Chapter 41: Du Ruhui Is Bewildered

"Your Majesty, according to the commoners, the Prince of Yue did not draft them for corvée labor. Rather, they all volunteered to come and help build the roads. Furthermore, the Prince of Yue provides them with two meals a day—lunch and dinner—and the food is said to be quite good. The main course consists of steamed buns made from flour, accompanied by pickled vegetables or egg soup, and occasionally even meat, which is why the people are so eager to participate!"

After investigating the situation, Li Junxian immediately returned to Li Shimin’s side to report. Upon hearing this, Li Shimin nodded slightly, his furrowed brow relaxing a little. Regardless of anything else, as long as Li Tai was not forcibly conscripting labor and compelling the people to build the roads, that was enough for Li Shimin. Moreover, the fact that these people were working in an orderly fashion under Li Tai’s administration showed that Li Tai had the potential to bring prosperity to a region.

Watching the scene before him, Du Ruhui murmured, "I never expected to see a scene from the 'Wild Geese' poem here."

"Keming, you brought me to Gaoling—was it not for this?" Li Shimin asked, slightly puzzled by Du Ruhui’s remark.

"Indeed, it was not! That the Prince of Yue possesses such administrative talent is perhaps evidence of a genius akin to Gan Luo." Du Ruhui praised Li Tai as he looked at the scene, yet he shook his head and added, "What I wished for Your Majesty to see is something that can only be clearly observed once we have crossed the Wei River."

"Oh! Then let us proceed!" Hearing this, Li Shimin whipped his horse and took the lead. Seeing this, Li Junxian hurriedly followed. Although his martial prowess might not necessarily surpass that of Li Shimin, as the commander of the Xuanjia Army, Li Junxian could not allow the Emperor to be in the slightest bit of danger.

However, a man like Li Junxian, with his white horse and silver spear, was far too conspicuous; he looked every bit like a high-ranking official from Chang'an. Thus, it was not long before some laborers reported his arrival to the work crews, and the news eventually reached the ears of Li Chunfeng.

Feeling that he held little status, Li Chunfeng went to notify Ma Zhou and Li Tai. If these people were merely passing through Gaoling, it would be one thing, but if they intended to stay, with the reputation of the Prince of Yue as a shield, any "dragon from the river" would have to behave themselves—unless it were the Emperor himself.

At this moment, Li Shimin and his hundred riders had not traveled much further before they encountered a vast expanse of intersecting fields. Between the fields ran irrigation channels, where the water flowed steadily, at least half a foot deep. These channels were clearly separated from the fields, yet if the farmers needed to irrigate, a single scoop with a long ladle was sufficient.

"Your Majesty, please look, there is water in these fields!" Du Ruhui pointed to the expanse of land and said, "The fields in Gaoling County have remained unaffected by the drought. This is the reason I wanted Your Majesty to see it with your own eyes."

"Keming, why is this?" Li Shimin asked, his brow furrowing with confusion. "Why have the fields reclaimed by Qingque escaped the effects of the drought? It is no easy task to channel water from the Wei River to irrigate this land!"

Du Ruhui did not keep him in suspense and immediately explained, "It was Du Chuke who led the craftsmen in developing a device called the 'tube wheel' for drawing water from the Wei and Jing rivers. Through this device, one can save labor while diverting water from the Wei River into these fields. Furthermore, there is the County Assistant of Gaoling, Ma Zhou. In just this short month, Ma Zhou has organized the people of Gaoling to dig these intersecting channels, and throughout the process, there has been no resentment among the people, nor have there been any errors or omissions. To let such a talent languish as a mere county official would be a loss for the Great Tang!"

In truth, Du Ruhui had not expected Ma Zhou to be such a formidable figure. It was only because he was concerned about the water crisis as the drought approached that he had learned of these developments from Du Chuke. Du Ruhui had then conducted his own investigation and discovered that while the entire Guanzhong region was suffering from drought, Gaoling was thriving. Most importantly, these channels had been developed by Ma Zhou mobilizing the entire population of Gaoling in just one month.

