Chapter 1506: Zhengzhou

The imperial eastern tour maintained a steady, unhurried pace throughout, with no hint of urgency. Setting out at dawn and making camp at dusk, there was little variation—though they wished to move faster, they could not, for while the imperial entourage had many carriages and horses, it also carried much baggage.

Emperor Liu was fairly familiar with the region around the capital, so he did not pause along the way to conduct inspections. The distance between the two capitals was not great, especially with a direct road connecting them, which made travel all the more convenient. However, for the nobles accompanying the imperial procession, the experience of traveling under such a solemn atmosphere was rather oppressive and trying.

The journey was spent entirely with heads down, pressing forward—until they reached Zhengzhou, where Emperor Liu finally halted the eastern tour for the first time. A mere two hundred li had taken a full five days to cover.

The great flood that had swept the Central Plains seemed to have Zhengzhou as its dividing line. East of Zhengzhou, incessant rain had fallen without stop, growing worse the further east one went. West of Zhengzhou, while not exactly balmy and bright, had escaped the ravages of the rain.

As a major stronghold on the southern bank of the Yellow River and one of the most vital transportation hubs of the Central Plains, it was also a place where Yellow River disasters frequently struck—especially the two counties of Heyin and Yuanwu along the river, which had in the past been hard-hit disaster zones for levee breaches and flooding.

Of course, thanks to the court's vigorous relief and management efforts, the Zhengzhou sector had enjoyed nearly a decade of tranquility. Though there had been occasional recurrences in the past, they had always remained within controllable bounds and had never caused major destruction.

Heyin and Yuanwu had gone over ten years without a levee breach—on this point alone, the local people never tired of praising it, and it fully affirmed the court's achievements in river management and flood prevention.

However, during this summer's great flood, the people of Zhengzhou still found themselves startled three times a day, startled again and again. The surging river, the overwhelming momentum, made even some of the elders involuntarily recall those days two or three decades past when life hung by a thread and peril loomed like stacked eggs.

Emperor Liu was still somewhat familiar with Zhengzhou—Yuanwu County, for instance. The great breaches at Yuanwu and Baima in the early Qianyou years remained fresh in his memory; they were impressions branded deep into his mind.

The Prefectural Administrator of Zhengzhou was a man named Dong Chun, the top scholar (zhuangyuan) of the fifth year of Qianyou, in the same examination cohort as Lu Duoxun. However, compared to the young Lu, the third-ranked graduate (tanhua), Dong Chun's official career had been far more uneventful—no waves, no leaps, just a slow, steady climb step by step.

Unlike the shrewd, capable, and proactively ambitious Lu Duoxun, Dong Chun was clearly more "traditional"—rigid, adhering to the doctrine of the mean.

It was precisely for this reason that, in the great era of advancement led by Emperor Liu, his career, though smooth, was truly unremarkable. In terms of learning, Dong Chun could be called erudite, and his pen was quite skilled; in terms of seniority, he was also deeply qualified—after all, he had been an Academician of Chongzheng Hall in the early Qianyou period.

In twenty years of official service, ten of them had been spent in the inner court, compiling and editing books in the Three Institutes. Only after that did he truly begin to apply what he had learned, being posted out to the provinces as a local official.

It took another ten years before he gradually rose to the level of Prefectural Administrator. Judging by today's standards, becoming the chief administrator of a prefecture in twenty years, at just over forty years of age, was no easy feat.

But placed on Dong Chun, it seemed mediocre. His governance was indeed plain—steady and safe on all four sides, never making mistakes, yet if one sought any outstanding achievements, none could really be listed. As for being aggressive or bold, that was utterly foreign to him.

This was also why, when his examination cohort-mate Lu Duoxun had achieved such great merits in the northwest and had already become a regional magnate as Administration Commissioner of Liangzhe, Dong Chun, the top of the top three, remained merely a lowly Prefectural Administrator of Zhengzhou.

Still, no matter how one looked at it, within the bureaucratic system of the Great Han, Dong Chun belonged to the elite upper echelon. His power and position might be only mid-tier, but his seniority and reputation were extraordinary.

At the very least, he was a man who had come from Emperor Liu's side. Twenty years had passed, and the once dashing young zhuangyuan had transformed into a graying old pedant approaching fifty, with a flowing beard.

Seeing him, Emperor Liu could not help but sigh at how time flew and things changed while people did not. Emperor Liu had always considered himself a benevolent monarch—though he occasionally joked self-deprecatingly about being cold-hearted, that was just talk; in his heart, he naturally did not believe it.

