iron mine collapse must be a very terrifying thing.”
He crouched down and patted Xueye's head: "I have to rush to the disaster relief! The iron mine is under my jurisdiction, Xinliang. As a prince of this fiefdom, I must go!"
Shu Xiaohan hurriedly said, "Young Prince, the situation of the iron mine collapse is unclear. Who knows if there will be a secondary collapse during the rescue? You are still young, so it's best not to go to those dangerous places."
Iron mine collapses are different from snow disasters; those could happen at any time, with secondary or even tertiary accidents possible.
The young prince is still so young...
Just as Shu Xiaohan was about to continue persuading him, Gu Yuzhi shook his little head and whispered, "Teacher Shu, I can't not go just because I'm young. I am a prince, and Xinliang is my fiefdom. Even though the iron ore mine is for exiled people, they are still people under my jurisdiction. I want to go there."
Chief Secretary Xie kept telling him that since he was born into the royal family and enjoyed the privileges of the royal family, he should also give back to the royal family in return.
He didn't quite understand before, but after the snow disaster and the flood in Jiangnan, Gu Yuzhi seemed to have a vague understanding of it.
Just as Judge Qin had said before, he had to be responsible for these people.
The floods in Jiangnan were due to the poor performance of the King of Chu, which disappointed the people and led them to come to Xinliang.
If the exiled iron ore miners were disappointed, they had nowhere to go.
Gu Yuzhi pursed her lips tightly and said after a while, "Xie Changshi mentioned to me twice that he wanted to talk to the Emperor about the amnesty for these exiled people, but I never took it to heart."
For the first time, the little one felt guilty.
If he had mentioned this to his elder brother earlier, would those who should have been released have avoided such a disaster?
Gu Yuzhi vigorously rubbed his face with the back of his hand, then patted Xueye's head: "Xueye, I really have to go!"
This time, seeing that it couldn't bite him anymore, it blocked the doorway, rubbed its head against him vigorously, and then put its paws on the ground, making a running posture.
Gu Yuzhi's eyes widened: "Xueye, do you mean you want to come with me?"
Xueye let out a soft howl, its wolf eyes staring straight at him. Then it sniffed the ground with its nose and began to paw at it.
I can help rescue them! Take me there quickly!
Gu Yuzhi understood what Xueye meant, exclaimed in surprise, patted its head, said something to Xie Changshi, and rode Xueye towards the iron mine.
After Xie Changshi and others left, Chen Dianyi remained to appease the people.
After a while, when the tremors did not strike again, the people finally believed Chen Dianyi's words and returned to their rooms to rest.
The iron mine collapse is something the young prince needs to worry about; the common people just need to rest and continue working in the fields tomorrow.
Qi Chenglang led his guards at breakneck speed and arrived near the iron mine at the end of the night. Before they even got close, they heard a commotion of voices ahead. As the torches drew nearer, they discovered that the exiles were sitting in an open area and seemed to be in good condition with no major casualties.
They seemed surprised that anyone would come; their faces were filled with terror.
The guards surrounded the people, and Qi Chenglang, holding a torch, checked them one by one. They were all exiles; there wasn't a single official among them.
Not only that, but we didn't see that person either!
Qi Chenglang's heart skipped a beat. He looked around carefully again, exchanged glances with a few of them, and then said, "I am the chief guard under Prince Wen. I have come to rescue you. All survivors, please line up in two rows according to whether you are injured or not, and register yourselves. Also, please count if any of the people you know are missing."
Who knows if someone might take the opportunity to escape?
Soon a guard came to report: "Captain, the cave entrance is in that direction. According to these people, the iron ore has been almost completely mined out. The guards here have reported to their superiors several times, wanting to evacuate, but they haven't received any news."
Although the Xinliang Iron Mine is located within the Xinliang area, it has been under the jurisdiction of the entire prefecture since its discovery.
It was only then that Qi Chenglang realized something was wrong. Quanzhou was so close to Xinliang, so why hadn't Quanzhou sent anyone to provide disaster relief?
The number of missing persons kept increasing, and just like what he had seen, they were mostly government officials. Qi Chenglang instinctively felt that this mining disaster was somewhat unusual...
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