Jia Rong's abacus was good. He was busy until the end of the month waiting for the cement from Ping'an Prefecture to be delivered, and left Duan Yu in charge of building the gate and dam in Xuyi. He went to Jinling in the name of urging cement kilns to be built, but actually went there to have a warm relationship with Baochai.
Seeing Duan Yu's resentful eyes, Brother Rong laughed dryly: "I have to ask Brother Yu to go to the Thirteenth Master of Lema Lake in the next two days. When Brother Yu comes back, it's time for me to leave for Jinling."
Duan Yu chuckled coldly. At that moment, he heard a commotion outside and asked, "Who is making the noise?"
Brother Rong also looked outside and saw Duan Lang leading Mr. Chen into the courtyard. Behind Mr. Chen was a middle-aged man who looked similar to Mr. Chen. I heard Mr. Chen say with a smile: "I have seen the imperial envoy before."
Jia Rong stood up to greet him and asked with a smile. "Why did you come here today? The weather has been cold these past two days, so you need to keep warm."
"I'm here to thank you, sir." The Chen clan leader didn't dare to let the old bully the young, so he lowered his posture.
Duan Yu next to him was confused and asked: "How do you say this, old man?"
The wrinkles at the corners of Patriarch Chen's eyes were squeezed together, and his gray beard was trembling slightly. He smiled and said, "This sir doesn't know anything. If my Chen family bought the dam lock and put it up for auction today, I might not be able to win it even if it costs 40,000 taels. Thanks to Uncle Rong's kindness, our Chen family got the advantage."
Duan Yu couldn't help being shocked when he heard that, maybe he had suffered a loss.
Jia Rong secretly shook his head. The Chen family thought they had taken advantage of it, but the actual thirty thousand taels was far beyond his psychological expectations. Xuyi today is not a major river transportation hub after all, and the shipping function of the Huaihe River has also been greatly reduced. If the price is higher, Jia Rong will feel uneasy. Mutual benefit and a win-win situation are the best.
Besides, no matter how much money is sold, it does not belong to Jia Rong. The bastard was worried that the newcomer would use all his money to fight for naming rights, which would lead to the tribes not even having enough money to buy cement.
That's when it really got messed up.
Uncle Rong said indifferently: "What the old man said is serious. Flood control in Xuyi will not only comfort the people, but also solve the problem of farmers in Xuyi that the water becomes floods but the water becomes drought. No matter how much, as long as these problems can be solved, in the future The people of Xuyi will also thank Mr. Chen for his kind deeds."
Old Chen laughed so hard that Jia Rong was worried that the old man would suddenly lose his temper with laughter.
Then I heard Mr. Chen say: "The Chen family knows that the master lacks two caring maids, so he specially found two little cardamom girls from the clan to serve as the maids for the imperial envoy."
Um?
Jia Rong tilted her head and looked at Duan Yu, what's going on? There are also people who send women here, they are really good guys.
Duan Yu didn't think it was strange, and shrugged his shoulders with a look of envy.
Uncle Rong said coquettishly: "Thank you, Mr. Chen, for your kindness. Although my maid is silly sometimes, she is not someone to be trifled with. She also likes to be jealous. It will not be a good idea to catch the little face of your sister Chen."
Mr. Chen didn't take it seriously and laughed and said: "If there was such a maid in the world, she should have been sent to the farm to breed for the tenants."
The old gentleman spoke normally, but suddenly he saw the little girl behind Jia Rong, whose face was full of murderous intent, her eyebrows and eyes narrowed tightly, and her eyes were locked on him. The old gentleman couldn't say anything anymore and coughed twice.
"What's wrong with the old man?" Jia Rong asked with concern.
Mr. Chen couldn't stop shaking his head, feeling like a little white rabbit being stared at by a wolf in the forest. The middle-aged man behind Chen Laoben wanted to say a few more words, but gave up after seeing the clan leader waving his hand. Mr. Chen was not afraid of a little girl's eyes, but thought that this girl must be favored by Jia Rong by his side.
Can a favored maid be easily offended? No way. So Mr. Chen knew that he had taken the wrong step, or that he shouldn't have said that in public.
