Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1260: Feeling Uneasy
As expected, the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent over the investigation results a few days later.

Compared to the Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's investigation results were much more comprehensive, but the truth about the breach this time was consistent: it was indeed caused by local officials and people who had previously dug up the river embankment, which led to the flood that affected three prefectures and seven counties.

In addition, the investigation results of the Embroidered Uniform Guard also revealed some other truths, including that some officials in the prefectures turned a blind eye simply because of the local people, while others did it intentionally.

The reason is simple: it's all driven by self-interest. As the old saying goes, "Officials travel thousands of miles for wealth." It's impossible for officials not to embezzle money. Even during the Hongwu era, when corruption was severely cracked down on, officials still engaged in corruption repeatedly. How much more so now?
Because the initiative to breach the riverbank and divert Yellow River water into irrigation canals was crucial to local grain harvests and tax revenue. Those who owned large tracts of fertile land were generally not ordinary people; even if ordinary people owned land, it was usually only a few acres. The majority of the land was in the hands of these gentry, powerful families, or official families.

Therefore, these people colluded with government officials to secretly breach the river embankment and divert water into the canal. The government, having received benefits from them, naturally turned a blind eye. In their view, due to the previous years of drought, the Yellow River in Huaibei had not had any problems for many years. Moreover, this was not the first time they had done this; such a situation had existed even before some officials took office in the area. Now, they were simply turning a blind eye because they had received benefits.

This has been the case for many years; there's no need to offend people over potential problems. Besides, officials can't stay in one place for too long. Generally, local officials can be promoted to other places after serving one or two terms if they perform well in their performance evaluations. Why make things difficult for these gentry, powerful families, or even established official families over something like this?

The officialdom is a spiderweb, with intricate relationships. Who can guarantee that these gentry and powerful families don't have powerful connections, networks, and channels behind them? To refuse outright, or even to insist on a strictly official procedure, would be tantamount to cutting off their lifeline and ruining their livelihood. In such a case, if they were to use their connections to sabotage one's performance evaluation, that person would fail, potentially losing their position rather than being promoted. Why would an official take such a risk?

All they had to do was pretend not to know. Not only would they save face for the other party and speak well of them for future assessments, but they could also use this opportunity to make some money and smoothly complete the tax payments to the imperial court. Wasn't that a win-win situation? In any case, these local officials would only serve for a few years at most, and they could find a way to transfer away from this place when they had the chance. Once they left, whatever happened after the next official arrived would be none of their business. With this in mind, these officials naturally wouldn't take the initiative to stop this matter, much less report it to the imperial court.

It was precisely because of this kind of thinking that the situation of digging up river embankments by the public became more and more serious, which eventually led to this tragedy.

The Yellow River breach caused extremely severe damage this time. Three prefectures and seven counties were flooded with farmland, and countless houses were destroyed. Even county towns adjacent to the Yellow River were submerged, with most of the city walls collapsing. Countless people were swept away by the river, and the flooded areas were like hell.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had compiled a list containing the names of hundreds of officials, and this was not all of them, only those directly implicated. If the lower-ranking officials and local gentry were included, the list would likely contain thousands of names. The Embroidered Uniform Guard dared not investigate further; the situation had spiraled out of their control, and they could only report the matter to the Emperor.

Seeing these results, Zhu Shenzhui was still furious, even though he had expected it. If it were just a matter of water usage, that would be one thing. The key issue was the collusion between officials and local authorities, and the fact that no one had reported the matter for so many years. This made Zhu Shenzhui extremely angry.

"Outrageous! Utterly outrageous!" Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but smash a teacup. The loud bang startled Lu Jiude, who was waiting outside, and he quickly rushed in to see what was going on. But when he saw the emperor's ashen face and the porcelain shards scattered on the ground, Lu Jiude instinctively tried to back out, but Zhu Shenzhui stopped him.

"Go! Summon all the gentlemen of the cabinet to come here. Also, summon Wang Mingxuan, the Minister of Works, and the Crown Prince to see me as well..."

Lu Jiude quickly agreed, and then first had two eunuchs outside come in to clean up the broken teacups and tidy the floor. Just as he was about to leave, Zhu Shenzhui called him back. After thinking for a moment, he asked Lu Jiude to notify Xu Xiancheng and Zhou Anmin to come over as well, and then waved for him to do so.

The cabinet was handling state affairs as usual when they suddenly received an imperial decree summoning them. Grand Secretary Hong Chengchou quickly informed the other cabinet members, and they left the cabinet and headed towards the Qianqing Palace. On the way, Qian Qianyi couldn't help but whisper to Hong Chengchou why the emperor was summoning all cabinet members at this time. Hong Chengchou shook his head slightly, saying he didn't know either, but in his heart, he felt that something big was about to happen. Generally, the emperor only summoned the Grand Secretary or one or two cabinet members; this was the first time he had encountered a summons of all of them.

Upon arriving at the Qianqing Palace, Lu Jiude, who was waiting outside, did not greet the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet as usual. Instead, he quietly told them to wait. At this point, not only Hong Chengchou but also the others sensed something was amiss and asked Lu Jiude what was going on. Lu Jiude did not answer and repeated what he had said before. Helpless, they could only continue to wait. After a while, Xu Xiancheng and Zhou Anmin rushed over, followed by Wang Mingxuan.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Lu Jiude went in to report and then invited everyone inside. Once inside, everyone was even more surprised, because not only the emperor was there, but also the crown prince. The father and son sat in the main seat, and the other sat in a slightly lower position. Although their expressions were calm, everyone couldn't help but feel uneasy.

