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Chapter 173 Welfare
During the day, Bai Qihong and his men searched around. They were lucky enough to find a large abandoned courtyard. Including the main house, side rooms, woodshed, etc., there were about seven or eight rooms in total.

So he reserved the most spacious main house for Lu Qing and others, and everyone else could choose any place to rest.

In fact, these craftsmen were not picky about food and accommodation. When they were tired from work, they didn’t even need any bedding. They could just find a flat place on the roadside and lie down to take a nap.

But it has been raining for days now, and there is mud and water everywhere. People cannot sleep in the rain no matter what.

Now that they had the dilapidated abandoned courtyard, they simply repaired a few leaking roofs. Although there were many people, each person only needed a place to lie down, so they could all sleep by squeezing together.

The housing problem no longer exists, and the next problem that needs to be solved is food.

The area where they were located had been flooded, and the people had basically gathered all their stored grain into their homes and given it to the craftsmen who came out to help dig canals and drain water as food, and they couldn't give any more.

So when it was time for dinner in the evening, Zhu Yu looked at the thin noodle soup in the pot and finally understood why the pale-faced man suddenly fainted while working during the day, and why the people around him were not surprised by it.

Doing such heavy physical work every day, but not even being able to drink porridge to fill your stomach, even heavenly soldiers and generals may not be able to withstand it!

Zhu Yu felt sorry for them, thinking that they had brought some dry food with them, but the thought only flashed through his mind.

The dry food they brought with them could last five people for several days if they ate sparingly. However, if they were to distribute it to everyone present, the amount of Hu pancake each person would get might not even be the size of a fingernail.

Not only was there no way to fundamentally solve the problem of the craftsmen not having enough food, but it also used up all their food for the rest of their journey.

"Is there no way to raise more food?" Although Zhu Yu was also hungry, he couldn't bear to take another bowl of porridge from the pot when he saw the craftsmen who had worked hard all day and had become so thin that their cheeks were sunken. He said that he was not hungry and turned to ask Bai Qihong.

Bai Qihong was holding a half-full bowl of porridge in his hand. He could only sigh when he heard Zhu Yu's question, "We have enough money allocated by the court to build the canal, but there is no surplus grain in Huazhou. The grain yield in Lizhou was not very high to begin with, so we have already bought most of what we can.

To places further afield, such as Quzhou and Liangzhou, the journey was very long, and the roads in many places were flooded. It would take a long time to transfer grain from there, and even if it was rained on all the way, it would probably be moldy and inedible by the time it was delivered here, which would be of no use.

At the current rate of eating, I can only last for another half a month at best."

Zhu Yu looked worriedly at the porridge in the big pot not far away.

Bai Qihong said that eating this way could sustain her for more than half a month, and she had no doubt about it.

However, if these craftsmen can only rely on drinking porridge to fill their stomachs, I am afraid that their bodies may not be able to survive until the day when the porridge is finished.

She thought for a moment, then turned around and went back to find Lu Qing.

Lu Qing was in the main room, pondering something while looking at the map of Huazhou that Bai Qihong gave him.

Hearing someone coming in, he looked up at the door and saw it was Zhu Yu. His brows relaxed and he waved: "I was just about to send the talisman to find you, but you came here on your own. Could it be that we really have such a telepathic connection?"

"When does the prince plan to set off?" Zhu Yu sat down at the table and asked directly and directly.

"Where are you going?" Lu Qing asked back, puzzled. "Just now you said you were in tune with each other, but now you're asking me something you already know the answer to?" Zhu Yu glared at him.

Lu Qing laughed and pointed at a spot on the map. "It's muddy on rainy days, so it's not suitable to travel at night. Let's set off tomorrow morning. It'll only take a day and a half to get here."

Zhu Yu nodded. "Minister Bai just told me that even if their food is boiled down into a thin paste, it can only last for a little over half a month at most."

"Then it depends on your ability, Madam." Lu Qing hinted.

Zhu Yu frowned slightly and thought carefully: "If I don't succeed within five days, I will die."

Zhu Yu and Lu Qing communicated smoothly. Yan Daoxin, who had been fiddling with his bottles and jars, listened for a long time, but now he could no longer sit still. He stuffed the things into the box and came over to the table.

"What are you two talking about?" He frowned, looking at Lu Qing and then at Zhu Yu, "Your words are so confusing that it leaves everyone confused!
Where are we going tomorrow morning?"

"Didn't Minister Bai say that we can't allow the floods to submerge the farmlands of the people of Shuo State just to solve the flood problem in Huazhou?" Zhu Yu said to him, "We will naturally go to Shuo State and ask my father to send people to the other side of Black Stone Mountain to break through the mountain, dig a canal, and prepare to divert the water."

"Then what does this have to do with how long the food here will last?" Yan Daoxin still didn't understand.

"Your Highness is kindhearted. In helping the people of Huazhou solve the flood problem and fulfilling Minister Bai's ambition to build canals for the benefit of the people, he can also help the Shuo Kingdom solve the long-standing problem of water shortage and barren farmland.

"The people of Shuo State can't benefit for nothing. In return, if we can raise some grain to sell to the canal builders as food, that would be the best of both worlds," Zhu Yu replied.

Yan Daoxin suddenly understood and completely understood their intention.

He couldn't help but look at Zhu Yu and Lu Qing oddly, then shook his head, curled his lips, and stood up as he walked away, sighing, "Strange... Two people who talk so vaguely get together, yet they can still understand each other's intentions!"

Zhu Yu glanced towards the door and saw Fu Lu's back. He knew that he was guarding outside. Plus, it was raining, so now should be a good time to talk.

"The emperor does not allow Bai Qihong to build the canal to the border of Jinshuo. There should be similar measures in the Jie Kingdom, right?" She asked the doubts that had been in her heart during the day.

Lu Qing nodded, not surprised that Zhu Yu would ask him this.

"In that case, why did you go against his wishes and take advantage of the loophole to let Bai Qihong build the canal to Shuo Kingdom?" Zhu Yu naturally knew that if this plan worked, it would definitely be a great blessing for the people of Shuo Kingdom, but this was obviously contrary to Emperor Jin's intention.

Lu Qing's situation all along can be said to be one of survival in the cracks. On one side is the unpredictable mind of Emperor Jin, and on the other side is the undisguised exclusion and hostility of Duke Yan. Now, there is also the calculation of the mysterious force whose origin is unknown.

Therefore, he had always remained calm, considered everything carefully, and did not reveal any flaws, so as to avoid being caught by accident and all his plans being ruined.

Because of this, after realizing his intention, Zhu Yu couldn't help but be surprised.

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　　(End of this chapter)