Dayu has a vast territory. It has lasted for more than three hundred years since Emperor Taizu and has long been a powerful country.
From Yujing to Jiangnan, Rong Tang has seen the Danxia landform with its overlapping mountains and stone forests, as well as the vast grasslands full of vitality.
Then we traveled around the picturesque Huizhou and temporarily stayed in the rippling water and misty Suzhou.
As the convoy passed through the official road, all he saw was the beautiful scenery of the Dayu Mountains and rivers, where the people lived in peace and harmony. All the shameful, shocking tragedies and darkness were hidden under the loess and prisons, never seeing the light of day.
Now that Suzhou Prefecture was washed away by heavy rain, Su Huaijing brought Rong Tang out of Lin Garden and saw scene after scene of city walls and houses washed away by the flood.
There were collapsed houses and broken roofs everywhere.
As soon as the rain stopped, the government sent people to clean the road, but one could still see frozen cats and dogs, and even babies and old people wrapped in straw mats, in the corners.
The white porridge cooked in Lin Garden tasted very good, but Rong Tang felt his spleen and stomach were boiling as he walked along.
He knew that people would die, and it was inevitable. No matter how much preliminary preparation he made, how many shelters he opened for disaster victims within seven days, and how many doctors and security personnel he urgently recruited, it was still impossible to save everyone.
Rong Tang's hands and feet became cold uncontrollably. All the fresh emotions aroused by Su Huaijing in the morning disappeared without a trace. There was still water on the road. He walked around avoiding the puddles. With every step he took, he felt the world was spinning.
Su Huaijing held his hand tightly and talked to him every time they walked a distance.
"The situation is much better than expected. Initially, it was thought that 20% to 30% of the people in Suzhou would be affected, about 130,000 people. According to past flood records, about 130 people would die or go missing. But according to the statistics reported by the county government yesterday, 53 people died and 39 people were missing in Suzhou. We are organizing villagers to search and rescue. If nothing unexpected happens, half of them will survive."
The most prosperous Jiangnan area became devastated and extremely humid. The long streets were full of tall porridge stalls, and long queues of disaster victims waiting for relief could be seen at regular intervals.
The grain stores reopened, and those who could afford it were scrambling to stock up on food for their families to prevent another disaster.
On the roofs of the alleys along the streets that were broken by the heavy rain, strong young men were climbing up and patching up the gaps with tiles and wooden boards.
After the natural disaster, it was tens of millions of ordinary people who stood under the scorching sun of the long summer and rekindled their courage to survive.
Su Huaijing laughed and turned his head to look at Rong Tang: "Tangtang, we have reduced the losses by half."
Palm-sized sparrows lined up on the roofs and treetops, looking at the busy people in the city with their bean-sized eyes. Su Huaijing looked at Rong Tang with a gentle look that almost fit into a painting: "So you see, we are really great."
We did our best to save as many people as we could.
Whether or not we will be appreciated and praised, at least the land beneath our feet and the sun above our heads remember us.
So don't ever feel guilty, you've done good enough.
Su Huaijing held Rong Tang's hand and slowly led him through this disaster-stricken land.
-
Because food had been stockpiled in advance, porridge distribution was organized immediately after the heavy rain. No one starved to death in Suzhou city after the flood, but small-scale scrambles for food still occurred. Fortunately, the officers and soldiers were well-trained and stopped them in time.
Some of Sheng Chengming and the officials under him moved to Suzhou Prefecture to take charge, while some remained in Linyuan.
His Royal Highness the Second Prince, who had been living a life of debauchery in the capital city of Yu for eighteen years, walked around the disaster area and riverbanks every day. After being exposed to the scorching sun, his skin color became much darker and he looked extremely haggard.
Sometimes Rong Tang would look at Sheng Chengming, who had been drained of his energy, and then at Su Huaijing, who stuck to him day after day and was radiant, and would even sigh that he was worthy of being the villain who played a major role. Even if he was not favored by heaven, this face could still be used in battle anywhere.
And he's quite capable of fighting.
One afternoon, Rong Tang was sitting under a persimmon tree in the yard that was full of green fruits, watching Shuangfu decocting medicine out of boredom. The big villain with a strong fighting face frowned slightly, listening to Lu Jiaxi muttering something beside him all the way, and walked in from outside the yard.
The moment he saw Rong Tang sitting in the courtyard, Su Huaijing's face changed. He raised his hand and pressed it down, signaling Lu Jiaxi to stop talking. Then he walked behind Rong Tang naturally and asked softly, "Aren't you taking a nap?"
