"Rulin!" Hai Rui held Su Ze's hand. After Ma Ningyuan led the people away, he did not ask why Su Ze was here, but asked directly:
"Rulin, you came at the right time. You are good at water conservancy. It has been raining these days, and some river banks can no longer hold up."
Su Ze looked at Hai Rui. Two years after arriving in Chun'an, Hai Rui was aging at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Hai Rui is only forty-six years old now. Hu Zongxian, who is two years older than him, still looks like a middle-aged official, but Hai Rui is already thin and dark, like a bad old man.
In the two years since he took office in Chun'an County, Hai Rui has been busy everywhere, clearing fields, inspecting water conservancy, and handling lawsuits. However, even with his day and night management, the people under his rule are still in this situation.
Even Hai Rui was confused. Why did the Ming Dynasty become like this?
Su Ze looked at the continuous rain and knew why the river was flooding.
Although water conservancy projects are said to have made great contributions to the contemporary era and will last through the ages, even projects like Dujiangyan require regular maintenance.
Although the volume of these projects such as cleaning up silt, salvaging river sand, and re-reinforcement of embankments is not as large as that of new construction, they still require annual maintenance of manpower and material resources.
In the early years of the dynasty, government offices tended to have relatively strong execution capabilities, were relatively clean and efficient, and the labor costs were not so high, so daily maintenance could still be done.
However, as the dynasty entered the middle and late stages, the human capital for maintenance became larger and corruption became more serious.
For example, dredging might have only required twenty people working by the river for a month before it could be completed. There was no problem in the early days, as the corvee would naturally do it when it was their turn.
But now, the people are no longer willing to do corvee service.
Large households have long used various methods, such as paying exemption money, to evade the obligation to do corvee.
Originally, the rich gave the money to the government, and the government paid to recruit poor people to work as corvees. This policy was originally good, and it could even play a role in the circulation and regulation of wealth.
But now the free labor money has long become a tax, a special tax paid by wealthy households who are unwilling to do corvee.
After the government received the money, it was impossible to use the money to hire people. Instead, it allocated the number of corvees that originally needed to be recruited from the rich to the poor.
The result is that in some places, people are drafted into corvee labor and are unable to return home all year round.
If there are no strong men in the family to farm the land, the land will be barren, the crops will not be harvested, and more people will find ways to escape from corvee labor.
Even if enough people were recruited to serve as corvees, they would often not do things like build rivers.
Building rivers and dredging them without seeing any results is a thankless task, and officials may not get any benefits in their lifetime.
The reason is very simple. The purpose of dredging is to prevent flooding when the river water surges, but you may not necessarily encounter a surge in the river water during your term of office?
Even if there is a situation, it is not necessarily a problem that the desilting was not done? After all, there are too many problems with dike breaches.
Most officials prefer to conscript labor to build roads, city walls, and county offices, or simply treat these laborers as their own slaves and let them work for free.
Nature does not talk about politics with people. As more and more silt accumulates on the river bed, the water level will become higher and higher, making it more and more difficult to clean up. What was originally just an ordinary heavy rain will cause the bank to burst.
The officials who came after inherited the mess were equally unwilling to clean up the mess of their predecessors. These problems can only accumulate from generation to generation.
In fact, it’s not just water conservancy projects. Which thorny issue in a county is not like this?
The thorny lawsuits should be suppressed first, maybe one day the county will transfer him.
Anyway, just believe in the wisdom of future generations and that’s it.
Hai Rui had already done a good job. He brought the hydrographic map of Chun'an County. Su Ze quickly found a few key areas, then took Hai Rui to a place with few people and said:
"I'm afraid this Mr. Mafu won't let it go."
Hai Rui frowned and knew that Su Ze was right. He only heard Su Ze say:
"The most fearful thing is that he destroys dikes and floods the fields, and simply uses natural disasters to force the people to change rice to mulberry."
Even Hai Rui was shocked. He looked at Su Ze, but Su Ze said:
"Teacher, I think Chun'an should be allowed to organize team training in the name of fighting against Japanese invaders. On the one hand, it will be used to rescue and strengthen the river embankment, and on the other hand, it will also prevent villains from causing man-made disasters."
Hai Rui nodded and said to Su Ze, "Rulin, you are good at military training and water conservancy. I have appointed you to organize regiment training in Chun'an County."
Su Ze added: "I want the Qi Da who took the lead in fighting against the government just now."
"no problem!"
It must be said that an upright official like Hai Rui is very prestigious among the people.
