Ouyang Rong opened his eyes early.
It was just after dawn outside, and the sky was not bright yet, but the house was still a little dark.
But the energetic chirping of insects in the early morning has already filled my ears.
He stared at the curtain on the top of the bed, dazed for a while.
Sniffed.
Hmm, I feel a little stuffy.
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes to look at the well-covered quilt, and without thinking much, he opened Wei Lai's white left calf that was resting on his waist and turned over to get on the bed.
The sound of him getting up also woke up the sleepy Wei Lai.
The latter rubbed his eyes and stood up, looked around in confusion for a moment, became more awake, hurriedly jumped out of the warm bed, ran out of bed and helped his master get dressed.
Ouyang Rong got up and stretched.
The white-haired maid half hugged him from behind, put her two small hands around Ouyang Rong's waist, and tied his belt for him.
She is taller than her peers, but even when she stands on tiptoes, she can only reach the chest height of her slender master.
"How did Master sleep last night?"
"It's okay. I've been sleeping soundly recently, and I haven't had any insomnia."
Wei Lai asked curiously: "Is your face still uncomfortable this morning?"
Ouyang Rong touched his face.
When I woke up this morning, the sour and astringent taste in my mouth was still there, but it was less. The same was true on my face. It wasn't too spicy anymore. It was much better than the previous few days.
He shook his head and muttered:
"It's getting better. It seems that I have to eat less spicy food recently. My aunt didn't let the kitchen cook these days, but it's getting better... maybe it's some strange allergy."
Wei Lai knelt down to tidy up his clothes and put on his shoes without being too dirty. She raised her face and smiled:
"The mung bean cakes made in the kitchen are also delicious. Come and learn from me, slave."
The master and servant chatted for a while. After washing up, Ouyang Rong had breakfast with Zhen as usual, and then went out to meet his junior sister.
…
"The Yue Nu Gorge is indeed a magical work. The intersection of the two water systems is as narrow as a beautiful woman's waist. There are two mountains facing each other on both sides. The underwater terrain rises. It is really strange."
"Thanks to Mr. Mingfu, Mr. Chen and everyone for building this sluice. This is truly a work of art. Otherwise, no matter how miraculous the topography is, it will be useless, and Mr. Mingfu will still be famous!"
"Digong Gate was not my original site choice. It was Di Gong who proposed to build it. I just copied the gourd. Master Diao, please don't disgrace me. I can't afford it."
"My lord Mingfu is so humble. You must know that Xiao Gui and Cao Sui are also a kind of wisdom. This means that your lord should be calm and calm, not blindly compare and show off, but can learn from the predecessors with an open mind...
"And according to my official opinion, the Broken Wing Canal proposed by the Ming Dynasty is not inferior to the Di Gong Gate. On the contrary, it can promote commerce and benefit people's livelihood, which is slightly better. Mr. Ming Fu is so powerful at a young age. It is impossible to say that he will not be able to do it in time. Like Master Di, he is another 'Southeast Pearl', stepping into the ranks of noble officials."
"Master Diao, Mr. Di is a state elder whom your majesty respects and honors. I am only a seventh-rank sesame official. This is not worthy of comparison."
Ouyang Rong turned his head, half-smiling but not smiling.
As usual, Ouyang Rong and his junior sister came early in the morning to the place where Di Gong Gate was built upstream.
This place is called Yuenv Gorge by the locals. The water from Yunmeng Daze in the south enters Butterfly Creek from the mouth of the gorge, then winds its way through Longcheng County and then merges into the river.
Only by looking up from a high place like now can we clearly understand why the terrain of Yuenv Gorge is so suitable for building a gate and why Di Gong chose this location.
On both sides of the river bank of Yue Nu Gorge, there are two mountains facing each other.
The locals call them Longbei Mountain and Caifeng Mountain respectively.
Two mountains extend from the shore to the bottom of the river, with rocks protruding from them.
A few days ago, before Ouyang Rong and others started to build the sluice, he sent Liu Ashan and other people who were familiar with water properties to sneak under the river.
It was discovered that there were stones like tunnels at the bottom of the river, spanning dozens of feet.
This is naturally a good place to build a sluice, which can relatively control the water that accumulates and overflows from the source of Yunmengze, a vast and vast freshwater lake.
Ouyang Rong somewhat understood why the previous Longcheng County magistrates were keen to rebuild the sluice here. Not only was it to protect the political achievements and reputation of Master Di, but without the new water conservancy of Zheyi Canal, this large sluice would indeed be very suitable for frequent floods. Longcheng County.
The only problem is that Dickong Gate seems to be a bit prone to collapse...
At the moment, Ouyang Rongzheng, his junior sister, Liu Ashan, and the scribes such as Diao County Cheng climbed up to Longbei Mountain on the south bank of Yuenv Gorge, overlooking the brand new sluice that was about to be built below.
