Jinan Governor Yamen Hall Jinan Governor Meng Bozhen looked at the paper in his hand with the signatures of all the rich gentry in Qingzhou and only felt dizzy, if what is said on this paper is really true, then this is a shocking case, the energy of these rich gentry He is very clear, they will never sit idly by and watch their interests be violated so nakedly.

"My lord, Lord Feng is here." A servant walked quickly in front of Meng Bozhen and whispered.

"Oh? Master Feng is here, please let him in. ”

Meng Bozhen closed the paper and nodded to signal the official to invite people in.

After a while, Feng Wenlu, the garrison of Jinan soldiers and horses, walked up and arched his hand: "Lord Meng, I don't know what is the important matter for you to recruit the lower officials?" ”

"It turns out that Feng Shoubei is here, please take a seat." Meng Bozhen stood up and gestured with his hand to Feng Wenlu to sit down.

"Thank you, sir!" Feng Wenlu sat down and looked directly at Meng Bozhen with his eyes, waiting for his instructions.

Meng Bozhen silently handed the paper on the table to Feng Wenlu. Feng Wenlu took the paper and looked at it carefully, slowly his face began to become solemn, and after a long time, he let out a long breath and said with embarrassment: "My lord, I'm afraid it's very difficult for us to make decisions in Jinan Mansion in this matter." Although Qingzhou belongs to the jurisdiction of my Jinan government, but the Wei Office is an exception, according to the provisions of the Ming Law, the Wei Office belongs to the jurisdiction of the commander, and we have no right to punish him, what does it mean that these gentry in Qingzhou handed over this letter to Jinan? ”

Meng Bozhen snorted coldly: "This matter is not simple, they are putting pressure on the imperial court, they are creating momentum, these gentry and rich families, usually let them donate some money to do something, they always procrastinate and push, but when they are wronged, they shout louder than anyone else, and they really think that the court is their family."

Feng Wenlu nodded again and again when he heard this, aren't these gentry usually saying that they have this kind of moral surname, they always take the lead when they have benefits, but if they suffer any grievances, they are all over the world, but this matter is a bit big, the gentry sued the thousands of households in the guard not only to rob the grain but also to kill the grain merchants to relieve the victims in order to buy people's desires, this hat is a bit big.

"My lord, having said that, this Pang Gang killed the grain merchants and raided the grain depot without the will of the imperial court, and he was too bold, which caused public outrage. It doesn't seem appropriate if we don't deal with it. ”

Meng Bozhen smiled bitterly and said, "Feng Shoubei, do you think that without the acquiescence of the Qingzhou prefect and the command envoy Yamen, a small thousand households would dare to do such an earth-shattering thing?" ”

"Shhh Feng Wenlu gasped and said in disbelief: "Lord Meng, are you saying that these things are all instructed by the Qingzhou prefect and the command envoy Yamen?" ”

"Hmph, even if it wasn't instructed by them, it must have been their acquiescence, otherwise a small Qianhu An would dare to commit such a heinous crime, kill a gentry and raid his house without authorization!" This year, Meng Bozhen, who is only fifty years old, has been crisscrossing the sea for decades, how can this little trick be hidden from him.

"My lord, so let's not take care of this matter?" Feng Wenlu only felt that his head was too big, and he wanted to take care of it, but the guard office was under the direct jurisdiction of the commanding envoy yamen and the military department, no matter how much they were to be blamed by the imperial court.

"Forget it, they were also forced to be helpless, and they suffered on behalf of others." Meng Bozhen sighed helplessly, "If it weren't for us driving tens of thousands of displaced people to Qingzhou, how could Qingzhou have such helpless means, if it weren't for King Lu, forget it." ”

Speaking of this, Meng Bo waved his hand with real interest, "Feng Shoubei, please make a hard trip to the imperial court, please make a decision." ”

"This" Feng Wenlu hesitated for a moment and then asked cautiously, "My lord, how should this letter be written?" ”

In the hands of these literati who played with the pen, when a thing passed through their hands, as long as they were willing to do it, it could become a good thing after their polishing, and a good thing could become another meaning as long as they added some oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. A very simple example is that during the Anti-Japanese War of the Republic of China in later generations, a senior general of the Kuomintang lost his city and land and fled without a fight, and was sent to a military court. The people below asked Chairman Chiang how to make a judgment, and Chairman Chiang, who was determined to make an example of him, said hatefully, "Extenuating circumstances, and the crime is unforgivable", signaling for the military court to sentence the defeated general to death, but the people below accidentally typed "The crime is unforgivable and excusable" when sending a telegram, so the meaning of the words was completely different, so the lucky general was lucky to pick up a life.

And in the eyes of the literati in ancient times, this kind of thing was simply a basic skill for them, and it was not difficult to get it. Feng Wenlu said this, obviously asking if he wanted to say a few good words for the Wei Institute in Qingzhou.

Meng Bozhen pondered for a while before sighing: "Qingzhou Mansion is guarding us off the disaster this time, and it is difficult for them to settle tens of thousands of refugees at once, if we hadn't forced them to be anxious, Feng Shoubei If you have time, you should say a few kind words for them." ”

Feng Wenlu sighed lightly, "Okay, the lower officials will go and draft the music and polish it for them." If it weren't for His Royal Highness King Lu's refusal to open a warehouse and release grain, we would not have made this decision to drive the displaced people to Qingzhou Mansion. ”

Meng Bozhen's eyes closed slightly, and he waved his hand lightly, and Feng Wenlu retreated as soon as he gave his hand.

