Before Shang Cheng had finished eating, Zhou Xiang and the two governors of the Yamen of the Health Department signed up outside the house to meet him. When they saw that he was eating at noon, they advised him to eat first, and that they could go next door and wait a while.

Shang Cheng immediately shouted to them: "It's okay, I'll eat well!" You sit. He sighed three times and two planings, and even the soup and water pulled the half-sea bowl of noodles into his stomach, put the dishes and chopsticks down, and said with a smile, "Indecent, let you see the joke." ”

Looking at the big bowl on the table and the wooden poke on the small table next to it, the three civil officials sitting on their knees were a little dazzled, and they didn't say anything with a smile on their faces. After Jiang Tong called the messenger to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, served tea and soup to the three officials himself, and then also left the hall lightly, Zhou Xiang, who was the leader, began to report to Shang Cheng on the progress of the three major events of water conservancy, road construction, and bandit suppression and aftermath that he was responsible for for a month and a half. However, because the military action in the suppression of bandits was handled by the Wei Mansion with full authority, and the fate of the bandits was led and coordinated by the two great yamen of the Wei Mansion and the Wei Mu Mansion, he was not too clear about many details, so he focused on the first two.

He started by building roads. Compared with water conservancy, this is a simpler matter.

According to Shang Cheng's explanation and arrangement before he went to Yandong to inspect, the first thing the Health Department focused on rectifying was the two official roads that ran through the east and west. The northern route is from Beizheng to Guangliang and Liuzhen via Mazhichuan, and the southern route is from Yixian to Fangzhou via Duanzhou and Yanzhou. Among them, the southern official road as a traffic artery connecting the three states of Yanshan, has been highly valued by the Health Department and the states and counties along the way, and the road condition is also relatively good......

"The situation on the northern front is more complicated." Zhou Xiang said. He lowered his gaze, wrinkled his brows and pondered for a moment before he said, "The submission handed back from Liuzhen in the early part of this month said that from Mazhizhai to the west to Guangliangzhai, most of the roads are dilapidated and damaged, and less than 23 out of 10 can be opened to vehicles and horses, and only four of the more than a dozen bridges can be passed so far. There are still about thirty miles of roads that have been completely annihilated, and the document says that those places are 'poor mountains and rocks without a trace, and the extreme desert and mountains are continuous'. The most worrying thing is that there are almost no people along this road, and there is a shortage of water, and there is no spring water in many places, if it were not for the soldiers who followed the guards to walk this road, remembering a few rare water sources, they might have lost their lives there......" His eyes swept past the word "death" that he saw most often on the paperwork, one by one, "no hairy death", "self-thinking death", "several deaths", "escape from death"...... He let out a long breath, as if he wanted to spit out the turbidity that had been stuck in his heart, and looked at Shang Cheng and said, "After receiving this document, we discussed it several times, and agreed that this road is too invested and very useless, and the purpose of coming today is to ask the Governor to dismantle the plan for the northern line......"

Shang Cheng's vigorous eyebrows were pressed very deeply, and a faint dark light flashed in the pupil of his left eye, and he quietly waited for Zhou Xiang to finish speaking before asking: "So, the northern line has not started construction yet?" ”

His question was very simple, his voice was not loud, and his tone was as calm as usual, but Zhou Xiang and the two governors felt their hearts tighten at the same time, and then they were swept away by the deep gaze that came through his eyelids, and his whole body was as uncomfortable as being raked by an iron brush...... A governor's hand shook, half of the hot tea was overturned on the front of the robe of the fine robe, but he didn't realize it at all, and he was stunned with a cup of tea left with only a little tea bottom.

Zhou Xiang moved uneasily in his seat, lowered his gaze and said, "The renovation of the northern line consumes too much money and food, and there is no need to ......."

"You don't have to talk this nonsense!" Shang Cheng interrupted him, "I'll just ask you, hasn't the northern line started yet?" ”

Zhou Xiang's lips squirmed, opened his mouth, and finally said nothing. He only now realized that he didn't know when he had stood up and stood solemnly.

