Uncle Hong Lou Rong

Chapter 168 Broken Leg
At four o'clock in Shen time, the summer heat will rest, which is exactly the time of the day when the air is cold and the ground is warm.

Brother Rong even sent the messenger back, walked out of the front hall, and looked at the gray gray color above his head.For a while, everyone in the other courtyard felt moved and entered the garden one after another.

Like him, look up and down.

The water in the garden was wrinkled into thousands of layers of blue waves, and the surrounding trees were trembling, making a sound like the tide in the heavy sky.Everyone stood in the wind, staring blankly at the sky that was about to be blown down by the strong wind at any time that day.

In the crowd, someone suddenly shouted: "Go to the attic quickly and see where the heavy rain hits."

Brother Rong looked at the Thirteenth Master in response, Zhongshun Wang Huang came over and hurried upstairs.Brother Rong followed closely and reached the height of the attic.

His deep eyes could no longer see the outside clearly, and everything he saw was shrouded in dim blackness.Looking down at the entire garden, the birds were terrified, flying around in a panic under the dark sky.They also seemed to have sensed the thunder and lightning in the clouds, fluttering nervously over his head.

When the cold rain passed over the eaves of the attic, it drifted into his eyes.I prayed silently in my heart, this time the heavy rain will go north for a while.He glanced back again, and saw that Thirteenth Master and the officials who came with him this time all had solemn expressions.

In an instant, the heavy rain covered the ground with a strong wind, and the dark clouds in the sky seemed to vent their anger, and the rain poured down.

The servants in the attic frantically lit the lamps, then closed the window sill in a panic, lighting up a faint light in the darkness.The glass windows kept the heavy rain out, and the sound of gushing rain blurred the scenery outside the glass.

The thirteenth master and his party stood behind the glass, motionless.It seems that the rain can't block their sight, as if they can still see the outside situation.

The gray-haired old He Gong of the water conservancy camp said: "You have to plan early, plan for the worst."

Heaven is not good for people.Jia Rong sighed secretly, and looked at Thirteenth Master.He only noticed that the Zhongshun King, who was in his prime, was clenching his fists, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

There was a bang, and the moment the terrifying lightning pierced the dark sky, everyone in the attic couldn't help but take a few steps back.

Although the buildings in the garden were equipped with lightning protection facilities, everyone was still frightened by the terrifying lightning.This is the fear of nature engraved in human genes, no one wants to be the unlucky one who gets struck by lightning.Brother Rong was no exception, and took two small steps back away from the window sill.

Someone said, "It should only be for a while!"

Everyone hoped so, but whoever dared to gamble was lifted up.It doesn't take a month for such a violent wind and heavy rain. In just one day, Huaidong will become a vast ocean.

There is a saying in Huai'an: heavy rain and big disaster, light rain and small disaster, and no rain and drought.Faced with such heavy rain, no one is not panicked.And the time is right in the rainy season, and I am most worried about the continuous heavy rain.

Thirteenth Master clenched his teeth even more, he knew better than others.Huai'an has been plagued by floods since the Ming Dynasty.

According to the records of "Ming Shilu": "The two rivers of the Yellow River and Huai River broke through successively. The Yellow River broke through Huanggukou in Shanxian County, Shandong, and the Huaihe River broke through 22 mouths including Gaoliangrun and Tuanjiaqiao in Gaojiayan on the east bank of Hongze Lake."

"In summer, it rains continuously from May to September, and the wheat and crops are not available...The Huaihe River rises, and the boats are drawn on the flat ground, and the floods enter the city."

"Between Xuzhou and Yangzhou, thousands of miles away, the sky was full of floods, and the houses and crops were completely gone."

"The gallop is surging, and in an instant, there are more than a hundred miles of land, and the boat travels through the treetops."

Only a hundred years later, will the old historical drama be staged again?It's really not Shisan Ye who is worrying blindly, nor is it Jia Rong and other officials of the water conservancy camp and farm.Earlier, the flood in the upper reaches of the Yellow River had endangered the two rivers of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River.

Now it is the late rainy season in June in the south of the Yangtze River again, the reality is not optimistic.

Thirteenth Master gritted his teeth and said, "Prepare the car and return to Hongze Lake."

"My lord, don't do it!" In the attic, an official knelt down and yelled, "It's raining heavily in Huai'an, and the Hedao Yamen has dispatched manpower to inspect it. Your lord can't take any risks."

Jia Rong really didn't want to go there. It's okay to say that when it's not raining, it will pass when it rains.It's too dangerous, and it's possible to confess yourself there at any time.

King Zhongshun hummed: "There are millions of people between Huaiyang and Yangzhou standing under the dangerous wall. If this king's district dies, why can't they go?"

Seeing this, Jia Rong felt helpless, and looked at Duan Yu, the head of the guards.Brother Yu winked at him, pretending not to let Brother Rong speak at this time.The decision made by the prince is not something they can persuade as guards.

