On the third and fourth days of June, more accurate information about the disaster situation came from all over the country.

Chongming did not build a high embankment and suffered a lot. The tsunami came in the middle of the night, almost everyone was asleep, and after the tide passed, less than 20 percent of the island's inhabitants were left alive, and many were injured. There is no house to live in, even if it is made of stone, and every qiē in the house has been washed away by the sea, leaving a mess in ruins. The government has ordered the officers and soldiers to take a boat to the island and bury all the corpses on the spot, so as not to cause plague in the hot and humid weather. As for the wounded and survivors, they were all transported back to the mainland for resettlement. When the situation is settled, we will talk about reconstruction.

The death toll in other localities has already been counted, and in all localities under the jurisdiction of the Shanghai Prefecture, more than 8,000 people were unfortunately killed, more than 10,000 people were injured, countless houses were damaged or collapsed, not to mention farmland flooded and crops completely destroyed. If it weren't for the dam, more people would have died, and the sea might have washed straight into the towns, causing even more damage.

The bustling Nanhui Port also suffered heavy losses in this tidal disaster. Because the embankment in Nanhui is only half repaired, most of the others have to rely on the old embankment to resist the waves, and some sections of the old embankment have just been broken and collapsed by the sea before they can be replaced with new ones. The craftsmen and people who stayed on the site were killed and wounded, many ships sank at the nearby wharf, and in addition to the people living in the low-lying areas, there were also many foreign merchants and people from Western caravans. After the house was flooded, the goods were soaked and destroyed, and countless merchants wanted to cry without tears.

The losses of the Zhao family are also very large, not to mention that there are more than a dozen or so small courtyards for rent in the second room that have not yet been sold, and the value is as high as thousands of taels of silver, and the fleet of the Wells Commercial Bank has just transported several ships of grain, spices and timber from the South Seas, all of which have been soaked in water, and the profit for half a year is so gone. Little Wells had just gone to Nanking and had escaped the catastrophe, but one of the maids and the second mate of the fleet they had brought from England died, and a captain broke his leg while fleeing for his life. As for the six-room houses, more than half of them have been soaked in seawater. Most of the goods can't be used, their own goods have nothing to say, and other people's goods are only afraid of ripping. The money spent on the purchase of this part of the property has not yet been returned. I don't know where I'm going to cry yet.

The fields over there in Fengxian were not lightly affected. Thanks to the new embankment, the Zhao family was able to save their fields near the coast, and only a few tenants were killed. But it's not just the tsunami that will cause damage, as the winds and rain that preceded the tsunami knocked down many crops. Heavy rains in the middle of the night caused flooding of farmland across the county, and this autumn's harvest was completely ruined. Fortunately, Zhao Xiu had advocated digging ditches and ponds in the fields, although it was for water storage and irrigation, but now it has become a good tool for draining rainwater by mistake, and the dry riverbed has also drained the rainwater in time, so that the stagnant water does not overflow into the villages and towns, causing greater losses.

Wang Shuangfu's tear-stained letter was delivered to Jiading, and Zhao Xiu looked at it, and his heart was full of taste. All the while, she has had a good life. A few years ago, when Fengxian was flooded. She also felt that she had handled it well, but she didn't expect it to be just a trivial matter. This is the case now, and that's really tricky. In her reply, in addition to instructing Wang Shuangfu to do a good job in the aftermath of the disaster, the dead and injured were compensated, disinfected and prevented, donated porridge and medicine, and assisted in reconstruction...... Don't seem to know what else to do? The second house is responsible for the clansmen, tenants and slaves, and can also do their part for the local villagers, but the situation is really difficult. Not in Fengxian.

The city of Jiading was slightly damaged, and the people in the city who had fled in all directions have returned to their homes one after another, trying to find out how to find out about their relatives and friends living in the disaster area. Those clans and wealthy families who were clamoring to leave the city are said to have gone to Suzhou. I was watching the situation in Shanghai and decided whether to come back or not. The clans that had avoided the Jiading Palace had also returned to their respective prefectures, and some of them also planned to temporarily take refuge in safer places inland. The king of Fenyang was concerned about his relatives, and he rushed back from Chuansha in the second year of junior high school to learn about the actions of his grandmother and wife. was so angry that he threw his hat on the spot, but he respected and filial piety to his mother even more.

King Guangping had left Tingfeng Pavilion and returned to his original residence. His heart was heavy and he wanted to do something. But now he is just a blind man who can see a little light, and he can't do without the help of others, what can he do? When I arrived at the scene, it was also a cause for trouble. He could only hold himself back, and instead ordered the royal officials and personal guards to go and participate in the disaster relief work.

But they all looked embarrassed. No one wants to take a risk, and God knows if the sea will come again? Besides, the situation in the affected areas must be very bad, and there is a danger of plague, and they really don't want to suffer. However, in front of King Guangping, of course, they would not tell the truth, so they claimed that they were ordered to serve King Guangping, and did not dare to leave their posts lightly, and said that the prefect of Shanghai would be in charge of a qiē. King Guangping was helpless when he heard this, but he also knew that the reluctant people forced him to do things, and they couldn't help much, but might cause chaos to the local government, so he didn't mention it anymore.

