Miao Chu

Chapter 276 Where
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu felt a sudden "buzz" in his head.

The Yellow River breached its banks at Huazhou and changed its course, affecting several prefectures and causing disasters to affect 100,000 people. The imperial court repeatedly allocated silver and grain, and even dispatched the local militia and imperial guards to provide relief, and finally managed to bring the disaster under control.

Subsequently, Cen Dezhang and others reported that they needed silver, grain, and materials, saying they wanted to reinforce the dikes and dig a new river to divert water. The Water Conservancy Bureau argued for a long time, but finally said it was feasible, and the Political Affairs Hall also nodded in approval. Although he didn't think it was useful, he thought he might as well try anything, so he agreed to everything.

Even if it means holding out for just one more day during the summer floods, giving the authorities one more day to evacuate the people and reduce losses, it would still be worthwhile.

It's one thing to not think it's useful, but it's quite another to find that it's really useless.

Who can accept that a dike that was only repaired in two or three months has collapsed again?

What will the outcome be this time?
Zhao Yu felt a ringing in his ears that hadn't stopped for a long time. He reached out and took the secret letter presented by the eunuch, quickly glanced at it, and then looked up and shouted, "Li Zhai!"

He didn't address him as "Qing" or "Zhi," but instead called him by his full name. With a stern face, he handed the urgent errand to the eunuch beside him.

Li Zhai, the Vice Chancellor, was standing in the ranks. He already knew something was wrong, and when he was shouted at, his heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly took the secret report and quickly flipped through it. Before he could finish reading it, he heard the Emperor ask, "What's going on here?"

This flood was orchestrated by Li Zhai. Time was short, and he barely managed to glance at the words on the paper before he was about to reply when Zhao Yu said, "The Huazhou dike has collapsed. Cen Dezhang usually writes a thousand or two thousand words for every little thing, but now that it's so important, he doesn't submit a report. It's as if he's dead. He even has to send a message from Weizhou to inform me! Is this rebellion?!"

The emperor spoke nonsense, even resorting to vulgar language. Everyone knew he was furious, so no one responded. Some gloated, while others remained expressionless, all looking at Li Zhai.

Li Zhai said, "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, we should wait for a reply from Huazhou first. Cen Dezhang has already reported that when the water is too rapid and the depth is too great, they will proactively breach the dike to slow the flow and divert the water into the canal. I wonder if this will be the case this time!"

Zhao Yu took a deep breath, suppressing his irritation, and said, "You know that's for diverting water into the canal, so why is the whole field a yellow expanse?"

Li Zhai continued, “I saw in the report from Weizhou that they only saw the floodwaters spreading across the fields from afar, but they did not see any civilians fleeing or any government troops coming to the rescue. This report came suddenly, and it was just what Li Jiwen saw on horseback. There is no other corroborating evidence. It would be better to wait a while and see what Huazhou says before making a decision!”

"Even if the flood situation is indeed bad, the court has already made plans. His Majesty just inspected the Imperial Guards and has already urgently mobilized grain and supplies... I request that manpower be sent to Huazhou to transport troops and supplies, so as to make preparations as soon as possible!"

Although he said he was making preparations, everyone in the hall could see that Li Zhai was still flustered and timid. His last sentence clearly showed that he was in a hurry to clean up the mess.

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a man stepped forward and said, “While Huazhou is indeed crucial, we must be prepared for the rising waters of the Bian River. The recent incessant rains have forced the Water Conservancy Bureau to open the floodgates several times to release water. The breach of the Huazhou dike indicates that the upstream water level has already overflowed, and we do not know how it will overflow. This year, the south is experiencing drought while the north is flooded. Once the floodwaters arrive, if the capital is in turmoil, there will be no surplus grain in the granaries and no surplus silver in the treasuries. How will we defend ourselves?!”

Li Zhai turned around and saw that it was the Vice Minister of Revenue. He knew that the man had come to plead poverty, so he had no choice but to brace himself and argue with him. He said that the Ministry of Revenue's planning was flawed and that it could not allocate resources reasonably. He also said that Huazhou was a place of relief. If Huazhou was indeed flooded and the court could not provide timely assistance, firstly, there would be widespread suffering, and secondly, the flood would be uncontrolled. If it flowed into the Bian River, it would have an even greater impact on the capital...

