To build dikes for flood control, the head manager of Yizihao, the richest man in the country, took the lead and donated three million taels of silver to the national treasury.
Upon hearing this news, wealthy merchants flocked to Manager Yi, generously donating goods and silver notes.
The flood control team set off with a personal order from Xu Zang. They dared not delay and rushed to the south to build dikes day and night.
When the flood came, for the first time in over a decade, people in the south did not have to be submerged in raging water.
All the people were evacuated to the mountains. After the flood receded, only a few houses were damaged, and the rest were safe and sound.
Not long after the new emperor ascended the throne, he did good deeds for the people.
Xu Zang's reputation gradually grew, and everyone said that the new emperor cared about the people and was a rare wise ruler.
Xu Zang knew that without Yi Mu, he wouldn't have been able to resolve the difficulties so quickly.
Not to mention that the dikes successfully blocked the raging flood, the imperial court allocated 500,000 taels of silver.
The officials who went south to build the dikes, taking advantage of the fact that the emperor was far away, and under the guise of doing what was best for the people, repeatedly asked the court for money during the construction period, and subsequently asked for another 300,000 taels of silver.
Even if Xu Zang didn't understand the flood control efforts at the front lines, he knew that flood control wouldn't cost that much money.
Those audacious fools were convinced that he had only recently come to power and his foundation was unstable, so they dared not conduct a thorough investigation on such a crucial matter.
Once the heat dies down, all the evidence will be destroyed, and when you try to investigate again, nothing will be found.
Those people were merely officials of the second or third rank. If they didn't have powerful figures backing them up, they wouldn't dare to openly bully the emperor, even if they had three times the courage.
Flood control has always been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works, and among those officials, two were former protégés of Li Shouhai.
Xu Zang stared at Li Shouhai, who stood at the very front of all the officials, his deep black eyes narrowing.
The Li family's flourishing branch is not so easily cut off.
Xu Kingdom is a towering tree with lush branches and leaves, and minor officials are insignificant leaves.
Li Shouhai, on the other hand, was a sturdy, slanted branch, only slightly inferior to the main trunk of the royal family.
Li Shouhai was a graduate of the Imperial Academy, and countless students became his disciples.
These people were all scions of various powerful families more than a decade ago. Now they are entangled in the inner workings of the imperial court, and their network of relationships is more complex than a spider web. It is impossible to figure out who belongs to which faction or who is two-faced.
The flood prevention measures were extremely well received by the people, and Prime Minister Li Shouhai was overjoyed, praising the emperor for his foresight and profound understanding of righteousness.
If it weren't for the Emperor's determination to control the floods, the south, which has suffered from this once-in-a-century flood, would surely have suffered many deaths and injuries. In severe cases, it could very well have experienced a plague like it did decades ago, leading to widespread suffering and chaos throughout the land.
He was spouting nonsense. Xu Zang gave a curt "hmm" and frowned slightly in the silence of the court.
"If you have something to report, speak now; otherwise, the court may adjourn."
The Minister of Rites stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have a report to submit."
"speak."
"Your Majesty has been on the throne for more than half a year, and the harem is empty, without a single beauty. Now that the floods have been controlled, I dare to suggest that a selection of concubines be chosen for the palace. The country cannot be without an heir for a day. Furthermore, Your Majesty has reached adulthood but has no sons. Since ancient times, imperial succession has been of utmost importance. I urge Your Majesty to consider this matter as soon as possible."
Xu Zang's most annoying thing is about to happen.
He had no desire to marry any woman, but as the ruler of a country, he could not act on his whims.
He neither said yes nor no, but changed the subject and cleverly glossed over the matter.
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