I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 149 Dou Miao Dies
It’s no wonder that Du Ning was surprised. Anyone else would also be surprised.

Throughout the end of May and most of June, the focus of Luoyang City was on the flood and Yuan Shu. Afterwards, people kept talking about the flood situation and Yuan Shu leading the disciples of the School of Mind to fight outside the city to save people.

During the flood, Yuan Shu dispatched nearly 20,000 Yi Xin members and disciples to drive small boats to rescue people in the flooded areas, pull them out of danger, and help them move to safe places.

After rescuing the people, we start to manage their lives, provide them with food, clothing, and medicine, and ensure that they can survive and do not die from natural disasters or man-made disasters.

People have to live, and it is not okay to watch someone die without helping them.

This is an obsession in Yuan Shu's heart.

During this period, perhaps because the court could no longer bear the comparison with Yuan Shu, it could no longer sit idly by.

So, under the advice of a group of ministers, the eunuchs finally reluctantly submitted a petition to Liu Hong, asking Liu Hong to agree to the rescue policy and arrange batches of food and clothing to be sent to the outside of the city. They said that the court also contributed to this matter and asked Yuan Shu to remember the court's kindness and let the victims outside the city remember the emperor's kindness.

This can be considered as saving face for myself.

Although the amount of food and clothing Yuan Shu actually received was slightly different from the amount of supplies recorded in the disaster relief account book.

For example, the total amount of food received was reduced by about 40%, and some batches of corn were turned into bran for feeding livestock. The so-called whole pieces of clothing were turned into balls of dirty and smelly rags, and there were even burlap bags in the mix.

But at least something was delivered, and these supplies could be used, so Yuan Shu’s financial pressure was finally lessened.

According to his rough estimate, more than 110,000 people in Luoyang City were affected by the flood.

Among them, more than 20,000 people fled on their own through various means or died unfortunately, and the remaining more than 90,000 people were rescued and resettled by his disciples.

Before the Luoyang court officially sent people to deliver food, Yuan Shu and his power group almost relied on themselves to provide seven days of food for the refugees, using up all the reserve grain that Yuan Shu had previously purchased and stockpiled.

With so many mouths to feed, even if they still had some food stored, Yuan Shu tried to cook the porridge as thin as possible, just enough to keep them alive. There were still too many people eating.

Fortunately, Luo Yi, who was in charge of purchasing, was very efficient. He delivered the first batch of grain urgently purchased from Hanoi County to Yuan Shu one day before the reserve grain was exhausted, thus solving the urgent problem.

Two days later, the grain from the Luoyang court, which had been in constant dispute, was finally delivered. Taiwei Li Xian was authorized to take charge of the matter, and Yuan Shu finally didn't have to hold on by himself.

After the food crisis was resolved, Yuan Shu felt much more relaxed. At that time, the flood began to recede and the situation improved day by day.

After the flood completely receded, Yuan Shu transferred all management authority to Li Xian. He had planned to take a rest, but he learned from Lu Zhi that the situation was still quite serious. There were too many deaths, the bodies were seriously decomposed, and most of the residents' houses were destroyed. Reconstruction would take time and materials. Without help, they would probably have to sleep in the open air.

Yuan Shu sought help from the Grand Commandant Li Xian, hoping that Li Xian could provide some manpower and material resources.

As a result, Li Xian told Yuan Shu with a wry smile that what he could provide was all. The court did not give him much supplies, especially money, and seemed to want to get something for free from Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu was very dissatisfied and even more angry at that damn eunuchs, but considering the overall situation, he did not lose his temper. He could only lead the Yixin members to get back to work.

Burning and burying the bodies, helping the victims rebuild their houses, and taking out the unused wood for the victims to use are all good things done to the end.

During his time in office, Li Xian, the Grand Marshal who had a relatively moderate attitude towards life, probably really thought highly of him, so he secretly gave him advice.

“Although you have a good family background and your Yuan family is the most powerful family in the world with three dukes in four generations, the more so, the more cautious you should be. This time, your Yuan family is powerful, the emperor is young, and many officials’ children are on your side, so you have not been accused of buying people’s hearts.

