Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Xie Chengze would be neither Heaven and Earth nor a sage.
He would intervene in the lives of Yizhou’s people. He would learn from Heaven and Earth, imitate nature, reshape nature, and make the natural world serve the people.
He would turn these tens of millions of mu of plains into rich, fertile farmland. He would make Yizhou the Land of Abundance of this world. He would have the people of the Jian’an Dynasty create a civilization that built and transformed, so that wherever the people of Jian’an stood, there lay the finest land in the realm.
“Shen Yuan.” He spoke softly beside Shen Yuan’s ear, his voice carrying a rare trace of seriousness. “Dare to wager that I can make the floodwaters of the Min River obey me?”
Shen Yuan took it for a joke and scoffed. “Is Your Highness still half asleep? Would you like this subject to throw you down and wake you?”
“It seems Lord Shen does not dare?” Xie Chengze raised a brow.
“Naturally, I dare. What shall we wager?” Shen Yuan supported Xie Chengze’s buttocks with one hand to keep him from falling, while the fingers of the other tapped unconsciously against his waist – a small habit that appeared only when Shen Yuan was scheming. “If Your Highness cannot make the Min River’s floodwaters obey you, you will agree to three requests from this subject.”
“Fine.” Xie Chengze agreed readily. “If the Min River’s floodwaters do obey this prince, then you…”
His eyes narrowed to slits, and he gave a mischievous grin. “You have to call me Daddy!”
Shen Yuan: “?”
This brat! Could he never be serious?!
Shen Yuan did not believe for an instant that Xie Chengze could make the Min River obey. He only hoped the man would behave and refrain from causing trouble while Shen Yuan thoroughly investigated the corruption!
Shen Yuan still carried him on his back for the descent.
Naturally, Shen Yuan was unwilling, but he could not withstand Xie Chengze’s endless grumbling and veiled references to the account book, all implying that Shen Yuan was an ingrate. Rather than listen to him whine, Shen Yuan simply hurried him down the mountain so they could return to the county yamen and retire to their separate rooms.
Over the next several days, Shen Yuan busied himself with disaster relief.
Drawing on his experience from his previous life, Shen Yuan ordered Liang Wanda to compile the measures for addressing the famine into a handbook, then dispatch it by express horse to every county so the County Magistrates could conduct relief work according to its instructions.
But that could not solve every problem. Some counties always gambled that they could get away with disobedience. They seized the opportunity to wring wealth from the people and pocket the relief grain, leaving the refugees within their borders increasingly desperate.
The starving refugees began organizing themselves and fleeing to other counties.
Naturally, the other counties did not want to accept them. Their own people did not have enough to eat. How could they spare the energy to clean up someone else’s mess?
When the refugees caused enough trouble, someone sent a letter of complaint directly to Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan had to leave the city and resolve these messes. He might have been a powerful minister in his previous life, but now his level had been reset and he had been dropped into the beginner village. He was merely a lowly Commissioner of Military Affairs with no capable men at his disposal. Until he could train and recruit advisers again, he would have to make the journey himself.
Moreover, he had to take Xie Chengze with him.
“Your Highness will accompany this subject.” Shen Yuan’s tone brooked no argument. “If word spreads that the Second Prince is in Jiangdu County, the refugees will inevitably swarm here. The people of Jiangdu, the scholars from across the land, and the Second Prince himself will all be in danger.”
Wherever there was a prince, there would be food. But Jiangdu County clearly could not sustain so many people. If the refugees grew desperate enough from hunger, they would not care whether the person before them was a prince or an official. The law could not punish a multitude. Surely no one could behead every last one of them.
In his previous life, he and the Crown Prince had pressed Liang Wanda and the others so hard that the men had abandoned all restraint and tricked more than twenty thousand nearby refugees into coming to Jiangdu County!
More than twenty thousand mouths had clamored for food. Shen Yuan and the Crown Prince had been overwhelmed, spending untold effort before they finally resolved the crisis.
