A high-ranking official like Lu Qiao actually doesn't care about what disputes happen between the villagers at all, what he is angry about is Zhen Qian's domineering means of handling things, and a scholar doesn't even talk about the reason when he does things, this is a shame for the scholar!

It's a pity that Lu Qiao was brought to the ditch by Zhen Qian's speculation, compared with the disputes between the villagers, the lack of water affects the harvest of grain and silk and linen in the entire Yangzhou, and the lack of taxes is not a big deal for a commercial city like Yangzhou, but it is an important factor in the evaluation of officials, and it would be strange if Lu Qiao didn't care.

After listening to Zhen Qian's words, Lu Qiao couldn't sit still, turned around and asked, "What rumors are there in the countryside about these things that Director Zhen said?" ”

Compared with Lu Qiao, he had more time to deal with the situation below, and he knew the same complicated things, and thought for a while and said: "I don't know about other things, but the water level of the canal this year has indeed dropped by one percent compared with last year, if what Director Zhen said is right, it should be the reason for the decrease in water from the upstream, as long as you go back and inquire about the rainfall in the surrounding states and counties from last autumn to now, it should not be difficult to draw conclusions?" ”

Lu Qiao had no worries to stay with Zhen Qian to taste tea, and immediately stood up and said: "Director Zhen will go to the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion early tomorrow morning to receive the letter, and this official will have some things to explain when he arrives, so let's do it myself!" ”

Lu Qiaolai suddenly left in a hurry, Zhen Qian got up to see him off, deliberately a few steps behind in consideration of the situation, and whispered in Zhen Qian's ear: "Before I came just now, I investigated the women, children, old and young you bought, they were well settled, you did a good job in this matter, and the long history has been remembered, as for the dispute between you and the countryside, this is nothing, it is not a big deal if you are stronger when you first come, but the harmony between the villagers and neighbors is also an important assessment of the official reputation, you should pay attention!" ”

"Taught!"

Zhen Qian nodded gratefully, this middle-aged man who was more than ten years older than himself was not a dull person, and Zhen Qian was very comfortable listening to a few words. There are many ways to deal with this matter, but considering that he is about to leave Yangzhou, a group of women, children, old and young under his command can't suppress the neighbors who have long been huddled, so it is better to use thunder means to deter it, and the matter of easing the relationship between the villagers and neighbors can be put ...... slowly in the future.

Sent Lu Qiao and Gu Jing to the carriage outside the door, looking at the shadow of the carriage in the distance, Zhen Qian said to Wang Tianxing beside him: "Bring a few people, check the water source within a radius of twenty miles, and ask experienced old farmers, I hope my guess is wrong, if we don't believe it, we must be prepared to deal with it in advance?" ”

In fact, Zhen Qian only needs to check the situation of Baoying Lake, Gaoyou Lake, Shaobo Lake, Dengyue Lake, and Baima Lake near Yangzhou to judge this year's summer grain harvest. But I just thought about it for a while, and decided not to overstep my bounds, these are all official affairs, and doing it will cause disgust among Yangzhou officials, and the gains outweigh the losses!

Yangzhou is rarely short of water, this is not because Zhen Qian is a water conservancy expert, but knows the geographical environment of Yangzhou, even if the upstream is cut off, Yangzhou is close to the Yangtze River, water diversion is not a big problem, the key is to prepare in advance, do not be caught off guard There is no problem.

Fujiwara Shuxiong is not in the mood to continue to stay in Zhen Qian's house, Zhen Qian's appointment to send the deputy envoy to Tang has arrived in Yangzhou, and the next thing to consider is to leave the Tang Dynasty, it seems that the mission has one more deputy envoy to welcome and send, there are still many things to do, Abe Nakamaro, the envoy to welcome and send off, also has to discuss the schedule with Zhen Qian, etc., these things must be done in advance!

In the evening, Wang Tianxing came back, and the news he brought back was very bad, and Zhen Qian's guess was roughly correct, all the water sources have been reduced a lot, that is to say, the drought in those places in the upper reaches of Yangzhou has begun to appear, maybe it is not obvious now, and after March, if it does not rain, this year's harvest will be unavoidable.

Yangzhou has just experienced a riot, and grain prices have risen by three or four percent, and once the grain merchants get the news of the drought, the grain prices will have to take a plane.

"Let Zhen Shi start a large-scale reserve of grain, the more the better, don't buy it in Yangzhou, you can buy it from Jiangnan and other places, don't put the grain in Yangzhou, the states and counties north of Yangzhou also reserve some, I'm afraid there will be more displaced people this year, we must pay attention to secrecy, don't let the government notice about this matter?"

Wang Tianxing didn't understand why Zhen Qian was about to leave Datang, why he was hoarding so much food, but since Zhen Qian said it, these things were not a matter for him to consider, and Zhen Qian must have a reason to do so.

"Find someone to dig a few more wells in the mulberry field, in case of emergency", natural disasters are often followed by man-made disasters, disaster relief is actually very simple, that is, prepare more food, there is food in your hands and do not panic, but unfortunately count on the disaster relief efficiency of the government, the sow has long been on the tree, the key is to save yourself.

Arrange everything you can think of, Zhen Qian can really not do much, he can't save others, he can only save the people around him, how much ability he has to do big things, he doesn't seek politics if he is not in his position, Zhen Qian stubbornly thinks so.

Early the next morning, as soon as the city gate opened, Zhen Qian rushed to the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and when he saw Zhen Qian, he took Zhen Qian's hand and came to Lu Qiao's main hall, just glanced at Lu Qiao with a haggard face, Zhen Qian knew that his guess was completely confirmed.

There is not only Lu Qiao in the main hall, but also a eunuch wearing a dark green official uniform, this is the first time Zhen Qian has seen a eunuch, his appearance is very ugly, he has no beard under his chin, and there is a very strong fragrance on his body, so he must use the aroma to suppress the commotion on his body.

"Director Zhen, come and meet the father-in-law Li Jingzhong?"

"Li Jingzhong! …… Isn't it the first traitorous eunuch next to Li Heng later? Now Li Jingzhong has no gains or losses, his status is low, and he is just a caring eunuch next to the crown prince Li Heng, why did he come? ”

In fact, the titles of eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty were mainly concentrated in the Inner Servant Province and the Dianzhong Province. According to the system, there are four internal attendants in the inner service province, six internal permanent attendants, six internal attendants and supervisors, eight internal servants, twelve internal counselors, eighteen encores, two temple uncles, and six temple people. The chamberlain is the highest official in the province, from the fourth grade, the rest are from the fifth rank to the eighth grade, mainly doing the well-known tour guide, running errands, shouting, or following the emperor and queen to strengthen the momentum of this kind of work.

Zhen Gan, who doesn't have a little bit of a good impression of eunuchs, doesn't dare to slack off, he would rather offend a gentleman than a villain, especially the eunuchs around these emperors, a small report can make the high-ranking ministers into the abyss, especially Zhen Gan also knows that this person will assist Li Heng to ascend the throne in the future, known as the first eunuch prime minister in the history of the Tang Dynasty, if such a person is offended, his death is really not far away.

"Zhen Qian, the host and guest of the Lower Officials Department, has seen Gonggong Li!"

(End of chapter)