Why did the Emperor send Wei Zhi to Yizhou?
Obviously, because Wei Zhi's temperament was notorious for being nasty and stubborn. Even he dared to continually talk back to the Emperor, not fearing anyone.
The great flood in Yizhou, although reported by the Commissioner and the Governor of Jiannan, hadn't been described as particularly severe.
Being far from the capital, the Emperor neither had clairvoyance nor omniscience, so he was unaware of the actual situation there. He thought that each county had its own grain reserves and within Jiannan there were two large granaries; thus, he and the court officials felt they could solve the problem locally.
Only when the Magistrate of Xindu County and some prominent families of Yizhou rushed to the capital overnight to report, did he realize the severity of the flood in Yizhou.
In several villages downstream of the Qianwei Weir, it was said not a single person survived; they were submerged in the floodwaters in the blink of an eye...
