"Your Majesty, could it be that Shen Qianxian's superiors blocked the Yellow River breach?"

As the "chief assistant" of the cabinet, Ma Yu stood up and asked, even if his qualifications are too young to convince the public, at least his status is here, and the court meeting will eventually have to show a sense of presence on behalf of the cabinet.

"That's right, Shen Xiangbei blocked the Shawan breach in just three days, and also reinforced the Yellow River embankment across the board. Shandong can rest easy this year!"

Block the Yellow River breach for three days during the flood season?

As soon as this statement came out, all the civil and military officials in the hall had expressions of disbelief on their faces.

The Yellow River has breached in the past dynasties, not to mention being blocked for three days, or failing to be blocked for three years. As a result, the Yellow River has taken over the Huaihe River and flowed into the sea several times.

But no matter how much you don't believe it, Shen Yichen's advice to the emperor cannot be fake, right?

In other words, there is no room for fraud in this kind of hydrological dredging. Whether or not the subsequent dredging by the Chief Secretary of Shandong Province is blocked, we will know that Shen Yichen does not have the ability to cover the sky with just one hand after leaving Shandong for one year.

Seeing the changes in the expressions on the faces of His Highness and the ministers, Zhu Qizhen knew that these people did not believe it. To be honest, if it were not for the content of this letter and the detailed and accurate data, he would not believe it.

"The officer of praise will read Shen Xiangbei to all your dear friends."

"My lord, please obey the Holy Instructions."

The chanting officer of Honglu Temple, who was standing below the imperial platform, immediately knelt down to accept the order after hearing Zhu Qi's decree. Then he picked up the memorial on the imperial desk with both hands and read it to the officials inside and outside the hall.

Shen Yichen's memorial is different from other censor's memorials to the emperor in that it does not contain too much flattery and gets to the point almost quickly.

The content of the memorial was also very concise and clear. In addition to informing the emperor to seal the Shangshawan breach, it also summarized the results of flood control in Shandong over the past six months to Zhu Qizhen.

"In response to your Majesty's high hopes, I went to Shandong to control floods for half a year. I dug more than 24,000 feet of canals, built more than 100,000 feet of earth embankments, and built more than 4,000 feet of stone embankments. I also built four water reduction dams and ten river dams. There are countless other embankments such as the pedestal, the levee, the grid, and the moon."

One foot in the Ming Dynasty is roughly equivalent to three meters in modern times. Shen Yichen completed hundreds of kilometers of river embankment projects in more than half a year, which was simply unimaginable in ancient times.

Even if the data is mainly based on earth embankments, it still breaks the psychological expectations of the ministers of the DPRK and China. Is this man really able to accomplish the great task of water control by himself, which has never been possible in previous dynasties?

"It's just a matter of sealing the breach. How could such an amazing river project be completed in less than a year?"

"I don't believe the content of Shen Qianxian's letter. This is really unbelievable!"

"Such a project cannot be accomplished without the strength of millions of people. According to the previous report, Shen Yichen only recruited more than 200,000 people. How can he accomplish it?"

"Have you never supervised the construction of a project? When did the people become so efficient and work so hard?"

Even with the risk of making noise in the court to accuse, many ministers in the palace couldn't help but whisper, because the data in Shen Yichen's memorial was indeed too outrageous, completely beyond the previous understanding of the court's projects.

"Your Majesty, I am not questioning Shen Qianxian. In fact, these figures cannot be achieved with 200,000 people."

Wang You, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, objected on the spot. Even without Wang Zhen's instruction, Shen Yichen's memorial data was simply an insult to the professional ability of the Ministry of Industry!

"I second my opinion, Mr. Sikong. Such river engineering is absolutely impossible!"

Wang Wen, the censor of the capital, immediately agreed. This was definitely deceiving the emperor. Perhaps Shen Yichen did not expect that his memorial would come by such a coincidence, let alone that it would be read out in front of the ministers.

Wang You and Wang Wen stood up to object one after another, causing the smile on Zhu Qizhen's face to gradually fade.