At first, the two were just discussing the matter at hand, but as they talked, they got heated, and others from the same faction or with vested interests came out to join the argument.

The hall was filled with a noisy argument, with each side claiming to be right.

In the end, the argument escalated to the point where they started attacking the person in question.

"Your Majesty, the current Vice Chancellor Li Zhai is in charge of the river management in Huazhou and Chanzhou. He failed to take precautions while in office, resulting in the collapse of the dikes and putting the people in grave danger. This is not a natural disaster, but a man-made one! I request Your Majesty to dismiss him from his post, strip him of his official rank, and send him to the Censorate for investigation to uphold the law!"

"Your Majesty, the Vice Minister of Revenue, Fan You, has been delaying and shirking his responsibilities, leaving the lives of the people hanging by a thread. Yet, his court has proposed 'saving on expenditures,' resulting in a shortage of food for relief and supplies for looters. What was once a controllable situation is now threatening to escalate into a major disaster! The money and grain have not been spared, not because he is unable to, but because he refuses to! His intentions are despicable, and his actions are harming the country! I humbly request Your Majesty to dismiss him from his post immediately to comfort the disaster victims!"

Zhao Yu's gums hurt even more.

He was used to the rhetoric of his ministers and knew this was not the time to waste words with them. On the one hand, he urged the two prefectures to mobilize troops and allocate grain, and on the other hand, he ordered the capital prefectural government and the water conservancy bureau to patrol the dikes day and night. He also ordered the government affairs hall to quickly formulate a countermeasure and sent officials to Huazhou to investigate...

The tasks had been assigned and the people had been arranged, but Zhao Yu was still anxious and uneasy.

He took his men and traveled lightly out of the palace, first to see the city and then to the outside, just to see for himself how deep the river was.

Seeing that the water level in the river was more than a foot higher than before, and the original water-measuring bronze figure was nowhere to be seen, Zhao Yu was terrified. He first called out to Li Zhai, then to the Director of the Water Conservancy Bureau, and asked, "Didn't we just release water again? Why is the water level still so high? Where is the water coming from?"

The rain was pouring down like a waterfall, and since Li Zhai had to accompany the emperor to climb the embankment and dam, it was naturally inconvenient for him to use an umbrella.

He was dressed in a raincoat and a bamboo hat. Rain flew sideways and landed on his face. When he opened his mouth, it was full of rainwater, but he couldn't spit it out in front of the emperor. He could only say, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty! There is no urgent report from Huazhou. It may not be due to the flood in Huazhou. Recently, there has been continuous rain in the capital and surrounding areas. I'm afraid it is also due to the torrential rain!"

The Director of Water Conservancy quickly seconded the motion, adding, "...There are constant surveillance both inside and outside the city, and people repeatedly patrol the dikes, keeping vigilant day and night..."

Hearing everyone recount how they would deal with the situation, Zhao Yu's heart remained heavy.

He was uneasy before he saw the water level and depth with his own eyes, but now that he was clearly on the embankment and by the water, he was even more anxious.

Upon returning to the palace, that afternoon, the emperor's right cheek was even more swollen than in the morning. Not only his gums, but also his molars ached. In addition, his right ear canal was constantly burning hot, and even a light touch felt like being pierced by a chisel.

The imperial physician examined the emperor, prescribed medicine for both external application and internal use, and also advised him to rinse his mouth with it. He said that the emperor's condition was caused by internal heat attacking his heart and that he should rest quietly.

However, Zhao Yu's various methods were all ineffective.

That night he went to bed early, but as soon as he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with the water conditions outside the city that he had seen during the day, as well as the imagined situation of the Huazhou dike. Hearing the wind and rain raging outside, he could not rest quietly, let alone fall asleep.

The person beside her tossed and turned in bed, so Empress Deng, who shared the bed with her, naturally couldn't sleep.

She turned her head and saw that the emperor's right cheek was swollen and red, and his ear was also unusually red. She was startled and immediately wanted to summon the imperial physician.

Zhao Yu stopped her, saying, "Forget it, it's already this late. Even if we call for help, it'll probably just be the same few people on night duty today, prescribing the same medicine and using the same methods. What's the point except torturing ourselves and others? Let's talk about it at dawn!"

Empress Deng had no choice but to have the palace servants wrap ice in cloth and apply it to her husband's face. She also ordered someone to brew honeysuckle tea and personally went to find medicinal powder to reduce swelling and relieve pain.

