[R18] (Quickly wear it) Baby, you are with the wrong person – Chapter 297 of “(Quickly Wear) Baby You Are with the Wrong Person” [English]

​‍‌​‍‌☆、Emperor Policy 17

In later history books, several far-reaching events occurred in the fifth year of Chu Xingzong’s reign, that is, the fifth year of Yuan’an.One is that the then regent Xiao Yu proposed to abolish the nine-rank Zhongzheng system that had been used since the Yan Dynasty, which in turn involved a dispute over the re-evaluation of the grades of the aristocratic families.

This dispute started within the family, and then extended to the nobles. From the end of June, the dispute continued in the court, and until mid-July, there was no conclusion.And in late July, the second big thing happened.

There are sporadic records in the Tongzhou state annals at that time: “In June, there was heavy rain, and the water in Yongjiang, Qinhe, and Lanyang rivers rose sharply. From June 12 to 15, the water in Yongjiang River in Wanjin County rose by a total of eight feet and three inches.”

Yongjiang has always been dangerous during flood seasons, and there have been several breaches in history, causing catastrophe.The imperial court invested a lot of manpower and material resources to control the river. Seeing that the flood season this year was coming fiercely, the river workers reported the matter, but no one responded.The magistrate of Wanjin County, which is under the jurisdiction of the middle reaches of Yongjiang River, submitted the report to Tongzhou, but it also came to nothing.

By July, the water in the Yongjiang River was unstoppable. It rained heavily for ten consecutive days starting from July 13th. Several dykes from Wanjin County to Gongxian County collapsed. County magistrates from several counties led the people to repair the dykes day and night, trying to block the flood. However, the rain became more fierce, and the dykes in the middle reaches of the Yongjiang River were in disrepair. On July 25th, the Yongjiang River burst.

The flood broke through the levee in an instant. Amidst the deafening rain, huge waves surged into the sky, and white waves were like mountains. The Yongjiang River swallowed up the three counties of Shangpei, Bianyin, and Muhuai under the flood peak in one go, and continued to go south. Wherever it passed, there was a vast country.

When the news came back to Liang Jing, the whole court was in an uproar.

It was already the fifth day after the breach of Yongjiang River. The magistrate of Tongzhou knew that he could not hide the matter. He was anxious and sent people to the capital overnight to report it. Due to the delay of the rain, no one in the capital knew about it until this time.

Yao Ji could hardly stand, her hand holding the paperweight could not stop shaking, and her whole face was as pale as paper.Yongjiang bursts… She can only understand how destructive natural disasters can be in such an era.The Yongjiang River is the second largest river in Dachu. Starting from the upper reaches, there are densely populated states and counties along the coast. Because of its steep river course, there are floods every year. However, most of them cause a small loss of property, which is not worth reporting to the court. Now that it has to be sent to the court in a hurry, she can hardly imagine how serious the matter is.

It was not a court meeting at this time. When the two-hundred-mile urgent report was delivered to the political hall, Zhang Jingan knew that the matter was serious and hurried to Taiji Palace without even making a turn.Xiao Yu stood on the left side of the emperor and lowered his head, glanced at Yao Ji with hidden worry, and said solemnly: “How is the current disaster relief situation?” Since the Yongjiang breach is an irreversible fact, he can only do his best to make up for it afterwards.

The memorial written by the magistrate of Tongzhou was very clear. At that time, everyone agreed on disaster relief matters, ordered the prefectures and counties in the disaster-stricken areas to open warehouses to provide food relief, and sent the Jingyuan Army to maintain order. The day was busy until late at night. Seeing that several older courtiers could not hold on any longer, Yao Ji said: “Everyone, please rest for a while. Duan Hongyuan sent someone to help the princes return to their rooms.” However, Xiao Yu was sheShe stayed and said, “There’s something wrong with this,” she said with a serious expression, “The Yongjiang River burst, such a big thing, why didn’t the imperial court hear any trace of it before?”

It must be known that heavy rains have been falling for many days. If there are signs of a breach in Yongjiang River, the officials below must report it.When Ning Zong was in power, there was a year when the rain was heavier than it is now. Because the court took care of the trouble in time, it did not cause a catastrophe.

Xiao Yu’s eyes flashed a few times, and he said in a deep voice: “I think…it’s just the people below who deceived the superiors and deceived the inferiors.” But he didn’t know which level he was at.

