Fu Zhi was an upright person who believed that children and grandchildren should make their own fortune, so he never used his power for personal gain for his descendants. On the contrary, he always put public interests before private ones.

He had reluctantly made his eldest son a Prince Consort and forced him into officialdom to work for Dajin, which led to discord in the couple’s relationship. The husband and wife harbored resentment against each other but took it out on the young Fu Zhangong.

Therefore, Fu Zhi felt most guilty toward Fu Tinghan and ashamed toward Fu Xuan. Thinking along these lines, he was much more permissive with his remaining three sons, giving them the greatest freedom.

He didn’t force them to necessarily enter officialdom, nor require them to definitely save the nation – he only hoped they would stay alive.

Therefore, father and sons only occasionally exchanged letters to report their safety to each other.

But in these chaotic times, with transportation cut off and information transmission difficult, father and sons had lost contact for over three years.

The last time he had received a letter from his father was during the New Year period from the first to second year of Yongjia. His father complained that Luoyang’s winters were getting colder and colder, grain prices were getting higher and higher, and situations were beginning to appear in Luoyang where people couldn’t buy grain even with money. The Prince of Donghai was powerless to stop this development.

He was very afraid Luoyang would become a second Chang’an. Chang’an had suffered grain shortages for a long time without resolution. He wrote to tell Fu Chang that if the Prince of Donghai and the Emperor ultimately broke with each other, Luoyang would likely see military turmoil again. With the Xiongnu state to the north also growing restless, if major warfare broke out, he hoped Fu Chang and his second and third brothers could survive.

If fortunate enough to encounter the third or fourth son out traveling to study, he hoped Fu Chang could help his two younger brothers.

“Your eldest brother has already been dragged down by me. He is a Jin Prince Consort with responsibilities of his own and cannot help you all.”

Fu Chang knew that the heavy burden on Elder Brother’s shoulders had been forcibly placed there by Father. Father and son had argued many times over this. Elder Brother had been trapped in Chang’an unable to escape – forget helping them, whether he himself could survive was questionable.

He had always carefully followed his father’s instructions, doing his utmost to preserve himself and his two sons amid the warfare, but he truly never imagined he wouldn’t even see his father one last time.

Fu Chang forcefully suppressed his grief and actually used the farming tools Zhang Ce had sent to first harvest the rice with the villagers, stabilizing people’s hearts before bringing up leaving the mountains.

After a period of calm reflection and thought, the villagers were also persuaded. All thirty-nine households, with the household heads sitting in the open space in front of Fu Chang’s home. Villagers who weren’t household heads also came to join the excitement, forming a circle around them with hands tucked in sleeves, listening to them hold their meeting in the center.

Looking at the young faces surrounding them on all sides, an old man sighed. “The County Lord speaks reasonably. Even for the sake of our children and grandchildren, we cannot remain hidden in the mountains.”

If warfare still raged outside, they would definitely not leave. But now that the outside had stabilized, there was little point in staying in the mountain hollow.

But… looking at the rice paddies that had just been harvested not far away, the old folks’ hearts were still reluctant.

They couldn’t help saying, “Otherwise, let the children go out while we remain in the mountains? It would be too wasteful to just abandon these cultivated fields.”

Most importantly, the soil in this mountain hollow was truly fertile. Irrigation and watering were both convenient. They were so reluctant to leave!

Fu Yong said, “There are many fierce beasts in the mountains. If all the able-bodied leave and only the old and weak remain, how can we resist wild animals?”

The reason they could survive in the mountain hollow wasn’t because they had always been lucky. They lived right by the water source and had seen plenty of fierce beasts. But they had been able to coexist peacefully because they had enough able-bodied people.

Wild animals had instinct – they knew what could be provoked and what could not.

Once the able-bodied left the village, the remaining old and weak would become food for the beasts.

Fu Chang showed his forceful side for the second time. Since they were leaving, everyone would leave.

His gaze swept over pairs of anxious, fearful yet expectant eyes. Fu Chang suppressed the urge to immediately fly back to Luoyang and decided to properly arrange for all these people before leaving.

