After winter came, Xinghua Military County entered a very lazy state. All the taxes that should be collected have been collected, and there are no well-known ports like Quanzhou or Fuzhou, and officials sit every day except for sitting. Several petty officials bask in the sun and talk about the latest topics.

"That Zhao Jiaren is not 15 this year, so he tied his hair. I don't know how his parents raised this person. ”

"Zhao Jiaren's father is the governor of Qingyuan Mansion, and he is also a Jinshi. He shouldn't have been combed at such an age. ”

"Besides, since he came out to be an official. I have to bring my mother here to fulfill my filial piety. If you are far away from home, you can still talk about worrying about your mother's tiring journey. It was only four or five days from Fuzhou to our Xinghua army, and he didn't care about it at all. This man is young, but he is crazy! ”

As soon as he took office, Zhao Jiaren went to the countryside. If you want to Liwei, you are also anxious. ”

"I seem to have heard that Zhao Jiaren has colluded with the newly appointed governor of Fuzhou, and this person probably doesn't take the Xinghua Army seriously."

Not a word of kindness. Zhao Jiaren's age and style are obviously not recognized by his colleagues. This boy, who was considered arrogant, eager for quick success, and did not pay attention to etiquette, had a bun on his head that did not match his age, and entered the territory north of Mulan Pi in the dust.

In addition to Zhao Yong, county lieutenant Zhao Jiaren also has an official entourage. He brought two of his subordinates this time, plus Zhao Yong, and when the four of them were walking through the mountains north of Mulanpi, the people on the side of the road saw that they all took the initiative to retreat. Except for these four people who wore official uniforms, everyone brought a guy. Even in Fujian, where there are many rogues, the four well-armed officials have a certain deterrent effect.

The four of them entered the village, and when they walked to the door of the local wealthy family, many people were already watching the four officials from afar.

"Young Master. Is this really a wealthy local family? Zhao Yong couldn't help but ask Zhao Jiaren. As a native of Quanzhou, I went to Gusu and Lin'an not long ago. Zhao Yong's eyes were opened, and his standard for judging rich people was a little higher. What's more, they came from the Mulan Pi irrigation area, even if they were ten miles apart, and the situation of the people on both sides was very different.

"County Lieutenant Zhao. This family is the rich family of the village. The subordinate who came with him hurriedly replied.

Zhao Jiaren nodded, although there was no special expression on his face, he was extremely happy in his heart.

Mulan Pi is a famous water conservancy project in Xinghua and even Fujian. In the beginning, the local people wanted to build it, but they did not have enough funds. I know that a local female Qiansi Niang funded the construction. Qian Siniang's father was an official, and after his death, Qian Siniang transported his father back to his hometown for burial. After burying her father, she sold her property and the money left by her father, and gathered 100,000 yuan to build on Mulan Creek in Putian.

Mulan Pi was washed away by floods after its first construction, and Qian Siniang committed suicide by throwing herself into the water in anger. Later, Cai Jing and some local people prepared together, and the construction was finally successful.

The original Putian was either a flash flood that washed away the acres. Either the water rises sharply, and the crops are soaked in the sea water and then die naturally, and the grain fields become saline-alkali land after being soaked in the seawater, and the grain cultivation is greatly damaged. Mulan Pi is a long causeway built at the confluence of Mulan Creek and Xinghua Bay at the foot of Mulan Mountain, so that the water level of fresh water is higher than the highest water level of the sea. The fresh water barred by the embankment is diverted by a large number of canals to various grain fields in the Xinghua Plain for irrigation. Just like Dujiangyan, it is guaranteed that the local grain fields will be turned into irrigated land. The price of irrigated land in all dynasties was several times or even ten times that of dry land, and the difference in yield and stability between the two types of grain fields can be seen.

The north of Mulan Pi is not an irrigation area, and the difference in living standards between the two sides is quite obvious. The houses in the irrigated areas are obviously better than those in the non-irrigated areas, and the people's clothing and spirits are very different. The common people are not interested in the icing on the cake, what they need is charcoal in the snow. The poorer the place, the stronger the need.

