Tianliangyuan

Chapter 319 Giving Birth to a Daughter

Xu Zhaozhao actually had a lot to say about the floods.

Because she knew that in ancient times, due to limitations in productivity and production tools, people often relied more on favorable weather and geographical conditions.

This is especially evident in agriculture.

Floods have always been a major concern throughout history.

It was precisely because of this that when Yongzhou was flooded, the Prince Zhong, as the governor, was completely unaware of it, and his officials did not report it either. This was simply the most ridiculous thing in the world.

If we had known from the beginning, the disaster would have been under control long ago, the people would not have suffered such great losses, and there would have been no situation where officials forced the people to rebel.

Ultimately, those rioters were simply driven to rebellion by hunger, which forced them to pick up hoes and pickaxes.

Do they really want to be emperors?

That's not necessarily true.

However, if someone could provide them with a full meal at this time, they would definitely be willing.

Xu Zhaozhao didn't really know much about how the imperial court provided disaster relief.

It wasn't until she accidentally stumbled upon a history book that she gained an understanding of the court's arrangements.

She originally thought that after a disaster occurred, the imperial court would simply send people to transport grain and medicine to provide relief.

But in reality, it was far more complicated than she had imagined!

In the official granaries of Chang'an during the Han Dynasty, the cubes of millet were stacked with precision down to the liter or yùn (a unit of volume). The Juyan Han bamboo slips clearly record the relief standards for the third year of the Yuanshou era: "Adult men eat one dou (a unit of volume) a day, adult women eat seven sheng (a unit of volume), and young men eat five sheng (a unit of volume) a day."

Behind this rigorous measurement system lies the millennia-old tradition of the "Twelve Provisions for Famine Relief" in the Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou).

When the Yellow River breached its banks in the twelfth year of the Yongping era, the imperial court implemented a "work-for-relief" policy, with 70,000 disaster victims building the Bian Canal to both divert the floodwaters and exchange them for millet. On the day the canal was completed, the grains of millet in the bronze measuring vessel and the waves in the canal together measured the weight of life.

Therefore, the wisdom and sense of responsibility of the ancients cannot be explained in just a few words.

After reading these, Xu Zhaozhao deeply realized that there are always clever people, so she became even more cautious and careful not to expose her little secret.

In fact, Xu Zhaozhao had thought a lot about flood control and disaster relief before, but after reading about these things, she realized that the ancients already had a relatively complete disaster relief system, but she had never been exposed to it before, so she didn't know it.

We underestimated this massive state apparatus!

All Xu Zhaozhao can do now is try her best to cooperate with the court; she can't afford to be labeled as a heartless rich man.

These days, reputation is more important than money.

Xie Zheng didn't get any assignments this time, but the fact that some disaster victims were already able to reach the capital was enough to show how significant the event was.

Therefore, when Xie Zheng was not on duty at Taiji Palace, he would ride a horse and take people for a tour around the capital.

The capital city is too big for him to be able to attend to everything on his own, so he invited Xu Junfeng, Fang Liang and others along.

In fact, the magistrates of both counties were already on high alert at this time. It was better to do their job well than to cause trouble at this time.

After the Lantern Festival, the festive atmosphere in the capital city has faded considerably. Some of the children have gone back to school, while the adults have returned to their jobs to make a living.

It wasn't until early February that good news arrived from Yongzhou via urgent courier: at least the riots were insignificant, as most of them had already been recruited by Xu Han. The remaining small group continued to resist stubbornly because they had people on their hands and were originally bandits, so they naturally had to be wiped out.

With the exception of the Sima and a few others, almost all the officials in Yongzhou were imprisoned. Some, due to their heinous crimes, were beheaded in front of the disaster victims to appease the people.

Of course, most of the officials were to be escorted back to Beijing.

Among them was Li Yang, the Prefect of Yongzhou.

Inside the Prince Zhong's residence, everyone was on edge.

Since the beginning of the new year, the master's mood has been unpredictable.

As a result of the shock, Madam Jiang gave birth prematurely in the first month of the lunar calendar.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly and Jiang Ning gave birth to a daughter.

It was not his son, which naturally disappointed the Prince of Zhong.

But thankfully, he has a son now, so there's no rush.

As for Zhao Yue, she thought about things much further ahead.

Originally, it was thought that Jiang Ning would give birth to a son, but unexpectedly she gave birth to a daughter.

Well, with the appearance of this daughter, the Jiang family will naturally lower their guard, and since they can have one, they can naturally have two or three.

The arrival of this child was originally filled with the hopes of the Prince and Princess Zhong.

Whether it's a man or a woman isn't that important.

As long as the Jiang family knows that Zhao Yue will not deliberately target Jiang Ning, that will be enough.

Because of the Yongzhou riots, Zhao Yue did not plan to hold a grand full-moon celebration for her illegitimate daughter.

The Jiang family also expressed their understanding of this matter.

It's just a daughter, and besides, it's a time when the Prince of Zhong is being criticized and disliked by His Majesty, so it's better to keep a low profile.

Jiang Ning was dissatisfied. She was already disappointed that she couldn't give birth to a son, and she was even more unhappy when she learned that she couldn't hold a grand full-month celebration.

But there was nothing she could do; she was just a woman and had no right to question the prince and princess's decisions.

Apart from that, Jiang Ning had a pretty good postpartum period.

Zhao Yue specially invited people from the Jiang family to come and chat with her, and sent all sorts of good things to Jiang Ning. She also found four wet nurses for her newborn illegitimate daughter. Although only two were kept in the end, everyone could still see the kindness of the Princess Consort.

After this pregnancy, Jiang Ning believed that she had a deep understanding of the princess.

In her view, Zhao Yue came from a prestigious family and had been taught to be kind and generous since childhood, which was why she was so good to her, a young lady.

Moreover, ever since she became pregnant, Zhao Yue has indeed taken great care of her in every way, and Prince Zhong has also come to visit her frequently. Therefore, this gave Jiang Ning a misconception.

She thought she was very favored!

She felt that the Prince of Zhong truly cared for her and was deeply in love with her.

Although the Jiang family is not as powerful as before, the positions of Grand Tutor and Jiang Yanping remain secure, and Consort Jiang still receives half a month's favor from the Emperor within a month, which further solidifies the Jiang family's enduring glory.

It was only after Zhao Yue reminded him several times that King Zhong had to pay more attention to Jiang Ning.

"Your Highness, Consort Jiang has sent people to deliver gifts to Madam Jiang and her daughter."

"Come with me to greet them."

"Yes, princess."

Consort Jiang was favored, and even though she was only a consort, Princess Zhong dared not neglect her. Even the people Consort Jiang sent were greeted by Zhao Yue in person to show her respect.

No one could find fault with Zhao Yue.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning felt even more that her status in the Prince Zhong's mansion was extraordinary, only lacking the title of Princess Consort.

It must be said that Jiang Ning's self-righteousness greatly pleased Princess Zhao Yue!