The wicked imperial concubine is courting death again; the comments section teaches her how to win w

Throughout history, major disasters have always been followed by major epidemics.

In fact, Xushui County is not located in a very low-lying area, and ordinary rainfall would not normally cause such a disaster.

However, since the beginning of spring this year, the rainfall has been nearly twice as much as usual, and the river level has been rising day by day.

If it's just rising water, that's fine; just hold on, and it'll pass when the weather clears up.

However, the dam upstream of Xushui County, which had just been repaired last year, was the reason why the people thought it would protect them during the flood season. But when the flood came, it collapsed in just one hour.

Once the dam collapsed, the floodwaters, carrying mud, sand, broken logs, and rubble, rushed down.

The people were unable to evacuate in time; their houses were destroyed, their fields were flooded, and their livestock were swallowed by the muddy mud.

Many people died.

It was the height of summer, and the weather was hot. The corpses were not cleaned up in time, and as they decomposed, a foul stench filled the air, allowing the epidemic to spread silently.

Local officials, fearing responsibility, concealed the truth at every level, only saying that "the flood has been quelled and the victims have been settled."

It wasn't until most of the doctors in the county fell ill and the epidemic could no longer be contained that the local magistrate panicked completely and submitted a memorial to the higher authorities.

Tongzhou has more than 20 counties under its jurisdiction. How can the prefectural government keep a clear eye on every single one of them?

When the prefect of Tongzhou received the memorial, it was already the tenth day since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Upon reading the contents, my vision went black, and I felt as if my head was about to fall off.

The prefect dared not conceal it any longer. He submitted a memorial overnight and escorted the incompetent magistrate to the capital, presenting all the evidence of his crimes to the emperor.

The emperor was furious.

What angered Xie Ling the most was that last year, Tangtang received one million taels of gold from Lu Linbai. Apart from necessary military pay, he didn't give Tangtang any extra clothes or jewelry. Instead, he allocated it all to various local public works projects.

Building dikes was one of them.

Ten thousand taels of silver is more than enough to build a dam.

The Ministry's archives clearly record that the dike in Xushui County was rebuilt last year by imperial decree, with the Ministry of Works approving a fine of 82,000 taels of silver. The dike is 22 li long and 18 chi high, with a stone foundation and earthen body, and can be guaranteed to be safe for a hundred years.

Actually?

The magistrate of Xushui County embezzled most of the money; less than 20,000 taels were actually used to buy stone materials and hire craftsmen.

The core of the dike was piled with miscellaneous soil and gravel, and only half a foot thick of stone was attached to the outside. When a flood came, it would be washed away.

It's even worse than tofu dregs.

Of the embezzled silver, part was pocketed by the county magistrate, and the other part was given as a tribute to his father-in-law, who was a vice minister in the Ministry of Works, to build a summer resort.

Vice Minister of Works...

Qi Yitang frowned. "Feng Yongchang?"

Xie Ling: "Yes. You know him?"

Of course I know him; he's an old acquaintance.

Many years ago, Feng Yongchang had a crush on his mother, but he was short and not good-looking, so his mother didn't like him and instead married his father.

This old scoundrel harbored a grudge against her father and secretly resorted to underhanded tactics. However, at that time, her father's achievements were inferior to hers, and she was suppressed by him, so she could only endure it.

Later, when his father became Grand Tutor, he was even less likely to be selected.

Feng Yongchang then transferred his simmering resentment to the Qi family's children.

When Qi Yitang entered the palace and was made a Noble Consort, Feng Yongchang made outrageous remarks in the court, saying that she and Prince Gong had been childhood sweethearts for many years and probably had an affair, so she was not worthy of entering the palace as a consort.

As a result, he was beaten with twenty strokes of the cane in court.

Last year, when Xie Ling made her empress, he also submitted a memorial opposing it and made many sarcastic remarks.

All of that was fine, but Qi Yitang never expected that he would be so audacious as to embezzle the money meant for repairing the dike!

That was her hard-earned money!

The official report estimated the death toll to be close to a thousand, and given that Xushui County is several days' journey from the capital, and the news was delayed for several more days before reaching the Emperor, it was unclear how far the epidemic had spread.

Qi Yitang clenched her fingers in anger, "Damn it!"

