Chapter 614: Inspecting the Surroundings

Wang Ping'an dismounted, walked to the side of a field, squatted, grabbed a handful of soil, ***, the soil was dry, and there was no moisture. Throwing away the soil foam, Wang Ping'an clapped his hands and looked into the field.

The Wang family is a well-known big landlord in Xuzhou, Wang Ping'an has some understanding of farm work, more or less has some understanding, the Tang Dynasty due to the underdeveloped irrigation technology, so if the farmer depends on the sky to eat, the wind and rain are good, the farmer can collect more than three or five buckets, but once the flood disaster, then the crop will immediately reduce the yield, or even no harvest.

Looking at the fields with sparse green seedlings, Wang Ping'an said: "It won't be long before it will be early summer, when it is the time when the green and yellow are not connected, the fields are not green, the people are not steady, maybe there will be more people who go out to beg!" ”

Che Sitong heard him say this, so he relaxed a little, it was God's business if he didn't accept it, as long as Lord Assassin Shi didn't blame them for being officials, it didn't matter, he had to be held accountable, no matter how big Wang Ping'an's ability was, he couldn't ask God's head!

He also squatted down and said, "Prince, do you know why the predecessor Ji Tingshi ran so fast, and ran away the next day?" ”

Wang Ping'an pointed to the farmland in front of him and said: "He can see that this year is not going to be easy, and the people naturally can see it, so there must have been people who have gone out to flee, so he ran faster than rabbits!" ”

Che Sitong hurriedly said: "Yes, that's the case, he is afraid of taking responsibility, afraid that the prince will blame him." ”

He thought to himself, you two are not at the same level, if you are both assassins, the predecessor is handed over, and there is something wrong with the predecessor, it doesn't matter, the current one can't do the predecessor. But you are many levels older than him, if you find fault with him, you can directly prevent him from going back to his hometown. Of course, even if he runs fast, you can still send someone to fix him!

Wang Ping'an stood up and said, "Why didn't I see the irrigation canal, what do the people here rely on to water the crops, it won't be just God, right?" ”

Che Sitong stood up with him, and he said with a bitter face: "If you go back to the prince, can't you really rely on God to make it rain?" Our Gyeongju is not compared to other states, and the surrounding states are all richer than us. If the common people encounter a disaster year, they will go directly to other states to ask for food, and there will be no labor in the fields, and there will be no canals to be built! ”

Wang Ping'an looked back at Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan, and said, "This kind of thing has not been written in the book, do you have any ideas?" Speak up and listen. ”

Di Renjie said: "To put it bluntly, the poorer you are, the less money you have to repair the canals, and the more you don't repair them, the poorer you are, and the more you have no financial resources to repair them." This has a direct relationship with the magistrate, and the construction of water conservancy is one of the important responsibilities of the magistrate! ”

Qiu Tingxuan said: "According to this situation, the new disaster relief law has a place to use, it can be funded by the government, and the people can contribute to repair the canal in Gyeongju, as long as the irrigation problem is solved, even if the drought occurs, the people will not be displaced again." ”

Che Sitong looked at the two of them and thought: "On paper, no wonder the imperial court never let the new branch jinshi come out as a county magistrate, that makes sense!" The great truth is the truth, but unfortunately it is impossible to implement it! ”

None of the officials squeaked, but what they thought in their hearts was the same as Che Sitong, everyone can talk about the big truth, and everyone understands it, but the problem is that they know the big truth, but they may not be able to solve it seriously!

Wang Ping'an laughed dryly, shook his head and said: "What you are talking about is actually the same thing, that is, the people are unable to build the canal, so the government should fund the construction of the canal to benefit the people, right?" ”

Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan shook their heads and said in unison: "Yes, it should be like this, this is an unshirkable responsibility for officials!" ”

Wang Ping'an smiled and said, "You have the desire to be a good official and the ambition to benefit the people, which is very good." Do you think so, ladies and gentlemen? ”

The birds were silent, none of the officials spoke, and Che Sitong was also silent for a long time, and then he said: "The truth is such a truth, there is nothing wrong, but in concrete terms, it is not just a wish and ambition that can be done well!" ”

The officials just took a moment, and they expressed their positions one after another, they didn't disagree with Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan's opinions, nor did they have eaten for nothing after so many years as officials, and they were really powerless. Say, everybody will say; It's not necessarily as easy as saying it.

Wang Ping'an asked the two of them again, and said, "You estimate, how much will it cost to build a canal on all the farmland here in Gyeongju?" ”

Qiu Tingxuan has read a lot, and his father is a generation of Confucians, but the books are only reasonable, even if he gives examples, he doesn't give too specific examples, if he wants to talk about repairing canals, of course he will say, but if you want to calculate how much it costs, then he has no idea at all, how can he know how much it should cost!

Di Renjie knows the folk better than him, he said: "Just repairing the canal in Heshui County is a big project, at least 20,000 guan will go up, if all the counties in Gyeongju are repaired, it will have to go up to 100,000 guan, I'm afraid it will be more than that!" ”

Wang Ping'an hummed and said, "If you are in Chang'an, you will have to build a house for eight thousand times, and ordinary people will have to run for thousands of times." To build the entire Gyeongju canal, it only takes 100,000 guan, which is not expensive. Mr. Che, what do you say? ”

Che Sitong shook his head slowly, and did not answer, he didn't want to offend Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan, these two upstarts have unlimited futures, and they may be able to be their bosses in the future, and if they oppose them now, isn't it equivalent to wearing small shoes for themselves in the future, and they can't do it!

