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Chapter 786: Water Depth (I)

It is no exaggeration to describe Shangshu Zhou's life as being in dire straits.

As the Minister of Works, he led his subordinates to work in the muddy riverbed all day long, exposed to the wind and sun. At night, everyone had to gather together to discuss the river embankment construction plan, and they had to work hard all day long.

Even so, he did not receive the emperor's approval. He was often urged and scolded.

Minister Zhou couldn't help but miss the time when Prime Minister Wang was in control. How good it was back then! The Ministry of Works had a sufficient budget, and they could get as much as they wanted. Half of it was used for official business, and the other half was shared among the subordinates. He and Prime Minister Wang took the lion's share, and they were well fed. They worked leisurely, and no one was urging the Ministry of Works behind their backs...

Such a good day seems like a lifetime ago. In fact, it was just over a year ago.

Everything changed when the emperor changed.

The good days of officials are gone forever.

Minister Zhou sighed deeply again.

The two trusted officials beside him looked at each other and spoke cautiously: "Sir, the document sent by the emperor is urging us to come up with a plan to build the river embankment again?"

"In fact, we have almost finished discussing it. Otherwise, we can finalize the plan and present it to the emperor."

Minister Zhou came back to his senses instantly, and snorted with a stern face: "This disaster relief has already emptied the national treasury. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Nanyang Palace have both suffered heavy losses, and the court officials have also offered money and grain. According to the current plan, a large amount of manpower and financial resources will be consumed. Not to mention the unrest caused by conscription, where can the court come up with so much money and grain?"

"If this plan is presented to the emperor, he will never agree to it and will even scold me, the Minister of Industry, for being incompetent."

One of his confidants frowned and said, "What should we do? This is the result of our Ministry of Industry trying its best to cut the budget."

The second confidant also looked aggrieved: "This time, we didn't think of any benefits at all. The budget we made is all necessary expenses."

Minister Zhou said with a spit, "How dare you think of any benefit? The river bank that was just repaired at the beginning of last year was washed away by the river, flooding six counties and killing so many people. It consumed a lot of money and manpower of the court to provide relief. We are now working for the crime with our heads on the line. If we really want to hold them accountable, there will be no number of heads in the Ministry of Works to chop off."

Her Majesty wanted to keep him to do the work. But this handle could make the officials of the Ministry of Works lose their heads at any time.

The two confidants immediately shut up and dared not say a word, silently criticizing in their hearts.

At the beginning of last year, Emperor Taihe was still alive, and Prime Minister Wang was in power. He allocated a large amount of money from the Ministry of Revenue to repair the river embankment. It was because Minister Zhou and Prime Minister Wang were too greedy, and they embezzled more than 40% of the money, which was then bribed by other officials, and the money that actually went to the river embezzlement was reduced again and again. The materials purchased were inferior, and they saved money wherever possible. How good could the quality of the river embankment be?
It would be fine to deal with a simple flood, but when faced with a flood like this that is rarely seen in the past ten years or so, wouldn't we be completely destroyed?

If the responsibility is really investigated, Minister Zhou should be beheaded first, followed by Prime Minister Wang. How could it be their turn?

Minister Zhou naturally didn't know that his confidants were madly complaining about him in their hearts, so he cheered up and ordered, "Go and tell everyone what I said, and have a meeting tonight to discuss and decide, and do your best to reduce the budget."

The two officials responded and hurried off to run errands and pass on the message. The Ministry of Works spent almost all its money this time, and there were dozens of officials and their entourage, a total of 200 people. In order to facilitate the meeting, they stayed in a wealthy businessman's mansion.

Minister Zhou gave the order and all the officials arrived in less than half an hour.

Everyone was busy outside, getting sunburned, even Yang Zheng.

Yang Zheng didn't know much about river affairs, but he didn't need to know so much. He followed Minister Zhou every day, and recorded everything about where Minister Zhou went, who he met, what he did, and what he said. He picked out the most important ones and sent them to the capital for the emperor to review. That was enough.

Yang Zheng attended every meeting of the Ministry of Industry. He never interrupted, but just sat aside and listened quietly, watching the officials of the Ministry of Industry argue over the budget.

After listening to their arguments for two months, Yang Zheng also understood a lot of things, from the selection of the river bank location to the construction scale and the budget plan. He thought to himself, no wonder the emperor put him in the Ministry of Works to be a nail. It was really a huge project built by the Ministry of Works, and the water was too complicated. It was too easy to make trouble.

Let’s not talk about other things, just say that the materials used, such as stone mud, have different prices in the market. The samples look similar, but when they are actually used in the project, the effect is completely different.

The budget must be reduced, but the quality must be guaranteed. If such a large-scale flood occurs again and the river bank is completely washed away, Minister Zhou and others will be able to hang themselves at home without the emperor's punishment.

As for the difficulties and troubles that will be encountered in conscripting labor, no one is talking about it now. This is a matter for the future, and it will be a headache for the future. Let's get through this hurdle first.

The meeting lasted until midnight, and everyone was so tired of arguing that they barely managed to reduce the budget by 10%.

Minister Zhou was exhausted. He left Yang Zheng behind and said to him, "Doctor Yang, you have seen and heard the difficulties the Ministry of Works is facing. The budget cannot be reduced any further."

"The emperor is in a hurry, so tomorrow the minister will send this plan to the capital. If the emperor gets angry, then we will ask Doctor Yang to speak for the Ministry of Works."

As a dignified minister, he still had to bow his head to his subordinates. I don't even want to mention the bitterness in my heart.

Yang Zheng immediately responded in a serious tone, "I am also a member of the Ministry of Works, and I have fought and retreated with my colleagues in the Ministry of Works. If the emperor holds the Ministry of Works accountable, I will not escape punishment. Lord Shangshu, please rest assured that if the emperor asks me alone, I will report the hard work of the Ministry of Works for more than two months."

This is how smart people talk.

I just want to talk about the hard work over the past two months. No one has spoken up for you in the past mistakes made by the Ministry of Works. Once the emperor holds you accountable, just wait!
Minister Zhou understood what was happening, so he put on a smile and said some nice words before letting Yang Zheng leave.

After Yang Zheng left, Shangshu Zhou smoothed his sparse hair, sighed deeply, and stayed up late to write memorials.

After Yang Zheng returned to his bedroom, he did not rest and wrote a letter to the emperor. It was thick and solid, with more than ten pages. That night, the letter was quietly sent out.

Minister Zhou knew what was going on, but he could only pretend that he didn't know. It was not until the early morning of the next day that he sent someone to send the memorial to the capital.

Yang Zheng's letter was one step faster than Shangshu Zhou's memorial and reached the emperor first.