They used all sorts of things, and sure enough, they made a ruckus for half a day. By the time the two of them finally rested, it was almost midnight.

Zhao Yu was wide awake, but did not want to disturb Empress Deng any further. He held his breath and lay still for a while, listening to the breathing of the person beside him gradually become even, before quietly getting out of bed.

As soon as the emperor made a move, the eunuch Feng Deju, who was on night watch, and two other eunuchs would carefully bring lanterns to light the way.

The group left the sleeping quarters.

Zhao Yu found a chair and sat down.

Feng Deju hurriedly wrung out a new ice cloth and replaced the old one in the emperor's hand, and couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, why don't you summon the imperial physician instead!"

Seeing that Zhao Yu waved his hand, seemingly unmoved, he gritted his teeth, suddenly knelt down with a "plop," and said, "Your Majesty is worried about the flood situation in Huazhou. I dare to ask Your Majesty to grant me the order to go west. I am willing to go to Huazhou to be the Emperor's eyes and ears! So that Your Majesty will not be blinded or deaf!"

Zhao Yu suddenly looked up and said "Okay" twice.

He added, "If it weren't for Li Jiwen, I wouldn't have known that the situation in Huazhou was like this! Now it's my turn to volunteer to help me—in times of crisis, we rely entirely on the eunuchs!"

Upon receiving such praise from the emperor, Feng Deju's nostrils flared, and he breathed louder than usual in delight.

He hurriedly said, "Li Zouma is, after all, in Weizhou, and was a eunuch of the late emperor. Unlike me, who has been serving Your Majesty since childhood, I know how much you worry about the people and the water situation. As soon as I arrive in Huazhou, I will definitely go down to the river and the dike, ask the people and officials, and make sure no one deceives me. I will also report to Your Majesty from time to time and keep you informed every day, so as not to worry Your Majesty!" To be honest, Zhao Yu naturally trusted the eunuch who had served him for many years and had no vested interests in the local area more than the memorials submitted by the local officials.

Seeing Feng Deju's consideration, Zhao Yu had no choice but to promise, "When you return to the capital, I will reward you handsomely!"

Feng Deju hurriedly kowtowed and said, "I do not seek any reward or honor. The best reward would be to share Your Majesty's burdens and allow Your Majesty to sleep peacefully."

Regardless of whether it was useful or not, or how useful it was, this attitude and these words, compared to the shouting, yelling, and cursing of Li Zhai, Fan You, and others during the day, naturally pleased the emperor more.

Zhao Yu couldn't help but mentally add points for Feng Deju, nodding in approval, and promising to reward him handsomely once he returned.

After Feng De got up, he went outside and first summoned his newly accepted disciple, explaining everything to him.

Upon hearing this, the disciple's eyes lit up, and he said, "Master went to Huazhou, so who is that...?"

He barely managed to stop himself from finishing his sentence, quickly swallowing it back, and then said, "Disciple is willing to accompany Master westward to Huazhou to investigate the water situation and disaster!"

Feng Deju could easily see what his disciple was thinking.

He immediately changed his mind and summoned several eunuchs. He divided his daily tasks into several parts, assigning each person a portion. He also assigned to his disciple tonight's shift. Seeing that the disciple was covered in fleas and could barely stand, he was already very dissatisfied, but he didn't say a word.

After giving all the instructions, Feng Deju left the palace immediately without delay. He returned to his room, packed his personal belongings into a bundle, and seeing that it was still early, he did not rest but instead took his luggage and returned to Funing Palace.

If the emperor was not asleep, he would pack his luggage, kowtow, and set off. If the emperor had already rested, he would wait for the emperor to wake up, pack his luggage, kowtow, and set off immediately. In the end, he wanted the emperor to know how he took things to heart and how he would not delay anything!
The rain had not stopped, and a young eunuch led the way with a lantern. Feng Deju, carrying a bundle and holding an umbrella, hurried along the road to Funing Palace.

As he walked, he saw the Funing Palace ahead and suddenly realized something was wrong.

There were voices behind them, and the voices grew closer and closer. When they turned around, they saw several eunuchs leading the way, each holding a lantern.

Because they were close together and there were many lanterns, the road ahead was much brighter than before, and the color of the clothes and face of the person behind them were also clearly visible.

