frightfiction Chapter 692 This is our good son-in-law!
Chapter 692 This is our good son-in-law!
The severe drought in Huai'an Prefecture basically means that more places will also experience drought.
Actually, this is not too difficult to explain.
Just as Yang Dianfeng said, if the people of the many vassal states suffer, they can always manage to gather enough food.
Especially in Annam.
Because Chen Shuming ordered the public execution of Chen Rizhen, the Annamite king appointed by Emperor Zhu, the Ming Dynasty imposed a cessation of tribute. Now, many small countries around Annam are restless, and the whole of Annam is in a state of panic. Although there are many members of the Annamite royal family who support Chen Shuming, some people have also thought of killing Chen Shuming in order to gain the forgiveness of the Ming Dynasty.
The current situation in Annam can only be described as extremely tense, and the slightest misstep could trigger a period of turmoil.
Before the turmoil, the attitude of the Ming Dynasty was of paramount importance.
Therefore, Annam will definitely make their people suffer.
There are also vassal states like Siam and Champa, which are currently keeping a close eye on Annam. If suffering for the people can win the support of the Ming Dynasty, they will certainly not give up such an opportunity.
Therefore, the issue of food is not so important.
There are two real problems.
The first one is water.
Because the imperial court could allocate grain, but it couldn't allocate enough water for the people to drink.
People will die if they don't drink water.
Therefore, once a large-scale and intense drought occurs, people will have to flee regardless of whether the food problem can be solved.
This is also an important reason why dynasties throughout history have been afraid of drought.
The second problem is even more troublesome.
Right now, Xu Da and his troops are leading their northern expedition at a critical juncture.
The Ming Dynasty was short of food, and the Yuan Dynasty was even more short of food.
In order to seize grain and survive, Hu Yuan's side will definitely fight Xu Da to the death.
But then Yang the Madman launched a high-profile investigation into the child and ironware cases.
Will the White Lotus Sect, alerted by the disturbance, and the officials and gentry who are about to be cornered, take advantage of the drought to collude with Hu Yuan?
Li Shanchang became increasingly worried the more he thought about it.
Zhu Biao sighed slightly and said, "Let's allocate grain to Huai'an Prefecture first. By the way, have Zhou Jingxin take the grain there."
"The Censorate has dispatched inspectors to check the grain in various places, including official granaries, reserve granaries, charity granaries, and agricultural relief granaries. They have all been thoroughly counted. I will have the Embroidered Uniform Guard send people to follow them."
"The Secretariat and the Ministry of Works issued documents to local governments, especially the workshops in various places, instructing them to carry out the excavation and construction of reservoirs, canals and wells as soon as possible."
"No matter what price they pay, I will ensure that every village has a well. We cannot solve the food problem, but then the people have to flee because they have no water to drink."
"..."
While Zhu Biao, Li Shanchang, and Liu Bowen were discussing the drought, Yang Shaofeng was sitting in the main hall of Huai'an Prefecture, lost in thought.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards were very quick to arrest people.
From the prefectural government office of Huai'an Prefecture to the county government office of Shanyang County, dozens of officials, both high and low, were all arrested and brought to justice in just a few days. They even managed to find their entire families and relatives along the way.
However, the drought situation in Huai'an Prefecture was far worse than imagined.
In many places, the land has begun to crack.
In many villages and towns, the wells have almost dried up, and the water that can be drawn up is like muddy soup. It takes most of the day for a bucket of muddy soup to settle and become drinkable.
Even the water levels of large lakes and reservoirs such as Hongze Lake and Luoma Lake have dropped significantly. If they continue to drop like this, it will probably be long before we can see the cracked bottom of the lakes.
This level of drought is so severe that it's not a once-in-a-century event, but it's at least a once-in-a-decades occurrence.
Standing beside Yang Shaofeng, Limping Wu couldn't help but advise, seeing that Yang Shaofeng's brows were always furrowed, "Sir, our Ningyang County also experienced drought before, and it has been drought for the past two years, just a little less severe. Since our Ningyang County was able to get through it, Huai'an Prefecture should be able to as well."
Yang Shaofeng forced a smile and said, "It's different."
“Our Ningyang County was only slightly affected by the drought at the time, and we were able to draw water from and store water from the Dawen River.”
"With the help of digging a well to draw water, it shouldn't be difficult to get through this period."
"But the situation is much more serious in Huai'an Prefecture. Even the water levels of large lakes like Hongze Lake have dropped, making it difficult to draw or store water."
"Organizing the people to dig wells, regardless of the dangers, the key question is how many wells can be dug?"
"Moreover, the number of wells is too small, which makes it easier for people to fight over water, which is also a problem."
When it comes to things like the drop in water levels, Limpy Five didn't understand much about them. At most, he understood that the drought in Huai'an Prefecture was quite severe, much more severe than that in Ningyang County back then.
But Limpy Wu understood one thing: a shortage of wells could easily lead to armed conflicts among the people.
Limpy Wu spat angrily and cursed, "It's all the fault of those corrupt officials like Wu Zhendong. If they had been like the magistrate, they would have organized the people to dig wells and reservoirs, and the people wouldn't have had to fight for water."
After scolding Wu Zhendong and the others, Limpy Wu couldn't help but sigh, "If every household had a well, people wouldn't have to fight and kill each other over water."
Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but smile.
It's fortunate that Brother Limpy Fifth dared to think of such a thing.
Does every household have a well?
Not to mention that such a severe drought cannot be solved simply by drilling a few wells.
Even if drilling a well could solve the problem, it wouldn't be easy to drill one.
Because drilling a well is never something that can be done overnight.
Finding water sources, organizing manpower, digging wells, building wells—every single one of these messy and troublesome tasks had to be handled by someone.
More importantly, if Huai'an Prefecture is experiencing a severe drought, other places will definitely suffer as well. Wells will need to be dug everywhere to combat the drought. What a massive undertaking that will be!
Yang Shaofeng forced a smile and said, "Every household has a well, this matter..."
Eh?
It doesn't seem like a bad idea for every household to have its own well.
Even if it's not possible to have one well per household, surely it's possible for a village to have several wells?
Yang Shaofeng suddenly stood up, loudly called over Chang Xiaojiu, and instructed, "Send someone to Dengzhou University to transfer a few scholars who understand iron smelting and metallurgy here. Also, transfer some skilled workers from the iron smelting workshops in Dengzhou..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, Yang Shaofeng changed his mind again.
"Never mind, I'll write a few memorials and send them to the capital by fast horse later."
"Also, tell the brothers to get ready. Once I finish writing this memorial, we'll set off for Ningyang County immediately."
……
Emperor Zhu was almost the last to know that Yang Shaofeng had suddenly fled back to Ningyang County.
To be precise, the first to receive news of Yang Shaofeng's sudden return to Ningyang County were the ironworks in Ningyang County, and only then did Emperor Zhu and the county government receive the news.
"Why didn't that bastard clean up that mess in Huai'an Prefecture? Why did he suddenly run back to the ironworks in Ningyang County?"
Emperor Zhu stared intently at Empress Ma, his face beaming with delight, and exclaimed, "Ugh! Bah!"
"What a scoundrel! This is our good son-in-law!"
"Our son-in-law might have a way to deal with this severe drought!"