Because the flood was quite serious, it took a long time before the court sent people to manage it. Shen Qingwan and her team were ordered to take charge of the situation. Fearing that the disaster situation might change at any time, they did not dare to delay at all and rushed to Jiangnan in the shortest time possible.
Jiangnan Governor Li Chaoyang received the message early on, but the letter only briefly said that the court would send someone over in the near future, but did not specify who the person was or why.
At the city gate, Shen Qingwan and her group met with Li Chaoyang and others who came to greet them. Shen Qingwan and Li Jieyu got off the sedan chair one after another and stood in front of him. The guards who were ordered to escort Shen Qingwan and Li Chaoyang handed Fu Yuheng's handwritten letter to Li Chaoyang, clasped his hands and said, "Governor, we are ordered by the emperor to escort the virtuous concubine and Li Jieyu to Jiangnan."
Hearing that it was two women from the harem who came, Li Chaoyang's brows knitted slightly. He took the letter handed over by the guard, took it out and took a quick look. It was similar to the message he had received before, so he put it in his arms, with a slightly dissatisfied look in his eyes, "So it's the two adults who are coming. I have received a letter from the court and have prepared a place for you to stay in the mansion."
"The Governor is thoughtful." Shen Qingwan nodded, maintaining a smile on her face. She had already guessed this would be the case.
"You two must be very tired after traveling all the way. Please follow me back to the mansion first, I will welcome you and give you a bath, and then we can talk about other things." Li Chaoyang had no good feelings towards these concubines in the deep palace. He was always upright and just, and he always attributed the term "beauties are the root of trouble" to the concubines in the harem. But after all, they were the emperor's bedfellows, and their status was much higher than his, so he could only be respectful.
"Then I'll trouble you, sir." Shen Qingwan did not refuse. The long journey really made her too busy to discuss serious matters with him.
The group returned to their carriages, and Li Chaoyang also sat back on his horse. He looked at Shen Qingwan and her group, and a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes. Now that the south of the Yangtze River was flooded, these concubines still had the mind to come and play, and Fu Yuheng actually asked him, the governor who was busy with government affairs, to come and receive them in person, which made his impression of the harem even worse.
They returned to the mansion in silence. Li Chaoyang ordered people to prepare a welcoming banquet and asked his wife to personally prepare the wing room they were going to stay in. As one of the four concubines, Shen Qingwan must be in the wing room in the middle, Lianyun was arranged in the small room outside her room, and Li Jieyu was arranged in the wing room next to it.
The three of them waited in the hall, and soon the servants came to invite them to have dinner. The head guard Chen Er who came to see her off was also invited.
At the banquet, everyone was talking and laughing. Li Chaoyang and his wife did not ask them why they came, but just exchanged pleasantries. She also smiled and did not take the initiative to mention the important task she was carrying.
After the banquet was over, Shen Qingwan brought Lianyun and Chen Er, who insisted on following her to ensure her safety, to discuss their purpose with Li Chaoyang. Li Chaoyang thought about it for a while, and although he didn't think they had any legitimate purpose, he still took them to his study room to handle important matters out of respect for Fu Yuheng.
After they sat down, Shen Qingwan got straight to the point, "To be honest with you, Governor, I am not traveling here as a concubine in the harem. Jiangnan has been hit by floods for a long time, and I have been asking the court to send people to control the floods. Unexpectedly, the emperor was so busy coming here, and the ministers also had important matters to attend to, so they were unable to send people here immediately. I was ordered to come here to control the floods."
Li Chaoyang was stunned when he heard this, then he smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes, only disdain, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid you don't quite understand what a flood is, and you think it's too simple. Let me explain the current situation in Jiangnan. The heavy rain for months has destroyed the river dam, and the surrounding villages have been flooded. The villages that are farther away and on higher ground are fortunately not directly flooded, but most of the farmland is in low-lying areas, which cannot escape the fate of being flooded. The rain is still falling, the water level is rising, countless people are trapped, and the whole of Jiangnan is facing a food crisis."
"Your Majesty, flood control is no joke. If you are not careful, not only will the lives of the common people and Jiangnan be sacrificed, but your safety will also be at risk! Your Majesty should return to the palace and ask the Emperor to send a more reliable minister over!"
These words were very impolite. Chen Er frowned when he heard them. When he lost control of his tone at the last sentence, he took a step forward, put his hand on the hilt of the sword, and glared at him, "How dare you! How dare you speak to the queen like that!"
Shen Qingwan raised her hand to stop Chen Er. She was not angry at his suspicion and contempt. She just asked in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Your Excellency is concerned about the people in Jiangnan. I understand your feelings now. As for your suspicion of me, I understand it even more. But I did come here to control the flood. If you don't believe me, I can only prove myself. You can ask me about the difficult problems of flood control. If I can't answer, it's naturally because I don't have the ability. You don't need to tell me. I will go back and ask the emperor to send a capable person over."
Li Chaoyang calmed down, but his face was cold. "Since Your Majesty is so reasonable, I will not deliberately make things difficult for you. I just want to ask, how does Your Majesty want to deal with this flood? How do you think it can be dealt with effectively?"
"Your Excellency's current method of controlling floods is to cover the water with soil, and to transport soil from the east to fill the water in the west. This method can only alleviate the disaster on one side temporarily. If the rain continues, both sides will fall one day." Shen Qingwan analyzed.
"I know everything you said, but there is no better way right now." Li Chaoyang sneered.
"Don't worry, sir. When I learned that there were signs of floods in the south, I read a lot of related books and concluded that flood control is nothing more than three points, namely building dams, diverting water, and building reservoirs." Shen Qingwan paused, "When water comes, we still have to dig and transport soil. Why not dig a waterway that leads to the big rivers and the water-scarce areas?"
"How can such a big project be completed in a short time?" Li Chaoyang still frowned, but his disdain had faded a lot.
"Indeed. But the dam already existed, it's just that one side was washed away, so there are traces to repair it. My Lord, you dug the earth to fill the water before, and there must have been a lot of pits left. Why not dig the pits farther away from human settlements deeper, divert the water there, store it, and then build a waterway leading to the river?" Shen Qingwan explained.
Li Chaoyang remained silent, seemingly thinking about something.
"Of course, this is just a rough plan. The details can only be determined after careful survey of the terrain in Jiangnan. I'll trouble you for your help here." She slid her fingertips across her bun.
"This method is feasible." Li Chaoyang nodded slowly, and the contempt for her in his eyes had disappeared.
With a slight smile, Shen Qingwan ordered Lianyun to take out the imperial edict that she had brought in early in the morning, "Sir, this is the imperial edict of the emperor's appointment. I didn't take it out before because I wanted you to sincerely affirm me, rather than being forced by the imperial edict."
Li Chaoyang's heart was shocked, and he felt a sense of admiration for the woman in front of him.