CHAPTER 133: CHAPTER 133: WHICH STUDENT FROM HUNTIAN ACADEMY?

Tonghua Gate, located northeast of the Capital City, is especially heavily guarded due to its proximity to Yongfu Village, where Princes reside.

On this day, the commanding officer on the city gate tower was patrolling back and forth. As he inadvertently gazed into the distance, he suddenly saw a lone rider galloping at full speed, showing no signs of slowing down as he approached the city gate.

"Stop him!"

With the order given, the city gate’s guards prepared to intercept.

However, as the rider reached the city gate, before the guards could shout for him to stop, he abruptly reined his horse to a halt, and immediately, a person fell off the horse’s back.

Covered in dust and mud, mixed with bloodstains, the person was still identifiable by his blue official robe.

The guards quickly stepped forward to help him up.

The man suddenly grabbed a guard’s hand, lifting a face that was unrecognizable: "Your... Your Majesty, save me..."

...

The twelfth year of Taixing, September 20.

Yuan Xi, the Imperial Censor on an inspection tour of Hedong Dao by imperial decree, returned to the Capital City injured, with no trace of his entourage.

On that day, the Palace urgently summoned more than a dozen high-ranking officials, and the Dragon Face was furious in the Liangyi Palace.

...

"What kind of background do the officials of Hedong Dao have to dare attack the Capital City Inspection Envoy?" Tang Xiaobai held a book but couldn’t read a single word.

The incident of Yuan Xi’s assassination attempt in Hedong, she had only heard about superficially at the academy. The deeper intricacies could only be discerned by asking the young ancestor.

That Yuan Xi was the younger brother of Empress Yuan.

No matter how out of favor Empress Yuan was, or how the Yuan Family had declined, they were still part of the Royal Family.

A Royal Family member on an inspection tour nearly losing his life.

Weren’t the people of Hedong Dao almost rebelling?

"Hedong Dao’s forces are varied and mixed in origin," Li Mu replied while flipping through a book.

Tang Xiaobai noticed he didn’t answer the second question and glanced at him, asking, "Isn’t it possible that someone impersonated Hedong Dao officials to assassinate Yuan Xi?"

The young man’s fair face reddened slightly, and he shyly responded with an "um."

Tang Xiaobai: ...

"You guys really know how to play games..." Tang Xiaobai muttered, then sighed, "So much effort spent, yet Prince Jin gained the advantage!"

Yuan Xi being injured like this naturally tarnished His Majesty the Emperor’s reputation. Furthermore, with the disaster in Hedong being real, the Emperor could not easily let it go.

Thus, he ordered Prince Jin, Li Shu, to deploy the imperial guard to station in Hedong, hold officials accountable, and aid disaster victims.

Through accountability, one gains prestige; through disaster relief, one earns the people’s hearts.

This development was quite frustrating.

"Hedong’s disaster has lasted for over half a year, and the market’s grain has been bought up. The Taiyuan Prefecture’s Changping Granary also has significant fraud. Prince Jin won’t gain much from this disaster relief," Li Mu said while writing with a brush.

"How significant is the fraud in the Changping Granary?" Tang Xiaobai asked.

Li Mu paused for a moment and said, "Very significant."

Apart from the Capital City, the Court had established ten Changping Granaries across various locations to stabilize grain prices and reserve for disasters.

The issue with Taiyuan Prefecture’s Changping Granary wasn’t just a matter of fraud.

Although he didn’t say it explicitly, Tang Xiaobai roughly guessed and muttered, "Then Hedong’s disaster is still, still..."

She was very conflicted.

She didn’t want Prince Jin to benefit from disaster relief, yet she also didn’t want ineffective disaster relief to worsen the situation.

"Hedong is not far from Luoyang and the Capital City, so grain can be transferred from both places," Li Mu said while writing furiously and speaking distractedly, "The Crown Prince Mansion will also take the lead in donating money and grain."

"How much money and grain does the Crown Prince Mansion have?" Tang Xiaobai said dismissively.

That young Crown Prince, who had been ill for many years and just recovered a bit, could he possibly be wealthier than her family?

