The young official Zhang Qian's words made the already solidified atmosphere even more delicate.
Chen Zhizhou glared at his talkative subordinate with a look that could almost devour a person.
Idiot! At this moment, the Prince only needs a way out, but you want to make things clear. Are you in a hurry to die?
Li Chen'an held his bowl of clear water, not even raising his eyelids. He gently skimmed away the non-existent foam with the bowl lid, his movements unhurried, as if he were savoring some peerless fragrant tea.
The calmer he was, the more the Yunzhou City officials present felt their hearts pound.
After a long while, just as Zhang Qian was about to be killed by Chen Zhizhou's gaze, Li Chen'an slowly opened his mouth, his voice still in that listless tone.
“Oh? Many years of severe drought, little rainfall?” He raised his eyelids, and for the first time, his seemingly unfocused eyes looked directly at Zhang Qian. “What is this official's name?”
“Your… Your humble servant… Zhang Qian, Lushi of the Prefectural Yamen.” The young official's heart skipped a beat under his gaze, and his demeanor immediately weakened.
“Zhang Lushi,” Li Chen'an's voice was very soft, yet it carried a strong sense of oppression. “When this Prince arrived, he saw a large river about ten li outside the city. Although the riverbed was shallow, it had not dried up. Why abandon what is near for what is far, and guard a dry well?”
Zhang Qian choked, his face alternating between red and white, and he stammered, “That… that Blackwater River is too far from the city. Fetching water back and forth takes time and effort… Moreover… moreover, there is a lot of quicksand in the river, and the river water is also very turbid and unfit for drinking…”
“Difficult to fetch water? Unfit for drinking?” Li Chen'an's lips curved into an ambiguous smile, as if in mockery, or perhaps a sigh. He no longer paid attention to Zhang Qian, his gaze turning to Chen Zhizhou, who had almost become a statue.
“Chen (Prefect), this Prince has just arrived and is not very familiar with the affairs of Yunzhou City. Is there a specific official in this city responsible for matters concerning water conservancy, farmland, and people's livelihood?”
Cold sweat poured down Chen Zhizhou's back. He knew he couldn't muddle through this time. He took a deep breath, bowed, and replied, “Reporting… Reporting to Your Highness, yes, there is. According to our Great Xia's official system, within the prefectural yamen, such matters are all… all managed by the Prefectural Zhubu.”
As he spoke, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at a middle-aged man behind him, who was shrinking back, slightly plump, and sported a pair of eight-shaped mustaches.
Li Chen'an followed his gaze and firmly remembered the shrewd-looking Fat Man.
Then, he nodded, as if satisfied with the answer.
He picked up his bowl of water, took a small, elegant sip, then put the bowl down and did not touch anything else on the table again.
“This Prince… is tired.” He wiped the corner of his mouth with a silk handkerchief and stood up. “The welcoming banquet… Thank you all for your kind intentions, Zhao Pan, see the guests out.”
He did not pursue any blame, nor did he utter any harsh words, but that understated indifference, that deep-seated aloofness, chilled the Yunzhou City officials present more than any thunderous rage.
A welcoming banquet that should have been joyful ended hastily in this deathly silence and invisible pressure.
That night, Li Chen'an, not surprisingly, suffered from insomnia.
Lying on the hard, strong-smelling wooden plank bed, listening to the "whooshing" north wind outside the window, like ghosts wailing and wolves howling, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
His dream of being a shut-in fat Prince was shattered by reality.
This wasn't even survival mode, this was a hellish start!
He sat up irritably, and in the darkness, his eyes were exceptionally bright. His occupational disease from his previous life as a project manager, at this moment, uncontrollably, completely, and deeply flared up.
His brain seemed to automatically switch to work mode, beginning to calmly and coldly analyze the mess before him.
Alright, Li Xian, stop complaining. Just… just treat it as taking over an epic unfinished project. Project codename: Yunzhou City Lie-Flat Retirement Plan V1.e. Yes, it's not even V1.0, it's just a beta version.
