The Red Mansion

Chapter 108: The Emperor Inquires about the Flood in Zhili
June twenty-seventh.

That evening, it was raining heavily in the capital city.

Dark clouds pressed down on the city like splashed ink, and rain arrows shot straight at the palace moat, causing white foam to rise.

The Prince Zhongyi's Mansion, located in Shuaifu Hutong outside Dong'anmen, stood majestically in the rain. Thousands of silver snakes scurried across the glazed tiles, and rain trickled down the heads of the gargoyles.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of horses and carriages coming through the rain.

A carriage stopped outside the palace.

When the curtain of the carriage was lifted, first the green cloth umbrella was splashed with broken jade, and then half of Jiang Nian's moon-white gown was revealed.

Jiang Nian got off the carriage holding a green cloth umbrella.

He held up the green cloth umbrella and looked at the gilded plaque. He saw four huge golden characters "Zhongyi Palace" hidden behind the rain, and the stone lions in front of the gate had their eyes wide open.

Jiang Nian clenched the umbrella handle tightly, thinking to himself, "I remember the first time I came to this palace. It was evening and it was raining heavily. The difference is that the first time I came here on my own initiative. I asked the Thirteenth Prince to take the Shuntian Prefecture Provincial Examination. But today, the Thirteenth Prince sent someone to summon me. I wonder why the Thirteenth Prince suddenly summoned me today?"

With doubts, he straightened his clothes which were a little wet from the rain and walked into Prince Zhongyi's Mansion.

……

……

indoor.

Prince Zhongyi stood behind the window, his hands behind his back, gazing out at the torrential downpour with a solemn expression. The hem of his dragon robe was patchy, having been soaked by the water just now. Outside, the sound of rain hitting banana leaves mingled with the tinkling of eaves.

Suddenly hearing footsteps, Prince Zhongyi turned around and looked at Jiang Nian who walked in respectfully.

Just as Jiang Nian was about to salute, Prince Zhongyi hurriedly raised his hand to stop him, blurting out, "Don't salute yet. I summoned you here today to inquire about something in accordance with the imperial decree."

After saying this, Prince Zhongyi straightened his clothes, walked to the center of the room, and stood facing south.

Jiang Nian approached Prince Zhongyi, knelt down and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Highness, I, Third-Class Guard Jiang Nian, respectfully greet you!"

"Your Majesty, be well!" Prince Zhongyi solemnly agreed, then inquired on behalf of Emperor Taishun, "Today, torrential rains are wreaking havoc in Zhili. Mountain torrents are surging, and rivers are overflowing. It's like a swamp. How can we save the country?"

Jiang Nian pondered for a moment, took a deep breath, and then spoke aloud...

……

……

Although Jiang Nian had made two performances in front of Emperor Taishun, and both times he performed well, Emperor Taishun was always suspicious. He suspected that there was a master secretly guiding Jiang Nian, and even suspected that the master had ulterior motives.

Therefore, Emperor Taishun secretly sent people to follow and investigate Jiang Nian. He knew everything about Jiang Nian, and even knew that Jiang Nian and Xue Baochai, who was staying at Jiang's house, had not yet had sex...

Emperor Taishun then confirmed that Jiang Nian did not have any expert who was secretly guiding him. The people he often came into contact with, apart from the people of the Jiang family, were Qu Tai and his son Qu Jishan.

But Emperor Taishun still had doubts about Jiang Nian's extraordinary talents.

Just yesterday, when Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi were discussing the possibility of a serious flood in Zhili, an idea suddenly struck him. He wanted to consult Jiang Nian about disaster relief, to see what kind of disaster relief strategy Jiang Nian would come up with without any prior preparation.

However, Emperor Taishun also knew that he had summoned Jiang Nian too frequently recently. So this time, Emperor Taishun did not summon Jiang Nian to Changchun Garden to have a face-to-face interview, but instead asked Prince Zhongyi to ask on his behalf.

……

……

The next day, June 28th, it was still raining heavily in the capital city.

The sudden downpour enveloped the Dan Ning Residence in Changchun Garden. The sound of the rain falling was like the dull roar of a dragon.

