Chapter 23: No One Understands Water Management Better Than I Do

"Why does Sister ask such a mundane question?"

The voice was cool and refined.

Xie Lingjiang was not surprised, seemingly accustomed to the young woman’s tone. She kicked off her shoes, climbed onto the veranda, and pulled back the curtain, instantly catching the scent of a lingering fragrance filling the room.

She looked toward the eaves of the water pavilion.

There sat a young woman, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, reading a book. Her appearance was transcendent, exceptionally pure and clean. She wore a green hibiscus-patterned cap, a crimson robe adorned with white pearls along the seams, and shoes embroidered with five-colored patterns.

The girl’s features were beautiful; a faint, plum-blossom-shaped mark on her forehead added a touch of mystery.

As she reclined to read, she wore a Taoist robe with a cap—a style of "women wearing men's clothing" currently popular among the upper-class nobility of the Great Zhou. Yet, compared to the heroic spirit of the Xie clan’s noblewomen, this girl with the plum-blossom mark possessed a more tranquil, detached Wei-Jin temperament.

Xie Lingjiang knelt beside her, a sword resting across her knees. "I may be causing some trouble by staying under the same roof for the coming days. Please don't mind, Sister Su."

Su Guo'er closed her book with delicate hands, showing a flicker of interest. "Does Sister Xie have any research into the metaphysics of the Xie clan?"

Xie Lingjiang shook her head, gazing ahead as a plum petal drifted into the pond. "All these years, I have only followed my father in studying Confucian classics."

Su Guo'er’s expression seemed to dampen with disappointment. She shook her head, lost interest, and rested her chin on the back of her hand, flicking a page with her finger.

Silence descended.

Beneath the eaves, one reclining and one sitting, the two women possessed vastly different auras.

Outside the courtyard, a young maid with chubby cheeks hummed a tune as she carried a tray of fruit. Seeing the figures of the two young ladies, she paused for a moment. She found the scene so beautiful that she could not bear to disturb them. Both her young mistress and the Xie lady were beauties of the highest order; she wondered which man would be lucky enough to win their favor.

...

During his afternoon nap, Ouyang Rong closed his eyes and flew into the Cloud Merit Tower.

Ever since he had concluded the court session on the main street earlier, his ears had been filled with the crisp, relentless sound of a wooden fish being struck—a sound that felt to him as refreshing as hearing celestial music after a long drought.

Finally, the balance was growing.

Entering the ancient tower, Ouyang Rong immediately looked at the ethereal characters floating above the small wooden fish, feeling a sense of deep satisfaction:

[Merit: 421]

He hadn't expected a single case to yield 271 points of merit.

He wondered if it was because the villain Liu Zilin was so utterly detestable that the people who had been bullied felt a sense of justice, or if the sight of silver being paid out to the injured masses had warmed their hearts.

Moreover, the "aftershocks" of the event did not seem to have finished. Beyond the burst of merit points received immediately after the verdict, he could still hear the occasional sound of the wooden fish ringing in his ears every few moments.

In truth, beyond the joy of moving closer to his "goal of ten thousand merit," Ouyang Rong felt the greatest utility of these points was the clear, unambiguous confirmation that what he was doing was just and that he was moving along the correct path.

Actually, that was enough. This positive feedback was sometimes more important than the merit points themselves.

From here on out, he would press forward without hesitation.

...

The afternoon nap ended.

Before the mid-afternoon hour had even passed, Ouyang Rong hurried to the county office. When Deputy Magistrate Diao arrived, Ouyang Rong looked up from his papers and asked directly:

"How many disaster victims are there in our county currently?"

"About two or three thousand."

"About?" Ouyang Rong frowned.

"Ahem, I haven't sent anyone to count specifically. It's calculated based on the daily relief grain distributed."

"Is it distributed per person?"

"It is distributed per household, three catties of rice per household."

"How is three catties enough?" Ouyang Rong furrowed his brows. As an adult, he ate more than a catty a day at the temple, and that was with access to protein and vegetables. The disaster victims had nothing but rice. "Including the elderly and children, a household has at least five or six people. And they are eating only three catties?"

"Eh, Magistrate, three catties is already plenty. These are special circumstances; as long as they can half-fill their stomachs, it’s enough. Our Longcheng granary doesn't have a surplus either."

"Then how much grain is left in the Longcheng County public granary?"

Deputy Magistrate Diao thought for a moment. "About ten thousand shi."

"Is it exactly ten thousand, or more or less? Is there no precise number?" Ouyang Rong took a deep breath. "Forget it, I'll handle it."

Deputy Magistrate Diao smiled sheepishly.

