On the sixth day of April, the weather was half cloudy and half clear.
Jiang Shu and Yu Zheng accepted the appointment and went to Yu Lan's princess mansion.
When they arrived, Yu Lan and Zhou Boxu had already arrived. After waiting for a short time, Sun Yijun and Yu Yuan also arrived.
The fortifications in the mansion have been completed, and the servants are doing the final cleaning.
The six of them walked around carefully from the front yard to the back yard.
"Sister, this mansion is so beautifully decorated." Jiang Shu was amazed.
Although the princess palace of Yu Lan is not as big as the palace, the garden, lotus, lake and rockery are all there, and every step of the way is very exquisite and beautiful.
Yu Lan smiled and said, "You can come more often in the future if you like."
The Ministry of Industry made a drawing of the Princess Mansion for her to choose from, and it was renovated according to her preferences, which suited Yu Lan's wishes.
"It's so close, so I have to come here often." Jiang Shu was tired from walking, so they went to sit down at the pavilion in the back garden.
The Princess's Mansion is only two streets away from Prince Jing's Mansion, and it only takes about a quarter of an hour to walk, which is very convenient.
After hearing their words, Sun Yijun curled his lips and said, "Have you forgotten me?"
Prince Rong's Mansion and Princess Mansion, Prince Jing's Mansion, are in opposite directions, and it takes half an hour to take a carriage.
"How can I? The door of my house is always open for you." Yu Lan smiled and picked up the tea cup.
"Seriously? Master Zhou won't be unhappy?" Sun Yijun looked at Zhou Boxu.
Zhou Bo prefaced: "Welcome."
He was busy with official duties during the day and was rarely in the mansion. Zhuang Yun also had to go to school. He wanted someone who could chat with Yu Lan to relieve his boredom.
"Hey, hey, do you think I don't exist?" Yu Yuan said dissatisfied.
Sun Yijun glanced at him and hummed: "Don't you have anything to do with yourself? Don't you care about Cuiyun Tower?"
Yu Yuan stopped talking after hearing this.
Cuiyun Tower's business is booming, and he can earn a lot of money every month. Now that he has married a wife again, he will have to raise children in the future, so he must run it well and earn more.
I've been delayed for a long time these days, I have to go take a look tomorrow.
A few people rested for a while and continued to visit the main courtyard.
Entering the inner room of the main house, I saw the large carved bed.
Jiang Shu looked at it and joked: "Sister, why is this bed not as big as the one we got? Is it enough?"
"It's enough..." Yu Lan looked stunned and didn't dare to look at Zhou Boxu beside him.
Zhou Boxu's expression remained unchanged, but his ears turned almost imperceptibly red.
Fortunately, the conversation stopped there and Jiang Shu started wandering around the room.
The tables, chairs and utensils in the house are all new and fully equipped, and nothing is missing.
Jiang Shu was in trouble and didn't know what wedding gift to give Yu Lan.
There are only two months left before Yu Lan and Zhou Boxu's wedding.
The weather in April changes all the time. There are still a few rays of sunshine in the morning, but it suddenly starts raining in the afternoon.
Jiang Shu woke up after a nap and stared at the rain curtain in trance.
It rained a lot this year. Faintly, Jiang Shu had a bad premonition.
During dinner, Yu Zheng entered the room with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Seeing that he looked wrong, Jiang Shu asked.
Yu Zheng sat down at the table and said while cleaning his hands: "I just received news that heavy rains have fallen in Duanzhou, which has flooded several villages and towns. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, and the casualties are unknown."
Such a huge flood will cause another debate tomorrow morning.
After Jiang Shu listened, he looked at the thin rain outside the house and frowned slightly.
She knew that it was not only rainy in Beijing.
"What should we do?" Jiang Shu asked worriedly.
Yu Zheng put down his handkerchief, looked at Jiang Shu's slightly wrinkled face and said, "Relieve disasters and bring peace to the people, and prevent and control epidemics."
After a pause, Yu Zheng said again: "You don't need to worry about these things, don't think too much."
That's right, the national economy and the people's livelihood have to be taken care of by the king and officials. She is a housewife, and it is useless to think about anything.
