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"Minister Wang, read all the disaster reports."

In the Golden Palace, at the grand court meeting, the Empress sitting on the dragon throne had a cold face and the words she uttered were like ice.

Wang Jin responded solemnly, and read the disaster reports from the six county offices one by one. Each memorial was not long, but every word was tearful, and beneath the light handwriting were the poor people affected by the flood, and the lives that had fallen or were about to fall.

The civil and military officials held their breath and listened, each with a solemn look. Suddenly, someone couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into tears in the court.

The officials turned around and saw that the man crying was a doctor from the Ministry of Works. His ancestral home was in one of the six counties affected by the disaster, and most of his relatives were drowned in this flood.

Even the families of officials could not escape the disaster. The fate of ordinary people can be imagined.

Jiang Shaohua did not blame the courtiers for their misbehavior. He only said, "Now is not the time to cry. I don't have the time to pursue who is responsible. The court must do its best to provide disaster relief quickly."

"My dear ministers, if you have any good ideas for disaster relief, please share them."

Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Works had a gloomy expression.

At the beginning of last year, he personally led a group of officials from the Ministry of Works to dredge the river and build river embankments. The court conscripted nearly 10,000 civilians and spent a lot of money and grain. As a result, the Yellow River flooded and broke its embankment this year. Although it was a natural disaster, the Ministry of Works could not be blamed entirely. As the Minister of Works, he was embarrassed.

The emperor has no time to investigate the responsibilities now. When the disaster relief is over, it will be time to settle the accounts.

A number of court officials came forward and gave passionate advice on how to provide disaster relief.

The imperial court also had a routine of providing disaster relief. For natural disasters like the Yellow River flooding, disaster relief must be provided, regardless of cost and manpower. The imperial court would provide as much money and grain as possible to provide relief to all the people affected by the disaster.

The reason why we say "as much as possible" is that disaster relief has to be done by officials. As long as there is a job, there are always people who do it with all their heart, and there are also some shameless people who take advantage of this great opportunity to make a fortune in the national disaster.

For example, when the imperial court allocated grain for disaster relief, it always had to buy and transport grain. This provided many opportunities for manipulation and profiteering. Another example was that when the grain arrived at various places, many acts of corruption would arise during the process of distributing grain for relief, which would breed many parasites. Of the huge amount of money and grain allocated by the imperial court for disaster relief, only 30% to 40% would eventually reach the hands of the people affected by the disaster.

The court officials were well aware of these shady dealings. It can be said that every time a major disaster occurred, it was a feast for everyone from top to bottom.

Jiang Shaohua was obviously also well aware of this set of bad habits in officialdom.

She swept her cold eyes across the faces of the ministers and said slowly, "It is inconvenient for me to leave the capital, so Chen Changshi will go on my behalf to lead the disaster relief work. All officials in all government offices will obey Chen Changshi's orders."

"Chen Changshi!"

Chen Changshi, who always kept a low profile in the grand court meetings, stepped forward and answered loudly under the gaze of everyone: "I am here."

Jiang Shaohua looked steadily at his most trusted minister: "I entrust this matter to you, and send you 500 imperial guards. Anyone who dares to play tricks here, if he is a minister below the third rank, you can kill him on the spot."

"If you are above the third rank, tell me and I will execute you."

Just a few words, but they sounded murderous.

All the ministers were awed when they heard this.

Chen Changshi accepted the order in a deep voice: "I will definitely live up to the emperor's trust."

Jiang Shaohua looked at the ministers again and named a few names: "The six ministers and several generals will stay, and the rest of you can leave the court."

Those who were left behind to discuss important matters were the Shangshu of the six ministries, as well as General Bao, General Liu, General Song, and General Sima. Together with Chen Changshi and Wang Zhongshu Ling, there were exactly twelve ministers. The only one missing was General Zuo, who was still stationed in Yuzhou to sweep away the fleeing rebels.

Jiang Shaohua didn't say any nonsense or beat around the bush, and said directly: "Put everything aside for now, and focus on disaster relief."

"Six counties were affected by the disaster. The court must send at least six groups of troops to provide relief. Chen Changshi will be the general leader, and the six ministries will each send some personnel to follow Chen Changshi's orders." Minister Dong of the Ministry of Rites was always quick to respond and was the first to speak up: "The Ministry of Rites doesn't have any urgent tasks right now, so we can send ten people."

Yang Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice said: "The Ministry of Justice can also send ten people."

Minister Ding of the Ministry of War paused for a moment and said, "The Ministry of Justice doesn't have that many people, so send eight officials."

Minister Ji was a little embarrassed and sighed, "The most important thing for disaster relief is to raise money and food. The Ministry of Revenue has to do two things for each person, so there is really no extra manpower. Otherwise, let the new scholars who came to observe the government this year do the work."

Jiang Shaohua said calmly: "How to arrange it is the Ministry of Revenue's business. I don't care about these things. Whoever sent the official and made a mistake will be held accountable."

Minister Ji hit a hard nail, and was embarrassed. He quickly changed his words: "I will go back and think carefully. It would be more appropriate to send some smart and capable officials."

Jiang Shaohua looked at Minister Zhang.

The Ministry of Personnel has the most manpower. All vacancies in the court are registered in the register of the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel is most convenient for temporary transfer of manpower.

Minister Zhang had the bearing of a minister of the Ministry of Personnel and said, "The Ministry of Personnel can send fifteen people."

Jiang Shaohua nodded slightly and finally looked at Minister Zhou.

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Minister Zhou looked ashamed, and he didn't even have the courage to look the emperor in the face. He lowered his head and said, "The river bank has been destroyed, and the river has overflowed. I am really ashamed of my crime, Your Majesty."

Jiang Shaohua said coldly: "I said, now is not the time to pursue anyone's responsibility, the most important thing is to provide disaster relief immediately and settle the victims."

"Only a few people from the Ministry of Works can stay here, and all the rest of you should go to both sides of the damaged river bank to remeasure and build a new river bank."

"If it happens again, everyone in the Ministry of Industry will lose their heads."

Minister Zhou bowed his head and accepted the order.

Several military generals also have tasks to do.

Jiang Shaohua's eyes swept across the faces of the generals and said, "After a disaster, bandits are most likely to breed. If disaster relief is to proceed smoothly, the army must accompany it."

General Song was so excited that he volunteered, "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops and go with Chen Changshi to provide disaster relief."

Jiang Shaohua did not comment and looked at General Liu.

General Liu understood what he meant and immediately stepped forward, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I will lead the troops there myself."

Jiang Shaohua nodded: "Okay, General Liu will lead 20,000 soldiers to accompany us."

General Liu bowed and accepted the order.

General Song failed to get the job and felt disappointed and depressed.

As a military general, the only way to make achievements is to lead troops to fight. Last time he went to Yuzhou to quell the rebellion, he couldn't compete with General Zuo, so that was fine. This time, even though he asked first, the emperor still passed him by and chose General Liu to lead the army.

This shows how much he dislikes the Holy Spirit.

Thinking back to the past, he made a wrong move in chess. As a result, just this one wrong move made him slow down in every move. (End of this chapter)