The picture clip of the plot returns to the embankment of the Tokyo section of the Yellow River a month and a half ago, a thin and swarthy middle-aged official in Tsing Yi, almost forty years old, is patrolling the embankment under the scorching sun. This year, the imperial court began to repair and strengthen the embankment of the Yellow River, in fact, it is a rule for the imperial court to repair the embankment every year. It stands to reason that Liu Zhili's duty is to patrol the river embankment and supervise the repair project. Liu Zhili looked at the Yellow River flowing eastward under his feet, and sighed in his heart: "It is difficult to solve the trouble of the Yellow River than to go to the blue sky!" Then he went to inspect the material warehouse by the river.

The renovated river embankment has 40 miles, a total of 10 material warehouses, the stored materials are tree branches, reeds, firewood, pegs, bamboo stones, cocoons, bamboo ropes, etc., as well as the finished product of "sào material" (refers to the equipment used to protect the embankment and plug the mouth when the river is controlled, and is bundled with branches, straw, stones, etc.). Explanation: Xiasi is a traditional water control method in ancient China, which is mainly used to block the breach, protect the foot of the embankment, reduce the water potential, and can also sink into the water as a foundation to build a dam and build a wharf.

At this time, the general body is 20 steps long and more than 1 zhang in diameter, so the project of making and descending the silica is arduous. The common silica body is composed of silicon, silicon, etc., the silicon, the silicon, is made of bamboo rope and hemp rope, shaped like a giant net, densely spread with firewood and grass straw, and then tiled into the soil and mud, compacted and rolled up, nailed with many wooden stakes and wooden pegs from the outside, so as not to collapse. It takes a lot of manpower to roll the giant silicon, and the wooden pole and wooden ladder are used to roll the roll. The rolled silica should also be tied around the waist hoop with a large bamboo rope, and the heart of the silica also has a large bamboo rope through. When descending, more people participate, and there are those who slide into the river from the embankment or the riverbank, and there are also those who are put into the water from the boat. The giant silica used when closing the dragon, the method of the lower silicon, which refers to the shun or horizontal of the direction of the water flow when the silica body is placed. After going down the silicon, the heart cord is fixed with other lanyards, and the big wooden stake is pierced into the bottom of the river, which is called "the next silicon-signed pile". Si can be stacked up and down, or spread along the coast to form a silicon, and the usage is very flexible.

Because the silica body is huge and heavy, it is difficult to transport, so the site of the general berm is mostly selected nearby, and is located in the upper part of the lower silicon, which is called the silica platform or silica field, and rolls down the embankment after rolling it on the spot. On the other hand, the soil used to make silicons is often taken from other places, and loose sand cannot be used near the river. Silicon Shore is a simple and effective method, but the disadvantage of Silicon Shore is that it does not last. For this reason, the Northern Song Dynasty also adopted the method of wooden cage revetment and stone revetment to prevent the river from washing the embankment. When Chen Yaozuo knew Huazhou in the fifth year of Tianxi in the Northern Song Dynasty (1021), he used a wooden cage revetment.

This time, the imperial court purchased 20,000 willow saplings and 30,000 elm saplings to be planted on the river embankment.

At this time, the imperial court has requisitioned 20,000 soldiers to protect the berm, the construction site is full of people, the soldiers are under the scorching sun, sweating like rain, and begin to weave the silicon, sometimes there are river workers to supervise its quality, unqualified will often be reprimanded, withheld wages, the soldiers are a little miserable.

Liu Zhili is the chief official of the berm, and it has become a rule for the imperial court to appoint the chief of Kaifeng to serve as the envoy of the embankment, and at this time, Gui Chengde, the young eunuch of the capital water supervisor, and Liu Zhengyuan, the chief of Kaifeng, and Liu Zhili are discussing the affairs of the river affairs in the river affairs yamen, accompanied by the river officials of the capital water supervisor and the local river patrol envoys. Liu Zhili said in the hall: "Colleagues have worked hard, although the berm is a common practice, but it must not be taken lightly, the imperial court has allocated 500,000 yuan of money and 20,000 quintals of rations this time, and it is a great effort. I hope that everyone will do their own work, do a good job in the procurement budget of berm materials, clear the real price, not shoddy, but also to put an end to the waste of on-site silicon; It is strictly forbidden for officials to abuse or exploit river workers and soldiers by taking advantage of their positions to seek personal gain and enrich their pockets. Of course, the most important thing is to strictly control the quality of the silicone, and not to act sloppily. I hope that you will encourage you to live up to the expectations of the government and the imperial court. When he had finished speaking, he called the river patrol envoys of each section of the river, gave detailed instructions on the specific matters, and told them to go to their own sections of the river at once to perform their duties.