Thinking of this, Jiang Shu relaxed and concentrated on eating.
In the evening, after taking a bath, the two of them sat on the couch and read as usual. Before going to bed, the sound of chasing clouds sounded from outside the house.
"Master, there is urgent news."
Yu Zheng got up and walked to the outer room, opened the door and listened to Zhuiyun's report.
"Li Xu committed suicide out of fear of crime."
After hearing this, a sneer appeared on Yu Zheng's lips: "You are so impatient. It seems that Li Xu knows a lot."
After thinking for a moment, Yu Zheng said: "After we deal with it, treat him first and take care of him. In addition, protect his family."
There will be no time to escape from the great disaster in Duanzhou these days. As for Li Xu, who "committed suicide out of fear of crime", his injuries were not serious and he needed to be nursed back to health.
"Yes." Zhuiyun agreed and turned around.
It rained heavily again.
Yu Zheng closed the door and went into the inner room, and went to bed with Jiang Shu to rest.
Jiang Shu couldn't help with the court affairs, so he didn't ask any questions and quietly lay in Yu Zheng's arms and fell asleep.
The next morning, the atmosphere in the court was gloomy and cold.
Zhang Ting, the minister of Dali Temple, first reported Li Xu's suicide in prison.
This matter should have caused a sensation, but it was suppressed by the Duanzhou disaster, and neither the emperor nor the officials bothered to investigate it carefully.
In this way, Cao Qian played right into his heart.
Everyone's thoughts are on Duanzhou.
"The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has allocated 500,000 taels of silver during the last earthquake. This Duanzhou flood has caused widespread damage and may require millions of silver."
One million silver is just the lowest estimate.
According to historical experience, major disasters are often followed by major epidemics. If prevention and treatment is not appropriate, another catastrophe will occur.
Civil and military officials throughout the dynasty expressed their opinions, but no one was competing for this disaster relief mission.
It’s not that I don’t want to fight, it’s that I don’t dare to fight.
First of all, the disaster was so severe and so many people were affected that it was difficult to do good. Secondly, the epidemic is so severe that no one wants to take the risk.
The emperor listened for a long time, his brows became tighter and tighter.
These ministers usually fight for the good job of promotion and meritorious service, but when encountering difficulties, they all become timid.
The emperor glanced coldly, unwilling to listen to any more nonsense, and ordered the ministers to go back and think about good strategies and discuss it tomorrow.
After retreating from the court, the emperor called Prime Minister Xie, Minister of Household Affairs, Yu Zheng, Yu Cheng and others to the imperial room to discuss matters.
It was not until nearly noon that Yu Zheng left the palace and returned home.
After having lunch with Jiang Shu, Yu Zheng left the house. I came back in the evening, had dinner, and went to the study to work until late at night.
Jiang Shu had never seen Yu Zheng so busy and knew that this matter was serious and difficult.
In the morning of the second day, the emperor and his ministers discussed preliminary matters.
"It is urgent to provide money and food for disaster relief. We immediately started to raise money and food and sent them to Duanzhou in batches." The emperor ordered in a deep voice.
"Yes." The relevant people responded respectfully.
After a moment of silence, Master Zhou said: "It is extremely important to escort the money and food. We must send a trustworthy person there."
"If something goes wrong with such a huge amount of silver and grain and falls into the hands of corrupt officials, and the affected people will not receive relief, it will cause a large number of deaths from famine and cause public resentment."
"And once the victims flood into other urban areas, not only will the impact be huge, but the disease will also be easily transmitted. In this way, the situation will become more serious and out of control."
Taifu Zhou's words reminded the ministers that such disasters had happened during the late emperor's reign.
Corrupt officials caused the victims to scatter, and the disease spread to all parts of Jokhang. Even Kyoto was not spared. All the doctors from the Imperial Hospital were dispatched, and it took three years to stabilize the situation.
Although the corrupt officials involved were severely punished, they suffered heavy casualties, and Dazhao suffered heavy losses. The treasury was empty, the people were in dire straits, the people were complaining, rebellions occurred in many places, and the Zhao Dynasty almost changed its dynasty.
