Chapter 23 Disaster Victims
It is called a post-disaster reconstruction headquarters, but in fact it is just a few dilapidated houses with a large yard. The Civil Affairs Department holds meetings and works in the yard, and the houses are only used as sleeping places.
When Lin Wen broke in, the Civil Affairs Department was in a meeting. All officials, including Director Huang Mingxiao, were sitting under an old locust tree, around a large round table.
The desks were piled high with documents and handwritten manuscripts, and waste paper was scattered all over the floor. The whole yard was like this.
A telephone line was stretched from the locust tree to a telephone and fax machine on a small table.
The door was pushed open, and everyone looked over to see Xiao Li standing stupidly outside and a young man striding over.
Director Huang Mingxiao stopped the other officials who were about to scold him and asked, "Is it County Magistrate Lin Wenlin?"
Lin Wen nodded: "It's me." He picked up a chair and forced it between them: "Report the current situation to me."
Huang Mingxiao hesitated for a moment, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the county governor's driver standing in the distance. He quickly stood up, but was held down by Lin Wen.
"Sit down and talk. The disaster is serious, so don't bother with those empty words."
Huang Mingxiao quickly sat down and began to introduce their current work situation.
"There are currently 307,102 homeless people, 110,000 of whom have been resettled on the slopes of Niujiao Mountain, 40,000 on Gouzi Mountain, 30,000 on Changpai Mountain, 20,000 on Qingfeng Mountain and Luanjungang near the Changpai Village levee, 70,000 on the hills near Dongdaokou, and another 30,000 in Niujiao Village, Changpai Village, and several nearby villages."
Huang Mingxiao spread out the map on the table. This huge map immediately covered the entire table. The map was full of red, blue and green drawings, and was marked with various numbers and text notes everywhere. It was dazzling at first glance and nothing could be distinguished.
But Huang Mingxiao knew every detail of the place like the back of his hand. Every time he pointed to a place, he could accurately describe the detailed information of that place, the strategies adopted before and after, the current situation, the supply and shortage of materials, the problems faced, etc.
Lin Wen listened silently for a full thirty minutes. Then, while he was taking a breath, he said, "Are you saying that the primary problem right now is the lack of supplies?"
Huang Mingxiao took his last breath and felt his lungs come alive: "Yes, County Chief, we..."
Lin Wen raised his hand to stop him: "Immediately make a list of the missing supplies and send it to the Finance Department. Tell them to arrange for the purchase as soon as possible."
Huang Mingxiao asked in surprise: "Is there money in the county?"
Lin Wen nodded.
Everyone present smiled, and Huang Mingxiao was even more excited. "This is the best news I've heard in all these days! The Empire's aid has finally arrived! County Governor, in this case, why don't we just not do the shopping ourselves? We can just submit a report to the Empire, and as for the money, use it for reconstruction. Let's get the engineering team back to work quickly. That's the only way to truly solve the problem!"
Lin Wen sneered, "You're wrong. There's no aid. I got the money. Go buy the supplies first. I've called back the construction team, they'll be here in a few days. Let's finalize the construction plan first."
As soon as the words fell, the atmosphere suddenly became cold and the smiles on everyone's faces disappeared.
Huang Mingxiao was in disbelief: "How could this happen? Doesn't the Empire care about us anymore? These are 300,000 disaster victims. How could they do this?"
He grabbed his hair, his forehead was full of wrinkles, and the gray color leaked out between his fingers.
"This is impossible. There must be some mistake. I need to go to Shenjing, to the headquarters, to find His Majesty!"
Deputy Director Zhang Qiaohe grabbed him and said, "Stop it! You won't be able to see it."
Huang Mingxiao's emotions suddenly lost control. He shook off Zhang Qiaohe's hand and shouted, "Let me go! I must see him! The Empire isn't like this. There must be some other reason..."
Zhang Qiaohe shouted, "The Emperor of the Empire is Super-Order! You are 11 levels apart! You can't even get through the gate. You must be dreaming!"
Lin Wen was confused by their loss of composure and interrupted, "Didn't I say we have money? What does it matter whether the Empire provides aid or not?"
Huang Mingxiao shouted, "These are 300,000 disaster victims! Do you know how much money this will cost? Just keeping them alive costs 400,000 a day! Everyone is living on rice bran and pig food! Rebuilding homes is an astronomical expense! Once the supplies run out, everyone will die! How many days will the little money you have last? A day or half a day?"
Lin Wen counted on his fingers: "42 days. Uh, so much money for only 42 days?"
Everyone present fell silent again, staring at the young sheriff speechlessly.
After a long while, Huang Mingxiao asked in disbelief, "How much money did you make?"
Lin Wen scratched the back of his head. "About 17 million. Damn, that was too hasty. I should have squeezed that fat guy a little more."
Huang Mingxiao's body was trembling slightly, and he was speechless. Lin Wen noticed that his chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his eyes were red. Fearing that he had suffered a heart attack on the spot, he quickly pulled him over to sit down and asked, "How many days can the current supplies last?"
Back to the specific matters, Huang Mingxiao finally returned to normal: "I can't hold on for more than 5 days."
Lin Wen said, "Then you can buy supplies for a month first, and I'll find a solution later."
Huang Mingxiao's thoughts deepened. "Chief Lin, if this is the case, we can't just maintain a minimum standard of living. We also need to maintain our health. Many victims are sick, and we need medicine and medical assistance. After the flood, there will inevitably be a major epidemic, and we also need epidemic prevention supplies. Because the construction team left too quickly, some resettlement sites are uninhabitable. The victims are actually very crowded, and there are even more than 50,000 people who don't even have tents to live in and are sleeping in the wild. These problems must also be solved."
Lin Wen was so confused that his head split open. He quickly stopped him and said, "Just tell me what you think."
Huang Mingxiao said: "Replace the missing supplies and buy 20 days' worth of supplies."
Lin Wen was a little confused: "Isn't this too little?"
Having money was like having rice. Huang Mingxiao's thinking became more flexible. He said, "There's no other choice. Even if we spend all our money on daily necessities, it will eventually run out. The only way to solve the problem is to rescue as many victims as possible and rebuild homes as quickly as possible."
"As long as we have a goal in mind, these difficulties can be overcome."
"I'm afraid there's no hope. No matter how long we struggle in the darkness, it's meaningless."
"That's right." Everyone had an idea at once and started talking at once.
Lin Wen hesitated for a moment and did not use [Immortal Guidance] to confirm their plan. He only used [Observation of Qi and People].
(End of this chapter)
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