Lei Yue Longmen

When going down the mountain, Li Jing's mood was not as sharp as before.Yun Zai was very confused, but he didn't dare to ask.

Recently, some bandits fled to the area of ​​Qingyang and Mayang, and the gates of the city were closely searched. After a lot of trouble, the three of them finally entered Longmen County in the evening.

Unexpectedly, this small county is quite lively.There are many shops and restaurants on the street. There are many pedestrians and noises on the street, and the bustling market can be seen everywhere.The little girl said suspiciously: "I heard from the second princess that Longmen County seems to be a place where mountains and rivers are at the end of the mountain, and now it seems that it may not be the case at all."

The old man who drove the car said, "Longmen County was indeed a poor place before, but since Mr. Cen took office, he has built water conservancy, practiced farming and mulberry, opened academies, and attracted businessmen to settle in. In just three years, it has become one of the best in Qingyang County. Fu County."

"So, this Lord Cen's official voice is not bad." Yun Zai was secretly happy.

The three of them were playing top jobs in an inn in the east of the city, and they didn't mention the visit yet.Yun Zhong handed the packaged money for the half-way trip to the old man, and told him not to go too far, and to be on call at any time. The old man accepted it with a smile, and even said he was relieved.After settling down, Li Jingchen went uncharacteristically and took a rest early.Seeing the bustle of the street, Yunzai wanted to go to the night market to buy some goodies for His Highness to see, and asked Yunzhong to accompany him, but Yunzhong refused to go, "Your Highness is here for something important, how can you be like you?" Goofing off."

Yun Zai was quite unconvinced, "Why am I just doing nothing? You hold your Setting Sun Sword all day long, doing nothing. You claim to protect His Highness, God pity that the only bear we met on the road was shot by His Highness himself .What did you say you were doing along the way? Who is more idle between us?"

Yun Zhong hastily raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, if I say one sentence, you'll be worth ten sentences, just pretend I didn't say anything." After the bickering, the two brothers and sisters lost interest in playing and went back to their rooms.There was nothing to say all night.

Early the next morning, after the three of them had breakfast, they called the coachman and went to the government office to pay a visit.When he arrived at the gate of the county government office, Yun Zhong pretended to be Mr. Gu, and went to hand in the greeting card. Soon after, a man who looked like a butler came out and said politely: "The magistrate is not at home at this time, please come back tomorrow!"

Yunzhong asked again: "Can you tell the county magistrate where he is?" The housekeeper said: "I only care about the affairs of the house. As for where the county magistrate has gone, I really don't know."

"It's not that he doesn't know, it's just that he doesn't want to tell." Yun Zhong returned to the car and reported to Li Jingchen.

Li Jingchen said: "Since that's the case, we will come back tomorrow."

The three of them were turned away and returned disappointed.When I arrived in Dongcheng, I saw the noise in the street. When I looked closer, it turned out that several government servants were posting notices.The literate people below read it aloud, but it was a recruitment post.It turned out that in order to expand the canal, the county magistrate was recruiting talents for water control in the county, and rewarded them generously.The county official placed tables, chairs, pens and ink under the list, assessed the applicants on the spot, and registered them.Those who pass will not only receive a bounty, but also directly meet the county magistrate.

Li Jingchen got out of the car when he heard the words, and listened to the county official's examination questions.The question is not difficult, but anyone who understands water conservancy can answer it, but there are only a few people who understand water conservancy among the people, so the county official sat in the sun for a long time, and only three or five people came forward to listen to the test questions. If there is a reward, I want to try it, but I will be stumped after two or three questions.

The three stood in the crowd and watched.

Yun Zai heard the county magistrate impatiently ask the man who signed up: "Do you know how many embankments exist on the banks of the Zhuo River? What are they for?"

The man hesitated and couldn't answer, but Yun Zai remembered what Huang Shiliang said about the embankment of the Zhuohe River, excitedly raised his hand and said, "I will answer this question!"

When the county magistrate looked up, he saw a white and thin little man with little flesh on his body, and he looked like an opportunist, so he was a little contemptuous, and said: "You know what to say."

Yun Zai cleared his throat and said, "Who doesn't know this? Three dikes are often built on the banks of the Zhuohe River. There is a remote embankment at a certain distance, which is used to prevent severe floods, and a horizontal grid embankment, which cuts the embankment into small grids to restrain the flood and prevent it from submerging fertile fields."

The county official was overjoyed when he heard the words, and asked her to sit down.Yun Zai got His Highness's approval, so he walked over generously.

