Chapter 102 The Yellow River breaches its banks. This spring has been rainier than usual, and who knows...
This spring has been rainier than usual. I don't know if the Dragon King has caught a cold or what, but it rains every few days, sometimes pouring down, sometimes pattering. Even the finest drizzle leaves you feeling damp after just a short walk outside.
In addition, the temperature drops when it rains, and with the recent extinguishing of the underground heating system in the Forbidden City, the supply of charcoal has decreased, so Cheng Qianyue is very worried that her children will get sick. Therefore, she has been asking people to brew ginger tea at the tea room for the past few days to dispel the cold.
Moyaqi disliked the smell of ginger tea and would always pinch her nose before drinking it, spitting out a snort after each sip. Hongchao, on the other hand, loved spicy food and would even pick out the ginger slices from the tea after finishing it, continuing to eat them even when his ears turned bright red from the spiciness.
Cheng Qianyue remembered the ginger candy she had eaten in her past life. Each slice of cooked ginger was coated with sugar frosting, and each bite was both sweet and spicy. However, there were many fibrous strands in the ginger, and if you weren't careful, they would all get stuck between your teeth. She thought that Hongchao would probably like to eat ginger candy, so she would ask the kitchen staff if they knew how to make it.
Moyaqi sipped her tea slowly, finally finishing the cup. She then ran over to Cheng Qianyue to show off her achievement. Cheng Qianyue patted her little braids and praised, "Great job!" She then reached for a small piece of sesame candy from the plate beside her. Cheng Qianyue was strict about their teeth because she was worried about them eating too much candy, but to encourage Moyaqi to drink the ginger tea obediently, she gave her a piece of candy after each cup.
At this moment, Ruoyun came in from outside and said, "Master, the ginger tea has been prepared."
Cheng Qianyue glanced at the clock opposite her, estimating that Hongyan should have finished school by now, and said, "Then take him to the east side. Also, tell Hongyan to wear more clothes these days and remember to bring an umbrella when he goes out."
Ruoyun sighed and turned to go out to give instructions.
Before long, everyone outside was ready. There were six people: three carrying trays and the other three holding umbrellas. Since Princes Hongxi and Hongjin also lived in the east front courtyard, Cheng Qianyue prepared three sets of anything she brought for Hongyan. The group walked out of the courtyard gate, crossed the outer courtyard, and headed east, presenting teapots filled with ginger tea to the three princes one by one.
Before long, the tea-delivery person returned to report. Ruoyun didn't invite them into the house, but said, "There's still ginger tea on the stove. Go and have a bowl, and change your clothes." After saying that, she went to Cheng Qianyue to report.
Cheng Qianyue looked out the window, then thought of Yinreng, wondering if he had anything to keep warm, and said, "I wonder if the Crown Prince is doing well outside."
Ruoyun said, "Not long ago, Jingshun sent word that the weather has been cool these past few days, and the Crown Prince reminded you to wear more clothes. Moreover, the Crown Prince has Eunuch Chen serving him, so everything should be taken care of properly."
Cheng Qianyue nodded, but quickly let out a soft "Oh." Ruoyun hurriedly turned her head to look at her, as if waiting for her to continue.
Cheng Qianyue: ... She waved her hand, indicating that there was nothing else, she just suddenly realized that it seemed like Yinreng hadn't come over in a long time. She counted on her fingers, when was the last time he came? It seemed like it had been five or six days. Was it because of the rain, or because he was busy with state affairs outside?
This thought lingered for two days, when suddenly news spread throughout the Forbidden City that the Emperor's birthday celebrations would not be held this year.
Cheng Qianyue was immediately puzzled: "It's not going to be held. Do you know why?" Is something wrong outside? Otherwise, given how much the Emperor has been concerned with pomp and circumstance these past two years, how could he possibly cancel the birthday celebration?
As expected, Ruoyun replied, "I heard that the Yellow River's spring floods were particularly fierce this year, and several sections of the riverbed were washed away, flooding many places. His Majesty was very worried and said that he would not hold the birthday celebration."
