"yes, it must have been an earthquake." Xu Shichang also almost fell down just now, he looked up at the chandelier that was still shaking, and said with palpitations, "I just don't know where it is." ”

"It can't be Umihara again, right?" Gu Weijun asked with some concern.

Hearing Gu Weijun's words, the faces of Cai Ye and the others couldn't help but change.

At 20 o'clock on December 16, 1920 (the ninth year of the Republic of China), a major earthquake occurred in Haiyuan, Ningxia, which shocked the world. The Haiyuan earthquake was not only one of the largest earthquakes in Chinese history, but also one of the largest in the world. The magnitude of the earthquake was 8.5, the epicenter intensity was 12 degrees, and the disaster area was 20,000 square kilometers, and the earthquake affected 17 provinces and cities including Ningxia, Gansu, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Hebei, Yanjing, Tianjin, Shandong, Sichuan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Fujian, with a felt area of 2.51 million square kilometers, accounting for about a quarter of China's land area, and was the most widespread earthquake in Chinese history. The earthquake caused the destruction of Haiyuan, Guyuan and other counties, a large number of houses collapsed, causing great losses of people's lives and property, fortunately before the earthquake China's political axe and the army made certain earthquake preparations in advance (as for why the relevant Chinese parties knew in advance that there was going to be an earthquake here, it is one of the famous mysteries in Chinese history), after the earthquake immediately organized manpower to arrive at the disaster area to rescue, to avoid further expansion of losses, but according to incomplete statistics, there are still nearly 50,000 people killed in this earthquake, more than 100,000 people were injured, The property damage was as high as 60 million yuan.

In China, there is no earthquake that can be compared to the Haiyuan earthquake. The earthquake caused "three-tenths of the houses to collapse" in Lanzhou, 200 kilometers away; Xi'an, which is 400 kilometers away from the epicenter, "the doors and windows are violently sounded, the houses are shaken and the walls are trampled, and about 100 houses are destroyed"; Taiyuan, 700 kilometers away from the epicenter, "collapsed between houses, and people were slightly injured"; Yanjing, which is 1,000 kilometers away from the epicenter, "the electric lights are shaking, making people dizzy"; farther Shanghai, "the clock is stopped, the hanging lights are shaking"; Guangzhou "Drop Painting Clay Tablets"; Shantou "passenger ferry swinging"; Hong Kong "most people feel the earthquake". The energy released by the Haiyuan earthquake is particularly large, its felt range exceeds most of China, and the strong shaking lasted for more than ten minutes, 96 seismic stations in the world have recorded this earthquake, and even in the observatory near Haiphong, Vietnam, there is a phenomenon of "clock stopping", so it is called the "global earthquake". Because the damage and losses caused by the Haiyuan earthquake were particularly serious, although it has been several years, many Chinese still have lingering feelings when they think about it.

"It's not." Yang Shuoming looked up at the wall clock on the wall of the conference room of the presidential palace and said, "It's definitely not our China." ”

"Why are Hanzhi so sure?" Xu Shichang asked with some surprise.

Yang Shuoming just smiled when he heard Xu Shichang's question, but did not answer.

It is impossible for him to tell Xu Shichang that he is a time-traveler and has long known the time of the famous "Kanto Earthquake" in history.

"The president may have forgotten that the last Haiyuan earthquake was the first to be prepared by Hanzhi." Gu Weijun remembered the past and said with a smile, "As for how Hanzhi managed to be more accurate than the experts from the Earthquake Bureau, it's still a mystery." ”

"How Hanzhi predicted, let's not care about it for now, as long as Hanzhi says that it is not our China, I will rest assured, hehe." Xu Shichang seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said with a smile.

After not feeling any more unusual movements, the atmosphere in the conference room returned to normal, Xu Shichang just made a phone call to the secretary general of the presidential office, instructed him to ask about the earthquake bureau, and then refocused his attention on Yang Shuoming's plan to "hide from the sky and cross the sea".

When Yang Shuoming came out of the presidential palace and returned home, a telegram from Yuben had already been delivered.

