Thief Emperor

Chapter 986: A Thousand Years of Merit
Your Majesty, I haven't been this happy in a long time.

Everything has its advantages and disadvantages.

Being an emperor is certainly a good thing. Being the founding monarch and creating a foundation that will last for eternity is certainly a joyful thing.

Being the backbone of a huge group is also a fascinating thing, and future generations will admire you for what a real man should be like.

But he naturally has his disadvantages.

For example, since becoming the King of Wu, Li Yun has rarely left the center of the group and gone out to explore.

Even when he went to the front line, he was always surrounded by a large group of people.

This is even more true after he became emperor.

For Li Yun from another world, it was not difficult to accept being a sitting emperor. After all, he had some similar experiences. But for the "Master Li", it was a very difficult experience.

He is a wild man who longs for freedom.

Now, the emperor's ceremonial procession was going out, and Li Yun finally had the opportunity to break away from the ceremonial procession and ride his horse across the land of Bianzhou.

The wind blowing in his face made him feel happy.

But after running only a few dozen miles, the smile on the emperor's face disappeared.

Because there is still some visible mud and sand on the official road.

In the fields on both sides of the official road, there were some people in simple clothes cleaning the fields.

Many of these people were still wearing white, and it was obvious that someone in their family had died in the disaster.

Emperor Li dismounted and looked out at the fields along the roadside.

Lord Yang Xi also hurriedly dismounted and followed Li Yun. He followed Li Yun's gaze and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Why is there so much mud and sand?"

Li Yun looked back at him and said in a muffled voice: "The Yellow River burst its banks and brought it out with the river water."

He walked to a tree, looked at the traces of mud and sand left on the tree, gestured, and then fell silent again.

Judging from the marks on the trees, the water of the river was almost as high as his thighs when it passed here.

He is tall, and for an ordinary person his height would be waist-high or even higher.

And this is obviously not the peak. It is conceivable that when this flood really comes, human power will be insignificant.

Yang Xi looked at it and asked, "Sir, will the mud and sand in this field hinder farming?"

Emperor Li looked back at him and shook his head, "It's not all sand, it shouldn't be."

“If there’s more river mud.”

Li Yun thought for a moment and continued, “The land will become fertile, and farming will be better next year.”

The reason why the river is called the mother river is because it can deposit fertile fields.

However, the natural disasters caused by such breaches are unacceptable.

Emperor Li looked for a while, then got on his horse and kept walking. It was not until evening that he arrived near Kaifeng, the capital of Bianzhou.

At this time, the officials of Kaifeng had all gone to welcome the emperor's procession, and no one knew that the emperor had arrived in Bianzhou City.

At least the local officials in Bianzhou didn’t know.

His Majesty the Emperor successfully entered the city of Bianzhou with the help of the badge of his imperial guards. At this moment, the people in Bianzhou only thought that he was the emperor's personal army, and they entered the city of Bianzhou in advance to eliminate danger for the emperor.

Because there were more than a hundred armored generals following behind them, naturally no one dared to provoke them. That night, Li Yun and his companions found a big inn to stay in. After they settled in, Yang Xi stood in front of Li Yun, lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "Sir, stay here tonight, you must not go out."

"We, the Yulin Army, are not familiar with this place, and we cannot deploy our defenses in a big way..."

Emperor Li looked at him and said in silence: "Except you, no one knows I'm here, what are you afraid of?"

"Could it be that someone from your Yulin Army leaked the secret?"

Yang Xi was so scared that he waved his hands repeatedly. Just as he was about to explain, he heard the emperor say with a smile: "Okay, okay, I'm a little tired from the journey. I'll take a nap first. Go and do something for me."

Yang Xi said quickly: "You go ahead."

"Ride your horse overnight and bring Zhuo Guangrui from the ceremonial guard to Bianzhou City. I want to see him when I wake up."

Yang Xi nodded quickly and said, "Okay, I'll go pick up Mr. Zhuo myself."

Li Yun said "hmm" and said, "You go ahead."

Yang Xi took a deep breath, bowed his head and clasped his fists, then carefully retreated. After leaving the room, he made detailed arrangements to his subordinates, then personally rode a fast horse and galloped all the way to the emperor's ceremonial procession behind him.

After the ceremonial procession arrived, he found Zhuo Guangrui and after a brief conversation, he also prepared a fast horse for Zhuo Xianggong, and the two of them rushed to Bianzhou city overnight.

