Rong Tang said, "My husband and I originally wanted to come to Suzhou City to escape the summer heat, but my family has several farms nearby, and my mother told me to go and have a look before we came. So I took Huai Jing around these few days, and I heard from the manager of the farm that the flood season is approaching."
He smiled, nonchalantly, picked up the teacup and took a sip, giving Jiang Shanxing time to react, and then said: "I don't really understand these things, I just heard that the autumn crops have not been harvested yet, which may have an impact. Although my family's assets in Jiangnan are not much, there are still thousands of acres of farmland and more than a dozen shops. It would be fine if I didn't hear it, but if I heard it, I would inevitably have doubts. It just so happens that you are here, Lord Jiang, so I want to ask if the flood season is really coming, how is the rain this year? Will it affect the harvest?"
It was the first time that Rong Tang called Su Huaijing "Young Master" in front of outsiders, but Su Huaijing did not have the leisure to savor the meaning. He just sat aside, playing with the waist badge of Prince Ningxuan in his hand, and seemed to casually cast his gaze at Jiang Shanxing's face.
There are many things that he can and must do.
Since natural disasters were bound to happen, the political achievements he gave to Sheng Chengming were just a few numbers.
How much loss was reduced, how many villages were saved, how many disaster victims were helped, how many rebellions were quelled...
From the chronology of major events recorded in historical documents since the founding of Dayu, it is not uncommon for disasters of varying sizes to occur every few years, such as droughts, floods, snowstorms, locust plagues, etc.
Once these disasters occurred, the local officials in charge would be held accountable later, while the officials or princes who made special contributions to the disaster would be reused and rise to high positions.
This was the political achievement that Su Huaijing originally intended to give to Sheng Chengming.
He analyzes things from an absolutely rational and selfish perspective and plans the most appropriate way out.
But all the plans were ruined the moment Rong Tang raised her sparkling eyes and said to him, "Let's go to Jiangnan" on that rainy morning.
He should have known long ago that his little Bodhisattva was such a smart and kind-hearted person, and the disasters that he could see were not completely invisible to Rong Tang.
When he saw it, no matter how weak his ability was, he always wanted to save it.
It was just like that night in early spring when the young master saved him from Fengyue Tower despite his body being on the verge of fainting from coughing.
So Su Huaijing asked people along the way to collect food and store medicine. He could not change God's will, but at least he could prevent a few people from starving to death and find a way to prevent the epidemic that would inevitably occur after the floods.
Su Huaijing originally felt that this world was of no importance to him.
Whether people in the world live or die has nothing to do with him.
He wanted revenge, wanted to kill Emperor Renshou, wanted to expose his hypocritical face to the people, and wanted to vindicate his parents, brothers and sisters.
From his perspective, everyone in the world is an accomplice.
But from Rongtang's perspective, the people of the world, the fishermen on the lake, the farmers in the fields, the book craftsmen in the village... millions of ordinary people who work from sunrise to sunset are all innocent, and they should not become insignificant pawns in political struggles.
So Su Huaijing tried to understand it from his perspective.
Once he changed his mind, he wanted to know whether the destination and the house chosen by Rong Tang were really worth traveling thousands of miles from the capital.
These millions of people still have nothing to do with him, but if Rong Tang wants to save them, Su Huaijing will definitely save them for him.
He lowered his eyes and rubbed the badge on his waist casually. The fragrance of tea filled the hall. Jiang Shanxing sat in the armchair at the bottom, his expression turning from respectful at the beginning to heavy.
Like Li Changfu, he was a fourth-rank official, over fifty years old, and had served in most of the country. Yet, he bowed earnestly to two young men under twenty years old.
"Your Highness is wise and perceptive. This year's flood season... may cause disasters!" Jiang Shanxing said in a deep voice, his expression extremely sad, his back bent, and he seemed to have aged by more than ten years.
Rong Tang lowered his eyes and said nothing for a long time.
Jiang Shanxing, 53 years old, was from Longxi. He was a Jinshi in the third year of Yuanxing. He started as a county magistrate in southern Fujian and was promoted and transferred many times until he became the prefect of Suzhou.
In the summer of the ninth year of the Qingzheng reign, there was heavy rainfall in the south of the Yangtze River. Jiang Shanxing sensed something was wrong and inspected the river mouth dams many times. He wrote a letter to the governor, saying that the water level was rising and the temperature was getting colder this year, and there might be a flood. He asked the governor to send someone to investigate and organize local villagers to repair the dams to prevent the disaster.
The Jiangnan Governor Lu Junxian received his letter but pretended not to have seen it. Ten secret letters were sent to him in succession, but Lu Junxian did not reply to any of them.
