I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 621 Disaster Relief
When the news of the disaster in Hanzhong reached Luoyang, Liu Bian immediately summoned officials to organize assistance. However, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, and the people and officials affected by the disaster in Hanzhong County were the ones who were truly at the forefront of disaster relief.

"Although the heavy rain has stopped now, the weather is getting colder. Who knows if there won't be another rain... The terrain here is still low, and the thatched pavilion is not enough to keep out the cold. Even if the thatched house is built lower, it must be ensured that it can block the cold wind, rain and rain!" Hanzhong County Magistrate Du Ji instructed several minor officials in front of him who were responsible for building temporary residences for the victims.

All the minor officials present obeyed the order.

In the past few days, Du Ji has been working on the front line, taking care of everything personally, and winning the hearts of the people with his practical actions.

Du Ji was from Jingzhao and was originally a Gongcao of Jingzhao Yin Tao Qian. Later, he had a falling out with Tao Qian because of Tao Qian's fellow villager Cao Hong and others' corruption during the Jingzhao earthquake relief work... However, with the intervention of Zhang Wen, the then Inspector of the Imperial Capital, Tao Qian realized that the crimes of Cao Hong and others were much more serious than he knew, so he took the initiative to apologize to Du Ji and recommended Du Ji as a filial and honest official.

Du Ji's virtue and talent were both first-class, and combined with his achievements as the Jingzhao Gongcao, he was soon appointed as the Hanzhong County Magistrate. When the Han River overflowed, he was also one of the first officials to arrive in the disaster-stricken area.

In fact, as early as when the heavy rain continued for several days, Du Ji thought of the heavy rain in Youfufeng and asked the governor Su Gu to personally lead people to inspect the river. Unfortunately, human power is limited. When the precipitation exceeded the carrying capacity of the Han River in the middle section of the Han River, it overflowed in some low-lying river sections and rushed to where the people lived.

Hanzhong had not seen such heavy rain for many years, and both officials and ordinary people lacked sufficient vigilance.

But under the leadership of Du Ji, officials and people in the disaster-stricken areas were organized as soon as possible.

But there is still a shortage of manpower.

Just as Du Ji was about to mobilize the people to participate in the search and rescue of the people in the flooded area, a minor official suddenly ran over and reported to Du Ji: "Minister, Chen Caoyuan has arrived!"

"You've come just in time!" Du Ji hurried to greet him in person.

Chen Diao, a thief official, was born a knight-errant. He was ordered by the governor Su Gu to come with the minor officials and the county soldiers temporarily assigned to him to participate in the rescue. After seeing that Du Ji had arranged the current disaster relief in an orderly manner, Chen Diao did not intend to bypass Du Ji to do things, but asked: "Minister, what else do you want me to do next?"

Logically speaking, as the prefect of the county, Du Ji should not have too much power when the prefect Su Gu was still in office. But who made Du Ji so capable? Chen Diao saw in Du Ji the shadow of Xun You, the prefect of Ba County, whom he had met before.

At this moment when lives were at stake, Chen Diao would never ignore Du Ji's correct opinion just because he was a close confidant promoted by the prefect Su Gu, and Du Ji was indeed the highest-ranking official on the scene.

Du Ji had experience in disaster relief after an earthquake when he was the Gongcao of Jingzhao Yin. Although today's floods are different from earthquakes, the principles are the same.

"We are short of manpower to build temporary shelters, so we need to send more people. Medicines for colds are even more scarce. We need to mobilize the people from the counties and towns in Hanzhong that have not been affected by the disaster. Some of the granaries built by the people can still store some food, so we can't give them up. We also need to guard against thieves taking advantage of the situation when relocating the victims..."

Listening to the clearly organized list of things to do and things to note, Chen Diao knew that his choice was right.

In the following days, Du Ji continued to participate in the disaster relief work, from the resettlement of the victims and the trial of the evildoers who took advantage of the disaster to rob and kill people, to the cattle, horses, pigs, dogs and even chickens that were washed away by the flood in the homes of the people. The governor Su Gu, who followed closely, saw that Du Ji was so capable and did not hinder him. There were also believers of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect who spontaneously united to resist the flood together, and some believers even donated their houses for the victims to live in temporarily.

Therefore, the people of Hanzhong County were united and stopped the continuation of the disaster as soon as possible.

When Zheng Xuan's son, Zheng Yi, who was already a counselor, arrived in Hanzhong with some of the court's aid, he found that the situation in Hanzhong was beyond his expectations - even for food, Hanzhong was not short of it for the time being - the overflowing Han River inevitably destroyed some small granaries, leaving the people in the affected areas without any grain. However, Hanzhong was very large, and only three counties were affected. Su Gu had already allocated food from the remaining counties.

However, Du Ji, who was brought by Su Gu to welcome the angel, noticed the somewhat unusual deer cart brought by Zheng Yi.

The so-called deer cart is a unicycle. However, the deer cart brought by Zheng Yi was different from what Du Ji had imagined, and was quite complicated.

When Zheng Yi saw it, he did not act like an angel, but carefully explained to Su Gu, Du Ji and others: "This chariot is different from ordinary deer chariots. It is extremely ingenious. It was modified by several people in Luoyang... Among them are Huang, who was previously awarded the title of Guannei Marquis for his meritorious service, and Zhuge Kongming, the Yellow Gate Minister. When your majesty saw it, he personally named it the Wooden Ox and the Flowing Horse."

Zheng Yi pointed out the extra parts of the wooden ox and horse compared to the deer cart and continued to explain: "If it is on flat ground, the wooden ox and horse may not even be as convenient as the deer cart because of these extra parts... But on mountain roads, especially when climbing slopes, these devices can help save effort, and the wooden ox and horse are much better than the deer cart."

"I originally thought that Hanzhong is surrounded by mountains to the north and south, and if there is a shortage of food, we need to make more wooden oxen and flowing horses, but now it seems that it is not necessary."

Although these efforts were temporarily in vain, Zheng Yi did not feel sorry about it. Instead, he was glad about it because it meant that the flood in Hanzhong was effectively controlled.

Du Ji heard this and said, "Although it is not used for disaster relief now, it can be used for civilian purposes in the future."

Zheng Yi shook his head: "I'm afraid it won't work... Although the wooden ox and horse are convenient for mountain transportation, they are quite expensive. Ordinary people may not be able to afford it."

The advantages of the wooden ox and horse lie in its convenience on rugged mountain roads and the time it can save, but unless it is used for military purposes, this time cost is far lower than the cost of construction for ordinary people.

Zheng Yi just briefly pointed this out and everyone present understood it.

After hearing this, the governor Su Gu could not help but sigh: "The emperor loves his people and does not care about gains and losses. How can we, the ministers, not fulfill our duties? Otherwise, how can we be faithful to the emperor and the people!
Du Ji was a little shocked when he heard this... Originally, in his opinion, Su Gu did not have any special talents as a prefect. His work was not bad, but it was not very good either... But now, after listening to Su Gu's extremely sincere words in front of the angel, Du Ji understood - no wonder Su Fujun was the prefect!

It's what he deserves.

(End of this chapter)