When he proposed to send people from each village to form a team training, the people of Chun'an responded one after another.
Su Ze quickly gathered a team of 80 people. Su Ze took these people to inspect the rivers in Chun'an County overnight, and rescued and strengthened weak dams.
Ma Ningyuan, the prefect of Hangzhou, returned to Hangzhou. He was getting more and more angry as he thought about it. At this time, a master said to Ma Ningyuan:
"Master Fu, it's not enough to just persuade the people to change rice to mulberry."
This master's surname was Shao, a well-known Shaoxing master. Ma Ningyuan relied on him to suppress the government officials and relied heavily on him.
Facing Master Shao, Ma Ningyuan sighed and said: "But Hu Butang doesn't support me. I can't mobilize the Zhejiang Guardsmen and the New Army. I can't force the conversion of rice into mulberry by relying on the government officials."
Master Shao whispered: "I can't rely on Hu Butang, I can't rely on the soldiers, what about God?"
Ma Ningyuan suddenly woke up and stared at Master Shao.
Master Shao said: "If the river breaks its banks and floods the fields, then the people will change even if they don't change."
Ma Ning was stunned for a long time before he said the words "destroy the embankments and flood the fields."
Master Shao quickly covered his mouth and said: "This is a natural disaster, the Lord Fu cannot say anything about it!"
Ma Ningyuan hesitated completely.
He is a high-ranking official, and being able to become the magistrate of Hangzhou is already a high position, but he still has upward thoughts.
But if we go further up, Hu Zongxian will not be able to help. Moreover, Hu Zongxian is quite resistant to converting rice into mulberry and will not cooperate at all.
Hu Zongxian was already the governor of Zhejiang Province, the Minister of War, and an important minister of the imperial court. Of course, he could show his face and refuse to support it.
But Ma Ning is far from good.
He was just the magistrate of Hangzhou, with little qualifications and only a juren background. He was ostracized by Jinshi officials. Except for Hai Rui, all of his subordinates were Jinshi magistrates. They all had a disdain for Ma Ningyuan, so the reform of Hangzhou Prefecture The implementation of rice for mulberry was also not smooth.
If Ma Ningyuan wants to go further, he will naturally rely on the more core people of the Yan Party.
Ma Ningyuan held it in for a long time and said: "The common people are stupid and short-sighted. They know that growing grain on one-third of an acre of land cannot realize the benefits of the imperial court changing rice to mulberry."
"I am waiting for the shepherds of the imperial court to make choices for them and point them in the direction. When all the mulberry trees are planted, they will know the benefits of the imperial court changing from rice to mulberry!"
Ma Ningyuan looked at Master Shao and said, "You have a tight-lipped manpower."
Master Shao immediately said: "I have several rural gang members who are reliable and tight-lipped."
Ma Ningyuan was not ambiguous at this time. He said to Master Shao: "Go to the government warehouse, withdraw some money, and give them half first, and then give them the other half after the work is completed."
Ma Ningyuan added: "You can't show up in the name of the government office."
Master Shao immediately said: "I understand!"
The bureaucratic machine that seems to be seamless, but the clicking sound when it is running is as old as a rag. Everything in this world often goes against the original fantasy of the superiors.
Although he had the money, Master Shao found the gangsters who were always bold in the countryside, but he hesitated in the face of the money.
The reason is naturally very simple. Destroying embankments and flooding fields is a business involving beheading.
Money is naturally good, but if you have money, you must also have life flowers.
"Master Shao, if this is Master Futai's order, we will destroy the embankment and flood the fields. Of course we can't say anything! But it's just empty talk. If the matter is exposed, no matter how many heads we have, we won't be able to chop it off."
Master Shao suddenly said anxiously: "How could it be exposed? Besides, this is something that Magistrate Ma has clearly explained! This is all money taken out from the government warehouse. If something goes wrong, the blame can still be blamed on you." ?”
Everyone still looked like that, and the leader said:
"You still need a token."
"You and I are both countrymen, so why don't you still believe me?"
The leader said: "We are a township party, not the same as the prefect. Besides, even a township party may not be reliable."
Master Shao had already given Ma Ningyuan a guarantee and said:
"How about that?"
"If you want to leave any evidence, you don't have the official seal of the yamen, but you also need the private seal of the prefect."
Master Shao thought about it and felt that this request was not too much. He could use Ma Ningyuan's personal seal anyway.