Toward old ministers and former associates, Emperor Liu's attitude had always been cordial, and he was willing to show more patience, within reasonable bounds. Therefore, when he saw Dong Chun coming to greet him, his face broke into a warm smile. He received him in private audience, dined with him, inquired about civil governance, and consulted on the people's condition—everything proceeded in perfect harmony.

Since Zhengzhou bordered the river, Emperor Liu also personally led his entourage to Yuanwu to inspect the river defenses, and Dong Chun naturally accompanied them.

On the Yanglin Levee, Emperor Liu stood facing the wind, the surging river at his feet rolling eastward. One could distinctly feel that desolation and solitude pervading heaven and earth.

Wind and water filled his ears. Emperor Liu's gaze rested calmly on the eastward-flowing river below. In this season, the river's water level was already quite low; its swiftness remained its nature, but it was more restrained now. One could also see many boats heading east along the river.

In truth, shipping on the Bian River had long since resumed. After the halt during the flood period, it had once again burst forth with vigorous vitality, and both shipping demand and the shipping market had welcomed a great explosion.

Originally, for his eastern tour, taking a boat had been the first choice—not only comfortable and fast, but also able to reach Kaifeng directly. However, Emperor Liu had chosen the more secure overland route instead. That was his true nature. Some might call it taking risks, but perhaps it was merely for show—how could Emperor Liu not be deeply concerned for his own safety?

The great river beneath his feet was like a tamed beast, flowing east along its channel. After standing for a long while, Emperor Liu sighed: "Two months ago, who could have imagined that this surging water could be so docile! The great river nourishes this land and breeds our civilization, but when it loses its temper, it shows no mercy at all!"

"Water and fire are merciless!" Zhao Pu responded from the side: "The scourge of this great river grows ever more severe. Had Your Majesty not resolved to tame it back then, I fear the river disasters would have erupted even more frequently, and the people along its banks would surely have suffered bitterly!"

Zhao Pu's casual words still carried a measure of flattery toward Emperor Liu—after all, back then, when the state was in such dire straits, Emperor Liu had still done his utmost to support Wang Pu in managing the river channels. Though taming the Yellow River had been a secondary concern, with the primary purpose being to prepare transportation routes for the southern campaign, the river management had indeed been carried out—done through gritted teeth.

However, Emperor Liu was clearly not one to bask in past achievements. He frowned and pondered for a moment, then stamped his foot on the long levee beneath him and said: "Simply building levees and blocking the water is not enough! Our ancestors long ago pointed the way—flood control must rely on dredging and diversion. Blocking and chasing, in the end, only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. For flood discharge and flood release, we should think of more solutions!"

Emperor Liu's words were also somewhat hollow and grandiose. He was not the only clever man in the world; no small number of people had seen the problem. It was just that practical conditions, technical limitations, and other factors made it difficult to achieve such overly perfect goals.

Hearing Emperor Liu say this, Zhao Pu shot a glance at Dong Chun, signaling that he should step forward and distinguish himself. Seeing this, Dong Chun unhurriedly clasped his hands and replied: "Your Majesty, since the founding of the state, the court has been managing the river. Over more than twenty years, we have accumulated considerable experience.

Zhengzhou's river management has also been carried out according to the plans prescribed by the Ministry of Works—not just the long levee beneath our feet, but also periodic dredging and silt removal, extensive planting of elms and willows, construction of reservoirs, and excavation of drainage ditches. During the recent sudden rise in river waters, these projects all played a notable role, and the entire prefecture remained safe..."

Hearing this, a smile finally appeared on Emperor Liu's face. He turned his head and asked: "Within Zhengzhou's borders, how many trees have been planted along the river in total?"

Dong Chun remembered these matters clearly and answered without hesitation: "To answer Your Majesty: over the past twenty years, more than three million trees have been planted in succession, but fewer than half ultimately survived and grew."

"That doesn't seem like very many!" Emperor Liu's brow furrowed slightly.

In fact, the large-scale push by the government to guide and encourage the people to plant trees was something that had only unfolded in the past decade. Many officials treated it as a political achievement to pursue, even if it was somewhat thankless and exhausting.

"Your Majesty, your servant knows a little about this matter!" Zhao Pu said: "It is largely constrained by the availability of saplings needed for planting. Therefore, even with an active government and the people sparing no effort, it is difficult to achieve a major breakthrough. The situation here in Zhengzhou can already be considered quite good!"

"Make a note of this matter—the court should find a way to solve it!" Emperor Liu instructed.

"Yes!"