The news of the great flood in the Yangtze and Huai River basins was like a large stone thrown into a calm pond, instantly causing a huge uproar throughout the capital.
In just two days, news from the Jianghuai region poured in like scraps of paper.
The news that came through was increasingly chilling.
The Huai River dikes are in critical condition!
The Hongze Lake dike is in critical condition!
The Yangtze River dike is in critical condition!
The dike at Gaoyou Lake is in critical condition!
As he listened to the news, Li Xin frowned deeply.
Even with the fastest courier service, it would take one or two days to travel from the Jianghuai region to the capital.
This also means that the news we are hearing now is at least a day or two old.
I wonder what the situation is like in the Jianghuai region right now?
Unlike the heavy rains in the Jianghu region, it was very hot in the capital.
In the summer, the temperature in Beijing is scorching. The sky is cloudless, and the blazing sun bakes the earth. The willow leaves on the streets and alleys are wilted and even slightly scorched.
It was so hot that even sitting motionless inside the room, Li Xin could still break out in a sweat.
In the past few days, Emperor Tongxu has summoned officials from the three provinces and six ministries in succession to discuss how to deal with the situation of the great flood in the Yangtze and Huai River basins.
Initially, a relief strategy was also drafted.
Grain was allocated from neighboring provinces such as Jiangnan and Qiantang to support the Huaibei region.
He ordered all provinces, prefectures, and counties affected by the disaster in Huaibei to open granaries, set up soup kitchens, and provide relief to the victims.
He called upon the gentry in various parts of the Jianghuai region to establish charitable granaries and distribute porridge.
In addition, Emperor Tongxu also ordered that the disaster-stricken people in the Jianghuai region be exempted from taxes for three years!
Policies were delivered to various parts of the Jianghuai region by express courier.
However, despite the good policies, local officials have failed to strictly implement them.
Some corrupt officials, gentry, and powerful families even profited from the national crisis!
The next day, news came again from the Jianghuai region.
Hongze Lake has breached its banks!
The Gaoyou Lake dike has breached!
Luoma Lake has breached its banks!
After the three major lakes breached their banks, the floodwaters raged unchecked across the vast plains of the Jianghuai region, like a wild horse or a caged beast.
Towering waves swept across the land of the Jianghuai region.
The raging floodwaters also swallowed up the people who had lived there for generations.
Overnight, tens of thousands of people were swallowed by the flood, and many more lost their homes and were displaced.
Even worse news is that the magistrate of Dongtai County installed his cronies to hoard goods and speculate on prices, which aroused public anger.
Thousands of people in Dongtai County raised the banner of rebellion, captured the county seat, killed the magistrate of Dongtai County, and opened the granaries to distribute grain.
This news came as a bolt from the blue, shaking the entire imperial court.
After a major flood, disasters occur frequently, and rebellions are inevitable.
However, no one expected the rebellion to happen so quickly.
On the one hand, the imperial court dispatched grain to relieve the disaster victims, and on the other hand, it also mobilized a large army from neighboring areas to quell the rebellion.
All the officials knew that this order from the imperial court would be of no use.
After all, how could a large army from neighboring regions possibly reach Dongtai County, which is in the disaster area, within ten days or half a month?
Once the army arrives, the rebellious people in Dongtai will likely affect neighboring prefectures and counties.
What worried the imperial court even more was that there was not enough grain in Jiangnan and Qiantang.
Before the summer harvest, there was a major flood, which was the time when food was scarce and most of the grain on the market was from last year.
In addition, the north was experiencing a severe drought, so some grain was transferred from the south.
In Dongning Province, large quantities of grain were also being purchased and transported to Dongning.
The entire Jiangnan and Qiantang regions could not allocate much grain.
This situation became a sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's heads; everyone knew the situation was critical but didn't know what to do.
Even Emperor Tongxu was in a state of utter distress.
Several imperial edicts were issued in succession, calling on officials in the capital to devise strategies to resolve the crisis of the great floods in the Yangtze and Huai River basins.
However, no one volunteered to help in this situation.
They all knew in their hearts that this was a thorny problem.
If handled well, one will naturally achieve outstanding merit and become famous throughout the world.
However, the current conditions do not allow it.
In Qiantang, south of the Yangtze River, there is no grain.
The imperial court in the capital had no money.
There are no soldiers in the Jianghuai region.
If it's not handled well, it's almost certain to happen.
If the popular uprising intensifies and the number of rebels increases, I'm afraid that if we're not careful, we could lose our heads!
Such a thorny matter was naturally something no one wanted to do.
While Emperor Tongxu was in a state of great distress, Li Xin, Zhao Bingzhang, and others were in the Imperial Clan Court, behind closed doors, drafting memorials.
Their goal was not merely to solve the problems of disaster victims in the Jianghuai region.
More importantly, these disaster victims and displaced people need to be relocated to Dong Ninh Province.
Only in this way can we strengthen the power of Dongning Province.
Only in this way could they maintain their manpower advantage in the face of invasions by grassland bandits.
Only then can we march north and recover the lost territory of Dongning!
Zhao Bingzhang, as expected of a scholar who had passed the imperial examination, did not forget his skills in writing memorials despite being exiled for a long time.
In just one day, Zhao Bingzhang drafted a memorial to the throne proposing the relocation of displaced people to settle and cultivate Dongning.
After reading the memorial, Li Xin couldn't help but feel some admiration.
The entire text is rich in classical allusions and is quite lengthy.
What a magnificent piece of writing!
However, Zhao Bingzhang did not have Li Xin submit the memorial immediately, but waited for the right opportunity.
After news of the Dongtai rebellion and the food shortage in Qiantang and Jiangnan spread in the capital for several days, Emperor Tongxu issued several edicts in succession, calling on officials to offer suggestions.
At that moment, Li Xin casually handed the memorial to Emperor Tongxu.
The memorial entitled "Relocating Refugees to Settle and Cultivate in Dongning" immediately attracted the attention of Emperor Tongxu.
Especially when he was overwhelmed and helpless, such news was like a timely help in the snow, which excited Emperor Tongxu.
The next day at court, Emperor Tongxu circulated the memorial to all the civil and military officials for them to read and discuss.
When Crown Prince Li Ming saw the memorial, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he instantly thought of a possibility, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances at Li Xin.
However, Li Xin simply lowered his head and remained silent.
Although Li Xin remained relatively calm, the whispers of the surrounding ministers still reached his ears.
"Relocating refugees can indeed reduce the number of uprisings by refugees in the Jianghuai region. However, relocating refugees also requires money, food, personnel, and supplies. As things stand now, it does not solve the most pressing problem of money and food shortages, so it is of no help at all!"
"My lord,"
Li Xin replied, "Please read the memorial first, sir. The details on how to proceed will be provided later."
"Forehead?"
The adult paused for a moment, then turned to read the rest of the text.
Upon seeing this, the man was utterly astonished.
"What?"
The official's eyes widened, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness intends to use the resources and materials of Dongning Province itself to relocate refugees, without using a single penny or grain from the imperial court?"
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