Chapter 610: The New Kaifeng City

As the years flowed by, the Great Han dynasty stumbled somewhat into the seventh year of Qianyou, bidding farewell to the disaster-plagued autumn and winter of the sixth year of Qianyou. In the latter half of last year, in the seventh lunar month, a great drought struck Huainan, and the Huai River could be crossed on foot; in the ninth lunar month, floods swept the entire realm, waters overflowing, ruining fields and drowning cities.

What was vexing was that even after the floods and droughts, there was no peace to be had. In the tenth lunar month of winter, in Hebei's Weizhou, Xingzhou, Mingzhou and other prefectures, earthquakes shook for several days, more than ten tremors in all, with Weizhou hit hardest—hundreds of dwellings destroyed, over a thousand dead and injured among the people, and more than ten cracks in the city walls of Yuancheng.

However, no matter how many or how great the disasters, they were no longer enough to bring down the Great Han as it stood today. Under the personal attention of Emperor Liu Chengyou, officials and officers within and beyond the Han court threw themselves into disaster relief with great zeal.

Seizing this opportunity, it also tested the governing capacity of the Great Han court and the execution ability of its government offices. Though it did not fully satisfy Liu Chengyou, he could barely understand—after all, the state had not been at peace for long, and the bureaucratic system had not yet undergone a thorough upgrade.

In this process, a good number of capable petty officials emerged across the regions, performing admirably, and a very large portion of them were those selected and appointed by the Han court in recent years.

Entering the third month, all things thrived and multiplied, and the Eastern Capital bustled as ever. However, after more than a year of intermittent expansion, Kaifeng city had already changed greatly in appearance.

The outermost outer city wall had already been completed, and Murong Yanchao had clearly put his heart into the matter, investing tremendous energy. Compared to the original city, it was taller, thicker, and more solid.

Everywhere along the walls, newness shone through, giving a refreshing impression. Liu Chengyou left the palace and, accompanied by Murong Yanchao and Chang Si, inspected the outer city wall.

Murong Yanchao introduced it with great enthusiasm: "The outer city is complete. After expansion, the city's circumference is fifty-six li. The walls are rammed earth, sunk one zhang into the ground, three zhang wide. Within the outer city, every hundred paces there are horse-face bastions and battle sheds, and every two hundred paces a defense depot for storing defensive weapons. The rammed paths connect with the four 'imperial roads,' crossing in a grid."

"All residences, shops, towers, and temples are built facing the streets, per Your Majesty's will, no longer confined to ward and market boundaries. Ditches run through the city, reaching in all directions, and for rainbow bridges within the city, five have been built for now..."

Murong Yanchao spoke with gusto, and seeing Liu Chengyou's gaze fall on the moat outside the city, he pointed and said: "The outer city moat is about ten zhang wide, connecting all waterways. The preliminary name proposed is the Dragon-Protecting River. On both banks of the moat, following the rammed paths within the city, willow trees are being planted."

"There are twenty water and land gates in total. Aside from the four northern gates for land, the east, south, and west each have three! As of now, whether the gates should keep the old city's names or be renamed anew awaits Your Majesty's instruction!" Murong Yanchao petitioned.

Liu Chengyou swept his gaze around and said: "Since it is a new city, it should naturally seek a new spirit. For all the gates, I will have the Hanlin Academy examine and name them!"

"Imperial Uncle has worked hard! Gazing out, all things appear renewed!" Liu Chengyou sighed with emotion, a smile spreading at the corners of his mouth—a joy from the depths of his heart: "This is to build Kaifeng into the foremost mighty city under heaven!"

At this moment, Liu Chengyou somewhat understood why so many sovereigns loved grand construction. The satisfaction of beholding such majestic architecture was intoxicating, and right now, Liu Chengyou was somewhat intoxicated.

This was only the initial construction; larger-scale, more meticulous building still lay ahead.

Murong Yanchao was clearly very pleased with the emperor's attitude, beaming with joy as he cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty is the lord of all under heaven, treading the supreme seat and governing the myriad people—naturally you deserve the foremost city under heaven! This is also a symbol of the Great Han's strength. With the new city established, it can also display Your Majesty's majesty!"

This Imperial Uncle Murong was getting better and better at speaking.

