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Chapter 41: The Earth Dragon Turns Over!

"It's an earthquake, run out quickly!"

"Who is that? You slept like a dead pig. Get up quickly and you will die if you sleep again!"

"Don't move things, save your life first. Everyone hides in the yard and lie on the ground, don't move!"

...

Xue Yu jumped up, kicked a few children who were still sleeping, and directed everyone to run into the yard, which was relatively empty and was a good place to avoid earthquakes.

There were also a few children who were reluctant to leave the food and iron pots, and they dragged them out desperately. Xue Yu also snatched them away and still on the ground. They pulled the children out of the door, for fear of running slowly and being smashed into the hall!

Fortunately, although the Dongyue Temple was dilapidated, the foundation and beams and pillars were very solid. They did not collapse during the violent shaking, but only some broken tiles and dust fell!

After a while, the earth stopped shaking and returned to calm, as if the God of Earth had stretched and fell asleep again.

But this stretching is so strong that I wonder how many lives it will bring?

"Mice, check it quickly. There are no people. Is there anyone injured? Monkey, light up the fire and light it up for everyone!

Hundred Flower Snake, Da Hei, move out the grain and iron pots quickly. We will stay in the yard tonight. Let’s set up a few earthquake sheds tomorrow!”

...

Xue Yu graduated from the University of Geosciences. He is very familiar with earthquakes and has a certain knowledge of earthquake resistance. Therefore, he commands in an orderly manner and has a bit of a general's destiny!

The fire was lit quickly. Using the fire to count the number of people, the children ran out, no one was injured, only one sprained ankle, and a few ran away and lost their shoes, which was fine!

However, after the earthquake, there will be aftershocks. For safety reasons, I can only sleep in the yard tonight. Fortunately, it is summer and it is not cold to sleep outside. There are a little more mosquitoes, and a big bag will be quickly bitten on my skin!

Moreover, the sudden earthquake frightened the children. The young people were trembling all over and wiped their tears. Yuzhe was also frightened. At their young age, they could not understand why the earth was shaking. They only thought that monsters had emerged from the underground!

There was mugwort in the yard. Xue Yu pulled some and threw them into the fire. He used the thick smoke to drive away mosquitoes. Then he sat next to the fire and continued to tell the story of the Condor Heroes to comfort the children. By the way, he popularized some earthquake knowledge and taught the children how to save themselves!

Sure enough, several aftershocks occurred afterwards, but the intensity was not high. Xue Yu and the children were safe and the Dongyue Temple also held on forever!

...

The next day, Xue Yu took the children up the mountain to cut down some branches and set up several large shacks in the yard, at least there was a place to stay. At the same time, he sent mice and monkeys out of the mountain to inquire about the news, and there was a response soon.

It turned out that it was the northern Zhili-Zhending Prefecture area, and there was a strong earthquake, and there was a quake within a radius of six or seven hundred miles. Even the capital-Forbidden City shook three times and shook the emperor off the dragon bed, which was very scared!

This earthquake caused tens of thousands of houses to collapse, tens of thousands of people to be killed or injured, and millions of others were homeless, with countless losses of property!

Due to the drought, the situation in the Northern Zhili area was already tense and people were in panic, like a pile of dry firewood. This sudden earthquake was a Mars, which instantly caused a sky-sky fire!

Riots occurred in Zhending, Baoding, Hejian, Shunde and Guangping. The victims rushed to the streets, robbed rice shops, pawn shops, and wealthy families. Some brave people even robbed the government's warehouse with weapons and killed the official yamen runners, and just raised their flags to rebel.

However, a saint once said: "Good is where misfortune is hidden, and misfortune is where good fortune is to rely on!"

Although this earthquake caused trouble to the living beings, it also woke the rulers up. Knowing that the problem was serious, Emperor Wanli, who had been an otaku for more than 20 years, finally came out of the harem and went to Taimiao to sue his ancestors, believing that it was his own failure to virtue, which caused disasters to the heavens. He must have reflected deeply and reformed himself!

Then the bell and drums were ringed, and all civil and military officials were convened to hold a grand court meeting to discuss countermeasures of "internal disaster relief and external disaster relief" and a resolution was quickly formed:

First, Emperor Wanli bit his back teeth and allocated three million taels of silver from the treasury. Half of them sent specialists to the Jiangnan area to buy food, and then sent them along the canal to the northern Zhili area to help the victims and the other half, and sent them to the affected prefectures and counties to help the victims rebuild their homes!

An imperial edict was issued: the eight prefectures and two Zhili prefectures under the jurisdiction of Northern Zhili were all exempted from taxes for one year to calm the hearts of the people!

Secondly, the nine gates of the capital were closed, martial law was imposed in the northern Zhili area, and garrisons from all over the country were dispatched to suppress the victims who caused trouble. Anyone who was holding on fire and robbed the family would be rectified on the spot!

One soft and one hard, two-pronged approach, the effect is still good. Beizhili, which has become a mess, has become a little more stable!

Immediately after discussing with the six ministries, the cabinet introduced two more measures:

First, recruit soldiers: among the victims, 60,000 strong people were selected to join the army, and after strict training, they were sent to the Liaodong area to station to resist the attack of the Jurchens!

In the Battle of Sarhu, the Ming army suffered heavy casualties, and the major cities were lost one after another. The gateway of Liaodong was opened and the capital was threatened. Now with 60,000 new forces, it can turn the situation around very well. Even if the Jurchens cannot be defeated, it should be fine to keep the gateway?

