Chapter 3345 The Future is Promising
"I appoint you as the Southern Inspection Censor. Go to Huainan Road and Jiangnan Road to inspect the grain department. You will supervise the granaries, stabilize prices, and check the accounts. If there are any officials who disregard the emperor's grace and violate the law, I will grant you the power to take advantage of it."
Yang Heshu bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, I am afraid that it will be difficult for me to inspect both regions in a short period of time. I need an assistant."
The emperor swept his eyes over all the officials, and finally pointed at Bai Erlang and said, "Let Bai Cheng go with you."
Bai Erlang was lost in thought for a moment, and only came to his senses when a colleague behind him poked him. He stepped out of the line and hesitantly replied, "I obey your command."
Yang Heshu originally wanted to ask Bai Shan, but when he heard it was Bai Cheng, he understood after a little thought and agreed with a smile.
The emperor hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Where is Tang He now?"
Feng Liang stepped out and said, "Master Xiao Tang is currently in Bingzhou, inspecting post-disaster matters."
Five years have passed, and Tang He is still away. He returned to the capital once, but only to report on his work. He stayed for less than two months before leaving again.
The emperor originally wanted to find a place for him to stay as a governor, but seeing that he had made remarkable achievements in recent years, with him wandering around the Jin Dynasty, the administration had become more clean-cut.
So the emperor allowed him to continue traveling around, and he truly realized his ideal of traveling all over the country and investigating all the unjust cases in the world.
The emperor said, "I appoint him as the Northern Inspector, and Bai Shan as the Deputy Inspector, and he and Tang He will inspect the three grain routes of Henan, Hebei, and Hedong."
Bai Shan was stunned for a moment, then stepped out and bowed in response.
The emperor said, "Bai Shan, you were the first to propose building granaries and stabilizing prices, and you are skilled in calculations. You must pay close attention to this matter and not slack off."
Bai Shan responded respectfully, "I obey your command."
The emperor resolved this matter and discussed a few more matters with his ministers. Seeing that it was already late, and not wanting them to stir up trouble over the canal transport issue, he stood up and said, "Let's dismiss the court."
Everyone stood up and respectfully saw the emperor off.
Bai Shan looked up and exchanged glances with Yang Heshu, smiled slightly, and turned to look for Zhou Man.
Zhou Man held up his hut and smiled at him, saying, "You're going on a business trip again, and this time you're going to many places. Remember to help me keep an eye on the plants along the way."
Bai Shan agreed, "Don't worry, I will keep an eye on it. I'll leave the house to you."
Zhou Man said "hmm" and was stopped by Gu Zhong just as he was about to leave. Gu Zhong called out the names of several adults, including Yang Heshu and Bai Erlang, and said, "Your Majesty wants to see some adults."
The four of them turned and headed towards the study at the back of the Taiji Hall.
Bai Erlang walked beside Zhou Man and let out a sigh, "That was a close call! I was really afraid His Majesty would question me in the court. But why did he think of asking me to inspect the grain department? I've always served in the Imperial Academy."
He also participated in and signed the memorial on the river channel, but he did not participate in the memorial on building granaries and stabilizing prices.
Zhou Man, "Aren't Hanlin scholars supposed to move wherever they're needed? Do you really want to stay in the Hanlin Academy forever?"
Bai Erlang: "The Hanlin Academy is pretty good. Being an old Hanlin is not bad either."
Bai Shan said, "His Majesty asked you to accompany Brother Yang on the inspection tour because he wanted you to protect him."
"Me?" Bai Erlang was surprised. "I want to protect Senior Brother Yang? Senior Brother Yang can lead troops and knows some martial arts. He's better than me, right?"
Bai Shan: "...In any case, just follow Brother Yang closely and take care of the guards of your princess's mansion. You are the legitimate son-in-law, and His Majesty has always loved Princess Chongmingda. The people in Huainan Road dare not make a move on you."
Bai Erlang realized it later, "Oh, yes, Brother Yang has many enemies in Huainan Road."
Yang Heshu couldn't help but chuckle and said to him, "I'll have to trouble you to protect me along the way."
Bai Erlang quickly said, "Don't worry, Yang Xuexiong. I may not be able to do other things, but I can still follow you closely."
When we arrived at the study, the prince and several important ministers were already there.
It was Bai Erlang's first time attending a small court meeting, and he was a little nervous. Fortunately, the emperor did not ask him questions, but instead asked Bai Shan and Zhou Man. It seemed that he knew that although he was involved in the river issue, the people who came up with the ideas were Bai Shan and Zhou Man behind him.
Bai Jilang breathed a sigh of relief.
Bai Shan dared to write this memorial, so he must have done research. The second memorial in particular was more detailed than the first one. There was a month between them, and he added a lot of things.
