Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"How many days has it been?"

"Your Highness, it has been raining for five days straight..."

Shougong Hall.

Wang De, who had previously been overjoyed and said things like "spring rain is as precious as oil" and was quite happy about the rain this spring, could no longer smile.

Li Chengqian murmured to himself, his eyes filled with growing worry.

"It's been five days... With such heavy rain, if the fields become flooded, even the yield of winter wheat like the Tianbao Golden Seed variety will likely be affected..."

After pacing back and forth in the Shougong Hall for a while, Li Chengqian finally couldn't suppress his worries.

"Quickly prepare the carriage! I need to go check on the farmland outside the city!"

People take food as their heaven!

The Tang Dynasty is now able to withstand pressure from some stubborn local aristocratic or clan groups, actively promote new policies, and launch wars against several neighboring countries.

The abundant harvest and reserves of grain are undoubtedly the greatest source of confidence for the Tang Dynasty today.

When Li Chengqian rode in his carriage and drove out of Taiyuan City, there were already many people working in the fields.

"Snapped!"

"Dig a ditch! Do you even know what digging a ditch means?! Drain all this water outside! Get to work!"

"Snapped!"

Wearing raincoats, the Harsha slaves worked hurriedly and frantically in the fields during the heavy rain.

Meanwhile, some farmers who couldn't buy slaves took matters into their own hands and worked on dredging the irrigation ditches in the fields.

The accumulated water in the fields, which completely submerged the roots of the wheat seedlings, was diverted into irrigation ditches.

Li Chengqian frowned as he looked at the fields, which seemed shrouded in mist under the heavy rain.

"Gao Hai, convey my orders: the training of the six guards of the Eastern Palace for the next few days is required, and 50% of the Taiyuan City Guard should also be deployed to lay down their arms and return to their fields to immediately begin the rescue of the fields around Taiyuan City!"

Upon receiving the order, Gao Hai hurriedly braved the rain to return and relay it.

Li Chengqian alighted from the carriage.

The heavy rain instantly soaked large areas of his clothes.

Wang De was shocked and quickly grabbed a large umbrella and followed.

"Quick! Come over here! This drainage ditch isn't enough. Start digging from here and dig another one quickly!"

"Watch out for the silt! Watch out for the silt in the canal!"

The slightly immature yet authoritative voices startled Li Chengqian.

Turning around, I saw a figure holding a hoe, digging a drainage ditch while giving orders to the people around him in a field.

"Li You!"

Li Chengqian shouted loudly, and Chu King Li You, who heard the shout, was taken aback.

Turning around and seeing his elder brother, a smile immediately appeared on his face, which was covered in muddy rainwater.

"Brother Emperor? What brings you here?"

"Don't worry, with me here, these fields won't be flooded!"

Li Chengqian opened his mouth, and seeing him like this, he was filled with mixed feelings.

He nodded, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to say anything sentimental at that moment.

Shortly afterward, the six guards of the Eastern Palace, who had received orders from Li Chengqian, and the city guards personally led by Wang Qingyun, the Sima of Bingzhou, rushed out.

Without Li Chengqian's command, they immediately grabbed hoes and other farm tools, put on raincoats, and rushed into the fields.

"Your Highness, rest assured, the irrigation ditches in Taiyuan Prefecture have all been reinforced and cleaned, and have been under close supervision these past few days. As long as the ditches in the fields are properly maintained, there will be no problems."

Wang Qingyun was afraid that the Crown Prince would be angry, so he even had a hoe in his hand.

Li Chengqian nodded.

After making another round of inspections, he told his younger brother Li You to be careful, and then hurriedly returned to Yangcheng Palace.

The continuous heavy rains added a lot more official business for him to handle.

However, what he was more concerned about at the moment was the news of the downstream canal excavation in the Hedong area.

"Is there still no news from Qianlou?!"

Wang De shook his head, looking troubled.

Immediately, Li Chengqian was speechless with anger: "Are all those Ministry of Works officials in Hedong Circuit just sitting around doing nothing?!"

Just as Li Chengqian was pondering whether he should let these guys see bloodshed at this crucial moment, so that they would remember whether he, the crown prince, was a good person or not.

A series of hurried footsteps rushed in.

"Your Highness, Lord Qianlou of Hedong Circuit has sent an urgent message by carrier pigeon!"

"Quickly, bring it to me!"

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up, and he eagerly took the small letter.

"The canals and auxiliary ditches along the Sanggan River downstream of the Hedong Road have all been completed. My subordinates have overstepped their bounds and sent a message to the Yanmen River Management Office to open the sluice gates and release water!"

"Great!" Upon seeing the information above, Li Chengqian couldn't help but shout out.

"Hahahaha! Okay!"

"Go, Sun Yi, draft an imperial edict and send it to the Yanmen Waterway Administration immediately, instructing them to open the sluice gates and release water to utilize all the constructed waterways! This will alleviate the pressure on the surrounding waterways!"

Sun Yi quickly left.

Li Chengqian finally felt a little relieved.

Li Gang and Yu Shinan, who were helping with official business, exchanged a glance, their eyes full of smiles.

