Shi Yuanji sat between a few stones, his fingertips condensing mana, and quickly carved the dragon pattern. Yuan Rang couldn't help but be curious, walked up to Shi Yuanji and asked, "Yuanji, what are you doing here?"

"I want to replicate the water system of Chengyun Pavilion here. Shi Yuanji didn't raise his head, and concentrated on carving the dragon pattern.

Yuan Rang looked around, and finally saw the one-person high cave on Yu Mountain: "You beat that cave?"

"Yes, what's wrong, senior brother, you are from the spirit weapon department, guide me?" Shi Yuanji carved all the stones in front of him, and said with a smile.

"It's simple, it's all trivial. Yuan Rang looked at the busy villagers around him and whispered. "Yuanji, do they know the dragon pattern?"

"Of course I don't know, I just taught them, and I am learning and using it. Shi Yuanji was about to pick up a one-person-high stone, but Li Laiheng snatched it away with a smile and put it on his shoulder and placed it in the eyes of the fountain.

The stones were placed by Li Laiheng according to the direction to form an array. One by one, the villagers placed other stones according to Shi Yuanji's instructions. After a busy morning, a canal line around Xiaoyu Village was laid.

"Folks, write this last dragon pattern, and the river will be drawn up. With the irrigation of the river, you don't have to run away from the famine, and you can pay your taxes. ”

Niu Er's eyes widened, just waiting for a miracle to happen.

Shi Yuanji walked to the edge of the cave, looked into the cave, raised his hand and was about to engrave the last dragon pattern, but stopped again. He looked back at Niu Er and the others, and a confident smile appeared on his face inexplicably.

"Folks, do you think this dragon pattern is magical?"

Niu Er and the others were waiting for Shi Yuanji to cast a spell to divert water, but they saw him ask a question with a smile on his face, and they were a little confused for a while.

A strong man laughed and said, "The dragon pattern is magical, but we don't know it." ”

Shi Yuanji still smiled, and said to the strong man, "Do you want to learn the dragon pattern?"

"I can't afford to study, I don't have money. The strong man hurriedly waved his hand.

"What about you, do you want to learn?"

Niu Er smiled bitterly: "Miao Zhu, don't make trouble." Only a man like you, who has two hundred acres of land, can read and learn spells, how can we afford to learn them?"

Although he was refuted, Shi Yuanji did not see frustration, his smile was still the same, but he swore and said: "Believe me, you can all be literate and learn spells in the future." ”

With that, he carved the last dragon pattern, and then every dragon pattern in the entire canal began to shimmer red.

Niu Er and everyone listened silently and stared at the cave. After a while, a gentle breeze came from the cave, accompanied by the sound of water.

"It's coming, the river is really coming. Niu Er shouted excitedly.

In the presence of everyone, in the cave leading to the bottom of the mountain, the river water flows slowly from the bottom to the top, and little by little it is poured into the canal, and begins to irrigate every piece of land in Xiaoyu Village.

The villagers cheered, and for a while they knelt on the ground to express their gratitude to Shi Yuanji.

"Miao Zhu, you are really a living immortal. Niu Er left tears and a pious face.

I think Second Uncle Niu is what you say, Shi Yuanji said in his belly.

"Get up, folks, get up. Shi Yuanji's face instantly turned cold, and he said seriously.

The villagers looked at each other, some because they were afraid of Shi Yuanji's strength, and some because they were cowardly, but they still knelt there, and no one listened to him.

"If you don't get up, I'll destroy this canal. Shi Yuanji said, pinched out a fireball in his hand, and pretended to hit the canal.

Li Laiheng saw Shi Yuanji's performance, covered his mouth and laughed.

Niu Er hurriedly stood up and said solemnly to the villagers behind him: "Hurry up, don't mess with the temple wishes." The villagers reluctantly stood up.

Shi Yuanji looked at the expressions of the villagers, and his mood was inexplicably surprised and sad. He sighed, stroked the canal that had just been built, and remained silent.

Seeing this, Li Laiheng hurriedly said to Niu Er: "Second Uncle Niu, the canal has been built, hurry up and plant seeds, otherwise you may really have to escape the famine." ”

After hearing this, Niu Er nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, folks, go to work." Tonight, let's get together for a good meal, and it's the New Year. ”

The villagers dispersed happily, busy with their own work, but Shi Yuanji frowned. Li Laiheng stepped forward and asked with a smile, "Master, what are you worried about?"

Shi Yuanji didn't speak, just looked him up and down.

"Master, what do you think I'm doing?" Li Laiheng felt a little furious in his heart, this guy in front of him was a natural disaster.