"Magistrate, there is no need to be so troubled or pedantic. The imperial court has regulations: grain given to the poor each year cannot exceed ten thousand shi, and relief for disaster years only needs to be issued for three months. We must follow the rules. The disaster relief grain from above hasn't arrived yet, so our office only needs to distribute ten thousand shi. I calculated it a few days ago, and ten thousand shi is exactly enough. If they are frugal, it should last two or three thousand households for three months."

Ouyang Rong looked at him and nodded. "Magistrate Diao is certainly very precise with these calculations, not ambiguous at all."

Diao naturally caught the sarcasm, but he lowered his head to drink tea, feigning ignorance.

Ouyang Rong dropped his eyes to the files on the table and remained silent. The hall was quiet for a while until the young magistrate said calmly:

"I have studied the topographical map of Longcheng County and the records of historical floods in the county annals.

"Our county is located between the Yangtze River and the ancient Yunmeng Marsh. Butterfly Creek is the main channel through which the waters of the marsh drain into the Yangtze.

"The middle reaches of the Yangtze have been prone to fierce flooding since ancient times, especially during the flood season in May and June. The main current is particularly swift, making it difficult for the waters of Yunmeng Marsh to discharge. This is why the recent rise in water levels and the breach in Yunmeng Marsh caused Butterfly Creek to overflow, easily submerging our county for days—the Yangtze, being so high, simply could not drain the floodwater.

"In previous years, the rising waters of Yunmeng Marsh usually occurred during the plum rain season starting in June, but this year is exceptionally abnormal!

"We haven't even reached the peak of the plum rain season, yet the strange, massive surge from the marsh has already collapsed the Di Gong Sluice, our primary flood defense!"

Ouyang Rong stood up, leaning on the table, his expression stern.

"There is an eighty percent chance that this is not the only flood this year. Once the rains of the plum season arrive, there will be an even more violent one!"

Deputy Magistrate Diao stopped, his teacup frozen in his hand, staring blankly at Ouyang Rong. "The Magistrate deduced all this just by looking at maps and county annals?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Deputy Magistrate Diao was shocked. "This... I am dull-witted and don't quite understand, but it seems there is some truth to what you say. I never imagined you were so young yet so well-versed in water management. There are very few officials in the Great Zhou who possess such talent."

This time it was Ouyang Rong’s turn to be stunned. He frowned and asked, "Then how did you prevent floods before? Longcheng has experienced so many great floods; do you mean to tell me you never knew the cause?"

Deputy Magistrate Diao was speechless.

"Floods happen when they happen. Aside from the Dragon King, who can control them? However, before the Di Gong Sluice was built, Longcheng was flooded in a minor way every year and severely every three. After it was built, it became a major flood every four years.

"So, every four years during the plum rain season, we would be extra vigilant. We just didn't expect the rise in Yunmeng Marsh to come so early this year, catching us unprepared and leading to the current situation.

"And according to the rule of a 'major flood every four years,' we’ve already had one, so the next one shouldn't be for another four years... Is that rule no longer accurate?"

Ouyang Rong: "..."

Good grief, I am explaining science to you, and you are reciting nursery rhymes?

However, he soon understood and calmed down. No one can transcend the era they live in, unless they do not belong to it in the first place.

Ouyang Rong waved his hand.

"Let’s not argue over this. Listen to me: starting today, I am taking full responsibility for disaster relief and flood control.

"If we don't want the entire city to be submerged in the next flood, we must preemptively repair our flood defenses. To do that, we must first provide relief and pacify the ten thousand displaced people inside and outside the county."

He spoke with ironclad resolve. "The two are not mutually exclusive. I will organize the people to work in exchange for relief. But the ten thousand shi in the public granary is not enough; that is the bare minimum for the vulnerable, and it cannot be touched. I need more grain. You must immediately send men to Jiangzhou to urge them; the imperial relief grain must be released as soon as possible. We cannot delay for even a moment!"

Deputy Magistrate Diao silently looked at the energetic young magistrate before him and thought for a moment. "The petition has already been sent posthaste. I expect the court will likely authorize the use of grain from the nearby Jiangzhou Jimin Granary."

"Jimin Granary?"

"It is the granary the imperial court maintains to guard against natural disasters. They are set up in every province. The one closest to us is the Jiangzhou Jimin Granary. By regulation, it stores hundreds of thousands of shi."

"That should be enough."

Hearing this, Ouyang Rong felt a sense of relief. It seemed the Great Zhou Dynasty was somewhat reliable after all, possessing a functional system he had previously underestimated.

Just then, Deputy Magistrate Diao glanced toward the door and whispered:

"However, Magistrate, if you are truly worried about the people and anxious to control the floods, there is actually another way... You might even be able to resolve the flood without needing to use the court's relief grain, and perhaps even earn a promotion and commendation from the court."

Ouyang Rong was curious. "What way?"

Deputy Magistrate Diao smiled. "The Liu family."