The officials are also silent, as long as they don't ask their personal heads, they will all make a lot of money!

Coincidentally, at this time, Cui Dawei came running, he had already written a letter to the officials, found it outside the city, and handed the letter to Wang Ping'an. After Wang Ping'an read it, he immediately used the seal to send the letter to Chang'an. Dealing with the matter of the letter, Wang Ping'an said what he had just said again, and asked Cui Dawei if he repaired the canal in Quanzhou, is 100,000 yuan enough?

Cui Dawei is the master who dares to speak, he doesn't play contemplation. He shook his head and said: "Our Gyeongju is not as good as Chang'an, manpower is not worth much, but it is the material money." To repair the canal that the entire Gyeongju will benefit from, it is an absolutely big project, the government has to save money, and it may not be able to repair it for ten years, and it will take so long to prepare in advance, and in the year of repair, you have to endure a year of poor harvest, and you have to support most of the people in Banzhou for a whole year! 100,000 guan sounds like a lot, but if you really spend it, you can't help but spend it, and it is very likely that it will not be enough! ”

If there is the first one who dares to say it, the people behind will dare to say it, there is one and there are two, and there are two in a row. Che Si Channel: "Ordinary people's homes, it costs more than a dozen times to dig a well, not to mention repairing a canal!" ”

Qiu Tingxuan frowned and said, "Does it take such a long time to prepare for the repair of the canal?" ”

Di Renjie said: "In terms of money, you don't have to worry about it, you just have to support most of the state for a year...... Oh, got it. If the common people were to be subjected to forced labor, then they would have to delay the farm work, and it was not enough to rely on the old and weak women and children in the fields, and even the old and weak women and children had to be requisitioned to be responsible for the food and drink of the strong men when the canals were being repaired. ”

Cui Dawei said: "The three adults are right. To build a canal, you must not only save money first, but also save grain. But how can there be surplus grain in Gyeongju, and usually have to transfer grain from other states to relieve it, how can it be possible to save grain, there is no money and grain, and talking about repairing canals is just empty talk! ”

Qiu Tingxuan and Di Renjie blushed at the same time, they didn't think about things well enough, but their opinions were expressed very quickly, which was a shame at this moment, completely exposing the shortcomings of their lack of experience, and letting others see the jokes.

Di Renjie said: "Big brother...... Lord Thorn Shi, or you will pay? ”

Qiu Tingxuan shook his head and said: "It seems inappropriate for Lord Thorn Shi to pay for it, 100,000 yuan plus the food needed by the people, I'm afraid that even Lord Thorn Shi is very difficult!" ”

Wang Ping'an patted the dust off his hands and said, "Even if I don't work hard, I won't pay this money." ”

Di Renjie asked: "Is that to do another fundraising, or to let the big businessmen of Chang'an come to Gyeongju to start a business and let them pay for it?" ”

Qiu Tingxuan also remembered that the big businessmen had told Wang Ping'an that even if they used money to smash it, they would give Wang Ping'an a political achievement, but now they are not just going to use them!

Wang Ping'an turned over and got on the horse, still shook his head, and said: "I won't let them pay, it's not okay to go out in vain, but if they really come out, I'm afraid that the capital won't be recovered in three or five years, and if you want to see the benefits, it will take longer." ”

The officials mounted their horses with him and walked slowly along the farmland into the distance.

Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan vaguely understood, thinking that they understood, even if those businessmen paid money, they would only help Wang Ping'an smash his political achievements, and Wang Ping'an could not stay here for more than three years, it was possible that he would return to Beijing in two years, as soon as he left, the businessmen who were still willing to do business here, poor and remote, with a lot of effort, but the profit was not big, for those big businessmen, putting a long line here may not be able to catch big fish, so people will not be willing.

Wang Ping'an led the officials all the way, walked a long way, and came to a river. The river is not small, the width is about 20 zhang, the current is medium, but the water level is low, the river is far from the shore, if you rely on a bucket to draw water, it will be very difficult.

Wang Ping'an looked upstream along the river, and saw a wooden bridge in the distance, and more than a dozen people stood on the bridge, seemingly fetching water. He waved his hand and told the officials to follow and run towards the bridge together.

The people on the bridge also saw Wang Ping'an's group, they are all ordinary people, and they belong to the kind of extreme poverty, if they are not too poor, they have a well at home, why bother to go to the river to get water.

Seeing a large group of officials riding horses, one of the people shouted, "Oh mother, you won't be here to arrest us, right?" ”

A younger citizen said, "We haven't violated the king's law, so why should the officials arrest us?" ”

Another old man said, "If the officials want to arrest you, it doesn't matter if you violate the king's law, if you don't let them arrest you, then it is called breaking the king's law!" ”

The people were scared in their hearts, and many people wanted to get off the bridge and escape after carrying buckets, and they didn't even want to get water.

When Wang Ping'an saw that they were leaving, he hurriedly shouted on his horse: "Countryman, fellow, don't go, this official is thirsty, I ask you for water!" ”