!!
Cheng Qianyue was shocked to find that something had indeed happened outside, and that the Yellow River was flooding. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Inside Yuqing Palace, Yinreng was seeing off the Fourth Prince. As early as the end of the first month, the Grand Canal Supervisor had reported that while the ice on the first section of the Yellow River had melted, the ice on the middle section remained, raising concerns that the ice erosion would block the river and cause flooding. At that time, the Emperor ordered local authorities to dredge the river as soon as possible and allocated silver to the local governments in the middle and lower reaches to strengthen the dikes and prevent the river from overflowing in the spring. Unexpectedly, news arrived that more than ten dikes in Henan had breached.
The court officials had been discussing how to provide disaster relief, and finally the Emperor made the decision to allocate 300,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue to aid the disaster victims and repair the river channels. He also appointed the Fourth Prince as the Imperial Commissioner to oversee the matter.
Yinreng raised his wine cup to the Fourth Prince: "This trip to the disaster area is for two purposes: first, to repair the dikes, and second, to provide relief to the victims. I'm assigning you a squad of guards to protect you."
The Fourth Prince immediately bowed and replied firmly, "Your subject will certainly not fail in your mission."
Yinreng nodded, downed his wine in one gulp, and after a moment sneered: "The imperial court allocates silver to local areas every year to repair the river channels, and this year it has even allocated extra funds to order them to reinforce the dikes. I never expected that the river channels would be destroyed in just a few days. I really want to ask them if all the silver allocated for the Yellow River management has gone down the drain."
The Fourth Prince's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. To be honest, he had also suspected this. He guessed that the Crown Prince had sent someone to him because he was suspicious and wanted him to investigate secretly. In addition, when corruption was mentioned, he immediately thought of the few words that the Thirteenth Prince had occasionally uttered while running the Ministry of Revenue over the past two years.
Ah, when it comes to corruption, the Ministry of Revenue is the most corrupt and greedy, but there's no reason to take action yet. Besides, a thorough investigation into corruption depends on the Emperor's will; without the Emperor's permission, no one dares to expose that loophole.
But now it seems that this opportunity has come.
The Ministry of Revenue generously allocated funds to the local governments, and then a problem arose in the river. It would be a miracle if there wasn't something fishy going on! He was determined to uncover the connections between the Ministry of Revenue and the local governments, no matter how complex the situation was.
Thinking of this, the Fourth Prince immediately rose and kowtowed, saying in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, I understand that if corruption becomes rampant among officials, it will surely shake the foundation of the nation. As a prince, I should investigate this matter thoroughly on behalf of the Emperor and the Crown Prince."
Yinreng personally helped him up, took a deep breath and said, "With your words, I can rest assured."
The two were having a meal when Chen He came over and whispered a few words in Yinreng's ear. Yinreng's expression immediately softened, which surprised the Fourth Prince.
"Bring it here," Yinreng instructed. A short while later, a young eunuch entered carrying a box of moderate size.
Yinreng said to the Fourth Prince, "Your sister-in-law and your nephews and nieces heard that there was a disaster outside, so they brought two hundred taels of silver, saying they wanted to send it to help settle the refugees. Since you are here today, take it with you when you leave the palace. This amount of silver is not much, but it is their good intention."
The Fourth Prince suddenly realized that the contents of the container were silver. But upon reflection, it seemed perfectly reasonable. In recent years, the Crown Prince had frequently engaged in charitable work. It seems the earliest instance was when Consort Cheng was pregnant with twins; at that time, the Crown Prince had soup kitchens set up in the capital. Following his example, he also contributed a considerable amount of money and grain to the kitchens that year. He heard that the soup kitchens hadn't stopped distributing soup for the past two years, operating for two months every winter during the coldest period.
The Fourth Prince laughed and said, "If outsiders knew that this money came from the Crown Prince's Palace, they would surely be grateful for the Emperor's grace."
Yinreng slowly shook his head and said, "This is a good thing that brings good fortune, but it wouldn't be good if we talked about the good fortune."
