Drunk Bamboo

As soon as she walked out of the alley, Yun Ling ran over anxiously: "Princess, Princess, you are here, it took me so long to find you!"

"It's okay. I met an old friend. Liu Ziwang, Master Liu, the only son of the Minister of Revenue. He made all the bottles and jars in my study." Xie Yuzhu introduced, "This is Yunling."

Yun Ling was very excited: "Hello, Master Liu! I thought you were an old man. You are really amazing!"

Xie Yuzhu nudged Liu Ziwang who was standing there in a daze: "Yunling rarely praises people."

Liu Ziwang nodded as a greeting to Yun Ling.

Xie Yuzhu didn't force him and asked, "Master Liu, have you had breakfast?"

"No."

Shaking his head helplessly, he said, "No wonder you fainted after being kicked by Han Xin. Come, have a bun. Don't faint while walking. Yun Ling and I don't have the strength to carry you."

Han Xin?

Kick faint?

What just happened?

Yun Ling was distracted for a moment.

Liu Ziwang repeated: "Eat buns."

Xie Yuzhu took the buns from Yunling and gave them to Liu Ziwang, waving her five fingers in front of Yunling: "Yunling, it seems you have to buy some more buns."

Yun Ling came back to her senses, said "oh", then turned around and ran towards the bun shop.

Liu Ziwang ate as he walked and finished the whole bag of buns.

Young people know how to eat but they don’t gain weight.

"Master Liu, have I seen the drawings I gave you? How is it going?"

Liu Ziwang burped and said, "I checked it, but it doesn't work."

Xie Yuzhu frowned: "Are you saying that the gold silk soft armor is useless?"

"Well, gold is too soft and heavy, it will get hurt."

Xie Yuzhu pondered for a while and said, "Golden silk is soft and cannot block a sharp sword. It is also too heavy to wear on the body. It is indeed not the most suitable. Imagination is beautiful, but we must also consider reality."

The invulnerable gold-thread soft armor shown on TV is also unreliable.

I still have to trust Liu Ziwang's craftsmanship: "Master Liu, I'll leave it to you then."

Liu Ziwang replied: "Okay."

When they walked not far from Liu's mansion, they saw Liu Shancai and several servants standing outside the mansion with anxious looks on their faces.

Liu Shancai turned around and saw Xie Yuzhu and her group, and hurried over to greet them: "Thank you, Princess, for bringing my son back. I am very grateful!"

"You're welcome. Master Liu is also my friend. I just met him on the street and walked with him back here."

When Liu Shancai saw that Liu Ziwang returned safely, he did not say a word of anger, but only ordered the servants to take him into the mansion.

"Princess, please come into the mansion and have a cup of tea and rest."

Xie Yuzhu declined politely: "No, I have to go back to the mansion to deliver breakfast to the people there, so I won't bother you anymore. We can have a good gathering another day."

Liu Shancai saw Yun Ling holding something beside her, and sighed: "The princess treats everyone equally and is so kind to the servants. It is a blessing for anyone to serve the princess."

In this world, have you ever heard of a master buying breakfast for his servants?

"We are all born of our parents, so there is no distinction between noble and humble."

Liu Shancai nodded, and felt even more admiration for Xie Yuzhu.

"I was just about to ask someone to tell the princess that I'm afraid we can't fulfill tomorrow's agreement. His Majesty has given me a task, and I really can't get away these days. The princess probably knows about the Loushan case. Without the money, the prince's project in the river basin will be forced to stop, which is a matter of life and death for hundreds of thousands of people."

Xie Yuzhu couldn't help but ask: "Rao Country is vast and rich in resources, and has been peaceful and happy for the past ten years. It shouldn't be that they can't even raise 100,000 taels of silver?"

With a light sigh, Liu Shancai said in a heavy tone, "To be honest, the water level in the Yangtze River basin has risen in recent years, and I don't know how many fertile fields have been flooded. The year before last, there was a locust plague in the northwest, a drought in the south, and last year, there was a flood in the middle of the Yangtze River, which caused hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced. Which of these things didn't require money? The ministers in the court just talk and ask the Ministry of Revenue for hundreds of thousands of silver. Have they ever thought about really solving the problem?"

"The prince has understood the people's sentiments and has discussed with your majesty and his ministers for a long time. Your majesty has finally made up his mind to build a dam in the river basin. Once it has started, it cannot be stopped. Money is pouring in like water. If the prince cannot recover the money this time and I cannot raise the money, according to your majesty's temperament, he will definitely force the prince to stop the project."

After hearing this, Xie Yuzhu's face was heavy. "The Crown Prince has foresight. Building the dam is for the benefit of future generations. Although it seems to cost a lot of money now, the benefits will be seen in a few years, not to mention the continuous blessings for future generations."

Liu Shancai was shocked. He did not expect Xie Yuzhu to have such foresight: "As expected of a princess, you have a far-sighted vision."

The record of Liu Shancai in Changfeng Tower is that he is very good at flattery, sociable and very smooth, but there is no record of his caring side for the people.

People need to get along with each other in order to understand each other.

Xie Yuzhu: "It would be great if there were more officials like you who care about the country and the people."

Liu Shancai hurriedly shook his head: "I dare not, I am really ashamed, I can't bear the princess's words of worrying about the country and the people. Now, I am playing both sides, but I am just protecting myself."

Xie Yuzhu was surprised that Liu Shancai did not hide anything in front of her. She thought for a while and said:

"Your Excellency is willing to tell me these things from your heart, which means you treat me as your own. Since you know that you are worried, I have an idea here, I wonder if I can help you solve your worries."

He raised his eyes with a shrewd look: "Please give me some advice, Princess."

"One hundred thousand taels of silver may be a lot of money for the court with an empty treasury. But if the one hundred thousand taels of silver is divided into a hundred 100-tael pieces and then distributed to the various royal families and nobles in Zhongdu, or the wealthy merchants and nobles, wouldn't it be a drop in the bucket for them?"

Liu Shancai asked: "Does the princess mean that the court should borrow money from them?"

Xie Yuzhu said bluntly: "Fundraising."

His eyes were filled with astonishment: "Fundraising?"

Xie Yuzhu raised his head and asked, "There are warehouses that open to release grain, and porridge that is distributed to the public, so why can't there be donations to build dams?"

Liu Shancai was stunned.

Xie Yuzhu explained in detail: "This is a good thing that will benefit the people, relieve your majesty's worries, and win you a good reputation during your lifetime and after your death. Why not do it?"

"To them, it's just the money for a few meals at Anhe Restaurant, or a night at Taohua Tower. Donating silver to build the dam will allow their names to appear on the Golden Steps Palace, so that His Majesty can see it. It's worth writing into their family history and telling it to future generations. Why not do it if it will be known throughout history?"

After he finished speaking, Liu Shancai clapped his hands and cheered: "What a great idea, Princess! Princess, you have helped me again. You are a great benefactor to our Liu family! You are also a great benefactor to the people of Dajiangzhongdao!"

Xie Yuzhu helped Liu Shancai up.

"That's not necessary. My prince is investigating a case of bandits robbing silver in Loushan. I don't know what the result will be. Rather than helping Lord Liu, it's better to say that you are helping my prince. Your Excellency raised the silver and sent it to the prince first. It didn't delay the project and gave my prince more time. In this way, I have to thank you for telling me all this, so that I can understand the whole story and not be completely ignorant."

After a pause, he continued, "If you say it's for the people of Dajiangzhongdao, then you don't need to thank me. I am also a citizen of the Rao Kingdom. So where am I from?"