Chapter 35
Managing the Disaster
“Maybe, what I said will make Your Majesty unhappy, but I think Your Majesty knows the truth behind what I said. But that problem cannot be solved overnight, so the silver for disaster relief still has to be sent out. Just wish Your Majesty can wake those officials up and tell them to be less greedy. Hopefully, with that, the construction of reservoir will end faster. Tell them to weigh their choices carefully, if they continue to be greedy and prolong this drought, the emperor will get upset and the one who will experience the wrath is them.”
The emperor gives Qin Yu the thumbs up, motioning her to continue speaking.
“Other than that, Your Majesty can order the government officials from various regions to donate to the common people. That way, we can rally everyone to curb the drought and collect more silver. With the silvers Your Majesty sent out, it should be enough.”
In the modern time, no matter if she was in high school or college, she never cease from donating. Sometimes, the money raised in school reaches hundreds of thousands. In the ancient time, it ought to be an effective way to raise money.
“Good! Too good! All of you hear this, if zhen hears about not enough silver again, all of you will get it! Zhen does not need officials who pilfers money like vermins and ignore the common people’s plight!”
Vermins? Couldn’t have said it better.
Corrupted officials are just like vermins, the emperor said it right. “As for building the reservoir, we must not forcibly enlist the service of young men to build the reservoir. If we do that, we will provoke the common people’s displeasure! The best way for this is to use the front-line soldiers as the manpower. That way, they won’t slack off now that there is no war.”
“But Shu Ji always intrudes our borderline. Relocating our men altogether isn’t advisable. From how chen sees it, Your Majesty can release a Royal Announcement to encourage the common people to participate in building the reservoir on their own free will. There should be a lot of them that are willing to share Your Majesty’s worry.”
Mo Yun is very happy hearing Lan Qin Yu’s idea, he too shares his thought. The emperor, seeing him agreeing with Lan Qin Yu looks very happy.
This can be considered finding a treasure ah! Where did Qing Er finds such a smart girl?
“Don’t be too happy yet, Your Majesty. This is just the water conservation issue, there are still more to come.”
Lan Qin Yu forgot her place when she said that. She forgot there is a line between a monarch and his subjects and used the manner of speech she usually used to speak with her father. The ministers all breaths in nervously, even Mo Yun is sweating cold sweat.
But the emperor is still in good spirits, not taking Lan Qin Yu’s casualness to heart. Tian Qing wanted to remind Qin Yu but the emperor only waves his hands dismissively.
“It was zhen who was negligent. Continue speaking!” Someone is actually bothering to share his worry, he must listen to the very end.
“Yes, Your Majesty. The soil has been lacking water for such a long time, so the land are dry and cracked, it is not suitable to be used to plant crops. Maybe we should change it to drought-resistant plants, take full advantage of the lack of rain. En…. Right! We should also plant lots of trees, they can help prevent the land from desertification.”
A couple of officials discussed amongst themselves while nodding their heads, agreeing to her suggestion.
She should be right, right? She already said pretty much all the modern time’s approach to combat drought, they should be of help to this dynasty’s drought-stricken areas.