"Then Mr. Xiaolang, do you know why the Zhuo River has been diverted all the year round?"

She also heard His Highness talk about this question before, and said, "This is because the silt at the bottom of the river has been piled up all the year round to raise the river bed."

"Then how can governance be improved?"

"This..." She didn't know much about this question, she hesitated for a while, then turned to His Highness for help.

Yun Zhong coughed, covered his mouth and said in a low voice, "Use the clear water to wash away the turbidity, store water to attack the sand."

"What?" Yun Zai couldn't hear clearly, and asked several times.The county magistrate was also patient, and said: "Don't be in a hurry, Mr. Xiaolang, you can think about it first." Yun Zhong couldn't speak to her, so he didn't remind her at all.

Seeing that calling for help was unsuccessful, Yun Zai said nonsense, "Sieve all the sand out of the river."

"Sieve it out?" The county magistrate was dumbfounded, "How can I get it out?"

Yun Zai wanted to continue talking nonsense, but he was afraid that if he said too much, he would lose. He was ridiculed by others, so he stopped talking, and asked His Highness again for help with a bitter face.

"Sand ranks fifth in the water of a turbid river. If it is in autumn, water ranks second. Two feet of water contains eight feet of sand. If the water is not rapid, it will stagnate and sink. If the river sinks, the river will be full, and the embankment will burst when the river is full. There is an old saying that "moisture slows down, and sand stops when it slows down." Take the Longmen section of the river as an example, within two miles downstream of the waterfall, the water speed in the river is very fast, and the riverbed is rarely silted up. , the sediment will be high and turbid. If we can build embankments in the downstream to restrain the water and twist the river into one stream, the water will be fierce. Using the power of water to attack the stagnant sand, we will be able to directly brush the bottom of the river. It is the best strategy for water control."

The county official was shocked when he heard the words, and fixed his eyes to see, but it was a handsome white-faced young man, standing indifferently among the crowd.He got up quickly and said: "Dare to ask this young master Gao's name."

Yun Zai immediately stood up with a smile, not without pride, and said, "This is Mr. Li from my family. She is a veritable talent in water control, and even today's emperor praised her."

Hearing the words, the county magistrate hurried to the front to pay a visit, and invited Li Jingchen to go to the government office to have a talk.

Unexpectedly, Li Jingchen took two steps forward, uncovered the announcement, held it in his palm to examine.Then asked him: "Is this written by your county magistrate?"

The county magistrate replied, "That's right. Mr. Cen attached great importance to the construction of the canal, so he personally wrote a recruitment post."

"Where are the others?"

The county official saw that this person had some origins, so he dared not answer, "Our lord is inspecting the embankment at the Longmen Canal ten miles west of the city."

Li Jingchen's chest seemed to be blocked by a huge boulder, and once his blood returned, he felt a little dizzy.He only gritted his teeth and said two words, "Lead the way."

The group set off for the Longmen Canal.

The county official's surname is Jiang, and everyone in the county calls him Master Jiang, but he is actually the magistrate of the county.Working under the county magistrate's errands can be regarded as conscientious.He only thought that Li Jingchen was an imperial envoy sent by his superiors to inspect in disguise, so he first sent someone to report the news, and then whispered in her ear: "The day before yesterday, Lord Cen let go of the Longmen Canal and diverted dirty water into the lake, so that dozens of counties downstream would be spared. Affected by floods, I just won an award from the county yesterday, and before I had time to celebrate, I went to inspect the canal again. I slept on the canal for two days in a row. Even the meals were made at home and sent over."

Unexpectedly, the face of the other party was even more cloudy.Master Jiang was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat in a daze.

No one was found on the canal, so he hurriedly stopped a farmer carrying a sandbag and asked, "Where did the magistrate go?" Have you waited?" "I waited for a while, but the adults said that he still has something to do, so he left again." "Where are you going now?" "I just carried a bag of water seedlings to the widow grandson's field to transplant rice seedlings. "Master Jiang built a pergola on his forehead, looked into the paddy field, and saw a familiar figure working hard a mile away.I am really happy and worried. I am so happy that the inspectors have seen this by setting an example. This year's official assessment has hope again. What is worrying is that this time the inspectors are not likely to be fooled. It doesn't work anymore.

"I'll just inspect it. I haven't done anything wrong, so I'm not afraid of his inspection."

