When Xinchen was promoted to be grand administrator he found it to be his duty to spend his energy of creating benefits for the people. He would visit, help, and rest in villages to see/watch the progress. He encouraged farming and as he would travel about he inspected the water and springs used for irrigation. Most likely Xinchen noticed the flourishing of agriculture with the irrigation systems and even helped villages build canals, dikes, ditches, and water gates. He did all this to expand the irrigated land and increase the food surplus. Xinchen knew how important water was for the people so he formulated regulations/rules concerning the distribution and use of water. Which these rules are inscribed on stones which were placed on the boundaries of the fields to prevent disputes.
Claudius' completion of public works were revered by Suetonius as "great and essential rather than numerous..." However reading Suetonius' description it appears to me that some of these projects such as, the drainage channel of Lake Fucine was done for the gain of glory. He made attempts on make irrigation projects but the drainage channel of Lake Fucine and the creation of the harbor at Ostia were refused. The building of the drainage channel took 30,000 men and 11 years without much success.
Comparing the two men, Xinchen was the better leader judging from the two passages. Xinchen cared for the people and found it his duty to help them. While it seems that Claudius' main focus for making the irrigation public projects was for the glory and power. Xinchen was kind and spent his energy helping the villagers build their irrigation systems while Claudius ordered and watched. Xinchen even created water regulations to help solves disputes on water distribution and usage. Xinchen's passion to work for and with the people is what makes him a better leader than Claudius.
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