Bai Shan said, "Our Great Jin is densely networked with rivers. Not to mention the Yellow River in the north and the Yangtze River in the south, just look at the branches in between: the Wei River, the Luo River, the Wuding River, the Fen River, the Bian River, and the Huai River. This is the route from northwest to east and north to southeast. The prefectures and counties it passes through encompass half of the prosperous areas of our Great Jin."
"Not to mention the difficulty of connecting the Jialing River with the Wei River, but being able to connect with the Han River to the Central Plains," Bai Shan said, "If all these rivers could be used, trade along the way would surely flourish. The Central Plains has a large population and limited land, so idle manpower could be transported more quickly to the north and southeast. Wouldn't that increase the country's strength by more than double or triple?"
Old Master Tang frowned, "If you prioritize commerce so much, won't that hurt farmers?"
The prince said, "It would have been natural before, as arable land was limited. But now grain production has increased and prices have fallen. It used to take two adults working their ass off to support a family of three, but now one can. The extra person can naturally do other things to make life better."
"And business is the way to improve their lives." The prince said, "In recent years, the Sino-Agricultural Temple has been researching ways to increase rice and wheat yields. I heard that this year, a single rice plant from their experimental field has already yielded eight dan per mu."
Bai Shan agreed and said, "Although the grain yield is high, there are still many poor people in various places. There are refugees who have lost their land, and tenant farmers who have little land. These must be addressed. I don't have a better solution at the moment. Temporarily using these people to enable them to survive in this world is the most important task at present."
Actually, there is a way, but it is rather radical. Bai Shan and Zhou Man both feel that if they bring it up, they might not see the sun next month, so they decided to forget it and not bring it up for the time being.
They then thought of a better way, letting things take their course and focusing on the present.
The emperor nodded slightly, then said, "The river can be dredged, but it's not something that can be done overnight, especially without a river map. The situation of each river is unclear. How to dredge it and which part to dredge first require careful consideration. It's probably difficult to reach a conclusion by holding a grand court meeting."
He said, "This time, your trip will cover all the important rivers of our Great Jin, except for the Jiannan Road. I order you to privately collect river maps and submit the information to the Ministry of Works, which will then formulate a plan for dredging them."
Bai Shan was overjoyed and bowed in agreement.
The emperor then turned to Zhou Man and said, "The Ministry of Works will first select a few river channels for trial operation to prevent problems from arising from the expansion of the project. However, if too many laborers and soldiers were forced to go down the river, disasters and diseases would undoubtedly occur. Does your Imperial Medical Bureau have any plans to deal with this?"
Zhou Man bowed and said, "I will quickly devise a suitable prescription for cold-weather protection and preventative measures, as well as a response plan suitable for their underwater operations. A medical station will then be established at the labor camp to prepare for any emergency needs."
The emperor nodded slightly, pointed to the map on the table and said, "Let's start from the section between the Wei River and the Fen River. You, the Imperial Medical Bureau, should prepare."
It was September now, and the water level in the Fen River area had dropped. Some places were even about to snow. It was really difficult to dredge the river at this time. Zhou Man did not dare to delay and bowed his head to agree.
The emperor gave the task and then said to Bai Erlang, who had been standing obediently, "Prince Consort, you should study hard under Master Yang."
Bai Erlang agreed.
The emperor then waved his hand and asked them to leave, leaving the prince to talk to Lord Tang and others.
After leaving the study, the four of them headed towards the Taiji Hall. Bai Shan and Zhou Man fell behind. He asked, "This matter is urgent. I'm going back to pack my things and then get ready to go out. Will you go to Fenhe?"
Zhou Man: "It depends on the situation. This matter still needs to be discussed with Xiao Yuanzheng. But even if I go, I won't be away for long. I will be back in three or two months."
After all, it's November now and it's difficult to dig the river.
Bai Shan nodded, took her hand and said with a smile: "Then we'll meet as fate dictates, take care of yourself."
Zhou Man looked up at him and said with a smile: "You should be careful on your way too."
Yang Heshu and Bai Erlang had already reached the bottom of the stairs. Seeing that the two of them were dawdling behind and had not caught up with them, they couldn't help but look back.
The sun was shining brightly, and the two were basking in the golden sunlight. The steps of the Taiji Hall were very long and high. When Yang Heshu and Bai Erlang looked up, they felt the sunlight was dazzling. They could only see the two people's hands holding each other and swaying.
Yang Heshu couldn't help but smile, shook his head, turned around and said, "Let's go."
Bai Erlang curled his lips in disgust and followed Yang Heshu with a sad look on his face.
Seeing this, Bai Shan and Zhou Man smiled at each other, walked closer and chased after him, their sleeves touching each other and flying up, so that no one could see the hands holding together under their sleeves.
——End of text
(End of this chapter)
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