After eating, Lin Yi continued to bury herself in writing and drawing until the sun set, finally producing a rough draft of a set of regulations for preventing prisoner rebellions and organizing labor service. Then she picked up her brush again and wrote separate letters to Gu Fang and Ying Baichuan, explaining her ideas and arrangements, and had them sent out immediately.
The Yellow River's ice-jam flood season was almost over, and canal transport was about to be fully operational, which meant new challenges for material transfer. Although water transport could carry more and travel farther without consuming large amounts of porters' rations like overland routes, the Yellow River's treacherous currents had always been a nightmare for canal boats, especially the Sanmen Gorge section. Fortunately, Ying Baichuan had thought of this in advance. Ever since deciding on the northern expedition, he had ordered the digging of canals and construction of towpaths, and now the work was nearly complete. The Yellow River was about to enter its normal water period, making it a prime opportunity for intensive transport. If this window were missed, once the main flood season arrived with strong winds and high waves, there would be many more variables.
However, the large volume of canal transport also brought new problems: a grain ship could carry far more cargo than a wagon train, requiring several times the number of hands to unload when docking. After switching to land transport, both laborers and draft animals needed to eat fodder. The northern frontier was cold, and the number of frozen draft animals increased daily; the loss figures reported each day were alarming. With so much grain and fodder stockpiled, moisture-proofing, mold prevention, and rodent control became top priorities. Lin Yi personally inspected the granaries at least once a day and dared not be careless.
Managing the laborers was even more difficult. These people were lax and undisciplined, and preventing theft, escape, and mutiny were constant challenges. The only slight comfort was that Ying Baichuan was personally overseeing the northern expedition this time, and there were no reports of embezzlement or supply theft. As long as Lin Yi could draft a strict and feasible set of management rules, she could save a lot of trouble.
Even so, days of running around and worrying kept her extremely busy, and time slipped by without her noticing. It wasn't until the reply from the Imperial City landed on her desk that she realized over half a month had passed.
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