"You kind of human spirit, just now you helped me solve the problem, but now you pretend not to know what I'm thinking?" Shi Yuanji glared at him and said a little angrily.

"Master, this person is a lot of mouthful, let's go back to the Jinwu Temple and say. "Li Laiheng is very solemn.

"Just say it here, it's okay. Shi Yuanji's expression was solemn, and he looked a little decadent sitting on the stone.

Li Laiheng took a deep breath, his eyes widened, and after a long time, he said, "Master, do you really want everyone in this Xiaoyu Village to be literate and learn dragon patterns?"

"Of course. Shi Yuanji said categorically. "I also want all mortals and goblins to be literate and learn dragon patterns. ”

Li Laiheng nodded, and said with a happy face: "This is a big deal, not something that can be done in a year or two." ”

"What, you don't believe it?" Shi Yuanji asked absentmindedly as he looked at the fields around him.

"If someone says that, my gut feeling is that he's buying people's hearts. But if you say this, I believe it 10 percent. Li Laiheng's eyes were firm, and the corners of his mouth flashed with a kind smile.

Hearing this, Shi Yuanji burst out laughing: "Why, because I'm stupid, right?"

Li Laiheng couldn't help laughing: "Yes, I said before, you are a stupid master, I am a stupid slave." ”

The laughter of the two resounded in Xiaoyu Village, and the villagers stopped what they were doing and looked at them curiously.

Shi Yuanji finally stopped laughing, and then raised his question: "You said that you want me to go to Hongsang Town to have a look, why do you want to?"

Li Laiheng was a little squirming, as if he was afraid of something.

"You squirm like a big girl, what do you look like?" Shi Yuanji looked displeased.

"Master, if I say it, don't blame me. In Li Laiheng's eyes, a cunning light flashed.

"Anyway, what do I have to blame you?" Shi Yuanji only felt a little funny when he heard it, but when he thought of his identity as a coincident, he immediately understood Li Laiheng's worries.

It seems that the royal family has a lot to do with this drought, said Ishimoto Yoshishin.

"Master, Hongsang Town is called a town, it is actually a Tao, with a population of more than 200,000, but it is the hardest hit area of this drought. Many chaos in the disaster area can be seen in Hongsang Town. Li Laiheng said compassionately.

"And I can swear that the failure of the imperial court to provide disaster relief this time is due to the slow response of the imperial court on the one hand, and the greed and shamelessness of the royal family members on the other hand, regardless of the life or death of the people. And King Yan is the most determined and shameless of them all. ”

After that, Li Laiheng looked at Shi Yuanji's reaction and felt uneasy. Of course, he didn't know the origin of Shi Yuanji, a cheap marquis, and he thought that Shi Yuanji was also a member of the Qi family, and he must be biased towards the Qi family in his heart.

Shi Yuanji let out a long sigh and frowned: "When I was in the capital, I only heard that the imperial family unscrupulously annexed land, but now it seems that things are much more complicated. Tell me what is going on, and why is there such a large number of victims in the capital?"

Seeing Shi Yuanji's performance, Li Laiheng's heart was like a stone falling to the ground. So he sat down on the ground without any scruples, and said with a solemn expression: "If you want me to say, this is the result of three things working together." ”

"The annexation of land by the royal family is one of them, which has been the case almost since the founding of Dayu, which is not unusual. But when this drought came, the tenants had no income from the land they rented, so they had no choice but to abandon the land and take refuge from the disaster. ”

"The second is that there is no need for so many people to farm now, because there are magic tools used to farm everywhere. Just like this newly built canal, there are other magic instruments, which are very convenient. The royal family does not need so many tenants, and other broad households do not need so many people. They had no place to eat, so they had to beg everywhere. ”

When Shi Yuanji heard this, his brows furrowed even tighter, and he couldn't help but say suspiciously: "There are so many people, why don't you want Hu Fashun's Olympic Tool Factory, as well as those large and small water mills and iron factories, they don't want them?"

"Of course not, or not so much, because they can't read. The more Li Laiheng spoke, the more excited he became, and he didn't have his usual honest and casual appearance at all.

Shi Yuanji sat on the stone, his hands on his cheeks, and fell into deep thought.

"Thirdly, and most importantly, the taxes are getting heavier and heavier, and no one can afford to pay them. Master, the day you came back, when Second Uncle Niu was talking to you, you thought of this. ”

Shi Yuanji nodded silently, and Li Laiheng saw that his expression was tangled, and he didn't speak, so he calmed down and thought about the problem.