But this does not mean that you are completely safe. This time you have managed to get through the danger, but next time, you may not be so lucky. I know you have a kind heart and want to follow your conscience to do the right thing, but the right thing and the political way cannot conflict with each other. Otherwise, even if you are born noble, it will not be your amulet. Be careful with your words and actions!"

Yuan Shu was very grateful for Li Xian's kind advice, but he also said that he would not change his way of doing things because of it.

Even if these things in the future go against the so-called "political principles".

"If politics is contrary to people's conscience, then it is politics that is wrong, not people's conscience. I live by conscience and teach my students with conscience. If it goes against conscience, it is the biggest mistake. Mr. Li's advice is very grateful to me, but in life, there are things to do and things not to do. The mere politics cannot shake my determination to follow my conscience."

Li Xian was stunned by Yuan Shu's answer, and then he sighed. After Yuan Shu left, the officers of the Taiwei around Li Xian had some opinions about Yuan Shu.

"The Yuan family has three officials in four generations, and their prestige is extremely high. Even the children of the family do not care about their reputation in the officialdom, let alone the face of the court and the majesty of the emperor. They are so domineering."

Li Xian looked at the officials around him.

“Have you read the Treatise on Knowledge and Action?”

"Never."

"Read it, and you'll know why he did it."

Li Xian sighed, "Let's not talk about whether he had selfish motives, but he did it. What he said and what he did were consistent. I am used to seeing people who say one thing and do another. There are too many of them, but there are too few people like Yuan Shu who do what they say and mean what they say."

The official lowered his head and said nothing more.

Li Xian didn't say anything else.

He felt that as long as nothing unexpected happened, there would be no problem for Yuan Shu to ascend to a high position and become one of the important powerful people who dominated the fate of the empire. As long as nothing unexpected happened, he might really be able to bring some unexpected changes to the country.

There are indeed problems in this country, so much so that what Yuan Shu did seems somewhat out of place.

But if Yuan Shu can rise to a high position and stick to his way of doing things, then perhaps some good changes will really happen in this country.

Thinking of this, Li Xian felt inexplicably excited.

Then, as expected, an accident occurred.

Empress Dowager Dou Miao passed away.

Dou Miao's death was a rather sudden event. From the time she fell ill to the time she died, it was only a dozen days in total. She died of an acute illness. The root cause of her death was the bad news she received in June.

After the Second Party Factions Rebellion, all members of the Dou clan except Dou Miao were exiled to Rinnan County, the southernmost part of the Han Empire, which is located on the Indochina Peninsula. The living conditions there were extremely harsh. Except for the indigenous people, everyone who went there were exiled.

The Dou family lived a life of luxury, how could they endure such torture?
Before long, members of the tribe died one after another, and in early June, the bad news came that Dou Miao's mother had also passed away. Upon hearing the news, Dou Miao was deeply saddened, and cried all day long, refusing to eat or drink. She became ill due to worry and never recovered.

So she died, died when Liu Hong was not yet fully grown up, died in a quiet corner without freedom.

In June of the first year of Xiping, Empress Dowager Dou Miao passed away.

The news spread quickly. Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei of course learned about it very quickly and notified Yuan Shu as quickly as possible so that Yuan Shu also knew about it.

When Yuan Shu learned about this, he was shocked and realized that something big was going to happen, so he entrusted the task of rebuilding outside the city to Lu Zhi, and rushed back to Yuan Mansion to discuss the matter with Yuan Feng and Yuan Wei.

Because Dou Miao's death was so sudden and the time was beyond people's expectations, no one, including Yuan Shu, thought that Empress Dowager Dou, who was only in her forties, could die so early.

The emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty did have relatively short lives, but the empress dowagers generally lived longer, so Dou Miao's death was indeed considered early.

But to be honest, it is not so hard for everyone to accept, because all family members, relatives and friends have been exiled to a place where they will never see each other again, and they have completely lost their freedom and will never be able to seek justice for the rest of their lives. Who would feel good about this?

Then, he was shocked by the news of his mother's death and became too sad to die. It sounds very reasonable.

But in this case, the Yuan family will have to face a real battlefield.

(End of this chapter)