Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 431: Sinner’s Edict

Damn it, no matter what era, as long as it involves island countries, things will get really bad.

Li Ming's scowl became longer and longer, and he walked along the embankment in silence.

The footsteps made a clattering sound as they stepped on the solid gravel road.

Tap, tap, tap - there was a sound of footsteps behind me.

"Um?!"

Li Ming stopped and glared behind him angrily.

The Yulin Guards stopped at the same time and looked around at the same time.

You brought a large group of bodyguards to patrol the disaster area. Are you afraid that the people will not be angry... Li Ming complained in his heart.

However, facing this group of burly kids, he couldn't get angry. He just nodded at two of them and then strolled away on his own.

The Yulin Guards have followed His Majesty Li Ming for a long time, so they naturally know what this means.

The two men chosen by His Majesty immediately took off their armor and followed in casual clothes.

The others followed far behind, entering "do not disturb mode" and providing remote protection for His Majesty.

Li Ming has visited many people in depth, so everyone is familiar with it.

"Haha, you're quite smart." Li Ming's stinky face became a little sweeter.

The team he built is quite capable.

If there was anything that could make Li Ming feel relieved, this whole incident.

That is the officialdom of Huazhou.

Although these officials cannot be said to be extremely talented, they all work diligently and can be considered excellent.

Moreover, they all passed the "Truth or Dare" game between Di Renjie and Lai Junchen. Their official qualities are absolutely impeccable and they are absolutely loyal and reliable.

This can also be regarded as a microcosm of the grassroots officials of the Ming Dynasty——

The country is in a period of entrepreneurial growth, and its officials are also full of enthusiasm, ideals and sense of responsibility.

Unlike the middle and late periods of the dynasty, which were corrupted and degenerated by various desires.

The common people of Huazhou are also a microcosm of the common people of the Ming Dynasty.

Hard-working and down-to-earth.

After suffering a devastating disaster in his hometown, he did not complain about the fate or wait for rescue.

They were still able to be organized and mobilized, quickly launching self-rescue, frantically digging stones and filling soil, and restraining the giant dragon of the Yellow River in the new river embankment as soon as possible.

It can be said that if it were not for the heroic officials and people of Huazhou, the personnel and supplies brought by Li Ming would be nothing but a drop in the bucket and would be completely unable to restore the country so smoothly.

The losses downstream will certainly continue to expand.

Heaven is unfair. Such outstanding people in the Central Plains should not have suffered such a disaster...

Li Ming stopped and looked around, feeling melancholy.

At some point, he had walked down the levee and arrived at the residential area.

Although they are called "residential residences", they are actually simple refugee camps used to temporarily accommodate disaster victims.

Their original houses are now submerged in water.

It was not a one-off event for the Yellow River to take over the Bian River waterway.

Even though this giant beast is now flowing obediently in the river, it was extremely ferocious when the river broke.

The cities and villages along the coast were completely wiped out.

A rushing river is to man what an overflowing kettle is to an ant.

On that rainy night, countless people were swallowed up by the flood released by the Japanese.

The surviving victims can only squeeze into this shelter and continue to live in grief and ignorance.

Living conditions in refugee camps can hardly be called ideal.

The bamboo sheds were built in a haphazard manner, with thatched roofs covering them, providing a place for people to live.

Dozens of people were crowded together on a large bunk bed, with no place to even put their feet.

Not only is it overcrowded, but water supply is also a problem.

The receding flood water is very dirty and cannot be drunk directly, and the clean well water is miles away and people have to queue up to get it.

Fortunately, it is still summer and the night temperatures are still warm.

Otherwise, people would freeze to death in this extremely simple thatched hut at night.

Li Ming's expression, which had just relaxed a little, slowly became tense again. He caught a clerk who looked like the person in charge and started to scold him:

"How are you managing this? This is where people live?!"

The petty clerk was lying on the stone at the entrance of the refugee camp, snoring, when he was suddenly awakened.

"Is there a flood? Run... ah? Hiss."

The guy first jumped up like a spring, then opened his sleepy eyes and looked around blearily.

He saw a little brat with a sour face standing in front of him with a proud look on his face.

Damn it, I thought the river had burst its banks again! I just closed my eyes after working late at night, and was woken up by this slave-raised child...

The clerk was full of anger and was about to say something sweet.