Emperor Taishun, dressed in his azure silk brocade robes, sat cross-legged on a rosewood Arhat bed and asked Prince Zhongyi, "Yesterday I asked you to ask Yi'er for disaster relief measures. Did you ask?"

Prince Zhongyi sat on a low stool, the hem of his dragon robe still stained by rain. Upon hearing this, he hurriedly replied respectfully, "The emperor's decree is so magnificent, how dare I neglect it? Yesterday evening, I summoned Brother Yi to the palace to inquire about it in person. Brother Yi, in the absence of any knowledge of the situation, responded on the spur of the moment."

Emperor Taishun was curious: "How did he respond?"

Prince Zhongyi said, "Brother Yi predicts that if a serious flood breaks out in Zhili, grain prices in the capital will skyrocket, the grain reserves in Tongzhou's grain warehouses will be depleted, and refugees will flock to the capital, endangering stability."

Emperor Taishun nodded: "It's normal for him to predict this situation."

Prince Zhongyi sighed, "Brother Yi then said that this is a test of Your Majesty's governance. Disaster relief measures should urgently maintain stability, reassure the people, prevent refugees from disturbing the capital, and quickly restore order. If so, Your Majesty will be able to establish a style of diligence and pragmatism."

Emperor Taishun blurted out, "How insolent this boy is! How dare he say such a thing?"

Prince Zhongyi smiled and said, "Although this statement is frank, it is also true. Brother Yi is young, and he was able to consider this at such a short notice. This is truly remarkable, and it also shows his concern for His Majesty."

Emperor Taishun nodded and asked Prince Zhongyi, "Then how can we respond to the emergency, reassure the people, and quickly restore order? Does Yi'er have any ideas?"

Prince Zhongyi said solemnly, "Brother Yi has proposed four strategies for emergency response."

"First, open the granaries to provide relief, urgently mobilize the stored grain from the Changping granary and the charity granary in Zhili, set up hundreds of porridge factories, and provide relief according to the rule of 'one he of rice per person per day'; second, combine relief with work, recruit young and strong disaster victims to dredge the lower reaches of the Yongding River, and provide them with one liter of rice and five coins per day; third, repair the official road from Zhuozhou to Tongzhou, and erect a 'Tai Shun Year One Imperial Order for Relief Work Monument' to express the emperor's grace; fourth, severely punish corruption, and any official who withholds relief money will be severely punished.

"Yi Ge'er said that if these four policies are implemented, large-scale civil unrest can be avoided, the resettlement rate of disaster victims will be high, the mortality rate will be low, grain prices will fall the following year, and the recovery rate of spring farming will also be high."

Emperor Taishun nodded, feeling satisfied in his heart, but deliberately said, "None of them are brilliant strategies."

Prince Zhongyi smiled and said, "Although he didn't come up with a brilliant plan, Brother Yi'er's thorough consideration in responding to the inquiries at short notice demonstrates his exceptional talent. This also shows that his previous proposals for investigating the financial deficit and improving the Beijing-Tong government warehouses were largely his own ideas and plans."

Emperor Taishun remained silent upon hearing this.

Prince Zhongyi's expression was serious. He said, "Brother Yi has repeatedly pleaded that if Zhili is hit by floods, the primary relief measure should be 'combining relief with work'. This is a foolproof measure and should not be neglected."

Emperor Taishun frowned slightly and said thoughtfully, "What do you think of this strategy?"

Prince Zhongyi answered without hesitation, "Your Highness agrees deeply. Integrating disaster relief with work is indeed a good approach and should be vigorously promoted."

The so-called "integrating relief into construction" means integrating relief into construction projects, which is actually "replacing relief with construction."

However, there has never been such a term as "work-for-relief" from ancient times to the present.

The expression commonly used in Daqing is "embedding relief in work."

Daqing has long adopted the disaster relief method of "combining relief with work".

