If you want to ask, what was the Longcheng County magistrate busy doing during the period before the Dragon Boat Festival when food prices soared?
Yan Liulang can answer immediately:
The Ming Dynasty was traveling around the mountains and enjoying the autumn breeze.
But the former one, in Mingfu's own words, he was worried about business, and his sightseeing was just incidental, yes, it was just an appearance.
But Yanrokuro seems to think that traveling around the mountains and rivers is the real thing...
It is estimated that only the Liu Ashan brothers, who followed dully behind, believed Mingfu's words.
Anyway, in the past few days, Ouyang Rong took Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan to visit the upstream and downstream of Butterfly Creek.
Ouyang Rong personally measured a circle from the ruins of Digong Gate connecting Yunmeng Guze in the upper reaches to the butterfly creek and the Yangtze River estuary in the lower reaches, as well as more than a dozen "Zeguo" areas along the way where the water has not completely receded.
Today, the three of them went to Donglin Temple on Dagushan Mountain again and found Master Shandao who presided over it. However, this time it was not Master Shandao who enlightened everyone, but the amiable parent officer Ouyang County Magistrate who enlightened Master Shandao:
As a result, the two parties had a frank, in-depth, long-term and constructive communication on the disaster issue, and believed that the dialogue was timely and useful, which deepened the mutual understanding between the county government and Donglin Temple. Magistrate Ouyang noticed that Donglin Temple hosted the We highly appreciate the relevant statements and positive intentions on post-disaster construction issues. Magistrate Ouyang pointed out...
Well, in the end, with a wave of his hand, Master Shandao decided to renovate an old temple and take in a group of homeless victims to cultivate the temple fields as tenants... Just suffer the Buddha again, and he will deduct the merits.
I don’t know what the county magistrate and the master were talking about. The young novice monk with fair hair has never seen such a heroic and generous master. Maybe this is the relationship between the government and the people.
The fair-haired young novice monk sighed, not noticing at all that after the magistrate left, his master touched his head and sighed, and did not go to read the palms of the female donors and female Bodhisattvas in the afternoon.
"Mingfu, the county government still has a lot of things to do, don't you think we should go back?"
Halfway up the mountain, Ouyang Rong stopped again, and took Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan together to overlook the scenery from a pavilion with a great view on the mountainside and a plaque named "Shielding Eyes". Yan Liulang couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
"Look, in our county, this Butterfly Creek does look like a butterfly's wings. The name is correct."
Ouyang Rong suddenly stretched out his hand and pointed at the stretch of blue-tiled buildings at the foot of the mountain. They were scattered on both sides of the Butterfly Creek. The Butterfly Creek was winding, and the sails on the river were like clouds. Looking further ahead, one could see the boundless east-flowing river, with a huge lake at the mouth of the river. Mud-yellow sandbank.
Yan Liulang interrupted:
"Our Butterfly Creek is indeed a good place. This stream nourishes hundreds of sword furnaces on the west bank. I heard the old man say that the red sword body taken out of the furnace can be transformed as soon as the water from Butterfly Creek is poured on it." The blue smoke hissed out, making the swords of good quality... Since the pre-Qin Dynasty, this stream has poured out countless famous swords."
Glancing at Ouyang Rong's profile who was listening attentively, Liu Ashan, who had been silent all this time, also said: "I used to work as a clerk in a sword shop. I heard from the senior swordsmiths that the most powerful thing about this Butterfly Creek is not the communication cloud. The key position between Mengze and the Yangtze River is that this stream has dragon energy, and it is one of the few places in the world where tripod swords can be forged."
Seeing that Mingfu seemed interested, Yan Liulang also answered:
"I heard that in those days, before the former dynasty had unified the north and the south, the Chen State, the last state in the Southern Dynasty, used the whole country to forge the tripod sword here. It was a pity that the sword was destroyed by the great lord as soon as it was completed. Later, the lord followed Chao Mad Emperor once again spent all the resources from the north and south, and then built a furnace and forged a sword by the Butterfly Creek. This time, before the sword was completed, the world was in chaos, and rebels broke out...
"Later, Taizong cleaned up the business. After the founding of the Daqian Kingdom, he learned his lesson, lived with the people, and never made those harmful things again. The sword shop business in Longcheng gradually declined, until the Liu family reopened it later. Guyue Sword Shop."
Liu Ashan recalled, "An old swordsmith in the sword shop said that this Butterfly Creek is a blessed place, but it is also a source of trouble."
"What is this tripod sword you are talking about?" Ouyang Rong was curious.
