A.D. 1589, the seventeenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty.

It's the worst of times, but it's also the best of times.

Seven years ago, the reformer Zhang Juzheng died. Less than two years after his death, the Wanli Emperor sent someone to raid his home, and Zhang Juzheng's eldest son hanged himself, and his family was either starved to death or exiled.

Two years ago, the famous minister Hai Rui died, and before he died, he still remembered that he owed the household 5 yuan of silver. After Hai Jui's death, the court that realized it later posthumously presented Hai Jui with the title of Prince Taibao, nicknamed Zhongsuke.

1 year ago, the good general Qi Jiguang died. Qi Jiguang Rongma had a lifetime, but in his later years, because he was burdened by Zhang Juzheng's case, he was dismissed from the post of chief soldier of Jizhen and transferred to the town guard of Guangdong.

As early as 3 years ago, Emperor Wanli, who was only in his 20s, temporarily suspended the court meeting on the grounds that he was "dizzy and dark, and lacklustre". In the past few years, Wanli has refused to go to court from time to time in the name of the recurrence of old diseases. The courtiers had fewer and fewer opportunities to see Wanli, until they created a strange era of "30 years of no suburbs, no wilderness, no pilgrimage".

The ministers died, the good generals died, and the emperor was too lazy to go to court, but society was still developing, and even more prosperous than before.

According to the research of historians, it was also during this period that people's concept of life shifted from labor to enjoyment, so Tang Bohu's paintings, Yongle's red, Xuande's copper furnaces, Shi Dabin, Gong Chun's purple clay pots, have become people's sought after fashion.

In the tradition of the Chinese, there are seven things to open the door of "firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea", and in the Wanli period, it became the so-called "seven things of new opening" such as talking about harmony, listening to music, traveling, games, prostitutes, collecting, flowers, insects, fish and birds.

In the hustle and bustle, no one knew that on the other side of the continent, Europeans were setting sail to explore the world; In the midst of the staggered planning, no one paid attention to the land in the far north, and the Jianzhou Jurchen leader ** Hachi was fighting hard and coveting the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains of the Ming Dynasty.

Historians lamented that this was the turning point of the Ming Dynasty from prosperity to decline; Home praised that this was the most prosperous era in the market; Economists refer to this period as the beginning of the embryonic capitalism in China; The grassroots indignant youth of later generations sighed and said: If I am given a chance......

In the midst of all these disturbing longings and resentments, a soul from the afterlife fell to the earth.

……

History: In April of the 17th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Nangi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Hu were in drought......

Jiangxi Bu Political Envoy, Fengcheng County, Nanchang Prefecture, is located in Longkou Village, Zhegui Township, south of the city.

"Everyone kneels down, listen to my orders for a while, kowtow to the Well Dragon King together, don't laugh, don't make noise, annoy the Well Dragon King, can't hit the well, everyone is ready to eat Guanyin soil for the New Year this year!"

A man who looked like an errand stood in front of a crowd of prostrate people on the ground, commanding proudly, perhaps because the weather was too hot, his head was covered with sweat, and his face looked unusually gloomy.

This messenger's name is Zheng Chun, and he is an ordinary warden in the Fengcheng County Yali, but in front of the people, he is a great official, and in the more than ten days he has been in the village, the villagers have to serve him with good food and drink.

Zheng Chun was sent to Zhegui Township by Zhixian County, but he didn't come specifically to fish and meat the people. He undertook a very important task, which was to drill wells in the local area to fight drought.

Fengcheng is located in the lower reaches of the Ganjiang River, with a vertical and horizontal water network and many lakes and ponds, so there should not be a shortage of water. Who knew that this year's drought was so serious, the small rivers in the county have been completely cut off, and only one bottom of the lakes and mountain ponds remains, and as for the wells in the villages, the poor well water will be taken away by the anxious villagers before they can fill a bucket. The originally mighty Ganjiang River, due to the competition of various prefectures and counties in the upper and middle reaches to carry water, when it flows to Fengcheng, it is on the verge of drying up and can no longer be used for irrigation.