"The telegram said that there was a major earthquake and a tsunami." Huang Yunzhi said to Yang Shuoming, "It is said that many of the capital ships of this navy have been sunk. ”

"In the end, people are not as good as heaven, hehe." Yang Shuoming took the telegram and glanced at it, a happy smile appeared on his face, "I said that my retribution came so quickly." ”

"Look at your beauty." Huang Yunzhi looked at her husband a little strangely, as if she was puzzled by what he said just now, because in her eyes, he has always admired science, and such a statement as "retribution" is not in his eyes.

"There must have been a lot of deaths among the people of Ben." In the face of the disaster, Huang Yunzhi's traditional Chinese women's traditional kind heavenly surname and loving mother's surname were unconsciously revealed, "The last time we had an earthquake in Haiyuan, almost 50,000 people died, but fortunately, the rescue was timely, this time I was affected by the disaster, do you want to help them?" ”

"Of course you have to help, it's easy to solve the problem and it's not easy to settle the knot." Yang Shuoming smiled and nodded, his eyes were still fixed on the telegram, Huang Yunzhi was very happy to hear that he agreed with his idea, but she faintly felt that what he said just now seemed to be a little insincere.

"I'll call the president in a moment and ask him to order the navy to immediately send a ship to investigate the disaster, and the sooner the disaster is needed, the better." After reading the telegram, Yang Shuoming's face returned to a calm and watery face, Huang Yunzhi heard what he said just now, and her heart couldn't help but be moved, and Yang Shuoming's image became much taller in her heart.

Yang Shuoming was accustomed to the admiration and respect in his beloved wife's gaze, he took the telegram and muttered for a while, then raised his head and said to her: "You are still responsible for the disaster relief medicine, you must prepare it quickly and implement it." ”

Huang Yunzhi nodded in agreement, and was about to call, Yang Shuoming said to her again, "Zhuo Yao, you can tell her, tell me what I mean, let a few of us donate some money in our personal names to help me in disaster relief." ”

"Okay." Huang Yunzhi understood what Yang Shuoming meant by "in his personal name", and couldn't help but smile.

"We have to send a report to the people over there to find out the damage to the ship as soon as possible." Yang Shuoming said to himself, sat down, took a pen and paper, and began to draft the telegram.

September 3, 1923, Yokosuka, Navy Yard.

Hiraga Jean and Fujimoto Kikuo looked at the shipyard area, which had been almost razed to the ground, and the hull of the "Amagi", which had become unshapeable in the dockyard, and their knees weakened and they knelt down.

"How can this be......" Hiraga Jean looked at the almost unrecognizable "Amagi", and couldn't help but cry for a while, as if it was his own son who died.

At 11:58 p.m. the day before yesterday, a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 struck northwestern Sagami Bay in the southwest of Tokyo, and in a matter of minutes, the entire Great Plain of Kanto from Tokyo to Yokosuka was undulating and bumpy like the Pacific Ocean, and thousands of houses collapsed in the earthquake. The earthquake occurred at the time when every household was cooking in a brazier, so after the earthquake, large-scale fires broke out in Tokyo, Yokohama, and other places. The Yokosuka area, also located near the epicenter, was not spared, with the huge Yokosuka Naval Works almost flattened, concrete buildings and steel cranes collapsing like playing cards, and the hull of the battlecruiser Amagi, which was being built on the slipway, also shook. In the nearby ship canal, several light cruisers under construction have also been completely destroyed by the fire after the earthquake, and it is impossible to make out the appearance of the warships.

Seeing this hellish scene, the personnel of the Ship Administration Headquarters of the Navy, who came to investigate the disaster, were all grief-stricken.

Fujimoto Kikuo easily stabilized his emotions, he pulled Hiraga Rang up from the ground, gave the order in a dumb voice, and began the investigation of the scene. And many nearby residents got the news of the destruction of the naval yard and rushed over to help clean up the scene and salvage useful supplies.

Led by Kikuo Fujimoto, the personnel of the Navy's Ship Administration Headquarters first inspected the damage caused by the Amagi, and when he found that the keel of the Amagi had been severely bent, his heart sank to the bottom.

"The maximum deflection reached 219 centimeters, and there was also a distortion of 5 to 14 degrees on the longitudinal axis along the direction of the keel. If it is forcibly corrected, the decks, armored backplates, reinforcing ribs and related pipelines that have been built can only be completely dismantled, and the workload is about ...... to rebuild," Kikuo Fujimoto said to Hiraga with some helplessness after summarizing the data collected by his subordinates.

