allonlinenovel Chapter 371 Emergency
Chapter 371 Emergency
After hearing the latest report, the emperor walked towards the window. Although night had fallen, the sound of rain drops outside the window was clearly audible. The emperor pushed open the window frame, and raindrops as big as beans hit his palms.
The emperor stretched his hand out of the window and was dazed for a moment, as if he was lost in his own thoughts.
When the officials in the hall heard the latest report, they all looked gloomy.
After a long time, the eunuch Zuo Wenxing walked to the window and called the emperor in a low voice.
"Your Majesty, your sleeves are soaked by the rain. Go change your clothes first, or you will catch a cold. There are many important matters in the court, and they are all waiting for your decision."
The emperor came back to his senses, touched his sleeves that had been soaked by the rain, waved to Zuo Wenxing, then walked back into the hall and spoke to the ministers.
"The flood is coming with such force that we cannot afford to waste any more time. I cannot afford to hesitate here, Zuo Wenxing."
As he spoke, the emperor called out to the chief eunuch Zuo Wenxing, and saw Zuo Wenxing step forward.
"Pass on my order, and order the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of Works and the chief adjutant of the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau to rush to Linzhou, Xuzhou, and Luozhou overnight, take charge of the local areas, and direct the local flood control on the spot to ensure that the flood will not flow into Shengjing."
Zuo Wenxing agreed, immediately withdrew and went to deliver the imperial edict.
As urgent reports could come at any time, all the officials in the court slept on the floor in the Qinzheng Hall that night and spent the night there.
Early the next morning, another emergency report came. The earliest report came from Chaozhou. Three dike breaches occurred in Chaozhou. The three counties under Chaozhou had been completely submerged in the pouring floods. A large number of adobe houses had collapsed. There is no accurate statistics on casualties yet.
Soon after, several prefectures outside the capital area encountered dangerous situations to varying degrees. Floods to the north, south, and west of Shengjing were rushing towards the capital area at an unexpected speed.
As the rain continued, the water levels of rivers in the Gyeonggi area rose rapidly. The children found it novel and interesting. At this time, more and more elderly people around the Gyeonggi area gradually realized that this rainfall was unusual.
The dignitaries naturally have more channels to learn about the outside world. They have already instructed their families to make necessary transfers of valuable antiques, calligraphy and paintings, books and other items. If a flood really comes, these things will be soaked by the flood and the loss will be huge.
The merchants, and the nobles behind them, who had originally wanted to take advantage of the drought and reduced grain production to stockpile grain, drive up grain prices, and make huge profits, are now in a difficult situation.
Many granaries in Xuyang, Chaozhou and other places have been submerged by floods. There was no time to move the grain in the granaries and all of it was soaked by the floods.
Grain merchants are most concentrated in the Gyeonggi area, and they began stockpiling grain before the summer harvest. Now a large amount of grain is stockpiled in the Gyeonggi area. Although the flood may not really flow into the Gyeonggi area, if so much grain is really soaked by the flood, the loss will be huge.
If the grain were to be transferred, the area around the capital would be vast plains with flat terrain and it would be difficult to know which direction to transfer it. Moreover, if the grain was really transferred on a large scale, it would inevitably cause panic among the people and might even lead to impeachment by the censors.
If it was really just a simple business behavior of grain merchants, it would be fine, but there are too many nobles involved. If any noble was the first to speak out, it would inevitably lead to immeasurable consequences.
The current situation is really putting those nobles who participated in hoarding grain in a very dangerous situation. If they don't transfer the huge amount of grain, they may suffer heavy losses when a flood comes.
If they were to relocate, not to mention where to relocate to, the current situation was that in order to cope with the fierce flood, all the officials in the court had already slept on the floor in the Qinzheng Hall for several nights. Who would dare to be the first to step forward?
The eldest prince and the third prince had made some preparations before rumors about the flood spread, but the latest news they received was that some of their industries outside the capital had suffered losses to varying degrees.
The second prince, who was involved in a lawsuit due to the Dragon Boat Festival match-fixing case, did not pay attention to the rumors of the flood. Now the second prince's industries outside the capital have suffered heavy losses.
The emperor received the latest report that the flood from upstream was too fierce and had begun to pour into the city of Xuyang Prefecture. The flood had begun to flood into the houses in the low-lying areas of the city.
The Left Vice Minister of Works had ordered people to dig a drainage channel to divert as much of the flood water that was rushing towards Xuyang Prefecture to the Tuoling River as possible. Linzhou, located in the lower reaches of the Tuoling River, and the two counties bordering Xuyang Prefecture soon saw floods rushing onto the river embankment, and the Linzhou Prefecture downstream was in danger.
The emperor hadn't had a good rest for two days. Looking out the window at the rain that still showed no signs of stopping, and listening to the urgent reports of dangerous situations in various places, the emperor felt exhausted both physically and mentally.
Due to the continuous rainfall, the Imperial College suspended the equestrian classes at the North Suburbs Horse Farm, and the shooting classes every morning and evening were temporarily moved indoors.
After practicing archery, Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng returned to the dormitory and changed their sweaty clothes first. Night was gradually falling, so the two of them went out and walked towards the kitchen. They happened to meet Ao Chongan and Fan Tao, and they walked towards the kitchen together, chatting and laughing.
"How is Lu Xiaotong's injury?"
Ye Changyan asked Ao Chongan who was walking beside him.
"I went to see him during his last rest day. He's much better now than before, but it takes a hundred days for a broken bone to heal, not to mention that his injury was not light. I estimate he'll need at least half a year to recover."
As soon as Ao Chong'an finished speaking, Fan Tao came over, lowered his voice, and asked Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng.
"Has anyone come to harass you during this time?"
Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng both felt puzzled when they heard Fan Tao's question and looked at him with confusion.
Fan Tao and Ao Chong'an were both a little surprised to see Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng's reactions, and then they heard Fan Tao lower his voice even more.
"Lu Xiaotong's father is a fourth-rank censor of the Supervisory Council. The censors headed by him are now keeping a close eye on the Dragon Boat Festival match-fixing case. This case now involves many people. Ao Chong'an and I have been harassed in some ways, both overtly and covertly. We suspect that the people implicated in the match-fixing case are taking their anger out on us. You two should be careful recently."
Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng were a little surprised when they heard Fan Tao say this. They didn't expect that these people would vent their anger on the students who had won the game.
Ever since Mr. Cai and Ye Xiaozheng and his wife went to Yujing Palace for recuperation, Xing Wang also stayed in Yujing Palace. Recently, during his days off, he went to Yunfeng Tower to meet with Zhong Yunfeng, and then Lu Tingfeng drove the carriage back to Shigu Lane. The two did not encounter any unusual situations during this period.