The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 277 An old official may request permission.

Two days passed quickly, and it was the morning of the third day.

Tu Chengyu left the Prince An's Mansion early in the morning and headed to the South City.

This time, however, he did not leave the city. Instead, he stayed at the city gate, waiting with the soldiers of the Five Cities Garrison and the patrol battalion for the city gate to open.

Although some of those entering the city this time were disaster victims, there were many people, and all of them were carrying tools.

Therefore, the military command and the patrol battalion jointly dispatched a large number of soldiers to maintain order.

When the time came to open the city gates, the soldiers guarding the city opened the gates on the orders of the patrol battalion commander.

When the heavy city gate was pushed open, those standing inside saw that the outside was densely packed with people.

Although everyone already knew that the disaster victims who were to enter the city today were waiting outside the gate, it was still quite shocking to see them in person.

The disaster victims who came in to work today were all the strongest and most capable people selected from various camps.

So when these carefully selected people stand together, it looks very intimidating.

In addition, each of them was carrying the tools they would use for the day, making them look like soldiers waiting to attack a city from a distance.

The generals of the Military Command and the Patrol Battalion were all a little parched after seeing this scene.

They looked at Tu Chengyu and said:
"Your Highness, won't this cause trouble?"

Compared to them, Tu Chengyu, who wanders around the disaster camps every day, is quite calm.

He said, "Don't worry, with me here, nothing will happen. Have your men stay away and not let them into the city."

Although the patrol battalion and the military command were very worried, they could not stop the order from above, so they could only wave their hands to let the soldiers guarding the door leave.

After the soldiers from the Military Command left, Tu Chengyu addressed Su Xuanbao, who was standing at the front row outside the door:

"Bring people in."

Today, Su Xuanbao was leading the team. After hearing Tu Chengyu's order, he turned around and loudly instructed the people behind him.

After giving his instructions, he took the lead and entered the city gate first.

Immediately afterwards, the other disaster victims, led by the soldier in charge, entered in an orderly fashion through the entrance.

This time, Tu Chengyu mobilized a total of one thousand people, divided into ten teams, each led by a scholar.

Tu Chengyu assigned such an important responsibility to the newly arrived scholars for two reasons: firstly, there was a shortage of manpower, and secondly, it was also a way to test these scholars.

Whether it was those who led the team into the city today or those who stayed behind at the camp, it was all considered an inspection for them.

There were only a thousand people in total, and it didn't take them long to pass through the city gate.

After everyone had come in, Tu Chengyu bid farewell to the soldiers and patrolmen and headed to the construction site in the ancient alley.

Tu Chengyu had already conducted a survey of the ancient alleyway and had a plan for how to demolish these dilapidated houses. The scope of each demolition team's work had been drawn up yesterday.

So once the scholars brought the people here, they took them directly to their respective teams' designated positions and started working.

Demolishing houses requires little technical skill, so Tu Chengyu glanced around and then ignored it. At that moment, he was discussing the next steps for building the houses with several officials from the Ministry of Works and some experienced veterans.

When Tu Chengyu told them that he wanted to raise the area to prevent it from being flooded again, he noticed an old official hesitating, as if he wanted to say something.

Tu Chengyu wanted to hear their opinions from them, so he immediately pointed to the old official and asked:

"Do you have something to say?"

Seeing Tu Chengyu pointing at him, the old official gritted his teeth and said:

“Your Highness, raising this place up might not be appropriate.” As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head in fear, as if he was afraid that Tu Chengyu would blame him.

Tu Chengyu smiled and said, "I've come today to seek your opinions, so please feel free to say whatever you have to say. I won't hold it against you."

After saying these comforting words, Tu Chengyu continued:
"What you just said about me was inappropriate. Why don't you tell everyone what you said?"

Seeing that Tu Chengyu didn't take it to heart, the old official felt much relieved. After considering for a moment, he said:
“Your Highness, the southern part of the capital is inherently low-lying, and it is always affected by floods. In recent years, thanks to the existence of the ancient alley, floodwaters have flowed into the alley, thus protecting the surrounding houses. If Your Highness raises this area, the floodwaters will have nowhere to go in the future.”

The explanation was detailed enough that Tu Chengyu understood it clearly.

"Are you saying that if I mark this place, other places will be flooded in the future?"

The old official nodded: "That's right."

This was a problem that Tu Chengyu hadn't anticipated.

However, my plans for the ancient alleyway have already been put on the agenda, so I can't just cancel them like this.

So he asked, "Old man, do you have a way to have the best of both worlds, so that I can build a house here without affecting the other people?"

The old official thought for a moment and said, "I do have two ready-made solutions here."

"What method do you have? Tell me quickly."

"The first solution is for Your Highness to dig a deep river from here, directly connecting to the moat. In this way, ordinary floods can flow away directly without any impact."

Digging a river isn't a difficult task, since Tu Chengyu has plenty of people at his disposal, so it won't take much effort.

However, Tu Chengyu had a question, and he asked:
"Was there no river leading out of here before?"

The old official replied, "Yes, there is, but the original river was too shallow and could not carry much water. Moreover, the river channel has been occupied by people on both sides, so it needs to be dredged."

Now that Tu Chengyu understood the reason, he said:

"I will arrange for people to dredge the river. Now tell me your second idea."

"My second suggestion is that when Your Highness raises the area of ​​the ancient alley, at least 30% of it should be reserved for water storage. When major floods come, the river channel will be ineffective, and there must be a place to store water to temporarily hold back the floods, otherwise the surrounding houses will also be flooded."

Thirty percent of the area posed a challenge for Tu Chengyu.

There isn't much land here to begin with. If a third of it is taken away, there won't be much space left for him to build houses. How will he make money then?

Tu Chengyu then understood why no one had bothered with this ancient alley for so many years.

(End of this chapter)