"Master Ye, are you leaving the Yamen just now?" Cai Xianqing walked up to Ye Yongjia and said with a smile.
"What? Mr. Cai...?" Ye Yongjia glanced around and asked.
"It's nothing, I just came to see you. How is the river management going?"
"Oh, now we are just sending people to repair the embankments. When the situation in the city is almost restored, it will not be too late to discuss the dredging project of the inland river."
"Ever since this happened, you have become more and more like a prefect! You were always listless before. How can you do anything like that?" Cai Xianqing said.
"Thanks to Mr. Wei for enlightening me, I now feel that the things in the past are not a big deal... Instead of worrying about those old things, it is better to live upright and work hard." Ye Yongjia replied.
The two of them walked to the stone lion, and Cai Xianqing said again: "Mr. Wei is indeed a hero among people, and he really has nothing to say in his treatment of others..."
In the middle of his words, the sole of his foot suddenly slipped and he stumbled. Ye Yongjia quickly supported him.
"Mr. Cai, be careful when you walk! Your boss is not young anymore. It would be serious if you fall." Ye Yongjia advised.
"It's okay, it's okay..." Cai Xianqing's hand was supporting the lion's front foot, "Thank you, Magistrate Ye." He said, suddenly raised his hand and swept the jute paper under his palm. Ye Yongjia had quick eyes and quick hands. , before even thinking about it, he quietly put the paper in his sleeve.
"I'm still busy at the troupe," Cai Xianqing glanced at his sleeves and bowed: "See you another day, see you another day!"
Ye Yongjia returned the gift and saw Cai Xianqing gradually leaving, so he stood behind the stone lion and copied out the piece of paper. Before he could see clearly, he heard footsteps behind his head. He broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly stuffed the jute paper back.
"What are you doing here, Lord Prefect?"
Ye Yongjia turned around and took a closer look. The man turned out to be Wei Chong.
"Nothing. It's almost dusk at this time. Why are you here?" Ye Yongjia changed his subject and asked seriously.
"The Ministry of Industry asked me to tell you, Sir, that the water channel at Xishui Gate is somewhat blocked, and we should use some money from the treasury to dredge it," Wei Chong said.
"Apart from siltation, is there no other condition?" Ye Yongjia looked directly at him with two eyes.
"What else?" Wei Chong laughed sincerely.
Ye Yongjia stared at him for a while and then said: "In that case, we will discuss it tomorrow. There is no need to rush the dredging matter for now."
"I understand. Sir, go back and rest early." Wei Chong said.
"Okay, you can go too."
After the two parted, Ye Yongjia walked for a while and saw that there was no one behind him. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned into an alley. Facing the glow of the sun in the corner, he saw several paragraphs scrawled crookedly on the jute paper. word:
'Wei Chong hid one thing from Magistrate Ye today: he personally heard from the people that the Fangjia Dyeing Shop in the upper reaches only floated silk on the river every day, causing the water to be poisonous and over time, harmful to people's lives. But he told me not to tell the prefect. He was afraid of the Fang family's financial resources and did not want the government to get involved. Xianqing could not guess what his intentions were. I have one more thing to tell Tinglong, this Wei Chong belongs to Lord Wan, and he must be careful in everything. '
Ye Yongjia was filled with righteous indignation after reading the previous paragraph; but when he read the end, his excitement was wiped away, replaced by a chill all over his body. He looked at the gray sky, and the eyes peeping at him seemed to be looming around him, and he couldn't help but feel a little scared. But Ye Yongjia was also glad that he had a good memory and didn't talk nonsense in front of Wei Chong.
He tore the jute paper into snowflake-like fragments and threw them under the wall, then hurried out of the alley and returned to his house.
Tomorrow, early morning. As soon as Wei Chong got up, he saw someone in the yamen reporting that the prefect had asked him to discuss something. He didn't think it was a good thing, so he replied perfunctorily: "I'll go right away." He put on his clothes and hurried off.
"I heard someone say," Ye Yongjia was sitting in the study, holding a bowl of white porridge, holding a wooden spoon and drinking in his mouth, "Fang Jiancai's dyeing workshop has polluted water quality, and people have complained about it. Is this a problem?"
Wei Chong was not surprised, he just raised his eyelids slightly and said with a smile: "It is true."
Ye Yongjia used a wooden spoon to scrape the porridge at the bottom of the bowl, "Then why don't you report it?"
Wei Chong was eager for him to go to the dyeing workshop, but because of his status as a confidant of the prince, he could not openly dissuade him, so he knelt down with shame: "Sir, I concealed the truth, I am really sorry for you... I hope you will forgive me! "
Ye Yongjia drank the porridge cleanly, swallowed it, and then said: "I know you are afraid that I will cause trouble. You are kind-hearted, so don't kneel down."
"Yes..." Wei Chong got up, "I don't know Ranfang..."
"Put the dyeing workshop aside for now. Our top priority now is to manage Xishuimen. Don't let these chores distract you. It's not too late to settle accounts after the fall."
Wei Chong lowered his head in disappointment: "I will obey your orders..."
"Call the Minister of Industry over here to discuss the issue of river management."
Ye Yongjia pushed the bowl aside and took the map of Nanjing Prefecture from the Minister of Industry. All the large and small mountains and rivers were clearly outlined and very detailed.
"This is Xishui Gate," Minister of the Ministry of Industry pointed to the left side of the map, "Xia Yue here is blocked due to siltation and blockage due to the Qinhuai River entering the river to the west. The Ministry of Industry has sent a report to the Ministry of War to ask the Ministry of War to get out. The army is dredging the river, but the Ministry of War does not allow it, so it has been delayed until today. When it rains in autumn, won't this disaster come?"
"You have a way of shirking your responsibilities..." Ye Yongjia's eyes followed the Qinhuai River on the map.
The minister of the Ministry of Industry blushed, but was speechless.
"Why not build another sluice on the northern tributary to drain water?" He watched the Qinhuai River leave Nanjing City and zigzag towards the south.
"It was built a while ago, but unfortunately it fell into disrepair and the government abandoned it long ago."
"According to the official document you reported, there is a lot of sand and gravel in Xishui Gate... I'm afraid this flood is not only caused by water intrusion, right?" The Qinhuai River poured into Jurong County under his eyes again.
"This..." Minister of Industry glanced at Wei Chong next to him, "I don't know about this."
Ye Yongjia's eyes finally settled on Chishan Lake in southern Jurong. "I don't think the reason lies in the inner river, but in the outer river."
"Waihe?"
"Your Ministry of Industry doesn't even know the situation in the outer river? The river water carries sand and rocks. It must be that Chishan Lake failed to store water and could not withstand the flash floods in Donglu Mountain and other mountainous areas, which led to the destruction of the inner river!" Ye Yongjia said with a full heart. Angry, he slammed the table:
"Can you, the Ministry of Industry, not understand this truth? How come you can't do anything good if you have a good abacus?"