In the face of such a grim situation, leaders at all levels of the Buzheng Division, Nanchang Prefecture, and Fengcheng County have made important speeches, asking the villagers to unite and fight the drought together. Political envoys, prefects, county governors, and others took the lead in donating salaries for several months, and squeezed out a batch of money and grain from various places to support the people in digging wells. Zheng Chun was one of the leaders of the well-drilling team sent by the Fengcheng County Ya.

Despite the severe drought, Fengcheng, which is located in the hinterland of the Ganfu Plain, is still very rich in groundwater resources. In the past ten days, the county's townships have spread the good news of drilling high-yield wells, although the output of these wells can not be said to alleviate the drought in the county, but has made the county Hanwen see some hope.

Of course, there is also pessimistic news, and the efficiency of the well-drilling teams everywhere is really unbearable. Han Wen requisitioned all the wizard gods in the county and put them in charge of surveying the well location, however, it was often necessary to drill three or four abandoned wells to make a well with full water, and a lot of money was thrown into one bottomless dry pit after another.

The most tragic thing is Zheng Chun's team. I don't know what evil is committed, the team led by Zheng Chun drilled every well is a waste well, some are directly dry wells, and some can see some water, but they can't produce a few cubic meters in a day and a night, which has no practical value.

Zheng Chun knew how much money was invested in digging wells, and although some earthworks were completed by the villagers on a voluntary basis, the craftsmen who hired the wells still had to be paid. In addition, there is also some expenditure on materials for drilling wells, and in order to reduce the burden on the peasants, these things are provided by the county government, and the cost is not a few.

With so much money and not a single well, Zheng Chun felt a lot of pressure. He called Chen Guanyu, the feng shui master who surveyed the well location, to reprimand him, and Chen Guanyu said: It may be that the villagers in the village have some disrespect for ghosts and gods, which made the king of Jinglong angry, so he took the water away. In order to dig a well, it is necessary to have all the men of the village come out to worship, so that the well can be built.

Zheng Chun was also skeptical of Chen Guanyu's words, but the matter had come to this point, and there was no other way. So, at noon that day, he asked the chief to call out all the men of the village, kneel in front of a well that was being dug, and perform a prayer salute.

The fourth month of the lunar calendar is equivalent to the fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, and it is the early summer time in the south. The midday sun was so hot that the men of the village were dizzy. But Chen Guanyu said that otherwise, it is not enough to show the sincerity of seeking water. It is said that in some places, in order to ask for water, there are also things where the idol of the god is hooked to the human body with an iron hook, which is bloody in order to move the heavens.

After the people were all kneeling, Chen Guanyu came to a small slope in front of him in his Taoist robe and began to recite a long sacrificial text. He read for half an hour, and then began to command everyone to kowtow:

"Bow down! The dragon god is merciful, give me clear water, save my sentient beings......"

"Second Worship......"

“……”

"The flash flood is coming, retreat!" A shout interrupted the minhan's nagging, causing everyone to look back in unison. I saw that in the corner of the crowd, a young man dressed as a student was struggling desperately with his eyes closed, and he was gurgling and shouting something. Beside him, a peasant of his age held him and covered his mouth with his hand to prevent him from crying out.

"Brother Hao, Brother Hao, wake up!" The young peasant whispered to the young student.

......The young man named Su Hao suddenly opened his eyes, there was a dazzling sunlight in front of him, and hundreds of villagers and servants who were watching him, he subconsciously closed his mouth, and his eyes flashed with fear and surprise.

"Who is disturbing the worship?" Zheng Chun walked over with a dark face, striding over, and shouted angrily at the two of them.

