Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Liang Wanda truly pulled it off. He threatened several wealthy gentry into leveling the gardens in their residences so farmers could grow short-season crops there.
Xie Chengze cooperated fully. He went to the inn and found Ouyang Jiu. “Brother Ouyang, could you paint several pictures for me? I can pay you.”
At the time, Bian Yangchun and the others were worried because hauling stones was exhausting yet earned them little money. Misfortune had compounded their troubles: Ji Songhua had tripped while hauling stone and twisted his ankle, so he could only remain at the inn to recuperate.
Thus, although Ouyang Jiu instinctively sensed something amiss, Xie Chengze’s timely offer was too welcome for him to refuse the work.
They had no choice. They desperately needed money.
At the inn, Xie Chengze also recruited several quick-witted scholars skilled at painting and supplied them with brushes, ink, and paper.
Once everything was ready, he set off with Jing Ze and the scholars. Zhu Xiaobiao joined the spectacle as well, claiming he was worried for the Second Prince’s safety.
They pretended to pass by the porridge stall. Upon witnessing the Prefect’s benevolence, Xie Chengze stopped and was moved to reflection. Zhu Xiaobiao, playing the “treacherous minister,” immediately proposed that such a scene ought to be preserved in paint, its glory passed down for a hundred generations as an example to future officials.
Xie Chengze agreed wholeheartedly and ordered the scholars to paint it.
The other scholars noticed nothing strange. They merely thought this wealthy young master was sensitive and compassionate, while Prefect Liang Wanda was remarkably close to and caring toward the people. They could not help pouring their own feelings into the work, capturing a scene of officials and commoners supporting and cherishing one another.
At the end of the day, the scholars happily dispersed with their payment. Only Ouyang Jiu hesitated before leaving, as though he had something to say.
Jing Ze was much more direct. “Young Master, this feels rather deliberate.”
Xie Chengze looked astonished. “Is it that obvious?”
Jing Ze nodded, his brow faintly furrowed. “I would not call it obvious, but it does seem as if you are deliberately fashioning Prefect Liang into an incorruptible official who loves the people as his own children.”
He did not know what the Second Prince intended. During the days they had stayed in the prefectural yamen, all he had seen was Xie Chengze idling about and doing nothing of substance for Jiangdu County. Now that the prince had finally acted, it was merely to put on this superficial show.
An indescribable disappointment filled Jing Ze. He worried that Zhu Xiaobiao had failed to find a worthy lord, raged that no one cared whether the people of Jiangdu lived or died, and resented his own powerlessness.
Was following the Second Prince truly a path toward the light?
For some reason, Jing Ze thought of Shen Yuan, the Commissioner of Military Affairs who had left the city to resolve the disaster. In his eyes, that man was the true good official who cared for the people.
“Brother Cheng,” Ouyang Jiu spoke up just then.
Xie Chengze turned to him.
Ouyang Jiu gave a shallow salute and returned the purse in his hand to Zhu Xiaobiao. Lowering his eyes, he said softly, “I will not come tomorrow.”
There was money he was unwilling to earn.
Xie Chengze did not grow angry. He merely arched a brow and smiled. “Even if doing this benefits the people of Jiangdu?”
Ouyang Jiu paused, confusion appearing in his eyes.
“Why be hasty, Brother Ouyang? Take the purse back. If you still think this money filthy in several days, you may return it to me then.” Xie Chengze tipped his chin, signaling Zhu Xiaobiao to give Ouyang Jiu the money.
Ouyang Jiu hesitated. He recalled their entire journey south and how Cheng Ze’s warmth and sincerity had been plain and genuine throughout. Tightening his grip on the purse, he said heavily, “Very well.”
After Ouyang Jiu left, Jing Ze asked, “What exactly is Your Highness planning? Do you truly intend to join Prefect Liang in his corruption?”
Zhu Xiaobiao hurriedly tugged his sleeve and gave Xie Chengze a dry smile. “Your Highness, Jing Ze has a blunt nature. Please do not take offense.”
“It is fine.” Xie Chengze waved a hand. Looking at the smiles blooming on the faces of the people lined up for porridge now that it had grown thick again, he said softly, “Look at them. They truly ask for so little.”
All they needed was a full stomach.
All they needed was to live.
All they needed was to endure until Shen Yuan returned.
Imagining Shen Yuan’s disbelief when he returned to find the people of Jiangdu County glowing with health, Xie Chengze’s lips curved. He softly hummed a tune from home.
…
Two days later, a carriage laden with seeds slipped quietly into the city at night. The following morning, Prefect Liang issued a proclamation describing every present hardship in the city and the Prefect’s refusal to surrender. It called upon scholars and commoners to go to certain locations, restore the soil, cultivate the land for their own sustenance, and weather the crisis together.
People went to try their luck and discovered free grain seed being distributed at the entrances to the gardens. Anyone who entered could form a group, receive a small plot of land, and plant short-season crops to partly sustain themselves.
They knew this could not solve their immediate hunger, but land gave farmers a sense of security. Every tiny green sprout emerging from those little plots meant they still had hope of survival. If they endured, the darkness would eventually give way to another village bright with flowers.
Scholars and commoners alike praised Prefect Liang’s initiative without end. Some emotional farmers burst into tears on the spot and knelt to kiss the soil, eyes brimming.
What they saw was not food, but hope of survival.
With hope came unity.
And unity was what Xie Chengze sought.