This means there's no need to publicize it widely.
"Yes, Your Majesty understands," the Fourth Prince replied. At this moment, he also realized that if he really told others about this, it would seem as if the Crown Prince was trying to use this opportunity to gain fame for himself.
Yinreng nodded, his face bearing the same spirit he had in his earlier years: "Providing silver to help the poor is a small act of kindness, but eradicating long-standing abuses and eliminating their pernicious influence is a great act of kindness. As Han Feizi said, 'A thousand-foot dike can be breached by the slightest ant's prick; a hundred-foot house can be burned down by a wisp of smoke from a crack.' Fourth Prince, you and I are both descendants of the Aisin Gioro family, and we cannot stand by and watch our ancestral legacy be devoured and scattered."
The Fourth Prince was moved by Yinreng's words. He thought that if the Crown Prince could always be like this, then why would he have to worry about not being able to govern the world well in the future?
Two days later, Yinreng finally arrived at Xiefang Palace from the front. As soon as he returned, he told Cheng Qianyue that the box of silver had been taken out by the Fourth Prince and would definitely be distributed to the disaster victims. Only then did Cheng Qianyue realize that the person who went to provide disaster relief this time was actually the Fourth Prince.
“The fourth prince is upright and has a clear sense of right and wrong. With a prince like him watching over things, no one below would dare to embezzle openly,” Yinreng said in a deep voice.
Cheng Qianyue was unaware of what was happening outside, but as long as she knew that her donations hadn't been in vain, that was enough. However, she soon asked with some doubt, "Was the flooding caused by the heavy rainfall this year?"
Yinreng shook his head and said, "Not entirely."
Cheng Qianyue pondered that floods also occur frequently in modern times, but most of them happen in the summer. It's only early spring, so why has the dike breached?
Hearing her rambling, Yinreng slowly told her, "The Yellow River has four floods a year, and we can't ignore them at any time. But this time, we don't know if it's more of a natural disaster or a man-made one." As he spoke, he gritted his teeth.
Natural disaster? Man-made disaster? Cheng Qianyue silently murmured to herself for a moment, then suddenly shouted, "They dare to embezzle the money meant for building the dike?!" What kind of people are they, daring to put on such a shoddy project?!
Yinreng shushed her, "The matter is still unclear, which is why we need to investigate." But those people are definitely not clean!
Cheng Qianyue thought to herself, "It seems that the Fourth Prince in history was a person who hated evil as much as he wanted to kill it? Then we should be able to find out the truth."
Three months later, I heard that the Fourth Master had done a good job of settling the refugees in Henan and would soon be setting off back to Beijing.
Yinreng was lying in bed chatting with Cheng Qianyue about this matter, and he said that when the Fourth Prince came back, he would ask her where all that money had gone.
Cheng Qianyue lay in his arms, being patted here and there like a child. But his expression was particularly relaxed, as if carrying some kind of hope.
However, the warm atmosphere was quickly broken. Chen He, from outside, exclaimed, "Your Highness, this servant has important matters to report."
The smile on Yinreng's lips vanished, and his brows furrowed instantly.
Chen He shouted loudly, "An urgent edict from the Qianqing Palace! The Yellow River's flow is too great; the dikes in Shandong... have breached..."
Yinreng immediately got off the bed and said urgently, "Come in and serve me."
Upon hearing this, Chen He hurriedly led a group of eunuchs into the inner room to help him dress and put on his shoes. Cheng Qianyue, realizing what was happening, wanted to help by buttoning his clothes, but the eunuchs were too efficient for her to assist. Meanwhile, she overheard Yinreng asking, "Is there any news about Prince Yong?"
Chen He said, "This servant does not know."
Yinreng took a deep breath and was dressed in no time. He turned to look at Cheng Qianyue, but said nothing. He simply patted her shoulder heavily and then strode away.
Cheng Qianyue unconsciously got off the bed and took two steps forward with him, but he quickly left the room and disappeared.
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