"Hehe! If I'm not mistaken, I have found the reason and the solution." After a while, Yuan Tiangang said with a smile.

"Oh! Master Yuan, please tell me about it quickly," Qin Yao asked with delight.

"As His Highness just said, there are some things here that even you and I have only just come into contact with. How could Master Qin possibly understand them? That's the reason. But the most crucial point is that he lacks a guide; there's no one to enlighten him. The solution is quite simple."

Since Master Qin is an intelligent person, he naturally knows how to make choices, so just tell him the truth; of course, it would be best to find him a good teacher to prevent him from repeating the same mistake. "Yuan Tiangang explained.

"That's true, but inner demons are hard to get rid of. Since he already has this inner demon, it will be difficult to stop him from thinking about it," Qin Yao said, shaking his head slightly.

"That's easy to handle. After all, he was deeply troubled because he was searching for the answer on his own without guidance. Once he knows the answer and has someone to guide him, his obsession will naturally fade. I'll just teach him another Heart-Cleansing Mantra, and that will be fine," Yuan Tiangang said with a faint smile.

"That's good! That's good!" Qin Yaosong said in one breath.

"Look how convenient it is to carry books this way," Yan Liben said, holding the book in one hand, now that the important business was done.

“It is indeed very convenient to flip through, but I don’t know why Mr. Qin wrote it this way,” Yuan Tiangang said, running his hand across the book.

“Huai Dao grew up in a mountain village, so he probably didn’t have that much paper. Perhaps he developed the habit by practicing calligraphy on a sand table,” Qin Yao guessed.

"Is it him who proposed building the reservoir?" Yan Liben asked.

"Indeed, he proposed the entire plan. After investigation, it was found to be feasible, which is why I sought help from the imperial court," Qin Yao praised.

"Yes, this plan is truly a stroke of genius. We used to only think about relying on rivers for irrigation. We never imagined building around the mountains to collect spring water and rainwater. Although it will take some time to collect water, once it's built, it will ensure that there will be no more worries about irrigation for a radius of 100 miles," Yan Liben exclaimed.

"Master Yan underestimated this reservoir."

"What do you mean?" Yan Liben asked curiously.

"The Taihang Mountains have many springs, and it doesn't take long to store water. Water can be released from the mountainside reservoirs and directly irrigate the farmland through the irrigation canals. People only need to open the gaps to get water, saving a lot of time and labor. Each household can cultivate at least a few more acres of farmland."

"That's one of the benefits. The second benefit is that the people feel at ease. Even if this land encounters a once-in-a-century drought, at least there will be no problem with drinking water," Qin Yao explained.

“Yes, that’s true. I’ve only seen the blueprints, so I don’t know the specifics. But such a large reservoir needs to be heavily guarded to prevent the orcs from sabotaging it. Otherwise, if the floodwaters rush down, it will be a disaster for the people,” Yan Liben reminded him.

"Yes, the reason we invited Master Yan and the others here is for this matter," Qin Yao nodded.

"Yes, once the Mo family arrives, we'll discuss a safe approach together."

"The Mohists should arrive in a day or two."

"Once things are settled, His Majesty will send a large number of people to assist us."

"Does Your Majesty intend to build more reservoirs?" Qin Yao asked with a smile.

“Indeed, such good deeds that benefit the country and its people, benefiting both the present and future generations, are of course the more the better. Moreover, the Central Plains are easier to defend.” Yan Liben nodded and said.

When Li Shimin read Qin Yao's memorial, he was very excited and summoned Yan Liben and others that very night to discuss whether it was feasible.

After Yan Liben and others made their estimates based on the memorials, they immediately conducted a sand table simulation and found that it was not only feasible but also extremely beneficial. The Central Plains are so vast; there are countless places to find nestled between two mountains.

In the imperial court, there are certainly no fools; fools have long since died out. Drawing inferences from one instance to another is a piece of cake. Large reservoirs have very specific location requirements, so small reservoirs can be built instead. If one is built in each county, then the agriculture of that county will see a significant boost. Aside from areas with abundant water resources and counties lacking suitable locations, the areas that truly need reservoirs comprise only about one-fifth of the country's counties.

Although the number is still large, it does not need to be rebuilt all at once. We can prioritize the projects and make a trip every ten or twenty years.

Building reservoirs would open up more arable land, increase grain production, and naturally increase national tax revenue. Increased income for the people would inevitably lead to greater social stability—how could Li Shimin and his ilk not understand these principles?

Building reservoirs can also solve the problem of drought. In the past, when droughts occurred, people would lose their crops and starve to death, causing great turmoil. The imperial court not only had to worry about preventing and controlling the drought, but also had to allocate funds to transport grain for disaster relief.

Both allocating funds and transporting grain were extremely troublesome matters. Once the funds reached the local areas, there was a high chance that a portion would be embezzled; transporting grain also incurred significant losses along the way. Therefore, both tasks were thankless and exhausting. Now that these problems could be solved in one fell swoop, how could Li Shimin not be overjoyed?

