The capital city, the Golden Palace.
Xiao Yuan's face remained expressionless, revealing no emotion. Below the stage, Chancellor Cai secretly resented Meng Anci for ruining his plans.
"Your Majesty... Meng Anci, as an official of the Censorate, threatened local officials with a knife, overstepped his authority by blowing up the dike, flooding farmland and houses, and causing harm to the people of the region. Such lawless and willful acts should be punished by death according to the law!"
Furthermore Zhao Zhiyuan and Yuan Shanjian their mismanagement of flood control measures and dereliction of duty, nearly caused a downstream dike collapse that would have resulted in the deaths of countless people. Their crimes are unforgivable; they should be immediately dismissed from their posts, arrested, and escorted back to the capital for rigorous trial and sentencing by the three judicial departments!
Before Xiao Yuan could speak, Su Wenqian stepped forward with his bamboo tablet, "Your Majesty... I believe that Meng Anci not only not be punished, but should also be commended... Just as Chancellor Cai said, if the dam had not been breached, the people downstream would have died. So, may I ask, what was wrong with what Lord Meng did?"
Chancellor Cai scoffed, " Lord Su, if he dares to release the floodwaters without authorization today, others can mobilize troops and armor at will tomorrow. Once the law is broken, the country will cease to exist! Does His Majesty expect His Majesty to govern a group of lawless officials?"
Lu Chi stepped forward. "I believe the Prime Minister went a bit too far. This year's flood season caught everyone off guard. Although Lord Meng is not from the Ministry of Works and has no official approval, he cares deeply for the people, remained calm in the face of danger, and found the best solution at this critical moment. He deserves commendation."
Chancellor Cai angrily said, "You..."
"Alright... stop arguing," Xiao Yuan interrupted in a deep voice. "I've been thinking about a problem all night. Since all the ministers are here, why don't we discuss it together?"
"If you were driving an out-of-control carriage and came to a T-junction, going left would kill one person, and going right would kill five people, which way would you choose?"
Someone chimed in, "I think we should drive to the left; that way, we can save five people."
"I also think that makes sense..."
Xiao Yuan looked at everyone, "The people of Zhao Household Gully have all been evacuated. Apart from property damage, there were no casualties. Xiong Wanli's ineffective river management, false reporting of water conditions, and attempt to forcibly release floodwaters caused disaster in two prefectures and four counties downstream. Lord Meng threatened him with a knife, forcing him to breach the dike and release the floodwaters, all to save the lives of the people downstream. What is wrong with this choice?"
After he finished speaking, the hall fell silent.
Xiao Yuan took in everyone's expressions. " Yuhe County is mostly saline-alkali land, with low grain yields and a low-lying terrain prone to flooding... Unexpectedly, Cui Xiang has gone back on his word at this critical moment, obstructing the flood discharge and putting the people downstream in danger. I'll ask you again, is Cui Xiang guilty or is Zhao Zhiyuan guilty?"
The ministers below the stage all hung their heads, not daring to speak out of turn, Chancellor Cai felt a chill run down his spine.
"If I remember correctly... Yuhe County is under the Dingchuan Prefecture, right? Such a big matter Dingchuan Prefecture hasn't reacted at all?? Shouldn't he be punished?"
He looked at Chancellor Cai as he said this.
Chancellor Cai bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation..." Only then did he truly realize that with each new emperor came a new set of ministers. The person on the dragon throne had already changed, and it was not something he could influence with a few words.
August arrived in the blink of an eye.
When the imperial edict arrived, Zhao Zhiyuan was leading river workers to clear silt from the riverbed when the eunuch delivering the edict trudged through the mud.
" Lord Meng, Lord Zhao, Lord Yuan, receive the imperial decree..."
Zhao Zhiyuan and Yuan Shanjian immediately stepped out from the crowd. The eunuch glanced around, frowned, and asked, " Lord Zhao, where is Lord Meng?"
" Lord Meng has gone to Zhao Household Gully to distribute disaster relief funds to the people."
The eunuch was taken aback, somewhat puzzled, "The imperial court's disaster relief funds haven't been disbursed yet, where did he get the money?"
Yuan Shanjian, "The land is destroyed, homes are flooded... We can't let the people be displaced and starving at the same time. I will allocate emergency funds from the Pingcheng Prefecture treasury."
He figured he was going to die anyway, so he might as well spend all the money before he died and at least leave behind a good reputation!