Jiang Shanxing had no choice but to write a letter and planned to send it to the capital as soon as possible to hand it to the cabinet ministers. However, it was intercepted by Governor Lu just outside the city of Gusu. He wrote to him and angrily scolded him for making alarmist remarks, reporting to higher authorities without going through the proper channels, and said that he deserved death.
Jiang Shanxing was trapped in Suzhou. His superiors did not believe his judgment on the rainfall this year, and he could not deliver the letters he reported. He was in a dilemma before the end of the year when he returned to Beijing to report on his work. As a parent official who protected the people, he could only inspect the dike barefoot every day and try to gather the villagers to strengthen the dike at his own expense without causing panic.
But what he can do is still a drop in the bucket. At most, he can only save some people. Once the flood gathers, releasing it will still cause disasters.
If the imperial court does not send the Minister of Water Resources and the army to the south, rebels will surely appear once the disaster is over, which will then be an even greater crisis.
This is simply a vicious cycle. Officials with a little bit of brains would not allow such a disaster to happen in the land under their jurisdiction. But Lu Junxian was softened by the spring water in Jiangnan and his head was confused by the sweet wine. His fish-like eyes could only see the dishes on the table, the gold in the box, and the thin waist in the tent, but not the crying babies and the old old men and women.
Rong Tang was silent for a long time, and finally spoke up, "May I ask why Lord Jiang has been visiting you so many times these days?"
For three consecutive days, they missed each other unintentionally on the first day and wanted to collect grain on the second day. If Jiang Shanxing had come a little later today and they had left early, they would probably not have met each other again.
Jiang Shanxing said, "I would like to ask the prince to write a letter to Prince Ning Xuan, informing him of the hidden dangers in the south of the Yangtze River, and asking His Majesty to send officials and troops to the south as soon as possible to avoid delays and endless disasters!"
Rong Tang pursed his lips and did not agree immediately.
He sat in the chair, looked up at the old man who was bowing to him, and said nothing.
Su Huaijing stood up and replaced a cup of hot tea for him, then stood beside Rong Tang, smiled and lowered his eyes and asked, "Lord Jiang cares about the people, and we are deeply moved, but—"
He paused, his eyes sharp as ice: "What if your judgment is wrong?"
Jiang Shanxing stood up and said quickly, "After determining that there will be a flood this year, I visited farmers along the coast in several nearby villages. They all told me that the water level this year is unusual and there may be disasters."
Su Huaijing's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he seemed to feel a little admiration.
Some local officials have old scholars on their payroll, and they visit and ask questions when they encounter a little trouble. But how much is the harvest this year, whether there is enough rain, whether the number of insects has increased or decreased... Such questions should be asked to the farmers who have been close to the loess for generations.
However, Su Huaijing still did not respond, but said: "Even if you all say so, the natural disaster is still unknown. If the prince suddenly writes a letter back to the capital, and Prince Ning Xuan reports to His Majesty, and the flood has not yet occurred by then, who should bear the crime of deceiving the emperor?"
Jiang Shanxing: "I will take responsibility for it."
Su Huaijing nodded, seeming to agree. Jiang Shanxing's eyes lit up, and just as he was about to speak, he changed the subject and asked, "But this letter has the mark of Ning Xuan Wang Mansion, and the person who wrote the letter is Ning Xuan Wang's son. You are only a fourth-rank prefect, how can you bear the responsibility that should belong to Ning Xuan Wang Mansion?"
"In other words, why did the responsibility that should have been borne by you and the Governor of Jiangnan fall on my husband?" Su Huaijing said in a light voice with a smile on the corners of his lips, as if he was going to stand by and watch. Rong Tang sat next to him and didn't say a word from beginning to end.
Jiang Shanxing's face turned pale, his lips were tightly pursed, and his body seemed to have become more hunched.
He wanted to ask again, but Su Huaijing smiled and raised his hand to send him away: "Master Jiang, please go back. Don't waste your time here."
The order to expel him was too direct. Even if Jiang Shanxing wanted to stay any longer, it was impossible. He was soon led out of the house by the servant.
He stood in front of the gate and looked at the newly renovated house for a moment, sighed heavily, turned around and got on the carriage and drove towards the river mouth.
In the hall, the guests left without touching the tea.
Su Huaijing walked over and looked down: "What a pity, where is the tea I bought specially for this."
Rong Tang looked up at him and asked, "Why don't you agree?"
Su Huaijing turned around, tilted his head and opened his eyes, surprised: "It was Tangtang who didn't want to agree, why did she ask me instead?"
