Episode 8 recap: Ding Bao Zhen's application for disaster relief funds was blocked, leading the people to donate money.
The entire Dongming County is now flooded, and there is very little food left. Wang Daren proposed tackling the water disaster first. Someone found Luo Zicong's body by the river, but it is unknown whether he committed suicide or was killed. Qiao Songnian escaped by boat. Regardless of whether Ding Bao Zhen considered him a murderer or someone negligent in his duties, he would surely report him. However, given the widespread disaster, repairs must be made no matter what.
Qi Songru's arrival confirmed that Qiao Songnian was not lying and that Wang Daren had ordered a halt to the project some time ago. Ding Bao Zhen arrived in Heze and met Qiao Songnian there. The two agreed on the embankment repairs and suddenly remembered the memorial they sent to accuse Qiao Songnian. Ding Bao Zhen expressed his apologies to him. Before Luo Zicong's suicide, he left a suicide note, feeling guilty towards the people.
The embankment repairs require 4.5 million taels of silver. Qiao Songnian guessed that the court would not allocate the silver, so he proposed using the remaining silver for the repairs. Ding Bao Zhen thought it best to first request one million taels from the court and then make subsequent requests. Ding Bao Zhen and Qi Songru calculated the budget for the repairs, and the difference between their calculations and Qiao Songnian's was huge.
Qiao Songnian looked at Qi Songru's budget and said it couldn't be done. However, after listening to Ding Bao Zhen's detailed explanation, he realized that by adjusting the position of the embankment and using a different calculation method, they could save over 1.8 million taels. If that wasn't enough, he would go back to Jinan to raise funds. If the court couldn't allocate the silver for the Heze embankment repairs, they would have to rely on themselves, and they needed the support of Wang Daren and Wen Daren.
Wang Daren reported the matter to En Cheng. Ding Bao Zhen wrote Qiao Songnian's memorial and initially intended to report him, but considering his difficulties, he wrote another memorial, taking sole responsibility and requesting funds from the court. En Cheng looked at the letter and was determined not to let Ding Bao Zhen obtain the silver for the repairs.
In the capital, everyone was busy celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. Empress Dowager asked about the situation outside the palace, and En Cheng lied, claiming that everything was peaceful and the harvest was abundant. Empress Dowager knew about the situation in Shandong, and only then did En Cheng truthfully inform her that Ding Bao Zhen requested 1.5 million taels. She also mentioned that the breach this time was related to Ding Bao Zhen's negligence. Qiao Songnian had previously requested 700,000 taels and even suggested sending Wang Tingyi to oversee the project.
During the festive Mid-Autumn Festival, the Ding household couldn't be happy because Lady Zhong had passed away. Chunlan expressed that only when Master returns will they be happy. Qi Songru brought pastries home to celebrate with his mother, but when his elderly mother learned that Master Ding had returned, she hastily handed him a basket of wild vegetables and sent him away.
Jin Xiaomei was recognized as a righteous daughter by Ding Bao Zhen and taught etiquette by Chunlan. Qi Songru hid in the kitchen of the Ding household to eat, but Jin Xiaomei discovered him and mistook him for a servant. She quickly found steamed buns and chicken legs for him and instructed him that she would look after him from now on. The next day, when Qi Songru came for breakfast, Jin Xiaomei looked at him in surprise.
Ding Bao Zhen had been contemplating water management matters, but due to his lack of experience, Qi Songru suggested that they seek help from Li Afu, who had knowledge and expertise in this area. Qi Songru hurriedly went to handle the matter without even having breakfast. He borrowed the book "Notes on Water Management" from the Li household. Jin Xiaomei took this opportunity to approach Qi Songru and request a favor. Afterwards, Jin Xiaomei returned to the Ding household with the book on water management. Ding Bao Zhen praised the book, which provided detailed records of experiences and conclusions. He lamented that if Li Afu were still alive, he would have been of great help.
Ding Bao Zhen carefully studied the embankment repair plans and anticipated that they would need twice the amount of disaster relief funds, considering that the court would likely reduce their allocation. They also anticipated that the relief funds would take a long time to arrive, so they decided to start the embankment repairs on their own as long as they had enough manpower. Ding Bao Zhen approached Wen Daren once again, hoping to gather 120,000 taels. The people were suffering, and the embankment repairs needed to start early.
At this moment, Wang Tingyi, who came from the capital, arrived and stated that his task was to collaborate with Ding Bao Zhen on the planning. Ding Bao Zhen provided a detailed explanation of the current disaster situation, but Wang Tingyi didn't believe it and insisted on personally inspecting the budget. Wang Tingyi stated that Ding Bao Zhen must cooperate fully with every item in the accounts and that all expenses should be meticulously recorded in the future. At this point, Ding Bao Zhen made an excuse to go to the treasury and found that Wang Tingyi had tampered with it. There were only 50,000 taels available, while the rest had already been recorded and sealed. Seeing Ding Bao Zhen's determination to take the silver, Wang Tingyi resorted to using Wen Daren's negligence as leverage.
Ding Bao Zhen knew that he was seen as a thorn in the eyes of other officials, but he decided that the embankment must be repaired. Wen Daren explained to Ding Bao Zhen that Wang Tingyi had come with a secret imperial decree, so there was no prior notice given to him. Ding Bao Zhen decided to raise funds, and this expenditure was a non-negotiable requirement.
Once the announcement was made, all donors would be recorded in the annals, and they would recruit 20,000 workers. Ding Bao Zhen explained the extent of the disaster to the officials of various departments and issued quotas based on each person's annual salary for their donations.
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