Then, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a few burly men with friendly faces.

The eloquent young man suddenly appeared in the disaster area, with a master of the palace guarding him...

In a flash, the clerk realized something and was immediately speechless:

“Your Majesty…”

Li Ming looked at the poor fellow helplessly, and noticed the deep weariness on his face. His expression softened a bit, and he asked:

"The accommodation here is very simple. Is there any difficulty?"

"Your Majesty, your Majesty..." the clerk answered in panic.

Li Ming: "..."

The Divine Emperor showed plenty of patience towards this small member of the system.

Finally, I got the general idea from the intermittent conversation.

The general idea is that he also wants the victims to live better, but the conditions do not allow it!

Although the Ming Dynasty was a construction maniac, the material conditions in the disaster area were really limited.

Food is precious, building materials are precious, and even healthy labor is very precious.

When resources are limited, we must be prudent and spend them where they matter most.

On the premise of giving priority to ensuring the supply of food and water, they searched for the living, buried the dead, and strengthened the dikes...

There are simply too many things to do, too few people, and time is very tight. Any delay in any work will lead to serious secondary disasters.

Therefore, repairing housing was put last, and the first thing to do was to make sure everyone had a place to sleep, not that they were unable to live.

After hearing this, Li Ming fell silent and looked around.

Most of the people still staying in the camp were the old, weak, sick, disabled and young.

Young and middle-aged laborers, both men and women, are not at home at this time.

I guess he was working on the levee.

"I'll arrange it."

Li Ming whispered.

"Your Majesty, your Majesty..." the clerk replied excitedly.

After leaving the depressing "residential area", Li Ming continued to move forward in a depressed mood.

On both sides of the river, one could often see common people who had lost their loved ones kneeling by the muddy river, weeping bitterly.

"Oh my dear mother! Oh my dear mother!..."

There was constant wailing, and I didn't know whether they were expressing their inner grief or if their biological parents had really been washed away by the river.

Is it because the Yellow River makes the Chinese people cry for their parents that it is called the "Mother River"... Li Ming complained to relieve himself.

If the Yellow River is really a woman, it is also a fair mother.

Every dynasty that didn't do a good job in water conservancy was equally criticized. Just kidding, even if the Ming Dynasty did a good job in water conservancy, it was described by Prime Minister Fang Yi as "a waste of money and labor", and the mother Yellow River was still criticized.

It was during these elbow strikes again and again that the national spirit of the Chinese nation was forged.

“That’s a beautifully worded statement.

"But if you really get involved in the historical process, it will be much more serious than what is written in history books..."

Li Ming murmured, looking at the river bank not far away.

Men and women are hard at work reinforcing the riverbed and, under the guidance of supervisors, digging drainage channels to drain out the accumulated water.

The elderly and children were not idle either. They bent over and worked hard in the fields far away, trying to grow some vegetables that could withstand waterlogging and salt and alkali before autumn.

Although there were thick dark clouds in the sky, it was noon in summer after all, and the weather would be very hot and humid as soon as the rain stopped.

But the people here never stop for a moment and work hard.

The dead are gone, leaving this world unknowingly in their sleep, perhaps this is the last bit of mercy from God.

But the living must bear all this and move on.

Life has to go on.

"His Majesty?!"

Someone was very sharp-eyed and recognized Li Ming from a distance and couldn't help but shout.

After all, Li Ming is very recognizable. If a child radiates a kind and benevolent aura, he is most likely our Divine Emperor.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

Everyone spoke respectfully, but they were not timid at all in their actual actions.

They all rushed forward, surrounding Li Ming in a crowd. The two plainclothes imperial guards had no way to resist.

If anyone had evil intentions at this time, Li Ming would most likely be doomed.

However, how could the people of Huazhou harm their beloved Majesty?
Strictly speaking, Huazhou was not one of the "original shareholders" of the Ming Dynasty, but a fence-sitter who jumped back and forth between the Ming and Tang dynasties during the war.

It was Li Ming's actual performance that conquered them.

At the first moment of the disaster, the emperor of this vast empire came here from afar, spared no expense, and settled down on the embankment.

Not only did his majesty show great posture, he also demonstrated extraordinary abilities.

Under his unified command, order was quickly restored in the disaster area and countless lives were saved in time.