Silent is acquiescence, Shang Cheng was so angry by Zhou Xiang's unauthorized assertion that he punched the table: "You bastard!" ”

Where could he have thought that this Zhou Xiang, who seemed to be solid and reliable, would not be thoughtful at all? Wouldn't this guy use his brain to think about it, why was the former Tang Dynasty Road suddenly proposed to be repaired after it had been abandoned for so many years? Why did he deliberately explain to him before Lin Zhou to restore the old ways of the former Tang Dynasty first? Isn't this person sensitive at all?

He walked around the room with his arms hanging down.

"You say, you say! How did I explain to you when I left? Well? How did I explain it?! ”

Zhou Xiang didn't speak. He couldn't defend himself. He has realized that he has made a big mistake - the former Tang Dynasty was not about people's livelihood, but about national affairs! No wonder Shang Cheng said to him in the conversation before leaving, "If you want money, things and people, I will give it to you, as long as you repair the road." Because it was a confidential matter, Shang Cheng couldn't make it clear to him, so he repeatedly emphasized the importance of building roads, but unfortunately he thought he was talking about the official road connecting the three states......

He frowned, nervously thinking about how to correct what he had done.

Shang Cheng walked up to him, leaned down and looked down at Zhou Xiang, gritted his teeth and burst out of his teeth and asked, "You say, what now?" ”

Zhou Xiang swallowed his saliva and said, "Xia Guan doesn't know what to do. There is a commission from the commander. "His voice was as dry as chopping wood that had been exposed to the sun for many days." I don't know what to do either. …… The lower official resigned. ”

Hearing Zhou Xiang open his mouth and say that he was going to resign, the two governors who were standing like wooden chickens immediately buried their heads lower.

Shang Cheng was stunned for a moment, stared at Zhou Xiang with his eyes open, and said indifferently for a long time: "This is your attitude?" Is this how you correct your mistakes? Do you want to quit your job? "He couldn't understand what was going on in this person's head." If things are not done well, you should find a way to remedy it, what does it mean to pick a child halfway? This irresponsible attitude particularly infuriated him. He walked back and forth in the room twice with a black face, turned to Zhou Xiang again, shook his head and sighed, and said slowly, "It is desirable to have the initiative when doing things, but not everything requires us to exert our own subjective initiative. Something ......," he glanced at the three civil officials in turn...... We just need to do it, we don't need to ask why we do it, and we don't need to evaluate whether it's worth it or not. ”

The two governors didn't know if they understood the meaning of Shang Cheng's words, so they immediately bowed down and replied, "The lower officials and the others will follow the instructions of the commander." ”

Shang Cheng stared at Zhou Xiang, who did not respond, and saw that he was silent for a long time, so he said, "I'll give you two days, go back and make a plan carefully." If I really can't, I'll leave this matter to someone else. He reminded again, "It's still the same sentence, I don't have a word about asking for money and things, as long as you open the road." ”

Zhou Xiang nodded silently. Shang Cheng's words are tantamount to an initiation that resonates and deafnesses. He realized that after he made the first mistake, he almost made the second mistake now, if he really let go halfway, Di Xu and Tao Qi, who recommended him, would not be able to say anything, maybe they would drag down the admiral's big event...... "We will re-examine it when we go back and try to come up with a feasible plan as soon as possible," he said. ”

Shang Cheng didn't know how to comment on Zhou Xiang's feelings. However, although Zhou Xiang's understanding is completely different from his own in some aspects, the determination to correct his mistakes shown in the last sentence still makes him very gratified. To be honest, he was reluctant to change someone to take charge of the matter. Even if the newcomer is capable, it will take a process to get familiar with personnel and straighten out the relationship after taking office, which will consume a lot of time and energy. So he said to them, "That's right." It's not scary to make mistakes, who can not make mistakes? It's scary not to dare to face up to mistakes. If you make a mistake, you can correct it. Besides, you didn't do anything wrong......"

The three officials stared at Shang Cheng in surprise. His words simply confused them, and one by one is not a mistake, so what else can be considered a mistake?

"Only those who do things make mistakes. You haven't done anything, how can you say you've made a mistake? ”

This sarcastic joke made the three civil servants all smile wryly.

Shang Cheng asked them all to sit down and said, "There are some things that you just know in your heart, but don't spread them everywhere." Seeing that Zhou Xiang and the others all nodded cautiously, they said again, "Let's talk about the road construction first, and we will talk about the details after you have a new plan tomorrow and the day after tomorrow." Now, let's talk about water conservancy. ”……