Li Di stuffed his front and back clothes into the belt around his waist, stood barefoot on a wooden board, and directed the soldiers of the Forbidden Army to collect the corpses that were hit by the flood under the walls of Bianjing City.
His feet were covered with mud, but he had no sense of taste. He angrily scolded the Forbidden Army soldiers who stood on the wooden planks and refused to get down into the mud.
After scolding them for a long time, he saw that some of the Forbidden Army soldiers still refused to step into the mud, so he stepped into the mud first.
Li Di, who was involved in political affairs, walked around in the mud regardless of danger or dirt.
Even if the other soldiers have a powerful background behind them, they still have to lower their bodies and enter the mud.
The mud under the city wall is not deep, and the deepest part is only up to the knees.
If the city wall is two feet away, it is deep.
Some Forbidden Army soldiers went to try it.
It was almost buried.
That's where the moat is, and the deepest part of the silt can reach a foot high.
Li Di cursed and told the Forbidden Army soldiers not to risk their lives recklessly.
Just let them clean up the corpses under the city wall.
The corpses were pulled out of the mud one after another, placed on wooden boards, and then rowed out along the wooden boards.
Eventually they piled up together, forming a mountain of corpses.
After the mountain of corpses was piled up, Li Di asked people to carry strong fire oil, pour it on top, and burn it on the spot.
Whether floating corpses are brought into the city or left outside the city for a long time, they may cause plague.
So it can only be burned on the spot.
The fire never went out from the moment it started.
Li Di dragged Kou Ji and stood not far from the mountain of corpses, letting him watch with his eyes wide open.
"If you fail to resettle those refugees, the mountain of corpses that will pile up will only get bigger."
Li Di just grabbed Kou Ji's arm and warned with a slightly trembling voice.
Kou Ji stared at the cheeks and corpses that were quickly burning in the flames, resisting the urge to vomit, and said with a pale face: "I won't let this happen..."
Li Di grabbed Kou Ji's arm a little harder and said: "I know you are capable, your grandfather also knows it, and Wang Zeng also knows it. We know that if you dare to issue a military order, you will definitely have a way to resettle those refugees.
But we still want to stop you in the court, do you know why?"
"Ugh~"
Kou Ji suddenly bent over and vomited wildly.
It wasn't until he emptied the contents of his stomach and vomited out the acidic water that he looked up with a pale face.
He really couldn't accept it as he watched the floating corpse being scorched, burned, and turned into charred corpse and corpse oil.
Although he had also burned the Liao army when he was in Baozhou before.
But at that time, he was sitting in the city gate building, listening to the screams outside the city, but did not look at the tragic situation outside the city.
It's different now. Li Di pulled him and insisted on letting him see.
Not only did he have to look at the tragic situation in front of him, he also had to answer Li Di's questions.
"I didn't know it before, but now I know..."
Kou Ji said in a low voice.
Li Di asked: "Why?"
Kou Ji retched and said, "You are afraid that I will act recklessly and eventually lead to this tragedy."
Li Di reminded harshly: "It's not a tragedy! It's a disregard for human life!"
"Yes! Taking human life seriously!"
Kou Ji was forced to repeat.
Li Di pointed to the mountain of burning corpses and asked: "If you can't handle the refugees well, this will be their fate. Now, do you still dare to resettle the refugees?"
Kou Ji resisted the urge to vomit and asked, "Why not?"
Li Di stared.
Kou Ji said calmly: "Leave the refugees to me. Even if I don't handle it well, a mountain of corpses may appear. If it is handed over to other officials in the court, it will not be able to stop the mountain of corpses."
Prime Minister Wang said yesterday that the imperial court has always dealt with refugees, almost always saving one out of ten."
When Li Di heard this, he was so angry that he trembled all over.
He was not angry with Kou Ji, but with the officials in the court.
He was angry at the officials for not doing anything and for not having a good way to keep all the refugees alive.
I'm also angry that I don't have a good way to save all the refugees.
In his heart, the fact that those refugees did not die in the flood was a gift from God.
It was God who allowed them to survive.
But if it is because the court's arrangements are not appropriate enough, then it is a man-made disaster.
In the face of natural disasters, he was powerless.
But man-made disasters, he always felt, could be avoided.
Li Di was trembling with anger, but he did not spare Kou Ji, "I am watching behind you, watching you resettle the refugees. If too many of the refugees die, I will use the Chao Hut to break your body."
Brain.”