So Fu Chang had them begin packing their belongings while he took Fu Yong and the two runners out to see Zhang Ce to discuss how to settle the people from the mountain hollow.

Having lived together for over three years, everyone had grown familiar with each other and developed habits of mutual assistance. Therefore, Fu Chang hoped they could all live in the same village.

To move out of the mountain hollow, they needed to build new houses. The farmland to be cultivated would be newly allocated. Fortunately, it had been cultivated before, just left fallow for many years and overgrown with wild grass. Although clearing it again would be laborious, it also meant the soil was very good. He hoped to select a plot of land near water to build houses, which would make drinking water and irrigation convenient.

But what he didn’t expect was that upon arriving in Liang County, the first person he saw wasn’t Zhang Ce but Shen Ruhui.

Shen Ruhui had received word that the rumored recluse skilled in water management had appeared, a son of Fu Zhi. They needed him to test the person’s knowledge of water management to confirm his identity.

Shen Ruhui immediately rushed back from the Yellow River. But the person had left again, so he could only wait in Liang County. And he waited for quite a while.

As soon as Fu Chang appeared, he hurried over. When they saw each other, they couldn’t help but smile. “Magistrate Zhang was worried you might be imposters. Now it’s good – couldn’t be more genuine.”

Fu Chang was also surprised. “So Doctor Shen is you, young friend.”

Shen Ruhui was very happy to see Fu Chang. They differed greatly in age and had only met twice, but the impressions had been deep. Both had excellent memories, so they still remembered each other.

Shen Ruhui remained much the same as always, not having changed much. Fu Chang, however, had aged considerably.

Shen Ruhui breathed a great sigh of relief and said to Fu Chang, “Thank goodness it’s you. The Yellow River’s silting is severe. Dredging requires enormous manpower and resources. Some dangerous dam sections have collapsed from years of neglect. Fortunately, the Yellow River basin has had little rain these past two years, so no major disasters have occurred. I’ve only surveyed one section, and just mentally calculating the money and grain needed makes my vision go dark. There aren’t many officials in the court who can manage water, and you learned the true teachings from Lord Fu. I wonder if you have any good methods?”

Fu Chang was slightly stunned, not expecting to be asked about water management upon first meeting. He paused before saying, “I haven’t seen the Yellow River myself, so I can’t give you an answer. I came out this time hoping to properly settle the people from the mountains, then return to Luoyang for mourning.”

Shen Ruhui remembered that Fu Zhi had only recently passed away. He quickly said, “That’s as it should be. You’re still within the mourning period. I heard Minister Fu and the Prince Consort are observing mourning in a thatched hut on the mountain. If you return now, you should make it in time.”

Liang County wasn’t far from Luoyang – two days by fast horse, and even walking wouldn’t take many days. Precisely because it was close, Fu Chang needed great willpower to suppress his urgent desire to return home.

Shen Ruhui asked, “How do you want to settle the people in the mountains?”

If Fu Chang was genuine, everything was negotiable. Zhang Ce agreed to all his requests and even generously let him personally go outside the city to select a plot of land for them to settle and build a village.

When it came to finding water sources and assessing feng shui, truly few people could match Fu Chang. After all, anyone skilled in water management would understand feng shui and land.

Shen Ruhui was more familiar with the area and immediately gave him several suggestions, taking him to see three locations. Fu Chang was very satisfied and selected one of them. It was in the middle of wasteland with a river flowing through. Within a ten-li radius were also four ponds and two small streams.

This place was somewhat far from the county town. The nearest village was fifteen li away. That entire area was currently ownerless wasteland. However, the place he selected was very close to the official road.

Fu Chang thought that as long as there was stability, in ten years this entire area would inevitably become lively and prosperous. Many large villages would emerge, and the village they were in would be chosen as a major market center due to its geographical location.

And if there was no stability, living here they could flee at any time. If they wished, they could enter the deep mountains more quickly and return to the mountain hollow to shelter from warfare.

This place wasn’t far from the entrance they had used to enter the mountains.

Fu Chang had considered all aspects for them. Zhang Ce also promised that they wouldn’t collect taxes from them this year and would send people to help them build houses. With the supplies they had brought out from the mountains, their lives would be better than most common people outside.