Discussing disaster relief

The situation in Yuzhou was equally dire. The Chishui Dam breached around 5 a.m., and the cracks in the dam widened, allowing the floodwaters to gush out like a waterfall.

Overnight, hundreds of people were swept away by the flood and quickly disappeared without a trace.

The sound of the waves crashing, along with the cries for help and the screams of the people, echoed for a long time over Yuzhou.

Fortunately, there is the Lishui River within Yuzhou, which helps to divert the floodwaters and greatly reduces the flood control pressure on Yuzhou. Therefore, although the disaster here is severe, the affected area is not as wide as that in Qingzhou.

Inside Qingzhou City.

The people who had been submerged in floodwaters for a day and a night finally saw hope.

The rain finally stopped, and the water level in the city was slowly dropping. Although the sky was still overcast, without the rain, it was much more convenient to go out and do work.

In Lingshui Lane, every household opened their doors, and neighbors gathered under the eaves to greet each other, asking, "How's your house? Is there any water coming in?"

"Fortunately, my house has newly built stone steps, so the flood only reached my ankles. It's just that the tiles in the kitchen leaked, and the rainwater ruined two bags of my refined flour."

"Oh dear, food is so precious right now!"

"Absolutely, it breaks my heart."

After the rain, no one went out. Now that the rain had stopped, several old women gathered together to talk and calculate their losses.

Wenjiang and the guards had been keeping watch at the winery. As soon as the rain stopped, they immediately rowed over in a small boat to report the situation at the winery to Fu Zhiqiao.

The winery was protected by two drainage ditches, one inside and one outside, and each warehouse was equipped with wooden planks and sandbags as barriers. With these multiple layers of protection, the winery did not suffer much damage.

Fu Zhiqiao finally felt relieved.

The rain has stopped, but the water level won't drop anytime soon.

The villages outside the city were still connected by boats and rafts. Homeless disaster victims had no choice but to come to the more affluent prefectural city in the hope of receiving assistance there.

Thanks to government warnings, some villagers were able to evacuate to the mountains when the floodwaters arrived. Now that the floodwaters are receding, they are all choosing to go down the mountain and into the city.

With floods everywhere and nowhere to live or eat, they couldn't just wait to die, so they flocked to Qingzhou City seeking refuge.

Are there many people coming to Qingzhou City from the surrounding counties?

"A lot, I'd estimate around 20,000 people."

"So many?" Li Wenkang was greatly surprised.

"Yes, there are still many disaster victims who have brought their families with them. The city is in complete chaos. Many disaster victims have also gathered outside the city, but we don't have any place for them to stay in the city right now. We've only set up a few thatched huts at the city gate to accommodate them."

Li Wenkang frowned. Why were all the disaster victims running towards him?

If these people die within his jurisdiction, it will be very detrimental to his political achievements!

The clerk, Gong Juncai, mustered his courage and asked, "Sir, the disaster situation is not optimistic. Should we open the granaries and distribute grain?"

Li Wenkang glared at him. "Who would dare to open the granaries and distribute grain without the imperial decree? Do you and I even care about our lives?"

"But now everyone outside is saying that you, sir, are just holding a position without doing your job and are refusing to help those in need..."

"These troublemakers!" Li Wenkang gritted his teeth in anger.

Faced with this situation, Li Wenkang was in a real bind; whether or not to help was a major problem!

If we're going to save him, we don't have any extra money. We can't expect him to pay for it himself, can we?

But it wouldn't be right not to help. As the local official, if his reputation for inaction spread, he could forget about getting his job.

Although Li Wenkang was an incompetent man, he certainly wouldn't dare to do something like embezzling public funds and delaying the treatment of disaster victims. Last year, when the court was at war, he handed over all the silver in his office to the national treasury, and now he really had no money!

Gong Juncai's eyes darted around, and he came up with an idea: "How about we ask those merchants to donate some more money?"

Li Wenkang quickly rejected the idea: "No, those merchants already paid money when we suppressed the bandits last year. We can't use this plan until the very last minute."

He must remain in this position, and he cannot afford to strain his relationship with the local wealthy gentry.

"I have already reported the matter of opening the granaries and distributing grain to the Prefect. It is a matter of great importance, and we must listen to the Prefect's decision."

"But... I'm afraid those disaster victims won't live to see it."

Li Wenkang thought and thought, pacing back and forth, and said, "How about this, you send people to set up a few more soup kitchens at the gate. There are still more than a thousand catties of old grain in the yamen, take them all out and cook them. Cook them thinly, just enough for each person to eat half a spoonful so they don't starve to death."

What wouldn't starving disaster victims do? It would be bad if they gathered together and stormed the government offices. He couldn't control the people outside the city, so it would be best to send some food out to appease the people inside the city first.

Taking the leftover grain from last year from the government offices to help with disaster relief is a way to earn a reputation for patriotism and love for the people without taking money from their pockets.

Gong Juncai nodded and bowed, "Yes, yes, yes, you are very thoughtful, sir. I will take care of it right away."

Gong Juncai received the instructions and turned to make the arrangements.

Li Wenkang stopped him: "By the way, send more yamen runners to guard the city gates, and block up all those official roads so that no more outsiders can get in."

There are only a few official roads leading into Qingzhou City. If a checkpoint is set up on the road to block the way, it will be very difficult for disaster victims from other places to enter.

The local disaster victims in Qingzhou have no food to eat and no place to settle down, yet these outside disaster victims want to get a share of the plight.

Li Wenkang firmly disagreed!

*

In the capital, Emperor Chengde looked at the memorials one after another, his face extremely solemn.