The people in the field pushed the rice under the water, pulled their feet back, and after planting a small strand, they stood up to rest, looked up to the sky with a long sigh, wiped off their sweat and continued to plant.Master Jiang was about to cry on the ridge of the field, and said bluntly: "The county has just received the award, and the superiors have sent people here. I think the adults will be promoted soon, and maybe they will go to the capital to take up a post. It is so important. I am most afraid of slipping up and overturning the boat in the gutter. My lord, you have to be careful, and don’t let anyone catch you. I will help you to see the inspector who came this time. He is not easy to deal with. You should hurry up Let's see, people can't stay in the pergola for long."

The other party straightened up, holding the rice seedlings in one hand, supporting his back with the other, and smiling all over his face, "Master Jiang, can you rest for a while? Do you want to come down and help me plant some rice?"

Master Jiang was choked for a moment, and he hated iron and said: "You, why don't you listen to persuasion. Okay, okay, I will plant the rice for you. You hurry up and go ashore and meet the inspector." Roll up your sleeves and go into the water.Mr. Jiang is more than ten years older than the county magistrate. Although he is a subordinate, he has taken off his official hat and loves and cherishes his talents for this young county magistrate, just like his own children.

"That's not going to happen. After planting the second sister-in-law's family, Wang Qi's family, Zhou Laosi's family, and Zhao Lai's family, it's all agreed."

Master Jiang's eyes widened: "Are they also widows? They have hands and feet, why do you need adults to help you plant the land?"

"Listen to me and tell you the number. The son of Wang Qipo died on the battlefield last year. The family has no legs. This year, his eyesight is also blurred. It looks pitiful. Zhou's fourth child also died fighting floods in the early years. There is a shortage of food and rice, and it is almost impossible to open the pot. The brothers in his family are unwilling to help the orphan and widowed mother, and even usurped her mother and wife's property. If you ask me, it is more pitiful than Widow Sun's family. Not to mention Zhao Lai's family. His father broke his leg to repair the embankment, and the county owed his family more than 20 years of relief food, so he has to express it. These families have contributed to the county, and they can't make people feel cold. I planted here A few strands of rice will make others respect them more, why not do it."

"Well, if you want me to say, it's all the fault of the previous magistrates, and I let you bear it all by yourself. It's really God's blessing that our Longmen County can have a virtuous person like you as the county magistrate. But your virtuousness What good is it for the common people in our county to know? It is right to let the people above know.”

Here again, the county magistrate rolled his eyes, stretched out his hand and said, "Pass me the saliva."

Master Jiang handed him the bamboo tube on the ridge of the field, and he opened the lid and looked up to drink. His thin neck was shining in the sun, and the luster was shining. I don't know if it was sweat or water.While drinking, Master Jiang suddenly said: "Oh no, those people are here. My lord, get out the water quickly."

"Hey, don't worry, don't worry, when I finish planting this strand, you go to meet it first, and then just call me." After speaking, he threw the water bucket back to the ridge of the field and continued planting rice seedlings.Mr. Jiang had no choice but to greet him personally.

For some reason, when the figure with his back to them bowed and planted rice seedlings, he straightened up lazily in the sun, spread his shoulders and tilted his neck to relieve the stiffness of his body that had been maintained for a long time.Li Jing's whole body seemed to be frozen, unable to move at all.

On the other hand, Yun Zai's face was full of disbelief, "This Cen Zhuangyuan, after all, is a seventh-rank official, and he really went to the fields to plant rice himself?"

In fact, it is no wonder that in the eyes of ordinary people, one becomes an official and enters the gentry class. How can one do such drudgery as farming?Unless it's just for show, in order to set a good example of emphasizing farming and mulberry, even the current emperor will symbolically rake the rake on the royal fertile soil every spring.This Cen Zhuangyuan seems to be unavoidable.

Hearing the movement, the man turned his head. Because of the direct sunlight, his eyes could not be opened. He could only vaguely see three people standing on the field ridge, a tall man holding a sword, a thin and short servant, Next to him was an upright man, who looked like he had acquired an aura from being in a high position all the year round, and he must be the inspector Mr. Jiang was talking about.

He was a little discouraged, threw the rice seedlings in the water, pulled his feet out of the field, wiped his waist twice with his muddy hands, and strode towards them.

When he was only ten steps away from them, he saw the true faces of these three uninvited guests, and he suddenly seemed to be frozen, froze in surprise, and could not take a step forward.

