Qianlong came to the bow of the ship and showed off his ceremonial guard. Flags were fluttering and gongs and drums were sounding. It was quite grand.

When people on both sides of the canal and on the boat saw him, they knelt down and shouted long live the mountain.

"Everyone, fellow villagers, offer sacrifices to the Dragon King and pray for sweet rain. I will also do my best!" Qianlong said loudly.

After hearing what he said, the people shouted Long Live even louder.

When Qianlong saw this, he couldn't help but feel very happy.

After a while, the sacrifice was completed.

The people kowtowed repeatedly, which made Qianlong very happy. However, the wood was still in the river, blocking the river channel and making it impossible for the royal boats to move forward.

"Ji Xiaolan, what should we do?" Qianlong looked at Xiang Nan and said.

"Your Majesty, I can't do anything. You can only issue an order to let the people remove the yellow beams, so that we can pass." Xiang Nan waved his hand and said.

Qianlong nodded, "Then let's issue an order to remove the yellow beams!"

"Yes!" Xiang Nan immediately stepped onto the bow of the ship and shouted loudly, "The emperor has an order to remove the yellow beams!"

"Your Majesty has graciously exempted us from the imperial rations. We have a way to survive! Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" As soon as Xiang Nan finished speaking, the people on both sides of the canal and on the boat all knelt down and kowtowed.

"Ah, what?!" Qianlong was surprised.

He just wanted to remove the wood, but he didn't ask for exemption from paying the imperial rations.

Jiangnan was an important source of grain and taxes for the imperial court. Since ancient times, it has been said that Huguang cooked food, and the world had enough. If Jiaxing's imperial grain was exempted, then he would not only make less money.

"Your Majesty, the villagers are ignorant and hear the yellow in 'yellow paper' as 'emperor'; they hear the beam in 'liangmu' as 'grain' in grain." Xiang Nan quickly explained, "So

They thought the emperor had withdrawn this year’s royal rations.”

"Then what should we do?" Qianlong said speechlessly.

"Your Majesty, it's actually fine. You have always been a good Emperor who cares about your subjects and benefits the people. Now Hangzhou, Huzhou, and Jiaxing are suffering from drought, and there is no harvest. Your Majesty, you have the intention to exempt the imperial rations.

Just let it be known that it is wrong and announce it here, so as to save the local officials from misinterpreting the holy will and harming the people again." Xiang Nan said with a smile.

Qianlong thought about it and nodded.

"On behalf of the people of the south of the Yangtze River, I would like to express my gratitude to the emperor for his grace." Xiang Nan said hurriedly, and then announced loudly, "My emperor has decreed that the three prefectures of Hang, Jia and Hu will suffer severe droughts every year. This year, all royal rations will be withdrawn!"

"Long live long live, long live long live!" the common people shouted together, and the cheers were loud.

When Qianlong saw this, he felt a little relieved.

…

Afterwards, the villagers scooped up all the wood, and the river was quickly cleared, so the boat continued northward along the river.

"Sir, he is smart and wise, has great calculations, punishes corrupt officials, and helps the people with kindness. He has benefited millions of people in Hangzhou, Hu, and Jiazhou. Such behavior makes you admire him." Su Qinglian said to Xiang Nan with an admiring look on his face.

.

She has always been pretentious, thinking that she is proficient in all of them, including playing music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, songs, and the Four Books and Five Classics. She only wishes she was born a daughter, otherwise she would have the ambition to compete for the title of the best talent in the world.

However, now that she saw Xiang Nan's plan to punish corrupt officials and save the people of Li from royal rations, she realized that she had been too frivolous before.

She was talented, but her poetry, poetry, music, chess, calligraphy and painting were just minor talents. Xiang Nankuang supported the country, helped the poor, punished the evil and promoted the good. He was a real talent, and she really admired him.

"It doesn't have to be like this. Working for the people and eliminating shortcomings for the country has always been my purpose." Xiang Nan said with a smile.

"Sir, you are so generous, and Qing Lian is ashamed of yourself." Su Qing Lian was moved, "I only wish to stay with you and serve you for the rest of your life."

"Qing Lian, with your words, Ji will have no regrets." Xiang Nan hugged her emotionally after hearing what she said.

"Hey, I'll hug you now, so I won't have to pay a visit." At this moment, the cabin door opened and Du Xiaoyue flashed in.

When Su Qinglian saw it, she was immediately ashamed and quickly let go of Xiang Nan.

"Xiaoyue, this plan can be implemented smoothly, thanks to your operation." Xiang Nan said with a smile, "The people of Hangzhou, Hu, and Jiazhou can live, and you are the number one contributor."

"It's Mr.'s clever plan that even the emperor was fooled." Du Xiaoyue waved her hand and said with a smile.

"Hey, the emperor didn't fall for my trick." Xiang Nan waved his hand and said with a smile, "Actually, he had already seen my plan, but he just didn't want to expose it, so he just used it."

"Ji Xiaolan, I think you understand." Qianlong opened the door and came in, "What's more, you are really capable."

"I deserve to die. I already knew that the emperor was wise and wise, and I couldn't hide my thoughts from the emperor." Xiang Nan quickly apologized.

"Humph, you know you can't hide it, but you still do it? It seems that you are indeed brave enough." Qianlong said with a straight face, "That's all, in that case, I will reward you for your courage again. Ji Xiaolan, I will grant you the title of Prince Shaobao. I will continue to do business in the future.

Be loyal to the country and benefit the people."

"Long live thanks." Xiang Nan saluted.

Qianlong smiled and nodded, glanced at Su Qinglian, and showed a hint of regret.

Such a beautiful and talented girl, I finally missed it.

…

After returning to the capital, Xiang Nan took Su Qinglian back to Ji Mansion.

When Xiangyun saw Su Qinglian, she was stunned.

A girl with such beauty and temperament is really rare in the world.

Standing in front of her, she felt a little ashamed.

After hearing that Su Qinglian was going to stay in Ji Mansion, Xiangyun couldn't help but feel a little sad.

She had been staying in the capital for half a year, but she never expected that when Xiang Nan came back this time, he would actually bring back another woman. She couldn't help but have mixed feelings.

"Xiangyun, Miss Su's life experience is very pitiful. She was sold into Fireworks and Willow Alley since she was a child, where she learned poetry, poetry, chess, calligraphy and painting, and the Five Classics and Four Books. Later, she was redeemed by Wang Danwang and raised as an adopted daughter.

But in fact, Wang Danwang wanted to find a rare commodity, and regarded Miss Su as a weapon to make friends with powerful people. In order to curry favor with the emperor, He Shen and I used Miss Su as a bargaining chip. It can be said that to him, Miss Su was nothing more than a witch.

Just tools available.

Now Wang Danwang has been executed and his family has been sent away. Miss Su is helpless. If I hadn't taken her in, her fate would have been very tragic.

So please be more tolerant of her, I know, you are always the kindest." Xiang Nan said to Xiangyun at night.

Xiangyun hesitated for a moment and finally nodded.

The execution of Wang Danwang, the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for the grain supervision case, had already caused a sensation in the world, and she had heard about it in the capital.

Wang Danwang was greedy by nature, he amassed people's wealth and embezzled three million taels of silver, which can be said to be a heinous crime. As his adopted daughter, Su Qinglian will naturally be implicated.
Chapter completed!