As the Grand Secretary, Hong Chengchou naturally led everyone forward to pay their respects. Zhu Shenzhui glanced at everyone and then said indifferently, "Please take a seat."

After everyone was seated, Zhu Shenzhui went straight to the point and asked Hong Chengchou about the aftermath of the Yellow River breach in Huaibei, including the progress of disaster relief and dike repair. Although Hong Chengchou didn't know exactly what had happened, he sensed a hint of pressure from the emperor's tone.

"Your Majesty, the disaster relief efforts in Huaibei are proceeding according to plan. The Cabinet has been closely monitoring the situation. According to the reports below, the floodwaters following the breach of the Yellow River have gradually receded, and the affected people are beginning to be gathered and resettled. However, the breach of the Yellow River covered an extremely wide area. Preliminary estimates indicate that over 111,700 hectares of farmland were submerged, more than 9,000 houses were washed away or collapsed, and the city walls of two counties were washed away by the flood. The death toll is estimated at over 70,000, and the number of affected people is close to one million..."

Hong Chengchou spoke eloquently, rattling off various data points, which shows that as the Grand Secretary, he was quite concerned about this matter.

After describing the disaster situation, Hong Chengchou continued with the current arrangements. Thanks to the court's swift response and timely allocation of funds and supplies, the situation in the disaster area was currently under control. However, many people, whose homes had been destroyed, were forced to flee to Shandong to beg for food. The cabinet had already made arrangements for this, instructing the Shandong governor and provincial administration to designate an area for resettlement and relief. Furthermore, it was currently summer, and the hot weather meant that a major disaster was likely to be followed by a major epidemic. The bodies of people and livestock who died from the flooding should be cremated and buried as soon as possible. At the same time, the safety of drinking water and food should be ensured to prevent the outbreak of disease. The Imperial Medical Academy had already dispatched personnel, and further developments would depend on the progress.

"Your Majesty, this matter cannot be rushed. The river embankment repairs must be postponed for now, and the previously agreed-upon work-for-relief program can only proceed after the situation has stabilized. I have calculated that it should be ready in about half a month."

Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly. Hong Chengchou's answer was quite good; as the Grand Secretary, he had considered everything thoroughly. Indeed, information from the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard confirmed this. While the cabinet's response and subsequent arrangements weren't perfect, they were, from the current perspective, quite satisfactory.

Zhu Shenzhui's expression softened slightly, and he asked Wang Mingxuan if there was a problem with the cabinet's arrangement. Wang Mingxuan replied that there was no problem from the Grand Secretary's perspective. Right now was indeed not the time to immediately implement work relief. The local areas needed to be stabilized first, and potential risks needed to be eliminated before doing anything else. In his opinion, this was the right thing to do.

"Since that's the case, let's proceed according to the cabinet's plan," Zhu Shenzhui said. He then glanced at everyone and said, "This time, the Yellow River's breach has caused devastating losses, unprecedented since the Wanli era. Since my ascension to the throne, I have worked diligently to govern the country. After eliminating internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty has flourished. Yet, such a major event has occurred, with the Yellow River breaching its banks and causing such severe damage. The people are suffering, and I am deeply saddened and unable to eat or sleep. Although the court has allocated funds for disaster relief and is working to rectify the situation, this is not only my responsibility but also the responsibility of all of you gentlemen. However, I must ask you today: what was the cause of this breach? How could such a thing happen out of nowhere? Do any of you gentlemen have any advice for me?"

Upon hearing the emperor's words, everyone's expressions changed slightly, especially Wang Mingxuan, who could no longer remain seated. The emperor had criticized the Ministry of Works when the Yellow River breached its banks before, and the funds allocated to the Ministry of Works for water conservancy had never been lacking over the years. However, Wang Mingxuan, as the Minister of Works, had never expected such a situation to occur.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. As the Minister of Works, I neglected the river works, which led to this disaster. I beg Your Majesty to punish me..." Wang Mingxuan stood up, knelt down tremblingly before the emperor, and took off his official hat and placed it aside.

Wang Mingxuan's actions made everyone uneasy. Hadn't this matter already been discussed before? Why was the emperor bringing it up again today? And with such a seemingly serious attitude, could it be that the emperor really intended to severely punish Wang Mingxuan?

Just as everyone was pondering and preparing to say a few good words for Wang Mingxuan, Crown Prince Zhu Minlan took the initiative to help Wang Mingxuan up, holding his hand and comforting him, "Although Lord Wang has made mistakes, His Majesty does not intend to hold him primarily responsible. His Majesty has seen how diligent and conscientious Lord Wang has been since he took office in the Ministry of Works. I also know Lord Wang's character. Although there were mistakes in this disaster, the responsibility does not lie with you, Lord Wang. There is no need for you to do this."

"Your Highness, I..." Wang Mingxuan's eyes welled with tears, his heart pounding. He hadn't expected the Crown Prince to speak up for him in this situation. The Emperor's questions had sank Wang Mingxuan's heart; he felt his lifelong reputation was ruined, and it seemed he couldn't overcome this hurdle. Who would have thought the Crown Prince would express his stance before the Emperor? Wang Mingxuan was deeply grateful. Having such a crown prince was a blessing for the country! But at the same time, Wang Mingxuan was also uneasy, fearing that the Crown Prince's opposition to the Emperor would anger him. If that happened, how could he, as an old minister, be at ease?
(End of this chapter)