Xiayi, not famous in later generations, many people might not have heard its name.
However, during the Great Qing Dynasty, Xiayi was a strategically important town, housing numerous Eight Banners and Green Standard Army garrisons. Furthermore, a significant amount of farmland was requisitioned as horse pastures in the early days of the Great Qing's entry into the Central Plains, leading to many villages in Xiayi being named after military camps or pastures.
What kind of treatment the people of the Central Plains received from the Great Qing, any person with a normal mind can imagine. Even with vast lands in Xiayi designated as imperial estates, the common people gained no benefit; instead, their lives became even more arduous.
What was even more exasperating was that Xiayi was consistently plagued by floods.
Take, for instance, the flood in Xiayi in the twenty-second year of Qianlong's reign.
Two children were worth four hundred and eighty wen, equivalent to the price of a roasted duck in the capital at that time.
Widespread starvation, selling children, and cannibalism were merely cold, lifeless words on a page.
Even after Zhu Jinsong became the Emperor of the Great Ming, Xiayi saw some improvement, with the people's living pressures slightly eased. However, Xiayi continued to suffer from disasters from time to time, each instance requiring considerable manpower and resources to resolve.
What the common folk referred to as the tenth year of the Sacred Emperor was the tenth year since Zhu Jinsong ascended the throne. Xiayi was once again hit by a flood.
This was why Zhu Jinsong visited Xiayi during his tour of Jiangnan.
Zhang Dequan followed closely beside Zhu Jinsong, repeatedly attempting to offer support and muttering, "Your Majesty, be careful, the ground is quite muddy."
Zhu Jinsong, unappreciative, continued walking and said, "Let it be muddy. When all the roads are paved with asphalt, you won't be able to find mud even if you wanted to."
At this point, Zhu Jinsong asked without looking back, "Xiayi is repeatedly hit by floods; has your local administration not thought of any solutions?"
The Magistrate of Xiayi, Xin Chengping, who was following behind Zhu Jinsong, was immediately startled and then began to lament, "Your Majesty, you cannot blame your humble servant!"
"Your humble servant has indeed thought of solutions, but the Yellow River passes through our Xiayi. Apart from continuously reinforcing the dikes, your humble servant truly has no other recourse."
"If you were to speak of it, you should send someone to exhume Li Chui's coffin and desecrate his corpse – if not for him, there wouldn't have been the three river diversions, and Xiayi wouldn't have suffered disasters for these past six hundred years."
"Besides, isn't this the evil done by those Jurchen barbarians? Your humble servant has calculated that since the Jurchen barbarians entered the pass, the Yellow River has breached its banks on average every six months. Yet, each time a dike broke, the Jurchen barbarians merely patched the holes and moved on, never truly prioritizing river control. Over time, the once-firm river dikes became less secure."
"If it weren't for your ascension and your subsequent emphasis on water management, these dikes would likely be even more dilapidated, and the breaches would have occurred even more frequently."
Zhu Jinsong snorted, "Enough, stop complaining to me. If complaining were useful, I'd be able to complain more than you. Does reinforcing the river dikes mean there are no other methods?"
Xin Chengping deliberated before replying, "Your Majesty, it's not that there are no methods at all."
"Fundamentally, the problem lies with the Yellow River. To permanently resolve Xiayi's flood issues, the most reliable method is to rebuild the river dikes, widen the river channel, and enhance silt and sand control. Only through such multi-pronged efforts can a permanent solution be achieved."
"However, to widen the river channel and expand the dikes would occupy a considerable amount of farmland. Furthermore, the wider the river channel, the slower the water flow, and the more difficult sand control becomes."
"Your humble servant has also considered guiding some tributaries out, but upon careful thought, diverting tributaries would also slow the water flow. The silt and sand would not be carried away, and the end result would be even more flood issues."
Only then did Zhu Jinsong nod and instruct Zhang Dequan, "Make a note of this. Have the Ministry of Works send people to investigate how best to resolve the river channel issue. Continuously reinforcing the dikes is not a solution."
After Zhang Dequan bowed in acknowledgment, Zhu Jinsong suddenly stopped and pointed at the hazy figures in the distance, saying, "Let's go take a look."
The sky was just beginning to brighten, still somewhat hazy. Normally, it wasn't yet time to wake up, let alone after a flood. The sudden gathering of so many people – could it be that something else had happened?
Upon reaching the gathering, Zhu Jinsong unceremoniously pushed his way into the crowd, looking around with them as if he were one of them.
After a considerable while, a shout came from the end of the crowd: "They're here! They're here!"
Following the shout, firecrackers were lit, filling the air with the scent of gunpowder and scattered red paper, accompanied by the crackling sound of firecrackers. Drumbeats also began to sound.
Zhu Jinsong immediately smiled.
"What a coincidence! If someone were getting married, I'd chip in a few dollars and get a free feast. Wouldn't that solve both breakfast and lunch, just perfect!"
Unfortunately, Zhu Jinsong waited for a long time but did not see a bridal sedan chair. After the musicians, it was the stationed soldiers in military uniforms who appeared. As these soldiers emerged, the people who had gathered, ready in advance, produced a table laden with wine bowls and several jars of wine. They broke the seals and began pouring wine bowl after bowl.
This was not someone's wedding at all. It was the stationed troops who had participated in rescue and disaster relief, attempting to leave quietly, but they were still intercepted by the common people and blocked again!