Liu Ashan shook his head, "I don't know, it must be the most powerful famous sword. I heard that all the princes, generals and ministers want to get it."
Yan Liulang also interjected, "Not only that, I heard that the Qi practitioners inside and outside the world also want to get this thing. Some people say that the battle for the tripod in the Southern and Northern Dynasties was over these tripod swords."
Ouyang Rong shook his head, just like the mythical Dao Meridian and Yunmeng Jianze that his junior sister told him, he only listened to them as curious things.
Returning to the business at hand, the young county magistrate turned to Liu Ashan and said:
"The old swordsmith is right. This Butterfly Creek is indeed the source of trouble. Not only does it nourish an evil willow that sucks people's marrow, it also becomes an accomplice to Longcheng's floods.
"Every time the water rises in Yunmengze, as long as the Dickong Gate is not blocked, the water in Butterfly Creek will overflow the river and flood Longcheng County. This creek is winding and has no flood discharge capacity at all..."
Ouyang Rong stared down the mountain.
As the magistrate of Longcheng County, his responsibilities during this flood were not only disaster relief, but also flood control.
Regarding the latter, when Ouyang Rong first came to the county government and took office, he talked with Diao Xian Cheng, but at that time he didn't even have enough food for disaster relief, let alone flood control. Diao Xian Cheng suggested that he go to the Liu family to beg for food. ', like previous predecessors, rebuilt Di Gong Gate to block the water from Yunmengze upstream.
At present, after all his troubles, he has barely enough food for disaster relief. In addition to mobilizing the entire county, providing work-for-relief, and organizing the Dragon Boat Festival... he can already feed the refugees outside the city.
Therefore, water control has become a top priority now.
Because he knew that the maximum rainfall period of the rainy season was coming after the Dragon Boat Festival. Currently, there were no water conservancy projects in Longcheng County. In front of Yunmengze, whose terrain was like a basin and easy to store water during the rainy season, it was as if he was not wearing underpants. You can see everything big or small. It will be strange if the flood peak does not flood Dragon City.
Others, such as Diao Xiancheng, rely on the experience of county chronicles to predict floods. There is a "big flood every four years". If the flood has already passed this year, there will be no flood...
Ouyang Rong has never encountered any supernatural forces in this world, so the education he received does not allow him to believe in jingles, and he cannot lie to himself.
In the past few days, he visited the upper and lower reaches of Butterfly Creek to find out the water conservancy situation.
The current situation is both simple and difficult.
Yunmengze, Butterfly Creek, and the Yangtze River can be seen as a "work" shape. Butterfly Creek is the "vertical" in the middle. Yunmengze can be seen as a reservoir covering an area of thousands of miles, which is the center of Jiangnan Road. The largest freshwater lake, its water is mainly discharged from this "vertical" into the Yangtze River, and then flows eastward from the Yangtze River into the sea.
But now, the "vertical" line Ouyang Rong saw in his eyes was winding.
Winding waterways are the most difficult to discharge floods from.
How to treat this water?
Should we continue to repair the Di Gong Gate, follow the old path of Master Di, and mend it every four years like subsequent county magistrates?
The young county magistrate who came to Longcheng to gain merit must ask himself.
Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan were both stunned after hearing Ouyang Rong's extremely clear explanation in a few words.
Yan Liulang thought for a while and tried to come up with an idea: "How about we... widen the river?"
Ouyang Rong didn't nod, so Yan Liulang realized what he was doing and said to himself with a sad face, "No, even if we have manpower, we don't have enough money to support the amount of work."
Ouyang Rong stood up after hearing the words, lowered his eyes and patted the ashes on his clothes: "Who said there is no silver grain? Hasn't the silver grain for water control already arrived?"
"Where is the silver grain that Mingfu mentioned?"
"Isn't it just down there? You still have your own legs."
Ouyang Rong pointed lightly at the county town at the foot of the mountain, then sat alone again and quietly looked at the scenery at the foot of the mountain. He turned around first and said, "The view here is really broad. Let's go, it's time to go back."
After the young county magistrate walked out of the pavilion, he turned around and glanced at the plaque on the pavilion, and couldn't help but say to himself:
"What a blinding pavilion, it does not cover your eyes at all... There is a saying that you are not afraid of the clouds covering your eyes, just because you are at the top."
Already having an idea, he smiled and went down the mountain to eat "meat".
…
Ouyang Rong did not expect that he would be fed a mouthful of "meat" as soon as he returned to the county office.
County government hall.
"What, you said that the Su family came to see me when I was away?" Ouyang Rong felt a little confused, "Which Su family? Why did they come to me?"
