The Ming Dynasty: The opening scene features Zhu Di angrily accusing him of illegitimate succession.

Inside the Wenhua Hall in Nanjing.

Zhu Di held Tang Zong's memorial in his hand, looking at the words "the dikes of Suzhou and Songjiang prefectures are completely flooded, millions of people are displaced, and corpses of the starving lie everywhere." His brows furrowed slightly, but he did not get angry.

Lin Yue's earlier poem, "Lament of the Vegetable Man," led the Yongle Emperor to make a serious misjudgment of the disaster situation.

Zhu Di muttered to himself, "Just as I thought, these officials in Jiangnan really are good at keeping secrets."

Emperor Yongle continued to scan downwards, and when he saw Tang Zong listing the crimes of gentry embezzlement and collusion between officials, he sneered and tapped his finger heavily on the eight characters "withholding relief grain and merging land".

"Do you really think my money is so easy to embezzle? When I have some free time, I'll settle accounts with you all one by one."

Zhu Di remained calm and continued reading the memorial, then his expression immediately changed drastically.

Lin Yue executed Pang Mian, the magistrate of Wu County, as a warning to others; this act was widely applauded!

The Yongle Emperor was greatly shocked. What did it mean that Lin Yue's killing of Magistrate Pang Mian was "a great relief to the people"?

Zhu Di quickly looked down.

"Scholar Lin is as upright as iron, with a heart full of patriotism, and he is willing to sacrifice himself for the people's livelihood. Your Majesty is fortunate to have such a righteous minister, and you will surely be able to govern as well as the Tang and Song dynasties and even surpass the Han and Tang dynasties..."

Upon seeing this message, Zhu Di could no longer contain himself and slammed the memorial onto his desk.

Xuan paper was scattered all over the ground.

"How dare you!" Emperor Yongle roared in fury.

"He arbitrarily killed a high-ranking official and dares to call himself an upright and honest minister? Has that old bastard Tang Zong lost his mind?!"

Zhu Di paced back and forth, his chest heaving violently.

"Even if an official appointed by the imperial court has committed a thousand crimes, he should be escorted to Nanjing and handed over to the three judicial departments for sentencing. By what right does Lin Yue have to carry out private executions?!"

Even I don't do that, so why should I be the emperor?

Emperor Yongle suddenly stopped, looking at the scattered memorials, his temples bulging with veins.

"Who gave him the audacity? I bestowed this sword upon him to investigate cases, not to kill indiscriminately!"

Traitors, villains, rebels—they truly enrage me!

Hou Xian, who was standing next to him, was so frightened that he bent over and pressed himself to the ground.

He was somewhat used to Emperor Yongle's outbursts of temper. Whenever there was a memorial related to Lin Yue, the emperor would always laugh first and then get angry.

Zhu Di was furious and considered severely punishing Lin Yue.

But when the order was on the tip of his tongue, Zhu Di hesitated again.

The floods in Jiangnan were severe, and Cai Ren's lament was filled with sorrow. Although Tang Zong's memorial was overly complimentary, it also confirmed the effectiveness of Lin Yue's disaster relief efforts.

Such courage and decisiveness truly demonstrate his loyalty to the people. Lin Yue was a man of great talent, and it would be a pity to kill him.

After a long while, Zhu Di stopped, his expression softening slightly but still furious.

"Issue my decree! Commander Ji Gang of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is to rush to Songjiang Prefecture and summon Lin Yue back to the capital immediately to report back!"

There must be no delay along the way; he must be brought back immediately.

Zhu Di looked at the memorial on the ground and shook his head helplessly.

Emperor Yongle ultimately valued talent. In his view, although Lin Yue acted recklessly and killed officials at will, he also exposed the corruption in Jiangnan. If he could be restrained, he might become a pillar of society.

Recalling him back to the capital would not only punish his abuse of power but also preserve his talent, and allow for a thorough investigation into the disaster situation in Jiangnan—a win-win situation.

......

At the same time, Lin Yue was riding at full speed towards Songjiang Prefecture.

A tall, maroon horse galloped through the puddles on the official road. Lin Yue, wearing an oilcloth raincoat, sped from Suzhou to Songjiang Prefecture. The Wusong River, which he could see, made his heart grow heavier.

The riverbed, once filled with silt, is now almost flat land, with only a narrow, turbid stream remaining, winding like a snake.