This time, he could not allow that to happen again. He had to bring Xie Chengze along and use the fact that “wherever Xie Chengze went, the refugees would follow” to draw the local refugees back to their home counties, forcing those emptied county towns to resume their relief work.
But Xie Chengze refused.
“I’m not going. Look through every dynasty in history – what prince ever followed an official around a disaster zone?”
“The Crown Prince would!” Shen Yuan could not resist retorting.
His unspoken meaning was clear: Did Xie Chengze not want to follow the Crown Prince’s path? Then he should obediently come along!
“Then take the Crown Prince with you.” Xie Chengze rolled his eyes, entirely unmoved. He clung desperately to a bedpost and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Either way, this prince isn’t going!”
“Your Highness!” Shen Yuan’s voice sank. He stepped forward and seized Xie Chengze by the wrist. “Do not be willful. Do you know how dangerous it is for you to remain in Jiangdu County? If anything happens, Liang Wanda will inevitably push you to the front to face the refugees. What will you do then?”
“It’s even more dangerous to stay with you!” Xie Chengze’s round eyes widened as he stared straight at him, every accusation landing with force. “Don’t you just want to use this prince as a living target? If I help you, those treacherous officials will all think I’m on your side. When we return to the capital, have you considered what will happen to me?!”
“Or do you simply not care? All you care about is whether your precious Crown Prince can secure his place as the next emperor!”
Xie Chengze’s eyes reddened. Beneath the vast stubbornness in his gaze, a trace of hurt huddled at the very edge, too frightened to show itself.
Shen Yuan fell silent for a moment.
He had to admit that the thought had indeed crossed his mind. He had even vaguely wondered whether forcing Xie Chengze onto the side opposing the treacherous faction might push him toward a better path.
Yet looking at Xie Chengze hiding like a turtle in its shell, Shen Yuan felt disappointment surge through him.
In the Second Prince’s heart, the lives of the people mattered far less than his power and position.
He had nearly let the illusions of these past days make him forget what kind of man Xie Chengze had been in his previous life. How could a person’s nature change so easily?
He could not force Xie Chengze’s choice. All he could do was release his wrist with a sharp jerk and say coldly, “This subject takes his leave.”
The man swept out with a flick of his sleeves. The door slammed behind him with an exceptionally heavy crash, as though venting some impotent frustration.
Xie Chengze raised his left wrist. Deep red marks remained where Shen Yuan had gripped him, and streaks of burning pain throbbed along the crimson fingerprints. He lowered his eyes from the pain and pursed his lips angrily.
“That temper is why you’ll never find a wife,” he muttered under his breath.
He truly could not follow Shen Yuan to the other counties.
The moment he did, his alignment with the Crown Prince would become clear. The treacherous faction would never tolerate that. Emperor Jian doted on him too much. To put it dramatically, if Xie Chengze asked to confiscate one minister’s estate every day, Emperor Jian would happily agree.
Would those corrupt ministers wish to see such a thing?
Of course not.
They would even try every possible means to kill him.
He would then be in even greater danger than the Crown Prince. Xie Chengze was certainly important to Emperor Jian, but only so long as he did not obstruct the Crown Prince’s path to the throne. He was merely a “lucky mascot” who could be showered with affection. If he died in an “accident,” Emperor Jian would at most grieve for a while, then conveniently use his death to purge the court.
Had Emperor Jian not also used him as a living target? If the emperor could truly have protected the original Xie Chengze, why had the man kept two great experts constantly by his side? Why had he become obsessed with training death warriors?
No one could truly protect him. Once Emperor Jian died of illness, his position would become even more precarious.
Thus, Xie Chengze had to plan for himself at every moment and keep his political allegiance ambiguous. The instant Emperor Jian died, he would request a fief far from the capital and live a truly free life.
After taking a deep breath, Xie Chengze rose, dressed, and strode out of the room.
Dark clouds blanketed the sky outside. Only a single thread of golden light pierced the thick clouds and rolling thunder to fall softly over him, warm yet searing.