Get out of the way, the prime minister is mine!

The Yunming drought was the first life-and-death event that Chu Yuchen encountered since he became emperor.Unlike the previous imperial examinations or the currency reform, even if it failed, it would only hurt labor and money. However, if the drought is not handled properly, it may cause countless deaths and injuries, and even cause major events in the court.

Chu Yuchen felt a heavy weight on his shoulders, and the invisible pressure pressed down.She locked herself in the Xuanning Palace, and carefully read the handouts presented many times, but she still couldn't think of a better way.

After all, Chu Yuchen was young, so he inevitably panicked when encountering such a thing.She put down the memorial, walked back and forth in the huge Xuanning Palace, took a deep breath to calm herself down.

When Liu Feiran arrived, he was rarely stopped by Xiao Kezi, who said with a troubled expression: "Prime Minister, please stay."

Liu Feiran was slightly surprised, and asked, "Is His Majesty not inside?"

"Yes, it's just..." Xiao Kezi peeked at Liu Feiran's expression, "It's just that His Majesty ordered no one to disturb him."

Chu Yuchen doesn't like to be disturbed, but he never divides Liu Feiran among them.But this time, Xiao Kezi stopped Liu Feiran, it can be seen that it was Chu Yuchen's idea.

Liu Feiran quickly realized that Chu Yuchen wanted to think of countermeasures on his own.That's fine, although His Majesty's ability to think alone is good, but sometimes he still relies on himself.As the king of a country, she cannot always be relied on like this.

Liu Feiran couldn't tell whether it was disappointment or gratification, or both, she didn't make things difficult for Xiao Kezi, she only knew about it, and left the palace.

But Chu Yuchen worked so hard, Liu Feiran, as the prime minister, naturally would not stand idly by. Although the two separated, they both tacitly began to search for the past files.

Disasters like floods and droughts have always been major events, and they will definitely be mentioned in the past files. Referring to the past handling methods, there may be effective solutions.

The two of them were so busy that they were immersed in their own busyness for several days.Chu Yuchen didn't find a better solution from the file, so he couldn't help but put down the file and fell into another thought.

The last severe drought occurred nearly 40 years ago, and the records are very detailed. The officials in charge of disaster relief, the outbreak of the plague, and how to solve the plague in the end are all clearly written.

But the focus of that drought was on the plague. The now deceased King of Medicine participated in it back then and became famous all over the world from the cure of the plague.

What was the specific situation of the drought 40 years ago, and how was it resolved later?Chu Yuchen felt that it was necessary to ask the officials of the year.

40 years ago, although it was a long time ago, most of the officials mentioned above, Liu Feiran, had only heard their names but never met them.Prime Minister Qin was the mainstay of the imperial court back then, but Prime Minister Qin has gone, and the rest have never met.

Chu Yuchen sent someone to inquire about the news, Xiao Kezi didn't dare to neglect, this matter was related to the country, there was no need to cover it up, so he released the news directly, and the courtiers responded.

Fortunately, an official who was in charge of the drought stayed in Qicheng for the elderly after he became an official.His name is Sun Rong, and his son is also an official in the court. He is now Zuo Pushe.

Chu Yuchen immediately summoned Sun Rong.

Sun Rong is now over seventy years old, his face is old, but his spirit is not bad.He hadn't entered the palace for many years, and now he was standing on the Xuanning Palace again, seeing the young emperor's face, his expression was agitated, and he wanted to kneel tremblingly, "See Your Majesty—"

As an old man, Sun Rong dedicated his whole life to the imperial court. Chu Yuchen was also respectful, and quickly said, "Sun Weng don't need to be polite, come here and give me a seat."

Sun Rong was not as good as Prime Minister Qin or Prime Minister Liang back then. His body was obviously ill, and he was so old that half of his foot seemed to have stepped into the coffin.When he saw Chu Yuchen, his eyes were red, "I never thought that at this age, I would see His Majesty again."

Chu Yuchen gave a few words of encouragement. She was not used to beating around the bush, so she asked directly: "I invited the old man here to ask one thing. 40 years ago, there was a drought in the Yantang area. Does the old man still have any memories?"

When it comes to what happened back then, Sun Rong seemed to have a gleam of light in his cloudy eyes, "I remember, why don't I remember?"

He seemed to be younger in an instant, and he seemed to have returned to the court, following Prime Minister Qin, and rushing about the drought that year.Although he is busy and hard, those things are the heavy pen and ink in his life.

Chu Yuchen's expression softened slightly, "I looked through the files, but there was no detailed explanation on how to solve the drought that year. I called the old man here just to learn about the situation back then."

Sun Rong slowly fell into contemplation, and after a while, he slowly said: "The old minister remembers that in the 11th year of Yongkang, a drought broke out in Yantang. But the officials below, in order to cover up their crimes, concealed it. When the imperial court knew about it, refugees had already formed."

