I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 132 Blocking the Road
"Your Majesty, a memorial has arrived from Wanzhou with urgent news!" The over-seventy-year-old Lord Luo, panting heavily, shakily pulled a memorial from his sleeve. "The fish and grain dam has collapsed!"

"What?" Emperor Sheng'an pushed aside the chief eunuch and took the memorial himself to read it.

Since the beginning of summer, Wanzhou has experienced continuous rainfall, causing severe damage to the fields. People are braving the rain every day to clear the waterlogged fields, hoping that the rain will stop.

Unfortunately, the heavens were unkind, and the rain continued to pour down. By the end of July, there had been seven consecutive days of torrential rain, and the water level of the Yuliang Reservoir had exceeded its maximum level by more than 30 inches. The dam could not withstand the pressure and finally broke down on July 29.

The Suzhou prefect reported in his memorial: "The Yuliang Dam has breached, and all the downstream prefectures have been hit by the flood. Parts of the Suzhou prefecture have also been affected. Houses have collapsed, farmland has been destroyed, and people have been displaced and seriously injured!"

"The prefect of Wanzhou failed to provide adequate disaster relief, causing many affected people to flee. Ganzhou, Suzhou, Ezhou and other prefectures were also severely affected and unable to take care of themselves. They could only gather a small number of disaster victims, while most of them went to Luoyang and the northern prefectures."

Lord Luo then shakily pulled out several memorials from his sleeve, which read, "The prefects of Luzhou, Jinzhou, and Yuzhou have submitted petitions requesting disaster relief supplies."

Emperor Sheng'an was increasingly alarmed as he read on. "It's only been a little over half a month since the Yuliang Dam breached. How could the disaster victims have reached Jinzhou?"

"Your Majesty, according to the memorial submitted by the prefect of Jinzhou, the taxes levied on the people of Wanzhou are more than double those of other prefectures. This year, heavy rains have resulted in poor harvests, and many people are unable to bear the burden and have been forced to flee ahead of schedule."

"Fine, what a fine prefect of Wanzhou!" Emperor Sheng'an roared. "Issue an imperial decree to immediately arrest the prefect of Wanzhou and bring him back to the capital!"

The chief eunuch trotted around delivering the imperial decree.

"Your Majesty, the death of the Prefect of Wanzhou is not a great loss. The most urgent task now is to provide relief to the disaster victims and appease the people," Lord Luo requested. "Please summon all the officials to the palace for a meeting immediately."

"Granted!" Emperor Sheng'an gave the order, and the palace gates, which had been locked long ago, were opened one after another. The Imperial Guards poured out and went to the residences of various important officials to invite people.

Half an hour later, officials of the fifth rank and above gathered in the imperial study with solemn expressions to discuss matters, with the Crown Prince and the Second Prince standing at the forefront.

Emperor Sheng'an asked in a deep voice, "What do you, my esteemed ministers, think should be done about this matter?"

"I believe that the prefectures and counties should be ordered to gather the disaster victims, break them up into smaller groups, and send them back to their old homes after the flood recedes," Yin Wei was the first to step forward. "As the capital, Luoyang should take the lead and set an example."

Some court officials objected, saying, "I think this is unacceptable! Since ancient times, major disasters have always been followed by major epidemics. If the disaster victims carry the virus, wouldn't that implicate innocent people in the prefectures and counties? I believe that the disaster victims should be gathered together and managed in a unified manner."

"I second that proposal! After such a great disaster, all etiquette and laws have been lost. If we allow the disaster victims to enter the prefectures and disrupt the security and management of the prefectures, punishing them will hurt the people's hearts, while not punishing them will disrupt the rule of law. It would be better to resettle and manage them in a unified manner and restore the law!"

"I disagree! The number of people affected by the floods in the south is far more than just a few hundred thousand. Not to mention that gathering them is a huge and time-consuming undertaking, the amount of relief supplies needed every day after that is also enormous. May I ask the Minister of Revenue, is the national treasury capable of affording this amount of money?"

The Minister of Revenue silently shook his head.

The minister, filled with righteous indignation, exclaimed, "We have to pay, even if we can't! Are we going to watch the people starve to death?"