In late December of the eighth year of Chongzhen, beside the nameless river at the foot of Lingshanwei Mountain, Pang Gang took more than a dozen old carpenters to walk along the river, looking at the river that kept flowing Pang Gang smiled and said to a white-haired old carpenter beside him: "Uncle Xu, you see that there is such a river near Lingshanwei, which flows in vain every year next to us, but our fertile land is abandoned because there is no water to irrigate, which is really a pity." You must know that if you can use these water conservants, you can irrigate these fertile fields, so that you can feed tens of thousands of people. ”

The white-haired Xu Bo looked at the turbulent river and groaned for a moment before saying, "My lord, do you know why this river has been here for so many years, why the thousands of households in the past generations have not thought of diverting water to irrigate the area?" He didn't wait for Pang Gang to answer and stroked the white beard and said to himself: "That's because this river is originally located below, and the water level is low, if you want to divert water to irrigate the area, you have to build a big waterwheel, and the cost of the big waterwheel is extremely high, and the annual maintenance is also a lot of money, if there is a subsidy from the imperial court, it is acceptable, but now the imperial court is too busy to take care of itself, how can it subsidize the guard, so that because the irrigation canal cannot be diverted, there are more and more wasteland here, and finally it becomes this appearance." ”

Pang Gang asked curiously, "Old man, how much silver does it cost to build this kind of waterwheel that can draw water from the river?" ”

Uncle Xu calculated for a while and said, "If the adults only build the kind of waterwheel used for irrigating wells, a piece of silver will only cost more than ten taels. It's just that to build this kind of waterwheel that can draw water from the river, the size must be much larger than the ordinary waterwheel, so the materials used are also very large, and the old man estimates that even the cost of materials and labor is calculated, and it will cost one hundred and fifty taels of silver to build a round of this kind of waterwheel. ”

"What? One hundred and fifty taels. Not to mention others, even Pang Gang was startled and hurriedly asked, "Old man, the ordinary big waterwheel is only sixty taels of silver, why is your waterwheel asking for such a high price?" ”

Uncle Xu said disdainfully: "Their waterwheels are just enlarged shelves, and the waterwheels made by the old man are from Prime Minister Zhuge Kongming's waterwheel, can they get water from the river with such a low water level, can their waterwheels work?" ”

"Ugh!" Pang Gang was dumbfounded for a while, he was really unfamiliar with this thing, and he immediately had no right to speak when he met an expert.

"Then how many acres of land can be irrigated by such a waterwheel?"

Uncle Xu said proudly: "It's not that the old man is boasting, this kind of big waterwheel can irrigate at least hundreds of acres of farmland, as long as you order fifty such waterwheels, it is enough to irrigate these tens of thousands of acres of wasteland in half a month." ”

Pang Gang shook his head and said: "Fifty waterwheels is too little, at least a hundred waterwheels are needed, and we will have more places to use water in the future." ”

Speaking of this, Pang Gang gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, then you will take someone to make a hundred waterwheels first." ”

"One hundred!" At this time, even Xu Laohan was taken aback, "Are you sure you want to make a hundred waterwheels, that's 15,000 taels of silver." "More than 10,000 taels of silver is not a small amount, at that time, 15,000 taels of silver could feed a border army of 1,000 people for a year.

However, at this time, Pang Gang has made a fortune since he copied the Zheng Mansion in Qingzhou, and with more than 300,000 taels of silver in his hand, he waved his hand and said quite proudly: "Since we want to do it, we will do it in one step, let these waterwheels line up along this river to irrigate the fields along the way, but the official has a word first, if this waterwheel is not done well, the official will not give a penny." ”

When Xu Laohan heard this, he couldn't help but say proudly: "My lord, don't worry, if the waterwheel made by the old man can't take water, the old man won't take a penny." ”

Pang Gang nodded secretly after hearing this, everyone who has the ability is proud, and seeing this old man look so bullish should have some real ability.

Just do it, Pang Gang agreed to the conditions of this old man Xu and finally started to work, this kind of Chinese oldest agricultural irrigation tool is also called the crane, the car is ten meters high, by a 5 meters long, 0.5 meters diameter axle supports 24 wooden spokes, radially unfolded around. Each spoke is topped with a scraper and bucket. The scraper scrapes the water, and the bucket fills the water. The river rushed, and the water wheel weighing more than ten tons slowly rotated by the water potential, and one by one the buckets filled with river water were lifted up step by step. At the top, the bucket slopes naturally, pumping water into the aqueduct and into the irrigated farmland. The shape of the waterwheel resembles an antique wheel. The diameter of the wheel width is about 20 meters, and the small one is more than 10 meters, and it can lift water up to 15-18 meters. The center of the wheel width is the thick axle of the hug, and the horizontal plate that is twice as much as the wooden bucket, which can irrigate 500 acres of fields, and the end is the most powerful irrigation tool in ancient times.

(To be continued)