Beiliang River.

Xuanyuan Zhan was watching them dig the river channel.

With the addition of the Beicheng Army, the Beiliang River and the Baichuan River are getting closer and closer, and it is estimated that they will be able to cross the river in a few days.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work. What was originally estimated to take half a month to complete has been greatly shortened thanks to the continuous participation of the people and the North City Army.

Xuanyuan Zhan was very pleased to see the river channel that was almost completed.

With the waterways on both sides connected, the people in the north will have water to drink for the time being. He will then arrange for the people to be settled and continue digging waterways southward, waiting to connect with the waterways for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. At that time, the entire north will no longer be short of water.

Once the Beiliang River and Baichuan River are dredged, he will have arranged for people to return to the capital.

He couldn't wait to go back.

He has finished polishing all the Bodhi seed bracelets he made for Ning'er, and he will give them to her when he gets back.

Just as Xuanyuan Zhan was inspecting the river, Ye Yun ran over: "Your Highness."

Upon seeing Ye Yun, Xuan Yuanzhan frowned: "Didn't I tell you to stay in the Hundred Rivers Riverbed? Why did you come back?"

Ye Yun said excitedly, "Look who's here!"

Xuan Yuanzhan then noticed a convoy behind Ye Yun. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the familiar face and exclaimed with delight, "Xie Dongfang!"

Xie Dongfang was the person Xuanyuan Zhan knew best. He was the grain official in Xiangnan, responsible for helping him grow grain. The reason why Xiangnan had so much surplus grain was because the grain grown under his guidance was particularly high-yielding, which is why he had surplus grain to pay taxes to the court.

"Your Highness, this humble official pays his respects." Xie Dongfang was also very pleased to see Xuan Yuanzhan and quickly dismounted to bow.

Xuanyuan Zhan patted him on the shoulder excitedly: "Why didn't you grow grain in Xiangnan? What are you doing here?"

Xie Dongfang quickly bowed and said, "I heard that His Majesty sent a prince to the north to provide disaster relief. I was afraid that Your Majesty would lack food, so I sent a batch of food over to Your Majesty first."

Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan Zhan was overjoyed. He looked up at the long convoy that resembled a dragon and was even more delighted: "Thank you, Dongfang! You've truly brought me a timely help!"

There's a lot of grain here.

He had previously worried about food shortages because more and more people were coming to help dig the canal, and wondered if he should submit another memorial to the emperor to ask for a batch of grain.

He didn't expect Xie Dongfang to send him food so quickly; this was definitely a timely help!

Xie Dongfang was embarrassed by Xuan Yuanzhan's praise: "Xiangnan's current state is all thanks to Your Highness, so it's only right that we send some grain to Your Highness."

"Let's go, let's enter the city first."

Xuanyuan Zhan led Xie Dongfang and the long caravan towards Bei'an City.

Xuanyuan Zhan looked back at the endless convoy and said with some concern, "You've moved so much grain to the North, isn't that just adding to the burden of taxes on Xiangnan?"

Whether it's the people of the North or the people of Xiangnan, they are equally important. We can't take the grain from the people of Xiangnan to subsidize the people of the North; that would be too unfair to the people of Xiangnan.

Xie Dongfang understood Xuan Yuanzhan's meaning perfectly well, and quickly said, "Your Highness, rest assured, these are all surplus grains from Xiangnan, and no additional taxes have been levied on the people."

The people of Xiangnan continue to pay their taxes as usual, and the prince did not add any of the taxes that he had previously exempted.

These surplus grains were ordered by the prince beforehand. Every year, a batch of grain must be stored in Xiangnan. The prince has been in Xiangnan for thirteen years. Except for the first three years of famine when there was no surplus grain, there has been a batch of surplus grain every year since then.

After ten years of saving, wouldn't the surplus grain be growing more and more?

This time, the north was short of food, and the prince was in trouble, so he took out all of it to support the prince.

Xuanyuan Zhan remembered the matter of having them store grain before: "That's good. If the surplus grain is used up, we can store more later. Right now, the northern lands are indeed short of grain. Your delivery of this batch of grain has been a great help to me."

This habit of storing grain is truly admirable. Once the northern regions have weathered this famine, we must also encourage them to start storing grain. If they store some each year, the people won't go hungry when a real famine strikes!

Xie Dongfang dared not take credit and said shyly, "As soon as I heard that Your Highness was coming to the north to provide disaster relief, I started making arrangements. It's just that the journey from Xiangnan to here is too far; it has taken more than a month to get here."

Xuanyuan Zhan was moved and laughed, "It's a good thing you didn't encounter any bandits with all that grain you brought."

Xie Dongfang quickly replied, "I'm not that stupid. I also wrapped the rice and grain with sand and put it in two layers of burlap sacks. If anyone asks, I'll just say it's all sand."

He had heard that there were many bandits in the north, and he was worried that the north was not peaceful, so he made a thorough plan.

Fortunately, we didn't encounter any robbers along the way.

Everyone says there are many bandits in the north, so how come he hasn't encountered a single one?

Little did Xie Dongfang know that all the bandits in the north had been wiped out by Xuan Yuanzhan, and they were currently digging a canal; they certainly wouldn't be robbing grain!

As they spoke, the group entered the city.

Xuanyuan Zhan brought Xie Dongfang to the government office.

When Xie Dongfang saw the soup kitchen at the entrance of the government office, he immediately thought of the predicament Xiangnan had faced thirteen years ago.

Fortunately, the prince was there. If the prince hadn't come to Xiangnan, the people of Xiangnan might still be suffering.

Seeing Xie Dongfang in a daze, Xuan Yuanzhan guessed what he was thinking and said with a smile, "Are you thinking about the scene of us distributing porridge to the people of Xiangnan in the past?"

He still remembered that when he first arrived in Xiangnan, he was only seven years old. At that time, Xie Dongfang was not yet a grain official, but a young scholar.

When he first met him, he was so thin and frail that he didn't look more than ten years older than him; his build made him look only two or three years older.

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