After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 663 - 657: Talent is Priceless

Fu Tinghan showed no change in expression at Xiahou Yan’s sarcastic criticisms. He clasped his hands and bowed, but as he departed, he questioned them, "The South is temporarily stable, but ten or twenty years from now, can it remain so? By then, the two of you may no longer be here, but your descendants will still be, and the people of this world cannot just disappear. Haven’t you ever thought of ending this chaotic era, instead of letting it continue in turmoil for generations?"

Xiahou Yan was so incensed that his beard seemed to fly off. Seeing the two actually leave, he turned his head angrily towards Zhang Xie, "What does he mean by this? Does he think this chaos is of my choosing? We neither caused this turmoil, nor can we end it. What does it have to do with us?"

Zhang Xie, however, murmured to himself, "The rise and fall of a nation is the responsibility of every man."

Xiahou Yan: ...

"I’m talking to you, are you listening? This is just youthful bravado, how can you take it seriously?"

Zhang Xie, with reddened eyes, burst into laughter while seated, "The rise and fall of a nation is the responsibility of every man. Is he wrong in saying this? Does the fate of the world have nothing to do with us? If it were irrelevant, why have we been striving for fame and position for the past two decades?"

Xiahou Yan opened his mouth to retort but found himself unable to do so.

Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan walked hand in hand down the mountain, with Ting He and Fu An following closely behind, their faces full of concern.

Fu Tinghan furrowed his brows, "We’ve just left like that? Aren’t you going to persuade them any further?"

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head, "I’ve said everything there is to say. If they still refuse to come down from the mountain, then it means we can’t recruit them. All the methods—treating them as sages, using the strategy of incitement—have been tried. What else can we do?"

Fu Tinghan thought for a moment and said, "Promise them great rewards?"

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head, "What I can offer, Prince East Sea has already promised them. If they didn’t agree to him back then, it’s even less likely they would agree to me now."

She said, "Prince East Sea offered much more than I did."

"Can’t you offer more than Prince East Sea?"

Zhao Hanzhang shook her head.

She glanced towards the mountain, then looked around to ensure no one was listening before saying, "Although true talent is priceless, they haven’t reached that value yet."

She tugged at the corner of her mouth, a bit sarcastically, "In my view, at present, only you, Beigong Chun, and Ji Yuan Ming Yu can be considered priceless talents."

She paused and mumbled, "Uncle Ming might count as one too..." but she wasn’t the only one in his heart, so she needed to temporarily keep him at a distance.

Even though failing to recruit the two recluses, Zhao Hanzhang did not wish for their relationship to deteriorate—not because she hoped for something from them, but as a gesture of goodwill.

Back at Zhao Mansion, she instructed Ting He, "Prepare two gifts, and have someone take them up the mountain to the two gentlemen tomorrow. Tell them that although we walk different paths, Mr. Fu and I still admire their character."

Ting He didn’t have a favorable opinion of the two, thinking them too aloof, but still respectfully asked, "What gifts should we send? Something extravagant?"

"Just send some glass cups or something," Zhao Hanzhang paused, sorrowfully saying, "Also send them some meat. Go to the market and see if there’s any cured meat, if there is, buy some to send to them, and send some fresh meat as well."

So that the world may see, even if we disagree and argue, I won’t harm them. Therefore, all the ambitious people in the world should come into my embrace freely.

After giving these instructions, Zhao Hanzhang asked Fan Ying to draft an announcement to recruit people knowledgeable in water conservancy and related fields.

"With few people in Luoyang, send a copy to Yu State, asking them to widely disseminate it and recruit talent."

Fan Ying complied.

Wang Hufeng, seeing Zhao Hanzhang’s headache, paused for a moment before saying, "Actually, I know a little about water conservancy construction, though my knowledge is from books. I’m not sure if it will be useful."

Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes lit up, "Useful, useful! Even if there’s some discrepancy with reality, we can learn more as we go."

Isn’t that essentially what fresh graduates are like?

At least you have the theoretical knowledge, and you can learn the rest as you go; no one is experienced from the start. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Zhao Hanzhang grasped her hand, "Sister Hui Feng, you’ll have to work a bit harder. How about going to the Ministry of Industry? Tinghan and Cao Ping also have some knowledge, and everyone is still studying hard."

She paused a moment and said, "And me, let’s figure out how to utilize the waters of Luoshui together, ensuring irrigation during droughts."

Wang Hufeng nodded with a smile, "Alright!"

Because of this, Zhao Hanzhang invited Wang Hufeng to Zhao Mansion in the evening. "Mr. Ming has arrived, and I want everyone to meet him. He will be following me closely, assisting in handling various matters just like Mr. Ji."

Wang Hufeng nodded, indicating she would attend in the evening.

That evening, Beigong Chun brought Huang An, Zhao Erlang brought Xie Shi to Zhao Mansion, and Zhao Cheng and Zhao Kuan were also invited. Zhao Hanzhang formally introduced Ming Yu to them.

Starting tomorrow, Ming Yu would officially take over some tasks. Since he excelled in military affairs, the military matters of both Yu State and Luoyang would be handled by him first, before reporting to Zhao Hanzhang.

Mr. Ji would handle civil affairs.

The reduction of military tasks made Mr. Ji much more relaxed.

Zhao Hanzhang, too, felt the relief. With Ming Yu and Ji Yuan handling more civil affairs, the business that reached her was significantly reduced.

Often, she only needed to provide a framework, and Ji Yuan would draft the replies, eliminating the need for her to detail every document.

Of course, some documents still required her signature, but she only needed to review them and make a decision.

Suddenly feeling much lighter, she even had time to go see Luoshui.

Ah, to look at the fields by Luoshui.

By the bank of Luoshui, many abandoned fields were being reclaimed and sown, yet more fields remained wasted. Wearing a straw hat, Zhao Hanzhang walked one step at a time, occasionally squatting down to grab a handful of soil to examine its quality.

Fu Tinghan was drawing a map and measuring dimensions nearby.

Zhao Hanzhang dusted off the soil from her hands, approached, and asked, "How is it? The soil quality around here isn’t bad. Don’t be fooled by the overgrown weeds; burn them away, plow twice, and it’s ready for planting."

Fu Tinghan said, "We should continue looking for any old irrigation channels nearby. If we find one, selecting the right spot could double our efforts."

Zhao Hanzhang grabbed her horse, "Then let’s go, explore around."

Fu Tinghan gathered his things and mounted his horse.

The two rode for a long time and found the canal, but it was also overgrown with weeds, with only a layer of wet mud at the bottom, barely any water.

The canal wasn’t connected to Luoshui. Traces showed it wasn’t constructed to reach there but was linked to a small stream branching from Luoshui.

The stream still had water, but the soil had collapsed at the connection point, blocking the entrance. Without anyone to clear it, the canal turned into an abandoned channel.

Fu Tinghan circled it twice and finally said, "Drawing water from here isn’t difficult. The challenge is choosing a place to dig a reservoir at the end or middle of the canal for storage. I need to calculate where this should be."

Zhao Hanzhang looked at his map and pointed to a spot, "There’s a village here."

"Consider it. We’ll go back, take a closer look, and measure the data there."