When Kou Ji heard this, he was unhappy and said, "Grandpa Li, you are being a little unreasonable."
After the flood, the refugees were displaced and traveled long distances to Bianjing City. They had to eat and sleep in the open along the way, and they would definitely be infected with various diseases.
Therefore, after arriving in Bianjing, some people could not endure it any longer, or were seriously ill and would surely die.
Kou Ji is not a god, so he cannot snatch people from the hands of the King of Hell.
Li Di said arrogantly: "I don't care, I will keep an eye on you, I will be unreasonable."
When Kou Ji heard this, he didn't know what to say.
Li Di was obviously stimulated by the corpses outside the city.
That's why I put pressure on him so rudely.
Kou Ji just stayed with Li Di, watching the mountain of corpses in front of him turn into ashes.
When the corpse oil flowed along the mud and across the ground, igniting a raging fire, Li Di fell to the ground with a thud.
Kou Ji hurriedly helped Li Di up, sighed, and said, "Grandpa Li, didn't you say that people who can be officials or high officials have a heart as solid as stone?"
"I have never drunk human blood, so my heart is still made of flesh..."
With Kou Ji's support, Li Di stood up and said sadly.
Kou Ji nodded slowly and helped Li Di walk towards Bianjing City.
When he walked under the city gate, Li Di just grabbed Kou Ji and said with slightly red eyes: "My son, you have to remember, no matter how high an official this person is or how much power he holds, he can't take those things into his own hands."
People who look exactly like us are treated like beasts!"
Kou Ji heard the weight of Li Di's words, nodded solemnly, and said, "I've written it down..."
Li Di nodded, and with Kou Ji's support, he tremblingly entered the city gate.
Entered Bianjing City.
The two of them did not leave.
In order to deal with the upcoming influx of refugees, the imperial court specially set up military tents at several gates of Bianjing City.
There are people sitting in every military tent.
Behind each military tent, people were delivering food one after another.
After Kou Ji sat down with Li Di in the military tent, he received some not-so-optimistic news.
This time the Yellow River overflowed, not only Bianjing City was affected, but almost all counties in Kaifeng Prefecture suffered from floods.
Outside Kaifeng Prefecture, people in two states suffered from floods.
More than 300,000 people were affected by the disaster.
Some of the people who were not seriously affected by the disaster have begun post-disaster reconstruction and resettlement work under the leadership of local government officials.
For these local government officials, this is a rare time to gain political achievements, so few people shirk it.
But more people came to Bianjing in droves.
A flood left them with nothing.
Apart from going to Bianjing City to beg for a morsel of royal food, they didn't know any other way to survive.
"A rough estimate is that there are as many as 200,000 victims..."
Li Di dropped the paperwork in his hand and closed his eyes in pain.
When Kou Ji heard this number, his heart skipped a beat.
The resettlement of 200,000 homeless refugees is a big problem.
Bianjing City is different from Baozhou.
When Kou Ji was in Baozhou, he could lead the soldiers and civilians of Baozhou to eat and rob big households.
But this is not possible in Bianjing City.
"How much land has the imperial court allocated to the refugees to settle down and establish a career?"
Kou Ji asked.
This is his biggest concern.
If there is not enough place to support the refugees.
Even if he had great abilities, he would not be able to resettle these refugees.
Hearing this, Li Di said with murderous intent: "If you like the area outside the city, place the refugees there. If you occupy someone's property, the court will naturally compensate you.
If anyone disagrees, tell me.
I will go find them myself."
Obviously, if someone interferes with this matter, Li Di will definitely let him see the power of the knife.
Hearing Li Di's words, Kou Ji felt relieved.
Kou Ji bowed his hands to Li Di and said, "Then go down and get ready."
Li Di nodded gloomily.
Kou Ji left the military tent and returned directly to the mansion.
Then he summoned Liu Heng, Cao Yi, Zhang Cheng, Mu Chong, Qian Le and others to discuss it.
…
Two days later.
Mu Chong arrived at Kou Mansion and found Kou Ji who was explaining the drawings to the craftsmen.
"Ministry of Industry and Commerce, our people have transported the first batch of things you want to outside Bianjing City, and they are parked on the Wuzhang River outside the city. As long as you give an order, the things can be delivered to any place you designate at any time.
.”
When Kou Ji heard this, his heart was shocked.
"good!"
"Ask your people to quickly move the things outside the South City Gate. When you get to the North City Gate, look for Liu Heng. Liu Heng will tell you where to put the things."