Uncle Rong said: "Old sir, please go to the side room to rest for a while. I will ask the imperial doctor to come here."
Old Chen shook his head repeatedly and said with a wry smile: "No need, I remembered that I have something else to do, so I won't disturb you for the time being."
Jia Rong watched the Chen family leave quickly, and couldn't help but smile in her heart. This old man really said something bad, but he wanted to offend Xiao Que'er. Although this girl is a maid of Ningguo Mansion, she also has the identity of the Holy Mother of Buddha. In other words, Xiaoqueer can be regarded as a bandit leader.
Mr. Chen took a deep breath after he left the door. The middle-aged man behind him asked in confusion: "We have brought two girls from the tribe, why not leave them here?"
Mr. Chen shook his head and said: "No, don't make this idea again. The death of two little girls from the clan is nothing. Ruoran's maid remembered the Chen family's hatred and became a traitor."
"She's just a maid, what are you afraid of?"
"I'm confused. Can a maidservant who can follow you out of the house and serve you be comparable to other maidservants?" Mr. Chen sighed with emotion, and then said: "I'll teach you some good things to give to that woman later. Let's do things nicely and don't let her be there." The imperial envoy blew pillow wind into his ears."
"oh!"
Mr. Chen looked at the clouds and mists in the sky and sighed: "This gentleman is young, but he is really extraordinary. It is a pity that my Chen family cannot catch up with this east wind. It is really alas."
There were many people who looked at Mr. Chen and sighed, such as those who did not win the naming rights in the auction. They originally looked down upon these things, but when they thought that their family's name or their own shop name could be engraved on the Huaihe River dam lock, they couldn't bear it.
Thinking about the merchants with boats coming and going on the Huaihe River, when I saw that famous name, I went to my store to inquire about it. What a great advertisement, it was placed in the imperial government office, who wouldn’t be tempted?
"The imperial envoy's move is so incredible. In just a few days, we have enough money to control the water in the Xuyi-Huaihe River section."
"What a pity. Business will get bigger and bigger in the next few days."
"I regret that if I hadn't listened to them and donated money early, I might not have been able to allocate another dam. There are still several dams on the Huaihe River in our county that have not sold the naming rights."
"Naming rights?" After hearing this, everyone shook their heads.
The news spread to several neighboring counties.
A county magistrate cursed: "This Jia Rong is using public affairs for private gain. How can the dam built by Hedao Yamen become a tool for personal gain? We have to write to King Zhongshun."
The magistrate also cried bitterly. "There are five dams and locks, and one lake dam actually sold a so-called naming right for 120,000 taels of silver. 120,000 taels. If I had known, if I had known, we should have listened to him and gone there honestly."
"Whose joke are you looking at? Whose joke are you looking at, Jia Rong's or Duan Lang's? It's our own joke. How could he come up with such a stupid idea and make more than 100,000 taels in vain? Silver for water management.”
Someone smiled bitterly and said: "I heard that the tribute ashes studied by Ningguo Mansion will be provided to Xuyi County in limited quantities in the future. In our counties, even if you want to buy this thing, you can't buy it. The court? Yes, Ningguo Mansion gave the prescription to Xuyi County. Go up, but the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have not found an acting kiln owner yet. It will take at least a year or two until the Ministry of Works can produce royal tribute ash."
The most aggrieved person was Sizhou Zhizhou. After hearing the news, he knelt down and cried. "Your Majesty made a mistake, Your Excellency made a mistake. My Sizhou and Xuyi are separated by the north and south banks of Hongze Lake. Now Xuyi County is controlling the floods, but Sizhou is at a loss. Mistake, big mistake. My Sizhou is also suffering from flood disasters. It's time to What to do? What to do?”
In the Yamen of the state government, someone said helplessly: "Water control is of great importance, and it also involves the official position of the Water Conservancy Camp. I'm afraid that the clans in Sizhou will feel resentful. Fortunately, King Zhongshun is still in Suqian, Huai'an Prefecture, so your Excellency can only go there. Go. Otherwise, if there is no disaster in Xuyi in the future, there will be a flood disaster in Sizhou, which is located in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River in Xuyi."