Things turned out as he expected. The imperial court sent envoys to Tongzhou to investigate. The results found made Yao Ji furious and about to overturn the table on the spot.

“This is a moth that deserves to be killed!” She really didn’t expect that the officials in Tongzhou were so bold. They knew that the flood was about to happen before, but they ignored it. If the governor of Tongzhou was not still providing disaster relief, Yao Ji would have wanted to take her to the capital for questioning.

It was rare for the emperor to lose such a big temper. Everyone was silent and submissive. Even Jiang Yong had no intention of singing the opposite tune.Preliminary losses have been roughly calculated. The three most severely affected counties were all destroyed. People’s houses and fields were destroyed. More than 200 people were killed in the floods.Yao Ji was so angry that she didn’t even have a good dinner. She looked through the resumes of officials in Tongzhou City and summoned Xiao Yu into the palace overnight: “Uncle Qi, that’s not right. Something was overlooked.”

Tongzhou Zhizhou has been an official for many years. Although his political achievements are not outstanding, looking at his past resume, he is a measured person. How could he not know the difficulties of Yongjiang floods and not take this matter to heart?The envoy who went to investigate reported that the magistrate of Wanjin County had already reported the situation in Yongjiang to the prefectural city, but the magistrate of Tongzhou turned a deaf ear. He does not seem like someone who would do such a thing, unless…

“There is another person or another force interfering, so he has to suppress the report from the Markham County Magistrate.”

It was difficult to control the river. In addition to setting up a special capital water supervisor in the central government, the imperial court ordered the governors of various states and counties to also manage the river during the flood season. It also set up a special water control agency for the Yongjiang River, which flooded every year. The Yongjiang Du Water Supervisor was stationed in Tongzhou. Zheng Qiuping, the Yongjiang Du Water Supervisor, was born in the Qiu family of Heyang and was the son of the head of the Qiu family.

“Qiu Ping has been in charge of the Yongjiang Water Supervision Bureau for five years. There was such a heavy rain five years ago, but the Yongjiang River did not burst. Why are the dams in the Yongjiang River so fragile after five years?”

There is only one reason, and that is the erosion of river engineering.The funds allocated by the court to maintain the dam were misappropriated, and the river construction was falsified everywhere. The dam was already in disrepair, and even repairs could only be done. When heavy rain comes, how can it stop the overwhelming flood peak?

Therefore, after the floods started to appear, the magistrate of Tongzhou either did not dare or could not report the true situation.Otherwise, once the imperial court sends people to investigate, the corruption of Yongjiang River Engineering will be fully exposed.

Xiao Yu was silent for a moment and then said calmly: “Since you already know, why bother asking me.”

“The envoy didn’t mention anything about the Yongjiang Water Supervisor in the report. I’m afraid he was afraid of the power of the Qiu family.”

“That’s right.” Xiao Yu replied simply.

He’s performance made Yao Ji feel even more chilled: “So, what happens next?” Let’s just forget it and let the culprit go gently. It’s not like she didn’t see Xiao Yu’s attitude. With Xiao Yu’s ability, how could he not detect this good show of bullying the superiors and concealing the truth? Although the Tongzhou Zhizhou was guilty of heinous crimes, he was also a scapegoat, and the most hateful person still slept peacefully!

“Qiu Xingguo has agreed to implement the trial strategy,” Xiao Yu’s voice was extremely calm. “The Qiu family’s influence in the family is comparable to that of the Zhang family. Once the Qiu family relents, the number of strong opponents in the family will be reduced by more than half.”

Yao Ji didn’t speak, just looked at him.He seemed to be stung by that gaze, and lowered his eyes imperceptibly, but his tone did not pause at all: “Qiu Ping is Qiu Xingguo’s only son.”

Suddenly, Yao Ji remembered what the person in front of her once said: “To be a king, you must be kind, self-disciplined, and diligent. You have done all of these well, but the most important thing is that you can’t do it.”

She stepped back step by step, not knowing what to do. She just subconsciously wanted to escape, to escape from the coldness that was suffocating her.Finally it was her turn. Finally one day, this dirty choice came to her.

But Xiao Yu was as calm as if he was talking about the most common gossip in the world, as if there were no two hundred innocent lives sacrificed behind it.

“I know you can’t do it,” he said firmly and extremely coldly, “I’ll do it for you.”