Kou Ji gave an order.
Mu Chong agreed, went out, and went to find the steward of Mu Mansion to move things.
Kou Ji couldn't help but sigh, "The efficiency of businessmen is faster than that of the imperial court..."
The court's disaster relief food has not yet been delivered.
Mu Chong and others promised Kou Ji what they wanted, so they prepared the first batch and delivered it to Bianjing City.
The imperial court's disaster relief food was transferred from the Changping warehouse closest to Kaifeng Mansion.
Since the documents from the imperial court were delivered, until today, they still have not arrived.
After Mu Chong left, Qian Le and Meng Weizhong arrived at the Kou Mansion one after another and told Kou Ji that the first batch of things they had prepared had been delivered to Bianjing City.
Among the three of them, only the wood transported by Qian Le had something unexpected.
Qian Le's wood traveled by water, and was tied into canoes and flowed down the water.
When it was transported into Bianjing City, it was stopped by the navy patrolling the Bianhe River.
Kou Ji sent someone to Cao Mansion and said hello to Cao Wei, and the navy happily let Qian Le's timber transportation team go.
After the first batch of things that Kou Ji wanted arrived, he led the craftsmen in his house and left Bianjing City.
After two days of drying.
The mud outside the city has begun to solidify gradually.
There are many solidified mud blocks, with large holes opened one after another, and the mud skin is sticking out, making a crunching sound when people step on it.
Although the mud has solidified, there is not much danger for people walking on it, but it is difficult for vehicles and horses to pass through.
On top of the mud blocks, soldiers of the Forbidden Army can be seen everywhere.
In accordance with the imperial court's orders, they were searching for the corpses outside the city.
The floating corpses were pulled out of the mud one by one and piled into a pile.
Burning fires rose up all over Bianjing City.
Kou Ji led the craftsmen, stepping on the mud, to the north gate of Bianjing City.
There are two reasons why Kou Ji chose the outside of Beicheng Gate.
First, the terrain outside the North City Gate is higher than that outside the South City Gate. When the flood rushes down, the damage to the North City Gate is far less severe than that of the South City Gate. Even if there is silt, the silt is not as deep as outside the South City Gate.
Secondly, there is a royal garden built outside the North City Gate, so the large area of land around the North City Gate is an imperial estate.
By occupying Huangzhuang and resettling the refugees, there is no need to argue with others over land issues.
After Kou Ji and others arrived, Liu Heng and others had already arrived.
Mu Chong and others were instructing the laborers to move things.
Liu Heng led his people and used pieces of bluestone slabs to build a place in the open space where things could be placed.
Kou Ji grabbed Liu Heng and asked, "Where did you get the bluestone?"
Liu Heng pointed to the Ruisheng Garden not far away, which was half eroded by the flood.
Kou Ji looked stunned.
Liu Heng said carelessly: "Ruishengyuan is built on a low hill. The flood only eroded the outer walls and only a few yards inside. The bluestone slabs in the yard were loosened by water and could be pried out."
Anyway, no one is taking care of Ruisheng Garden now, so I will pry it out and use it first."
When Kou Ji heard this, he couldn't laugh or cry. He pointed at Liu Heng, but couldn't say a word of accusation.
"Look back and think of a way to tell the court about this matter, and use the excuse of resettling the refugees to absolve you of the guilt."
Kou Ji warned.
Liu Heng nodded.
Then the two of them stared at Mu Chong, Qian Le, and Meng Weizhong's people and started moving things.
Liu Heng watched the laborers under Mu Chong and others carrying packages and running quickly on the mud blocks. He couldn't help but sigh: "Mu, Qian, and Meng's family are more reliable than the imperial court in handling affairs."
Kou Ji said calmly: "Many times, money is more effective than orders."
Liu Heng looked sideways at Kou Ji and asked, "How do you say that?"
Kou Ji pointed at Mu Chong who was instructing the laborers to move things and said: "Muchong hired eleven large ships at once and told all the ship bosses that whoever delivers the things to Bianjing City first will be rewarded with twenty taels of gold."
"Then the boat bosses rushed to row the boats and delivered the things to Bianjing City?"
"good……"
"What if Mu Chong orders them?"
Liu Heng asked.
Kou Ji pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps they will arrive later than the court's food supply."
Liu Heng sighed and said: "The imperial court..."
He did not speak out about the court's faults.
But from his tone, it was obvious that he was dissatisfied with the efficiency of the court.