This is what Ouyang Rong likes to do every few days. He takes his subordinates and followers to the top of the mountain to take a closer look at the rough prototype of Di Gong Gate and understand the construction progress.
These days, with Ouyang Rong's personal daily dispatch, the efforts of Mr. Chen and other craftsmen sent by the Liu family, and a group of young men sent by the county government.
Di Gongzha is rapidly taking shape under the eyes of everyone, almost changing every day.
After casually dealing with Diao Xian Cheng, who liked to flatter Shangguan, Ouyang Rong squinted at the porous sluice gate, which was a large masonry structure below.
He seemed to be thinking about something in his heart.
He didn't speak for a long time.
Diao County Cheng, who was sweating profusely from climbing the mountain, took the sweat towel handed by his subordinate and wiped the sweat on his forehead.
As he gets older, how can he compare to the energetic young county magistrate, who is also very dynamic and resolute in character. As soon as he says hello, he will lead everyone to climb mountains and drill into forests if they don't agree with each other...
Diao Xian Cheng took a breath, glanced at Ouyang Rong's calm side face, and tried to say:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Your Majesty the Ming Dynasty has just come down to serve as a local official. Maybe one day this worldly talent will win your Majesty's favor, or someone may help you.
"Just because Jane is in the heart of the emperor, she may soar into the sky. I just hope that when the time comes, the Ming Dynasty will not forget the days when I worked with Xiaguan to control floods and build gates in Longcheng."
"Master Diao has indeed worked hard and is willing to accompany me to make trouble."
Ouyang Rong recovered his mind, sighed, and shook his head:
"Jane is in the Emperor's heart...can you please help me...hehe."
There were some truths that Ouyang Rong didn't say.
However, even an eighth-grade small county magistrate knows that it is not enough to have the ability to manage the world and control floods. You must have the support of noble people.
Of course, if you can make the current empress favor you, then you can do it in one step, and you can go to the political hall of Luojing Center to discuss matters tomorrow.
This is really not an exaggeration.
You see, just a few months after Master Di became prime minister, he was beaten to the bottom and derogated as the Dragon City Order. Then not long after, he was promoted back to Luojing and became prime minister again.
The gradient of this ascent is like a roller coaster, like a joke...
Because although the Zhou Dynasty had imperial examinations, it was not a literati politics at all, but an aristocratic politics.
No one like Ouyang Rong, an upstart from the imperial examination, can compare with the ninth-generation noble family like Junior Sister. The promotion stage is just a small path on the latter's broad road.
Every year, the imperial examinations are held in the capital of the gods. The dozens of people from the north and the south who are selected as scholars are proof of this. But not all of these dozens of people are as lucky as Ouyang Rong to be awarded an official position at the Xingyuan Banquet.
The Guanlong nobles and the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes were the main players on the stage of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The new elites in the imperial examination were at best the icing on the cake, small building blocks used by emperors of all dynasties to balance the balance of power.
Therefore, most of the local officials outside Luojing would not be promoted to the capital in their lifetime if they did not have the support of nobles.
Because of the gradual centralization of power in the Zhou Dynasty, the central and local governments were more internally focused than externally. The local states and counties were divided into many levels. After being upgraded a few levels, it would be better if they were not upgraded at all, but not much.
This is also what may happen to Ouyang Rong if he stays and gets promoted after the disaster relief and flood control. He might go to a certain state in Jiangnan Province to take up a salty position, and he is not comfortable as a county magistrate. Well, Maybe we can also have a "Jiangzhou Sima Qingshan Wet".
In this regard, we can also understand why Ouyang Rong was promoted from a ninth-rank official in Luojing, which was similar to the emperor's secretarial agency, to a local seventh-rank county magistrate, but he was promoted openly and secretly.
As for the noble backer Ouyang Rong could find, if he thought about it carefully, he could only rely on his mentor Xie Xun, who respected him. It was a pity that the latter did not seem to be involved in the officialdom of the Zhou Dynasty now.
"Master Diao, there is only one person like Master Di. Moreover, His Majesty has been here for a long time, and not everyone can be in the Emperor's heart now. Let's not think so much and do our best at the moment."
Ouyang Rong, who just wanted to control the flood and run away, glanced at Diao Xian Cheng, who had "the heart of the five-day Beijing omen", and said it lightly.
Diao Xiancheng didn't know that this person was not on the same track as him at all.
Both are officials in Longcheng, and someone wants a quick victory.
"That's right, it's best to do the repairs right now."
Diao Xian Cheng nodded, glanced at the noble daughter of the Xie family who was following behind Ouyang Rong calmly, and said with a smile:
"I just couldn't help but tell you in advance, haha, I'm a good judge of people and thieves. There is a 80% chance that the Ming Mansion master will be able to achieve great success."
Ouyang Rong smiled and didn't reply.
Behind him, Xie Lingjiang, who was wearing men's clothing and carrying a sword, glanced at Diao Xian Cheng.
In fact, she has always found the pairing of Eldest Brother and Diao Xiancheng to be very interesting.
