On the evening of July 17, the fourth year of Chongzhen, there was an earthquake in Huguang Changde Mansion, and an unknown loud noise sounded from the northwest, as if thunder had hit the ground. Then the people of Changde Mansion felt that the earth was shaking, the well water was constantly spurting out, the ground was cracking, and mud and mortar water was constantly gushing out.

There were countless Rongfu palaces and walled houses that collapsed in Changde City, but when the earthquake occurred, the people in the city did not sleep soundly shortly after nightfall, so they took refuge in time, and it is said that only 60 men and women were crushed to death.

Taoyuan, Longyang, and Yuanjiang belong to the same day, and Yuanling, Yuanzhou, and Jingzhou, which belong to Wuchang Mansion and Chenzhou Prefecture, and Changsha Prefecture belongs to Changsha, Shanhua, Xiangtan, Ningxiang, Xiangyin, Liquan (Ling), Anhua, and Chengtianfu belong to Zhongxiang, Chuyang, Qianjiang, Jingling and other prefectures and counties.

The next day, Lizhou also shook several times, the inside of the city cracked, the city wall collapsed, more than 10 residents were crushed, Wangjiajing spewed out yellow water, the iron ruler weir spewed out black water, Pengshan collapsed, and the river silted. Jingzhou Mansion also shook on the same day, destroying four-tenths of the city walls and three-tenths of the people's houses, crushing more than 10 soldiers and civilians.

The earthquake spread widely, and was felt as far as Nanjing and Wuwei Prefecture. The magnitude of the damage in the epicenter area is also rare in history. The area in northeastern Hunan, which stretches around Dongting Lake to Jingzhou on the Yangtze River, is the most affected area, with millions of people affected.

When the news of the earthquake in Changde Mansion reached the capital, the cabinet ministers, including Huang Liji, lost their ability to speak for a while. Unlike in history, the northern part of the Ming Dynasty at this time was not ravaged by the Later Jin, and the peasant rebel army in Shaanxi did not swarm, which should be regarded as an extremely stable situation.

However, for this unavoidable natural disaster, according to the theory of heaven and man's induction, either the emperor is at fault, or there are traitors in the court. Especially in the situation of stability in the north, the gentry of the world have focused their attention on the earthquake incident in Changde Province, and every move of the ministers of the DPRK and China will become the cause of criticism.

According to the news from Edo, the shogunate had no intention of making concessions on the Koko incident, and was extremely disgusted with the Ming Dynasty's interference in Japan's domestic affairs, and the shogunate directly ignored the Nanban representatives. Therefore, Chongzhen began to discuss the affairs of sending troops to Japan with the Naval Staff Headquarters, Lu Xiangsheng, Zheng Cai and others.

Until the news of the earthquake came, Chongzhen had to put down the affairs at hand and hurriedly came to the Wenhua Hall to discuss the countermeasures with the cabinet ministers.

After listening to the cabinet's handling of the aftermath of the Huguang earthquake, Zhu Youzhen was obviously extremely dissatisfied, he shook his head and said: "The earthquake is not an ordinary disaster, and it is not something that can calm people's hearts by sending a few ordinary imperial historians with some silver.

For droughts, floods or locust plagues, there are signs before the outbreak, and the people probably understand that this is a natural phenomenon. However, for natural disasters such as earthquakes, there is no indication before they occur, and it is difficult to understand why the earthquake occurred, and in short, it is impossible to explain why the earthquake occurred with reasonable causes.

Therefore, the impact of the earthquake on the people is not only the huge destructive power when it happens, but more importantly, the psychological panic. We must let the people settle down, otherwise it will be difficult not to be taken advantage of by people with intentions, and natural disasters will evolve into **.

Therefore, we need a cabinet minister to personally lead a team to the earthquake-stricken areas to provide relief and reassure the people in the disaster-stricken areas, and if necessary, mobilize local garrisons to suppress the evil spirits that confuse the victims.

Although it is unfortunate that such a large earthquake occurred in Hunan, the fortunate thing in the misfortune is that it is just after the summer harvest, and Huguang is already a grain-producing area, so we do not have to worry about the food rations of the victims. In addition, the weather is hot, so staying overnight outdoors to prepare for aftershocks will not have a great impact on the victims.

However, in order to avoid being taken advantage of by others, the imperial court should not only be satisfied with disaster relief, but also do a good job in post-disaster reconstruction and production recovery. Therefore, I propose to convene a state council to discuss the work of disaster relief organizations, gather all departments of the imperial court, and concentrate the forces of the central and local governments to deal with the earthquake with all their might..."

Regarding the emperor's proposal, Huang Liji fully agreed. Whoever can take advantage of the earthquake event is naturally the local gentry who have been damaged by the interests of reform. They may not dare to use this incident to attack the emperor directly, but they may not dare to attack the reform policy and the cabinet that promoted the implementation of reform.

If the grievances of the people in the disaster areas can be quickly appeased, the cabinet will be much less blamed. But when it comes to who will go to the disaster area to take charge of the disaster relief package and other matters, the cabinet ministers are cowering in the face of such a tricky and difficult task. In the end, only Xu Guangqi and Li Tianjing volunteered to stand up.

However, Zhu Youzhen was obviously not satisfied, he directly called Qian Qianyi's name and said: "Everyone else has their own responsibilities, and Mr. Mu Zhai, as an in-office minister, is suitable for the disaster relief work in Beijing this time." I don't want to compete with Mr. Mu Zhai for this task. ”

Under Chongzhen's name, Qian Qianyi agreed with a stiff face. Seeing Qian Qianyi's reluctant look, Zhu Youzhen kept him after the cabinet meeting.