Seeing the two factions of officials start arguing, Emperor Sheng'an stopped them, saying, "Minister of Revenue, tell me, how much silver can the national treasury provide?"

The Minister of Revenue, with a somber face, said, "Your Majesty, it is not yet time to collect taxes from various regions. The national treasury is not full, and in addition, we need to raise enough funds to pay the military salaries of the Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest armies. The national treasury is truly broke!"

No matter how capable he is, he can't turn lead into gold!
When the Ministry of Revenue cried poverty, even though Emperor Sheng'an preferred to gather the disaster victims, he had to change his mind. The officials argued and argued, but seeing that the bright moon was high in the sky and they still hadn't come up with a plan, Emperor Sheng'an simply said, "Order all prefectures to do their best to gather the disaster victims, open the granaries, and record in detail the expenses required for disaster relief, which will be covered by this year's tax revenue."

"I will obey your orders!"

The Crown Prince stepped forward and said, "Father, I request permission to go to Wanzhou for disaster relief!" Emperor Sheng'an was pleased and said, "Order the Cabinet to select an imperial envoy to accompany the Crown Prince to Wanzhou for disaster relief and to investigate the truth of the breach in the Yuliang Dam. You must find out the whole story!"

"Your subject obeys the decree!" The Crown Prince lowered his head, concealing the upward curve of his lips.

"Furthermore, I hereby issue a decree: Prince Ning is to return to the capital!"

Imperial edicts were issued one after another from the palace, and everyone in Luoyang and the Jiangnan officialdom was on edge, fearing that the flood from the breached fish and grain dam would sweep them away.

Grand Secretary Luo Zheng returned to the cabinet overnight for a meeting, crossed out the names submitted by the six ministries one by one, and finally selected Ning Guang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Ning Guang didn't even get to return to his residence. The next morning, he followed the Crown Prince's carriage out of Luoyang and headed towards Wanzhou.

On the official road from Qinzhou to Ganzhou, Wu Dingsi and Wu Wuwu led their caravan leisurely along the way. A group of men chatted and boasted, not feeling tired at all, only bored.

"Sigh, there haven't been any bandits or brigands along the way. It's so boring. Grandpa's big knife hasn't even had a chance to be drawn. It's a waste that Grandpa has sharpened it so much every day."

The eldest brother, Zhu, scolded, "Isn't it good that you had a safe journey? Third brother, shut your stinking mouth!"

The caravan had hundreds of boxes of tea; if anything went wrong, even the escort agency couldn't afford to pay for it back!

Zhu Laosan chuckled, "What are you afraid of, brother? Our Tiger Might Escort Agency has been traveling between the capital and the Northwest for over twenty years. What kind of powerful bandits and mountain thieves haven't we encountered? We've never lost a single shipment!"

Seeing his elder brother's displeasure, Zhu Laosan dared not bring it up again and continued idly swatting mosquitoes.

Suddenly, the driver of the guards pulled the carriage to a stop. Zhu Laosan was caught off guard and tumbled forward, but luckily he grabbed the handrail in time to avoid falling flat on his face.

"Damn it, how do you drive a car?" Zhu Laosan slapped the bodyguard.

The young bodyguard, who had been beaten, grimaced and cried out, "Third Master, someone's blocking the carriage!"

"What?" Zhu Laosan turned around and saw a group of people blocking the road with sticks. He immediately perked up, picked up his broadsword and rushed forward, afraid that he wouldn't get a turn in the fight.

But when he rushed up, he realized something was wrong.

His clothes were tattered and his face was pale and thin. Why was his hand holding the stick still shaking?

Is he new to the mountain and not yet familiar with the procedures?

Zhu Laosan shouted, "Hey! Which gang do you guys belong to?"

The disaster victims, who had lived honest lives, were terribly nervous about their first robbery. Relying on their numbers, they impulsively rushed down the mountain, only to be terrified by the countless men in their group.

Especially the one who appeared later, he was big, burly, and strong, and it felt like he could take on ten of them all like it was nothing.

The man who suggested robbery mustered his courage and said, "I planted this road, I cultivated this tree. If you want to pass, leave some food behind!"

Wu Ding IV:
Wu Ding waved his hand four times, "Confiscate weapons, and do not harm anyone."