There are two types of scholars who can most widely represent the Zhou Dynasty. The former has fewer ways to express their ambitions, while the latter has more ways:
The eldest brother pursues bottom-up, while Diao Xiancheng pursues top-down.
Ouyang Rong said a few words to Diao County Prime Minister and the scribes behind him, and everyone dispersed.
Only Ouyang Rong, Xie Lingjiang, Liu Ashan and others were left, continuing to look at the new sluice under construction at the foot of the mountain from a high place.
Xie Lingjiang was the first to ask what was in Ouyang Rong's heart:
“This is a marvelous terrain, and a sluice with such exquisite craftsmanship. It looks so strong, so how come it collapses every few years and cannot survive more than four years?
"It's worse than the dilapidated small sluices I've seen elsewhere."
Ouyang Rong was quiet for a moment and turned back with a smile: "Maybe there really is a Dragon King?"
He pointed at Yunmeng Guze, which stretched as far as the eye could see and was dotted with green islands.
Xie Lingjiang laughed tacitly.
"Senior Brother, is Di Gong Gate repaired soon?"
"Eighty-nine percent has been completed. It will be completed by the middle of this month at the latest." Ouyang Rong said casually: "Let's go and have a look at Mr. Chen's place."
"Mid-month...Okay." Xie Lingjiang lowered his head and muttered.
A few people looked at it from a high place for a while, then turned and walked all the way down the mountain.
They came to the construction site of the sluice which was under construction.
On the sluice embankment that stretches for tens of meters, many leading craftsmen and bare-chested young men are working hard, moving rocks and sand...
The weather has been beautiful these days, there is not much rain, and the water level in the Yue Nu Gorge is not high. There are many good men floating on the water on both sides of the sluice for transportation.
Thanks to this favorable time and place, the progress of this brand-new Dickong Gate is in its final sprint.
Xie Lingjiang followed his senior brother and saw him walking around the sluice construction site, looking and touching.
From time to time, the young county magistrate smiled at the laborers working around and asked about food and accommodation. Well, the focus was on whether the Liu family, who paid for the gate repairs, cut corners and neglected the workers... Occasionally, when he saw a sweaty man taking a rest, he would directly Take out the water bag and hand it over.
Xie Lingjiang didn't care whether the elder brother was putting on a show or not. A gentleman talks about his deeds but not his heart.
She only observes "qi".
And the Di Gong Gate at our feet was built until it is now almost completed due to the Senior Brother's wandering and condolences and supervision day after day.
Ouyang Rong took people to take a look at the three inner gates of Jingyu, Chongtang and Pingshui that were being built inside the gate. This is considered the core building of the Digong Gate. It functions as a kind of preliminary gate and is also the last part to be completed.
It was also here that I met Mr. Chen.
After they had just met and saluted, the old craftsman from Liujia Jianpu saluted respectfully and said:
"I would like to report to the county magistrate that in compliance with your instructions, a long stone tablet has been erected on the bank of the gate. It was also cut according to the dimensions you proposed."
Ouyang Rong nodded, holding his hands behind his back, "Thank you for your hard work."
Mr. Chen looked a little confused, hesitated, and asked:
"Your Excellency, County Magistrate, are you erecting a monument to commemorate the new gate? Why not engrave more inscriptions on it?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head and said:
"This is called Shui Ze Monument. It is not for commemoration. I use it to observe the water level. In the future, not only will a Shui Ze Monument be erected at this gate, but also in many places downstream."
He sighed and said in a serious tone:
"We can no longer wait for the Dickong Gate to be destroyed or even floods to come before we know how to run away. We can no longer rely solely on experience to judge floods. We must have some early observation and warning measures."
Mr. Chen and his old craftsmen nodded in understanding, and couldn't help but take another look at the serious-faced young county magistrate.
After a routine inspection of two rounds of sluices under construction, Ouyang Rong took Xie Lingjiang and others to the river bank, preparing to go to Diao County Cheng who was deploying materials for repairing the sluices.
Walking on the tree-lined path.
Xie Lingjiang saw that the senior brother's shoulders in front of him slumped slightly, and his posture seemed to be relaxed.
She tried to speak:
"Big Brother."
"Um?"
"Do you remember... you still owe me a little wish?"
"Well, it seems that there is such a thing, my little wish...have you thought about it clearly?"
Ouyang Rong paused, turned around and said curiously:
"Then tell me..."
At this moment, a cry came from the distance:
"Mingfu, you are here, there is a letter from Jiangzhou!"
I saw Yan Liulang running over in a hurry with a messenger bag, and handed a tightly wrapped envelope to Ouyang Rong.
Xie Lingjiang temporarily swallowed his words.
She heard the senior brother beside her look down at the envelope and mutter:
"Master Shen replied quickly..."
Py a sci-fi fairy tale. Just look at the name and introduction and it’s full of excitement. Friends who are interested can go to Kangkang~
