Chapter 281: Dragon King’s Invitation (1/2)
Chapter 281: Dragon King’s Invitation
Translator: NinetalesEditor: DarkGem
Once the huge bridge was connected, the numerous officials from Ministry of Works flew up and surveyed the surroundings of the dam. Qin Mu saw many people holding stakes and stabbing them into the dam, one stake every three hundred yards.
Beside each stake stood a person and someone erected a huge bell on the heart of the river. With a resounding clang of a bell, the stakes trembled and the people beside them leaned in to listen to their trembling.
”What are they doing?” Qin Mu couldn't help being bewildered.
Ling Yuxiu walked to his side and said, ”This you wouldn't know, but Mud River frequently flooded its surroundings back in the day, thus Imperial Preceptor ordered the assistant minister of Ministry of Works to govern it. A lot of financial resources went into it, so father was very angry and asked why the assistant minister had spent so much money and on what he had spent it.
”He was told that a copper wall was erected on both sides of Mud River. The copper walls were two inches thick and two feet tall. They were laid out along with the dam and stretched for ten thousand miles. The copper walls were covered with rune markings, so to check for any hidden cracks or thinning of the walls, they could just ring the bell. The sound would activate the rune markings to resonate together, and the sound waves could be used to judge if there are any hidden cracks or loss in thickness.”
Qin Mu looked toward Heavenly Works Hall Master who was busy and praised, ”What a great idea.”
Si Yunxiang also came over and said, ”Emperor almost executed him because he spent too much money.”
Ling Yuxiu took a glance at her and said, ”The assistant minister had spent too much money. In the recent years, he has manufactured a flying ship, decorated pleasure boats that sail in the sea, ships that runs on land, flywheel carriages, smelting factories for the ore mountains, arms workshops, and manufacturing plants in various regions. Various cities even had a revamp which included the sewers under the city, the paving of roads, the cloud chariots used to invade cities, the stronghold at the borders, and even machine manufacturing.
”I wasn't born then, but I heard from second brother that the amount of money spent by the assistant minister had made father and all the princes, concubines, and Empress Dowager tighten up their waistbands until they turned green from starvation. The empire's treasury was emptied out in a short while and the officials' salaries were owed them for a few months.”
Si Yunxiang smiled. ”What happened next?”
Ling Yuxiu sighed. ”After that, the smelting factories were popularized, and all kinds of flying ships and decorated pleasure boats were sold to merchants. The manufacturing plants continuously produced goods and before two years were gone, the empire's treasury was filled to the brim. A few more treasuries had to be constructed to hold the money, thus father was glad he didn't kill the assistant minister.
”Ministry of Works is the best at spending money, while the next best spenders would be the officials of the Water Department. They constructed irrigation works and transportation in various regions like water-drawing chariots, flood-discharging lakes, all kinds of dams and bridges, and opening canals. They spend money like flowing water, but they also improve the quality of life for the common people.”
Si Yunxiang blinked and said, ”It seems like it's always the assistant minister and the officials that are spending the money, so what's the government minister for? Seems like all the work is being done under the orders of the Assistant Minister Shan Youxin, while the government minister seems to not be doing anything.”
Ling Yuxiu also blinked. ”The government minister supervises their spending.”
Si Yunxiang gave a shallow laugh. ”The government minister should be placed to supervise them yet the emperor isn't reassured, am I right? After all, the assistant minister and these officials are all people of Heavenly Saint Cult. The emperor knows they are hall masters and incense masters of Heavenly Saint Cult so he isn't certain about them.”
Ling Yuxiu's gaze landed on her body. ”Junior Sister Yunxiang seems to be very considerate of Heavenly Saint Cult.”
Si Yunxiang smiled sweetly. ”This little sister is untalented, I'm just the saintess of Heavenly Saint Cult so I naturally have to be considerate of them. Cult Master Qin is the cult master sacred teacher, so he is also concerned about this area. As the saintess, the questions I ask princess are also the questions cult master is concerned about.”
The two girls stared at each other with wide eyes.
Qin Mu ignored them and looked into the distance. He saw the officials of Department of Water and Department of Land checking the land and irrigation works. In the meantime, the Department of Harvest was checking on the fruits and vegetables, thus he walked forward.
”Cult Master, before the yellow autumn crop can be collected, they will be attacked by pest insects.”
The official of the Department of Harvest was the incense master of Farmer Hall. He dug around the soil for inspection and picked up a couple insect eggs while speaking to Qin Mu. ”Even though the winter was very cold, these eggs weren't frozen to death. In some three to five days when the weather becomes warm, these eggs will hatch. Since most of the vegetations were chopped down and burnt by the victims of the disaster during winter, the insects will start to eat crops, since they'll have nothing else to eat. It's best to be on guard early to prevent insect damage. Once they hatch, they should be killed immediately.”
Qin Mu asked, ”Incense Master, how can insect damage be prevented?”
”Have the experts of sword skills stationed at these cultivated lands, or experts of spells with needle spells. Otherwise, we could also let experts of venomous insects come forth to release their insects to eat the pest ones.”
The official from the Department of Harvest stood up and patted his hands, dirt plentiful on both his body and hands. ”The disciples of Sword Hall, Spell Hall, and Venomous Insect Hall can all come out to gain experience.”
Qin Mu nodded and invited Fan Yunxiao over. ”Brother Fan, pass down my orders for a dozen disciples from Sword Hall, Spell Hall, and Venomous Insect Hall each to come here.”
Fan Yunxiao called a bandit over and told him to send the order.
The Department of Water was rectifying the irrigation works, cleaning out the sludge that had accumulated in the aqueduct. They also replanned the waterway to make it more convenient to water the cultivated land.
On the other side, the official from the Department of Land was measuring the land. He took out heaven measuring rulers, and with his vital qi, the rulers opened up from their overlapped state and became longer and longer. On the rulers, the marked scale of the measurement appeared, and an imperial scholar recorded the numbers, clacking on an unusual abacus formed by his vital qi.
Meanwhile, the assistant minister brought everyone from the Department of Works to fly into the sky and survey the situation of the roads in various parts of Auspicious Prefecture from the sky. They recorded down which parts of the roads were destroyed before going forth to repair them.
'Shan Youxin is a capable man!' Qin Mu exclaimed to himself. The officials from the Ministry of Works of Eternal Peace Empire had a methodically arranged way of handling things and what they were doing indeed benefited both the country and the people.
In the city lord's manor, the magistrate of Auspicious Prefecture reported the situation, and Ling Yushu listened for the entire night. He then summoned the official registrar to check the various records and was so busy that he didn't even sleep for a moment.
When it came to the second day, Ling Yushu and the magistrate of Auspicious Prefecture were both slightly exhausted. Just as the crown prince walked out of the city lord's manor, the government minister and assistant minister came over. Assistant Minister Shan Youxin handed him a few scrolls. ”Your Highness, the problems regarding the irrigation works, transportation, as well as vegetables and fruits have already been handled. Only the problems under the Department of Land requires Your Highness to handle them.”
Ling Yushu was astonished and cried out, ”So fast?”