Zhang Yong snorted and immediately went down to arrange for Xuanyi guards to spy on the news. Qin Ming turned to look at the young eunuch and said, "From today on, you are the new eunuch Bingbi. What is your name?"
The little eunuch couldn't believe it, and then hurriedly knelt down to thank him: "Thank you for your kindness, your highness. I am willing to go to the mountain of swords and the sea of fire for your highness."
"Your Highness, this slave has no name. He is just a young eunuch. When he was sent to the palace, he only knew that his surname was Wei." The little eunuch couldn't help but kowtow, with tears in his eyes.
"Your surname is Wei, then I will give you a name, Zhongxian." Qin Ming thought for a long time and still felt that this name was suitable for a eunuch.
"Thank you for the name, Your Highness, I am sure I am worthy of this name!" Wei Zhongxian was very excited. From today on, he will soar into the sky!
"Okay, let me accompany you to the Sixth Department today." Qin Ming waved his hand and asked him to stand up. The two prime ministers had approved all the memorials. He was not in the mood to look at them anymore, so he decided to go to the Sixth Department and take a look. Is there any thorn in the side? Let me clean it up.
Although the offices of the six ministries are located in different places in the capital, they all have a unified residence outside Weiyang Palace. Normally, each ministry will send people to stay on duty in case the emperor has any emergencies and cannot find anyone.
When Qin Ming left Weiyang Palace and walked outside the Sixth Department's office, he heard a lot of noise inside, as if a fight was about to start.
Qin Ming listened for a while, and it seemed to be about the issue of controlling river flooding.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here!" Wei Zhongxian shouted at the top of his lungs when he saw Qin Ming trying to push the door open.
When the people inside saw Qin Ming pushing the door open, they all kowtowed and said, "His Royal Highness, a thousand years old, a thousand years old!"
Qin Ming motioned to stand flat and asked, "What were you arguing about earlier?"
Everyone was silent and refused to speak. Only a dark-faced man with a beard in the back spoke: "Reporting to Your Highness, they were arguing with me earlier about how to control the river flooding in the south."
"Oh?" Qin Ming was overjoyed. Did he need a pillow when he wanted to sleep?
"How do you think it should be governed?"
"Your Majesty, I see that blocking is worse than sparing. There are many rivers in the south, and there are many water forks. If one place is blocked, it will accumulate into a lake, hanging high on the ground. Once the embankment breaks, it will carry an unstoppable momentum and cause heavy damage. The people's land covers thousands of miles. If we want to reduce the flood disaster, we need to turn blockages into sparse, gather thousands of chaotic flows into one river, and make the waterlogging flow into the sea. Only then can we save all the people from the flood and fire." Although the black-faced man was not successful. Look, but what he said makes perfect sense.
"Why are we quarreling again?" Qin Ming asked.
"This group of scholars who can only talk on paper must say that the method of blocking and controlling rivers has been passed down from generation to generation and cannot be changed without authorization. I have been managing rivers in the south for seven years. I know that there are many waterloggings in the south today because of the blockage of rivers that have been controlled by generations. If it is If you still want to control the river, you must dredge the river!" The black-faced man actually yelled, "If the south is blocked a few more times, there will be a huge flood that has never happened in a century!"
"Who is on duty at the Ministry of Industry today?" Qin Ming glanced.
"Your Highness, I am Pan Bing, the director of the Water Department of the Ministry of Industry." A thin scholar stood up and bowed.
The Ministry of Industry is divided into four divisions: the Labor Department, the Farming Department, the Yu Department, and the Water Department. The Water Department happens to correspond to water conservancy construction.
"He...what's your name?"
"Your Highness, I am Xu Zhenzhi, the director of the Ministry of Industry. He was the magistrate of Fengqi County in western Hunan." Xu Zhenzhi replied.
"Does what Xu Zhenzhi said make sense?" Qin Ming nodded and asked Pan Bing.
"I think it makes sense, but the river has been clogged for a long time and the river sand has been silted up. Even if the river is dredged, it will be difficult to solve the siltation for a while. If we want to achieve quick results, the silted sand under the river must be removed so that the water can be better drained." Pan Bing spoke slowly, but with great confidence in his words, "I have observed the opening of the gate and the release of water many times, and created a method of my own, called 'water flushing', which can quickly clean up the sediment accumulated on the river bottom."
Good guy! Is this buy one get one free?
Qin Ming was calm on the surface, but he was almost laughing from ear to ear in his heart. With these two people, he thought that the floods coming to the south would be within reach.
Is this a gift package for newbies?
"If you two are sent to the south to control river flooding, how long will it take and how much money will it cost?" Qin Ming asked directly.
"Five years, five hundred thousand silver." Xu Zhenzhi hesitated for a while and then said.
Qin Ming shook his head: "You two work together to control the flood. I can't wait five years."
"Three years!" Pan Bing said decisively, "It only takes three years and one million taels of silver to ensure that there will be no major floods in the south for fifty years!"
"Okay!" Qin Ming nodded, "I have issued an order today. The Ministry of Household Affairs will allocate funds tomorrow, and we will set off within five days. There is uncertainty about waterlogging in the south, and we are not allowed to return to Beijing!"
"Your Majesty, I obey!" The two of them looked at each other, knowing that this was an opportunity to leave their mark in history, and bowed deeply.
…
The afternoon court arrived soon, but before everyone could go to court, they found that the door of Weiyang Palace was locked. Zhang Yong stood outside the door and explained to the officials: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has decreed that the afternoon court will be temporarily closed today. My lords, Please come back!”
Just when everyone thought that Qin Ming had restored the original useless prince, they started talking about it.
In the imperial study room in Weiyang Palace, secret letters were being sent to Qin Ming's desk.
Qin Ming opened a letter, and every time he read one, his face became more gloomy.
At the end, I actually sneered.
"Chen Youliang, Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, donated three thousand taels of silver, and his family property is thirty million guan, with dozens of mansions and a thousand acres of land."
Guan refers to copper coins, one Guanqian is one hundred copper coins, and ten Guanqian is one tael.
"Zuo Jixian, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, donated two thousand taels of silver, and his family property is fifty million yuan, with thirty-four mansions and ten thousand acres of land."
"Xu Deren, Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, donated five thousand taels of silver, and his family property is huge. It is impossible to completely calculate it at the moment. There are countless mansions and fields."
"Secretary of Household Affairs..."
"Minister of the Ministry of War..."
"Secretary of the Ministry of War..."
"Minister of Industry..."
Qin Ming read these secret letters one by one, and Zhang Yong on the side said even more jealously: "Your Highness, these are only the properties that can be counted on the surface."
"What do you mean?" Qin Ming asked coldly?
"Back to Your Highness, these ministers also have antiques, jewelry and jade, poems, calligraphy and paintings at home. Their families also have many properties in their names, but these have not been included in the statistics." Zhang Yong said respectfully.
Qin Ming snorted coldly, and then laughed.
Just when Zhang Yong thought that the prince was so angry that he lost his mind, Qin Ming stopped and threw all the secret letters into the fire.
Zhang Yong was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, why did Xuanyi Wei go to investigate if you burned it like this?
Qin Ming asked Zhang Yongdao: "Can I mobilize the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division and the Xuanjia Army now?"
"Go back to Your Highness. Your Highness is currently supervising the country, so it's natural." Zhang Yong replied.
"Three hundred Xuanjia troops and one thousand inner city forbidden troops," Qin Ming said.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?"
"Search the house!"