He never thought that the plan of destroying embankments and flooding fields would fail, so he said: "In this way, I will first give you 30% of the silver and give you a written note. When the matter is completed, I will take the note to exchange for the remaining silver, and then you can return to your hometown in Shaoxing. how?"
At this time, all the scoundrels smiled happily and said: "It's a deal!"
Master Shao added: "We will go out tomorrow night, focusing on Chun'an County!"
"understand!"
Su Ze worked all night yesterday and finally strengthened a few river embankments, but the rain still didn't stop today. Su Ze went back to Chun'an County to freshen up briefly, and then prepared to set off with the group training.
At this moment, Su Ze saw a familiar figure, and his skills jumped again.
[Discover Lu Er, anti-surveillance skill +5, Lv5, 240/1000]
Su Ze immediately asked Fang Aizhu to come forward and "invite" Mr. Lu over.
"What a coincidence, Mr. Lu."
Lu Er had already suspected that Su Ze had discovered his identity as a Jin Yiwei agent, and Su Ze had found him out several times.
However, after monitoring Su Ze for a long time, Lu Er also developed feelings for Su Ze.
In terms of life and work, Su Ze can be said to be a true gentleman.
From publishing various secret recipes for making money into books without hiding anything, to working hard for the Jiangnan anti-Japanese war, and now coming to Zhejiang to help the people, Lu Er is a Jin Yiwei, but he also admires people like Su Ze.
Another incident also made Lu Er even more passive and sabotaged his work.
Lu Bing died suddenly, and a bloody struggle for power began within Jinyiwei.
Although Lu Bing is a Jinyiwei, he has a bottom line in his behavior and actions, and he still protects those who are loyal to the court.
However, as the emperor became older and more suspicious, Lu Bing's behavior of protecting foreign ministers seemed to the emperor to be in collusion with foreign ministers.
A bloody purge began within the Jinyiwei, and all the Jinyiwei from Lu Bing's faction were purged out.
On the contrary, because Lu Er was far away in Nanjing and took on a secret mission, not many people knew about it. Now he is far away from the bloody slaughterhouse.
Lu Er's contacts in Jinyiwei were all eliminated in the political struggle. At this time, he had begun to be grateful to Lu Bing. Could it be that Uncle Shi had expected this? Is that why you arranged to leave Beijing?
Lu Er had long heard that there was something strange about Lu Bing's death, and now he didn't dare to think about it in detail.
It’s scary to think about it!
Now that Lu Er is still following Su Ze, it's just a professional instinct. Could it be that he really sells pork on Hubu Street?
"What a coincidence, Mr. Lu."
Lu Er said awkwardly: "I have a relative in Chun'an who invited me to come here to sit. I didn't expect to meet Mr. Su."
Su Ze smiled slightly and said, "Then we are really destined. Mr. Lu, I have something to ask of you."
Lu Er was stunned for a moment, and Su Ze said to himself: "My mentor asked me to inspect the Chun'an River Embankment. I'm worried that 'Japanese pirates' will damage the embankment. Can Mr. Lu Er bring some manpower to help take care of the river embankment?" .”
Lu Er was stunned for a moment. He originally wanted to refuse, but he thought to himself, where did the Japanese pirates come from in Chun'an?
But seeing the look in Su Ze's eyes, he nodded and said, "Lu, try your best!"
Lu Er is a Jin Yiwei. This matter is not a secret around Su Ze. Fang Aizhu said worriedly: "Can Er Er Lu handle it?"
Su Ze said, "He is a professional in this matter. This Second Master Lu is not an ordinary person."
Su Ze really has a good eye for people, and Lu Er's business ability is really good.
At dawn, the five tied-up rogues were sent to the Chun'an County Government Office.
Qi Da stood beside Lu Er, looking at Lu Er with admiration.
"Mr. Magistrate, these five are 'Japanese pirates' who want to destroy the embankment at night!"
Hai Rui looked at the five people who were tied up and said in shock, "Colluding with Japanese pirates is an unforgivable crime!"
Being frightened by Hai Rui, the five people quickly said:
"We are not Japanese pirates, sir! We are not Japanese pirates!"
Hai Rui had already made a decision and continued: "Since they are not Japanese pirates, why did they destroy the embankments and flood the fields?"
The five of them thought for a while and gritted their teeth and said, "We were sent by Magistrate Ma!"
"Bold! How dare you slander the imperial official!"
"Sir, we have evidence! It was Master Shao, a secret ally of Magistrate Ma, who asked us to destroy embankments and flood fields in various counties!"
(End of chapter)