A white stone quietly fell. Across the vast board, black mist obscured the game, leaving the position impossible to discern.
That lone white stone seemed insignificant where it lay, yet it shone with a faint light.
…
Liang Wanda sat beneath the eaves, looking somewhat melancholy.
The Second Prince’s move could not sustain them for long. The city’s relief grain was desperately limited. Deep in the granary lay nothing but old, rotten rice and rice bran. Sooner or later, they would be stretched too thin to distribute porridge, and the people’s anger would erupt again.
Then, no matter how many hardships he described, all his previous efforts would be wiped away. The scholars would surely think: So Prefect Liang is only this capable after all. He isn’t that impressive.
Then his dream of becoming a central court official would go up in smoke!
Damn it. If he had known, he would never have listened to that lord’s empty promises and pocketed the relief funds, leaving them with no grain now. Had he honestly purchased relief grain, perhaps he would already have accomplished something great and been taken to the capital by the Second Prince to serve at court!
And those old bastards were truly blackhearted. Every last one had sliced off half and pocketed the relief silver. Not only had they left him little money, but if the corruption were ever exposed, he would be the first to suffer!
Fuck them! If they had shown him no loyalty, they could hardly blame him for stabbing them in the back!
Xie Chengze had no idea that a pie in the sky tossed out in passing had manipulated Liang Wanda this thoroughly. When he woke and stepped outside, he found Liang Wanda sitting beneath his eaves, looking both dejected and resentful.
“What is Prefect Liang doing here?” Xie Chengze asked with a smile.
“Your Highness!” Liang Wanda hurriedly rose and saluted. “After careful thought, this humble official believes our current course cannot last. Once the granary is empty, the people will riot again, and the scholars will see through our plan. We might as well find a pretext and send them out of the city early…”
Xie Chengze gestured for him to remain calm. “Prefect Liang, that granary looked quite full to this prince. How could it possibly run empty? It can surely last until the river embankment is rebuilt.”
Liang Wanda could not voice his suffering. “Your Highness, I…”
Seeing him stammer, Xie Chengze smiled faintly, a few traces of coldness slipping into his gaze. “Prefect Liang need not worry. This prince is here to handle everything. Besides, Heaven itself will aid you…”
His voice sounded mystical and cryptic. Liang Wanda raised his head in confusion, only to see Xie Chengze smiling radiantly, his peerless beauty truly dazzling to the eye.
Liang Wanda soon learned why Xie Chengze had said Heaven would aid him.
Torrential rain poured down once more. The Min River was flooding again.
Once again, the surging waters raced toward Jiangdu County.
In the original novel, Yizhou suffered two consecutive floods. The second occurred after Shen Yuan and the Crown Prince arrived.
At the time, Shen Yuan had already uncovered hard evidence of Prefect Liang’s embezzlement. Then the sudden flood destroyed the granary, reducing all his efforts to nothing.
Xie Chengze did not know the exact date on which the storm and mountain flood would strike. By chance, he was treating Bian Yangchun and the others to a meal at the inn when Ouyang Jiu, who enjoyed observing changes in the clouds, predicted that an enormous rainstorm was highly likely within the next several days. Only then did Xie Chengze realize the day had finally arrived.
He immediately ordered Prefect Liang to organize the people of the nearby counties and move them to the highest peak of Mount Yuji for refuge.
A light rain began to patter down. The people did not understand why they had suddenly been ordered out of the city and up the mountain. Leading their cattle and sheep through the rain, they complained among themselves. Some tried to turn back or stop to rest halfway, but the fierce-looking yamen runners blocked the path behind them and forced them onward. They could only resign themselves to climbing.
Only when the rain grew increasingly violent did the farmers react first and begin urging everyone else to hurry up the mountain. By the time the mountain flood poured down and savagely engulfed the counties along its path, the people and scholars who had reached the summit finally understood Prefect Liang’s foresight. All of them wept, overcome with relief that they had escaped with their lives.
The granary, naturally, was destroyed as well.
Fortunately, the edible grain had already been carried up the mountain by yamen runners, enough to sustain them for some days. After this brush with death, being unable to eat their fill seemed trivial to the people. They even felt more hope and anticipation for the days ahead.
They had a good Prefect. With a wise and mighty official like Prefect Liang to lead them, they would surely survive and overcome this flood disaster.
One farmer steeled himself and decided to slaughter his ox to help everyone through the crisis and repay Liang Wanda for saving his life. Liang Wanda immediately refused the kind offer.
“This old ox is everyone’s partner in farming, no different from family. How could this official eat it? Once the floodwaters recede, we must till the soil anew and fill Yizhou’s fields with green and golden rice and wheat again. We cannot do without the old ox, just as this official cannot do without your support and cooperation.”
His words moved every commoner who heard them to tears. The scholars’ blood surged with emotion, and they swore that once their names appeared on the golden list, they would model their every word and deed after Prefect Liang, cherish the people as their own children, and serve the nation with benevolence.
Taking advantage of the wonderful atmosphere, Xie Chengze painted Liang Wanda another pie in the sky. “Look, Prefect Liang. These scholars may all become your colleagues in officialdom one day. They will secure your position at court and help you command the wind and summon the rain!”
Liang Wanda: “!!!”
Zhu Xiaobiao, Jing Ze, and the others beside them: “…”
Your Highness, enough! You have nearly conned the man lame!!!