After taking down Zhuzhou, besides searching for remedies to treat the plague, the most important thing was to strictly control the population of the diseased.

Once the Chu army had established several quarantine sites for the afflicted, they had a mature set of management methods.

When the doctors and officials arrived, Zhuzhou quickly became as orderly as Wucheng.

Severely ill patients were taken to the medical office and cared for by the doctors.

Patients in the early stages of cold symptoms were isolated and treated.

Medicine boys delivered medicine to them every day.

If it was just a common cold, they were immediately sent out of the quarantine area.

There were too many patients for the doctors to handle alone, so many patients’ families volunteered to stay and help.

This not only helped the doctors lighten their burden but also ensured better care for their loved ones.

It’s unclear if Chen Army’s retreat was too hasty, but when the soldiers were counting the supplies in the Zhuzhou government warehouse, they found that the grain and official funds had not been taken away, and there were still some medicinal materials left.

In the severe winter, at least opening the warehouse could provide grain to the people, saving the trouble of bringing grain from Qingzhou.

However, many people’s homes were flooded, and the temporary disaster relief sheds leaked everywhere.

Even though many fire pits were lit, the victims still shivered in the cold inside the sheds.

Zhuzhou is located to the north, and it’s difficult to go up the mountain to chop firewood on snowy days.

So, when the weather cleared, the people who were not infected with the disease were sent to gather firewood from all around.

Therefore, firewood was also used sparingly, and for several days in a row, the elderly, weak, women, and children froze to death alive in the cold nights.

Similar situations were reported from Wucheng, which had also been flooded.

When the reports reached Qin Zheng’s desk, she, who had been unable to sleep at night due to worries about the plague, couldn’t sit still.

She immediately summoned Song Heqing and other ministers to discuss the matter of purchasing a large amount of warm clothing from the south.

“Mingzhou, Yingshou, Wujun, and other places are rich in silk and cloth. They are all now under the control of Chu. I intend to write a letter to His Highness and quickly have several ships of warm clothing sent from Mingzhou. Do any of you have any objections?” Qin Zheng asked.

Minzhou, Yingzhou, and Wujun all have official textile factories, so there’s no need to go through middlemen to buy goods, and they can purchase directly in the name of the provincial government, even below cost.

Regarding people’s livelihoods, essentially, it’s just moving eggs from one basket to another.

The ministers all agreed.

Only Qi Guanghe, who had just come out of the prison, hesitated for a moment before speaking up: “It is indeed our duty to collect warm clothing for the disaster victims, but I’m afraid we may have to travel by land instead of by water.”

Qin Zheng was puzzled: “Why is that?”

Qi Guanghe respectfully replied while holding his tablet: “Princess Consort, as you may not know, the further down the Yuan River, the wider the river becomes, and sedimentation occurs. During severe winters, it’s common for sand and mud to be exposed on both sides of the riverbed. The river becomes too shallow, and in many areas, boats simply cannot pass.”

Qin Zheng had only recently conducted field surveys of the Yuan River with the officials, but she hadn’t had time to fully understand the hydrological data such as the seasonal water levels of the entire river and the water levels during flood and dry seasons.

Initially, she thought of using cargo ships for transportation, simply because it would be faster and could carry more goods.

After all, she had just traveled by water to Qingzhou not long ago.

Considering that it had already snowed in Qingzhou, it was also possible that the water level downstream of the Yuan River had dropped even further.

She said, “Mr. Qi’s words make sense. Let’s change to land transportation.”

Qi Guanghe saw that Qin Zheng calmly accepted his advice, and for a moment, he couldn’t contain his excitement and regretted even more his previous prejudice and slander against her as a woman.

The expressions of the other ministers were somewhat subtle.

They were aware of how Qi Guanghe ended up in prison.

To this day, everything Qin Zheng had done no longer needed others’ criticisms of her inability as a woman to engage in politics.

But she harbored no grudges and readily accepted Qi Guanghe’s advice.

After he alone voiced concerns about water transportation, she willingly changed her mind to land transportation.

This open-mindedness touched many ministers.

After the discussion, Qin Zheng asked Qi Guanghe and Song Heqing to stay behind.

She took out the diagrams she had discussed with the ministers knowledgeable about water management: “After discussing with you all, I have decided to rebuild the Yuzui Weir Dam. However, the Yuzui Reservoir has been in use for over three hundred years, and sedimentation has reduced its water storage capacity. Fishing out the sediment by manpower alone would be futile. So, I propose changing the water-blocking dam of the Yuzui Weir to a diversion dam, constructing an external water diversion channel, and installing a sand flushing gate internally. By utilizing the force of the water flow, we can remove the sediment accumulated at the bottom of the reservoir.”

The amount of information in Qin Zheng’s words was overwhelming.

Even though Qi Guanghe’s ancestors specialized in river management, and he inherited numerous classical texts and records in this area, he was momentarily confused when he heard Qin Zheng’s plan.

Uncertain, he asked, “Does Princess Consort mean to split the Yuan River into two streams within the territory of Zhuzhou?”

Qin Zheng nodded and pointed to the location on the diagram where she planned to build the diversion dam. “Here, we’ll dump crushed stones into the middle of the river with cargo ships, then divide the flow of the river. It’s easier to divert one side of the river flow rather than cutting off the entire flow of the Yuan River.”

By splitting the Yuan River into two streams, one side of the river could flow normally while the other side would be blocked off.

A dam with a sand flushing gate would be built, saving the effort of excavating a separate flood diversion channel.

Otherwise, it might take an entire winter just to dig the diversion channel.

Given the icy conditions in Zhuzhou, the difficulty of this project was much greater than digging a diversion channel in Qingzhou during the previous spring and summer seasons.

After studying the engineering diagram for a while, Qi Guanghe finally understood Qin Zheng’s bold idea.

He said, “In this way, the Yuzui Reservoir will only store half the amount of water as before.”

Qin Zheng asked, “Do you have confidence in completing the construction of the dam in one winter?”

Qi Guanghe shook his head repeatedly.

Such a grand project would likely take three to five years to complete.

If the dam wasn’t built securely, it could lead to a catastrophic breach.

He hesitated and said, “But even if the floodwaters overflow next spring, and the Yuzui Reservoir can only store half its usual amount of water, there may still be many casualties among the people living along the river.”

Song Heqing stepped forward and said, “The Princess Consort has ordered the relocation of the people along the river in Zhuzhou. When the officials and soldiers rebuild their houses, they will avoid the low-lying areas along the river.”

The people of Zhuzhou had suffered countless casualties in the recent floods and plague.

Instinctively fearing such natural disasters, they obediently followed the government’s relocation orders.

Qin Zheng then pointed to the Yuan River basin south of Qingzhou. “Mr. Qi, you mentioned during the discussion that the lower reaches of the Yuan River have wide channels and sedimentation. During the dry season, dangerous shoals are exposed. I plan to build dams in this section of the river as well, with sand flushing gates and ship locks. The former will use hydraulic power to remove sediment from the riverbed, while the latter will connect the entire Yuan River for navigation.”

She paused for a moment and then pointed back to the Yuzui Reservoir area. “For the other half of the reservoir where the dam hasn’t been built yet, I also intend to keep it for future construction of ship locks.”