The young farmer's name was Su Xiaohu, and he was a neighbor of Su Hao's family. Just now he was kneeling with Su Hao and was praying sincerely, when he suddenly heard Su Hao screaming manically, and he was so frightened that he hurriedly went to cover Su Hao's mouth, but it was too late. Seeing the official messenger coming over to scold, Su Xiaohu hurriedly knelt down and pleaded:

"Master Guancha, Brother Hao may have suffered from heat stroke, so he screamed, scaring the official master, please forgive me."

The villagers next to them also pursed their lips when they saw that the person who was shouting was Su Hao, with some disdain on their faces, but also some expected meaning. Li Chang Su Zhong walked over and explained to Zheng Chun: "Master Zheng, this Su Hao is a scholar, his body is weak, and he has been basking in the sun for so long, it may have caused a hypothesis, please forgive me." ”

"Oh, that's it." Zheng Chun saw Su Hao dressed up in a showmanship, and knew that he couldn't help him. Xiucai is also a person with a meritorious reputation, and this is not something that he can punish as a miscellaneous official. He was about to say a few words when he saw a young girl rushing by. The girl ran to Su Hao's side, touched his head and asked eagerly, "Brother Hao, what's wrong with you, does it matter?" ”

"Who are you?" Zheng Chun asked annoyedly.

Chen Guanyu had already told him before that praying to God was a sacred thing, and women were absolutely not allowed to participate. Because of this, the men of the whole village worship here, while the women are driven a hundred steps away and can only watch from afar. Now that this girl actually ran over, isn't this going to collide with the dragon god?

She ...... She is Su Hao's younger sister, named Lu Xiuer. Su Zhong explained, and after explaining, he shouted at Lu Xiu'er: "Xiu'er, don't you go quickly, is this a place where women can come?" ”

"Uncle Zhong, look, my brother is suffering from heat stroke." Lu Xiu'er turned around and said to Su Zhong, the lieutenant chief is also a cadre, and Su Hao's family is a disadvantaged family in the village, so Lu Xiu'er is still a little afraid of the lieutenant chief, not to mention, there is also an official errand by his side.

"It's over, all the work is lost." Chen Guanyu also walked over at some point, and when he saw Lu Xiu'er, he had some schadenfreude on his face, and arched his hand to Zheng Chun and said, "Master Zheng, I have seen the Dragon King appear just now, but I was hit by this woman, and the Dragon King ran away in anger." This well, I think there is more than one good luck. ”

In Chen Guanyu's heart, he is very grateful to this Lu Xiu'er. In fact, he didn't know that he was pretending to be a ghost, and he had drilled so many dry wells, and he didn't know whether the next well would be able to produce water. After doing such a worship thing, if he doesn't come out of the water again, he won't be able to mix it anymore, maybe Zhixian is angry, and it's hard to say what crime he will convict.

It's good now, with Lu Xiu'er breaking into the worship scene, Chen Guanyu can put all the responsibility on Lu Xiu'er, and he will pick it up himself.

"Sir, you mean, the well is ruined again?" Zheng Chunzhan asked Chen Guanyu tremblingly.

Chen Guanyu pretended to pinch his fingers for a long time, and then sighed and said, "Not only this well, but also a radius of 10 miles around here, don't think about making water." The dragon king is the most popular among the people, and the woman is the most unclean thing......"

"You slut, it's bad for me!" Zheng Chun was angry, raised his right leg and kicked at Lu Xiu'er.

Lu Xiu'er was concerned about her brother Su Hao at this time, and didn't notice Zheng Chun's movements. Seeing this situation, Su Hao, who was ignorant, flashed like lightning in his mind, and without thinking about it, he flew up with a kick that hit the ankle of the foot that Zheng Chun kicked out.

This is the case with the so-called four-two-by-two pulling. In terms of physique, Su Hao is just a weak scholar, and Zheng Chun's strength is more than twice as strong as him. However, Zheng Chun's foot was kicked forward, and Su Hao gave him a force from the side, Zheng Chun couldn't stand up all of a sudden, and flew out to the side.