Chapter 182
Jizhou
The Wang family followed Wang Lang to Jizhou. There was no other way; Wang Lang was the only one in the Wang family favored by the Crown Prince. With Wang Lang's transfer, they could neither stay in Qiannan nor return to the capital, so they had no choice but to move with him.
At this time, Lei Qian was pregnant again. Wang Lang was anxious to take up his post, so he left first, and Wang Jia and Lei Qian followed slowly towards Jizhou.
Wang Lang arrived in Jizhou and took over the defense of Jizhou. He was busy for a while and his family finally arrived.
That night, Old Lady Wang brought a bowl of ginseng soup into the study for Wang Lang.
Wang Lang was a little surprised when he saw his mother. He knew that his mother came over at night and must have something to say. He put down the official business in his hands, helped his mother to sit down on the kang by the window.
Old Lady Wang urged him to drink ginseng tea.
Wang Lang could only take two sips helplessly.
Seeing her son's slightly vicissitudes of life, Mrs. Wang felt very distressed. When she came to Jizhou, she couldn't help but think of Yao Chunnuan in the neighboring Youzhou.
To be honest, even though they were far away in Qiannan, over 3,000 kilometers from Yichun, they had heard a lot about Yao Chunnuan over the past year. This was mainly because Yichun had become renowned under her governance. Yichun was frequently mentioned in Qiannan, and whenever Yichun was mentioned, it was inevitable that Yao Chunnuan would come to mind.
Today, she must admit that they had misjudged Yao Chunnuan, her former daughter-in-law. She had proven her ability with facts.
Did she regret it? She did, in her dreams, sometimes thinking, if the Wang family had treated her better when she first entered, if they had been less cold and condescending, would she and her son be on the same page now? With their combined efforts, the Wang family would surely have returned to its former glory. But, unfortunately, it was all just hypothetical.
"Speaking of which, your daughter Yao Xi is over one year old, right?" said Old Lady Wang.
Wang Lang: "Well, almost one and a half years old."
"I don't know if he can walk now?"
Wang Lang smiled and said, "Yes, she did. She was less than a year old and can even speak now. And she can't just call out like other one-year-olds. She can even speak sentences of a few words."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Wang was surprised for a moment. Is he so precocious?
"I don't know if Yao Chunnuan will mention us to Yao Xi."
Wang Lang was silent. He felt that Yao Chunnuan would not mention them.
Seeing her son's low mood, Madam Wang sighed, stood up, and said she wanted to go back and rest, without asking her own questions. In fact, she came here to ask her son another question, which was how confident he was of defeating Yao Chunnuan this time.
Yichun
Road paving in Yichun was a rapid undertaking. The preliminary work had already been completed, the new road had been cleared to specifications, and all the necessary materials had already been piled up on both sides of the old official road. Once the cement, sand, and gravel were mixed, they were poured into the new official road's formwork, ironed flat, and then simply waited for it to harden completely.
The Yichun City Lord's Office, with the combined efforts of the entire prefecture, finally completed the three planned new official roads over a two-month period. One road runs within Yichun, and one each to Huining and Songhua Prefectures. These three new cement official roads are now unique in Daliang and are even considered a unique symbol of the city by the locals.
“This road is really beautiful.”
“Spacious and flat!”
"It looks better than a road paved with bluestone."
"Sitting in the car and walking on the new official road, I no longer have to worry about bumps."
Once these roads were completed, they were well-received by both local residents and merchants. While the common people were pleased, they simply felt their travel was much more convenient. For merchants, the completion of these three new official roads significantly saved them time.
For example, traveling from Yichun's main city to Jiayin County used to take the better part of a day by horse-drawn carriage. Now, using the new official road, it takes less than two hours. The key is that the road is so smooth and wide that even with several horses galloping side by side, they can simply run at full speed, practically at lightning speed. It's also particularly friendly to fragile items. Previously, fragile goods were transported wrapped in layers of soft cloth, but even then, they still suffered considerable damage after a single trip. Now, using the new official road, the damage rate is remarkably low. The only regret is that there are still too few cement roads.
A small number of ordinary people in Yichun, Songhua Prefecture, and Huining also shared the same sentiments. Among these people, there were even gentry who were willing to contribute money and then called on the local people to contribute labor to build a branch road. For this purpose, they specially came to the City Lord's Mansion to inquire about the relevant matters. The people in the City Lord's Mansion explained the relevant regulations to them. There are requirements for the width of the branch road to be built, and they cannot build it to any size they want. Moreover, road construction must be voluntary, and ordinary people cannot be forced to donate money or contribute labor. Only when these requirements are met will the City Lord's Mansion approve them to build the branch road.
After seeing the benefits and profits brought by the new cement official road, the officials and common people in Suihua, Jiachuan, Houcheng and other places strongly applied to the city lord's mansion to send engineering teams to build roads in their areas.
But the City Lord's Mansion told them that the rainy season was coming and it would be impossible to build roads in the first half of the year. The road construction plan in Sancheng County could only be arranged in the second half of the year.
