Chapter 31 Artificial Rainfall
Xiao Yu kicked the Yuzhou prefect on the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.
"Even if the imperial court hasn't sent relief funds yet, I already dispatched people from nearby prefectures to urgently transfer surplus grain and money for disaster relief before leaving Beijing. It's only been half a month, could it have been spent already?"
Liu Zhiyuan raised her head and looked at Xiao Yu with complicated eyes.
This person really doesn't seem that bad.
The Yuzhou prefect broke out in a cold sweat. "The disaster is severe. The grain and silver transferred from the nearby prefectures are simply not enough..."
"Really? Bring me the account book so I can see if it's good enough."
The prefect of Yuzhou collapsed and lay on the ground, trembling.
What else is there to not understand? These mosquitoes are actually greedy for the refugees’ life-saving money!
Xiao Yu gave Wang Zheng a wink, and Wang Zheng understood and immediately arranged for someone to investigate.
The Yuzhou prefect looked pale, and the officials accompanying him looked even more pale.
It's over.
After having the children of the two families exchanged and the issue here resolved, Liu Zhiyuan continued to move forward.
She looked around as she walked, as if looking for something. Xiao Yu followed her without saying a word.
The emperor didn't say anything, and the others didn't dare to speak either, and just followed silently.
Liu Zhiyuan walked for a long time and finally stopped at an open space beside the field.
Seeing this, Xiao Yu asked, "My beloved, what are you looking for?"
"Don't make a noise. I'm calculating the best location to pray for rain."
When these words were spoken, Liu Dehai and Wang Zheng both widened their eyes in shock.
Xiao Yu was also surprised, "Can you pray for rain?"
"able."
Based on her observations of the clouds in this area, the success rate of artificial rain-making is very high.
Xiao Yu's face was solemn. "Liu Zhiyuan, I will never break my promise to you. As long as you can successfully pray for rain, I will thoroughly investigate the Liu family's corruption case."
This can be regarded as a reward for her saving the people of Yuzhou.
"In that case, thank you, Your Majesty."
"When can we offer sacrifices to the heavens and pray for rain?"
"In two days, I need to make some preparations."
Thinking of the tragic scenes I saw on the road, and then thinking of the officials in Yuzhou who were all so fat that they threw away the leftovers instead of giving them to the victims.
A cold light flashed in Liu Zhiyuan's eyes.
Those corrupt officials deserve to die!
"Your Majesty, to pray for rain from heaven requires sincerity and moving the gods before your prayer can be successful."
"How sincere."
"Blood sacrifice."
Xiao Yu glanced at her with deep eyes.
"How many people are needed for blood sacrifice?"
"The more the better." Liu Zhiyuan said, fearing that Xiao Yu would kill innocent people indiscriminately, which was not her intention.
Then he added, "The blood sacrifice must be performed on someone who has done something wrong, preferably someone who has coveted the people's blood and sweat and profited from national disasters."
Xiao Yu, "..."
You could just mention the name of the Yuzhou prefect directly, there's no need to beat around the bush.
"Okay, I'll arrange it." Anyway, he wouldn't let any of those corrupt officials go.
"Is there anything else you need?"
"Yes, I need to prepare some things."
"I asked Wang Zheng to cooperate with you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Wang Zheng was stunned watching from the side. Only then did he notice that Liu Zhiyuan was talking about "me" in front of the emperor, not "your concubine".
Far from being angry, the emperor even acquiesced to her self-proclaimed identity.
Wang Zheng's pupils shrank slightly, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Liu Zhiyuan was different.
In his heart, he silently raised Liu Zhiyuan's ranking. From now on, Concubine Liu would be the second person he had to flatter besides the Emperor!
After returning to the Yuzhou government office, Liu Zhiyuan asked someone to bring paper and pen.
Liu Dehai presented the brush and rice paper. Liu Zhiyuan looked at the brush and felt extremely fortunate that she had once been the daughter of a wealthy family, had received the highest education, and was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
Otherwise, you can't even write with a brush, let alone draw.
He drew a blueprint on rice paper and asked Wang Zheng to find the best carpenter to make it as quickly as possible.
Wang Zheng found carpenters and asked them to work overnight to make what Liu Zhiyuan wanted.
The next afternoon, the things were ready and delivered to the yamen.
Xiao Yu looked at those things that looked like wooden barrels but were somewhat different, with a puzzled look on his face.
"My dear, what is this?"
Liu Zhiyuan was still fiddling with gunpowder and didn't even raise his head when he heard this.
"Rain inducer."
"Rain-making device?" Although Xiao Yu didn't understand, he could guess that this thing was related to praying for rain.
He picked up a toy, which was just an ordinary piece of wood with no magic power attached to it.
"Can you use this to pray for rain?"
"Of course there's more than just this."
Xiao Yu's eyes fell on her black hands, and his curiosity grew stronger.
He couldn't quite see through the woman in front of him.
"My dear, do you really know the spell to pray for rain?"
Liu Zhiyuan rolled his eyes. What kind of magic is this? The ancients were so superstitious.
"It's not magic, just ordinary scientific principles."
“What are scientific principles?”
Liu Zhiyuan, "..."
Scientific principles are modern terms, how could she explain them to an ancient person?
"Your Majesty, do you know how rain works?"
"The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas are in charge of rain."
Liu Zhiyuan was speechless.
Well, the ancients did think so.
"Actually, no. Rain is just a natural phenomenon. It has nothing to do with supernatural powers or supernatural beings."
Xiao Yu frowned, "What do you mean?"
"To put it simply, when those tiny raindrops in the clouds collide with each other, they condense into larger water droplets. Their volume gradually increases, and when it exceeds the limit of the cloud's tolerance, they fall down. My words may be a little different, but that's roughly what I mean."
"My dear, do you mean that the clouds in the sky are rain?"
That’s not the case.
It was a bit difficult to explain to an ancient person, and Liu Zhiyuan was not in the mood to explain it in detail to Xiao Yu, so he vaguely said "it's about the same."
Xiao Yu knew that she was just trying to fool him, so he glanced at her indifferently and said nothing more.
Two days later, Liu Zhiyuan was ready to pray for rain.
No one knew who had spread the news, but on the day of praying for rain, people from Yuzhou came to watch.
The altar was crowded with people, and Liu Zhiyuan was frightened.
"Is that the goddess? Can she really pray for rain and save us?"
"Of course she is. She is more beautiful than a fairy, and she is qualified to offer sacrifices to the heavens and pray for rain. She must be a goddess."
"The goddess was sent by God to save us. She will surely be able to pray for rain!"
"The goddess is appointed by heaven and can do anything."
Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Long live the goddess! The goddess will surely be able to pray for rain successfully."
The other people became excited upon hearing this and shouted to Liu Zhiyuan, "Long live the goddess!"
"Long live the goddess!"
Liu Zhiyuan's legs went weak and he almost fell to his knees.
Who the hell is trying to harm her!
Liu Dehai was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Wang Zheng's face was serious, and his sharp eyes full of intimidation swept across the audience.
There were so many common people that it was impossible to tell who had taken the lead.
This is praising Liu Zhiyuan too much.
Not to mention that "Long live the emperor" refers to the emperor, saying "Long live the emperor" to Liu Zhiyuan is implying that she wants to rebel.
The mere fact that Liu Zhiyuan was a goddess and was ordained by heaven was terrifying. She was being praised so highly. If her prayer for rain succeeded, it would be fine. But if it failed, the public would be furious...
As soon as he thought of the consequences, Wang Zheng's face instantly became extremely ugly.
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