Anxious. People who had been waiting to watch the excitement were anxious. They all know that raising money is difficult, so they do not want to wade into this muddy water, and would rather gamble that they will not encounter a flood during their term. But now Xuyi County has actually raised money, and they can no longer watch the fun.
If you continue reading, you will only see your own jokes.
Scared, they were scared.
Jia Rong stared at Xiaoqueer funnyly and said, "What do you have to be angry about?"
The little Que'er said aggrievedly: "The Que'er is not jealous, and he won't scratch other people's faces. Hey, the uncle is just afraid that I will go back and complain to grandma. The white maggot with two missing eyeballs actually encouraged the uncle to kill the Que'er. Send them out to be bred, then they will be bred."
Brother Rong laughed loudly, "Where did you learn to curse people? If you have eyes without eyes, you will have eyes without eyes. Why are you missing two eyes?"
Little Queer hummed: "I heard it from Grandma Feng."
That's right, only Wang Xifeng has the time to call others maggots, buffalo staves, and the like.
Jia Rong said: "If you don't learn good things, you will learn these useless words. Don't say that in the future. It's nothing for a good girl to always carry maggots in her mouth."
After hearing this, Xiaoqueer felt sick. Hey, goosebumps appeared all over his body. Said: "It's the old guy who has maggots in his mouth, that's the bird."
Jia Rong scolded: "You are so young, yet you are still talking about others behind their backs like this."
Que'er pouted and said: "Of course I defended him. They all sent their little cardamom girl up. If Que'er wasn't here, I don't know what would have happened. I don't know whose sister is lying on the collapse. , just waiting for the uncle’s favor.”
"Is your uncle like that?"
"It doesn't look like that, it just does."
Jia Rong and Xiao Queer quarreled for a while, but at night, they heard a message from the front office that someone was looking for them.
"It's so late at night, who's here in a hurry?" Jia Rong asked in confusion, looking at Xiaoque'er quietly. He found that this girl was looking at him suspiciously. Is it possible that someone else is sending their daughter?
What kind of customs and habits are these? This is a bad trend. Do you really think we are lustful people?
Brother Rong shook his head secretly, but the person who heard the report said: "It's the master from the next few counties. He said that he needs to discuss the water control of the Huaihe River with him."
When Jia Rong heard this, her face turned slightly cold. He said calmly: "Just say that I have taken a rest and let them come back tomorrow."
Damn it, I really thought I was following Cong. From July to the end of August, I didn't come to say hello for nearly two months. Now I'm anxious to find him and ask him what he was doing before.
"Uncle, have you really never seen them?" Xiao Que'er asked. She spent time with Jia Rong and learned something about water control. Said: "If the upper reaches are not treated, but only the lower reaches are treated, can the boundaries of Huaiyang be stable?"
Brother Rong said calmly: "There are many hills to the west of Xuyi, and going deeper is the Qinling Mountains. Floods in that place usually only occur when there is heavy rain all night, and more often it is drought. There is no rush to control the water in the upper reaches, besides, the hills and mountains It is not a simple matter to open a flood discharge and diversion channel."
Jia Rong remembered that there were many artificially dug new rivers in the upper reaches of Huaizhong in later generations. It not only solves the rainy season floods in the middle and upper reaches of the Huaihe River, but also solves the problem of water shortage in the dry season. But there is no place like Huaidong, where you can open a diversion canal just by opening a diversion canal. Even in the previous life, the new rivers were only built in the 1960s and 1970s when heavy industry emerged.
In such a low-productivity society, it is impossible to build several large water diversion channels upstream. The amount of work involved is too large. What if it is like the canal opened by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty that exhausted countless migrant workers and eventually led to public dissatisfaction. Who can afford it?
Xiaoqueer said: "I heard from people in the county government that Sizhou is also a place where floods often occur."
"Sizhou." Brother Rong shrugged helplessly, "Originally, there was a plan to temporarily relieve the danger of Wuhekou. Even if a large diversion canal was built from Wuhekou to divert the water from the Huaihe River to Hongze Lake, it would not be impossible. Who knows Sizhou The governor of the state doesn't know what's going on. Alas, I haven't heard of his name today. He must have gone to Lema Lake to find King Zhongshun."