Li Mu noticed her dismissiveness, paused his writing, and glanced at her: "Not much."

Originally, it wasn’t much, but it quickly increased, at least more than Duke Yan Mansion.

Understanding the implication of his glance, Tang Xiaobai nodded and said, "I’ll discuss with my family later to see if we can lead by donating a bit. Doing a good deed also earns a reputation—" Then, she suddenly lowered her voice and conspiratorially asked him, "Care to disclose how much the Crown Prince plans to donate? As subjects, it wouldn’t be proper for us to surpass the Crown Prince..."

Li Mu didn’t want to answer and continued writing industriously.

Tang Xiaobai, seeing him seriously working on his assignments, felt embarrassed to disturb him further and went back to her own homework.

...

Tang Xiaobai was currently studying the Analects, mostly involving copying, interpreting, and occasionally writing a short essay on her reflections after reading.

None of these were difficult for her, and she finished them quickly.

After setting aside her pen and shaking her wrist, she noticed the young ancestor still bent over his work, writing furiously, which puzzled her.

They had the same assignments, and he usually finished first. Even though he had started earlier today, he still hadn’t finished?

Curiously, she leaned over to take a look and was momentarily stunned.

He wasn’t writing today’s assignment.

The young ancestor’s work was usually done in one go, earning full marks for neatness.

But now, the paper in front of him was filled with scribbles and corrections, as if there were many uncertainties.

And what he was writing—

"Come take a look too, see if there’s anything to add?" Li Mu, aware of her presence, paused his pen and pushed his writing toward her.

"What is this..." Tang Xiaobai asked in surprise.

Li Mu smiled slightly: "The Twelve Disaster Relief Measures; we can’t just look at them lightly."

Since he promised her to properly handle the disaster, preparations needed to start promptly.

"The Twelve Disaster Relief Measures" refers to the twelve strategies for disaster relief recorded in the Ritual of Zhou. Disaster relief generally follows these, but must be adapted to the circumstances of different locations.

Additionally, he also referred to methods recorded in historical texts from previous dynasties for dealing with droughts.

After looking over it, Tang Xiaobai felt that from a disaster relief planning perspective, she couldn’t think of as much as he had, let alone add anything substantial.

However—

"You plan to submit this proposal, right?" Tang Xiaobai asked.

Li Mu nodded: "After refining, Mr. Lin will present it to the Prime Minister."

Tang Xiaobai contemplated briefly, picked up a pen, and began adding words to the paper, saying, "Since you’re writing this, make it comprehensive—"

"Although the immediate priority is relief, we can’t just focus on the present. Let’s include pre-disaster prevention and post-disaster reconstruction..."

...

On September 25, Prince Jin, Li Shu, who had gone to Hedong for disaster relief, urgently dispatched someone back to the Capital City to report, stating that only ten thousand shi of grain remained in the Taiyuan Prefecture’s Changping Granary, and requested grain transfers from Luoyang and the Capital City.

Tang Xiaobai, upon hearing this news, was so shocked she didn’t know what to say.

She had specifically checked that, under normal circumstances, the Taiyuan Prefecture’s Changping Granary should have no less than four hundred thousand shi of grain stored. How many rats had it taken to empty the entire granary?

Regardless of how shocked and angry the throne and his ministers were, the grain relief issue was extremely urgent.

Just as the Emperor decreed the grain transfer, the Crown Prince Li Mu, once again under illness, presented a proposal, willing to donate three years of the Crown Prince Mansion’s salary to Hedong’s disaster relief.

Immediately following, Duke Yan Mansion also donated three years.

Consequently, the Royal Family, Prime Minister, and Chief of Staff all generously contributed, each donating three years.

On the first day of October, the money and grain, along with the decree, departed eastward from the Capital City.

At the same time, during the court assembly in Taiji Palace, Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat Wang Maozhao took out a thick memorial from his sleeve, stepped forward, and reported loudly: "A student from the private academy Huntian Academy south of the city has submitted the Ten Strategies for Flood Control in Hedong, requesting Your Majesty’s review!"

The Emperor frowned: "Huntian Academy? Which student?"