The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 820 Not bad

Xun Xu walked out of the palace. All the ministers lowered their heads and passed by him quickly without stopping.

Xun Xu wanted to take the initiative to talk, but found that these people pretended not to see him. He just smiled and shook his head, then prepared to leave.

"Gong Zeng."

Suddenly someone called out Xun Xu's name.

Xun Xu turned around and found that the person who called him was Zhong Hui.

Xun Xu looked at him with obvious displeasure in his eyes.

Zhong Hui put his hands behind his back and looked calmly at Xun Xu who was standing in front of him. His lips trembled several times.

"You did quite well in these previous things."

"Keep working hard. Your brother and sister have high expectations of you. You must achieve great things."

"what??"

Xun Xu just stood there, staring at Zhong Hui not far away, stunned.

Zhong Hui did not wait for his reply. He turned around and disappeared on the road with many guards.

Xun Xu looked at Zhong Hui's carriage leaving in a daze, then smiled bitterly again.

elder?

"Gong Zeng!"

Someone called his name again, and Xun Xu raised his head again. This time it was Du Yu.

Du Yu walked forward and grabbed Xun Xu's hand.

"Don't leave yet. Follow me to see His Majesty. Important matters cannot be delayed. The sooner the better!"

Xun Xu was pulled by Du Yu back along the same route to the Taiji Hall.

While walking on the road, Du Yu told him about this major project.

This time, corvee labor will be imposed, and it will be quite large.

Du Yu must work closely with Xun Xu. There can be no negligence in corvee labor of this scale.

Du Yu had some experience with these corvee labors because of several previous work-for-relief programs, but this corvee labor was somewhat different from the past and needed to be carefully refined.

The two men arrived in front of the Taiji Hall, and after Man Changwu reported, they were immediately allowed to pass.

The two came to the West Hall together.

Cao Mao had changed his clothes and was eating.

Upon seeing this, Du Yu quickly bowed and apologized, "I will wait outside for now."

"What are you waiting for! Mao Ping! Bring the dishes!"

At Cao Mao's command, the newly appointed palace attendant Guo Ping began to work in a panic.

Du Yu and Xun Xu were both a little surprised, but Cao Mao forcefully asked them to sit down. Guo Ping brought the bowls and chopsticks, and Cao Mao pulled them both to eat together.

Cao Mao ate very simply.

Until now, Cao Mao still likes to eat some Yuancheng dishes, but not much. His meals are prepared by Huangfu Mi and others, focusing on the balance of yin and yang, in other words, nutritional combination.

There are meat, vegetables, staple foods and fruits.
Xun Xu looked at the food and couldn't help but sigh: "The frugality of the saints is really unheard of."

Xun Xu had never eaten with the emperor and did not know his diet, but judging from the current diet, any disciple from a wealthy family would eat much more luxuriously than the emperor.

When those people eat, they focus on luxury and weirdness. They eat whatever is expensive and whatever is novel.

Anyway, it cannot be measured by common sense.

Cao Mao just gestured for him to eat.

The three of them were eating together when Cao Mao finally spoke.

"Yuan Kai is here to discuss the start of construction, right?"

"This matter really cannot be delayed."

"Gong Zeng has suggested sending 100,000 people. What do you think? Is it feasible?"

Du Yu said seriously, "Yes, if the situation is really as serious as Xun Jun said, even if it's 200,000 people, we can send them out. Reducing the risk is the most important thing."

"We can't send 200,000 people, and we still need to send corvée labor to the northwest."

Du Yu was stunned, and Xun Xu quickly explained, "Actually, there's something we haven't mentioned today. While Qingxu and other places have been experiencing heavy rain for months, the rainfall in Yongliang and other places has been decreasing. Many lakes are almost dry. We've made a lot of preparations here before, but it's not enough."

"At least 50,000 more people need to be sent to the Northwest."

Du Yu frowned.

Cao Mao ate very quickly. At this moment, he finally put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at Du Yu seriously.

"Yuan Kai, disasters have become more frequent recently. This situation may last for a long time."

"Whether we can get through this safely depends on whether our rulers and ministers can cooperate well."

Du Yu stood up solemnly and saluted: "I will do my best!"

"Sit down. Let's talk about the flood in Qingxu first."

The three of them began to talk about the large-scale corvee labor.

Less corvee labor is the foundation of a prosperous era, but in the face of a natural disaster of this scale, only by imposing more corvee labor can more lives be saved.

At this moment, those who are in charge of money and those who are in charge of construction are gathered together to discuss how to resist the disaster.

Although Xun Xu officially took office today, he has taken over the Ministry of Revenue for many days and has gained understanding of many situations in the national treasury. The current national treasury is different from the past. The amount can be clearly determined, and fires will no longer occur for no reason.

Because this time the corvee labor could no longer be carried out in the form of work-in-lieu, Du Yu proposed that each region should be governed separately, and the amount of corvee labor to be assigned to each region should be determined according to the predicted severity of the disaster. Of course, an important official would also be needed to take unified command.

As for the selection of this important official, Du Yu suggested sending an eunuch and a person from the Ministry of Works.

