Chapter 52: The rainstorm in Jiangzhou. Everyone has their own difficulties. ...

The Suling River embankment in Suiyang City burst, the Luoshui ditch in Sangyan City was washed away, and heavy rains continued. Xie Zhuangyi respectfully submits this report.

Suiyang and Sangyan are close to each other and are the two cities closest to the Yangtze River. Therefore, the Suling River embankment was repaired in Suiyang to block the mighty Yangtze River water, and the Luoshui ditch was repaired in Sangyan to divert the Yangtze River water to the fields.

There are other large and small water conservancy projects, but these two projects are the mainstays. If these two projects fail, it means that central Jiangzhou will be flooded soon.

Min Shian immediately went to find Song Yanxuan, not daring to delay at all.

"Your Highness is here. Please go to the main hall and wait for a while. The master is now discussing matters with the ministers in the study." Song Chen was sweating profusely. After bringing her to the main hall, he hurriedly left.

Min Shian frowned. She knew that Song Yanxuan must be very worried about this matter at the moment, but she had no better way to deal with it except the ordinary flood prevention methods she had read in books.

But she had never done any practical work and didn't know the local situation, so she could only worry.

With such a big thing happening, Song Yanhao would definitely lead people to rescue the flood personally. She came this time to persuade Song Yanhao to take her with him when he went to rescue the flood and provide disaster relief.

Although it might be life-threatening, Min Shian also has her considerations.

She will be in that position in the future, and natural disasters are unpredictable. She will definitely encounter similar problems again. At that time, she doesn't want to be like a headless fly, not knowing what to do.

Just like now, she had no experience and could only wait here anxiously, and even had to work hard to convince Song Yanxuan to take her with him.

But Min Shian also knew that one should not rush into anything and should proceed step by step.

After waiting for an hour, Song Sheng finally arrived, exhausted. His usually meticulously dressed clothes now had wrinkles at the cuffs, and his face was visibly haggard, which was enough to show how busy he had been these days.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I've been busy with government affairs recently and have kept you waiting for a long time." Min Shian waved his hand. Seeing that he was not in good condition, he did not beat around the bush and said directly: "You must go to Jiangnan to rescue the floods. Take me with you and I will go too."

"No." Song Sheng refused without thinking.

Min Shian's eyes were firm. He poured him a cup of tea for the first time and said, "I have a reason to go."

"Your Highness, you..."

Song Sheng sighed, feeling somewhat helpless. He lowered his voice and coaxed, "Your Highness, rescuing water is no joke. If you are not careful, you could die on the spot. Your Highness is a precious person, how can you take such a risk?"

"For both public and private reasons, I will not let Your Highness go."

Min Shian didn't have time to think about the 'public and private' he mentioned, and said anxiously: "No, Song Yanxuan, consider this as my plea to you, I must go."

Song Sheng's eyes changed slightly, and the slight curve at the corner of his lips disappeared. His face turned completely cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, there is no need to say more. I will not agree."

"Can……"

Min Shian pinched her thigh quietly and hard. Tears instantly filled her eyes. She curled her lips and tears fell down her cheeks. She choked and said, "Even if I beg you so much, you won't agree?"

The two of them stood in silence for a long time. When Min Shian felt he could no longer pretend, Song Sheng finally gave in and compromised, saying, "We'll leave for Jiangzhou in an hour."

"After arriving in Jiangzhou, Your Highness must obey me and not take any risks. Your Highness, please return home and prepare."

Min Shi'an agreed immediately, fearing that Song Yanxuan would go back on his word, and the moment he finished speaking, he stood up and said goodbye to return home.

After returning home, she quickly arranged everything, but this time with the Xie family being involved, Min Shian had to think more. After thinking for a long time, she decided to go alone and let Chuntao stay to meet the Xie family.

"Chun Tao, I'm going to Jiangzhou to help with flood control. I don't know when I'll be back. If you pay more attention to the Xie Mansion, I won't take you to Jiangzhou."

Upon hearing this, Chun Tao fell to her knees and advised, "How can Your Highness go alone?!"

"I will complete the task Your Highness has assigned me, but I would like to ask the Empress to bring Summer Berry or Autumn Mango with me. Your Highness, please think twice!"

Min Shian coughed lightly and whispered, "I don't intend to let Mother know about this now. If she knew, she would definitely not agree to let me go."

"This journey is too dangerous. Even Song Yanxuan's visit was only possible after I begged him."

Chuntao is not good at hiding her thoughts. Her face is full of confusion and her eyes are full of struggle.

Min Shian saw through her thoughts at a glance and warned her, "Don't tell secrets, Chuntao, you are mine now."

"Your Highness..."

Chun Tao pursed her lips and finally said, "Why don't you take this servant with you? The Empress is at the Xie Mansion, so nothing will go wrong."

After she finished speaking, she bowed deeply, banged her forehead on the ground, and knelt for a long time without getting up.

"Never mind, I'll take you there."

Half an hour later, the Song family's carriage appeared at the gate of the princess's mansion. Fortunately, Min Shian had been prepared and got on the carriage with Chuntao and two small bags.

"Your Highness, minister..."