Honestly, had he not seen it with his own eyes, Du Ruhui would never have believed such a capable official existed in this world. Although the channels were somewhat uneven—likely due to the rush to complete them—the fact that they could guarantee water for the fields during a drought was a true manifestation of a capable official's skill. Such a talent should not remain a mere county assistant, serving as a subordinate to the Prince of Yue; it was a waste! Du Ruhui had no intention of targeting the Prince of Yue; he simply wanted to recommend such a capable official to Li Shimin.

"Ma Zhou, is it?" Li Shimin quickly recalled the man and pondered, "He was already assisting Qingque when he was managing the locust plague. He is a wild spirit, but also a talent. Because he was discovered by Qingque, I let him remain at his side as a府掾 (prefectural aide). I had no idea he possessed such ability!"

"Your Majesty knows of this man?!" Du Ruhui was surprised.

"I have investigated him!" Li Shimin glanced at Du Ruhui, then turned his gaze toward the tube wheels in the distance, though he said no more. "They are indeed excellent contraptions. I remember it was under Chuke’s guidance that the curved-shaft plow was invented! Now, with the invention of the tube wheel, it seems Chuke truly possesses a unique talent for mechanical design. He has the potential for the Ministry of Works!"

"Your subject thanks Your Majesty on behalf of Chuke!" Du Ruhui bowed respectfully.

"The little one has arrived quite quickly; it seems he has been staying at the county office," Li Shimin remarked, pointing ahead.

Du Ruhui followed his gaze and saw Li Tai’s ox-cart approaching, accompanied by a group of府兵 (garrison soldiers). When they were within sight of Li Shimin, Lu Anshou hurriedly gestured for everyone to halt. He immediately bowed to Li Shimin, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

The others, seeing Lu Anshou, followed suit and bowed, though some were curious and tried to sneak a peek at the Emperor's face. Li Tai scrambled out of his ox-cart and asked Li Shimin in confusion, "Father, why have you come to Gaoling?"

"To see you!" Li Shimin laughed, riding his horse up to Li Tai and patting him on the head. "You have done a very good job in Gaoling these days. Minister Du discovered it, so he had me come to take a look!"

"Am I that close with Du Ruhui?" Li Tai looked at Du Ruhui with suspicion, but his face was all smiles. "Many thanks to Minister Du for the recognition. Qingque will surely continue to work hard and will not fail the expectations of you and Father!"

"The Prince of Yue is too modest," Du Ruhui said with a slight bow. "Aside from Chang'an, there are few counties in Guanzhong that can compare to Gaoling in allowing the people to live and work in peace!"

At this moment, Du Ruhui felt a touch of sentimentality. Although he hoped to maintain Li Chengqian's position as Crown Prince, Li Tai’s performance was truly monstrous. Even the young Li Shimin had only achieved the merit of saving the Emperor at eighteen. Yet Li Tai, at eight, was managing locust plagues, and at nine, was governing a region so prosperously. A weak elder brother and a strong younger brother might be a good thing for an ordinary family, but for an imperial family, it guaranteed imbalance.

Li Shimin calmly said, "Let us go to the county office to talk. I intend to examine your lessons!"

"Oh... alright!" Upon hearing this, Li Tai instantly lost his proud expression. As for the lessons Li Shimin wanted to examine, it could only be said that under the supervision of Yan Qinli, Li Tai had indeed completed all his assignments.

Soon, Li Tai ushered Li Shimin into the county office. Li Shimin looked around; the office was neither particularly magnificent nor overly plain, clearly showing that Li Tai had not spent much thought on decorating the place. The only difference was that Ma Zhou was still at his post as County Assistant, writing furiously as he sorted through a mountain of administrative tasks.

Seeing Li Shimin and Du Ruhui, Ma Zhou hurriedly stood up to bow. Li Shimin waved his hand, casually picked up some of the documents Ma Zhou had processed, and looked through them. They were mostly arrangements for water flow in the channels, disputes between neighbors, or logistics for the food and security of the labor teams. In short, they were all very detailed and tedious tasks that required the County Assistant to make decisions.