He fumbled for the cold pebble by his pillow, rubbing it repeatedly in his palm, forcing himself to calm down.
First, he had to sort out the core pain points, and the most critical was survival resources.
He recalled the grand banquet during the day, and his stomach churned. The food was monotonous and crude, and drinking water safety posed a major hidden danger.
If this continued, let alone lying flat, he would lose his life here. This dilapidated house also needed repairs, otherwise, he wouldn't survive the winter. Food and shelter, these were the most basic survival needs, and now neither could be met.
Thinking of water, he remembered the words of the young Lushi named Zhang Qian from earlier in the day.
“It's difficult to fetch water from the Blackwater River.” Why? Ten li was not far for a city. Organizing manpower and using carts to transport it, was that difficult? Unless… A thought flashed through his mind, unless it was unsafe outside the city, and ordinary people dared not venture far from the city!
He immediately remembered hearing that there were some displaced people nearby on his way here. Given this, the possibility of banditry outside the city was as high as ninety percent.
So, why not suppress the bandits? This question naturally led to a deeper reason—people.
The faces of the officials from earlier in the day appeared in his mind.
That Chen Zhizhou, an old fox, a typical incompetent who believed in the principle of 'less is more,' but judging by his final reaction, he seemed to have some bottom line, knowing right from wrong.
That hothead named Zhang Qian, on the other hand, had some passion and could be classified as a well-meaning but powerless complainer. Impulsive, brainless, but perhaps… his conscience was not completely gone? He could be observed further.
As for that Liu Zhubu… Li Chen'an's eyes narrowed in the darkness. Nine times out of ten, he was the root of the problem! Behind the difficulty of fetching water, it was highly likely that he controlled the city's only water source, using it to extort money from the common people! Such a person was a typical parasite, the biggest obstacle to the entire project's progress!
An incompetent leader, an impulsive troublemaker, a greedy parasite… Good heavens, this management team was a gathering of 'sleeping dragons and young phoenixes' (meaning exceptional talents, used ironically here), all assembled!
He ruffled his hair irritably, got out of bed, and walked to the creaking window, pushing it open a crack.
The biting cold wind poured in. Outside was a deathly silence. The entire Yunzhou City was like a giant tomb.
He took a deep breath, and the cold air cleared his muddled brain considerably.
Complaining was useless. To lie down comfortably, he had to first get this damned project started!
He returned to the bedside, and his mind had already begun to automatically generate a roadmap for action.
The first step must be to urgently repair and establish his own authority. The water problem is the best breakthrough point, as it can both solve the people's livelihood and allow him to make an example of Liu Zhubu, killing a chicken to warn the monkeys! He must firmly grasp the power over people's livelihood in his own hands.
Then improve the quality of life. Food must be upgraded, farming tools improved, and composting promoted; these will all show immediate results. The Prince's Manor also needs to be rebuilt. In his previous life, he had been to the Yunzhou City area, and there seemed to be coal and iron mines nearby. Perhaps… he could produce Cement and glass?
The third step is to establish security. He must reorganize the guards and establish a security team that only obeys his orders. The first battle will be to suppress the bandits and reclaim control of the Blackwater River!
Finally… and most importantly, I need to find a capable and reliable “Project Executive Director” to dump all these messy affairs on him! I don't want to deal with this crap every day.
Clear lines of thought formed in Li Chen'an's mind, creating a complex Gantt chart for project advancement.
When the first hint of dawn appeared outside the window, he let out a long sigh and rubbed his eyes, which were sore from staying up all night.
The last trace of sleepiness vanished from his eyes, replaced by a forced, yet clear and resolute, wakefulness belonging to a contractor.
“Sigh… In the end, I can't escape the fate of being a project manager.”
He threw back the covers and, for the first time, voluntarily got out of bed at dawn.
“Someone,” he called out from outside the door, his voice not loud, but imbued with an undeniable authority, “Tell Zhao Pan and Chen Zhizhou to come to the main hall for a meeting in one hour.”
Lie flat? Yes.
But before that, he had to get this damned project started!
