I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 75 The rooster crows endlessly

Despite this worry, there was really not much Liu Bian could do.

While wind and rain brought disasters, they also hindered the imperial edicts from being conveyed to the outside world.

Liu Bian could only look to his past experience in disaster relief, collect the amount of grain stored in granaries in various places, and persuade Emperor Ling to prepare for disaster relief.

Emperor Ling looked at the so-called "evidence" that Liu Bian found. Although he felt that Liu Bian was unreasonable, he thought that Liu Bian had good intentions after all and it would not cost much to make a disaster relief plan, so he let Liu Bian do what he did.

Liu Bian did not forget to try to contact all parties at the same time.

One day later, the heavy rain in Luoyang began to stop, but the light rain continued.

Although some houses around Luoyang were destroyed by heavy rain, no floods occurred.

As the road became clearer and news from the surrounding area gathered bit by bit, Liu Bian discovered that the heavy rain continued longer as he went east.

Although the rainwater in Yingchuan County and Chenliu County east of Luoyang did not cause much damage like Luoyang, it will flow downstream and will gather downstream.

Five days later, the sky was fine in Luoyang, and news came from Liang State, which was only one Chenliu County away from Yin in Henan Province - the floods had wiped out the people.

After Emperor Ling knew about it, his first thought was not disaster relief, but he sighed: "My son has such a talent!"

Then Liu Bian urged him to discuss disaster relief matters with Sangong.

Liu Bian's previous plan could not be adapted to local conditions because he did not know where problems would occur.

Now that we know about Liang Guo's flood, Pei Guo and Xuzhou located downstream of Liang Guo must not be much better.

Just as the Sangong Mansion was preparing for disaster relief in full swing, an undercurrent also arose inside the court.

Following the letter from Shi Luxu, the imperial censor, asking for the dismissal of the Third Duke, many people followed.

Liu Bian felt speechless. Even if he was dismissed, he would have to wait until the disaster relief was completed!

It's just that he also understands that in today's political climate, someone must be responsible for disasters from heaven.

If the three princes are not responsible, should the emperor be held responsible?

So in the end he only chose to keep Fanling, where water conservancy projects had been built.

In the end, the emperor dismissed Situ Xuxiang and worshiped Guanglu Xunding Gong as Situ; dismissed Sikong Cao Song and moved to Fanling as Taiwei; he also worshiped Ma Rixi, the commander of Shesheng School, as Taiwei.

Sikong's job involves handling local affairs, so Liu Bian can be regarded as helping Fan Ling return to his old profession.

It was Nanyang Liu Hong who succeeded Ding Gong as Guang Luxun and Prince Lingengling.

Fan Ling probably knew from Zhang Rang and others that his ability to continue serving as the Third Duke was the result of Liu Bian's efforts. He was extremely respectful when facing Liu Bian later. Whenever Liu Bian put forward any ideas, he would be the first to support him.

There was a man who was willing to be his yes-man, and Liu Bian quickly experienced the beauty of it.

No wonder emperors at home and abroad like to place their favorites in high positions.

As the relief food was transported to the disaster area in an orderly manner, more news spread to Luoyang.

A total of seven counties were affected by floods this time, including Shanyang County, Liang Kingdom, Pei Kingdom, Pengcheng Kingdom, Xiapi Kingdom, Donghai County, and Langye Kingdom.

Among them, Xuzhou, which has only five counties, accounts for four of them.

Liu Bian knew very well that if this flood, which could destroy the food reserves in ordinary people's homes, was not handled properly, it would turn into a Yellow Turban uprising again.

Therefore, we must not only control the floods, but also consider how the people in these seven counties whose food has been destroyed by floods will make a living in the next year. Therefore, Liu Bian once again summoned Sangong and other important ministers to discuss follow-up matters.

In front of Ding Gong and Fan Ling, two people who had connections with the eunuchs, Taiwei Ma Rixi had always acted very tough.

The people Ma Rixi befriended, such as Zheng Xuan, Yang Biao, Lu Zhi, and Cai Yong, were all well-known. Due to Ma Rixi's reputation, the two usually had no choice but to give in.

Liu Bianxian said: "These seven counties have been severely affected by the disaster. Even if the floods recede, it will be too late to replant rice and millet. If we still wait until the autumnal equinox to plant wheat, it will be difficult to feed these seven counties with soybeans and other crops for more than ten months. The people of the county. But if we continue to transport food to the disaster area, according to the words of the great minister, the national treasury will not be able to sustain it. Today we are calling the princes to discuss this matter."

It's not that Liu Bian has never thought of using work-for-relief methods, but this method not only places extremely high demands on the government's governance capabilities, but also places higher demands on food.

Now it is enough for the imperial court to provide enough food to keep people alive, let alone work-for-relief.

The seven counties have a combined population of more than 4 million. This is only the data calculated last year. The real situation will be more.

At present, the specific number of victims who have not had enough to eat has not yet been calculated. Even if only a quarter of the people are unable to eat due to floods, that would be at least one million people.

This is a terrifying order of magnitude.

Fan Ling was the first to come into contact with disaster relief matters, and he first made suggestions: "In the early years, there were stories of people from the south of the Yangtze River affected by disasters going to the north of the Yangtze River to eat. Now that Jianghuai and Xuzhou have been hit by the disaster, people in seven counties and counties that were severely affected by the disaster can be moved to the counties that were not affected by the disaster to eat. .”

This is indeed a good idea. If the local area cannot support the people, then move them elsewhere.

Ma Rixi asked: "Where does Sikong want to move people? Should we move people back when wheat is sown in August or September? If we want to move back, it is less than three months before the autumnal equinox, and it is not enough to move people." .”

Fan Ling said: "Of course we have to wait until next year to move back. We can reclaim wasteland in various places this year."

But where exactly he should go, Fan Ling had no idea. He only said that he could move to Guangling County and Yangzhou in the south of Xuzhou, or to surrounding counties.

Ma Rixi believes that it still takes time to open up wasteland. The number of acres of land in Guangling County and Yangzhou last year was not enough to support the people of these seven counties.

Liu Bian suddenly asked: "How are the four counties in Jingnan? Are there any people from Jingnan in the court? I heard that rice can be planted in two seasons in Jingnan. I don't know if it is too late to plant rice in July and August."

Ma Rixi said: "Cao Yu and Kuai Yue in the east of the General's Mansion are from Nanjun. Nanjun is adjacent to the four counties of Jingnan. Why don't we call him for questioning?"

Liu Bian knew everything he could do, so he sent someone to check the resumes of officials to be on the safe side. He also found Lai Gong from Lingling and Huan Jie from Changsha, who had Xiaolian as their official ministers.

The four counties in Jingnan have the same problem as Liangzhou, and their total population is actually not small. However, counting only the Han people, the number of Xiaolians that can be elected each year is extremely limited, which leads to insufficient output of officials in the region, far less than that of counties in the Central Plains.

Liu Bian called Lai Gong and Huan Jie to ask, and received a positive answer.

The climate in Jingnan is mild and humid, and July is not too late.

Liu argued and then said: "Jingnan is a long way away. If you move to Jingnan, you don't have to go back to your place of origin. Farming land will be allocated in Jingnan. If you still want to go back to your place of origin, you can move to Guangling or Yangzhou nearby."

The land in Jingnan was used to attract propertyless tenants, and the property owners were arranged nearby to prevent them from selling their land and themselves.

Two major destinations for the victims have been determined, and the specific implementation will be formulated by Shangshutai and Sangong Mansion.

If Emperor Ling is unwilling to take care of it, Liu Bian can approve it on his behalf.

He was happy to do so.

(End of this chapter)