Extremely Expensive Reparations
39 people died, 120 people were heavily injured, and nearly 200 people had suffered light injuries. There were also over 20 people that had gone missing.
One disaster had created another layer of dark clouds over Ji An Prefecture and Yu Zhou, both of which had just begun flourishing.
There were too many people that went to work in the mines. This caused nearly half of the families to lose very important manpower. There were also over 30 families that were performing funerals, and the entire city was in mourning.
Fortunately, all of the severely wounded had been saved, aside from those that died after being dug up. There was not a single person that died from their injuries not being treated. This made the vast majority of the people feel grateful toward Feng Yu Heng. They had watched Imperial Daughter Ji An and the sixth prince work together. Imperial Daughter Ji An had exhausted all of Hundred Herb Hall’s medicine, and someone as noble as the sixth prince personally took care of drawing blood for those that went to donate. By the end, he personally joined in the rescue efforts, working with the soldiers to dig people out of the mountain.
After the first 72 hours, Feng Yu Heng performed a group funeral for those that were affected by the disaster. She also decided to continue digging for a few days to look for those that had gone missing. But in this sort of disaster, it was certain that there would be some corpses that could not be retrieved. Being considered missing was something that everyone understood. In truth, they had just died.
On the seventh day, Feng Yu Heng announced that all of the people that had been killed in the disaster, along with those that were severely injured, would be paid reparations. Everyone that was killed by the disaster would be given one payment of 2000 taels of silver. Those that were severely injured would receive free treatment at Hundred Herb Hall for the remainder of their lives, and they would be given one payment of 1000 taels of silver. Those that were lightly injured would receive free treatment until they recovered, and each person would be given one payment of 300 taels. Those that were missing would be treated the same as those who had died.
These reparations in this era could be considered an extremely large reparation. Even the sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng, clicked his tongue upon hearing it. At the same time, he smiled bitterly. This younger sister really was wealthy! Who would know that money was the thing that she lacked the least at this moment because she had gone to rob the Sheng Palace along with the manors of those in the eighth prince’s faction before leaving the capital.
The citizens were still feeling quite resentful, even with Hundred Herb Hall putting forth its best effort, as their loved ones could never come back. Those that were severely injured did not know if they could ever recover. If they could not recover, their families would have lost very important manpower. They also needed to pay for their medical fees for the rest of their lives. Calculating it, it would be roughly the same as if they did die.
But when Feng Yu Heng announced these reparations, no matter how resentful they felt, it was all washed away. 2000 taels, 1000 taels, and even those that were lightly injured were given 300 taels. Not to mention not being able to earn this much in one lifetime, but even if the entire family worked for two or three lifetimes, it would be impossible to earn 2000 taels of silver! Imperial Daughter Ji An was being too generous. This was an imperial daughter that truly thought about the well-being of the people!
In an instant, the people began to feel grateful toward Feng Yu Heng once more. The bitterness of losing family had finally been eased by a bit. Feng Yu Heng’s generous work had been done well. She sent people to investigate the families that had lost someone in the disaster. If there were only the elderly remaining in such a family, small groups would be formed to help them. Every few days, they would visit to help out with some matters. They would buy some necessities to be sent over. They absolutely needed to ensure that these people could live their normal lives.
The disaster had finally been handled, and the people began taking care of the work to be handled after the matter. They continued performing funerals and began rebuilding the residences that were situated at the foot of the mountain. With something happening at the mine, there were people that died and were injured. There were not enough people, and they needed to be recruited. But this time, recruiting people was quite easy. Feng Yu Heng using such a large amount of money was the same as creating an advertisement for the mine. Everyone wanted to come and work here because if anything happened, there would be a guarantee for their families. To put it in an ugly way, even if they died, it was fine. 2000 taels of silver could not be exhausted by their families even if they did nothing.
As for Feng Yu Heng, it was through this disaster that she interacted a bit more with the workers in the mine and came to know quite a few people. Among them, there was a young man named Xu Jiang, who was around 25 or 26 and was very sharp. He was also very frank with his work and knew quite a few words. He was also well-liked by the others in the mine. This time, he had only suffered some light injuries, and they were all external injuries. After receiving some treatment from the doctors from Hundred Herb Hall, he was already fine, and the injuries would not impede his work. In regards to the 300 taels of silver that Feng Yu Heng was giving as reparations, he felt that he could not accept it, thus he had always been working extremely hard. He worked as hard as he possibly could and did as much as possible to live up to those 300 taels of silver.
Feng Yu Heng saw that this young man was very frank and was not stupid, and he was literate. As for the person that had been the leader, he had already passed away in this disaster. She simply had Xu Jiang promoted and had him responsible for the work in the mine.
Xu Jiang did not think that not only would he receive money, but he would also be promoted. For a while, he just repeatedly kowtowed to Feng Yu Heng to express his gratitude. He then promised her that he would definitely take care of the incident in the mine and that imperial daughter should be at ease.
There was nothing that Feng Yu Heng felt uneasy about. Either way, the mine was nearby, and she could frequently visit. In the beginning, if Xu Jiang could not do things up to par, she could help teach him.