"Fujimoto-kun, do you mean that the hull of the Amagi no longer has any repair value?" Hiraga asked uncomfortably.

Fujimoto Kikuo sighed and nodded.

Hiraga let out a long sigh and sat down a little dejectedly, neither he nor Kikuo Fujimoto had noticed that a man dressed as a worker was wandering around the two of them, intentionally or unintentionally, taking in all the content of their conversation.

At this time, Hiraga Jean did not notice this person, his eyes inadvertently saw the situation on the sea, and he couldn't help but widen his eyes in horror, pointed to the sea with his finger, and couldn't say a word.

Fujimoto Kikuo looked in the direction of Hiraga's finger, and he saw that there seemed to be a huge battleship standing diagonally on the sea, and his heart couldn't help but tighten, and he yelled a little frantically: "Telescope! Give me the binoculars! ”

A naval officer ran over and handed a pair of binoculars to Fujimoto Kikuo, who grabbed the telescope and looked at the sea, and when he recognized the identity of the giant ship that had been broken in two on the sea, his whole body shook like chaff.

He had already clearly recognized that it was the newly built battleship "Kaga" in the Navy!

Tokyo, Akasaka Imperial Palace, earthquake-proof shed.

"I just got the news that His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Empress are safe and sound." The Minister of the Interior, Goto Shinpei, said to Prince Hirohito of the Regency Palace, sweating profusely, "I am now in the earthquake-proof shed of the Yuko Palace. ”

"Great!" Hirohito breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the report.

When the Great Kanto Earthquake struck, Prince Hirohito quickly ran out into the courtyard in accordance with the earthquake prevention training he had received since childhood. Since the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Palace were built in accordance with strict earthquake protection requirements, not only Hirohito was fine, but also the Emperor and Empress Taisho, who were vacationing at the Imperial Palace, were safe and sound. Despite this, three members of the Imperial Family died in the Great Kanto Earthquake: Prince Kangin Miyatsuko was stoned to death in his own villa in Odawara, and 6-year-old King Shimasa of Higashikuya and King Saki of Yamadainomiya were also stoned to death at Yokosuka's home.

"Has martial law been issued?" Hirohito, who was a little calm, asked Goto Shinpei.

"It's been sent." The Minister of the Interior said, "General Shotaro Fukuda has been informed to enforce military law control to prevent people with ill intentions from taking advantage of the situation to loot." ”

"Good." Hirohito nodded, and then asked, "Is there any news from the embassies abroad?" ”

"At present, the communication line has not been restored, and no news has been received." The Home Secretary replied.

"This time, the country that was hostile to the earthquake was so happy." Hirohito said, the muscles in his face twitching unconsciously.

Goto Shinpei, of course, knew who the "would-be emperor" was referring to when he said "a country hostile to Komoto", and he looked at Hirohito carefully and did not speak.

"Find a way to restore the communication line as soon as possible, I want to know the specific situation of the disaster!" Hirohito looked at the carrier pigeons that were released from the hands of the guard officer one by one, and said in a deep voice.

The Secretary of State agreed loudly and bowed and retired. Hirohito lay down in his chair a little tiredly and closed his eyes, his mind now completely occupied with a lot of unbounded cranky thoughts and inexplicable hatred.

After some time, Hirohito gradually fell asleep, and in the dream, he seemed to return to his grandfather, Emperor Meiji.

"Your Majesty, the embassy in China sent a telegram, and Zeng Qi, vice premier of the Chinese government, personally visited the embassy to express his condolences and expressed his full assistance to our country in fighting the disaster." The Minister of the Interior has returned at some point and reported to Hirohito.

"The first one to express assistance was Zhina?" Hirohito asked, somewhat surprised, and took the copy of the telegram from the Minister of the Interior.

"Yes." The Minister of the Interior said with some hesitation, "The Deputy Prime Minister of China said that he has already raised about 500,000 yuan worth of materials and medicines to be shipped to Tianjin for shipment, and they will arrive in the near future. ”

"The efficiency of the political axe this time is very high." Hirohito glanced at the telegram quickly and said quietly. Goto Shinpei seemed to hear the off-string sound in the words of the "quasi-emperor", and there was no interface.