Liu Zhili also returned to the embankment of the Yellow River, Gui Chengde, the young eunuch of the capital water prison, and Liu Zhengyuan, the chief of Kaifeng, were still in the yamen, and the two glanced at each other in their seats, and both snorted at Liu Zhili's back, and then laughed knowingly. Gui Chengde, the young eunuch of the Dushui Prison, is supposed to be Liu Zhili's boss, but Liu Zhili is the outer capital Shuicheng, but he is at the same level as him, and he only has the right to supervise Liu Zhili, and has no jurisdiction. Gui Chengde has been in the capital water prison for ten years, and when he is over fifty years old, he has only been promoted from the sixth grade, and he feels that there is no hope of promotion, so he secretly takes advantage of the convenience of river control, embezzles and bribes, and deducts the food and salary of soldiers; In particular, from the purchase of materials up and down, to less to fill more, shoddy, to seek huge profits. From the year before last, he joined forces with Liu Zhengyuan, the chief historian of Kaifeng, and did a lot of things like greed.

This time, the number of silicon materials is tens of millions, and the stone materials are more than 100,000 quintals, most of which are jointly organized by Gui Chengde and Liu Zhengyuan, the chief historian of Kaifeng, and send his henchmen to buy, most of the actual numbers do not match the number of reports, most of them are only sixty percent of the reported number, and from this aspect they are greedy for 60,000 yuan, and the two of them each share 15,000 yuan, and the remaining 20,000 guan dot the boss officials, and 10,000 guan to buy the river patrol envoys of each river section. These two people climbed to the governor of the political affairs Qian Weiyan this year, and they became more and more arrogant and domineering, and gradually did not take Liu Zhili in their eyes.

Liu Zhili also noticed the abnormality and non-cooperation of these officials, and had the intention of raiding and inspecting, but he was always reported by people and leaked the news, so he had to give up. Liu Zhili decided to make an unannounced visit in civilian clothes, and took four henchmen to inspect the stone warehouse, because there was no sao material yet, and the stone was not used for the time being. Liu Zhili walked to the front of the warehouse, and someone came to stop him, and after he revealed his identity, these people hurriedly retreated and greeted Liu Zhili into the warehouse. Liu Zhili asked the guards to stay at the door to prevent anyone from reporting the news. He then asked for the ledger from the treasury and checked it, and there was no problem. Liu Zhili went to look at the stones again, and he asked the porters in the warehouse to remove the stones to check.

After removing the upper six floors from a corner of the stone pile, there were broken bricks and rubble below, Liu Zhili was shocked, and checked from the other triangles, which was the case. Liu Zhili called the receiving official in the warehouse and questioned the situation, only to see that the warehouse manager's expression changed greatly, and he was terrified, knowing that the matter had been revealed. Liu Zhili asked the guards to take down this person, he was Gui Chengde's henchman, and he gritted his teeth and didn't confess. In the end, Liu Zhili already knew that what he had just seen was a fake account book, and there must be a real account book. He searched in the storekeeper's room, searched for a long time but did not find it, and finally asked the guards to search his body, but he did not find it. Liu Zhili was a little discouraged, he looked up and sighed, and suddenly saw that one part of the beam was relatively clean, and the other place was full of dust. He had a ladder brought for the guards to look at, and finally the guards pulled out a pamphlet from a square slot above the beam. I saw that the warehouse manager saw this scene, and he collapsed to the ground, and his crotch was wet, and he was incontinent. Liu Zhili picked up the booklet and looked at it, and sure enough, it was a real account book, which contained detailed procurement information, including the signatures of the buyer and the seller's handlers. Sure enough, the actual stone material was forty percent less than that reported in the fake account book, that is, forty percent was greedily inked.

Liu Zhili asked the guards to come over, and he said to this person: "If you don't say it, you can't get rid of your guilt, not including the crime of concealment and cover-up. Your guilt is enough to fill the army, and you will be on the border for thousands of miles, and you will not be able to return to your hometown for the rest of your life. Of course, you can make meritorious deeds, that is, you have to bring me the true account book of the Si (sào) library, and I can intercede for you and exonerate you from your guilt. There is only one chance, and if you miss it, you will die of old age, you can think about it. The treasurer listened to Liu Zhili's words, and said eagerly: "This is true! Liu Zhili wrote him a certificate of exemption from the treasury management on the spot, and stamped his official seal, and then showed it to him, and finally the treasury manager thought that if he lost the account book, Gui Chengde would not spare him, so he gritted his teeth and agreed: "Don't worry, my lord, I will do it with Tan Danian." So Tan Danian also wrote a confession and repentance, and Liu Zhili asked Tan Danian to be released.