The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"What about other places? Are they similarly constructed here?"

Chen Huai'an did not continue this topic, but instead brought up the construction of the Yellow River dikes again.

Sun Fujia said with some pride, "This is already considered relatively slow. We're not repairing the entire Yellow River; we're only repairing some key sections."

"With enough manpower and the people working diligently without shirking their duties, this place is considered lagging behind; the faster-growing areas are almost finished."

"At that time, I will naturally report to the imperial court, but I didn't expect you to suddenly come here."

Chen Huai'an explained, "I went back to my hometown and am now on my way back to Chang'an. I stopped by to take a look around."

"I see." Sun Fujia said in realization, without asking any further questions, and then said, "If you plan to stay here for a few days to see how things go, I can stay here for a few days as well."

"I was originally planning to leave tomorrow."

"No need." Chen Huai'an shook his head. "I didn't plan to stay long. I just stopped by and will be leaving soon."

"Since you said some parts are almost finished, I suppose you're very busy, so I won't bother you any longer."

"By the way," Chen Huai'an said, then asked a question, "You've been in charge of the Yellow River repairs for so long, have you encountered any problems during that time?"

"There are definitely problems," Sun Fujia snorted. "The manpower and resources consumed by the work-for-relief program are enormous, and all sorts of dirty tricks will inevitably occur."

"Oppressing the people, withholding wages, falsifying materials purchases, buying defective products, or directly submitting false accounts—these have all occurred."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be traveling all over the Yellow River."

Chen Huai'an's expression turned cold: "Would anyone dare to smear something like the Yellow River repair project?"

"Profits can be very tempting," Sun Fujia sighed. "So much has been invested in building the Yellow River, and so much money is handled every day. It's normal for some people to lose control of their desires."

"Then there's no need to hold back!" Chen Huai'an said coldly. "His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized that there must be absolutely no problems with the construction of the Yellow River!"

"If these termites cause problems with the Yellow River dikes, it will inevitably lead to a major disaster in the future!"

"Don't worry." Sun Fujia nodded slightly. "His Majesty has given me enough power. Anyone who dared to do such a thing was beheaded by me in front of everyone."

Chen Huai'an nodded in satisfaction.

He had no doubt about Sun Fujia's abilities.

He rose through the ranks from a minor official to become the Legal Advisor of Wannian County, responsible for handling criminal cases and supervising the arrest of thieves and criminals. After the fall of the Sui Dynasty and the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, he participated in the first imperial examination since the founding of the Tang Dynasty in the fifth year of the Wude era and topped the list of successful candidates.

Thus, he became the first top scholar in the history of the imperial examination!

Such an experience destined Sun Fujia to be no soft-hearted person.

Of course, otherwise Li Shimin would not have specially assigned him to do such an important task as repairing the Yellow River.

"Where's Zhang Peng?" Chen Huai'an asked casually. "What do you think is the problem here?"

Zhang Peng scratched his head and smiled sheepishly: "Your Excellency, I don't see anything wrong with it. It's fine here."

"The food is better than at home, and the accommodation is also good. It's just that the weather is cold now, and it's a bit cold while repairing the Yellow River."

Upon hearing this, Sun Fujia felt a sudden sense of relief for some reason.

He was really afraid that Zhang Peng would say something wrong.

After all, Chen Huai'an is a man of principle; he always manages to discover problems in inexplicable ways.

Besides, he had just assured Zhang Peng that he was safe, but if Zhang Peng were to point out any problems now, where would he put his face?

"It's cold, there's nothing we can do about it. We can only try to finish the work as soon as possible," Sun Fujia said, shaking his head.

Chen Huai'an pondered for a moment and said, "Let's spend more money to prepare some supplies to keep warm. We can also cook some ginger soup so that everyone can have a bowl after work."

"Alright." Sun Fujia didn't care. After all, the other party was the Minister of Revenue. Since the other party was paying, why should he object?

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency." Zhang Peng was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

Chen Huai'an waved his hand and said to Sun Fujia, "Speaking of which, the weather is getting colder. In another month, it will probably snow heavily. Do you think it's feasible for me to build the Nine Provinces Irrigation Canal?"

"I'm not aware of your plans, so I won't comment for now," Sun Fujia said cautiously. "However... as far as I know, since you proposed the work-for-relief program, the construction of canals and water conservancy projects has never stopped."

"The Guanzhong region, as well as the Kyushu region you just mentioned, are included. Even if you haven't undertaken large-scale projects like repairing the Yellow River, the water conservancy and irrigation canals in Kyushu have probably been completed in a great many ways over the years."

"The dam has just not been touched yet."

"Are you trying to persuade me to give up this idea?" Chen Huai'an asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sun Fujia denied it, saying, "That's not true. If what you said is true, that there might be a major flood next year, and only the canals and water conservancy facilities were repaired but the dikes were not rebuilt, the flood will still rage, just not as severely."

"To minimize the losses, we must rebuild the dikes."

"The problem is...building dikes in the dead of winter..."

Sun Fujia didn't finish his sentence; he simply shook his head.

Besides not daring to admit it, another reason he did so was that repairing such water conservancy projects in winter was extremely difficult.

"We have to do it, even if it's difficult," Chen Huai'an sighed. "The Yellow River is the main one, and although the rivers of the nine provinces are secondary, they cannot be ignored."

In the long run, the Yellow River is certainly much more important than the rivers of the nine provinces.

However, if we only look at the third year of the Zhenguan era, the Nine Provinces are actually more important.

The great flood of the third year of the Zhenguan era was due to the massive rainfall across the country, which caused most of the rivers in Kyushu to breach their banks, resulting in such a huge impact.

Of course, he couldn't say this out loud, otherwise, when the great flood occurred next year, he would truly be considered a prophet.

"Since you've put it this way, I won't say anything more." Sun Fujia knew the other party's mind was made up, and sighed softly.

"If you can persuade His Majesty and the ministers to push this matter forward, I might as well continue to oversee the construction of the Kyushu dikes."

"My personal opinion is that Kyushu already has your irrigation canals and water conservancy projects, so it can generally withstand large floods."

"So you still want to persuade me, don't you?" Chen Huai'an smiled, knowing that the other person didn't really agree with him.

However, because of his previous correct decisions, the other party was somewhat unsure.

The saying "If you are prepared, you will succeed; if you are not prepared, you will fail" is deeply ingrained in Sun Fujia's memory.

"How about this," Sun Fujia pondered. "It's not far from Xuzhou. If you go back to Chang'an, it won't be considered a detour. It will only delay you by a day or two at most."

"Go to Xuzhou first and see how things are. After you've seen it, if you still think you should do it, then do it!"

"how?"

Chen Huai'an wholeheartedly agreed: "Great idea!"

"..."