Fu Tinghan’s expression didn’t change despite Xiahou Yan’s pointed sarcasm. He also clasped his hands in salute, but as they were leaving, he asked them, “The south may be temporarily stable, but in ten or twenty years, can it remain stable forever? By then you two gentlemen may no longer be here, but your descendants will be, and the people of this realm cannot be exterminated. Haven’t you two considered ending this chaotic age rather than letting it continue in turmoil generation after generation?”

Xiahou Yan was so angry his beard bristled. Seeing the two really were just leaving like that, he couldn’t help but turn to Zhang Xie and vent: “What does he mean by that? Did I want this chaotic age? Since we didn’t cause this turmoil and we don’t have the ability to end it, what does it have to do with us?”

But Zhang Xie was lowering his head, murmuring, “Every man bears responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation.”

Xiahou Yan: …

“I’m talking to you. Are you even listening? These are just a youth’s inflammatory words—how can you believe them?”

But Zhang Xie’s eyes were red-rimmed as he sat there laughing heartily. “Every man bears responsibility for the rise and fall of the nation. Is he wrong? Does the rise and fall of this realm have nothing to do with us? If it’s unrelated, why did we spend those twenty-plus years striving for official careers and fame?”

Xiahou Yan opened his mouth, wanting to refute but unable to find the words.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan walked hand in hand down the mountain, with Ting He and Fu’an following closely behind, worry written all over their faces.

Fu Tinghan also furrowed his brow tightly. “We’re just leaving like this? Won’t you try to persuade them again?”

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head. “We’ve said this much. If they still won’t agree to come down the mountain, then we simply can’t recruit them. We’ve tried both respectful recruitment and provocation—what other methods are there?”

Fu Tinghan thought for a moment. “Offer them great benefits?”

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head. “Whatever I can offer, the Prince of Donghai has already offered them. If they only cared about profit, they wouldn’t have refused the Prince of Donghai then, and they certainly wouldn’t agree to me now.”

She said, “The Prince of Donghai could offer much more than I can.”

“Can’t you offer even more than the Prince of Donghai?”

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head.

She glanced back up the mountain, then looked around. Seeing only their group and that no one would overhear, she said, “Although people say talent is priceless, they haven’t reached the value of being priceless.”

She pulled at the corner of her mouth with a somewhat mocking expression. “For me currently, besides you, only Beigong Chun, Ji Yuan, and Ming Yu qualify for the ‘priceless talent’ threshold.”

She paused, then murmured, “Perhaps Uncle Ming also counts…” But she wasn’t his only concern, so she temporarily placed him outside that circle.

Although she had failed to recruit the two renowned scholars down the mountain, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want their relationship to deteriorate. Not because she still expected something from them, but as a matter of principle.

Returning to the Zhao residence, she said to Ting He, “Prepare two more gifts. Tomorrow have someone send them up the mountain to the two gentlemen, saying that although our paths differ, Fu Gongzi and I still admire their character.”

Ting He didn’t like those two men either, finding them too aloof, but still respectfully asked, “What kind of gifts? Generous ones?”

“Just send some glass cups and the like,” Zhao Hanzhang paused, then said with some pain, “Also send some meat up. Go to the market and see if there’s any cured meat. If so, buy a little to send, and also send some fresh meat.”

Let the world see that even though they had disagreed and quarreled, she wouldn’t harm them. So, ambitious people throughout the realm, throw yourselves into my embrace!

After giving these instructions, Zhao Hanzhang had Fan Ying draft an announcement recruiting people with knowledge of water conservancy construction.

“Luoyang has few people, so send one copy to Yuzhou and have them distribute it throughout the realm to recruit talent.”

Fan Ying acknowledged the order.

Seeing how troubled she was, Wang Huifeng paused before saying, “Actually, I know a thing or two about water conservancy construction, though my knowledge comes only from books. I don’t know if it would be useful.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes lit up. “Useful, very useful! Even if there are some discrepancies with practice, you can learn as you go.”

Wasn’t this just like a fresh graduate?

At least she knew the theory. Everything else could be learned—nobody starts with abundant experience.

Zhao Hanzhang grasped her hand. “Then I must trouble Sister Huifeng to go to the Ministry of Works. Tinghan and Cao Ping also only know a little, and everyone is still researching together.”

She paused. “And me too. Let’s all work together to figure out how to utilize the waters of the Luo River and ensure irrigation during dry seasons.”

Wang Huifeng smiled and nodded. “Alright!”

Because of this, Zhao Hanzhang invited Wang Huifeng to come to the Zhao residence that evening as well. “Mister Ming has arrived. I want everyone to meet him. From now on, he’ll follow at my side and assist me in handling various matters like Mister Ji.”

Wang Huifeng lowered her head in acknowledgment, indicating she would come that evening.

That evening, Beigong Chun brought Huang An, Zhao Erlang brought Xie Shi, and Zhao Cheng, Zhao Kuan, and others were also invited. Zhao Hanzhang formally introduced Ming Yu to them.

Starting tomorrow, Ming Yu would officially take over some duties. Because he was better at military affairs, from now on the military matters of Yuzhou and Luoyang would be handled by him first before being reported to her.

Mister Ji would be in charge of civil administration.

Without the burden of military affairs, Mister Ji immediately felt much lighter.

Needless to say for Zhao Hanzhang—with Ming Yu, Ji Yuan could handle more civil administration, reducing the official documents reaching her even further.

Often, she only needed to provide an idea, and Ji Yuan would write the official documents in response. She no longer needed to reply to every document in detail.

Of course, some documents still required her signature, but she only needed to review them and make a decision.

She instantly felt much more relaxed—she even had time to go see the Luo River!

Well, to see the fields along the Luo River.

Along the Luo River, many abandoned fields had been cleared and sown, but even more remained neglected. Zhao Hanzhang wore a straw hat, walking forward step by step, occasionally squatting to dig up soil to check its quality.

Fu Tinghan was drawing diagrams and taking measurements nearby.

Zhao Hanzhang patted the dirt from her hands and walked over to ask, “How is it? The soil quality in this area is quite good. Don’t be fooled by the overgrown weeds—one fire will clear them, then plow it twice and it can be sown.”

Fu Tinghan said, “Let’s look around more and see if there are any irrigation channels left from before in this area. If there are, choosing the right location could save us half the effort.”

Zhao Hanzhang pulled over her horse. “Then let’s go and look around.”

Fu Tinghan packed up his things and mounted his horse.

The two rode for quite a while. Although they found channels, they too were overgrown with weeds, with only a layer of wet mud at the bottom and practically no water.

The channels didn’t connect to the Luo River but to a small stream branching off from it, and they appeared never to have been completed.

The small stream currently had water, but the connection point with the channel had collapsed, blocking the entrance. Without anyone to clear it, this channel had become废渠.

Fu Tinghan circled it twice before finally saying, “Drawing water from here isn’t difficult. The challenge is that we need to dig a pond at the end or middle section to store water. I need to calculate where to choose this location.”

Zhao Hanzhang came forward to look at his diagram and pointed to a spot. “There’s a village here.”

“We can consider it. Let’s go take a look and measure the data there.”

—