The Time Traveling Anchor and Her Eight Hundred Fence-Sitters

After Zhao Mianmian left the Summer Palace, Empress Dowager Xiao dismissed everyone and stood in the yard talking to Xiao Haizhou for a while.

"You are right. He is indeed waiting for the young lady of the He family in Dongming Palace."

Xiao Haizhou glanced at the direction where Zhao Mianmian left, curled the corners of his mouth expressionlessly, paused for a long time, then retracted his gaze and said to Empress Dowager Xiao:

"He has always been ambitious and has his own ideas, but he concealed them well on weekdays, so the civil and military officials in the court thought he was an obedient puppet."

"However, no matter how scheming he is, he is still a child after all. He can't sit still if he hears the slightest rumor."

Xiao Haizhou paused again, then changed the subject and talked about the Zhang family.

"That Zhang Zhian is the same. He thought that just because he has some connections with the Xiao family, he could play this kind of trick under our noses without anyone noticing.

He doesn't even think about the fact that his good-for-nothing sons are lucky enough to be able to stay in the Ministry of War safely, and he is trying to rise to the top overnight and replace our Xiao family.

Really... you don't know your own limitations! ! "

Xiao Haizhou's words were quite impolite, and Empress Dowager Xiao felt nervous and frowned involuntarily.

Empress Dowager Xiao knew that Xiao Haizhou had disliked the Zhang family for a long time. If he had not taken the Xiao family's reputation into consideration, he would have taken ruthless action long ago.

She originally thought that her younger brother would wait for a while, wait for the right opportunity, and then choose a safe way to quietly solve the trouble of Zhang Zhian.

I never thought that Xiao Haizhou would say such offensive and murderous words in front of me today.

Judging from what he said, he was going to...take action against the Zhang family? ?

Empress Dowager Xiao did not want to interfere in the affairs of the court. After thinking about it, she still reminded Xiao Haizhou with some reservations.

"The Zhang family only mentioned it to Your Majesty based on hearsay. You should not be too drastic. Be careful not to backfire."

Xiao Haizhou lowered his eyelids and did not respond.

The biting cold wind of early winter swirled around him and turned into frost all over the yard.

**

On the second day of the Winter Solstice Banquet, the Grand Tutor of Tianying State did not attend the court for the first time.

This is the first time since the previous emperor passed away and the new emperor ascended the throne, and Xiao Haizhou served as regent as the Taifu.

The memorial submitted from the Taifu Mansion stated that the emperor had caught a cold and was feeling unwell, but everyone in the court knew that things were not as simple as they seemed.

Some people speculated that it was Miss Liu who blatantly designed the Winter Solstice Banquet, which angered Master Xiao.

Some people also speculated that Concubine Zhang embarrassed Empress Dowager Xiao in front of everyone, causing Xiao Haizhou to deliberately use illness as an excuse to not attend court, hoping to take the opportunity to strike a blow against Zhang Zhian's faction.

But no one noticed that Liang Yuansheng's eyes suddenly darkened and the stubbornness in his eyes that refused to admit defeat.

When several old ministers who were on good terms with Prince Ning saw that Xiao Haizhou did not show up, they looked at each other.

Then someone stood up and handed over a memorial that had been prepared long ago.

"Your Majesty, the construction of the dam at Qixiu Mountain cannot be delayed any longer."

The speaker was Jiao Shixuan, the Minister of Works.

Jiao Shixuan took a step to the side and walked out of the crowd.

As he cupped his hands to hand over the prepared memorial, he glanced at Prince Ning who was standing in front of the crowd with a calm demeanor.

It was not until he saw the fingers behind Prince Ning's back move slightly that he calmed down and continued:

"I have sent people to investigate Qixiu Mountain. Qixiu Mountain is steep and located in the upper reaches of the Yihe and Huaihe rivers. If a dam is built here to block the turbulent flow, it can play a buffering role and reduce the impact of the upstream water on the downstream during the flood season."