The rain has temporarily subsided, but the water level of Taihu Lake has continued to rise sharply. If heavy rains continue in the future, the situation in Songjiang Prefecture will be very bad.

Lin Yue was anxious: "The downstream waterways are so silted up, and there's no way for Taihu Lake to drain. If it rains again, there will probably be a major flood."

As night fell, the group arrived at the Songjiang Prefecture post station.

After removing the saddle, Lin Yue's inner thigh wound, soaked in rainwater and turned white, was left untreated.

He pulled over a yamen runner who was sweeping the floor and asked, "Brother, there's been a flood in Songjiang Prefecture. How's the situation?"

When the yamen runners saw that he was wearing a scarlet official robe and a sword bestowed by the emperor at his waist, they immediately bowed and paid their respects.

"Your Honor! The County Magistrate is truly a benevolent and just official who loves his people like his own children!"

When the flood struck, the county magistrate immediately ordered the opening of the granaries and the establishment of soup kitchens. More than ten small sheds in the suburbs were constantly filled with the smoke of cooking fires. Fires were lit at dawn and relief efforts began at midday, ensuring that every disaster victim had rice porridge to drink, enough to fill their stomachs and keep them warm!

He became more and more excited as he spoke, his face filled with gratitude.

"Not only that, the county magistrate also requisitioned empty houses in the city and built temporary sheds so that the elderly, weak, women and children would have a place to shelter from the rain and not have to sleep on the streets."

Several minor officials in the grain depot attempted to embezzle grain, but the prefect discovered this and immediately punished them with caning and reprimand!

Lin Yue was greatly puzzled upon hearing this.

Suzhou and Songjiang are adjacent to each other and the disaster situation is similar. How come one is in dire straits with people suffering and officials being corrupt, while the other is being resettled in an orderly manner?

Given the swift and decisive actions of the magistrate of Songjiang Prefecture, how could he possibly turn a blind eye to the hidden dangers of siltation in the rivers under his jurisdiction?

He stared at the earnest expression on the bailiff's face, suppressed his doubts, and left.

The immediate priority is to get to Huating. We'll find out what Songjiang Prefecture is like when we get there.

Back in his room, Lin Yue spread out Xuan paper, ground ink, and began to write.

These days, he maintained a frequency of one memorial per day, writing extensively about the emergency situation of the floods in Jiangnan, in order to continuously urge Zhu Di to allocate relief grain and dispatch laborers as soon as possible.

As the pen touched the paper, having just written "The Songjiang Prefecture River Channel is Silted and Urgently Needs Dredging," flames suddenly shot into the sky outside the window, and thick smoke choked my throat through the window cracks.

"Fire!"

Lin Yue was horrified and tried to rush out, but the door was charred black by the flames and he couldn't push it open even a little.

The thick smoke choked him so much he couldn't open his eyes. The fire was burning faster than usual, and the flames spread rapidly, even setting some of Lin Yue's hair on fire.

boom!

The door was suddenly flung open, and Liu Zhong, fully armored, roared as he rushed in, wrapped Lin Yue in his soaking wet cloak, and forcefully broke out of the sea of ​​fire.

"Cough...cough cough..." Lin Yue stood in the mud outside the post station, looking at the burning room, unable to stop coughing.

Lin Yue wiped the mud off his face, his eyes sharp. "Someone in Songjiang Prefecture is afraid. They're trying to silence us."

Enraged, Liu Zhong grabbed a trembling incense burner with his left hand, held a brocade dagger to the burner's neck with his right, and shouted, "Speak! Who set the fire?!"

The constable's legs went weak, and he collapsed in the mud, waving his arms wildly.

"My lord, spare my life! I truly didn't know!"

I was just sweeping the yard when I turned around and saw smoke coming from the east wing. I have no idea why it caught fire!

"There's no need to interrogate him anymore. Let's release him and go quickly," Lin Yue said, waving his hand.

"Sir, you're not even going to interrogate him?" Liu Zhong was taken aback and turned to look at Lin Yue.

"With days of heavy rain and such damp weather, how could a fire have broken out?"

His eyes widened in anger, and his voice was deep: "Just now, when the brothers were pouring tea, they discovered there was something wrong with the water and food. If it weren't for their vigilance, we would all be dead by now!"