Indeed, if you look closely, you will find that there has never been such engineering efficiency in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Even if Shen Yichen's ability to do things exceeds that of many officials, there is still an upper limit.

The achievements in river engineering in the past six months have exceeded the upper limit!

If you want to verify whether Shen Yichen's memorial is authentic, the best way is to send someone to check it.

I saw the cabinet minister Gao Gu stand up again and report: "Your Majesty, since Shen Qianxian has completed the embankment construction, it is just in time to conduct a river engineering survey. We will know what is right and wrong after checking!"

After the great river engineering work of the Ming and Qing Dynasties was completed, the imperial court would send people to inspect and accept the work. This was called river engineering inspection.

Gao Gu also didn't believe that Shen Yichen could complete the great river engineering project in a short period of time. But for some reason, he always had an idea in his heart that Shen Yichen was fabricating his achievements, deceiving the Holy One and deceiving the world.

Whether it benefits the people or harms the country and the people ultimately depends on what Shen Yichen does. River engineering inspection is like a mirror!

"What Gao Aiqing said makes sense, I should send someone to inspect the river works."

Zhu Qizhen agreed with Gao Gu's suggestion, but he suddenly felt a little embarrassed about who to send for inspection.

Send civil servants there. Shandong Road already has three censors for inspection, censorship of Qiandu, and censors for salt affairs. If you also send a supervisory censor who specializes in river engineering inspections, you can make up a table of mahjong.

Let's send a relative. Shen Yichen's status as the son of the Duke is an insurmountable obstacle. It is difficult to guarantee that he will not be favoritistic.

After much deliberation, Zhu Qizhen decided that it was appropriate to send eunuchs. The natural isolation between internal and external officials could ensure the fairness of the inspection, and the eunuchs were relatively loyal, and they could also go to Shandong to secretly investigate King Lu's affairs.

After all, the dignified Prince of Ming Dynasty committed suicide in fear of crime, and his death was somewhat unclear. There was no way to find out a result that could convince the public, not to mention that the royal families of various vassal states were panic-stricken, and even his mother, the queen mother, and the queen mother were extremely dissatisfied.

But the question arises again, which eunuch should be sent to Shandong for inspection?

Zhu Qizhen thought for a while, and happened to see Cheng Jing, the eunuch and prime minister of the Internal Affairs Bureau, standing under His Highness, and he instantly had a candidate in his mind.

Cheng Jing was a humble man and extremely knowledgeable. He once passed the Jinshi examination and served as a concubine in the Hanlin Academy. He can be said to be the most famous eunuch in the history of the dynasties, if not one of them.

River engineering survey is a technical job, and a eunuch with insufficient ability and knowledge will definitely not be able to do it, let alone secretly investigate the truth behind King Lu's suicide.

From all aspects, Cheng Jing is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate!

"I appointed Cheng Jing, the eunuch of the Prime Minister, as the special envoy for river engineering survey and will leave for Shandong today."

As soon as Zhu Qizhen's appointment came out, the civil servants and relatives didn't feel much about it. After all, the appointment of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty was not a rare thing. There were countless supervisory armies and guarding eunuchs.

But when Wang Zhen and Cheng Jing heard about this appointment, they were really surprised and surprised.

Needless to say, there is no need to say more about Cheng Jing. He once served as the lecturer of Zhu Qiyu, King of Yin. To put it simply, he can be understood as "Master Wang".

To put it more bluntly, he was in a different camp, so naturally he could not become the confidant of Zhu Qizhen, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, and he was a marginal figure in the eunuch group of the imperial court.

It stands to reason that Cheng Jing would not be responsible for such an important task, so he was naturally surprised.

In a sense, Wang Zhen agreed. Since he wanted to send eunuchs to inspect the river, of course he had to send his own people there. At that time, with the exclusive power of the Holy Edict, it would not be easy to make things difficult for Shen Yichen?

Even if Wang Zhen is not one of his own, given Wang Zhen's current power among the internal officials, no eunuch specializing in eunuchs would dare to follow his instructions.

But this Cheng Jing, Wang Zhen is really difficult to oppress!