To demonstrate the quality of his work, Murong Yanchao ordered someone to bring a sledgehammer, and struck the parapet wall three times in succession. After several booming sounds, only three white marks remained on the blue stone surface—otherwise completely undamaged.

Liu Chengyou's eyes brightened slightly. This scene felt vaguely familiar, and he couldn't help leaning forward to touch it, sighing: "The city wall is built so solidly!"

Murong Yanchao said: "The security of the capital lies first in its walls—how could I dare be negligent? Add to that Your Majesty's warnings beforehand, and I dared not be careless. Therefore, clear orders were issued in advance: for any section of the wall found to be shoddily built or insubstantial, the supervisors, laborers, and even the brick kilns involved would all be severely dealt with!"

"Earlier, there were also those who supplied inferior bricks, passing off shoddy goods as quality ones. They were detected by me, and all the brick kilns involved were sealed, while the negligent and lawbreaking officials and merchants were all arrested! After that, no one dared to be perfunctory or pad the ranks with incompetents!" As Murong Yanchao said this, he casually glanced at Chang Si. The old man noticed, instinctively lowered his head, feeling somewhat awkward.

Ignoring him, Murong Yanchao continued: "Your Majesty, look—every section is marked with the kiln that produced the bricks, the masons, and the supervisors. Whoever makes a mistake cannot escape..."

Hearing this explanation from Murong Yanchao, Liu Chengyou couldn't help casting a surprised look at this rough, dark-skinned man. He could actually be so meticulous and thorough—he deserved a new look.

"Imperial Uncle has been diligent!" Liu Chengyou praised.

"It is my duty!"

Stroking the thick city wall, the touch was coarse, yet he seemed to feel its solidity. Calming his joyful mood, Liu Chengyou couldn't help sighing again: "Such a mighty city—yet it costs the countless blood and sweat of my Great Han people!"

"The laborers who were injured or died during the construction—have they all been properly arranged for?" Liu Chengyou asked.

"Your Majesty is benevolent, always mindful of the common folk!" Chang Si eagerly flattered: "All have been given money and grain as compensation, none omitted..."

"I hear that during the construction, there were cases of corruption and even crimes that treated human lives like grass?" Liu Chengyou glanced at Chang Si and said unhurriedly.

At these words, Chang Si's old face darkened, and he showed hesitation, feeling uneasy. He nervously signaled to Murong Yanchao, and only then did Imperial Uncle Murong speak up to relieve his embarrassment: "With such a great project, it's hard to avoid some whose judgment is clouded by greed. But please rest assured, Your Majesty—we will certainly supervise strictly to guard against the slightest problem!"

Liu Chengyou did not respond to this, still stroking the city wall, sighing inwardly at how much flesh, blood, and life had been devoured beneath this city's foundations. As far as he knew, to lay the foundations and build the walls, over a hundred death-row prisoners from the Eastern Capital's prisons alone had been used—a very cruel method...

Building a city with flesh and blood was no exaggeration.

Seeing the emperor's interest suddenly wane, Murong Yanchao proactively suggested: "Your Majesty, shall I lead you to see the gates and the barbican?"

"Fine!" Liu Chengyou waved a hand lightly.

Leading the way, Murong Yanchao continued reporting progress: "The old city walls are being demolished to build the foundations of the inner walls. Within the inner city, streets are being opened up, and government offices, markets, shops, and temples are being rebuilt. All officials and civilians involved have already been relocated and settled. Barring accidents, by next spring it can be completed!"

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou finally showed a bit of a smile again, saying: "I am now somewhat looking forward to what grand spectacle the new Kaifeng city will present once perfected!"

"In addition, I am also preparing to put the expansion of the imperial city and palace city on the agenda. The plans for the various halls, pavilions, towers, government offices, temples, and barracks are all drawn up and await Your Majesty's review..." Murong Yanchao added.

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou stopped in his tracks, pondered for a moment, then raised his hand to instruct: "Prioritize the inner and outer cities first, and what the officials and people urgently need. As for the imperial city, there's no rush for now?"

Murong Yanchao was taken aback. In his view, the most core and critical part of the new Kaifeng city was precisely the palace city and imperial city—that was the face project the Great Han truly valued.

He mused privately for a while—could it be that the emperor was again putting on a show of his "frugality"? Though grumbling inwardly, he still cupped his hands and accepted the order. After all, with the city construction at its current stage, the expansion of the palace and Inner Palace was only a matter of time.