Harem Daily Life

At night, He Linzhang came back wearing wet clothes. Concubine Zhao immediately sent someone to bring him ginger soup and personally helped He Linzhang take a bath.

The imperial physician had been waiting outside for a long time. After the emperor had finished washing up, he stepped forward to feel his pulse. Only after everything was normal did he leave.

Lady Zhao quickly had the meal served: "The city has been flooded recently, and the supply of vegetables, fruits, and meat is insufficient. Your Majesty, please eat some of it. It will be fine after the rain stops in a few days."

Looking at the four dishes in front of him, He Linzhang frowned slightly but didn't say anything.

"Are they all right? Are they still supplied with food?" He Linzhang had not expected that they would encounter a rainfall that had not occurred in a hundred years. Shu Fei and the others were all pampered young ladies in their respective families, and they had probably never suffered such hardship before.

Lady Zhao said, "We have reduced the expenses from six dishes per meal to three. Everyone knows the current situation and will not complain."

"Well, Shu Fei is ill and can't take care of many things. You are older than Fan Liangyi and Tao Liangyi, and you have been working harder recently. If there is anything, you can take care of it."

"Yes, I obey your command." Concubine Zhao felt very happy to be valued. She had learned housekeeping from her mother since she was a child, and finally her skills were of some use.

However, everyone still underestimated the heavy rain in Mengcheng. It rained for another three days, and even the food and water supply of the palace could not be guaranteed.

The main problem is that it has been raining for days, and more people are getting sick. Because their clothes are not dry, they are easily caught cold. Medicine and food are in short supply. If the rain does not stop and the water in the city is not drained, the whole city will be flooded, which will be an unprecedented disaster.

Concubine Zhao was extremely anxious. She was not a deity, so she could not deliver food and medicine at this time. Seeing that the kitchen was almost out of rice, she did not dare to go to the emperor, so she could only lose her temper in the backyard. However, even if Xiangcao and Xianglan were beaten, it would not solve Concubine Zhao's dilemma.

Seeing that the number of dishes had been reduced from six to three, and now he could barely put together two dishes, Tao Yanyan knew that the problem had become very serious.

At night, not long after He Linzhang returned to the palace, Tao Yanyan came to pay his respects, which was a rare occasion.

When Lady Zhao saw her, she was a little angry. Thinking of how busy and hard she had been these past few days, she said, "Oh, how come you have time to come out today? Everyone has been very busy recently, Concubine Shu and Fan Liangyi are both sick, but I see that you are in good health and look as good as ever."

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "I don't understand anything, so I didn't come out to disturb everyone from doing their work. I came here today because I haven't seen Your Majesty for a long time, and I have something to say to Your Majesty."

She looked at He Linzhang with her lively eyes, and He Linzhang swept away his tiredness and took her to sit down: "I have been too busy recently and have no time to see you. Do you have anything to say to me?"

Tao Yanyan glanced at Lady Zhao, and without paying attention to her rolling eyes, he said directly: "Your Majesty, it seems that this heavy rain will never stop. The city should be flooded, right? I wonder if we need to release the floodwaters?"

He Linzhang nodded, "Indeed, the river water level has been rising. I have been inspecting the dikes these days. The water in the Wei River is indeed dangerous. If it continues to rain, there is a risk of the dike bursting. Mengcheng is high in the north and low in the south. A large area in the south has been flooded. Food and grass from outside cannot be delivered, so even your diet has been reduced a lot. As for flood discharge, although there has been no rain in the downstream counties, once the flood pours down, it will probably cause huge risks to the people downstream."

Tao Yanyan said, "Your Majesty, I have some ideas, but I am worried that I cannot express them clearly, so I drew a picture. Please see if it is useful."

After saying that, Tao Yanyan took out a piece of paper from her sleeve pocket, on which was a simple map she had drawn.

"Your Majesty, we are now in Mengcheng. This is the Wei River. The counties downstream are in these places. My idea is, can we send people to move the people downstream to high ground for temporary shelter? Then, we can collect land on both sides of the river and dig several large pits. After the flood is released, the water will flow into the pits, which can not only prevent the downstream from being flooded, but also store the water so that the counties will not be directly submerged."

He Linzhang looked at Tao Yanyan with burning eyes: "How did you come up with this method? Although it is very difficult to implement, it should be effective. So, I will summon several ministers to discuss it overnight, and you can go with me to listen."

Concubine Zhao couldn't sit still. She had finally won the emperor's attention. Now Tao Liangyi had lured the emperor away with just one suggestion. How could she accept it? So she said, "Your Majesty, I want to listen too. Why don't we go together?"

He Linzhang frowned slightly, and Tao Yanyan said, "One more person means one more idea. Let's go together, but Your Majesty has to eat first. I haven't eaten either, so I'll eat with Your Majesty."

Tao Yanyan served herself a bowl of rice, one for He Linzhang, one for Concubine Zhao, and one for herself. She started eating without waiting for He Linzhang to pick up his chopsticks.

As expected, he was the emperor. No matter how difficult the life was, there would always be meat dishes on the table. She hadn't eaten meat for two meals, so when she saw the meat dishes, she ate them up as fast as she could, which made Concubine Zhao very angry.

He Linzhang couldn't help laughing when he saw his little Liangyi's cheeks were puffy like a little hamster. He swept away the gloom of many days and quickly ate a big bowl of rice.

Before Concubine Zhao had eaten much, she saw that the two men were ready to get up, so she had no choice but to put down her bowl and chopsticks and follow the emperor to the conference room.

Qi Yizheng and several ministers were already waiting. He Linzhang went straight to the point and stated Tao Yanyan's idea, and everyone began to discuss it.

After discussing for half an hour, we finally came to a conclusion.

"Your Majesty, there is no time to lose. I will personally go to the following counties. I know how to swim, so I will hurry over there with your Majesty's token. I should be able to move the people to a safe area within five days. As for digging pits, even if I hire people to dig day and night, it will probably take more than ten days."

Tao Yanyan was measuring the volume on the side. She suggested: "General Qi, try to find places to dig around the tributaries. The soil in these places is loose, and digging one more meter can store a lot of water. As long as the area is large enough, even if the height is not high enough, the water storage capacity is amazing."

The Minister of Works praised: "Tao Liangyi is right. These pits can store flood water now and become natural ponds in the future. Maybe they can even be used to raise fish."

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "We'll talk about the future later. Right now, we have to save Mengcheng first. Once the water is drained, post-disaster reconstruction will also require a lot of effort. Moreover, the livelihoods of the people in the counties downstream who have lost their land will also be affected. I'm going to trouble you all to plan these things."

Tao Yanyan doesn't have that much ability, she can only provide some suggestions. As for how to do it, it all depends on these people.

The emperor looked at Tao Yanyan with appreciation and quickly arranged for someone to implement it.

"General Qi, I grant you the Imperial Sword. Anyone who disobeys will be killed immediately. You must complete these tasks within ten days. I only give you this much time, starting from the morning hour tomorrow. Ten days later at the morning hour, I will order the flood to be released. If you cannot do it well, you do not have to come back to see me!"

Qi Yizheng knelt down and accepted the order: "I will leave immediately and will never let your majesty down! I also ask the Ministry of Works to send someone to accompany me, as many projects still require the Ministry of Works' guidance."

The Assistant Minister of Works volunteered himself. This was a rare opportunity to make a contribution, so of course he took it.