I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Sun Youcai picked up the old tent of the Fengzi Camp, and the slight embarrassment on his face quickly disappeared.

Whom the investigation might offend is the Ninth Prince's business.

If the money isn't delivered, who gets the imperial sword is his problem.

Moreover, the Ministry of Revenue has a Minister above it.

If the sky were to fall, it would hit the second-rank official first; it wouldn't be his place to put his head on top of it.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will deliver the tents by noon tomorrow."

Sun Youcai readily agreed, but Du Changhe did not leave. He stood in the hall rubbing his hands back and forth, wanting to speak several times, but then swallowed his words back.

Lu Yuan found it irritating.

"Spit it out if you have something to say; holding it in won't save you from eating."

Du Changhe's face flushed, and he quickly cupped his hands in greeting. "Your Highness, the cement workshop has been secured, but the dike on the east bank of the river still needs repair. If the Ministry of Revenue only allocates three thousand taels, it won't even be enough to buy the first batch of stones."

Sun Youcai's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What do you mean by only allocating three thousand taels? That three thousand taels was a loan from His Highness the Ninth Prince to the Ministry of Revenue!"

"If the dikes aren't repaired, there will be another major flood next year, and it will be the people who suffer."

"What's the use of yelling at me? Even rats wouldn't consider the Ministry of Revenue's treasury poor enough!"

"The Ministry of Revenue manages the money. If you don't come up with a solution, do you expect me to pay the craftsmen with mud?"

The two had barely quieted down when they bumped into each other again.

Lu Yuan rubbed his aching temples.

"Shut up, all of you."

Du Changhe fell silent first, and Sun Youcai also swallowed his words.

Lu Yuan looked at Sun Youcai.

"Where is the most expensive part of repairing the river embankment?"

Sun Youcai started counting on his fingers.

Lu Yuan listened attentively.

According to Sun Youcai, the most expensive expenses were labor, bricks and stones, and the resettlement and relief of disaster victims.

Several breaches in the river east need to be repaired, requiring at least 20,000 laborers to be conscripted.

The imperial court had to pay wages and provide meals.

However, local stone resources are scarce, so they have to be quarried from other places and transported by truck and boat, resulting in significant losses along the way.

Disaster victims are the biggest contributors, representing pure financial strain.

Last year, the flood destroyed more than a dozen villages, leaving the people homeless and destitute, relying entirely on government relief. As long as the river embankment is not repaired, the relief supplies cannot be stopped for even a day.

This doesn't even take into account the money that was allocated and then intercepted at every level.

If 30% of the money is still available when it reaches the disaster area, that would be considered a good thing.

At this moment, Du Changhe took over the conversation.

"Your Highness, this is just the obvious expense. Digging the river requires shovels, transporting the soil requires carts, and if the laborers fall ill, we need to call doctors. With 20,000 people gathered together, their food, drink, and even basic necessities all cost money."

Lu Yuan asked, "Based on your original estimate, how much would you need?"

Du Changhe extended one finger.

"At least 1.2 million taels."

Lu Yuan was so angry at the number that he laughed.

"Building a few sections of dikes will cost 1.2 million taels of silver. Are you planning to gild the riverbed with gold?"

"Your Highness, this is already a conservative estimate."

Sun Youcai sighed.

"Last year, when the dike in Hedong broke, the Ministry of Revenue allocated 300,000 taels of silver for disaster relief. After arriving in Hedong, the prefect said that grain prices had risen, and local powerful families said that there was a shortage of carriages and horses. In the end, 300,000 taels of silver were used to buy back more than 100,000 taels of grain."

Lu Yuan's eyes turned cold.

"The imperial court provides silver, the disaster victims go hungry, while those in between get rich?"

Sun Youcai did not answer.

Some things don't need an answer.

The granaries in Hedong were controlled by a few powerful families.

On ordinary days, a bushel of grain sells for 700 coins, but in years of famine, the price can rise to 3 taels of silver.

If the imperial court refused to buy, they would seal the grain in the granary and release it when the people sold their children.

They'll be able to make a fortune then.

They completely disregard the lives and deaths of the disaster victims.

To those powerful and wealthy families, disaster victims are nothing more than slightly larger ants.

Who cares about the life or death of ants?

Lu Yuan had heard these principles before, but when these things were actually presented to him, he was still deeply moved.

He was finding it hard to calm down.

Lu Yuan picked up the list of river workers that Du Changhe had brought and flipped through a few pages.

"The Ministry of Revenue will first allocate funds to the Ministry of Works."

Sun Youcai's face immediately fell.

"Your Highness, we really have no money left!"

"Dial as many as you have."

"No matter how much there is, we can't allocate it! The Nine Garrisons are waiting for military pay, Hedong is waiting for relief grain, and the Ministry of Rites is still chasing after us for sacrificial offerings. If we give it to the Ministry of Works today, the Minister will be hanging himself with his belt tomorrow!"

"Let him keep the belt for now."

Lu Yuan threw the roster back onto the table.