When Sun Rong talked about what happened back then, Chu Yuchen had been listening attentively, asking some questions from time to time.But the imperial court knew it too late back then, so they could only clean up the mess. Everything they did was to appease the refugees and rebuild after the event. Although it could play some role, it was all after the event and could not solve the current problem.

Chu Yuchen was a little irritable, took a deep breath, suppressed his impetuosity, and asked: "Then what happened in the drought-stricken land that year left a deep impression on the old man?"

The old man shook his head, "The drought-stricken land is all barren, with no grass growing, and there is nothing special to see."

Chu Yuchen paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, "The old man might as well think about it carefully."

Sun Rong's memory is not bad, but after thinking about it for a while, he still shook his head, "Probably not, but the old minister had a speculation back then."

"Oh? What speculation?"

"The old minister suspects that the severity of the drought is related to vegetation." Sun Rong's old face flashed with excitement, "After the drought ended, the old minister was very curious about how the drought was caused. Others said that God was angry, but the old minister If you don’t believe me, I searched countless volumes and books for reference.”

"The droughts are all similar, but the old minister still found subtle differences. Generally, places with severe droughts are mostly areas where farmland is reclaimed. There are few plants and trees, and there are not many hills at all. All of them have been reclaimed and turned into farmland."

"If this is the only basis, the veteran would not dare to make such an assertion, but at the same time, the veteran also found that the land only two hundred miles away from the drought is full of greenery and is hardly affected by the drought. go."

"After discovering this possibility, the old minister has been studying this matter all his life, but there has been no drought in the future. The old minister's statement was reported to His Majesty, but His Majesty didn't care at that time. Later, the old minister had no chance to confirm this matter until The old minister has retired, and he will not mention it again."

Sun Rong's words sound a little weird. Why does the amount of vegetation affect the possibility of drought?Chu Yuchen had some understanding of why the former emperor ignored Sun Rong, after all, it sounded completely irrelevant.

But Chu Yuchen is not such a person. Under the influence of Liu Feiran, she also pays great attention to details. Since Sun Rong dared to say such a thing, it means that he may have seen something. So Chu Yuchen said: "This matter is very important, I'm afraid I will trouble the old man to organize this matter into a booklet, and then pass it to the palace."

When Sun Rong heard this, he never imagined that he would be reused by His Majesty at the end of his life. If this matter is done well, he may be recorded in the history books and his name will remain in the history.Sun Rong's voice trembled with excitement, and he stood up tremblingly, "The old minister will definitely live up to His Majesty's trust."

After Sun Rong went back, he immediately called his son, and started writing and investigating the matter.He had a good memory, and he remembered most of the files he had seen before. With his own guesses, after a few days of hard work, he handed over a memorial and related files.

Chu Yuchen was fascinated, and indeed found that there was a certain pattern in what Sun Rong said, but Chu Yuchen didn't understand why there was such a pattern.She read a lot of books, some of which mentioned the importance of vegetation, but she didn't explain why.

Chu Yuchen couldn't help but fell into deep thought. If the drought can be eliminated to a certain extent, that would be the best.After all, as the emperor, she naturally hoped that the people would live and work in peace and contentment, and she also hoped that the state of Jing would last forever.If this incident is true, such a thing may be avoided in the future, isn't it?

But how to manage things like vegetation?Plant some trees?Wouldn't this consume a lot of manpower?Moreover, to plant trees, the imperial court has to allocate funds, and if it goes down layer by layer, there will be various situations.

It takes manpower... Chu Yuchen thought about it, and a gleam flashed in his winking eyes.

Now that there is a drought, the common people are unable to farm normally, and everyone is idle at home, isn't it just idle?What if the distribution of food is not a gift, but they have to work to receive it?

Labor is planting trees, isn't it?

No, it can't be planting trees now, the land is dry and cracked, and no crop can survive.Only when the ground is moistened with water can you start planting things.

Water... now is a drought, and what is lacking is water.

Water...how can there be water?What else can I do except it rains?

By the way, drainage can come from elsewhere.I'm afraid it's not enough to rely on the existing creek, so how about making the creek bigger and turning it into a small river?Small rivers are not enough, so what about big rivers?How can it become a big river?Only by artificial digging, is there anyone?Yes, the people who are unable to work due to drought are human beings!

And at this juncture, they can be asked to work hard without pay!Or give some rewards. Under the premise of drought, they will not be dissatisfied, and will definitely support the court's actions!

In this way, the problem of refugees can be solved, and plans can also be made for the future!

The more Chu Yuchen thought about it, the more he felt that it was feasible. He just felt his scalp tingle at this moment, so excited that he stood up all of a sudden, and shouted: "Come on, hurry up! Invite the Prime Minister!"