The new prefect of Shanghai, who has been in office for less than two years, was originally carefully selected by the imperial court, regardless of family background, prestige, ability and experience, he is the best choice, and he is also very honest as an official, and he is loyal to the imperial court. Let him be a parent official in the land of Longxing, and the emperor and the court are very relieved. But the prefect's independence is probably too good, and he has nothing to say to the local forces, and he has been restrained by them since he took office, and he has not been able to find help, so everything has not gone well. The case knocked out half of the power that shackled him, and the remaining half was either busy interceding for relatives and friends, or hiding to avoid suspicion, but gave him room to show.

Since the tsunami, the prefect's cousin has been very prominent. He was not afraid of hardships and risks, and the decisions made were also timely. Burying corpses, disinfecting and preventing plague, organizing medical personnel to treat the wounded, building temporary shelters, uniformly relocating the victims, and counting the losses were all very thoughtful. He also ordered his subordinate officers to strengthen patrols to prevent people from fishing in troubled waters and disrupting public order, and ordered people to set up watchtowers on the seashore as fast as possible, and to be on duty in shifts around the clock.

With such a powerful prefect here, and the other officials are quite honest, King Guangping feels that he is probably useless. What he could do was to send the latest situation he knew back to Beijing with an expedited 800 miles, report it to the emperor, and ask the other party to introduce policies to deal with the aftermath and help the victims.

He sighed to Gao Zhen and Zhao Xiu many times: "I always felt that I was useful in the past, but now I know that I am just a waste." When disaster strikes, you can't do anything but hide yourself and don't cause trouble to others. ”

Gao Zhen said disapprovingly: "Father thinks that he is useless, is it because he can't help the disaster in person?" What my father can do is not in such trivial matters as comforting the victims and guiding reconstruction. You wrote to the emperor and said that you would do his best to help the victims, which was a great help. Otherwise, God knows how long it will take those officials in the court to fight before they have the food and silver for disaster relief? ”

King Guangping smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Jiading is not an ordinary place, which court official dares to argue at this time?" What I can help is just to let the news be sent to the capital one step earlier, and the emperor's will can also arrive in Jiading one day earlier, which is really minimal. You don't have to comfort me, I know you're a filial child, but no matter how filial you are, you can't open your eyes and tell nonsense. ”

Gao Zhen wanted to speak and stopped, and Zhao Xiu said softly: "Lord Wang, don't be sad, your ability and experience are stronger than ordinary people, and the reason why you are weak is because of your inconvenient eyes." As long as you do your best to cure your eyes, what do you want to do? ”

King Guangping laughed when he heard this: "This is very reasonable. You're right, I should have treated my eyes better. ”

However, the matter of curing the eyes needs to be delayed for the time being, because Dr. Ye cares about the victims and wants to make a contribution. If it was another magnate, he would probably be detained and not allowed to leave, but King Guangping was not such a person. It's rare that there are people around him who are willing to do something for the victims, and of course he won't stop him. Therefore, Dr. Ye left a ten-day supply of medicine, carried the medicine box on his back, and ran away with his servants. Gao Zhen couldn't stop him, so he could only send Bishan to follow him all the way, on the one hand, to be a bodyguard and helper for Dr. Ye, and on the other hand, to watch him and remind him, lest he be so busy that he forgot to rush back to the palace for King Guangping's follow-up.

King Guangping sat in the palace, in order not to cause trouble to people, and did not say that he wanted to go out, and he had no intention of looking for any pastime. He has to send his son Gao Zhen out every day to find out about the situation in the outside world, and he will specially ask someone to invite Zhao Xiu to come over and ask her about the situation of the Zhao family's industry. This is with the help of the eyes and ears of the Zhao family, to find out the Yan zhòng Cheng dù of the people who have been affected by the disaster. Zhao Xiu didn't hide it at all, and told him everything he knew. He was happy when he heard the good news that the situation was not severe, and when he heard that Yan was affected by the disaster, he felt sad, his mood fluctuated, and his sleep at night was also affected.

Zhao Xiu privately approached Gao Zhen and said, "It can't go on like this." I have to find something to do for the prince. ”

Gao Zhen was worried: "What can I do?" I don't want my father to worry about it any longer. But although I am the prince's son, I have no official position, and I am not good at interfering in local affairs. I'm already a little embarrassed to look around for news. Although the prefect's yamen didn't say anything, he didn't know what to think in his heart. I did not dare to disturb them very much, lest I delay their business. ”

Zhao Xiu thought for a while: "Now the tide disaster is over, right?" The past few days have been peaceful, the dead have been buried, the injured have been treated, and there has been no plague to hear, so the situation is stable. I think the next priority will probably be to ask for help from the victims and to rebuild the affected areas. Although we don't know when the imperial court's disaster relief money will come down, you and I know in our hearts that the money is not enough. Are we trying to find ways to get some food, bedding, medicinal herbs, etc., or raise money to help the victims rebuild their homes? There's so much more that can be done. ”

Gao Zhen's eyes lit up: "This is a good way." But his expression changed in an instant: "I'm afraid of committing a taboo." ”

Zhao Xiu smiled: "You don't have to do it in the name of the prince, what taboo is it?" The prince has never been famous, as long as he can contribute, he probably won't mind being a person behind the scenes, right? (To be continued.) )