Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Prime Minister Cui had not intended to vaccinate against cowpox, but the emperor asked him to express his feelings, which sounded like a humiliation to him.

So he said, "Your Majesty, I was seriously ill a few days ago and... I don't remember it clearly. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

He was so angry that he even dared to humiliate the emperor.

"Can't remember?" The emperor said with a smile, "Why don't you think about it again, Prime Minister Cui?"

"Yes!" Ji Benchang quickly replied, "Your Majesty, why don't you think about it carefully? After all, all the adults will be vaccinated in the future, so it's inevitable that they will be curious."

Prime Minister Cui tightened his grip on the tablet, and his hatred for the emperor intensified.

The emperor, despite such a life-threatening matter, hadn't even bothered to ask him a question. He had instead sent the Jingzhao prefecture to surround Cui's residence, making it the talk of the town after dinner. And now... they'd even ripped his face out and thrown it to the ground.

"I really can't remember!"

After saying this, he actually knelt down and said in a sad voice: "This old minister is guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

In this way, the emperor was put in a difficult position by him.

It was just that "the old minister was old and sick and forgot things." He wanted to see whether the emperor dared to punish him in front of all the officials!

Seeing that the atmosphere was becoming tense, many people's hearts were in their throats.

It seems that Prime Minister Cui was really upset and dared to confront the emperor in public.

"My dear minister, what are you talking about?" The emperor chuckled, his eyes fixed on Prime Minister Cui. "I am merely concerned about your health. How can I speak of punishment? Since you truly cannot remember, I will let Minister Lu explain."

Lu Fugong?

Prime Minister Cui was stunned and wanted to turn around to look at Lu Fugong, but unexpectedly his eyes met Shen Zheng's.

Shen Zheng kept staring at the back of his head. Caught off guard by the sudden eye contact, she could only curl her lips and smile.

In his eyes, this smile was straightforward and full of sarcasm...

How dare you, bastard!

Prime Minister Cui was furious and glared at Shen Zheng fiercely. Just when Shen Zheng was feeling puzzled, Lu Fu bowed and stepped out of the line.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me." He lowered his head and said, "I was careless and did not bring the record book with me, but I can go get it immediately. The physical reactions and verbal feelings of everyone in the Cui Mansion after the vaccination are all recorded in detail, and the Prime Minister is also in the book."

Upon hearing this, Cui Xiang stopped staring at Shen Zheng and suddenly turned his head to look at him.

Record book?

Did you take note of his reactions and feelings?

How could he, a person who is involved in this matter, not know about this matter?

If this is true... who knows how that old villain Lu Fugong will vilify him in his writing?

After a long ideological struggle, he stepped out of the group and said, "Your Majesty, after listening to Lord Lu's words, I seem to have remembered something."

Many people smiled secretly when they heard this, including Shen Zheng.

Why do you have to challenge the emperor?

As long as the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects does not collapse, the subjects will be the only ones to be teased by the emperor.

If Lu Fugong really brought the record book, how to read it, whether to read it seriously or lightly, wouldn't it all be a matter of a word from the emperor?

"My dear minister, you actually remembered it?" The emperor looked surprised. "In that case, my dear minister, please explain it to the others in detail, otherwise I will have to go and get the booklet, and waste time going back and forth."

Cui Xiang gritted his teeth and answered in a low voice, "Yes."

Next, he recounted his "vaccination experience" with great reluctance.

First, the doctor will scratch the arm, and then cover the scratch with a dressing. The dressing will be checked by the doctor every day and must not come into contact with dirt, and must not be removed without permission.

All the officials listened with great interest, and some of them even looked at their arms secretly.

After explaining the process, Cui Xiang gritted his teeth and recounted his experience: "In the early stages, the vaccination site felt slightly warm, as if ants were crawling around. Then, I felt a little dizzy and my skin felt tight. Finally, the wound became slightly itchy, as if it was healing. Three days later, when I removed the dressing, the wound had scabbed over."

"So simple?" The officials were a little skeptical. "Prime Minister, you don't even have a fever? We heard from Lord Jiang of Xingning Prefecture that he fell into a coma after the vaccination!"

Many people felt that Prime Minister Cui was too embarrassed to tell the truth because he was afraid of losing face.

Prime Minister Cui's face darkened as he swung his sleeves. "How dare I, an old minister, say anything wrong in front of Your Majesty? That's it!"

"Angry..." The officials nervously pulled at their sleeves and whispered to their friends, "Stop talking now, or he'll hold a grudge against us."

The emperor then asked Lü Fugong, "My dear Lü, is this true?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Your Majesty," Lü Fugong said seriously. "While the effects of vaccination vary from person to person, the cowpox solution has been refined by this old minister and Doctor Li, and it's safe for anyone to die after being vaccinated. Reactions are broadly categorized as 'fever' or 'no fever'."

The emperor nodded and said, "In that case, the National Medical Bureau will expedite the extraction of smallpox fluid and vaccinate each family according to regulations."

After the words fell, many officials subconsciously touched their sleeves.

He was making fun of Prime Minister Cui a few days ago, but now the stick has fallen on his own head.

But... Prime Minister Cui is old and it’s okay for him to get vaccinated, so what are they afraid of?

After figuring it out, all the officials said in unison: "We obey your order——"

The emperor's gaze fell on Shen Zheng for a moment, and then he asked Ji Benchang, "My dear Ji, has your Ministry of Revenue verified the incident of the heavy rain in Huairong?"

Shen Zheng also looked at Ji Benchang.

A few days ago, she heard that Huairong had been hit by heavy rain for several days, and she was afraid that the crop yield would be reduced this year...

Ji Benchang stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, after checking the report I returned to the capital yesterday, I found that a small number of low-lying fields in Huairong were flooded. This year's rice production is expected to decrease by tens of thousands of kilograms, but grain transport has not been affected."

Production reduction of tens of thousands of kilograms...

It was not until he came to the Great Zhou and became an official that Shen Zheng had a more real understanding of natural disasters.

The rice production has decreased by tens of thousands of kilograms. When distributed to each household, the number may not be shocking, but the difference of a few kilograms or even a dozen kilograms will affect the future of a family.

"Lord Shen." Just as she was thinking, the emperor suddenly pointed at her: "Natural disasters are unavoidable. What do you think about the flooding in Huairong?"

Shen Zheng raised her head, and all the officials were stunned.

However, the production reduction of tens of thousands of kilograms is a minor disaster that has long been common during the flood season.

Why do we have to discuss it in detail today when Lord Shen comes?

Shen Zheng's thoughts raced as he stepped out of the group and spoke calmly, "Your Majesty, I believe that to address the flooding disasters during the flood season, our Great Zhou should develop water conservancy projects in prefectures with open terrain."

"Great prosperity?" The emperor became interested and asked her, "How to achieve great prosperity?"

After having high-yield rice, the emperor acted much more freely than before.

Whenever projects were mentioned at court meetings, the court would always consider food first, and would only dare to start projects in years when there was sufficient food.

Now, with the increase in farmland production in the Great Zhou Dynasty, things that previously required careful consideration can now be done with confidence.

Shen Zheng imagined in his mind the Yuzui diversion weir that could "divide water to guide floods and irrigate fields."

"Now that Great Zhou has cement, I believe that during the flood season, we should not fight the water, but rather guide it along its course, using halfway dikes to divert the water and turn harm into benefit."

Then, she described in detail the hydraulic layout of the diversion weir. The eyes of the people in the Ministry of Works lit up, and the people in the Tongdu Water Conservancy Bureau shouted, "Shen Zheng is hiding something."

A normal court meeting turned into a personal speech.