I embezzled 100,000 taels at the beginning, and the empress begged me to be more greedy

Jiang Zuo and his group had been in Yecheng for half a month and had been quite effective in handling disaster relief.

In addition to stabilizing the prices in Yecheng, he even made a lot of money from the Liu family in Jiangnan.

But this time the disaster relief was not accomplished so easily.

After solving the current troubles, Jiang Zuo will begin to tackle the key task of disaster relief, which is also something the empress has repeatedly instructed.

That is to repair the Tonghe embankment.

In recent years, floods in Yuzhou and Jizhou were mostly caused by the bursting of the Tonghe River, which led to flooding on both sides.

The Tong River often floods and changes its course, often bringing disaster to the people along the way.

For this reason, emperors of all dynasties attached great importance to the Tonghe water conservancy projects. However, due to the special geographical features of the Tonghe River basin, these water conservancy projects usually failed to play an important role.

"My Lord, if we really want to build a water conservancy project of this scale, we will need at least tens of thousands of workers and two million silver coins."

Master Guo calculated a rough number and reported it to Jiang Zuo.

"Don't worry about workers and money. There are so many disaster victims in and outside the city who need a job right now. Work-for-relief is the most appropriate solution." Jiang Zuo said, "As for money, the government's deposits are sufficient."

“The construction of the reservoir cannot be postponed any longer.”

Jiang Zuo had arranged personnel to go for an on-site inspection a few days ago.

Only by building a large reservoir dam can the drought and flood in Tonghe be fundamentally controlled.

After consulting the current empress, Jiang Zuo began to take full responsibility for the matter.

Soon, Yecheng was filled with recruitment notices, requiring craftsmen in the Yecheng area to immediately apply for the job if they were free.

The construction of the reservoir outside Yecheng began in full swing.

Disaster victims from all over began to sign up enthusiastically. This job not only provided food and accommodation, but also provided a considerable salary.

For disaster victims like them who have lost their homes, this is a great blessing.

No wonder the people of Yecheng all exclaimed: "This Chief Governor Jiang is the savior of the world!"

……

Liu Mansion.

Under the pavilion, Liu Sheng was entertaining former officials of Jizhou Prefecture. After instructing them to do their jobs well, he only kept Zheng Shouye, the former governor of Yecheng, to discuss important matters.

In short, they would never let Jiangzuo solve the Jizhou flood so easily.

"I heard that Jiang Zuo has started planning to build a water conservancy project. This ambition is huge, but I wonder if they have the ability to do it..."

Liu Sheng said angrily.

When Jiang Zuo first arrived in Yecheng, he offended the Liu family many times. He really didn't know his place.

"Boss Liu, you can rest assured. Their efforts are totally in vain. The government has been working on this river conservancy project for many years, but it has never been completed. If it rains heavily in a few days, the water level of the river will rise and the dam will be washed away in an instant."

Zheng Shouye said, as the former prefect of Yecheng, he knew the matter of river dams best.

That year, the imperial court allocated 500,000 taels of money to build the dam, but 200,000 taels were deducted from the higher authorities. When the funds arrived in Yecheng, Zheng Shouye took 100,000 taels, and the officials under him embezzled another 100,000 taels. In the end, only 100,000 taels were left for construction. The dam that was finally completed did not last more than two years before it broke again.

If the bridge is repaired, there will be no floods. If there are no floods, there will be no disaster relief money from the court. Without disaster relief money, how can the corrupt officials in Jizhou Prefecture make money?

"This Jiang Zuo must be taught a lesson! If it weren't for the Qianqi Division, I would have made some arrangements for him."

Facing Jiangzuo, Liu Sheng suffered many defeats and naturally could not swallow this bitter pill.

Zheng Shouye looked back, then leaned close to Liu Sheng's ear and whispered something.

Hearing Zheng Shouye's words, Liu Sheng immediately smiled, with a hint of cunning in his smile.

"This time, Jiang Zuo will definitely die. At the very least, his position as the governor-general will definitely be lost..."

Zheng Shouye was quite confident.

Liu Sheng raised his wine glass and said, "According to Mr. Zheng's brilliant plan, it may take some time. I cannot tolerate Jiang Zuo's insolence. Tonight, I have prepared a great gift for him."

……

Outside Yecheng, at the foot of the mountain.

Tens of thousands of disaster victims, consisting of laborers, are working hard to build the reservoir.

The site chosen here is close to Tong River and is just waiting for completion. The rising water of Tong River will gather here, and when the dry season comes, the sluice gates can be opened to prevent flooding and irrigate crops.

This large-scale project involving tens of thousands of people requires extremely tight and seamless scheduling.

The sky was dark. It was noon, but there was no sunlight at all.

Dark clouds are approaching, and it seems that a heavy rain is about to fall.

Jiang Zuo personally came to the construction site to inspect the progress of the reservoir construction.

The sand in the area of ​​Yecheng is soft and can be dug very quickly, but because the soil is too soft, it is not easy to build a dam near Tonghe River.

For this reason, Jiang Zuo had already prepared for this and ordered people to transport some important supplies from Anding County.

"My lord, come here."

Master Guo came to Jiangzuo and said, "At this rate, it will take at least six months to complete the project you ordered."

"Six months is too long."

Jiang Zuo was not satisfied.

To be honest, with today's productivity, building such a large reservoir project would take at least a few years, and at most more than ten years.

But for Jiang Zuo, six months was too long.

Moreover, for the Tonghe area, there will most likely be the next flood season within these six months. If the project is not completed by then, it will be another disaster.

"Notify all parts of Jizhou immediately, investigate the number of refugees and victims, count the numbers, and bring them to Yecheng. More labor is needed here." Jiang Zuo ordered.

Master Guo was a little skeptical, "Sir, our food supply has just stabilized. If we bring in disaster victims from other places now, will there not be enough food?"

Jiang Zuo said, "Don't worry. The food stored in Yecheng is enough to last until the next harvest season. As long as we build the reservoir ahead of schedule, our mission will be accomplished."

"Yes, sir, I will do it right away."

God does not fulfill one's wishes.

About an hour later, it began to rain heavily.

The construction of the reservoir was forced to be interrupted, and the victims entered Yecheng in batches to take shelter from the rain.

At this time, the temporary shelters for disaster victims outside the city could not withstand such heavy rain, and some of the simple houses even had holes and leaks.

Because the number of disaster victims was so large, even though the Jiangzuo government had hundreds of people, they were unable to manage them in an orderly manner.

The entire Yecheng was like this rainstorm, anxious and chaotic.

The sky gradually darkened and the rain became lighter.

People gradually dispersed and the victims returned to their temporary homes.

The showers have begun to subside.

It was late at night and the city was quiet.

There was not a single person to be found in the streets.

Suddenly, I heard some footsteps.

Several masked men in black appeared from the darkness, carrying some things in their hands, and sneaked towards the government granary.

There were yamen runners guarding the granary, and no one was allowed to get close.

But this group of people went around for a long time and came to the back of the granary, where they actually opened a secret passage. After entering the granary, they poured some flammable materials behind the grain, then blew on the fire sticks and set all the grain in the granary on fire...