"Your Highness originally intended to turn Youzhou into another granary for our Great Tang Dynasty and develop inland waterway transportation, which is why he ordered the digging of the waterways. Now that the flood has come, they are being used first."

"Hehe, Your Highness is truly blessed, protected by Heaven's will..."

The two chuckled, full of praise.

However, their words unexpectedly served as a wake-up call for Li Chengqian.

His eyes lit up: "If the rain continues at this level, and Bingzhou Road does a good job of drainage, and with the help of the now-connected canals and waterways of Hedong Road, we might really be able to develop Youzhou ahead of schedule!"

"Uh..." Li Gang and his companion, who had only said it casually, looked at the workload in front of them, which had more than doubled today.

I felt a strong urge to slap myself a few times right there in the face.

Li Chengqian, however, did not notice the two people's reactions and had already quickly walked to the huge water flow geomantic map on one side of the hall.

He gestured with his hand along the route connecting Bingzhou and Hedong Road to Youzhou.

He is no longer a complete idiot when it comes to geography and water conservancy.

The more he pondered, the brighter the light in his eyes became.

feasible!

Absolutely feasible!

The original Sanggan River was insufficient to provide agricultural irrigation for Youzhou and other prefectures and counties along the Hedong Road.

However, the situation is quite different now that the water flow has increased and the Sanggan River, which now connects to the water source of Luyashan Mountain, has also been connected.

"With just a few more reservoirs prepared, the Youzhou campaign can begin ahead of schedule!"

"Hahaha! Even if you, God, overturn the Milky Way, I will still show you what it means to... overcome nature!"

"Wang De, go and summon the officials from the Ministry of Works and the Water Conservancy Bureau for me!"

......

Outside the east gate of Taiyuan Prefecture, there was an area strictly controlled by the city guards and even protected by the Imperial Guards.

Puffs of black smoke billowed from the "head" of a steel monster.

"Woo!!!"

The plumes of white steam rose higher and higher, growing larger and larger.

Two parallel railway tracks extend out from this "Taiyuan Railway Station".

On the steam locomotive, Jiang Wang and Li Yun were looking at the dashboard in front of them with great anticipation.

The instrument panel alone, which is purely mechanical in structure, required a great deal of effort in the research and manufacturing of the entire locomotive.

The precise measurements required for steam power, along with the durability requirements, nearly caused the professors and students of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Imperial University to lose a lot of hair.

Another sharp siren blared.

"Roar, roar..." The drive shaft, made of steel representing the pinnacle of steel smelting technology in the Tang Dynasty, began to slowly rotate under the power of steam.

Furthermore, as the steam pressure gradually increases, more power is generated.

The rotation speed also began to gradually increase.

"Let's get moving! Let's get moving!"

Old Master Mo was equally excited, but he still tried his best to remain restrained and calm.

"Don't rush, let's walk around first!"

Li Yun sat in the locomotive, in the rear compartment where the boiler was located. A young man, who was also a student of the School of Mechanical Engineering, just like Li Yun, was now covered in soot and dirt, just like Li Yun.

They shoveled coal into the boiler, one shovelful after another.

"Woo!!!"

The loud roaring sound was nothing new to the people in the eastern part of Taiyuan.

However, everyone was surprised to find that the cries of this thing, which was supposedly a "coal-eating carriage," were actually longer than before.

Puffs of black smoke rose outside the city walls.

Then, as if a dark cloud had been pulled apart, the city guards on the east gate of the city couldn't help but gasp in shock.

Watching that massive steel monster, in the blink of an eye, indeed, without any horses pulling it, rapidly travel along the railway tracks, its speed increasing ever faster.

Their eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets.

Even though they were stationed here, they could see a group of Imperial University's "darlings" tinkering with this big guy almost every day.

"Holy crap... this thing can run this fast?!"

"This is terrible, absolutely terrible... Anyone who gets hit by one of these things will be torn to pieces..."

The first steam-powered locomotive of the Tang Dynasty to be officially operational was the Zhenguan Locomotive, which underwent several improvements and required an investment of over several million strings of cash to finally complete its research and construction.

Finally, amidst everyone's anticipation, the good news of success arrived.

Having just finished another day of work and having his meal, Li Chengqian was so surprised by the sudden good news that he forgot to eat.

We rushed to Taiyuan Railway Station.

He happened to see a locomotive running on the tracks, and Chiang Kai-shek and Li Yun, who had also seen him, waving excitedly at him from the window.

"Brother! It's done! Hahaha! Brother, I've done it!!!"

Li Chengqian waved and nodded, his face full of joy, and walked to the side of Elder Mo, the dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering.

"Elder Mo, is there really no problem with the Zhenguan ship?"

Mr. Mo nodded with a smile.

"There is certainly room for improvement, and the blueprints for the second generation have been completed. However, the first generation is currently working fine; the problem lies in the personnel specializing in railway engineering..."

Li Chengqian waved his hand: "People are not a problem! With increased training and investment, we'll have enough!"

His eyes were full of light.

In the spring of the second year of the Zhenguan era, when even the heavens seemed to be working against him.

Finally, some fantastic news has arrived.

"Construction of the railway from Taiyuan to Chang'an can now begin at full speed!"