In mid-December, an increasing number of disaster victims flocked towards the capital. The reception points for disaster victims, originally set up fifty li outside the capital, were forced to move further back. Now, disaster victims were gathered twenty li outside the city.
Memorials from local government offices detailing the disaster situation were submitted one after another to Emperor Chongwen.
According to the descriptions in the memorials, this snow disaster was a once-in-a-century event. Houses had collapsed, and people and livestock who couldn't endure had frozen to death. Many were also buried alive.
Cheng Shi, the Minister of Revenue, fell ill due to his old age and excessive work. As the Ministry of Revenue could not be without a leader, Qi Tianming was temporarily appointed to act as the Minister of Revenue.
Under normal circumstances, a promotion would be a great joy. However, in the current situation, everyone knew that being the Minister of Revenue was no easy task. If no viable policies were put in place to resettle the disaster victims, holding this position would only lead people to believe he was incompetent. By the time the disaster passed, would the position of minister still be his?
Therefore, Qi Tianming had been very anxious these past few days, yet he had no solutions. Even the Old Madam had been eating and sleeping poorly.
Seeing this, Qi Zhenzhen felt a pang of sympathy and came up with an idea to tell the Old Madam.
"Wooden houses? Can they work?" The Old Madam felt it was unreliable, as even stone houses had collapsed under the snow, let alone wooden ones.
In her previous life, Qi Zhenzhen had visited a certain country many times. Due to frequent earthquakes there, most houses were made of wood to reduce casualties. She had researched it out of interest, and if wooden houses were built according to the house designs from that country, it would definitely be fine. Even if the current technology couldn't match her previous life, she believed they could withstand this winter.
"Grandmother, I saw it in a rare old book. It's a pity I can't find it now. At the time, out of curiosity, I wondered how houses could be built entirely of wood, and I remembered it out of curiosity. Now, with no other place to accommodate so many disaster victims, if this method works, we can build places for them to shelter in the shortest possible time," Qi Zhenzhen said.
With no better methods available, they had to try this.
The Old Madam immediately sent someone to summon Qi Tianming. Qi Zhenzhen explained it to Qi Tianming again and, in front of him, drew a diagram of the house structure. "Father can find someone skilled in this area to see if it's feasible. If it is, Father can gather the disaster victims to participate in building these wooden houses. Additionally, Father can invite the merchant guilds to come forward and gather merchants to fund this project."
"Those people are driven by profit. The previous donations were likely their limit. Now, without something to move them, why would they care? This method is probably not feasible," Qi Tianming said with a headache.
"Then Father can give them some benefits," Qi Zhenzhen said.
"I'm not good at business, nor do I have that much authority. How can I give them benefits?" Qi Tianming was somewhat confused.
Qi Zhenzhen slowly explained to Qi Tianming. On a small scale, disaster relief was about individual kindness; on a larger scale, it was about national righteousness. If the government was willing to grant them titles, it would be an affirmation for the merchants. In those days, it was easy for them to make money, but it was not so easy to gain official recognition.
In addition, they could be given different commendations based on the amount of silver they donated. The family that donated the most could be given certain benefits they could not normally obtain.
Qi Tianming's eyes lit up. After careful consideration, he felt that what Qi Zhenzhen said was very feasible. As long as it was managed properly, the issue of resettling the disaster victims could be solved at once.