CHAPTER 1548: CHAPTER 1548: RETURN

Zhou Shuren pinched his fingertips; snow disaster, the Southern regions had heavy snow. There were many snowfalls entering winter this year, and he had a premonition which now came true.

The Emperor felt burdened in his heart, initially believing this year would be smooth sailing, but the Southern regions experienced heavy snow, with urgent Zhezi sent to the capital, and even places that never snowed witnessed snowfall.

The Emperor said, "All beloved ministers, does anyone have a good strategy?"

Mr. Qie stepped forward, "The Imperial court has a comprehensive strategy for dealing with snow disasters, starting with disaster relief."

Old man Lau stepped forward, "This is a Southern snow disaster, the affected states have never seen snow, there are no strategies in place for these states."

Another official stepped forward, "Send personnel there to provide guidance."

Zhou Shuren felt exasperated internally, "Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst."

He didn’t even look at which states were mentioned in the Zhezi. If the river surface is frozen, sending people from the capital might take forever.

Rongchuan stepped forward, "Emperor, each state has stationed troops; we can mobilize the troops first to cooperate with Government Office soldiers in snow clearing and rescue tasks."

Zhou Shuren nodded approvingly; his son-in-law was quick-witted. He glanced at the previous speakers and sneered inwardly. It’s not that they had no solutions; they just weren’t willing to speak out. Their responses were all conventional!

Now that Prince Qin spoke up, the old fellows fell silent, pretending they hadn’t spoken at all.

Zhou Shuren continued, "Also, organize the populace for self-help, let villages act as units to self-clear the snow and organize firewood collection tasks. Finally, evaluate and reward the top three with medicines, cotton, grains, etc."

The Crown Prince already sat down and noted, expanding his ideas as he wrote.

Old man Wen also spoke up, "Moreover, various merchants should be utilized. Next year, the greatest contributors can receive partial tax exemptions."

Zhou Shuren said no more; they all had brains, just unwilling to stand out. With a good method, nobody wanted him to monopolize the credit.

In Qiizhou Province, Lady Dong stood in the yard wrapped tightly, looking up at the sky, "Has the snow been falling intermittently for seven days now?"

The old woman shivered, "Yes, what’s going on? I heard from local Qiizhou people that last year Qiizhou’s snowfall was odd; this year it’s even scarier."

The young servant in the yard cleaned almost half-man high snow; this, is this living?

Lady Dong and her husband reviewed Qiizhou’s historical records, finding that historically it did snow in Qiizhou but never this heavily, so last year they didn’t pay much attention, but this year it turned into a snow disaster.

Seeing the old woman’s face turn blue from cold, Lady Dong turned back indoors, "The storeroom has cotton sent from the capital. Ask the steward to distribute some cotton for you to make warm winter clothes."

She wasn’t a master who mistreated servants, feeling grateful for her eldest daughter’s thoughtfulness, sending plenty of cotton and leather hides.

The old woman thanked for the grace and happily left, as they servants also had cotton clothing, though not very thick. Now, with temperatures dropping drastically, cotton clothing didn’t keep warm.

At the Government Office, the Magistrate felt unlucky; he hadn’t had a smooth year for several years, "Insufficient cotton; the streets are empty, everyone retreated indoors, even soldiers need thicker cotton clothing. Do you have any solutions?"

Chang Lian had no solutions; the sudden heavy snowfall in Qiizhou was unexpected, let alone its scale reaching disaster status. Not only the Magistrate; he was also physically and mentally exhausted, "Zhezi has been urgently sent to the capital. First, clear the snow and prepare cold remedies. The temperature drop makes it easy to fall ill."

The Magistrate rubbed his frozen stiff face, "Currently, that’s all we can do."

Chang Lian watched the government official outside stomping from cold; if even officials were like this, you can imagine poor citizens’ plight. What worried him more was illness; the elderly and children were hardest to endure.

Chang Lian also rubbed his face; since transferring to Qiizhou Province, he hadn’t stopped donating things. This time, the herbal medicine his daughter sent again couldn’t be kept, including cotton and more.

At the Zhou residence, Ma, Lau Jia’s mother, came to see her daughter. Since her husband left the capital, Ma rarely went out. If it wasn’t for her daughter’s prenatal concerns, she wouldn’t have visited.

Zhulan saw the worry on Ma’s face, "I won’t keep you. Go see Lau Jia."

Ma felt lacking in confidence, for her daughter liked spicy food only, "I won’t disturb the Lady."

Zhulan nodded, and after Ma left, she said to Zhao, "With no backbone in the family, Ma speaks cautiously."

Zhao replied, "Mother, also because Lau Jia is possibly expecting a girl, which leaves her uneasy."

Zhulan said, "Girls and boys are the same here, but your uncle doesn’t think so."

"So, noble families aren’t necessarily good; Yu Lu’s girl takes after her mother’s fertility."

"Yushuang had also given birth to two sons, luckily Yushuang is in Zhangzhou Province, still unaware of her second son’s birth, otherwise our family’s reputation would have spread far."

Zhao said, "Yushuang escaped; everyone’s eyes are on Yu Lu’s belly."

Even Zhulan’s apple lost its sweetness, "I’m genuinely conflicted; I hope Yu Lu has a son and a daughter or first have two sons."

If this birth is another son, Yu Lu’s position in the Wang family would be unshakeable. Besides the five-year agreement, she would be further pampered, and concubinage won’t even be mentioned.

Zhao truly felt her daughter’s marital match was good; her mother-in-law easy to get along with, her son-in-law ambitious and affectionate towards her daughter, making her life very comfortable, with no pressures at all.

Meanwhile, her niece Yu Lu was under scrutiny; her sister-in-law secretly prayed for a son this time. Though Yu Lu hadn’t spoken it aloud, Zhao could feel Yu Lu desired a son.

In the evening, Zhou Shuren returned very late; Zhulan asked, "Why come back so late?"

Once Zhou Shuren returned, the maids and old servants would leave the room. Zhou Shuren, lowering his voice, explained the snow disaster situation, "Allocated materials delayed me."

Zhulan said, "The capital hasn’t experienced a snow disaster. I thought there wouldn’t be major disasters this year; turns out it’s in the South."

"I’ve been watching closely and anticipated it."

"If manpower is insufficient, you can let the unaffected Lin Province assist."

Zhou Shuren replied, "I’ve already mentioned that. Oh, each state has its own selfish desires; not sure how much help they’ll provide."

"Ha, ancient times were too self-centered, with states and noble families controlling everything, thinking only of their own interests, strictly hierarchical, and people’s lives worthless to them."

Zhou Shuren patted his wife’s hand, "Don’t be angry, things will gradually improve."

"Only with change can things get better."

Zhou Shuren changed clothes, "The Retired Emperor had a nightmare, predicting ’Stabilize and Secure the Nation,’ which has made me busier but my influence on the Emperor grows deeper. Some good policies will gradually be implemented. Even after I die, I’ll leave writings for the Crown Prince."

He believed change would come gradually; seeds needed to be planted one by one until they grew into towering trees someday.

In the middle of the night, Marquis Zhou’s residence’s gate was knocked on; Qing Xue heard the news, and Zhulan rose with candles already lit in the room, "What’s happened?"

Qing Xue saw Mr. Hou also awake, lowered his head, "Someone from the Jiang family sought the doctor, saying Jiang Ping has returned."

Zhulan hurriedly tried to get out of bed, "Jiang Ping is back? Why call for a doctor?"