Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

Li Xu galloped all the way, and it took only half a day to enter the county seat of Shanghang County. The county seat is made of wood, with an earthen wall underneath and a tall tower inside, but that's all. At this time, there are no soldiers guarding the city. , the flagpole hanging on the city tower was also tilted to the side, looking like it was invaded by the enemy.

Li Xu's expression was tense all the way, and he was even more displeased when he saw the messy streets after entering the city. Even if the county magistrate and county magistrate were not there, it would be impossible for the yamen to have no clerks. Even if he did his job well, he shouldn't Let Luancheng, the county seat, be like this.

There was no one to be seen on the street. The houses on both sides of the street looked okay. Li Xu deliberately took a few detours and saw houses collapsed in many places. The owner of the house was crying and shouting in the open space. Very few, I don't know if they went out of the city to seek refuge.

Li Xu deliberately found someone to question, and the news he learned was that many people had taken refuge in temples outside the city, and he didn't know how they concluded that temples in the mountains must be safer than those in the city.

After asking about the location of the county government office, Li Xu took people to the county government office first.

There was someone in the county government office, a small official who was in charge of the warehouse. When he saw the three men on horseback, he said displeasedly: "The elder is not here. Come back another day if you have something to do."

Li Xu glanced at the dilapidated county government, and asked on horseback, "How long has General Kou been away? Is there any news?"

When the little official heard him mentioning General Kou, his expression immediately became respectful, "It's been five days since I left, and I don't know if there is any news from the villain."

"What about the other adults?"

The little official became even more flustered, "I don't know this villain, which adult are you looking for?"

"Where's the yamen servant?"

"Some left with the county lord, and some are patrolling outside."

What a fart to inspect, anyway, Li Xu didn't see anyone from the government maintaining order along the way.

Li Xu originally wanted to know about the damage caused by the earthquake, but seeing that he didn't know anything, he didn't ask. "Who is the highest-ranking officer in the yamen at present? Go and invite someone here."

"Only Master Ling Shi is there, but his villain doesn't know where he is."

Li Xu swiped the whip, and there was a crisp sound of "pa", leaving a whip mark on the pillar beside the little official. The other party was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground and said falteringly: "This... my lord, The villain really doesn't know. That made Lord Shi go out of the city this morning, saying that he was going to seek refuge with his father-in-law's family."

"What kind of trouble is he avoiding? Who allowed him to leave, and who cares about the people in this county?"

"You don't know, there was an earthquake last night, and it happened more than once. No one knows when the next time will be. Whether it's serious or not, everyone in the city has left. There must be no one to care about it."

"Then why don't you go?"

"Humble jobs have nowhere to go, and they live in the county government on weekdays."

Li Xu jumped off the horse, Lao Qi took the reins from him, moved the horse to the yard outside the door and tied it to a tree trunk.The yard was also in chaos, several big trees fell down, and the ground was cracked, which made people terrified.

He approached He Zun quietly, and asked, "Lord Mu, don't you persuade the prince to leave this dangerous place?"

He Zun glanced at him, and only said: "Go and try to persuade him." It's no wonder that the prince can listen to the persuasion, not to mention that General Kou is still missing in Shanghang County.

Besides, with the character of the prince who loves the people like a son, he will definitely not ignore the people here.

Li Xu asked the little official to stand up, thought for a while, and ordered: "Go and find all the people you can find in the government, even if they are servants, I have something to explain."

Li Xu didn't know how to scold these people to wake them up. After the earthquake, he ran around and even dared to take refuge in the temple on the mountain. Wasn't he looking for death?

Shanghang County is also surrounded by mountains. The county seat is the most spacious and flat place. As long as you don't stay in the house, it is much safer than going to the mountains.

The little official didn't dare to disobey, he didn't know the identity of this young man, but it was right that he was a nobleman.

There are still a few people in the yamen, and a few yamen servants who live nearby are also at home. When they heard the summons, some came, and some refused to come.

Li Xu looked at the people standing in a row in front of him, both young and old, only two were wearing the uniform of government servants, and the rest were probably made up by servants.

Well, something is better than nothing, he thought.

"Is there any open and flat place in this county? If there are no buildings around." Li Xu asked them.

Everyone lowered their heads and did not dare to make a sound, only the little official from before responded in a low voice: "If you want a large open space, it should be the land at the gate of the city."

Li Xu thought about the road he had traveled before, and nodded. There was indeed no one there, and even if a city wall about five meters long fell down, it would not take up much space. He ordered: "Go find some gongs and drums, and inform the people along the street. Let everyone gather at the gate of the city, and say that officials from the Sheriff's Mansion have come to teach rice cultivation techniques at the gate of the city, if you miss this time, there will be no next time."

This was an excuse that Li Xu came up with on the spur of the moment. The officials in charge of farming in various places would receive booklets issued by the prefect's mansion, which recorded the improved farming methods in detail, and the county government would pass on this method to the common people.

Li Xu was sure that this mission in Shanghang County hadn't been started yet, so he just happened to be a farming officer.

"Also, check to see if anyone else was injured in the earthquake. If so, send his family members to the gate of the city. Let's put them together first. Call all the officials and yamen servants back and tell them that they are not here today. Yes, you don’t have to come to the county government anymore, and you will all be dismissed!”