The memorial contained the latest information on the flood.

Floods have struck Qingzhou and Yuzhou, inundating houses and damaging farmland. The disaster has affected many areas, leaving the people destitute and awaiting the imperial court's aid.

The emperor waved his hand, and the eunuch beside him immediately handed the memorial to the ministers standing at the front.

Prime Minister Du Zhengbang took the memorial, glanced at it briefly, and then his expression changed slightly.

The memorials were being circulated and read in the imperial court.

"Such a major flood has occurred, how come the imperial court only received the news now? What was the Imperial Observatory doing?"

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger." All the ministers knelt down in unison.

The Imperial Observatory Director shuddered: "I observed the celestial phenomena last night and found the clouds to be dark and Mercury to be in retrograde. Rain warnings had already been issued to all prefectures and counties. However, the terrain of Qing and Yu is low-lying, and the rainfall has been excessive. The rivers could not drain such a large volume of water, causing the river levels to rise rapidly. Ultimately, the dams could not withstand the pressure of the rainfall and breached their banks..."

The implication was that I had already predicted the heavy rain and issued warnings, and that the flooding was caused by the inadequacy of the dams, which had nothing to do with my Imperial Observatory.

Minister of Works Wei Jianyuan also understood his implied meaning, secretly rolled his eyes, and quickly explained: "Your Majesty, the Chishui Dam has been built for more than 30 years and has never had any problems. I believe that the cause of this flood was the continuous rainfall. The water volume exceeded the capacity of the Chishui Dam, which is why the dam was destroyed!"

You want our Ministry of Works to take the blame? No way!

Local officials had already reported the unusual weather conditions of continuous torrential rain in both areas.

Reports from lower levels to higher levels required multiple layers of review, with officials submitting memorials one by one until a flood broke out, at which point the matter was taken seriously and the news was relayed via express courier.

It was this information gap that delayed the best time for disaster prevention.

"The people in both places are suffering. Do you, my esteemed ministers, have any good solutions?"

Du Zhengbang, as the head of all officials, slowly rose and stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the court should send an imperial envoy to deliver an imperial decree, ordering all counties to open their granaries and distribute grain. First, open the granaries near the disaster-stricken areas to settle the affected people, thus demonstrating Your Majesty's benevolence. As for the damaged farmland, it can only be arranged after the flood is over."

The Emperor Chengde nodded and asked, "Minister Chen, why don't you tell me?"

Chen Deyi was the Minister of Revenue, responsible for managing the nation's household registration, grain and salary, taxes, and other financial revenues and expenditures.

"Your Majesty, I also believe that disaster relief should be the priority. Currently, the river is damaged, and even if the court sends relief grain, it will not be able to reach the area in time. We still have to rely on the assistance of various prefectures and counties. The disaster victims have nowhere to live and no food to eat. We should promptly transfer money and grain from the surrounding counties."

After disclaiming any involvement, Minister of Works Wei Jianyuan immediately offered his advice: "I believe that we need to repair the river embankment immediately to reduce the scope of the disaster, and we should also send skilled workers to help the people rebuild their homes."

"With the flood victims gathering, I fear no prefecture will dare to accept them. Moreover, there is a risk of disease outbreaks wherever the floodwaters reach. I believe it is necessary to send people from the Imperial Hospital to go with them."

Upon hearing this, the ministers in the court became extremely solemn.

The Emperor Chengde's expression also turned very ugly.

"What do the other ministers think?"

The court fell silent for a moment.

Duke Rongguo stepped forward: "I believe that disaster relief funds and provisions can only solve the immediate crisis. We should quickly arrange for manpower to dredge the waterways and rebuild houses. At the same time, we should dispatch imperial envoys to Qingzhou and Yuzhou to supervise the work. Currently, the floods are raging, and people are displaced. If all the disaster victims gather together, it may cause resentment and lead to riots!"

Upon hearing this, the other ministers all nodded in agreement.

After a moment's thought, the Chengde Emperor asked, "How much silver is left in the national treasury?"

Chen Deyi replied, "The national treasury has a surplus of 45 million taels of silver."

The Great Wei had only recently finished fighting with the surrounding barbarian states, and its treasury was not yet full.

"By imperial decree, Qin Zhao, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Min Kunzheng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, are appointed as Imperial Commissioners to immediately proceed to Qing and Yu prefectures to provide disaster relief. There must be no delay!"

Qin Zhao and Min Kunzheng immediately knelt down to receive the imperial decree.

"General Xie Zhuo of the Flying Cavalry".

"Your subject is present."

"You are in charge of escorting the disaster relief funds and grains. In addition, you are in charge of supervising all disaster relief work. If anyone is found to be embezzling, they will be immediately thrown into the prison."

The emperor's intention was for the two imperial envoys to take a portion of silver and grain, along with the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital and the water conservancy workers, to go ahead and hold the line, while Xie Zhuo would lead troops to escort the disaster relief silver and grain to the capital later.

Since the three million taels of disaster relief funds were allocated by the national treasury, it was not an easy task to transport the funds smoothly from the capital to the disaster-stricken areas. The journey was long and arduous, and there was no guarantee that the bandits would not try to steal the funds. Therefore, strong military suppression was essential.

Moreover, the emperor had another worry in his heart.

The imperial court allocated three million taels of silver for disaster relief. But if it were to be skimmed off by officials at every level, how much would actually reach the disaster victims?

To avoid such incidents from happening, he simply handed over the silver and grain to Xie Zhuo; only in this way could he feel at ease.

Xie Chi stepped forward and bowed deeply: "Your humble servant will certainly do his utmost to fulfill Your Majesty's command."