Quite a few new workers had been recruited for the mine in recent days. Feng Yu Heng had pushed out a contract system that regardless of whether someone was a new arrival or someone had worked in the mine for a long period of time, regardless of whether they went to work in the mines or handled logistics at the foot of the mountain, even including those that took care of laundry and cooking, everyone that worked for the mine would be signed to a work contract. Everyone’s information would be written down, including how many years they had worked, how much they earn each month, how much they would lose for being absent, how much they would earn for overtime and the benefits that were promised for working at the mine. All of this was written clearly in the contracts. After they were signed, things were done in accordance with the contract, and nobody would be left confused.
Because the mine was in Yu Zhou’s borders, all of these contracts were placed in Yu Zhou’s government office. Qian Feng Shou worked with them, and he felt that this idea was truly a great one. He discussed expanding it to Yu Zhou’s government. Feng Yu Heng also had such an intention, but Yu Zhou was too large, and it was under Da Shun’s management. She was worried that expanding it to Yu Zhou would see resistance from the merchants. That was why they decided to try using it Ji An Prefecture first. With Feng Yu Heng making an appearance and the sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng, doing the writing, the “contracts” would be pushed out from the prefecture’s government, ordering all of the businesses to accept it. There was no room for negotiation. From this day forward, any hired workers would need to sign this sort of contract. Also, the contract would need to be copied to the government office. The businesses that did not have any contracts in place would be fined heavily.
In Ji An Prefecture, Feng Yu Heng’s words were the same as an imperial decree. Even if the merchants felt that this was hard to accept, there was nothing that they could do. Who told them to open up shop in Ji An Prefecture! It was not just the businesses, as Xuan Tian Feng’s school was handled the same way. He could not possibly support a school on his own, and he invited a large number of teachers to teach with him. These teachers would also need to sign contracts. They would be given however much they were owed. Nobody was an exception.
In just a few days time, the merchants that were still feeling a bit resistant had experienced the benefits of such a thing. With a contract, the workers had a sense of security and order. They were more serious and paid more attention to their work, and they were even more attentive than before. Even their businesses improved. Thus everyone understood that there was no need for much effort in running a business in Ji An Prefecture. As long as they followed Imperial Daughter Ji An’s intentions, everything would definitely work out well.
After the disaster, everything became peaceful. But to Feng Yu Heng, this disaster had truly just begun!
She believed that this disaster was someone using the lives of others to make her unhappy. Even if she could roughly guess who had done it, she, unfortunately, did not have any evidence.
But evidence also came pretty quickly. On the third day after everything had been handled properly, two middle-aged men in their 40s came to her imperial daughter’s manor, begging to see Feng Yu Heng. The two were none other than the ones from the eighth prince’s faction that had lost their sons in the accident. They were dressed as mine workers, and they had worked in the mine for many months. It was for the sake of bringing the entire mine to ruin for the eighth prince, which was to be used as an attack on Feng yu Heng. At the same time, it would be an attack on the ninth prince; however, who knew that Xuan Tian Mo’s heart was so much worse than they had anticipated. It was indeed brought to ruin; however, it had also ruined their only sons’ lives.
The two could no longer endure it and reported it to Feng Yu Heng. They exposed the eighth prince’s guilt, and at the same time, they provided a list of 23 names of people that worked in the mine that were part of the eighth prince’s faction. One of them even told Feng Yu Heng: “Imperial Daughter has provided an extremely great reparation. News of this has already been brought back to the capital. His Highness the eighth prince should have already received this news. Based on our understanding of His Highness the eighth prince, he will definitely try to use this to tear down Imperial Daughter. A new round of attacks on the mine should begin shortly. Imperial Daughter must be prepared.
Feng Yu Heng heard these words, and her heart began to chill. For the sake of opposing her and Xuan Tian Ming, Old Eighth would actually use this sort of method? Injuring so many people without any hesitation, if this sort of person ended up on the throne, what exactly would become of this world? She did not dare imagine it. A feeling of hatred erupted, as an aura of murderous intent was spread all around. It was only suppressed with great difficulty.
Speaking truthfully, if she wanted to kill Xuan Tian Mo, it was all too easy, based on how the Sheng Palace could not stop her despite so many experts and her modern weapons. But she could not take action. that was the Emperor’s son. If she committed this murder, even if the Emperor understood the situation, he would not forgive her. Xuan Tian Ming and Xuan Tian Mo opposed each other. Although the Emperor’s support was easy for all to see, if either side, regardless of which one, decided to get rid of the other through the use of assassination, neither could ascend the throne. The Emperor would choose one from among the other princes.
Feng Yu Heng understood the feelings of being a father, but it did not mean that she could let Old Eighth go like this. She asked the two before her: “Do you dare to go to the capital to file this report?”
The two were stunned, and they were a bit hesitant, but in the end, one gritted his teeth and said: “I dare to! My only son is gone. What hope is there left? We will do it as revenge for our son!”
“Good!” Feng Yu Heng nodded, “I will guarantee your safety. For the time being, remain in Ji An Prefecture. Aside from the residences here that I will arrange, do not go anywhere else. I will immediately write a report. You will leave for the capital tomorrow. Don’t look for anyone else. Bring along my report and go straight to His Highness the seventh prince. He will handle the arrangements for you.”