If it weren't for the advice of his ministers, he would have immediately ordered the selection of a site to begin construction. Yan Liben and others believed that it was better to complete the Juyongguan Reservoir first before proceeding with other projects. This would allow them to identify and prevent problems beforehand, and also to learn from the experience gained. They could use the opportunity of building this reservoir to train experienced personnel so that they could work on several projects simultaneously in the future.

Furthermore, the imperial court could arrange for a nationwide survey to identify areas where reservoirs needed to be built, and to find suitable locations. This was no small task, and if done meticulously, the Juyongguan Reservoir would likely be nearly complete by now.

"That's excellent. With the support of the imperial court, I feel even more confident," Qin Yao said with a happy smile.

"His Majesty had already discussed this matter before his departure, and is now awaiting the Prince's final decision. Yizhou will send 50,000 laborers; if possible, Youzhou and Pingzhou will also send some laborers. His Majesty's current predicament is with provisions, which can only be supplied after the autumn harvest," Yan Liben explained.

The three passes guarded by the Qin family also required grain taxes, but according to the ratio of population and soldiers, they also needed subsidies from the imperial court every year.

Nowadays, the salaries of court officials are paid in grain. After taxes are collected, local officials automatically withhold this portion, of course, with the approval and authorization of the presiding official. Only after deducting various local expenses will the remainder be handed over to the designated place.

Border regions are inherently major consumers of grain and fodder, and it would be extremely difficult for the people of the three passes to support them alone. This is one of the reasons why the court trusts the Qin family, since those who want to live a less difficult life must rely on the court.

"It's alright, we can hold out for a while. If it really comes to it, I'll send troops to raid the werewolves and get enough food," Qin Yao said domineeringly.

Of course, he was just saying that. With the Qin family's accumulated wealth, they could buy enough grain to last until the reservoir was completed. He only said that to avoid revealing their financial situation, because Li Shimin would definitely have reservations if he knew that the Qin family had a lot of money and grain.

The three chatted idly in the courtyard. Bu Mang had already spread the news that he had a way to save Qin Mu, and now they were just waiting for him to wake up.

In fact, it didn't take long, since Qin Yao couldn't be too ruthless. About an hour later, Qin Yue's voice came from the room.

"Father! Come quickly, Huaidao has woken up!"

Upon hearing the news, Qin Yao and the others quickly entered the room.

Qin Mu had just woken up. He felt a splitting headache and was frowning as he pressed his temples hard.

"Huaidao, you're awake. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?" Qin Yue asked happily.

"What happened to me?" Qin Mu asked, glancing at Qin Yue. Then, his gaze shifted, and realizing he was in his bedroom, he asked again, "What are you doing here?"

Before Qin Yue could answer, Qin Yao and the others entered, making the room somewhat crowded. Qin Mu looked at them in surprise and asked, "Prince Zheng, what brings you all here?"

After asking, and realizing how uncomfortable he felt, he wondered if he had some serious problem that made these people treat him like a hospitalized patient. Qin Mu hurriedly reached out and touched his upper body, then pulled back the blanket and looked down at himself.

"Ha ha!"

"Haha!" Everyone was amused by Qin Mu's performance.

"Don't worry, Huai Dao, you're fine," Qin Yao said.

"What's wrong with me?" Qin Mu looked up and asked again. Having been inexplicably awakened from a deep sleep, coupled with a headache, he knew, of course, that something was wrong with him.

"You have absolutely no recollection of this?" Qin Yue asked.

"I...I remember I was reading a book, and then...I can't remember what happened after that." Qin Mu tried hard to recall, but the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. With his memory, he shouldn't have forgotten anything, yet there was a blank space, and he couldn't remember what he had done.

The more Qin Mu thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He frowned and racked his brains to recall the events.

“Huai Dao, you don’t need to think about it anymore. When you were cultivating, you were too focused on finding the answer and almost became addicted to it. Fortunately, I found out early and knocked you unconscious. Check your sea of ​​consciousness first to see if there are any major problems,” Qin Yao said.

"That's it!" Qin Mu remembered that his purpose in reading was to learn the profound principles of Confucianism and Taoism. Upon hearing Qin Yao's words, he hurriedly checked his sea of ​​consciousness.

Good heavens! As soon as he entered his sea of ​​consciousness, he felt a sharp pain. He endured the pain and checked his sea of ​​consciousness. What he saw shocked him. His spiritual power had only reached 30%, and more importantly, his soul was somewhat weak and ethereal.

"Fortunately, the foundation wasn't damaged." Qin Musong said after examining it.

"That's good. This is Master Yuan Tiangang. He'll explain it to you." Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, and Qin Yao also breathed a sigh of relief, pointing to Yuan Tiangang beside him and introducing him.