After hearing this reason, the chief officials and the common people in the three places were very sorry, but they still strongly demanded a preliminary survey. Once the survey results came out and the rainy season was over, they could make preparations.
Xu Chong was also very pleased with the new official road. It was very convenient for him to travel back to Yichun to report on his work in Huining. He could also take the opportunity to take a nap in the stable carriage. When he woke up, he would be back in Yichun's main city. He didn't have to suffer from the jolting and shaking like before.
After the report, the new Suihua governor, Le Boming, called out to him, "Brother Xu, would you like to go together?"
"No, you go first."
Le Boming: ??? Didn’t they leave together before?
Xu Chong kindly explained, "The road back to Suihua is difficult for you, so you should start your journey first, otherwise it will be too late. For me, it's convenient to get back to Huining from Yichun, and I'm not afraid to travel at night."
Le Boming: Is this showing off? Of course! It makes me angry!
After thinking about it, he glanced at him unhappily. What's the big deal about paving the way first?
Xu Chong nodded implicitly, yes, it is great to pave the way first.
Caravans had to pay tolls to use the new official road. They had docks in Huining and Songhua Prefecture. Because Yichun was wealthy and had many workshops, merchants and caravans came to do business in an endless stream. The local government had a lot of money from the tolls collected on the new official road.
Le Boming looked at Yao Chunnuan with resentment, as if she was a stepmother.
Yao Chunnuan touched her nose. She didn't want this either.
After the construction team in Yichun stopped building the road, Youzhou really entered the rainy season. No, it should be said that the entire Daliang entered the rainy season.
On rainy days, the sky is gloomy and people are not in a good mood.
"It's raining again."
"Yes. It has been raining every day recently." It seemed as if God wanted to return to them the rain that had accumulated for a year during last year's drought.
"I really hope this rainy season will pass quickly and God will stop leaking water every day, otherwise the crops in the fields will suffer."
"We're still relatively well off here. I heard the situation in the south is truly dire."
Yichun had anticipated this situation. As the saying goes, "On the eighth day of the fourth month, there will be floods." March and April are the rainy season, so heavy rainfall is normal. Furthermore, severe droughts are usually followed by severe flooding. Having anticipated this, Yichun took preventative measures. For example, during the spring plowing season, the city lord's office posted a notice advising residents to cultivate more ridges this year to prevent excessive rain from damaging the root systems of crops. It also recommended planting more water-tolerant crops, such as rice and lotus roots.
Countless people were glad that they did as they were told. Otherwise, with such heavy rain, many crops would have been ruined and the harvest would have been lost, because by then it would have been too late to replant.
For example, at the end of last year, the City Lord's Office deployed 20,000 Diluo captives to repair the major tributary canals in Yichun, clearing silt and widening them. Furthermore, the City Lord's Office also ordered the construction of several main sewers in the main urban area. Therefore, even in the pouring rain, Yichun's main city remains undamaged.
The entire Youzhou region, thanks to Yichun's thorough preparations, undoubtedly suffered the least damage from the flood. Other cities and prefectures, such as Huining and Songhua Prefecture, followed Yichun's lead and also suffered relatively little damage. Jiachuan, due to its higher terrain, fared better. Suihua and Houcheng fared the worst. These two cities and prefectures were the last to be annexed by Yichun, and their preparedness was inadequate. Furthermore, Houcheng, being the downstream outlet of the entire Youzhou region, suffered the greatest impact.
The Yichun City Lord's Mansion also paid close attention to Houcheng, ready to provide assistance at any time. During the rainy season, many grassroots officials from across Youzhou were dispatched to the countryside to conduct investigations. If anything went wrong, they would evacuate the local population to minimize casualties.
Youzhou is systematically preventing flood disasters, and all situations and losses are under control.
In contrast, the south was not so fortunate. The situation can be described in two words: devastating. River dams burst, and the river's torrents crashed down both banks, submerging entire villages. This was particularly tragic in southern Guizhou, where many people were left homeless and widespread grief reigned.
Unfortunately, Wang Lang had already gone north to Jizhou at this time, otherwise he would still be in Qiannan, and the situation in Qiannan would at least be better than it is now.
The common people had experienced a relentless flood disaster, and the imperial court was unable to provide disaster relief. The desperate people attacked the prefectural governor's office and seized the government's reserve granary. Unfortunately, there was not much food in the granary, and the people had to find other ways to deal with the little food they were given.
Someone wanted to seize the opportunity to start a rebellion and raise a rebel army. This person was Lian Sheng. In the original novel, he did this and succeeded, gathering over 200,000 refugees and rushing north. He was eventually recruited by the imperial court and awarded the title of Earl.
But this time, the people weren't buying it. They weren't stupid. This new rebel army had nothing, nothing to compare to Yichun. It was clearly a plan to use them for nothing. Without even the capital to start a business, they were supposed to be working for them. Ugh!
They just need to go to Yichun. Even if they have to risk their lives, they will choose a lord who is good to them, the common people!
Lian Sheng was so angry about this that he gritted his teeth. His vision and decision were undoubtedly good, but the world had changed, and the people had better options and refused to follow him. He had started too late!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