When the other ministers left, Zhu Youzhen asked directly: "Mr. doesn't seem to be very happy to go out of Beijing for disaster relief?" ”

Qian Qianyi hurriedly said: "The minister didn't, since Your Majesty gave the order, the minister naturally has to obey Your Majesty's order." The minister is just a little worried, this disaster relief is very important, if something goes wrong, I am afraid that he will not be entrusted by His Majesty. ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at him coldly before he said: "Although Mr. was quite famous before entering the cabinet, he was just a literary name, and he has not done any major things about the country after entering the cabinet.

When others mentioned Mr., they mostly praised Mr. for his good poetry and historiography, and he did not have the praise of being able to do things and standing alone. Although I can put Mr. in the position of the first assistant, if the gentleman cannot convince the public, then the first assistant of the gentleman will only have a false name.

The reason why I asked Mr. to go out of Beijing to take charge of the earthquake relief affairs was that I hoped that Mr. could show his ability to stand alone, and by the way, gain the favor of the Huguang gentry officials. A good man still needs three gangs, and the gentleman sits in the position of the first assistant, and at least a few governors must support the local government to carry out the policies of the imperial court. Isn't it? ”

Qian Qianyi, who was still a little awkward in his heart before, nodded again and again as if he had figured it out and said: "Your Majesty Shengming, the minister is still stupid, and he actually failed to understand His Majesty's deep meaning. The minister's willingness to preside over this disaster relief affairs will not in any way ruin His Majesty's love for the minister..."

On 18 August, one month after the devastating earthquake struck Changde and other areas in Hunan, a special state meeting chaired by Chongzhen himself adopted a series of measures for disaster relief, reconstruction, and resumption of production in the earthquake-stricken areas.

According to the decision of this meeting, a general headquarters for disaster relief, reconstruction, and resumption of production in the disaster area was established in Wuchang City, and sub-headquarters were set up in Changde, Lizhou, and Jingzhou.

Qian Qianyi served as the commander-in-chief of the reconstruction of the disaster area, assisted by Li Jizhen, Wu Fu, Zhou Mengyin, and Bai Shilin. Wu Youxing recruited manpower from Tai Tai Hospital and Medical College, and set up a medical team to rush to the disaster area to take charge of public health and medical work. Han Yiliang inspected the allocation of materials and local disaster relief work in the disaster area to prevent people from embezzling relief materials. Wei Liangqing led the members of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to help the people in the disaster area select suitable grain varieties for resumption of production.

For this disaster relief, the household department allocated 200,000 yuan, the customs allocated 300,000 yuan, and the inner treasury allocated 800,000 yuan, totaling 1.3 million yuan. Zhu Youzhen also ordered to take out some clothes and utensils in the palace and conduct a disaster relief auction in the capital, although this behavior made many officials criticize, but the auction was a great success, and an additional 420,000 yuan was raised.

The Huimin Charity Association led by the queen also issued a call to the gentry and wealthy families in various places to donate materials to the victims in the disaster area. It also changed the original charitable donation activities controlled by the local gentry, and became the first national charitable donation activity.

The imperial court's response to the earthquake relief was so swift and well-arranged, that some people who wanted to use the earthquake to attack the imperial court had to stop before they could incite public opinion. Of course, the strengthening of the imperial court's control over public opinion is also an important reason why these people have to remain silent.

As the news of the earthquake damage in the northwestern counties of Dongting continued to come, it also greatly affected the Navy General Staff Headquarters and some generals of the New Army, who were planning operations against Japan.

For example, Lu Xiangsheng once euphemistically proposed to the emperor after a meeting that now that the earthquake in the south is so serious, should the expedition to Japan be postponed for a period of time.

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while, and then replied: "Now that the arrow is on the line, I have to send it." If we interrupt the conquest of Japan now, not only will the Japanese shogunate be underestimated, but even those allies of the ASEAN Association will despise the strength of the Ming Dynasty. An earthquake can put the Ming in trouble, so can the power of this country still make these Europeans who worship force feel awe?

Besides, Japan is an island country, and the conquest of Japan depends not only on the strength of the army, but also on the strength of the navy. The navy is a branch of the armed forces that is very susceptible to the influence of natural weather, and September and October are the best times to conquer Japan, and if we postpone it any longer, we will face the severe cold of Japan's winter and the unfavorable monsoon period.

In addition, the earthquake in Hunan has not only affected the local autumn harvest, but also affected the economic development of neighboring areas, and this year's tax revenue will inevitably be reduced. Obtaining sufficient financial compensation from Japan is the best solution to make up for the damage caused by the earthquake. Therefore, this trip to Japan must only succeed, not fail..."

Lu Xiangsheng was silent, although he did not think that it was a good idea to send troops to Japan at this time, nor did he think that Japan could be conquered by only a few thousand men, after all, there was a precedent of the war between the Japanese and Korea, which was enough to prove that the Japanese were not incompetent people who were about to collapse.

However, in such a resolute situation of the emperor, Lu Xiangsheng knew that he was persuading Chongzhen not to move. If he continues to persuade him, he may only get the emperor to replace him. Compared with others, Lu Xiangsheng felt that it was better for him to be the commander of this army, at least he felt that he could bring this army back more completely.