I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 143 Opening of Imperial College

Under Yuan Shu's unified command, the General Affairs Department and the Security Department rushed to the flood-stricken areas with all the large and small ferries and boats they could find to rescue the victims in Luoyang.

The Logistics Department, Personnel Department, Legal Department, and Audit Department comprehensively counted the vacant land, warehouses, and tents that can be used in the entire Luoyang Liangzhuang, as well as all the vehicles and livestock that can be used, and all the edible food.

Then, temporary shelters were built in the open spaces inside and outside the west and south gates of Liangzhuang, rain awnings and tents were set up, heating supplies and porridge were prepared, and clean clothes were prepared to fully receive the Luoyang victims.

At the same time, considering that the number of disaster victims may be unusually large, all students and disciples of Zhixing Academy must be mobilized to join the disaster relief operation.

All the farmers in Liangzhuang serve as a reserve team. Once manpower support is needed, they will be mobilized and join in the disaster relief operation.

Lu Zhi served as the commander-in-chief on the front line, Yuan Shu coordinated and directed the overall situation, the Thirteen Guardians and many Yi Xin Hui cadres performed their duties, and the entire Yi Xin Hui organization operated efficiently.

This organization had carried out many operations to help farmers in Maoling, and had performed many tasks such as clearing the fields and defending cities in several military crises, all of which were completed successfully without failure, thus accumulating a wealth of practical experience.

Many things that seem like headaches to the government have been handled by the Yi Xin Hui with considerable experience. They do not feel awkward or embarrassed when faced with such things.

When mobilizing again at this moment, the organization did not feel awkward. All actions seemed to have been arranged, and everyone had to do what they were supposed to do.

The new members didn’t understand this very well, but under the guidance of experienced cadres and old members, they found what they needed to do in their ignorance.

The Yi Xin Hui cadres who led them in the operation were very clear about what they should and should not do.

At this moment, the mind will be like a sophisticated machine that is powered on, warming up and gradually running, from slow to fast, gradually getting into the state.

As the commander-in-chief on the front line, Lu Zhi put on a coarse cloth shorts and led all members of the Security Department and the General Affairs Department directly to the flood-stricken area, and sent an advance team to understand the specific situation.

After some investigation, Lu Zhi learned that the disaster was most serious in the south and west of Luoyang City, with the most people trapped by the flood. He also learned that many people had drowned.

Lu Zhi was very anxious and immediately ordered his troops to be divided into three groups. He let Zhao Jun and Su Chu lead a fleet to the west of the city, and he himself led a fleet to the south of the city. The remaining fleet was led by Shao Yuan and Ma Ran to patrol the east and north of the city to find the affected people and provide assistance.

Lian Da led a large fleet of vehicles to provide support from all directions, and was responsible for sending the rescued people to the Liangzhuang refuge as quickly as possible and handing them over to the logistics personnel for proper placement. This cycle was repeated and the support was provided by each other until all the rescued people were rescued.

After the specific arrangements were made, the operatives immediately began to act. More than one hundred rescue boats were deployed to the flood-stricken areas. Lu Zhi himself also drove the boat to the front and ordered rescue when he saw people trapped by the flood.

However, Lu Zhi soon realized that their manpower was far from enough, or that there were not enough ships to rescue people.

When he drove to the worst-hit area, he found that there were too many people in urgent need of rescue.

He saw many people shivering on the roofs of their houses. The thatched houses were crowded with people. The roofs, which looked not strong enough, were shaking and were about to collapse.

Even around the roof, there were a large number of people trying to survive, their bodies soaked in water, their hands still holding onto something, trying their best to avoid being washed away by the water and dying.

He was just about to give the order to rescue somewhere when he heard a scream. Turning around, he saw a roof collapsed not far away and a large number of people standing on it fell into the water, desperately calling for help and struggling.

"Go to the rescue! Go to the rescue!"

Lu Zhi was shocked and immediately ordered the boats to go and rescue people. After some effort, all the people who fell into the water were rescued. Most of them were still in shock and crying. Lu Zhi looked at the crowded boat and suddenly felt worried.

A small boat can only save a dozen people at most and it will be packed, so it is difficult to save more people. Most northerners are not good at swimming and it is difficult for them to swim and survive in large bodies of water. There are so many people in need of rescue, but there are so few boats that can rescue them.

No, need support!
A lot of support is needed!
Lu Zhi immediately sent someone to drive a boat back to inform Yuan Shu of the news here and ask Yuan Shu for more support, otherwise more people would die in this flood.

At the same time, Yuan Shuzheng was personally watching the construction project of the disaster relief camp outside the south gate of Liangzhuang.

Seeing that the heavy rain showed no sign of stopping for the time being, Yuan Shu became very anxious and kept urging his subordinates to build enough awnings as soon as possible.