At daybreak, Yang Xi used his Yulin Guard badge to open the gates of Bianzhou City and brought Zhuo Guangrui all the way to the inn where the emperor was staying.

At this time, Emperor Li had not yet woken up. When he woke up, Zhuo Guangrui, with bloodshot eyes, had been brought to his room and said to him respectfully, "Your Majesty."

Although others didn't know that Li Yun had slightly left the ceremonial guard, the two prime ministers who were accompanying him naturally knew about it.

At this time, Zhuo Guangrui was a little uneasy.

He knew that the Emperor left the team because he wanted to see with his own eyes how well his disaster relief efforts were going and whether they were effective.

Now, it's time to see the results.

The Emperor motioned him to sit down, then sighed and said, "Yesterday, I traveled more than a hundred miles in Bianzhou by myself, and asked a dozen local people, so I saw the disaster situation myself."

"Brother Zhuo has done a great job in Bianzhou."

Li Yun looked at him and praised him, "The local people all said that after you arrived, no one in Bianzhou starved to death anymore."

"Everyone calls you Mr. Chou."

This is to praise Zhuo Guangrui for the thick rice porridge he provided during disaster relief.

Zhuo Guangrui heaved a sigh of relief and bowed his head, saying, "This is all my duty. I don't deserve your praise."

Li Yun shook his head slightly: "During the disaster relief process, there are many people who embezzle money. You can do your job well, ensure smooth communication between the upper and lower levels, and ensure that the officials working under you do not take advantage of the situation. This is already quite rare."

Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head and said, "In Bianzhou alone, I have killed dozens of petty officials, and these people dare not profit from it."

Li Yun said "hmm" and didn't even ask about the petty officials. Instead, he said, "Disaster relief is difficult, but there is one thing that is even more difficult."

"After this day, the local people are very happy about the river..."

“They are all filled with fear.”

Emperor Li said softly, "Some people say that the river floods twice every three years."

"Yes."

Zhuo Guangrui lowered his head and said, "But it's a minor flood, at most the water will be above your feet or knees. Like this year, it's a flood."

"Therefore, this dynasty must start to tame the river."

"This water conservancy project is originally the responsibility of the Ministry of Works. Brother Zhuo has been the Minister of Works for many years. Do you have any ideas?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head and said, "When I was in the Ministry of Works, I did know some talented people in water conservancy, but river management is not something that can be accomplished in just one or two years."

"Especially Taiga."

He smiled bitterly and said, "The river is violent and unpredictable."

"This time when the dam broke, I brought people from the Ministry of Works to check it out together," said an official from the Ministry of Works.

"The river should be diverted to flow into the sea from Lijin."

Li Yun lowered his head and pondered for a while, then looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said, "I don't understand this aspect, and I can't say much to you, but after this disaster, Brother Zhuo, you will take the lead in opening up a water conservancy department in the Ministry of Industry, which will be responsible for river repairs."

"Control the river..."

Emperor Li closed his eyes and frantically searched for relevant knowledge in this area. Finally, he thought of some scattered words and said, "I once heard that the reason why the river is rampant is mainly because of the accumulation of silt, which causes the river channel to become higher and higher."

"The dams are getting higher and higher. If this continues, it won't last long."

"Someone once said that by using the method of restraining water and attacking sand, we may be able to gradually reduce the hidden dangers of the river."

"Bundle water to attack sand..."

Zhuo Xianggong took a deep breath and lowered his head to ponder this sentence. Emperor Li patted his shoulder and said, "Anyway, I'll leave this matter to you, Brother Zhuo."

“This is the work of a thousand years.”

“Whether it takes ten or twenty years, as long as the people you pick can heal the river.”

His Majesty the Emperor said solemnly: "Even if you only achieve some results, I will definitely restore your title."

"It's no problem to let your family inherit the title."

The title will not be inherited without succession, that is, Zhuo Guangrui's son can inherit the title of marquis in the future.

The meaning of this reward is that after returning to Luoyang, the emperor will still strip the Zhuo family of their titles because of the imperial examination case, but as long as Zhuo Guangrui does a good job in this matter.

Li Yun will return the title to him.

If it is done well and truly brings benefits for thousands of years, Li Yun will not be reluctant to give away the title of a hereditary duke.

Zhuo Guangrui was silent for a long time before he bowed his head deeply and saluted the emperor.

"I will do my best!"

(End of this chapter)