Zhu Cheng probably didn’t expect Yan Daoxin to agree so readily, and as a result, he casually added a condition.
He hesitated slightly, seemingly not daring to agree to this matter so easily. However, fearing that a direct refusal might displease Yan Daoxin, he ambiguously agreed since he wouldn’t agree to help diagnose even a single person.
Fortunately, the food was delivered shortly after, temporarily alleviating the sowhat awkward atmosphere.
Zhu Yu found the al quite pleasing to her taste. On one hand, she had been eating the sa flavor for so long, and suddenly being without it for months made her miss it a little. On the other hand, due to recent travels, she hadn’t had many comfortable als.
Seeing her eating with relish, Lu Qing glanced at the not-so-delicate and rare dishes on the table. Estimating that her recent travels only allowed her to eat flatbreads with fruit, he discreetly placed a few pieces of food from sections further from Zhu Yu into her bowl.
Zhu Cheng made small talk with Lu Qing and Yan Daoxin while observing this scene closely, feeling a bit surprised inside.
It was rumored that Prince Xiaoyao seed to flirt everywhere, but in fact, he was the most heartless. Because he always lingered in places like entertainnt houses and music halls, no noble families in the capital were willing to marry their daughters to him. Therefore, Emperor Jin wanted to arrange an unrefusable marriage for him through an imperial decree, partly to restrain him from misbehaving after getting married.
However, now seeing Prince Xiaoyao in person, Zhu Cheng felt that he wasn’t at all like the rumors. There was no arrogance or profligacy in him, but rather, his eyes were reserved with emotions hard to discern, giving an inscrutable impression.
After eating, the steward personally ca to clear away the dishes and delivered a pot of fragrant tea, leaving to wait outside the courtyard, thus leaving the conversation space to Zhu Cheng and the others.
Yan Daoxin stretched lazily, indicating that he was tired from traveling and used to going to bed early, so he went straight to his room.
"Just now, son-in-law said there was a special reason for your visit to Shuo Country this ti?" Zhu Cheng took a sip of tea and began to inquire as if nothing unpleasant had happened before.
Yet, he still opted to direct the question toward his son-in-law, Lu Qing.
In his deeply ingrained belief, there was no reason to discuss important matters with won.
"This matter, after all, was proposed by my wife. I think it would be better for her to explain it to you directly, to avoid any omissions if I speak," Lu Qing responded, giving an answer to Zhu Cheng’s inquiry. His wording was polite and courteous, but his attitude remained neither warm nor cold.
Zhu Yu didn’t stand on ceremony with him and nodded, saying to Zhu Cheng, "Father, Shuo Country has long suffered from drought and scarce rain. Over the years, although there have been achievents in mining and slting, those ore mines cannot be directly consud like food. Eventually, they will be depleted. People need food to live without worry.
Coincidentally, this year, Huazhou experienced a rare flood, prompting the Holy Emperor to assign the Ministry of Industry to construct canals in Huazhou.
Upon hearing about this, Lu Qing spent considerable effort persuading the Ministry of Industry to extend the canal construction to the Black Stone Mountain side, which borders Shuo Country with only a mountain apart. All that is needed is to dig a channel at the foot of the mountain to draw water into Shuo Land.
You would just need to arrange so manpower to build the canal on this side of the mountain and prepare for water diversion. Once the canal is completed on the other side, the water will naturally flow over when you dig a channel at the base of the mountain.
The only hurdle for the Ministry of Industry’s engineering team now is that they are unable to gather sufficient grain because of the flood in Huazhou. If you could gather so grain to send over and solve their urgent problem, I believe the canal’s completion tiline will be significantly shortened, just in ti to et the water needs of Shuo land’s crops."
Zhu Cheng was sowhat unaccustod to Zhu Yu discussing serious matters with him, feeling awkward inside. However, upon hearing about the canal construction, he couldn’t help but adjust his posture.
The drought in Shuo Land, especially near Jin Country and Jie, was a constant worry for him.
Forget about Black Iron, even ordinary iron ore crafted into tools and implents by Shuo Country’s craftsn were considered the finest and most durable worldwide.
These items could fetch a good price, but the drought and scarcity of rain ant that Shuo Land couldn’t even produce enough grain to feed its people and had to rely on purchasing it from outside.
Both Jin Country and Jie, and Lan, knew this well and raised prices when selling grain to them, causing them to incur losses they were aware of but had to endure.
Zhu Cheng had previously petitioned Emperor Jin, hoping he would allow Shuo Country to construct water channels.
Emperor Jin responded to his petition, instructing that as Prince Shuo in his own fief, he could handle any water channel construction benefiting the people’s livelihood without reporting it.
Just as Zhu Cheng was about to be happy, he quickly realized that Emperor Jin hadn’t agreed to his request but instead returned it.
Water channel construction in Shuo Land doesn’t need to be reported and can be handled independently.
But what about outside Shuo Land? Nothing was promised!
Without a water channel constructed within Jin Country to draw water over, no amount of digging on Shuo Country’s side would be anything more than a deep pit, ultimately useless.
After being thwarted by Emperor Jin, Zhu Cheng thought there was no hope left, but didn’t expect a new opportunity to arise now.
However...
"This matter is easier said than done." Zhu Cheng felt that Zhu Yu overly simplified the situation. "Digging the canal isn’t hard, and gathering so grain isn’t difficult either.
While this could indeed alleviate the drought problem in Shuo Land, directly diverting water from Jin Country by digging the canal raises issues.
If the court suspects any impropriety, feeling I bribed the Ministry of Industry officials and pulled off a stealthy trick, wouldn’t that cause huge trouble?"
"Father need not worry," Zhu Yu shook her head at him and glanced at Lu Qing beside her. "This is a significant matter and certainly wasn’t easily achieved.
If not for Lu Qing’s efforts and diation, the canal wouldn’t have been constructed by Black Stone Mountain.
Given the current progress, your concerns would have naturally been considered by Lu Qing beforehand.
Thus, the grain sent over should also be used to acquire so Silver Taels from the Ministry of Industry people, normalizing the trade and solving their urgent need in the process, effectively preventing Shuo Country from being accused of bribery and solving the mutual necessities without leaving any handle."
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