He really did not remember that among the thirteen largest local gentry families in Longcheng, there was a family named Su.
Diao Xian Cheng shook his head, "The elder of the Su family said that he came to pay taxes for his family. Before the Ming Dynasty audited the accounts, they checked themselves and found that there might be some ambiguous taxes that had not been paid. So now I submit it to the Ming Dynasty."
Ouyang Rongqi said: "There are actually people who take the initiative to check for leaks and fill up the vacancies for the sake of our government? Well, how much did they pay?"
Diao County Cheng swallowed, "One thousand taels of silver."
Ouyang Rong's eyes twitched, "What kind of tax is this missing? Pay so much?"
Diao County Prime Minister spread his hands and said: "I asked my men to check the accounts of Su Mansion and found that they pay taxes on time every year, and they pay a lot of money."
"Then you won't give the money back?"
When Diao County Cheng heard this, he looked at Ouyang Rong with a strange look in his eyes:
"But the Su family elder said that if there is no leakage, then donate the money to the county government and let Mr. Mingfu handle it by himself. All they need is a pen and ink from Mr. Mingfu. They can give it to them anytime. .”
Ouyang Rong twitched the corner of his mouth, stood up and went to the table to take a look at this huge sum of money.
The table was a little shaky under the weight of the money.
One thousand taels of silver was worth half of the money he had coerced and induced those bully and evil gentry to donate.
The young magistrate threw the money in his hand back on the table, walked into the lobby and walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and couldn't help but turn around:
"We still have such good and law-abiding people in Longcheng County?" he asked in surprise.
The main reason is that Ouyang Rong has long been disappointed with this group of landlords and tycoons in the county, or in other words, he has no hope for them at all. In these days of battles of wits and courage, it is harder to touch the interests than the souls...
But now, a white lotus suddenly appeared, which was more good than the good people riding horses. It really made men silent and women weep. How could he not be shocked.
Good guy, just thinking about it made me shed a little tears.
This wave, this wave is called PUA.
Ouyang Rong sighed.
Diao Xian Cheng remembered something and said: "By the way, Ming Mansion, the Meilu Garden where you and your aunt now live was also donated free of charge by the Su family."
Ouyang Rong was speechless.
Not long after, Diao County Magistrate left with his official duties, leaving a young magistrate standing in the lobby alone with a table of white money.
He touched his chin.
"The Su family on Luming Street...is it right next to it? The Su family next door, I remember my junior sister lives there. She said it was Shibo's family...that is to say, this Su family is an old friend of my mentor?"
Ouyang Rong put on his clothes and prepared to go out, but after hesitating, he hung up his official uniform again.
Someone was looking for a name to donate a thousand taels and only asked for a piece of calligraphy and painting. It was quite a bit like a friendship between gentlemen. It would be a bit vulgar to come to visit him. What's more, this Su family is an old friend of his mentor, so he couldn't be too familiar with him. avoid arousing suspicion.
Ouyang Rong nodded, wrote down the favor, and immediately sent someone to call Yan Liulang.
He gestured to the money with his chin: "Take it to buy food. It's all spent, and no leftovers are allowed."
After a pause, the young magistrate smiled slightly sheepishly: "Especially the newly opened rice shops on the street, you have to take good care of their business."
"Here."
…
The first ray of morning light first fell on the bell tower on the top of Donglin Temple.
But the novice monk in gray monk clothes who went upstairs to ring the bell today was not thinking about the bell at all. He frequently looked down the mountain in the direction of Butterfly Creek and got distracted.
If there is an early-rising discipline monk passing by at this moment, he will not care if he sees it, because there will definitely not be much incense in the temple today, and the abbot will take a large group of monks down the mountain to preach at Penglangdu in the city.
Because today is May 5th, it is the Dragon Boat Festival again.
In Longcheng County.
Before daybreak, the newly expanded ferry began to be bustling with activity. Young coolies, traffickers and lackeys, servants, government clerks, and hawkers selling breakfast were all crowded together at the pier, setting up tables like platforms, climbing ladders and hanging colorful decorations. .
On the Butterfly Creek, which has just been warmed by the morning sun, the most eye-catching thing at the moment is not the large ships transporting grain from other places, but the colorful dragon boats.
If you look down from the whole city, you can see that on the streets before the sky is fully illuminated, the heads of people coming out of the lanes have gathered into an endless stream of people, all heading towards the Butterfly Creek Ferry where the dragon boat races are held. As they flowed away, the refugees outside the city also poured into the city. There were police officers in blue patrolling the streets and alleys to maintain order...
The Dragon Boat Festival organized by Longcheng County Government finally started.