There were a few mud marks on his face, and a ring of salt grains oozed from his neck.Both hands are spread flat in front of him, as if they want to catch some sunlight to dry the water stains on them.The sleeves and trouser legs were all rolled up, exposing the forearm and calf that were stained brown by muddy water.I don't know if the coarse linen clothes were dirty or they were of earthy color, they stuck to his body, which didn't match his clean temperament.The skin on his face was tanned to a wheat color, presumably because of working in the sun all year round.

None of the three people on the opposite side thought that after many years, she would appear in such a scruffy image.Compared with her whole body in a state of distress, their bright clothes and extraordinary manners seemed to have opened up the gap. The strong contrast made the personnel on both sides of the confrontation a little dizzy.

In the end, it was that unintentional, familiar, and innocent smile that suddenly bloomed, bringing the three people opposite them back to reality.All the memories about this person deep in their hearts, like a nightmare, rushed out and gave them a hard blow.

If Yun Zai knew that Cen Zhu was the one who couldn't mention his name, she would definitely not have urged His Royal Highness to come down to this stupid place to investigate Lao Shizi's son-in-law for the second princess.

If Yun Zhong knew that Cen Zhu was the one who made His Highness heartbroken, he would definitely kill her with the Setting Sun Sword in his hand before His Highness saw her, just like what he almost did back then!

If everything could be overthrown and started again, they would rather never know this person, let alone step into her territory.

His Highness hadn't left the room since the afternoon, and the brothers and sisters of the Mu family sat at the table, watching the reheated food over and over again, relatively speechless.

"I just went to the street to inquire about it," Yun Zhong said first, but his face was dark, "This County Magistrate Cen already has a wife."

Yun Zai turned pale with shock and couldn't believe it: "Are you serious? How is this possible? The second princess never mentioned this in her letter! Did you hear me right?"

Yun Zhong clenched his lapel tightly, "I went to ask a few more people. It is said that Mrs. Cen is a medical lady. She is quite famous in the county. She often gives free clinics. Many people recognize her."

Yun Zai was completely dumbfounded, "Could it be—that dumb girl in green we met outside the city? The one who helped us enter the city? I remember that the city guards seemed to call her Madam. Could it be the magistrate's wife? "

In Yun Zai's memory, there was an unforgettable figure in Tsing Yi, about two decades old, with a simple and decent green jade hairpin combing her hair.The eyebrows are sparse and the eyes are beautiful, and the temperament is gentle.She got out of the car and nodded with the lieutenant guarding the city, and the soldiers blocking the way seemed to be in awe of her, so they withdrew one after another.She walked in front of them, although she was not eye-catching, she was elegant and pure.When she saw Li Jingchen, she was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and smiled again, and danced a beautiful hand gesture with her pale fingers.It was a very standard dumb language, but for some reason, in her hands, it was like a flying crane dancing, making people unable to take their eyes off it.She remembered that the little girl in red beside her said: "Sister Qing is a well-known doctor in our county, and she has very good medical skills."

At that time, a man who fell into the water was carried in their car. Because his identity was unknown, he was stopped by the city guards for interrogation.She danced her hand flower as if to indicate if she could have a look?They were naturally happy, so they let the place out.The woman in Tsing Yi got into the car, and when they staggered past, they smelled a pleasant scent of herbs on her body.

After being speechless for a while, Yun Zai suddenly grabbed his elder brother's hand, "Brother, please don't tell His Highness about this."

"Do you think we can hide it?" Yun Zhong said angrily.

"If you can't hide it, you have to hide it!" Yun Zai's attitude was extremely firm, "You also know how Your Highness survived these years, so don't stab her in the wound again."

"It wasn't us who stabbed her in the wound, it was that heartless and heartless person!"

"Brother," Yun Zai burst into tears, "Just take it as me begging you, Your Highness is really pitiful."

Yun Zhong looked at her speechless.At this moment, the door of the room opened suddenly, Yun Zai hurriedly wiped away tears, pretended nothing happened, and got up to welcome His Highness to the table.

Li Jingchen sat down at the table with a normal expression, picked up the bowls and chopsticks, and started eating calmly, as if nothing had happened.But the more this happened, the more distressed Yun Zai was.

"Is there a mansion newspaper in Beijing today?" The tone was the same as usual.

"Oh yes, I just went to the post house to pick it up, and I'm about to let Yunzai deliver it." Yunzhong hurriedly responded.

"Well. Tomorrow, I'm going to inspect the paddy fields in the western suburbs of Longmen. You go and inform the county government and ask them to send a governor over. Any one will do."

"Yes."

§Kangyang Old Dream§