Lao He Gong of the water conservancy camp said: "The prince is worried about the people, it is the blessing of the world. But now the heavy rain is coming, and the sky and the earth are still thundering. You can wait for half an hour."

Lord Thirteen gave Old Hegong a strange look, this old man holds a lot of weight in the Lord's heart.After listening to his persuasion, Thirteenth Master temporarily stopped this idea, and ordered: "Go and prepare the car, wait for half an hour and then the thunder stops, and go to Hongze Lake at night."

King Zhongshun led several old river workers and key officials of the water conservancy camp to deal with the Hongze Lake incident.

Jia Rong and Duan Yu stood aside, while the other guards checked the chariots and horses, and inspected the other courtyard of the Hedao Governor's Yamen.

"This heavy rain may not stop for a few days." In the courtyard of the Governor's Water Transport Department, the Governor of Water Transport was also watching the rain outside.

"My lord, why are you worried?" Someone laughed back, "A burst of heavy rain swept away the canal sediment, which saved the trouble of dredging the silt. There is no need to pay King Zhongshun to open the river from the yamen."

The Governor of Water Transportation nodded and said: "It should be so. We still have [-] mouths waiting to eat, and we are also very poor. I'm afraid something will happen to the Hongze Lake embankment, and we will have to live two poor years in the future."

The man said again: "Isn't that right, Lianghuai came to us whenever there was something in the court. There was also a miscellaneous extra class, and all the money that our yamen could collect in the past was counted into the salt class. How many times a year 10 taels were sent to the palace. Alas... If there is a disaster, King Zhongshun will not be able to find salt merchants to donate according to the old calendar. The salt merchants each donate tens of thousands of taels to King Zhongshun, Where is the money to honor us."

The Governor of Water Transport glanced at this person, and said: "Don't open your mouth in such a matter, because the wall has ears, and the only way to get rich is to keep silent."

The man said again: "Excuse me, let's just complain to your lord. Qi Shule, the governor of the river, is the closest to King Zhongshun. Even when he comes to the south of the Yangtze River, he lives in the other courtyard of his yamen."

The Governor of Water Transport felt a little depressed, why is this bastard talking about it so well, is he asking for it?Now that Qi Shule is the minister of the Ministry of War, the real power in his hand is equivalent to that of him, the governor of water transportation.

The so-called one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, unless there is one male and one female.The Governor of Water Transport is higher in rank than Qi Shule, and has military power in his hands. Originally, the Governor of the River Channel wanted the Governor of Water Transport as the head.Unexpectedly, Qi Shule has his back to King Zhongshun, and has been serving as an official all the way this year, and he is evenly matched with him.

The river transportation miscellaneous taxes were liquidated into the salt class, and Qi Shule might be responsible for this.

Block people's way of wealth, such as murdering parents.

The governor of Water Transport has not forgotten this enmity.

He said: "Whatever he does, people are also sent to inspect the river affairs, we only count on work and no effort. The canal is still troublesome, and life is getting more and more difficult. I don't have the time to play the trick of opening the river with King Zhongshun. If he really messed it up, we won’t be able to enjoy the wind at sea in the future. We won’t make a lot of money, and we’ll take great risks.”

Who doesn't want to be quiet and earn more than a hundred thousand taels of silver while lying down?It's much better than spending a lot of time and effort, risking the sea and only getting the 180 taels of micro salary from the imperial court.Of course, he did not include the 8000 taels of Yanglian silver issued by the court every year in his salary.

…………

After half an hour, the thunder in the sky gradually diminished.Occasionally, I can hear a few sounds, but they are also far away.

The sky cleared up a bit, and the rain was not as heavy as before, but it didn't stop raining.

All the way out of Huai'an City, we waded through the rain and headed southwest, heading straight for Hongze Lake.It was extremely difficult to drive in the heavy rain, and water was dripping from the pipes outside the city.But they still couldn't stop King Zhongshun and his party from rushing on.

At night, the team of chariots and horses arrived at Hongze Lake.First patrolled the east bank, and then circled the south bank. It was already late at night and early in the morning.

Qi Shule, the governor of the river course, naturally followed him. This guy was a well-known flood control expert during the Guangxi period, no worse than the old river workers hired by King Zhongshun in the Water Conservancy Camp.

Qi Shu said happily: "Looking at the rain, I'm afraid it will be hard to stop tonight."

King Zhongshun lit up lanterns to look at the water surface of Hongze Lake in the dark.Question: "You should have done inspections earlier, but it doesn't matter how long the embankment can last under such heavy rain."

Qi Shule said with a wry smile: "Nowadays it's really a dilemma between the north and the south. I hope that the rain will go east in the past few days. If it stops south, Hongze Lake will be in trouble; if it goes north, Surabaya and Lema Lake will be in danger."

After hearing this theory, Jia Rong scolded her mother in her heart.There is not only one place for this Nima, even the Sishui River is not safe.He could imagine that King Zhongshun's face must be very dark at this moment.

The Thirteenth Lord asked, "Why didn't you open the river earlier, clear the silt and strengthen the embankment?"