Just arrived in the morning.
"Mingfu, Mingfu!"
On Luming Street, Longcheng County Government Office, all the officials who had finished the report walked out the door and went to the pier to watch the dragon boats. Only a certain resentful police officer ran against the flow of people and ran into the county government office, shouting, "He has arrested him." I asked an acquaintance quickly:
"Zhao Silang, have you seen the Ming Mansion?"
"In the morning, a brother went to deliver breakfast to the magistrate. It seems to be in the back house."
"It's so late. The Dragon Boat Festival is waiting for the Ming Dynasty to open. Why are you still in the back house?"
Yan Liulang had no choice but to push the crowds all the way and arrived at the county government house that was uninhabited after it was collapsed by the flood.
As soon as he came in, he saw a young county magistrate wearing a blue robe, bending down to tinker with a strange "sand table" in the yard.
Yan Liulang thinks that the thing in the yard should be called a sand table, because it looks a bit like the sand table used by the army to simulate the mountainous terrain, but the one made by the Ming Dynasty is an enlarged version, taking up the entire yard, and there are simulated rivers and water sources in it. Connected to another well for pumping water.
"Mingfu, it's time to go out."
"oh."
Ouyang Rong responded without turning his head, squatted by the pool and washed his dirty face and hands, then walked over and closed the well truck that was pumping water at the well.
The rapidly flowing "stream" in this huge "sand table" in the yard stopped.
Yan Liulang took the official uniform, unfolded it, and helped the young county magistrate put it on; during this time, the hot-tempered detective in blue couldn't help but glance at the strange "sand table" in the yard.
Ever since he came back from his 'landscape tour' at Donglin Temple in Dagushan Mountain last time, Mingfu has been obsessed with this thing.
He first found a lot of tools and materials in Tolyua Mountain, and then found a large courtyard in the county government house where no one would disturb him. He ate, drank, and slept in it, and worked hard for two days. Finally, he made this "sand table" in the courtyard. ".
From the look, Yan Liulang felt that the terrain of Butterfly Creek and Longcheng County he saw on the mountainside that day was very similar. However, upon closer inspection, there were some changes. Some of the crooked rivers seemed to have become straighter, and some of the terrain seemed to have moved. Some...
Yan Liulang couldn't understand what this was doing, but... this was normal. He felt that if he understood Mingfu's brain circuit, he would be really successful and would not be the leader of the errands and grudges.
Yan Liulang sighed.
Ouyang Rong put on his official uniform, lowered his head to adjust his cuffs, and asked as he went out: "What's the price of food now?"
"Mingfu, it's twenty coins a dou, which lasts for half a decade!"
"Well done."
Yan Liulang said with a humble face: "It's the Mingfu who commanded it well."
"No, I mean those foreign grain merchants did a good job."
Yan Liulang: "..."
Ouyang Rong took Yan Liulang out of the county government office and boarded the carriage driven by Liu Ashan. After sitting in the carriage, he explained with a smile:
"According to the news you came back from the inspection at the dock warehouse the day before yesterday, this group of foreign grain merchants have gathered at least 100,000 shi of grain in Longcheng. However, the price of grain is still maintained at 20 yuan a dou, and there is no vicious competition among peers. , among these foreign grain merchants, there should be people with bright minds and good skills working together to sell grain in a tacit understanding."
Yan Liulang suddenly realized, "That's it."
Ouyang Rong chuckled, "It seems that they are not all defenseless, they are all human sperm... This mouthful of meat is a little tough."
Yan Liulang tentatively said: "Then today..."
"Everything is as usual, let's go. This annual Dragon Boat Festival must be a good festival for everyone in the city."
Ouyang Rong said with a smile and Yan Liulang nodded.
At this time, as if he remembered something, the young magistrate asked again: "By the way, junior sister, have you seen her recently?"
Yan Liulang thought for a moment, "Last time I went home, I saw her coming out of Yuanming Tower on the street."
"Why are you running there when you have nothing to do? What can you do anywhere? Well, my junior sister must not be a good girl..."
The young county magistrate frowned.
Yan Liulang hesitated and wanted to ask, Miss Xie is so obvious that even the Ming Dynasty can't see it. Isn't it a good man's behavior to leave the beautiful little junior sister in the cold for several days... The only blue plant in the family? Yi Daotou couldn't help but retract his hips and shrink back.
Ouyang Rong didn't know that the atmosphere suddenly became heated. Not long after, the carriage arrived at Penglangdu. He opened the curtain first and was suddenly hit by an overwhelming heat wave.
Hmm, it's the smell of salty rice dumplings...