Soon, as the first batch of rescued Luoyang victims arrived at the Liangzhuang South Gate Camp, the people sent by Lu Zhi also brought the most urgent news to Yuan Shu.

"The disaster situation in the south and west of Luoyang City is the most serious, with tens of thousands of victims. Vice President Lu believes that the existing ships and manpower are totally insufficient, and more manpower and ships are needed to help. At the same time, Vice President Lu also suggested that the size of the camp should be expanded as much as possible. The number of displaced victims is likely to exceed previous expectations." Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu frowned and had a headache.

Although his Liangzhuang is of a certain size, there are more than 300,000 civilians living in the outer city of Luoyang. There are at least 100,000 victims of the disaster this time. How can he take in 100,000 victims?
Liangzhuang is about to be packed, okay?

And there are not enough supplies and food!
Although we have money, we still need to buy supplies and food, and money cannot be eaten.

After thinking for a while, Yuan Shu came up with some ideas, so he immediately called Cheng Li and Jia Xu, and decided to temporarily give the command here to Cheng Li, who would represent Yuan Shu to coordinate the overall situation.

In addition, he gave the task of building simple ferries to Jia Xu, asking Jia Xu to build at least 300 simple ferries to rescue people in the shortest time possible, and no less, otherwise he would be beheaded.

Finally, Yuan Shu put on a straw raincoat, braved the heavy rain, and rode to the Imperial College under the protection of Xu Chong. He found the chief priest of the Imperial College and asked him to open some of the dormitories in the Imperial College as temporary residences for the victims of the disaster. He said that he would cover all the expenses and the Imperial College would not need to make any extra expenses for this.

Wei Xun, the chief priest, felt very embarrassed about this.

As a doctor of the Imperial College who was intimidated by Yuan Shu's academic and debating abilities and thus voluntarily surrendered, Wei Xun was quite afraid of Yuan Shu. Especially after the Yuan family became the most powerful family in the world with three generations of officials, he was even more afraid of Yuan Shu. He even dared not say a word when Yuan Shu snatched away many students from the Imperial College.

But the matter of opening the Taixue dormitory to accommodate disaster victims...

This is really not something he can decide!

"Mr. Yuan, it's not that I don't want to. Although I am the chief academician, it is not up to me to decide whether to allow disaster victims to enter. I'm afraid I have to consult the Minister of Rites about this matter. Only after the Minister of Rites decides can the Imperial Academy be opened."

Yuan Shu was very angry.

"Human life is important! Are you going to stand by and watch people die? Are you going to watch tens of thousands of disaster victims die in front of you?"

Wei Xun had a sad face and looked aggrieved.

"Mr. Yuan, it's not that I don't want to do it. This is not my job. If you force me to do it, I will definitely be held accountable. I will really have no chance to be an official anymore! Please think twice!"

Yuan Shu pursed his lips, calmed himself down, and made a decision.

"I'll go and discuss this with Tang Taichang. Please open the Imperial College first. I'll arrange for someone to do the preliminary preparations right away. There are too many victims of the disaster. I'm sure I can't accommodate them all."

"Then... then you must get Tang Taichang's permission as soon as possible, otherwise this matter will definitely be held accountable to me."

"Don't worry! Who am I? This matter has nothing to do with you. If you really want to be held accountable, I will take full responsibility. If you can't continue to be an official, Yuan will compensate you. I swear!"

Seeing Yuan Shu swear, Wei Xun breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and cooperated with Yuan Shu to prepare for the opening of the Imperial College.

Yuan Shu transferred Huang Zhi, deputy director of the logistics department, to the Imperial College to count the vacant houses there, and transferred some supplies to the Imperial College, and began to prepare to shelter the victims.

After the Imperial College was opened, Yuan Shu rode his horse to Luoyang City wearing a straw raincoat.

At that time, there were already a large number of disaster victims surrounding Luoyang City. As they had nowhere else to go, these victims tried to enter Luoyang City for refuge. The city gates in the south and east of Luoyang City were crowded with victims.

However, the imperial court had not yet made a decision, so the victims were still blocked outside the city and were not allowed to enter.

Amid the violent storm, the cries of the disaster victims who had lost everything and had nowhere to go were deafening. Many people were wearing only thin clothes or even shirtless. Although it was the end of May, how warm could they get with the violent storm?
They couldn't even find a place to shelter from the rain.

The Luoyang garrison faithfully carried out their mission, blocking everyone outside the city and not allowing anyone to enter without permission. Anyone who tried to break in would be killed without regard for human feelings by their flashing ring-handled swords and spears.

After witnessing this scene, Yuan Shu became even more anxious.

(End of this chapter)