Min Shian interrupted him with a smile and said, "I know! I'll listen to you and be careful. Don't go to flooded areas. I've made note of that!"

Even though I won't listen.

Seeing this, Song Sheng nodded, leaned on the soft pillow and fell asleep quickly.

Min Shian looked at him with some pity. He was only nineteen years old now, not yet twenty years old, but he had already shouldered the entire Jin Dynasty on his own.

But she changed her mind and realized that since Song Yanxuan had taken over the power from Song Linggong, if he was willing to give up power, it would certainly be much easier. He just didn't want to let go for the sake of his family's honor.

Instead of feeling sorry for a person who holds great power, it is better to feel sorry for yourself, an orthodox princess who has to beg others for permission even to go to disaster relief.

Min Shian's thoughts turned over and over, and finally turned into an imperceptible sigh.

In life, eight out of ten things are not as we wish. How can everything be as we wish?

Everyone has their own difficulties.

Song Chen and Chuntao were driving outside and changed five horses on the way to ensure that each horse reached the fastest speed. The flood was merciless and time waited for no one, so they had to arrive as soon as possible.

When the few of them passed by the inn, they did not stay for long, and did not even have meals in the inn. Instead, they paid extra money to ask the inn to prepare the food quickly, and Chuntao and Song Chen took the carriage to eat.

No matter how anxious they were, they could not let their two masters down. Usually, Min Shi'an and Song Sheng would have their meals in the carriage, while Song Chen and Chuntao would take turns eating, leaving one person to drive.

In short, tens of thousands of lives are waiting to be rescued by the two masters, and they dare not delay even a little.

As for Song Yanxuan, except for waking up briefly during meals, he was in a light sleep the rest of the time. After all, not only had he not slept for a few hours in the past period of time, but after arriving in Jiangzhou, he would have to endure sleepless nights of unknown length.

At Song Yanxuan's reminder, Min Shian also started to catch up on his sleep in preparation for the upcoming tough battle. Fortunately, the soft pillow was big enough for both of them to rest their heads on.

The original three-day journey was compressed into one day and one night by a few people. When they arrived at the rescue headquarters at the junction of Jiangzhou Suiyang City and Sangyan City, it was already late at night.

This place has not been affected by the flood yet.

If Song Yanhao had not ordered the reinforcement and repair of water conservancy projects in various parts of Jiangnan beforehand, Jiangzhou would probably have been doomed this time.

Even so, the situation is not optimistic.

The news that the Xie family had conveyed earlier was indeed true. There were problems with the Luoshui Ditch in Sangyan City and the Suling River embankment in Suiyang City, but both places were jointly guarded by the prefect and the river embankment envoys.

At the moment of the accident, although some people were scattered, the remaining people quickly filled up the collapsed area and sent a special rescue team to search and rescue the scattered people.

However, the heavy rain is still falling with no signs of abating, and the water level is getting higher and higher, so Song Yanxuan immediately brought the water envoy with him and came here in person.

When they arrived, the local governor and the riverbank official had no time to exchange pleasantries and went straight into the temporary headquarters to discuss countermeasures.

Calling it the headquarters just sounds more respectable. It is actually just a big tent, as are the rest area and rescue station nearby. Several somewhat simple tents are densely packed next to each other, completely occupying this piece of land that has not been affected by the flood.

Min Shian noticed from the corner of his eye that more than half of the tents were already occupied by refugees. Most of them had empty eyes or were terrified, shivering all over, and their clothes were stained with mud and smelly water.

She frowned, her heart suddenly tightening.

Min Shian naturally did not dislike the refugees' dirtiness and stench. In this situation, she was lucky to be able to save her life. What she was worried about was another more serious problem.

As the saying goes, after a flood there will be a great epidemic.

The situation is urgent now and we cannot take care of so many things. Once the situation stabilizes, preventing epidemics and evacuating and isolating refugees are inevitable.

For now, we can only deal with the imminent flood and take it one step at a time.

Several people gathered together, and the prefects of Suiyang and Sangyan took the lead in giving a brief overview of the refugee transfer situation in the two cities.

Although the previous water was quickly stopped again, the overflowing flood still submerged some low-lying villages. Some refugees are still being searched and rescued, but most of them have been relocated.

After listening to this, Song Yanxuan nodded silently, then looked at the riverbank envoys of the two cities, signaling them to report on the current progress.

There was an unconcealable anxiety in their tone. The Suling River embankment and Luoshui ditch could only hold out for half a month at most. All the manpower was now urgently dispatched to dig canals and drainage ditches, and even some young and middle-aged people were recruited to help.

The governor of Jiangzhou was also there, and he quickly followed up, "Sir, the reinforcements sent by the other governors of nearby counties have arrived, and the rest will arrive by tomorrow at the latest."

"To prevent the outbreak of epidemics, doctors from all over the country have been dispatched to try to contain the injuries of everyone. The people of Jiangzhou are now spontaneously raising funds, hoping to do their part to combat the floods."

Song Sheng first praised: "You gentlemen have remained calm in the face of danger and handled matters in an orderly manner. The disaster has been well controlled, which is a blessing for the people."

Then he changed the subject and said, "However, there are still some details that need attention."