The eunuch nodded upon hearing this, secretly regretting it. Now everyone in the court knew that Meng Anci deeply favored by the emperor. He had originally hoped to use the opportunity of announcing the imperial decree to curry favor with this favorite and make a good relationship, but now that was no longer an option.
On second thought, there would be many opportunities in the future, so there was no need to rush. He immediately composed himself and said loudly, "In that case, let Lord Zhao and Lord Yuan receive the decree first."
Zhao Zhiyuan and Yuan Shanjian hurriedly knelt down to receive the imperial edict. Their hearts were pounding like drums; their fate depended entirely on the contents of the edict.
By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
The rivers have caused disasters every year, which has troubled me greatly. Now, the Imperial Censor Meng Anci has been appointed to this critical mission. He patrolled the dikes day and night, and made a decisive decision to breach the dam and release the floodwaters, thus saving the lives of the people in two prefectures and four counties downstream. His merit is truly great. Therefore, I hereby appoint Meng Anci as Imperial Censor and bestow upon him 500 taels of silver and 100 bolts of silk as a reward.
Zhao Zhiyuan, the principal of the Ministry of Works, Yuan Shanjian, the prefect of Pingcheng Prefecture, personally went to the dangerous place and made good arrangements. Although they did not achieve complete success, they did their best, which greatly pleased me. Zhao Zhiyuan is promoted to the rank of vice minister of the Ministry of Works, Yuan Shanjian one rank. Each of them is awarded two hundred taels of silver.
Xiong Wanli, the magistrate of Jianghe County, failed to manage the river effectively, falsified water conditions, and nearly caused major disasters; he is hereby dismissed from his post. Cui Xiang, the magistrate of Yuhe County, was fickle and unreliable, obstructing flood discharge and putting the people in danger; he is hereby dismissed from his post. Both men are imprisoned pending trial.
So be it.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
Zhao Zhiyuan and Yuan Shanjian kowtowed in gratitude. Upon receiving the imperial edict, Yuan Shanjian felt utterly hopeless; he had spent all his treasury funds—how would he pay the taxes?
The eunuch smiled and said, "My lords, could you show me the condition of this river? I'll have something to report back to His Majesty."
"Please follow me, sir..." Zhao Zhiyuan led the imperial eunuch to the riverbank, not forgetting to kick Yuan Shanjian before he left. Yuan Shanjian snapped back to reality and hurriedly followed.
Meanwhile, Meng Anci was in Zhao Household Gully watching the villagers build a temple and plant trees. He asked in confusion, "Village head, what are you doing here??"
"You don't know this, the reason why the people of Zhao Household Gully weren't flooded is because we were protected by the gods..."
The village Orthodox God quite pleased with himself. "Our whole village dreamed at the same time of a talking ginkgo tree. It told us that Zhao Household Gully was going to be flooded and that we should move to Gao Household Slope."
The village head, with his hands behind his back, watched the young men in the village building the wall and shouted, "Make the wall higher, don't wrong the Lady Tree God!" Then he continued to Meng Anci, "Guess what? Not long after we moved away, the floodwaters rolled in with mud, oh my god... you have no idea how terrifying it was."
Meng Anci frowned. "You're back?"
"Ah... no, I was just guessing... you don't know..." Meng Anci didn't hear a word the village head said next; he was staring intently at the Jin Shanyao.
She and Xiaoli were sitting on a rock, chatting with several women who were planting trees.
The village head's wife, leaning against the ginkgo tree, smiled and waved to Jin Shanyao, "The tree in my dream was much taller and bigger than this one, lush and green, extremely verdant... its roots were thicker than my thigh, and it moved with incredible speed when it ran..."
Jin Shanyao her hand, weaving a colorful rope, her smile wide and wide, "Anything else?"
Sister-in-law Zhao chimed in, "And that ginkgo tree can talk, its voice is so beautiful... With a gentle sway of its branches, a sudden gust of wind arises, sand and stones fly, the sky changes drastically, it's incredibly magical..."
Jin Shanyao's smile froze on her face. There hadn't been a sudden storm or flying sand and stones in her dream, had there?
The village head's eldest grandson spoke up, "It wasn't that good. She crushed my malt candy with one kick and even spanked Niuniu's bottom."
Sister-in-law Zhao scolded, "You naughty monkey, who saved you? How dare you disrespect the Lady Tree God! You're not allowed to eat candy anymore!"
The boy scratched his head and said to the newly planted ginkgo tree, " Lady Tree God, I was wrong... I'll never speak ill of you again."
Jin Shanyao seemed to be saying, "Child, why don't you turn around and look at me?"