Rong Tang said nothing and looked at him.
After a moment, Su Huaijing smiled.
He sighed slightly, walked up to Rong Tang, persuaded him to drink a sip of hot tea, and then said: "Lord Jiang is a good official, right?"
Rong Tang neither nodded nor shook his head. It was impossible for him to judge a person's temperament based on one incident. A corrupt official with a huge fortune might work hard for the people, and a good official who was honest and upright might make false judgments and cause innocent people to die tragically.
The officialdom is full of muddy water, and it is really foolish to try to guess the truth about a particular official through the muddy water.
But Jiang Shanxing was indeed a good official, a good official who died in the line of duty.
After the disaster, although he was unable to prevent the heavy rain from bursting the dikes, he tried his best to minimize the losses. Among the counties in the south of the Yangtze River that were affected, Suzhou suffered the least losses.
But after a great disaster there will always be a great epidemic, this is an eternal law.
Jiang Shanxing worked hard for days, but he also went to the prevention and control area many times to check the epidemic situation. As a result, he was not seriously infected with the disease. Under the poor medical conditions, he relied on his willpower to overcome the disease.
But soon news came that a group of refugees gathered outside Suzhou city and were about to start an uprising. Jiang Shanxing went there in person to recruit them, but was mistaken for a dog official by the angry and excited victims and was stoned to death on the spot.
He escaped natural disasters and epidemics, but as a local official he was unwilling to suppress the victims with force. As a result, he was killed by the people who were unaware of the truth.
The King of Hell would say it was unfair when he saw him.
Su Huaijing bent down, looked straight into Rong Tang's eyes, and asked seriously: "Tang Tang is so smart, guess how long it will take for the rain to fall?"
Rong Tang silently thought in his heart: On June 13, in the summer of the ninth year of Qingzheng, heavy rain fell from the sky for seven consecutive days, destroying many river embankments.
Su Huaijing said: "Today is the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. I guess it will rain in seven days at most."
Rong Tang was shocked and stared in disbelief, but quickly relaxed.
Su Huaijing caught his abnormality at that moment, but thought he was nervous, so he took his hand and said, "We can get back to the capital in seven days if we hurry, but even if we don't count the rain and mud on the road, we don't count whether the prince will report to the court, and whether His Majesty will send imperial envoys and soldiers to Jiangnan. By the time they arrive, the flood will have already become a disaster."
Rong Tang pursed his lips and said nothing. He was afraid that as soon as he opened his mouth, he would tell Su Huaijing that he actually had other plans.
Su Huaijing noticed his expression, smiled lightly, and said slowly: "Tangtang wants to ask Prefect Jiang to hold a banquet and invite Jiangnan Governor Lu Junxian, and then you will attend, and use your status as the Prince of Ningxuan to pressure him to issue an order to quickly evacuate the people along the river and consolidate the dikes, and then return to their homes after the flood is over?"
“… More than that.” Rong Tang finally spoke, looking at Su Huaijing, keeping the rest of the sentence in his stomach.
—I have something on him that will force him to obey my orders.
Su Huaijing was stunned for a moment, then understood, his eyes slightly brightened, and he nodded with a smile: "I was negligent. How could a prince alone order the governor of Jiangnan around? Tangtang, you came all the way here, you would not fight a battle without confidence, you probably have other bargaining chips in your hand."
He almost thought that his little Bodhisattva was just being too kind, but he overlooked the fact that with Rong Tang's character and intelligence, if he was not sure, he would come to Jiangnan to witness the disaster with his own eyes and feel sad for no reason.
Su Huaijing smiled with his lips curled, his eyes staring straight at Rong Tang, his words were clear but serious: "But I don't allow it."
He said, "I won't let you put yourself in danger."
"Tangtang, betting on people's hearts is the most dangerous thing to do. If you go even a little bit beyond the limit, it may cause the other party to kill you. I won't let you do this."
Su Huaijing was still smiling, as gentle as the pure white lotus placed next to the basket of lotus pods under the willow tree on the street the day before. The pink and yellow stamens were gentle and lovely, and completely harmless.
Rong Tang swallowed unconsciously, his Adam's apple rolled slightly, and Su Huaijing's eyes fell on that place. He continued slowly and in a low voice: "What Lord Jiang needs is not a secret letter to be sent to the capital, he wants someone who can really make Lu Junxian obey his orders."
The young master has a slender and white neck, a small and delicate Adam's apple, and along the line of his neck is a thin and lean chin and pale and emotionless lips.
Su Huaijing's gaze stopped there and he smiled: "Tangtang, guess what gift I prepared for you?"
(End of this chapter)