During the Jingning reign, Jing Fu, a renowned minister of river management, employed large-scale "recruitment of disaster victims, providing them with daily silver and rice." Emperor Jingning also issued an order that "starving people be fed on grain transport boats, and relief be provided during the work." However, this "relief-in-work" program was not a common disaster relief measure in Daqing and was not widespread. It was implemented only 1.2 times per year during the Jingning reign, meaning that there was only one such program per year.

Now Jiang Nianzhe suggested that if a serious flood occurred in Zhili, the first priority of relief should be to "integrate relief into work" and it should be implemented vigorously.

……

……

That morning, when Prince Zhongyi was reporting Jiang Nian's disaster relief plan to Emperor Taishun in Danningju, Changchun Garden, Jiang Nian was standing under the eaves of the main house in the small courtyard in the eastern suburbs, staring at the pouring rain in a daze.

But he stood with his hands behind his back, his brows slightly furrowed, thinking to himself, "If I remember correctly, in my previous life during the Yongzheng era, not only did Zhili Province suffer a severe flood in the summer of the first year of Yongzheng's reign, but an even more severe flood also occurred in Zhili Province in the summer of the third year of Yongzheng's reign!"

In fact, he has a more systematic and in-depth strategy on how to deal with floods.

However, the time is not right yet, and it is not suitable to take it out yet...

Water dripped from the eaves in lines. Jiang Nian stared at the wet steps in front of him, thinking to himself, "If in this world, a more serious flood occurred in Zhili during the summer of the third year of Taishun, I would have been able to come up with a more systematic and in-depth disaster relief strategy. Perhaps then, I could personally participate in the disaster relief!"

Jiang Nian pondered in his mind again, "Since I arrived in the capital in March, in just over three months, I've been constantly causing trouble and offering suggestions. I should tone it down! Next year, I'll be of age, get married, and take up my post at court. It won't be too late to show off my prowess then. Until then, I should persist in studying diligently!"

……

……

This was exactly what Jiang Nian, Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi had expected.

In the summer of the first year of Taishun, Zhili Province did suffer a serious flood.

The Yongding River and Ziya River basins were flooded due to heavy rains, affecting more than ten counties including Liangxiang, Gu'an, and Bazhou, submerging about 50,000 hectares of farmland and causing 300,000 victims.

In July, Emperor Taishun issued an edict for disaster relief and sent officials to supervise river works.

Emperor Taishun’s disaster relief measures are exactly the same as the ones proposed by Jiang Nian!
Thanks to these disaster relief measures, the Zhili flood did not cause large-scale civil unrest. The resettlement rate of disaster victims reached 80%, the mortality rate was controlled below 5%, the grain price fell by 30% the following year, and the spring plowing recovery rate reached 70%, which established the image of Emperor Taishun as a diligent and pragmatic person.

……

……

However, when Jiang Nian was in Jiangning, he once worshipped Fang Tingxun as his teacher.

Before Jiang Nian went to Beijing this year, Fang Tingxun told Jiang Nian that he would arrive in Beijing around the end of March. If nothing unexpected happened, he would live in the Shangjiang Liangyi Guild Hall on the east side of Fayuan Temple. He asked Jiang Nian to send someone to the Shangjiang Liangyi Guild Hall to look for him in early April. Even if he did not live in the guild hall by then, he would leave his address in the guild hall for Jiang Nian to look for him.

Fang Tingxun hopes that he can continue to teach Jiang Nian while preparing for the imperial examination in Shenjing City. This way he can earn a lot of money and perhaps also take the opportunity to curry favor with the powerful.

Jiang Nian has not forgotten this.

In early April of that year, he sent He Yun to the Shangjiang Liangyi Guild Hall to locate Fang Tingxun. At the time, Jiang Nian was diligently preparing for the Shuntian Prefecture Enke provincial examination under Qu Jishan's guidance, and naturally did not need Fang Tingxun's guidance. Fang Tingxun was shocked by this, believing that Jiang Nian was too eager for quick success and could not possibly pass the Shuntian Prefecture Enke provincial examination. As it turned out, Jiang Nian ranked 33rd, but was secretly deposed by Emperor Taishun.

