jdhmnovel Chapter 243 Hey, you surnamed Yang, I'm up at 8 AM!
Chapter 243 Hey, you surnamed Yang, I'm up at 8 AM!
Several shacks were quickly erected on the open ground in front of the county government office. A few earthen stoves were also built a little further away from the shacks. The young widows from the steamed bun shop were busy in front of the stoves, moving things, kneading dough, preparing fillings, and cooking soup. They were almost never idle.
The lame man approached Magistrate Yang and whispered, "Your Excellency, why don't you take a break?"
Magistrate Yang hummed in agreement, but then shook his head slightly.
"After those brothers who were sent to Wenshang, Qufu, Yanzhou, and Jinan return, tell them to come and find me as soon as possible."
"I won't feel at ease until I find out where the epicenter is."
"By the way, later we'll take some more grain from the county granary and exchange it for some flour from the people. We'll make steamed buns and dumplings and then have them delivered to the Thousand Household Office. They've sent troops to help Ningyang County maintain order, so I should at least show some appreciation."
Standing in an open space in front of the county government office, Magistrate Yang was pondering to himself when he instructed Lame Wu, "Have someone tell the brothers in those centurions and the people in the county town that it's cold at night, so remember to have a bowl of hot soup before you go to sleep."
Because of Magistrate Yang's order, all three thousand-plus people and five thousand laborers in Ningyang County ended up sleeping in makeshift shacks outside their houses; no one was able to sleep inside.
After all, a shack only needs a few pieces of wood as a frame, and the roof and surrounding walls are made of sorghum stalks. Even if it collapses due to an earthquake, it won't kill anyone. At most, unlucky people might get injured.
Even Magistrate Yang himself was the same; he built a shack in the open space in front of the county government office.
However, until the next day, when the yamen runners sent by Magistrate Yang to Feicheng, Wenshang, Qufu and Yanzhou returned, there were no more aftershocks in the entire Ningyang County.
Only a few cracks in the road, torn open by the earth's crustal movement during the earthquake, silently record yesterday afternoon's earthquake.
“Your Excellency, a similar earthquake has occurred in Feicheng, just like in our Ningyang County.”
“Your Excellency, a landslide has also occurred in Wenshang County, but it is much milder than in Ningyang County.”
"Your Excellency, a landslide has also occurred in Qufu, but it is less severe than in our Ningyang County."
"..."
As darkness approached, the constables who had been dispatched by Magistrate Yang to other directions returned one after another.
According to the information brought back by these officials, the magnitude of the earthquake should be higher the further northeastward you go in Ningyang County.
Ningyang County was not located at the epicenter, so the impact was not significant.
Magistrate Yang was finally relieved and immediately instructed Lame Wu, "Let the people go home if they need to. Before they go back, check their houses for cracks or anything, and repair them if necessary."
"In addition, let the heads of each community and village take stock of the damage to the people's houses, to see how many have collapsed and how many are about to collapse."
"The medicinal herbs that were taken out of the clinic were moved back to the clinic, and the pots, pans and other utensils that were borrowed from the steamed bun shop and people's homes were also returned."
"Let all those students go back to the Confucian Temple, and resume their studies tomorrow."
"Roads in the south of the city will begin to be repaired tomorrow."
"Have someone repair the cracked reserve compartment."
"..."
After Limpy Wu agreed, Magistrate Yang said to Deputy Commander Zhang, who had been guarding him all night, "I'm sorry to trouble the brothers of the Commander's Office to come to Ningyang County to help maintain order. After things return to normal in a couple of days, I will lead the people of the county to visit the troops."
Deputy Commander Zhang bowed directly to Magistrate Yang and said, "Your Excellency Yang is too kind. The people of Ningyang County live in peace and prosperity under your rule. Even when the earth trembled, there was no trouble. We haven't been able to help much in the county. If Your Excellency Yang were to specially lead the people to reward the troops, wouldn't that make us feel ashamed?"
Magistrate Yang laughed twice, exchanged a few more pleasantries with Deputy Commander Zhang, and then watched Deputy Commander Zhang and the soldiers of the commander's garrison leave.
However, after returning to the county office, Magistrate Yang's expression gradually darkened.
There are two confirmed pieces of information: first, Ningyang County is not at the epicenter of the earthquake; second, the damage increases the further northeast and east the epicenter is located. However, the final location of the epicenter and the magnitude of the earthquake are still unknown.
It seems that earthquakes have a distinction between P-waves and S-waves?
It is unknown whether this earthquake was a longitudinal wave or a transverse wave.
If the epicenter is not far from Ningyang County and the magnitude is relatively high, then Ningyang County must prepare to deal with the disaster victims—what if some people are displaced by this earthquake and end up in Ningyang County?
In addition to preparing for the disaster relief efforts, Ningyang County also has a host of other problems to address.
The first issue is housing.
As we all know, mortise and tenon joints have strong earthquake resistance, and various videos on the internet in later generations have been praising the earthquake resistance of mortise and tenon joints to the skies.
However, the houses of ordinary people are made of blue bricks or bluestones as the base, with mud bricks on top, and then the beams and purlins on top. A layer of sorghum stalks is laid on the purlins, and then a thick layer of wheat straw is laid on top of the sorghum stalks. This is the house of ordinary people. How can such a house be said to be earthquake resistant?
Although the epicenter of this earthquake was not in Ningyang County, and the tremors felt in Ningyang County were not very strong, even the slightest tremor was a great test for those weathered mud-brick houses.
Who knows how many houses will be destroyed this time?
Secondly, there are issues with the breeding farms and livestock ranches.
Despite his confident demeanor, Magistrate Yang was well aware that birds and livestock are easily frightened during earthquakes, and could even be scared to death.
Next is the road in the south of the city.
How much damage will the road in the south of the city, built using rudimentary cement methods, suffer as a result? And how will it be repaired later?
Have any of the workshops in the city suffered damage or loss because of this earthquake?
Furthermore, since there was a noticeable tremor in Ningyang County, this matter must be reported to Emperor Zhu and the Central Secretariat.
There were so many things to deal with that Magistrate Yang was getting a headache from thinking about them.
After a long silence, Magistrate Yang finally began to write a memorial. Once the ink had dried, he sealed it and had it sent to the capital.
Immediately afterwards, Magistrate Yang summoned Wu Yanhu, Chen Mo, and Lü Peng, who were temporarily serving as county magistrate, registrar, and clerk, to the county office.
"How's the Confucius Temple? Have any buildings been damaged?"
Upon seeing the three men, Magistrate Yang went straight to the point, saying, "I have already sent people to assess the damage to people's houses. As the acting county magistrate, registrar, and clerk, you three must also help me deal with these messy issues."
Wu Yanhu and the other two bowed and agreed, while inwardly cursing Magistrate Yang.
Hey Yang, I work from 8 AM!
You dogs really treat us like cattle and horses!