Urban Sims

A huge flood broke out in Andorhal County, causing countless casualties. As soon as the news reached the imperial capital, it reached Zhou Ming's ears.

He immediately held a court meeting to discuss the matter.

At the court meeting, the ministers expressed their opinions one after another.

"The terrain of Andorhal County is low-lying. It is flooded nine times every ten years and a flood will occur every three years. It is not suitable for people to live. It is not surprising that there is a huge flood this time." Prime Minister Benedikt said.

"But the messenger reported that the scale of the flood was extremely large. Millions of victims were affected. The county and city were flooded. The local county guard also disappeared. The local order collapsed and life was difficult. The government urgently needed relief!" A mid-level official said! Listed.

"Now the treasury is empty, the autumn harvest has not yet arrived, and there is not that much material relief. We can only allocate a small amount of money and reduce taxes for another two years. The rest of the difficulties can only be solved by the county itself." Finance Minister Zasik said.

"grown ups!"

The middle-level official said anxiously: "This is a huge flood. The whole county is affected. Millions of victims have lost everything. They have no food and no housing. If we don't get relief, they will be ruined!"

"If there are thousands of victims, it's okay. If there are millions of victims, how can the court be able to provide relief? For such a natural disaster, we can only pray for their good luck."

Finance Minister Zasik said expressionlessly.

"Sir, how much can we save? We can't save all the millions of victims, but we can save some of them!" middle-level officials shouted loudly.

"presumptuous!"

Prime Minister Benedict shouted sternly at the official: "Above the court, where do you have the right to speak loudly? Come back to me immediately!"

"Master Prime Minister!"

The mid-level official didn't give up.

"Shut up, Giroud, and come back to me!"

Benedict silenced the official.

"that……"

Zhou Ming, who was sitting at the top, asked: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, is there anything wrong with what Giroud said? With the capabilities of the imperial court, millions of victims cannot be rescued, but 100,000 or 200,000 people can still be saved, right?" "

"Your Majesty, this is not a question of whether it can be saved, but whether it is worth it."

Benedikt spoke in a very straightforward tone without any taboo. He explained: "For the imperial court, once it goes all out to provide relief, it will only be worth the loss!"

"On the one hand, the imperial court has limited capabilities and can only provide relief to a small number of people. In addition, most of the victims must try their best to survive, and even make destructive actions, attacking relief personnel sent by the imperial court and looting relief supplies. Undermining relief efforts.”

"On the other hand, even if the imperial court rescues millions of victims, it will still cost millions of gold pagoda shields. This is a huge sum of money. However, the empire has a vast territory and frequent disasters in various places. If all the victims are rescued, how can the empire get it?" That much money?”

"What's more, during the post-disaster reconstruction process, serious corruption among local officials around relief materials will inevitably occur, resulting in the materials distributed to the victims being far less than the prescribed amount."

"Considering the above points, since the late Emperor Sephiroth IV, the imperial court has not provided any relief for disasters in various places."

"Considering that Andorhal County is relatively close to the Imperial Capital, our best response is to send the Imperial Guard to block several key roads in the east to prevent a large number of victims from flooding into the Imperial Capital, worsening the security of the Imperial Capital, and causing the outbreak of the plague. risk."

Prime Minister Benedict said calmly.

"So... there is a huge flood in Andorhal County. As the rulers of the empire, the best thing for us to do is to do nothing, or even block the intersection to prevent the victims from flooding into the imperial capital?"

Zhou Ming extracted the meaning of the prime minister's words and said in summary.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Benedict bowed slightly.

"Do other ministers also mean this?" Zhou Ming glanced at the others.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, although this sounds very regrettable, this is indeed how it should be dealt with."

"After the flood, the court exempted Andorhal County from taxes for up to three years."

All the ministers said one after another...except for the middle-level official Jirut who was scolded by the prime minister, his head was lowered and his body was shaking violently, as if he was restraining something.

"Boom~"

There was a roar.

Everyone's attention was attracted.

But it was Zhou Ming who banged the imperial chair he was sitting on hard, making a loud noise, and then said angrily: "Absurd, absolutely ridiculous!"

"The people of Andorhal County pay taxes to the court every year to support their emperor and the civil and military officials in this palace. They are our food, clothing and parents, but what about you? What do you think of them?"

"A burden! A burden! Consider it a trouble that should be abandoned!"

"Disasters are not terrible, and the victims are not unable to be rescued. The key is that our hearts cannot become hard and cold-blooded, and we cannot become less than human beings. We cannot make choices that make us feel ashamed when we encounter dangers."

"But you make me feel so ashamed!"

Zhou Ming's harsh words and his glaring gaze made many ministers lower their heads involuntarily.

"Girout, you are the only person who cares about the disaster area. Let me ask you, where are you from?"

Zhou Ming asked the middle-level official.

"Your Majesty, I am from Andorhal County. Andorhar County is my hometown. I heard that there was a flood in my hometown. I am very worried. I beg your Majesty to order help!"

Giroud quickly stepped out of the queue, knelt on the ground, and begged Zhou Ming loudly.

But a sarcastic voice came: "It turns out that my hometown was hit by the disaster. No wonder I am so worried. If it were left elsewhere, you would probably turn a blind eye."

The speaker was the chief minister Hagos. He ranked third among the ministers and had a very high status.

"Sir Hagos, where is your hometown?" Zhou Ming turned to ask him.

Hagos's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stepped out of the queue and replied: "Back to Your Majesty, my hometown is in Lordamre County, in the west of the empire."

"Well, let me ask you Hagos, what if there is a natural disaster in your hometown of Lordamre County? Should the court provide relief?" Zhou Ming asked him.

"Forehead……"

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Hagos's forehead, and he didn't know how to answer.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, where is your hometown?" Zhou Ming turned his head again and asked Prime Minister Benedikt.

"Back to Your Majesty, my hometown is in the imperial capital."

"Then let me ask you, have there been any natural disasters in the Imperial City in the past hundreds of years?"

"There are very few natural disasters. There was a huge fire thirty years ago. Tens of thousands of houses were burned down, and more than 100,000 people were killed or injured."

"Well, after the fire, did the imperial court provide any relief?"

"Relief, the treasury has spent more than 1.5 million gold pagoda shields."

"The money in the treasury should be collected from all over the country, right? You mean that if natural disasters break out in various places, the empire can not take care of it. The imperial capital has suffered a disaster, but it needs to use the money collected from all over the country to rebuild. In view of this situation, I I want to ask: Is this fair?”

Zhou Ming asked as he glanced at the ministers.

"Your Majesty, I know what your Majesty is saying is reasonable, but the imperial court really cannot help millions of victims. Besides, the imperial capital is the capital that governs the four directions and has the obligation to govern, manage and defend various places. Natural disasters are like gods and have huge destructive power. We can only save some people and some not," Prime Minister Benedikt said.

"No need to say any more!"

Zhou Ming waved his hand to stop: "Andohar County is only two hundred miles away from the imperial capital. It's so close. If we don't save it, what's the use of the imperial court to the people? What's more, since they have to pay taxes We have the obligation to provide disaster relief!"

"But the autumn harvest has not yet come, the autumn tax has not been collected, and there is no money or food in the treasury." Finance Minister Zasik said.

"I paid for it myself! No need for a penny from the treasury!"

Zhou Ming still has more than 2 million gold pagoda shields in his pocket money, and the business district can also bring in more than 500,000 yuan a month. It should not be a big problem to help millions of disaster victims.

As soon as they heard that Zhou Ming had taken out the money himself, the officials immediately had no objection and allowed him to do as he pleased.