Xu Yangjun's forehead began to sweat, and he stammered, "I will go back to the government office to check, maybe I can find something useful."
Hua Zhi thought that she had just said something that frightened the person, so she nodded and said softly, "Thank you for troubling Mr. Xu, but please stay away from him. Please don't tell anyone about the people and things here. Thank you."
He didn't dare to accept the gift before, and now he had a guess in his mind that Xu Yangjun would never accept it. He saluted and retreated in a panic without waiting for Hua Zhi to make a move. "I know, I will check it out right away."
Hua Zhi didn't care. She drank another half cup of tea and looked up and said, "It may be too late. If the rain continues like this, it will be too late. But it's not completely useless. If we can open up the seven rivers after the flood season, widen and deepen them, and find a suitable place to build a reservoir, we can have more peace next year."
Shaoyao frowned, "If we all work together, we may not be unable to catch up."
"Has there been any forced labor in Xiangyang this year?"
Xie Xu quickly replied, "Not yet. In previous years, the labor service was mostly carried out in the second half of the year after the busy farming season and before winter."
That was good. She didn't want to make the people do forced labor again because of her idea, even if she couldn't gain anything from it.
"That's all I can think of. It's not my turn to take care of what happens next. You can decide for yourselves how to do it and to what extent."
Seeing Huahua was about to leave, Shaoyao did not give her a chance to refuse this time. She went up to her and took her pulse. After a moment, she said, "Take a good rest for two days. Don't just sit there doing nothing. Baoxia, make some nourishing food for Huahua. Oh, and continue to eat the medicinal food you gave her before. Pay attention to whether Huahua has a fever. If she does, you must tell me immediately. As long as I'm at home, I'll come to change her medicine. If I'm out and delayed, you have to change it for her."
"Yes, I remember it."
Hua Zhi pinched Shaoyao's hand and went back to the house. It would be fine to give some advice, but if she really wanted to intervene, it would be considered as immature. She needed to strike the right balance.
It seemed like God was on Xiangyang's side. The rain gradually stopped at night, and the next day the sun was shining brightly. The temperature suddenly went from cool to midsummer.
When Yu Tao came to ask for a meeting, Hua Zhi asked Bao Xia to go back as she was still resting. Bao Xia was puzzled when she came back, "Why didn't Miss see him?"
"They just thought the disaster was over after seeing the clear sky, and asked me whether we should continue to dig the river channels. Why should I care? The idea has been made, whether to dig or not is a political matter, and it has nothing to do with me. Why should I make the decision?"
But the door could stop Yu Tao but not Shaoyao. She pushed the door open with a bang, and the force made it bounce back. She threw her veil on the table and was so angry that she seemed to have eaten dynamite... Wait!
Hua Zhi sat up straight, how could she have forgotten about this thing? Although there was no gunpowder in the Daqing Dynasty, she remembered that black gunpowder was made by the Heavenly Master when he made a mistake in the proportions when making the elixir!
If we had explosives to clear the way, it would be much faster than manually digging one piece at a time or carrying loads of materials at a time.
But we have to be careful about this and not let bad people take advantage of it.
"Crap, is there a Heavenly Master in Xiangyang?"
Shaoyao was still calming down, but she was stunned when she heard the words, and her anger was relieved a little. "Except for the capital city where everyone was driven out, which county can't find a Heavenly Master? Why?"
Hua Zhi stood up and walked back and forth. Shaoyao knew that she was thinking about something, so she didn't care about the anger in her heart. She just held the teapot and drank happily.
"Prepare your pen and ink."
This is something Hua Zhi uses frequently, and it is placed in the most conspicuous place. Bao Xia brought the thing over, poured some water on it, and started grinding the ink with his sleeve held up.
Hua Zhi quickly wrote a letter, read it carefully, blew on it, folded it and handed it to Shaoyao, "Send someone to send it back to Yan Xi immediately, and also find a way to get rid of the Tianshi here."
Shaoyao didn't ask any questions. She opened the door, handed it to Yu Tao outside, said a few words, and then came back.
"How many days does it take to go back and forth?"
"The war horses used by the Seven Stars can be transferred at each post station. If you whip them day and night from Xiangyang, you can make a round trip in about six days."
Hua Zhi nodded. "Why did you get so angry before? You almost kicked the door down."
"It's those people who are so short-sighted. As soon as the weather gets better, they openly or covertly say that there's no need to make such a big fuss. Not to mention that it's still a long time before the flood season is over, even if it's over, it won't come next year. Would it be a loss if we take advantage of this time to widen and deepen those rivers?"
"So what happened next?"
"Of course I blocked them all." Shaoyao snorted coldly, "Now the Qisusi has taken over this matter. I will punish anyone who interferes again."
Hua Zhi shook her head. "It's a good thing that you are not allowed to take care of anything on weekdays. If Qi Su Si acted as rudely as you do, it would surely arouse public anger."
"Hmph, I don't care. I'm too lazy to be angry with them." Shaoyao looked annoyed, obviously very impatient with those people's behavior.
Hua Zhi could imagine what the situation was like and understood the mentality of those officials. Most officials thought that it was better to do less and not make mistakes. To them, being an official was not about doing a lot for the people, but about climbing from one official position to another, rising step by step.
Or maybe they were full of ambitions at the beginning, but in the end most of them became the people they once looked down upon, just like her, like the vast majority of ordinary people, they always unknowingly become the people they hated the most when they were young.
"So they still conscripted labor to repair the dried-up river?"
"Yes, since there is a way to alleviate the flood, why not use it? Isn't it better than being ravaged by floods every year? I have already reported to Lingzhou. No matter what the flood situation is this year, Lingzhou will take action. After the people move away, we can directly dig a branch river from there to connect to the Shahe River. In the future, the pressure on the entire Weishui River will be greatly reduced."
"Dig a canal?" Hua Zhi was surprised. This was much better than she had expected. She had previously thought of building a dam to divert water into Lingzhou County. Although it would be more convenient, in the long run building a canal would be more beneficial to future generations.
"Yes, I beg that all the people in Jingzhou go to Ling County to serve in the next few years. There is strength in numbers, and we will see results in three to five years."
"Are you sure it will be approved?"
Shaoyao raised her chin and said, "Brother Yan is here."
Hua Zhi laughed. It sounded like Yan Xi was indeed favored, and it was not just superficial.
"By the way Huahua, when are we leaving?"
"Don't worry. It won't be too late until the water recedes. Take Xiaoliu with you these few days and let him see the outside world. There are not many opportunities like this."
"Got it. If you don't want to get involved in the outside affairs, just ignore it. I think Xu Yangjun is not bad. He has some knowledge in his head and a good memory. He is familiar with these things. I let him take charge of this matter. I will recommend him for credit after he succeeds."
This is Shaoyao. It’s not that she is incapable of doing it, it just depends on whether she wants to do it or not. Or maybe it’s because Yan Xi protects her very well.
It's only been about 20 days since we last saw each other, but it feels like... it's been a long time.
PS: You can just take a quick look at the place names. Kong Kong did something wrong. They should have been all vague from the beginning, instead of being half true and half false. This makes it more difficult for everyone to read, and it also makes it difficult for me to look up information.