In fact, Jia Rong's original plan was to solve the danger of Hongze Lake first and then the danger of Wuhekou. In this way, at least the Huaihe River Basin will not be so prone to floods. If the upper section of the Huaihe River is diverted, Xuyi County located downstream does not have to rush to divert the water to control the water.
If you refuse to cooperate, am I still begging you to cooperate?
He thought about it for a while, then drew his thoughts on a picture and asked Duan Yu to send him to Lema Lake Palace quickly.
"It must be that the lower officials are unwilling to cooperate." In the royal palace on the bank of Lema Lake, Sizhou Zhizhou sat on his knees on the ground, with tears on his face making it feel like he had been greatly wronged. Crying: "That gentleman didn't say anything about flood control, he just asked Xiaguan to go over. Xiaguan is busy with official duties in Sizhou, where can he go?"
King Zhongshun's face darkened as he listened to the words. He interrupted and asked: "I am very busy with official duties. How do you compare with me?"
Master Zhizhou was stunned and said: "A lower official is not as good as a prince."
"You still know." King Zhongshun walked down and looked at Zhizhou with cold eyes. "I heard that he came to see him for something, so he stopped what he was doing. You have such great official power. I wonder if the Hedao Yamen needs help, can local officials be called in to help? Don't look at what you are like in Sizhou? Old man Sizhou City is still sinking under Hongze Lake."
Sizhou Zhizhou knelt on the ground, no longer daring to quibble. His face was pressed against the floor tiles, and his body was shaking.
Only King Zhongshun said: "Show him the interception map drawn by Guard Rong. They have already given you a plan. But you treat it like this because you are thinking that your name is not among the dismissed officials in Jiangnan Province? Don't want to Now that you have become the governor of the state, I can oust you now."
"The lower officials know their mistakes, and the lower officials know their mistakes."
At this moment, he didn't have any complaints. I quickly looked at the map in my hand and saw that it showed a river branching off from the upper reaches of the Huaihe River. The water of the Jiehui River, Chonghe River, and Tuohe River flowed all the way east. Part of the water flow merged into Hongze Lake, and part of it merged again in Xuyi County. Enter the Huaihe River.
"Good strategy, excellent strategy, Sizhou can be saved." His eyes widened and he kept making sounds of surprise. "Such an idea is beyond words. My lord, who came up with this idea?"
"Who else can come up with such a method besides Jia Rong, who you don't want to deal with?"
King Zhongshun snorted coldly. In fact, he was shocked when he first saw this picture. Sure enough, as the emperor brother said, the person coming from the sky is extraordinary. I secretly thought: How many other books does this guy have hidden away? I guess even the royal brother didn't expect that he had such abilities. In the future, the royal family will be disappointed with the Jia family.
Zhizhou was speechless when he heard that it was Jia Rong's idea.
King Zhongshun said again: "According to what the Rong guards said, this project is more important than the main canal from Hongze Lake to the sea. It requires a lot of money and manpower. I heard that your term will expire next year, so I will report to the meeting and let you do it." Sizhou will experience another period."
"Huh?" Although Sizhou is a Zhili state, its Zhizhou is only in the fifth rank. Seeing that he was about to be promoted, his heart dropped.
King Zhongshun continued: "There are still four years left. If you can repair this canal in four years, it will be a great achievement. If it causes the wrath of heaven and people, your head will be indispensable on the gate of Sizhou City."
Zhizhou was panicked and calculated that even if he worshiped Jia Rong as a Bodhisattva in the future, he would still have to learn the essence from him.
When King Zhongshun saw the governor of Sizhou trembling and walked away, he asked the governor of Hedao: "Do you believe that there is really a Lihentian in the world?"
The River Governor shook his head slightly.
"Don't believe it?" King Zhongshun asked.
"No, I don't know." The governor of the river smiled bitterly and exhaled slowly: "I have been in office for many years. Although I have visited various sections of the Huaihe River several times, I have never thought of this method. Guard Rong has never been there. But he looked at the map and clearly described the water conditions of the Huaihe River, and found such a good way."
The governor of the river paused and said, "How could he have such knowledge if he wasn't a god from the sky?"