"The money will not be spent by the Ministry of Works as usual. Aren't there tens of thousands of disaster victims in Hedong? We can recruit people from there to repair the dikes."

Sun Youcai said urgently, "You have to pay people even if you hire them."

"Who said we were paid according to market rates?"

Lu Yuan pointed to the relief figures in the ledger and expressed his thoughts.

"The disaster victims already need the relief grain from the imperial court. Let them repair the dikes, and those who do the work will receive an extra portion of grain, plus some salt, cloth, and copper coins every ten days."

"The elderly and weak stayed at the resettlement site to cook, wash clothes, and weave cloth, while the young and strong all went to work on the river."

Sun Youcai was stunned.

Du Changhe also took half a step forward.

Lu Yuan continued, "The imperial court doesn't need to hire another 20,000 laborers, and the disaster victims don't need to crowd into sheds waiting for food. Once the dikes are repaired, they can receive a resettlement allowance to return to their hometowns and rebuild their houses."

"This is called work relief."

"Relief is not about supporting idlers. The court provides them with food to survive, and they repair the dikes that protect the court. No one owes anyone anything."

"If the people receive the money with peace of mind, the imperial court can also save a sum of money."

After listening to this, Sun Youcai started working on his abacus.

"Two thousand laborers, each paid six hundred cash a month, would amount to thirty-six thousand taels over three months. If we add in the expenses for management, food, and miscellaneous items, we can save fifty thousand taels."

His calculations became faster and faster, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"No, we can save some money."

"After the disaster victims were centrally resettled, they consumed a certain amount of food every day. After the work-for-relief program was implemented, food continued to be distributed, but there was an additional portion of food for manual labor. In fact, the increased expenses were less than 10% of the original amount."

Du Changhe's face turned red with joy.

"With 20,000 able-bodied men, the construction period can be shortened. What was originally supposed to take six months can now be completed in three months."

Sun Youcai looked up at Lu Yuan as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"Your Highness, who taught you this method?"

"Why are you so curious? Do you want to know if one day a manure truck will pass by your house and you'll have to taste the saltiness?"

Sun Youcai looked very unwell and repeatedly said no.

"This humble official is unfortunate; Your Highness is too kind."

Sun Youcai remained silent for a while, then his expression turned ugly again.

"Your Highness, the work-for-relief program can save money, and cement can replace bricks and stones, but this will probably be difficult to implement in Hedong."

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

"Is someone from the east bank of the river stopping us?"

"Several local aristocratic families owned carriage and horse trading companies, quarries, and grain shops. Every time the imperial court built a dike to relieve disaster victims, it had to buy grain, hire laborers, and transport stones from them."

"Using Your Highness's method, the disaster victims were turned into laborers, and the gravel and river sand were used locally. Those families can at least lose hundreds of thousands of taels of silver."

"This is cutting off their money supply."

The hall fell silent.

After taking the knife in her hand, Su Yuling stood behind the door and coldly looked outside.

She saw starving people when she was at the border.

Soldiers risked their lives to defend the city on the front lines, while the common people in the rear were exploited by others to fleece them.

These kinds of people may not have blood on their knives, but they eat more people than bandits.

Lu Yuan stood up and drew his imperial sword.

The sword's edge grazed the scabbard, its cold light illuminating the hall.

"Issue the order of this palace."

"The cement workshop will be supervised by the Ministry of Works, and the regulations for the work-for-relief program will be drafted by the Ministry of Revenue. The report will be submitted to the Emperor within three days, and someone will be dispatched to Hedong within five days."

"Anyone who dares to delay river works, embezzle relief grain, or incite disaster victims to riot shall be dealt with as treason."

Sun Youcai's breath hitched.

"If it were a local aristocratic family..."

"I don't care how much land his family owns or how many officials his ancestors produced."

Lu Yuan sheathed his sword. "Anyone who dares to lay a hand on this matter will be killed without mercy."

Sun Youcai and Du Changhe bowed together.

"Your subordinate obeys!"

The two men picked up the account book and left.

After yawning, Lu Yuan turned and walked towards the backyard.

Su Yuling emerged from the small door and blocked his path with her scabbard.

"Where to?"

"Let me catch up on some sleep!"

"Aren't you even looking at the accounts of the Phoenix Battalion?"

"I'll look at it after I wake up."

Lu Yuan casually put his arm around her shoulder as well, leaning half of his body against her.

"Someone practiced martial arts until very late last night and even broke the bed. My back and waist are aching now, and the Princess Consort must take responsibility!"

Su Yuling felt her ears burning, so she reached out and pushed the person away.

"Go to your study and sleep!"

After Lu Yuan stood up, he looked at Shen Hanqiu.

"She doesn't care about me, but aren't you going to?"

Shen Hanqiu took a sip and then took a step back.

"This humble servant will go and make the bed for Your Highness!"

"So I still have to sleep in the study?"

"Last night, His Highness said that sisters should live in harmony."

After watching the two people leave, Lu Yuan finally managed to utter a sentence after a long while.

"Lovers eventually become sisters, but the husband suffers."