"You, the County Magistrate, seem quite relaxed, letting the Assistant do everything!" Li Shimin looked at the sweating Ma Zhou, then at the innocent-looking Li Tai, and shook his head. "What have you been doing in this position? Don't tell me everything was done by Magistrate Ma."

"Father, you underestimate me!" Li Tai replied, quite indignant. He immediately pulled out the meeting minutes he had asked Baihe to transcribe for him. "These are my lessons!"

After all, his work was planning. Planning could be simple or it could be pure fluff. Without these meeting minutes as evidence, he would essentially be doing nothing. Thus, every time he made a plan, he had Baihe record the minutes, which were then summarized. Some of his boasting was trivial, but what mattered was that these documents proved he had been working.

Li Shimin took the minutes and flipped through them one by one. Initially, he just glanced at them, but as he read, he began to slow down. After finishing, Li Shimin remained silent for a moment before handing them to Du Ruhui. "Keming, you take a look as well!"

Du Ruhui took the minutes and read them. They had been organized and were quite simple to understand, with the time, location, and participants clearly marked. The first part detailed the criteria for developing Gaoling County into a top-tier county and the three-step plan to achieve it. Du Ruhui read through it and evaluated it in his heart; from the perspective of Gaoling's role in the entire Guanzhong region, it was certainly correct. As for the development plan, Li Tai's proposal was flawless—a strategy custom-made for Gaoling. The only issue was that the requirements for the administrator were quite high, and it was a bit costly to implement.

Du Ruhui looked at Ma Zhou and thought about his own desire to recommend him to the Emperor, sighing silently. With Ma Zhou’s level of ability, even if he couldn't complete this plan in three years, as long as he stayed in Gaoling for five, it would definitely be fulfilled. As for the funding, the Prince of Yue had even marked where the money and labor would come from.

Du Ruhui flipped to the next section: how to have the people voluntarily build channels without the burden of corvée labor. Li Tai's method was simple: every ten neighboring households would select a representative to attend a standards meeting. After Li Chunfeng clearly explained the requirements, the households were responsible for building the section of the channel on their own land, while the public sections were handled by the labor teams. Whoever finished their section first would get water first. Furthermore, the project was planned with a one-month timeline and one month's worth of food, providing two meals a day for all participants. Those who finished early and passed inspection could even take home their remaining rations. Under these conditions, the people were willing to exert effort; at the very least, they finished their own sections.

Du Ruhui felt this was also quite good, though it required a competent supervisor to coordinate, and it was a bit grain-intensive. Du Ruhui looked at the pairing of Li Tai and Ma Zhou and felt there was no one more suitable for this task.

He continued flipping, reaching a plan for increasing public toilets in Gaoling to ensure cleanliness and provide fertilizer as the population grew. It was another project that required a capable person to grasp the big picture and was quite costly, but highly valuable. Du Ruhui could not help but marvel that Li Tai’s approach to problem-solving was different from the vast majority of Tang officials.

Li Tai always formulated a plan, found a capable person to manage the direction, and then mobilized the enthusiasm of the commoners to solve the difficulty together. Throughout this process, he adhered to the principle that everyone contributed and everyone benefited, which was why the people were so happy to participate. More importantly, while Li Tai’s plans required the executors to be capable, he always clearly indicated where the money would come from, how much was needed, and who would pay, so the executor rarely encountered financial hurdles.

Compared to the various plans submitted by the court, which looked brilliant and were written with far more eloquence, they always ended up asking the court for money. Eventually, these projects would get stuck due to insufficient budget or labor, requiring further court funding or additional corvée labor, because money disappeared like water once work actually began.

Yet, as Du Ruhui looked at these plans, he couldn't help but feel a bit perplexed. He only knew of Li Tai's two businesses—the duck farm and the coal mine—and perhaps some miscellaneous tax revenue from his estate. But looking at Li Tai's attitude of paying upfront without hesitation, ensuring people were fed before they worked—it was like spending money like water! Was duck farming truly that profitable these days?

Du Ruhui, having read the meeting minutes, felt rather bewildered. Where exactly did the Prince of Yue get his money?