Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

The man took the steamed bun and began to wolf it down.

With the first, there is the second and the third.

The onlookers were finally moved and rushed forward in droves.

"I'm signing up! Me too!"

"Me too! I used to carry heavy loads at the docks, I'm very strong!"

The scene was somewhat chaotic at first, but it quickly returned to order thanks to Yang Wei and his disciplined personal guards.

On the first day, they recruited more than 300 workers.

Instead of remotely directing operations from the palace, Lacey personally went to the construction site in the mass grave ditch.

He was dressed in a neat short-sleeved shirt and stood with the workers by the muddy ditch.

With his "infrastructure maniac" talent, the entire construction site was organized in an orderly manner.

He divided the three hundred people into several groups, some responsible for building dams upstream, some for setting up nets downstream, some for reinforcing the canal walls with piles, and some for logistics and transportation.

With clearly defined tasks and a clear division of labor, the efficiency was extremely high.

Laisi personally took the blueprints and explained the key points of construction to the foremen. His words were simple and easy to understand, full of practical information, which made the experienced old craftsmen nod repeatedly.

At noon, the communal meals were delivered to the construction site.

It really was white flour steamed buns, and a big pot of vegetable soup with oil floating on top.

The workers held their rice bowls, their mouths greasy from eating, and long-lost smiles appeared on their faces.

In the evening, when it was time to finish work, Yang Wei personally led a group of people, carrying boxes filled with copper coins and rice, to the construction site.

More than 300 workers lined up, one by one receiving their money and rice.

When the first worker received the heavy thirty copper coins and three catties of coarse rice, he trembled with excitement and knelt down with a thud in the direction of Laixi.

"Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness, for giving us a way out!"

When he knelt down, all the workers present spontaneously knelt down as well.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"His Highness the Prince of Qin is a living bodhisattva!"

Shouts came and went.

This kneeling was a release of their long-suppressed gratitude and hope.

Lacey did not help them up, but quietly accepted their bow.

Public support is built up little by little in this way.

This message is more useful than any announcement.

The next day, before dawn, a line stretching for miles had already formed in front of the job posting point in Anyefang.

Tens of thousands of unemployed people flocked to the capital from all directions, their faces filled with anticipation and their eyes rekindling with hope.

The construction site was bustling with activity.

Under Lai Xi's command and with the high enthusiasm of the people, the project is progressing rapidly.

In just five days, the ditch of mass graves that had plagued the residents of the eastern part of the city for years was completely cleared.

The black, foul-smelling sewage flowed away along the newly built canal, revealing the solid bottom of the canal.

When the clear, fresh water first flowed through the ditch, the residents of the surrounding streets and alleys cheered and spread the news, and some even set off firecrackers to celebrate.

They spontaneously erected a longevity tablet for Laisi, calling him "the good prince who controlled the floods."

At the same time, Zhang Cheng, the Vice Minister of Works, also spent almost every day at the construction site.

He was completely impressed by Laixi's simplified and efficiency-oriented construction methods.

He not only proactively provided technical support, but also used his authority to bring in a batch of idle tools and materials from the Ministry of Works' warehouse.

He looked at the people who were once indifferent, but now had faces full of the joy of labor and hope for the future, and his heart was filled with emotion.

He felt that this Prince Qin was completely different from those bureaucrats in the court who only knew how to talk big.

He is doing practical things and genuinely thinking about the people.

……

Wherever the sun and moon reach, it is scorching earth: Chapter 241: Clues to the Canal Gang and a Late-Night Meeting

The success of the work-for-relief pilot project was quickly reflected in a detailed report, along with a petition from Zhang Cheng, the Vice Minister of Works, and several wards in the eastern part of the city, which was placed on the Emperor's desk.

The report stated that more than 3,000 laborers were recruited and it took seven days to dredge three miles of river and repair five miles of roads.

The total cost was less than five thousand taels of silver from the imperial treasury, yet it provided income for thousands of families and freed tens of thousands of residents from the suffering of sewage.

The dragon looked at the report, then at the petition filled with bright red handprints, and was greatly pleased.

"Great! What a wonderful work-for-relief program!" he praised.

"The second son handled this matter brilliantly! Pragmatic, efficient, and deeply loved by the people!"

He immediately issued an edict praising Prince Yanxi of Qin and decided to promote the work-for-relief model in other areas of the capital with similar circumstances.

This is exactly the result Lacey wanted.

But he was not satisfied with that.

He immediately handed over the second memorial.

In his memorial, he first thanked his father for his trust and support, and then changed the subject to raise a new question.

“When I was clearing the burial ditch, I discovered that the river channel was silted up, which was not a problem that arose overnight.”

"The root cause lies in the soil erosion upstream and the lack of unified planning for the entire water system in the Gyeonggi region."

"Currently, only clearing the downstream area is a temporary solution, not a fundamental one."

"If we want to solve the problem once and for all, we must conduct a comprehensive survey of the main waterway routes around the capital to understand their hydrology and geomorphology before we can formulate a long-term management plan."

