Chapter 639 Giving roses leaves a lingering fragrance on the hand.

Cheng Wanwan coughed.

She already had a plan in mind, but she had to make sure that Lord Lu had no plan before she could tell him her plan.

She began, “Back when Magistrate Shen of Ping’an County was still in office, he planned to build a large wharf in Dahe Village and open a canal from Dahe Wharf to connect wharves in all directions. This plan has been shelved, mainly because there is no manpower. The current Magistrate Wei plans to forcibly conscript laborers to do this during the autumn off-season. But now, the more than 20,000 disaster victims can help.”

Although forced labor was an order that ordinary people had to obey in this era, forcibly conscripting people to do hard labor when the country was peaceful and prosperous could easily cause public resentment.

Today, Dahe Town is thriving and cannot be ruined by public resentment.

Lord Lu was shocked and said, "Dahe Town has just been established, and they are already undertaking such a large project? Even if we have the manpower, where is the money? Even if we only build a canal from Dahe Town to Hekou County, it will cost at least 20,000 or 30,000 taels of silver..."

"Dahe Town will find a way to raise the money. The key now is whether Lord Lu is willing to allow these disaster victims to go to Dahe Town to build the canal." Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "There are over 20,000 disaster victims, at least 10,000 men. With their help, it will probably be completed by the end of this year."

Of course Lord Lu is willing.

All these unstable disaster victims ran to Huzhou Dahe Town to work, and Nanyang City would soon return to its former prosperity.

Nanyang's post-disaster rebirth can also be considered one of his political achievements.

Of course, he did not dare to take credit for it. This matter was led by Lady Sui. When writing the memorial, he had to mention Lady Sui's merits.

"In addition—" Cheng Wanwan continued, "This flood has left many elderly, weak, women and children without the breadwinner of their families. They are unable to participate in the canal construction and can only stay in Nanyang until the floodwaters recede completely before returning to their villages to start a new life. But it is already mid to late May. By the time the floodwaters recede completely, it will be almost June. At this time, it will be too late to plant rice or cotton. They can only grow some vegetables, which will be difficult to sustain their families."

Lord Lu swallowed his saliva and asked, "What does Lady Sui mean?"

"This weather is perfect for growing flowers," Cheng Wanwan smiled. "Chrysanthemums and orchids are planted in the summer and bloom in two or three months. I want to encourage the hard-hit areas to plant flowers and purchase them based on their quality. I'll never let the disaster victims suffer any loss."

The glycerin workshop's output has consistently lagged behind, partly due to insufficient expansion and partly due to a lack of raw materials.

Currently, the raw materials are mainly provided by Cheng Yuanyuan. The flowerbed looks large and the flowers are blooming profusely, but after collecting, drying and grinding them into powder, there is not much left, which is why the new skin care products have not been able to be launched on a large scale.

The land use in Dahe Town is already very tight, and there is no extra land to grow flowers. She originally planned to ask Manager Yan to go and take a look at several nearby villages, but before she could give any instructions, something happened in Nanyang.

Nanyang is too far from Huzhou; if her flower nursery were built here, it would be very inconvenient to manage.

But this time, the simple people of Huaihua Village moved her, and she was willing to help rebuild their homes and start their lives again.

"Lord Sui Gong is truly a great benefactor!" Lord Lü was filled with mixed emotions. "If it weren't for Lord Sui Gong's help, these people who suffered from the flood would have struggled in misery for at least seven or eight years before slowly returning to a normal life... On behalf of everyone in Nanyang, I thank Lord Sui Gong. If Lord Sui Gong needs any help in the future, just say the word, and I, Lü, will do my utmost."

"Lord Lu, you're too kind," Cheng Wanwan said humbly. "I'm a fourth-rank consort and a court official. It's my duty to do this for the people, not to extol my achievements like this."

Both of the things she did had her own selfish motives and could not be considered selfless.

But to the people of Nanyang, she was nothing short of a goddess descended from heaven.

First, they sent 200,000 catties of grain to help the disaster victims overcome their difficulties. Then, they opened the canal ahead of schedule to provide the disaster victims with a stable source of income. At the same time, they also provided flower seedlings to farmers in the disaster area free of charge. Perhaps fearing that the disaster victims would not be willing to plant flowers, the people of Suigong even gave subsidies in advance. As long as the farmers were willing to plant flowers, they could receive a subsidy of 500 coins in advance.

On the day Cheng Wanwan left Nanyang, countless people saw her off.

Standing on the dock, watching the ever-growing crowd, she saw many elderly, weak, women and children from Huaihua Village, young women holding children, old women leaning on canes, and strong men with red eyes... They pushed and shoved each other forward, wanting to get closer to the dock and take another clear look at Sui Gongren.

Cheng Wanwan is not from this era, nor is she from Nanyang, but now, she is moved by the people here, and her eyes inexplicably turn red.

She said in a hoarse voice, "Go back, don't bother seeing me off."

The crowd stood there stubbornly, no one willing to leave first.

It was time to sail. The Cao family's huge ship slowly moved away from the dock and slowly left Nanyang City.

People on the dock were waving and shouting "Kongren Sui" loudly.

After the ship completely disappeared from everyone's sight, no one left, just quietly watching the direction the ship left.

It was a long time before the crowd began to talk.

“If it weren’t for Sui Gongren, my son and I would have died in the flood. I could never repay this life-saving grace.”

“Sui Gongren fed my little Bao’er with her own blood. My little Bao’er survived because he drank Sui Gongren’s blood. I don’t know how to repay such a great kindness.”

"What we in Huaihua Village can do is to grow flowers well and give the biggest and most beautiful flowers to the people of Suigong."

"The people of Suigong need us to dig the canal, so those of us with strength should do our job well. Anyone who dares to slack off, I, Yang Laosan, will never let him get away with it!"

"Anyone who dares to interfere with Sui Gongren's affairs is an enemy of the entire Nanyang City."

"..."

The boat sailed steadily on the river. Cheng Wanwan looked at Nanyang, which was getting smaller and smaller, and her heart seemed to be filled with something.

She looked at her two sons standing beside her and said, "Jingxing, Jingcheng, one of you is a seventh-rank official, and the other is a businessman. Regardless of your status, you must remember that when you are able, you must help those struggling in hardship. Perhaps one day, these people struggling to survive will also help us."

Zhao Dashan nodded: "Mom, I remember everything."

Zhao Ergou nodded and said, "Don't worry, mother. Although I am a profit-oriented businessman, I always put love before profit. I will work hard to help those in need, just like you."

Cheng Wanwan looked at her two sons with satisfaction.

Their family has developed too quickly. Three years ago, they couldn't even afford enough to eat or wear, but now they are considered an official's family. She is afraid that her children will become too arrogant and think that the Zhao family is so great that they will place themselves above all ordinary people.

Little do they know that much of what their family has now comes from the common people. They have received so much, and it is time for them to give back.

Giving roses to others leaves a lingering fragrance on your own hands.