"Help me prepare a call back to express my gratitude." Hirohito gave a simple command, returned the telegram to the Minister of the Interior, and closed his eyes again.

When news of the earthquake reached China, the Chinese government acted quickly and showed an extremely rare efficiency.

On the day after the earthquake (2 September), the Chinese Cabinet immediately sent people to the Chinese embassy in China to express condolences. On September 3, the cabinet convened a meeting, and Foreign Minister Gu Weijun proposed that "China's disaster relief and compassion for its neighbors should not stand idly by, and the government should issue an order to persuade the people to jointly raise funds for relief."

In addition to sending a telegram to Lu Zongyu, the Chinese envoy to the Chinese government and the consulate general in Kobe to urgently investigate the disaster, the Chinese political axe also approved the cabinet's appropriation of aid and requested that "the provincial governors and local gentry and business organizations organize a disaster relief meeting and carry out it in concert with the political axe," and at the same time "send merchant ships to transport food and medicines, and the Red Cross Society to carry out the disaster relief meeting."

On September 4, Xu Shichang, president of the Republic of China, called on the people of the whole country to "raise donations, allocate all the foreign exchange, and use funds to save the life and apply for disaster relief and compassion for neighbors." The Cabinet also invited celebrities from all walks of life to discuss the specific matters of aid. The meeting discussed from noon to 5 p.m., and further decided: to order all provinces and autonomous regions to raise funds for relief; Quickly transport 300,000 stones of rice to the book; lifting the ban on food exports; Charitable organizations, the Red Cross, banks, the press, chambers of commerce, and the military and police were invited to organize the Disaster Relief Association. Xu Shichang also sent a telegram to the political axe: "At a time when your capital and country have suffered unprecedented disasters and caused loss of life and property, please accept the deep condolences of the Chinese people. ”

Duan Qirui, who had already stepped down and was living in Tianjin, also set up a "Disaster Relief Comrades Association" and sent a telegram to the central political axe of Yanjing, the military and political governors of various provinces, and various organizations, calling for "extensive solicitation" to provide relief to the disaster.

Under the strong mobilization of China's political axe, all walks of life in China have reached a rare concerted action. It is said that the embassy and consulates in China were crowded for a while, and there was an endless stream of people who came to express their condolences and express their attitudes. The commercial organizations and non-governmental organizations in China have also received numerous telegrams, letters of condolence, and condolences to them.

On 3 September, Liang Qichao, China's premier who was inspecting Tianjin, sent a telegram: "It is our duty to provide disaster relief to our neighbors, and it is our duty to do everything we can to collect food and clothing, and to quickly dispatch warships and merchant ships to rush to the emergency relief." On 3 September, Shanghai's "Morning Post" published an editorial entitled "The Great Earthquake in Ben": "The people of our country should quickly organize an emergency relief meeting, raise a huge amount of money, send a large-scale ambulance team to rush to the relief work, and earnestly investigate the disaster situation, if there is a lack of food and clothing, try to give away as much as possible, and in case of an epidemic after the disaster, we should also send a cross team to medical care." The more money, the more people, and the faster the period, the wider the scope of rescue and the greater the effect. At the same time, the editorial of the "Republic of China Daily" was titled "The Earthquake Tragedy of the Hanging Story", and the editorial of the "Declaration" was titled "The Earthquake and the Fire of the Earthquake of the Sorrowful Story". The Chinese press almost unanimously called on the people to do their best to show their love for the earthquake-stricken areas.

On 5 September, the "Republic of China Yuebao" appealed to the "Chinese to urgently relieve the disaster," saying: "This great disaster in Yueben is certainly a great misfortune in Yueben, but it can restore goodwill between Yueben and maintain permanent peace in East Asia, which is beneficial in China, but cannot be said to be unprofitable in Yueben." He also hoped that he could "understand the good feelings of the Chinese people" and "hoped that in this earthquake, he would appreciate the gospel of human compassion, exchange encouragement from top to bottom, and be a moral friend with China."

(To be continued)