Let alone Xie Ling wanting to kill someone, she would rather drag out those corrupt officials and cut them into a thousand pieces.

This morning, Xie Ling dispatched officials from six ministries and personnel from the Imperial Medical Academy to Tongzhou to deal with the epidemic, and also issued an order to thoroughly investigate all officials who handled funds for the dike.

The two culprits, Feng Yongchang and Cao Zuan, the magistrate of Xushui County, were imprisoned and subjected to all sorts of cruel tortures.

Seven or eight others have already been cut down.

But killing people won't solve the problem; the best course of action now is to do everything we can to control the spread of the epidemic.

Otherwise, the people in the surrounding counties will suffer.

"I'm sorry, Tangtang, we probably can't go to the palace." Xie Ling stroked Qi Yitang's hair, looking apologetic.

"I'll be quite busy these next few days, and I might not be able to take care of you and the children. If you get bored, how about having your fourth brother come to the palace to keep you company?"

"Why would anyone go to the imperial palace at a time like this!" Even if Qi Yitang was heartless, she couldn't possibly be thinking of herself in the face of a major disaster.

"You go ahead and get busy; the people's affairs are the priority. But don't overwork yourself; you still need to eat and rest."

"Yes, I promise you."

……

Back to Yaotang Palace.

[Actually, the female supporting character doesn't need to worry too much. In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and the spread of epidemics wasn't that fast. At most, only the people of one county would die.]

[That's easy for you to say. Those are living, breathing people, not ants.]

[Exactly, a county has tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of people. You think they can all just die out like that?]

Seeing the debate in the comments, Qi Yitang felt a heavy weight in her heart.

Let alone an entire county, if the death toll exceeds ten thousand, Emperor Xie Ling will be condemned.

Future generations may not remember how many good deeds he did for the country and its people, but such a great disaster will certainly be recorded in great detail, becoming an inescapable stain on his imperial career.

Qi Yitang became increasingly restless as she thought about it, making plans in her mind.

What help can she offer?

She was pregnant and knew nothing of medicine, so she couldn't possibly go to Tongzhou herself. She also lacked knowledge of government affairs, so staying by Xie Ling's side would be of no use.

Suddenly, Qi Yitang's eyes lit up. That's it—

money!

Treating patients requires medicine and money; resettling disaster victims, rebuilding houses, and providing relief to the families of the deceased—every single thing requires money.

Qi Yitang immediately summoned Yunzhu and Yunying, and they began to search through her private treasury and the gold she had previously obtained from Lu Linbai.

After a busy day, I've finally managed to get a general idea out of it.

Xie Ling will be very busy these days, and Qi Yitang doesn't want to bother him, so she plans to have Li Degui deliver the money directly to him.

To avoid her running around while heavily pregnant, which would distract him.

Just as he was giving instructions to Yunzhu, a message came from outside that Prince Anning and Princess Anning had arrived.

Qi Yitang was somewhat surprised. Weren't they planning to return to Chezhou? Why haven't they left yet?

Lu Linbai came to deliver money.

They had planned to set off the next day, but before they left, they heard that an epidemic had broken out in Xushui County, Tongzhou.

Unfortunately, Chaizhou is right next to Tongzhou.

Given the current situation, it's unclear how far the epidemic has spread. Going back rashly could be risky, so we can only stay in Shengjing and wait and see.

"How could the Prince of Anning's Mansion stand idly by while the people suffer?"

Lu Linbai got straight to the point, "In Xuan Niang's name, I am donating five million taels of silver for disaster relief."

Lu Linbai has nothing else but money.

The Lu family has accumulated a fortune over generations of imperial merchants. As long as they don't gamble and womanize recklessly, they could live on it for several lifetimes.

Qi Yitang was overjoyed, "Thank you, Uncle-Uncle! You are such a generous and kind person!"

"Once this is over, I'll definitely have Yanzhi carve a huge stone tablet for you and your cousin, and erect it at the gate of Tongzhou City so that the people can admire your compassionate hearts!"

Lu Linbai's lips twitched slightly. "..." No need.

If it weren't for Xuan Niang being so preoccupied with her pregnant cousin that she was worried sick about her, Lu Linbai wouldn't have been interested in acting like a saint.

With such a wonderful cousin as his wife, he should be secretly thrilled.