After 60,000 victims became soldiers, they not only could have enough food, but also received a military salary to support their families. Their families also had a way out, which was equivalent to saving hundreds of thousands of victims!

Moreover, 60,000 elite soldiers became soldiers, and most of them were the elderly, weak, women and children. The possibility of rebellion plummeted. Even if someone wanted to cause trouble, he would not cause a big wave!

The second is immigration: it means transferring some of the victims in the Zhili area to other places to resettle, to be precise, Northwest - Shaanxi!

The situation of the Ming Dynasty was that the southeast was rich, densely populated, barren in the northwest, and sparsely populated. The latter bordered various Mongolian tribes and frequently encountered conflicts and the war never stopped!

Now moving the victims has not only relieved the population pressure in the east, but also enriched the northwest border defense, and solved the disaster relief problem. It can be said that it is a killing of multiple goals in one fell swoop!

As soon as the two proposals were made, they were immediately agreed by the emperor and the vast majority of the ministers, but several old ministers also objected, believing that it was not suitable for large-scale immigration in the years of disaster and chaos. Even if they really wanted to immigrate, they must do it slowly and must not be too rushed to avoid doing bad things with good intentions!

Unfortunately, this faint voice of opposition was soon flooded by countless saliva in the court. The court issued an order: "Appoint the officials of the prefectures, prefectures and counties in the Northern Zhili to handle immigration matters as soon as possible. Those who delay delay will be punished for dereliction of duty!"

After the decree was issued, all parts of Northern Zhili immediately became excited. Under the organization of the government, thousands of victims, whether they were willing or not, embarked on a long journey of migration. What was waiting for them?

…………

"Boss, it has spread in the city. For all the people who moved to the northwest, the government is responsible for food, drink and accommodation along the way. After arriving in Shaanxi, each person will be given ten acres of fertile land and ten taels of silver to settle the house. Each household will also give a plowing ox, and there will be no taxes for three years!"

"Hmph, I pinch my nose and coax my eyes, and the government is bragging again, deceiving the people!"

In the afternoon, the mouse and monkey came back to inquire about the news and also revealed a notice, which said in black and white, saying that the various preferential policies for immigration, such as food and accommodation, and the government is responsible for distribution of food and accommodation, distribution of food and clothing, distribution of travel expenses, etc.!

After seeing it, Xue Yu sneered and shook his head, not believing in a word of the above!

To solve the problem of the civil unrest in Zhili, at least hundreds of thousands of victims need to be relocated, which requires millions of dollars in settlement fees, plus the cost of arranging cars, horses, food and accommodation, more than tens of millions?

The treasury of the Ming Dynasty was already empty. In order to raise military expenses, taxes had to be raised. The additional 9 cents of silver per acre of land was equivalent to squeezing from the mouths of the people. Only then did they barely get through the difficulties. And the excess silver was there to migrate these victims?

Let’s take a step back, even if the court bit the back teeth and really lent the money, how many people will eventually fall into the hands of the people after layers of deductions from officials of all sizes?

The northwest is a barren land, where there are millions of acres of fertile land, tens of thousands of oxen, and tens of thousands of houses to resettle the victims?

These are just tricks compiled by the imperial court to deceive the victims, but even so, Xue Yu decided to join the immigration team. This was not a moment of impulse, but a result of careful consideration. There are three reasons:

One thing is that the bloody Tiger Gang and the robbery of human teeth is very secretive, but there is no airtight wall in the world. Once these things are leaked, they will cause death disasters and you can take refuge after leaving Hejian Mansion!

Second, there is no news about Jin Ya, Hongxiu and others. It is probably not the tenth, and no one is left in Hejian Prefecture. The man Yazi is from Shaanxi. He may have taken them back to his hometown. He can go to the northwest to find friends, and maybe he can find them back!

Three, drought and earthquakes make the situation in Hejian Prefecture worse, and grain prices will inevitably rise sharply. If you stay, you may starve to death. Only when you go out will you have a glimmer of life!

And you must leave as soon as possible, otherwise you will not be able to leave even if you want to leave when the famine occurs!

Therefore, Xue Yu decided to leave Hejian Mansion and go outside to explore the world!

Of course, the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty can explore everywhere. Compared with the barren northwest, the rich southeast seems to be better!

Nanjing City, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, the prosperous land of smoke and willows, and the gentle and rich hometown!

Yangzhou, with a hundred thousand stakes of money, riding a crane to Yangzhou!

Hangzhou, there is paradise above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below!

Xue Yu originally planned to lead his friends to the southeast region. With his knowledge far beyond this era, he would find a few minerals or do business, and be a rich man without any problem!

However, after the incident with the Tiger Gang, Xue Yu changed his mind. The world was about to be in chaos and all the people were in trouble. He ran to the southeast and could hide for a while, but he could not hide for a lifetime!

Even if I make billions of wealth, I will still be cheaper in the end. I have heard the story of the Three Massacres in Jiading more than once!

The world is poor, and the northwest is the first to be the northwest. The chaos in the world begins in the northwest. The northwest can be said to be the most dangerous place. However, the more dangerous the place is, it often contains great opportunities. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, several heroes of troubled times rose on the northwest land. It was a magical land!

If you go to the northwest by yourself, as long as you seize the opportunity, you may soar into the sky and dare not compete with those heroes. At least you can dominate the side, right?

The question is, I went to the northwest myself, what should these children do?

"Monkey, gather everyone together, I have important things to announce!"
Chapter completed!
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