Wearing a purple robe and a jade belt, with a goldfish-shaped pouch at his waist—who else could it be but Li Zhai, the Vice Chancellor!
Feng Deju quickly stepped aside and bowed, saying, "Master Li, you've arrived? Is there something important you need?"

Li Zhai didn't offer much explanation, but suddenly stopped and asked, "What are you doing here? Who's on duty at Funing Palace today? Has His Majesty retired for the night?"

After a series of questions, Feng Deju hurriedly replied, "Is it about water matters? His Majesty specifically instructed that if there is any important news about water matters in various places, do not delay and report it immediately!"

Although he did not know why the other party had come, seeing that Li Zhai was walking briskly and had a relaxed expression, he knew that it must be something bad, so he immediately said, "This humble official will inform the Councilor immediately!"

Zhao Yu was indeed still awake; instead, he returned to the front hall.

As soon as Feng Deju entered the palace, he saw his adopted disciple diligently serving tea to the emperor.

He ignored it, bowed to the emperor as soon as he entered, and waited a while. When he saw out of the corner of his eye that the emperor's gaze was on the bundle he had placed on the ground in front of him, he then informed him of Li Zhai's arrival.

Zhao Yu immediately said, "Summon them!"

Li Zhai entered the hall carrying a box sealed with oil paper. Upon entering, he first presented the box in his hand, and with dark circles under his eyes, he reported: "Your Majesty! The Yintai Division has forwarded a report from Huazhou—due to continuous rain and the arrival of floods upstream, the dikes have breached several times. Huazhou has taken the initiative to breach the dikes and divert water first into the Huanhe River, and then into the Wangjing River."

"The yellow mud that Li Zouma saw was the scene of the Huanhe River channel—Huazhou had already evacuated its people in advance, and there were no casualties."

"The Yellow River flows into the Wangjing River, overflowing its banks four times in one day. It remains within the slow-flowing river zone because the rains upstream have stopped..."

Li Zhai was still talking, but Zhao Yu had lost all interest in listening.

His eyes were fixed on the report being presented in front of him.

It was also a hurried journey, but it wasn't a secret report directly to the emperor. It encountered a rainstorm on the way, which delayed the delivery. It was then sent to the Silver Terrace Office first, and was delivered after many twists and turns, arriving much later than half a day later.

The report was very thick.

First came the official report, which stated the result, indicating that there was no serious disaster. Then it detailed the water depth, water level, and water speed over the years, specifying which day and where the dike breached, when and where, why the dike was deliberately breached, the extent of the damage, how many households and how many people were evacuated in advance, how they were resettled, and how compensation would be provided afterward...

All sorts of things, and I never tire of them.

But Zhao Yu couldn't bear to miss a single word.

He cares too much and worries too much; he'll only hate that it's not detailed enough, and he'll never find it trivial.

The document contained over five thousand words. After slowly reading through it, I found illustrations at the end.

The map shows the map of Hua and Wei prefectures, as well as details of the connection between the Yellow River and the Wangjing River. It shows where the dikes breached, where the breaches occurred, where the water overflowed after entering the Wangjing River, the extent and height of the canals, the extent of the overflow, and the remaining capacity.

The text is already quite clear, but the illustration makes it even clearer.

In addition to the text and illustrations, there was also a separate petition requesting the court to issue a strict order to the prefectures and counties along the Jinghe River to diligently maintain it and prevent flooding.

After reading the report, Zhao Yu would immediately smile.

He said in a gentle tone, "Minister Li, you've worked hard on night watch. Go back and rest early—we can discuss the rest during the day!"

"Your Majesty, I am not tired. It is Your Majesty who rises early and retires late, worrying about the water situation and the safety of the people day and night. Your Majesty is tired!"

The two men, ruler and subject, got along very well.

In an instant, Li Zhai left Funing Palace with the speed of the wind.

Zhao Yu showed no signs of fatigue. He read the report over and over again, comparing it with the illustrations. When he reached the last page and saw the signature, he paused and laughed, "I don't necessarily have to be an advisor."

A eunuch had already brought up freshly brewed herbal decoction.

Zhao Yu casually took it, drank it all in one gulp, smacked his lips, and then suddenly paused.

He reached up and touched his face—huh?

Where did the swelling go?

(End of this chapter)