A few days later, it rained for days on end. Yin stood at the window gazing outside. For the past two days, he hadn't heard a word. Erlu was on the third floor of the stone pavilion.
"Fourth Brother, it's been raining for several days, and the water level outside has risen quite a bit. There are many refugees outside the mansion." Qingyan felt conflicted again after hearing what Sulan said.
She had prepared a considerable amount of supplies in advance. With the rainy season approaching, the price of these stored grains rose. Su Lan went out several times, visiting the people in the neighborhood...
"Refugees?!" Yin hadn't heard Erlu mention refugees before; those loitering at the gate must be the local people.
Erlu appeared at the door, and Qingyan noticed that he was soaking wet.
"Master, quite a few villagers from outside have arrived. Those people must be seeking refuge with their relatives," Erlu respectfully reported. Yin's face immediately darkened.
This small village doesn't have many residents; now, all the houses in the village are full.
"Go down." Yin looked at the books about river flooding. "Little one, look here!"
He took out a lot of manuscripts from the space, which recorded many precautions for building dams. He also looked at the rough design drawings from the Ministry of Works. The Ministry of Revenue used those to calculate the cost, and the cost of each item was extremely high.
As soon as he finished speaking, the heavy rain outside finally stopped. Yin stood up, paced around twice, and looked at Qingyan.
"Little Darling, go change into some men's clothes. Let's go to the embankment and take a look." Yin didn't plan to leave Little Darling in the mansion, fearing that someone might storm the mansion and damage Little Darling's reputation.
After a cup of tea, Qingyan changed into the casual clothes that Yinnian had worn when he was young, and followed behind him with a serious expression as they walked out. Both of them wore jade pendants representing the royal family around their waists, making them look like two princes on an inspection tour.
"Fourth Brother, wasn't the dam built according to the Ministry of Works' design drawings?" Qingyan tilted her head. Before coming out, Yin had told her in advance that she had to hand it over to Fourth Brother and couldn't call him the wrong person.
Yin gave her an approving look. Su Peisheng and Su Lan had changed into servants' clothes, and a number of guards followed behind them.
"Master, this area is prone to flooding!" Erlu had already discovered some places where floods frequently occurred.
Yin frowned as he approached the dam, slowly descending the steps. He felt a little awkward stepping on the loose stone steps.
"Four, four, the stone steps can move?!" Qingyan was instantly curious. Why could these stone steps move?
Yin nodded, holding Xiao Guai's hand tightly, afraid that the little guy might be naughty and get swept into the rising water.
On the opposite side, a local resident was fetching water in a bucket to wash clothes on the edge of the dam. While climbing the stone steps, he slipped and spilled the entire bucket of water.
"Fourth, the stone steps aren't slip-resistant?" Qingyan remembered that most of the large stones in the Forbidden City were slip-resistant, and even the Qing Dynasty history records that the stone steps used to build dikes in various places were of this type.
"It's not slip-resistant!" Yin said directly.
Anti-slip stones are very expensive, and the cost of production is extremely high. All of this will waste a lot of resources. After going through layers of exploitation, the amount of silver that reaches the county magistrate is probably not much.
Qingyan frowned as he looked across the embankment. In order to save water at home, the people usually came to this side of the embankment to wash their clothes, and they often slipped and fell.
"Will we get swept into the water?"
"Master, I have learned that every year, many people die in the water along the edge of the dike!" Erlu whispered to Yin, genuinely worried that Qingyan would be furious.
What?!
Qingyan's eyes blazed with fury. These people took the donations from Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion, but didn't use them for the benefit of the people.
"Sulan, remember to have the manager in charge of the donations come here." Qingyan was determined to investigate.
It is taken from the people and used for the people!
Yin kept these words firmly in mind, and he used his abilities to fulfill his promise to Kangxi.
Despite bearing a lot of criticism, he still resolutely implemented various policies.
"Little darling, let's go look somewhere else!" Yin believed that there couldn't be only one set of steps like this, and that this place was a high-risk area.
The floods haven't actually arrived yet, otherwise the problem would be much more serious.
"good!"
They walked slowly along the embankment. Many of the steps were wet with water. Some people even took off their shoes and walked on the stone steps in their socks to avoid slipping.
Seeing this scene, she felt uneasy.
"Master!" The shopkeeper was summoned while the two were walking.
"You built this kind of dam with donations?" Qingyan scolded with a stern face.
"Master, the funds allocated by the Ministry of Revenue are not even enough to build a dike. If it weren't for the fundraising by the shops in the county, even a dike like this could not be built!" Every year, Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion receive donations from the capital. Any county in need can receive these funds.
Yin coughed awkwardly twice, knowing the situation was such that the shopkeeper's sudden remark showed no respect for the royal family.
The shopkeeper lowered his head, fearing Yin, but had no choice but to tell the truth.
If the shopkeeper didn't tell her the truth, he would likely be dragged down.
"How much did the magistrate give you?" This area is a disaster zone, and the donations are more than enough to cover the cost of building such a dike.
"No, the remaining donations have all been used for disaster relief. Every year, refugees come from the three nearby villages. Many of these people are relatives of the villagers, and some have seen that there are vacant houses here and want to settle down here." The shopkeeper saw that Qingyan's face was not good and quickly told her what he knew.
Qingyan looked back towards the mansion and saw that many simply dressed people were circling the courtyard.
"Eru, when you get back, send more people to patrol. If anyone is found to be intruding, kill them without mercy!" Yin's eyes turned cold. There might be some ill-intentioned people hiding among these refugees. If they encounter problems, some of them might take advantage of the situation.
"!" Prince Yin's princely aura was fully unleashed, forcing the shopkeeper to shut up.
Qingyan looked at those people with concern. In order to get enough to eat, the refugees would do anything. They also had to deal with the food at home.
"We'll transport the grain again tonight, and we'll put something on top of it to cover it up!" Qingyan was worried.
"This servant has awakened!" the shopkeeper quickly promised. Since his master had spoken, the goods had to be handled satisfactorily.
That night, the carts used by Yuelai Inn to transport grain to the mansion were replaced with horse-drawn carriages, as if they were visiting relatives.
The shopkeeper followed the carriage through the gate, and couldn't help but admire his master. If it weren't for his master's cleverness, the grain would probably have been robbed at the village entrance. The refugees were all secretly watching the carriage move through the door.
"Si Si, have someone keep an eye on the outside!" Qing Yan felt it was too quiet, and she had a sense of unease in her heart.
Upon their return today, Erlu and the other guards all took fire-starting sticks, ready to launch an attack at any moment.
"Understood!" Yin nodded. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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