The most important thing is the project itself. We cannot consume a lot of manpower and material resources and end up with no expected results. Therefore, how to effectively resist it is a big problem.

Fortunately, Xun Xu's years had not been in vain. Cao Mao listened to their conversation and unconsciously gained some confidence in many aspects of resisting natural disasters in the future.

If we work together to resist natural disasters, we will eventually win.

The first two enemies failed to defeat me, and I can't defeat this last one either!

At Cao Mao's command, the Wei machine began to work with a rumbling sound, and a war against many natural disasters began.

Qingzhou, Guang County.

The sky was gloomy and the drizzle continued, forming a curtain of rain outside the window.

Governor Hu Wei stood at the window, looking at the disturbing drizzle outside, holding tightly in his hand the imperial edict sent from the temple.

He is different from those stupid Confucian scholars in the temple.

He has seen the contributions of the Youbei Yamen in recent days.

Previously, the Bei Yamen had made several predictions, saying that there might be a flood disaster in a certain place in Qingzhou. Hu Wei was very surprised and wrote a letter to the emperor, who ordered him to obey.

So he started to act according to these people's predictions, and sure enough, he successfully resisted the flood.

Later they made several more predictions, and although they were not accurate every time, they did play a big role.

Until now, Hu Wei dared not underestimate any predictions they made.

But this time, the Youbei Yamen made the most serious prediction.

The imperial edict even came directly from the imperial court.

Youbei Prefecture believed that a rare major flood would occur in Qing and Xu provinces, and would even affect Yan and Yu provinces, with a scale exceeding that of the past.

Such predictions can shake people's hearts.

However, Hu Wei was very uneasy because of the accurate predictions made by the Beifu in the past.

If it is really a flood of this scale, can it really be effectively resisted?
The world finally saw some prosperity. The people finally lived and worked in peace and contentment.

Hu Wei's mood became increasingly heavy, and he did not dare to take out the imperial edict directly and tell everyone.

Someone knocked on the door.

"come in."

The person who came in was a minor official.

The clerk bowed and said, "Mr. Hu, the people sent by the imperial court have arrived."

Hu Wei sighed.

"Well, let him in."

"only!"

The clerk turned and left.

Hu Wei continued to look out the window, lost in thought.

A moment later, footsteps were heard outside. The footsteps were very steady and not at all chaotic.

A group of people walked into the inner courtyard in the rain, and then someone opened the door and a tall figure walked into the house.

Hu Wei looked at the person who came, and the person immediately took off his raincoat.

When Hu Wei saw who was coming, he shuddered and hurriedly bowed to greet him.

"Meet the Grand Sima!!!"

Guanqiu Jian was standing in front of him, with several officials and guards standing around him.

Guanqiu Jian walked up to him with a smile and helped him up.

"I, I didn't know it was the Grand Marshal himself who came, I..."

Hu Wei, who was always calm, was also panicked at this moment. The imperial edict said that His Majesty would send an eunuch to supervise the project.

He didn't expect that Guanqiu Jian would come in person.

He actually stayed in the study and asked Guanqiu Jian to come and see him.

Looking at Hu Wei, who was blaming himself, Guanqiu Jian comforted him, "It's okay. I came here on a fast horse this time. I didn't tell the others, nor did I tell them where I was going along the way. I didn't want to cause any more trouble."

Hu Wei invited Guanqiu Jian to sit in the upper seat, and he stood respectfully beside him.

For some reason, the worry and depression just now disappeared without a trace.

Guanqiu Jian said, "I have come from Jingzhou. I received the imperial edict from Your Majesty and have come here without stopping. I know everything that has happened here. Have you not yet informed everyone of the imperial edict?"

"Not yet."

"Well, don't tell me yet."

Guanqiu Jian nodded and said, "There are many people who are dissatisfied with Your Majesty right now. If this were to be made public, I'm afraid someone would make a fuss about it."

"I'm not worried about them causing any unrest, but I'm afraid they'll delay many projects and cause unnecessary sacrifices."

Guanqiu Jian said, "Gather the governors of all prefectures as soon as possible. Do it in my name. I will be in charge of this corvée labor. I have brought a letter from Du Yu with detailed arrangements."

Guanqiu Jian didn't even exchange pleasantries and went straight to business.

Hu Wei hurriedly sent people to inform the prefects of various places to come, while he himself served Guanqiu Jian.

Guanqiu Jian said, "I haven't been to Xuzhou yet. I don't like the governor of Xuzhou very much. Your Majesty is going to replace him with someone else to take the position of Qingzhou, which was the hardest hit by the disaster. Let's start from here."

He took out several letters from Du Yu and placed them in front of him.

"Flood control isn't my forte. The details should be handed over to someone I'm familiar with. You'll help me monitor and ensure no one profites from this or abuses their power for personal gain."

"After meeting with the county governors, I will personally inspect the various locations to check on the situation and monitor progress. I will contact you by letter if there is anything else."

“No matter how big the disaster is, as long as everyone works together, we can resolve it.”

"only!!!"

(End of this chapter)