This reason is perfectly reasonable and irrefutable.

A successful project leader who wants to expand the results and solve the problem at its root is someone any wise leader would support.

After reading the memorial, the emperor granted his request without hesitation.

He even issued a special decree ordering the Ministry of Works and other government departments to fully cooperate with the Prince of Qin's survey work.

And so, with a sword that seemed to grant imperial authority, Laixi rightfully turned his attention to the Grand Canal, which held the economic lifeline of the Great Yan Dynasty.

He assembled a small survey team, with Zhang Cheng, the Vice Minister of Works, in charge of the technology, and Yang Wei in charge of security, and they traveled along the canal towards the outskirts of Beijing.

On the surface, they were measuring the depth of the river and the speed of the water flow, and exploring the geology on both banks.

But Lacey's eyes were more focused on the fields and docks along the canal.

He can tell at a glance how well the crops are growing.

He saw that the vegetables were growing lushly in the farmland on both sides of the canal, and the orchards were filled with the fragrance of melons and fruits.

This is clearly a harvest season.

In stark contrast to this bountiful harvest, he saw a different scene at many small docks and roadsides along the way.

Baskets of fresh vegetables began to rot and turn yellow because they could not be transported out in time.

Piles of ripe fruit were stacked on the ground, emitting a sour, rotten smell.

He stopped the boat, went ashore, and started chatting with an old farmer who was worrying about a pile of rotten vegetables.

“Fellow villager, your vegetables look so good. Why don’t you transport them to the capital to sell? They’re just piling up here and going to rot,” Laisi asked.

The old farmer looked up and glanced at the group. Seeing that they were dressed in fine clothes and did not seem to be ordinary people, he boldly began to pour out his grievances.

"Sell? Sir, you make it sound so easy. How can I sell it?" The old farmer pointed at the canal, his face full of resentment.

"Did you see that? There's a toll station every ten miles along this river!"

"You have to pay a toll every time you pass through a card!"

"When we arrived at the main dock at the gates of the capital, there were those damned bastards from the Transport Commissioner's Office. They dictated the price of your vegetables, and that was the price—it was practically robbery!"

"We work hard all year, but in the end, most of the harvest ends up in those people's pockets."

"If we're unlucky and the ship gets delayed for a couple more days at some checkpoint, all the vegetables on board will be gone! We'll lose everything!"

As the old farmer spoke, his eyes reddened.

Lacey listened in silence.

Just as he was lost in thought, Yang Wei quickly caught up from behind and whispered a few words in his ear.

"Your Highness, our agents in the city have sent word." Yang Wei's voice was extremely low.

"Internal strife has broken out within the canal gang due to unequal distribution of spoils and excessive exploitation."

“There was a small-time gang leader named Li Si. His younger brother was beaten to death a few days ago for arguing with the manager of the ‘Tongda Chamber of Commerce’.”

"He's now going all out and wants to expose this."

He said... he had an account book in his hand.

Account book!

Lacey's eyes sharpened instantly.

The breakthrough he had been searching for has finally appeared!

This petty boss named Li Si, his despair and desire for revenge, is the first crack that pries open the dark secrets of the Grand Canal transport!

"Where is he? Is he safe?" Lacey asked immediately.

"We're still in the city, safe for now," Yang Wei replied.

"He didn't trust the government and only said he wanted to see a big shot who could stand up for him."

"it is good!"

Lacey made a quick decision: "It's inconvenient here with too many people around."

"Go back immediately and make arrangements to find a completely safe place. I want to see him in person."

"Remember, this matter must not be leaked in the slightest!"

Yang Wei nodded emphatically: "Understood!"

Lacey turned her head and looked again at the slowly flowing canal.

The river water was murky and its bottom could not be seen.

……

At midnight that night, on the outskirts of Beijing, at an abandoned ferry crossing.

On a dark and windy night, the reeds rustled in the breeze.

Several dark figures lurked in the shadows around the ferry crossing.

They were Yang Wei's most elite personal guards, each one a man who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

In the middle of the ferry crossing, a lone lantern swayed in the wind, its dim light illuminating only a few feet around it.

Lacey stood in the dim light, dressed in dark casual clothes, waiting quietly.

Before long, Yang Wei led a thin, scrawny-looking man out of the reeds.

The man was so frightened by Yang Wei's imposing manner that he trembled with fear, his legs practically spinning.

When he saw Lacey standing under the lamp, he trembled all over and knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly.

"This humble commoner, Li Si, kowtows to Your Highness!" He trembled with fear and excitement.

Laisi personally stepped forward and helped Li Si up.

Li Si stood there trembling, not daring to look up at Lai Xi.

“Lift your head up,” Lacey said.

Only then did Li Si dare to secretly raise his eyes, quickly glance at Lai Xi, and then quickly lower his head again.

“Tell me everything you know,” Lacey said bluntly.