Qi Shule said: "I have also played a few times, and even asked the governor of the Ministry of Water Transport to countermeasures. It's just that the DPRK and China are calculating shipping matters, and the Ministry of Water Transport is not willing."

Now that it is raining heavily in the lower reaches, it is difficult to open the gates, and it is also impossible to close the gates to repair the river.The Thirteenth Lord was furious and helpless, and asked, "Where is the county magistrate here? Ask him here."

Qi Shule sighed: "The magistrate of Xuyi County has been following him. This person came to Shenjing in the past two months. He just took office not long ago. He is not very clear about the southeast area of ​​Hongze Lake."

amount……

Thirteenth Lord was so angry that he almost vomited blood.Question: "The county magistrate is not clear, the county magistrate should understand, is it possible that the county magistrate has not come?"

Qi Shule said: "The Xuyi county magistrate is a shrewd man, he is more diligent than anyone these days. Hearing that the thirteenth master is coming, I will personally find a place for the thirteenth master and the masters of Shuitian Mansion to rest for the night nearby."

"What a shrewd county magistrate." Thirteenth Master gritted his teeth, "Go to the place where the magistrate found to rest for the night."

Qi Shule said: "Xuyi county magistrate, is Thirteenth Lord still seeing you?"

The governor of the river is also a one-sided guy.Brother Rong rolled his eyes helplessly, he has only been here for a month or two, what's the use of finding him?I am afraid that the population of the place and the terrain of each town may not be clear, so it is better not to see it.

It's just that the place name Xuyi sounds familiar to him, as if he's heard it there before.This familiar feeling is definitely not from the memory of the previous life, but just heard the place name there recently.It's just a moment and a half, and I can't remember it.

It stands to reason that he has been in Shenjing all the time, and he usually has no contact with people from Jiangnan.How could I suddenly hear the place name Xuyi? It's also very strange.

The magistrate of Xuyi County was really shrewd, he found a big yard in the local area, and the magistrates who arrived soon after took another look at this shrewd man.

King Zhongshun asked about the situation in the southeast of Hongze Lake, and the county magistrate only gave an overview, but did not give details.Just because the east bank of Hongze Lake belongs to Baoying, and the south bank belongs to Xuyi.In desperation, he only sent the county magistrate to leave.

Not long after, the guards of Brother Rong and his son heard that the magistrate of Xuyi came to ask to see the Thirteenth Master.

Duan Yu sneered and said: "These local officials were very diligent when they met the people who came down from Shenjing. First, the small county magistrate looked for a place to stay for the thirteenth master, and then the county magistrate who just took office took the initiative to ask to see him, but they Wrong idea. Master Thirteen can meet anyone who wants to? If there is no important matter, even the magistrate or prefect may not be able to meet."

The notification from the front hall came to several guards, but Duan Yuzheng was about to refuse.Brother Rong suddenly flashed a memory in his mind. A few months ago, he heard Duan Lang say that he was going to Xuyi to take office.

Could it be that the unlucky county magistrate in the Hongze Lake area is Duan Lang?
Hastily asked the informant: "Do you know the name of the county master?"

The man replied: "The county master's surname is Duan, but I don't know the exact name."

It's really possible that this guy is lucky.Brother Rong laughed and said: "The local county master has the same surname as Uncle Yu, so maybe they belonged to the same family hundreds of years ago. Why don't we meet first and hear what kind of flower he can name. If it is beneficial, that's good too." Inform the Thirteenth Master to know; if it is useless to seek camp, just break the leg and throw it out."

Duan Yu glanced at Brother Rong, nodded and said: "Brother Rong is not bad, if the county magistrate really has important information, we can't refuse the door."

When the messenger went back, he went to Brother Rong and asked, "What's your plan?"

Brother Rong said: "I have no idea. Although we are bodyguards, we have to share the worries of the Thirteenth Master, right? The Thirteenth Master is tall and important, so naturally he will not meet with this Zhima official. Since we are guards, since we have heard the request, we have to Check the bottom line. As Big Brother Yu said, what if the information is urgent?"

Duan Yu curled his lips and said: "Our brothers have traveled all over the provinces with the Thirteenth Lord. What kind of magistrates have never seen before. Brother Rong, you must know that there are prefectures in every prefecture, prefectures in every prefecture, and counties in every prefecture. Bother them."

Brother Rong also knew it, but Duan Yu's actions seemed a bit lazy to him.Said: "I hope the county magistrate can be a little different, even if he can get a little useful information, it's good."

Not long after, a haggard middle-aged man came over.There are a pair of big dark circles on his face, and his clothes are mostly wet.

Duan Yu frowned, before waiting for the person to speak, he was about to send him away.Wouldn't this appearance ruin the image of court officials?

Brother Rong laughed, who else could it be if it wasn't Duan Lang.It's just that I was in a lot of embarrassment, so I said first: "Just now I was thinking about it for a while, I didn't expect that the county master of Xuyi is really you."

(End of this chapter)