Two village elders tremblingly stood in the middle of the road, blocking the commanding officer of the troops and the supervising official. Then, young men carried the wine table over.
"We're not stopping you from leaving today, nor do we have anything else. These are just a few eggs from our homes and wine brewed by ourselves. They are not valuable or rare items. After drinking the wine, accept the eggs, and we will let you pass."
The old custom: if you don't accept gifts, that's fine, but you must accept the eggs. If you want to leave, that's also fine, but you must drink the wine.
The commanding officer of the troops was at a loss.
These elders, eighty or ninety years old, could neither be pushed aside nor spoken to harshly. Even the magistrate would have to smile at them, if not endure their scolding, then certainly accept their words.
Besides, if people blocked the road to offer wine, could he refuse to drink?
Helplessly, the commanding officer reached out to accept a wine bowl. However, his hands, which were steady when holding guns and swords, and which could chop people like chickens, trembled slightly as he lifted the wine bowl.
The soldiers following behind the commanding officer were not much better. Many soldiers' hands were still trembling, some of their bandages were even stained red with blood, and most of their military uniforms were tattered.
Not only Zhu Jinsong saw this, but the surrounding villagers also witnessed it. Many villagers simply peeled their boiled eggs and directly stuffed them into the mouths of the soldiers, lifting wine bowls to their lips.
The village elders unceremoniously pushed the wine bowl to the commanding officer's lips: "Look at you. You had so much strength when carrying sandbags and stones, but now you can't even hold a bowl?"
Zhu Jinsong watched this scene and couldn't help but smile and shake his head. "Such a big old man, yet you have to be so proud. You can scold him if you want, but why are you crying?"
However, there was an ill-judging Zhang Dequan nearby.
Zhang Dequan quietly handed over a handkerchief and whispered, "Your Majesty?"
Zhu Jinsong took the handkerchief and wiped his eyes, then snorted, "The sandstorms in Xiayi are too severe."
Xin Chengping also approached Zhu Jinsong and whispered, "Your Majesty, you may not know, but the sandstorms in Xiayi are indeed severe. In previous years, it has also suffered many wind disasters. Your humble servant believes it is due to excessive tree cutting, which has led to this situation. Your humble servant has been urging the people of Xiayi to plant trees."
Zhu Jinsong snorted again, "You are doing the right thing. We must plant trees; we cannot cut down all the trees in our generation and leave nothing for future generations to cut."
After watching for a while longer, Zhu Jinsong then led Zhang Dequan and Xin Chengping away from the crowd. As everyone else was pushing forward with their eggs, Zhu Jinsong's group did not. This was certainly not fitting for his image.
After leaving the crowd, Zhu Jinsong asked, "Was this flood considered a disaster?"
Xin Chengping shook his head and replied, "Your Majesty, this flood was not very severe. Compared to floods in previous years, it can even be considered mild, so mild that it wouldn't even be recorded in local chronicles. The impact on people's lives cannot be said to be completely nonexistent, but it was negligible."
Zhu Jinsong grunted, "Negligible, meaning there was still an impact, not completely nonexistent, right?"
Xin Chengping said, "Your Majesty perceives correctly. After this flood, this year's harvest will certainly be affected. However, there is plenty of grain in the granaries of the county and towns, and the people will certainly not starve."
"Besides that, it is likely that the workshops will inevitably be affected, and temporary shutdowns are unavoidable. However, the imperial court has policies for such situations. Workshops that are affected will have their taxes reduced, ultimately ensuring that the people's livelihoods are not impacted."
Zhu Jinsong grunted, nodded, and then led the way towards the dike.
Although the river water had receded, it remained murky, like yellow broth. The dike was also a muddy mess, making it difficult to walk, only able to move forward slowly, one foot after the other.
Zhu Jinsong's heart was quite satisfied.
Xin Chengping had risen step by step from the Farmers' Association, from the village association to the township association, and then to the county association, and now to the magistrate. Although his promotion was a bit fast, the Great Ming Dynasty had only been established for a short time, and cultivating grassroots officials was not easy, so sometimes compromises had to be made.
Fortunately, officials who rose through the Farmers' Association, unlike the scholar-officials who passed imperial examinations or bought their positions during the Great Qing era, at least had a fiery passion and understood the importance of considering the people in all matters.
If it weren't for this, Zhu Jinsong wouldn't have brought only a guard and Zhang Dequan to the river dike with Magistrate Xin.
After a tour of the dike, Zhu Jinsong let out a long sigh and said, "Alright, I've kept Magistrate Xin for so long, I don't know how much official business you've missed. We'll return to the county town now."
Hearing Zhu Jinsong's words, Xin Chengping also let out a long sigh of relief, thinking, "You finally know to return to the city. If this continues, the backlog of official duties will surely exhaust this magistrate!"
However, not long after leaving Xiayi County, Zhu Jinsong inexplicably asked, "Has everything been investigated?"
Ke Zhiming, who had appeared from somewhere, bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, everything has been investigated. Xu Yaozong, the Magistrate of Yongcheng, embezzled over thirteen hundred taels of silver, and there are also various calligraphy, paintings, and antiques, the value of which cannot be counted for now."
Zhu Jinsong snorted, "Let's go meet this county magistrate. I'd like to see how many heads he has!"