He usually drinks a bowl of medicine that has been cooled to the perfect temperature after waking up from a nap in the afternoon. The medicine is not yet ready, which shows that it is not the time when Rong Tang should normally get up.
He sat on a small stool, holding a dogtail grass in his hand, and drew a circle on the ground with salt to trap a few ants that were carrying food.
Rong Tang teased him with the grass roots, glanced at Lu Jiaxi, and replied, "He fell asleep and woke up early."
Then he asked, "What happened? You both look so sad."
To be fair, Su Huaijing definitely didn't look sad, but Lord Xiao Lu's face was wrinkled so much that it was almost as round as a bun, and it was hard to ignore.
Su Huaijing originally wanted to keep it secret, but Rong Tang was staring at him, so he had no choice but to bring over a small stool, take Shuangfu's place, and slowly fan the fire in the medicine stove with a cattail leaf fan.
He said: "It's not a big deal. The Second Prince has already arranged for someone to solve it. Tangtang doesn't need to worry about it."
Rong Tang: "I'm not bothered, I'm just curious."
Su Huaijing paused for a moment and said, "There is an epidemic in the city."
Rong Tang's heart sank and he began to frown unconsciously.
After a great disaster, there will be a great epidemic. After the first wave of floods, there will be countless human disasters. They can find a way to reduce the number of deaths due to heavy rains by half, but in this era, if the epidemic is highly contagious, many houses have collapsed and cannot be lived in. Many shelters have been set up in the city, and all the victims have gathered in them. If one person is infected, the consequences will be disastrous.
The secret letter that Rong Tang saw in his previous life only mentioned that the death toll from the Jiangnan flood reached hundreds of thousands, but no one could tell the exact number of how many died from floods and heavy rains, how many died from the epidemic, and how many died from rebellion.
He whispered, "Is it serious?"
Su Huaijing raised his eyes to look at him and shook his head: "It's hard to explain. It's a disease I've never seen before."
Lu Jiaxi also sat down. The three of them just formed a circle around the group of ants on the ground. He said, "The epidemic is not the most difficult thing. Master Su had anticipated it early on and asked His Highness to set up an isolation site in the city in advance. If someone showed symptoms, they would be taken there and assigned a doctor to treat them. Other crowded places were fumigated with moxa every day. I passed by there this morning and heard an experienced doctor say that the number of people infected after this flood is much less than after the flood in the second year of Qingzheng."
Rong Tang was slightly stunned and looked at Su Huaijing with a little surprise.
He was aware that the villain had some knowledge of astronomy, geography, military affairs, and politics, because these were his reliance for entering the court in the future, and he couldn't help but learn them.
But he was only seventeen years old, yet he was able to foresee the epidemic after the flood and take precautions. His talent is truly amazing.
Little Master Lu also pulled a piece of dogtail grass and circled it on the ground, looking even more anxious than the group of ants that couldn't get out: "The disaster relief money hasn't come in yet."
It was already June 30th, and ten days had passed since the rain stopped. Even the rice that Rong Tang and Su Huaijing had stockpiled in advance, plus the emergency food in Suzhou Prefecture, was almost eaten up.
Not to mention that disaster relief money is not just used to buy food. So many houses collapsed in Jiangnan and a season's crops were destroyed. If the court did not send money, the poor people would probably really starve to death.
Rong Tang didn't say anything for a moment, because he knew that this was bound to happen.
Even in the previous two lives, the Jiangnan Governor Lu Junxian concealed the disaster. It was not until the beginning of July that some refugees who had fled the flood gathered outside the city of Yujing, and the fact that Jiangnan was suffering from the disaster was known to Emperor Renshou.
After that, the first thing he did was not to send an imperial envoy to provide disaster relief, but to secretly order Wu Kangbo to lead the army to expel the refugees outside the city.
As for the time being, after the argument in the court about the truth of the flood, Emperor Renshou sent ministers to personally inspect the disaster situation in the south of the Yangtze River and return to Beijing to report. By the time the disaster relief money was allocated from the Ministry of Revenue and transported to the convoy heading south, it was already the middle of July.
Not to mention that the national treasury was already insufficient, and the money allocated for disaster relief was not enough. At this time, local governments were basically struggling to find local wealthy businessmen for donations.
But in this life, there was no case of Lu Junxian concealing the news. The disaster in Jiangnan was reported long ago by the Second Prince's confidants. Logically, the credibility should be quite high. Rong Tang didn't know why there is still no news until now.
When the medicine was boiled to the right temperature, Su Huaijing took it down and poured it into a bowl to cool. He turned his head to look at Lu Jiaxi, then looked at Rong Tang: "Tangtang doesn't know why the disaster relief money hasn't come yet?"
Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, then shook his head honestly: "I don't know."
He might have been in severe pain recently, and his brain was a little numb, so he really couldn't think of anything for a while.
Su Huaijing smiled lightly and answered very biasedly: "Because Lu Junxian is a disciple of Zhang Gelao."
Lu Jiaxi frowned, unable to understand: "What does this have to do with Governor Lu? Didn't Your Highness put him in jail?"
His words were quite naive but hit the nail on the head. Rong Tang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reacted. He looked at Su Huaijing with a ridiculous look, hoping that he would deny his guess.
However, Su Huaijing smiled as soon as he saw his eyes: "It seems that Tangtang has guessed it."
Lu Jiaxi was confused: "What did you guess?"
"Jiangnan is prosperous." Rong Tang threw out these four words lightly.
Jiangnan was a rich place, and Lu Junxian, sitting in the position of governor of Jiangnan, must have made a staggering amount of money every year. And he was also a student of Zhang Ge Lao, so he must have paid a large sum of gold and silver to his teacher every year in exchange for his protection.
The disaster relief money came from the Ministry of Revenue, and the six ministries were under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet.
Now Sheng Chengming came to Jiangnan before the flood, and decisively put Lu Junxian into jail without any explanation. Strictly speaking, Lu Junxian could not do anything about the flood.
Su Huaijing wanted Lu Junxian to be dismissed from his post, but Zhang Ge Lao wanted to bite the fat piece of meat in Jiangnan.
It’s not that he didn’t want to save the lives of millions of people, but he wanted to save his own disciple first before saving the lives of ordinary people.
If this disaster relief money arrived in Jiangnan so quickly, wouldn't it prove that the officials of Dayu were not doing their job and that the disaster could only be resolved if the prince came
Regardless of whether Lu Junxian had been convicted of corruption, bribery or other crimes before, he would inevitably be removed from his position as Governor of Jiangnan.
Zhang Ge Lao wanted to protect him first and then deal with the disaster relief money.
As for how to protect him? It was too simple. It just happened that the person in Jiangnan was his own grandson. As long as Sheng Chengming did not report him, Lu Junxian would always be a member of the Second Prince's party.
From any perspective, this is a complete benefit to Sheng Chengming with no harm at all.
He gained a good reputation, achieved political achievements, kept his high position, and secured financial resources for his future actions.
It all depends on whether Sheng Chengming can reach a consensus with his biological grandfather.
Rong Tang looked at Su Huaijing and felt a chill in his heart. He didn't say anything, but just looked at Su Huaijing quietly.
The medicine was almost dry, Su Huaijing handed it to him and said softly, "Tangtang, don't worry about it, let him think about it."
It is impossible for him to plan everything for Sheng Chengming, and he is not the second prince's real adviser. Whether Lu Junxian is protected or not, this disaster relief money must reach the prefectures in Jiangnan before July 15th.
As for Sheng Chengming’s current choice, it will only affect his future fate, and Su Huaijing doesn’t care.
Rong Tang drank the medicine in silence. Lu Jiaxi was thinking for a long time. The dogtail grass fell to the ground and cut the circle of salt. He said in confusion: "But this is not a matter for Zhang Gelao to decide whether he wants to save him or not. My fellow students are already on their way. Even if we want to save him, we can't."
Rong Tang was slightly stunned, swallowed the medicine, looked up at Lu Jiaxi, and asked, "Who's here?"
"Brother Ke and Master Mu," Lu Jiaxi said, "They set out from the capital in early June. They encountered heavy rain on the way, so they stopped in Huizhou. After settling the disaster victims there, they headed for Hangzhou. They will arrive tomorrow afternoon."
The ants circling on the ground finally found the exit, and they carried the food and crawled out through the gap.
Rong Tang looked down at the gap and fell into a moment of confusion.
Didn’t we avoid the butterfly effect
The secret that was discovered by Mu Jingxu in the previous life and told to Rong Tang by Ke Hongxue was the one he intended to use to blackmail Lu Junxian. Did they have to find out the secret again in this life
Lu Junxian passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi in the eighth year of Yuanxing. He entered the Hanlin Academy as a compiler. The reason why he was promoted all the way to the governor of Jiangnan was because he had done a great thing for Emperor Renshou.
The head on the banner of Emperor Renshou's "rebellion" was chopped off and hung up by Lu Junxian himself as a token of his determination to be loyal to the new emperor.
Ironically, he is actually the unknown uncle of the third prince.
(End of this chapter)