The petty official was already frightened when he heard the words "Junshoufu", and then he heard the opponent's decisive momentum, and he was convinced that this young man was in a high position.

I heard that the county guard's mansion has a new young magistrate, maybe this is the one in front of me, but would such a big man come to a small place like Shanghang County?I can't believe it.

He hurriedly took people to do the work, the most indispensable thing in the yamen was gongs and drums, each of them issued a set, and then they went to each street to beat the gongs and loudly pass on Li Xu's words.

At this time, there were not many people staying in the city. They muttered loudly, and everyone hiding in the house heard them, and then people walked out of the house one after another.

It is really scary when the earth shakes and the mountains shake, but now the weather is calm, and everyone feels relieved, and they come out and ask: "Is there really an official here to teach the way of farming? Why did you choose such a day?"

The little official frowned and retorted: "Your Excellency came all the way from Minzhou City, can it be counted as an earthquake in our place? Besides, there is no one in the county government. With this adult, at least there will be no chaos."

The common people don't believe that the senior officials of the county government will care about their lives, not to mention whether there will be another earthquake. It really happened to that adult, and he probably ran faster than anyone else. That's it, I dragged my family out of the city before dawn.

"Okay, let's take your family to listen to it first. Your lord has ordered everyone to go, so that you don't miss the message when you go alone."

Shanghang County is not big, with about a few hundred households, and there are only three or four main streets. The remaining scattered households have also been notified in place, but most of these households damaged their houses during the earthquake, and they all have sad faces.

They were a little happy when they heard that an official came to teach them how to cultivate. If they could really grow a second season of rice, then they would have surplus grain this year, and they could still build another house if they worked hard.

The people left the city one after another. Li Xu stood on the tower and looked down. He felt that the group of people walking below were full of desperation, as if the world was about to end.

"Did you gather all the people in the city here to avoid another earthquake?" He Zun asked from the side.

"Well, when an earthquake occurs, try to choose an open and unobstructed flat place to evacuate, or a small and solid space." But it is conceivable that most of the houses now are civil structures, and reinforced concrete houses cannot withstand earthquakes, let alone this kind of soil. house.

"What's the next step? We can't let them gather here to wait without being hungry, and we don't know how many days they will have to wait."

Li Xu didn't have a good solution either, he could hold a speech until dark, but people need to eat, and if they stayed after dark, they would have to find other reasons, and they had to be fed.

He tilted his head and whispered to He Zun: "Go and see if there is any grain in the granary in the county seat. If there is, let someone make a meal of porridge. It's right for disaster relief."

"If not?"

"Then go to some adults' houses to "borrow" a little bit, especially the few adults who left with General Kou, just say they agreed."

He Zun nodded, jumped down from the city tower, stunned countless people, and then grabbed two men in yamen uniforms from the crowd and asked them to lead the way.

No one dared to refuse. The jump just now was too shocking. Although it was only a five-meter-high city wall, no one could fall to death, but ordinary people would certainly not jump off it so easily.

There were more and more people, Li Xu asked the little official to go to the mountain to inform the people hiding in the temple, using the same reason, it was up to them whether they came or not.

He asked the little official who followed him, "How many people are there in the city?"

The little official thought about it seriously, and answered uncertainly: "About 5000 people."

Li Xu roughly counted the gathered people, estimated to be less than [-], and the injured people were lying alone in one place, unable to even drink hot water.

Li Xu asked him to beat the big drum on the tower, and when the drum sounded, the people below stopped talking and looked up one after another.

Li Xu stretched out his hand, the drum stopped, and he said loudly: "I am under the command of Mr. Zhong, the agricultural officer of the County Sheriff's Mansion. Mr. Zhong sent me here to teach new farming methods, but unexpectedly, I came here. Unfortunately, there was an earthquake, but the matter is imminent and there is no delay, so I have to call everyone here, and I hope you will forgive me."

Someone in the crowd shouted: "My lord, why don't you change the date? I don't know if there will be another earthquake. We have to save our lives first."

Li Xu thought in his heart: I didn't just go through all this trouble to save your lives.

"Silence!" Li Xu yelled: "I know that earthquakes are unpredictable, but this is the best place to take refuge. It is open and unobstructed. Even if the earthquake does, it will not be too dangerous. Don't you Would you rather hide in a broken thatched hut and be smashed by a beam?"

Pointing to the wounded lying on the ground with no cure, he said, "Aren't they the lessons learned from the past?" How much medical expenses will be borne by the government.”

These words are tantamount to saying that it is a booster, making the people believe that this young and handsome official is sincerely here to help them.

Those injured in the earthquake were generally traumatic, and almost all those who needed to lie on the ground immobile were fractured, and in this small county, no medical craftsman could treat fractures.

A father and son stood up and said: "The old man and the eldest son can treat some injuries, but if they are too serious, they will definitely not be cured. Moreover, the pharmacy collapsed last night, and there is no medicine to treat them."

Li Xu asked the little official to choose a few young people he knew to go to the pharmacy with them to see if they could dig out the medicine cabinet.

He deeply realized how difficult it is to provide disaster relief in an ancient time with backward productivity. If there is no food, no medicinal materials, what can he do with his mouth and hands.