The people of Huazhou felt that it was their great fortune to have such an emperor.

"Hail, Your Majesty! Hail, Your Majesty!"

The enthusiastic people in the Central Plains support Li Ming no less than the original shareholders in Liaodong.

"Oh, okay..."

Li Ming agreed, feeling very unhappy.

What good people they are! They shouldn't have suffered such a fate.

Who should be held responsible for this?
Whose fault is this?
First, exclude the Japanese.

Li Ming didn't have any unrealistic expectations for the islanders.

No matter how despicable the things they do, we should not be angry, because the job of bad people is to do bad things.

This is also not the responsibility of Ma Zhou, Zhang Qian and other Huazhou officials.

Although the disaster occurred in their jurisdiction, the blame is not on them.

These grassroots officials have done their jobs very well.

Although it was their problem that there were spies mixed into the ranks of the civilian laborers.

However, considering the actual situation at the time, this was inevitable.

It's easy to talk, but only you know how difficult it is to put it into practice.

No matter what, this responsibility still falls on Li Ming himself.

"Blame me, blame me..."

Facing the enthusiastic disaster victims, Li Ming looked ashamed and murmured:

"It was my fault for not eliminating the 'root cause' in time, which led to this..."

Blame it on me. It's all my fault for not being militaristic enough.

If we didn’t cross the sea immediately, we would have rooted out the Japanese!
…………

Tangzhou.

The State Council Office was filled with noise and bustle.

Not only the State Council Office, but also all the offices of the three provinces and six ministries were extremely busy.

The Yellow River changed its course and the country was in chaos.

It is necessary to rely on these bureaucratic agencies to sort out the chaotic affairs one by one and distribute them to various places for execution.

This prevented the new country from falling apart.

Not only did it not fall apart, there wasn't even a single civil uprising across the vast Chinese land.

The whole country was united in fighting against the disaster with all its might.

It is unprecedented that a country can remain so united after experiencing such a catastrophe.

On the one hand, this is certainly due to the wise leadership of the Divine Emperor.

In particular, the "production brigade" system enabled farmers and brigades to help each other and support each other in overcoming difficulties.

The superiority of the commune system was fully demonstrated in times of great disaster.

Of course, on the other hand, it is also inseparable from the efforts of all the ministers.

The one who worked the hardest among them did not sit in the yamen.

…………

"What? You said His Majesty is going to issue an edict of apology?!"

Fang Xuanling sat up in shock from his sickbed.

His eldest son, Fang Yize, nodded expressionlessly:

"Yes, Father."

"Alas! Your Majesty is really... It's already a mess now, why make it more chaotic?!" Fang Xuanling was really distressed, and his expression fluctuated obviously.

Although he did not go to work during this period, he still could not escape the fate of working from home.

Regent Zhangsun Wuji did not let him go and kept stuffing "power" - or to use a more realistic word, work - into the prime minister's residence.

I'm obviously at home recuperating, so why do I feel more tired the more I rest?

Fortunately, Fang Yi strictly abided by Brother Ming's instructions before he left, and brought his father special Ming Dynasty palace dishes at a fixed time every day.

Meat, eggs, milk without oil or water, vegetables, rice, noodles, and the unchanging chicken breast.

You know what, after being forced to "take" the medicine for a period of time, Fang Xuanling's physical strength and complexion have indeed improved a lot.

He is still lying on the couch now, purely because he worked late last night and took the opportunity to take a nap at noon.

Then, I heard such explosive information from my son.

"If you blame yourself for the natural disaster, people will think that the Ming Dynasty has lost the Mandate of Heaven and that the Emperor is not a virtuous ruler. Don't you know this, Your Majesty?

“It’s rare that the whole country is united now and there is no unrest.

"Does Your Majesty feel that things are too peaceful and that he's afraid nothing will happen?!"

Fang Xuanling made a series of complaints.

He doesn't care about His Majesty.

When students make mistakes, teachers should correct them.

Fang Yize glanced at his father, the great censor, and handed the document in his hand over.

"This is a draft of the edict of apology. Would you like to take a look first?"

"This is because I'm afraid the situation is not chaotic enough..." Fang Xuanling muttered and took it reluctantly.

After just a glance, his eyes suddenly lit up and he couldn't help but sigh:
"oh???"

(End of this chapter)