The reason is that the origin of Wang Zhen's "richness" is that he once served as a teacher in the Neishu Hall, and he naturally had the status of a teacher to other eunuchs.

But Cheng Jing has also been in charge of the inner study hall, and his academic qualifications and reputation are better than Wang Zhen's. This leads to the fact that although Cheng Jing's position is not high, his status is not low. He is highly respected by the eunuchs in the palace and is not so easy to manipulate at will. .

However, Zhu Qizhen had already appointed him in front of all the civil and military officials of the imperial court, so Wang Zhen naturally couldn't say much. He secretly planned to have a good discussion with Cheng Jing after resigning from the court. The river survey would definitely not go smoothly for Shen Yichen. pass!

…

August of the 11th year of Zhengtong was the main flood season in Shandong. Despite the sultry weather, there were heavy rains. The water levels of all rivers and lakes in the territory surged beyond the warning line.

Shen Yichen was standing on the embankment of the Yellow River at the moment. Not even a raincoat or a bamboo hat could stop the pouring rain. The rain kept sliding down his face. The water surface of the Yellow River in front of him was almost the same color as the sea and the sky.

"Qian Xian, the river embankment is dangerous, please retreat to higher ground!"

The chief clerk, Chen Tao, was leading the people to rescue the embankment. Seeing Shen Yichen patrolling the river embankment, he couldn't help but offer some words of advice.

At the same time, the county government officers behind him also began to persuade him.

"Qian Xian, the river is dangerous and we cannot stay here for a long time."

"Qian Xian, you are our backbone, you'd better leave here."

"Don't worry, Qian Xian, we will defend the embankment to the death, you'd better go to higher ground!"

During this year's main flood season, the water level of the Yellow River is more ferocious than in previous years. Even though the river embankments have been reinforced across the board, everyone has no idea that they can withstand the erosion of this kind of water level.

Once the embankment breaks again, Shen Yichen standing on the embankment will be in danger. No one can guarantee his safety in the surging flood.

For the officials and people in Shandong Province, anything can happen to anyone, but not Shen Yichen.

As long as he is still there, ruins can be rebuilt and millions of victims can survive!

"Master Chen, are you so unsure of the embankment you built?"

Shen Yichen asked back with a serious expression. It was not the shortage of materials a few months ago. The river engineering aniseed materials purchased by Jiangnan at a large sum of money were continuously sent to Zhangqiu Town Wharf, completely solving the worries.

If Chen Tao cannot guarantee the safety of the embankment under this situation, then he is derelict in his duty!

"Back to Qian Xian, the embankment is there and the people are there. If the embankment collapses, I am willing to die together!"

For Chen Tao, Shen Yichen can question anything, but he cannot question the quality of his own levee project.

The plan that took more than ten years of hard work was finally completed in his own hands today. In the past six months, Chen Tao has done everything personally and witnessed every brick and wood with his own eyes. There is absolutely no problem with the Yellow River embankment.

"In that case, what do I have to be afraid of? Are you afraid?"

Shen Yichen's question was not addressed to Chen Tao and others, but to the people who were still sticking to the river embankment.

At least tens of thousands of civilians are currently patrolling the entire Yellow River embankment to prevent any danger. Are they afraid of the embankment breaking?

"The emperor and the emperor are all here, what do we ordinary people have to fear?"

"That's right. We still don't know what will happen to the dams we built ourselves. We are not afraid!"

"The champion, the common people are not afraid!"

Various shouts were heard from all over the embankment. As civilians who built the embankment, no one knew better than them the materials used for the embankment. This was definitely not a shoddy project.

"Master Chen, continue your inspection."

"Yes, Qian Xian."

Having said this, Chen Tao said no more and followed Shen Yichen to inspect the river embankment.

Not long after, a military flag bearer hurriedly ran to Shen Yichen, raised his hands and reported to him: "Qian Xian, there is an official ship of the imperial court docked at Zhangqiu Town. The person who came is a special eunuch for the river engineering survey. Please ask Qian." Xian goes back to greet him."

River survey eunuch?
To be continued...