"Once the water level in the upper reaches slows down, even if the nine counties in Huainan are flooded, it will never be as fierce and overwhelming as it was this year."

After Jiao Shixuan finished speaking, the huge hall fell into silence, so quiet that the others didn't even dare to breathe.

Everyone present knew that this Minister of Works was Prince Ning's man.

There was nothing wrong with discussing state affairs in the morning court, but the proposal to build the dam had been rejected once by Grand Tutor Xiao. Now that the old matter was brought up again, and the time chosen was when Xiao Haizhou was not around, the meaning behind it made people think carefully.

Xiao Haizhou was not there and there was no one to check, so Liang Yuansheng did not dare to speak carelessly.

He asked the eunuch in front of the hall to take the memorial away, and said a few high-sounding words, trying to put the matter behind him for the time being.

However, although the memorial was accepted, he was unable to avoid Jiao Shixuan's relentless pressure.

"Your Majesty, I think that the matter of building the dam needs to be decided immediately."

"I asked the Ministry of Works to calculate earlier that even if we start construction now, we can only finish it before the next flood season."

"If we let it go any longer, the Huainan area will probably suffer disasters again next year, affecting the annual tribute!"

The Huainan area is flat and has thousands of acres of fertile land. It is considered the most important granary in Tianying.

However, such a land of abundance and prosperity, which is vital to the people's livelihood and the country, suffers from flooding from upstream and a natural disaster occurs every few years.

When the late emperor was alive, he also asked the Ministry of Works to take the lead and tried many methods.

However, no matter what method is used, it can only last for a period of time.

As time goes by, the houses that should collapse will collapse, and the houses that should be flooded will be flooded, and the people in the Huainan area will have to suffer the same disaster as the flood again.

This year's flood was particularly severe, not only inundating farmland in 18 counties in the Huaihe River basin, but also destroying the houses where people lived.

After hearing what Jiao Shixuan said, Liang Yuansheng was stunned and didn't say whether to approve the petition for building the dam or not.

However, several ministers who were close to Prince Ning began to strike while the iron was hot and lobby with all their might.

"I think that the construction of the Qixiu Mountain Dam is related to the country and the people's livelihood. It is an urgent matter and must not be delayed any further."

"Lord Yang's words make sense. Your Majesty, please do not hesitate any longer. If you miss the deadline, it will affect the grain harvest next year, and even the salaries of the 400,000 Qingyan soldiers in the Northwest Camp will be in trouble!"

"Yes, yes, yes. Collecting grain is a small matter, but paying for the army is a big matter. If a war breaks out in the northwest, along with internal and external troubles, it will shake the foundation of our Tianying country!!!"

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Regarding the matter of building the dam at Qi Xiu Mountain, people from Prince Ning's faction talked about everything from spring ploughing and autumn planting to internal and external troubles, from establishing a country and maintaining national security to the country and the people.

In the end, it seemed that if Liang Yuansheng didn't nod and agree immediately, he would become an eternal sinner of the Tianying State.

Liang Yuansheng had never encountered such a situation before. Even though he was mature beyond his years, he still couldn't hold back his expression. He quickly looked for help at Fan Zhishan and Zhang Qiuhe who were standing on the other side.

However, Fan Zhishan and Zhang Qiuhe had been caught between Xiao Haizhou and Prince Ning for many years, and had long been dissatisfied with the situation where the court was controlled by the two of them.

Seeing that Xiao Haizhou was away for the time being, the little emperor was caught by the Ning Wang's faction and was harassed. He remained silent, and on the surface he listened to the opinions of all parties sincerely, but in fact he was just watching the show silently.

A morning court session lasted nearly two hours, starting at the hour of Mao and ending at the hour of Chen.

Finally, it was not until Empress Dowager Xiao saw that the young emperor had not yet left the court that she asked the palace maids in the Summer Palace to ask him about it. Only then did the old foxes in the court reluctantly let Liang Yuansheng go.