Time flies, and it is September of the first year of Taishun, the time of the imperial examination.

If Emperor Taishun had not secretly dismissed Jiang Nian's 33 candidates from the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination, Jiang Nian would have continued to participate in this special examination.

Although he did not participate, there were two people he cared about participating in this special examination.

Both of them had been his teachers.

One is Qu Jishan and the other is Fang Tingxun.

They both got into high school!
On October 27th, the imperial examination was held.

The results of the palace examination were announced, Qu Jishan ranked 27th in the second class, and Fang Tingxun followed closely behind, ranking 28th in the second class.

This can be considered a kind of fate. Jiang Nian’s two teachers passed the imperial examination together and ranked next to each other.

Qu Jishan was overjoyed.

Fang Tingxun was so happy that he cried. He was nearly forty years old and had failed the imperial examination three times. He also spent a lot of money on it. This time, he finally became a Jinshi.

According to the rules, new scholars must attend the Qionglin Banquet.

On that day, all the Jinshi candidates wore official uniforms, wore flowers in their hair and red robes, and rode on horses in a parade through the streets. The people of the capital lined the streets to watch and cheered.

Qu Jishan rode on his horse with a calm expression, occasionally bowing to the people on the roadside, showing a true and elegant demeanor.

Fang Tingxun's face was flushed, and he kept bowing to the people around him, saying repeatedly: "Congratulations, congratulations!"

At the Qionglin Banquet, the scholars took their seats according to their ranking.

Qu Jishan and Fang Tingxun were of similar rank, so they sat next to each other.

Qu Jishan raised his glass and said to Fang Tingxun with a smile, "Brother Fang, you and I were both Nian'er's former teachers. Now we are both on the gold list, and our rankings are the same. It is truly a fate."

Fang Tingxun raised his glass and responded respectfully, "I've heard Nian'er mention Mr. Qu a long time ago, saying that you are profoundly learned and admirable. I never expected that you would be ranked with Mr. Qu this time. It is truly a blessing for me."

After they finished talking, they drank together.

In fact, Fang Tingxun felt fortunate for another reason. He had heard Jiang Nian talk about Qu Jishan's background and learned that Qu Jishan's father was Qu Tai, the current Minister of Works. Fang Tingxun considered the fact that he and Qu Jishan were both Jiang Nian's former teachers, and now they were both admitted to the same Jinshi exam, with similar rankings, a perfect opportunity. He could seize the opportunity to become close to the Qus, which would benefit his future.

At this moment, Fang Tingxun's eyes suddenly moistened. Holding a glass of wine, he sighed to Qu Jishan, "To be honest, Mr. Qu, I am almost forty years old. I have failed the imperial examination three times and have spent all my family's wealth on it. Today, I can finally hold my head high and be proud of it. I will turn all the hardships I have suffered in the imperial examinations into a glass of wine at the Qionglin Banquet today."

After saying that, he raised his head and drank the wine in the glass, with tear marks on his face.

"The imperial examinations are inherently unpredictable. The fact that Brother Fang has been able to persevere until now shows how strong his resolve is."

Qu Jishan comforted him and drank a glass of wine. His road to the imperial examination was not as bumpy as Fang Tingxun's, but in order to pass the imperial examination, he also studied hard for many years.

No matter what era, a person's background and family circumstances are important.

Fang Tingxun was a student from a poor family, while Qu Jishan was the son of an official. If Fang Tingxun had a family background like Qu Jishan, his path to the imperial examination would have been much easier, and perhaps he would not have passed the imperial examination until now.

Now, although Fang Tingxun and Qu Jishan both passed the imperial examination and had the same ranking, based on their family backgrounds, it is not difficult to imagine that Fang Tingxun's future official career will inevitably be more difficult than Qu Jishan's, unless there is a special opportunity.

Changing the subject, Qu Jishan smiled and said, "When I see Nian Ge'er again, I will ask him to treat you and me to a banquet. Then, in front of Nian Ge'er, you and I will have a drink and a good time."

Fang Tingxun smiled upon hearing this: "That's great!"

(End of this chapter)