Stepping forward, Zhao Jiaren walked to the door of the rich family. Before the official could come forward and knock on the door, the door was already open. A man in his forties walked out, he first saluted the official with some trepidation, and then asked, "I don't know what the officials do." ”

Zhao Jiaren took two steps and said in a gentle and calm tone: "I am the county lieutenant of Putian County, someone in Mulan Pi was killed, and some people said that the murderer was from our side. I'll wait to inquire about it. ”

The middle-aged man's face changed greatly after hearing this, and after a while, his face showed innocent grievances, "This big official, I don't know who made false accusations." You can't trust them. The people over there in Mulan Pi are rich and fierce. We never got the upper hand in arguing with them. I also hope that the officials will be clear. ”

After hearing this, Zhao Yong couldn't help but show a disdainful expression on his face, and the scoundrels said that the rich people were bullying the people for the rich, which made no sense no matter how you look at it. Even if a rich man is not a good bird, is a splashy man a good man? In the past few days, Zhao Jiaren has walked around Mulan Pi and visited almost all the leading figures in the irrigation area. Zhao Yong has a high opinion of those people.

Angry in his heart, Zhao Yong couldn't help but snort. The snort fell, and Zhao Yong saw Zhao Jiaren standing beside him push him with his hand, and then Zhao Jiaren stepped forward and said gently: "Since you say so, there is always something to say." I'm here to visit. Can this gentleman tell me about you? ”

The middle-aged man hurriedly saluted, "I don't dare to reason in front of the officials, it's just that the people over there in Mulan Pi are too deceitful." I will tell the officials what they have done, and they will know that we have been wronged. ”

Seeing that the middle-aged man was willing to say something, Zhao Jiaren said happily: "Can you wait for me a few chairs, I have walked a long way, and my legs and feet are tired, so we will sit at the door and talk." ”

In the evening, Zhao Jiaren borrowed a night in the ancestral hall in the village. The firelight jumped, and Zhao Yong, who was sitting around the fire, asked, "Childe, I think what this surnamed Lin said is probably not the truth." ”

After listening to Zhao Yong's words, the two subordinates of the county lieutenant who came with him were silent, and their eyes fell on Zhao Jiaren.

"How so?" Zhao Jiaren asked.

Zhao Yong said bluntly: "The people in Mulan Pi are rich, but the people here are poor. Rich people naturally don't want to cause trouble, how can they oppress this side. I don't think the guy surnamed Lin is telling the truth. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Jiaren smiled and asked, "What you said makes sense." But there is no other reason, the people in Mulan Pi are rich, and the people here are poor. The two sides are also related to each other, and the people on the other side of Mulan Pi are not helping the poor. They're just getting enough to eat. It's okay to give one or two meals, but if the people here keep asking for help. They can't bear it either. I can't help it, I can only be kind to myself first. ”

Zhao Yong was stunned when he heard this. If you think about it, this is not necessarily unreasonable. Even though the people in the Mulan Pi irrigation area live better than the people in the non-irrigation areas, these people are much worse than the ordinary people in Quanzhou. Not to mention that Zhao Yong is Zhao Jiaren's family, and the Zhao family is by no means poor, even if they are not rich. This kind of heart-punishing theory will not be openly said in the Zhao family.

The subordinates of the two county lieutenants were stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then exchanged glances with each other. After a while, one of them couldn't help but ask, "Zhao Guanren, why do you think so?" ”

Zhao Jiaren smiled and asked, "What do you think?" ”

In the Song Dynasty, the official position of the county lieutenant was very small, and it was his duty to read the feather archers and prohibit rape. Similar to the position of the county armed forces department and the head of the public security bureau. His subordinates are also small officials who maintain law and order in the county and move around a lot.

That person thought that Zhao Jiaren was going to put on an official show and reprimand. As a result, he was asked by Zhao Jiaren, and he was speechless for a while. In the end, he could only say: "County Lieutenant Zhao, my home is in Mulanpi, I think what you said is quite reasonable." Helping the emergency is not helping the poor, and our generation also has many relatives, not that they are unwilling to help. Dou Mien ascended to Mi Qiu, it is really to save the emergency but not the poor. ”

Seeing that the head snake was willing to say a few words, Zhao Jiaren was secretly happy in his heart, and he continued to ask: "Saving the emergency is not helping the poor." That being said, I think there is enough water in Mulanpi, and even if some is distributed to the north, it will not make Mulan Pi short of water. Didn't the local people want to build another north canal? If the north canal can be built, the north will also become rich, and the poor relatives will become rich relatives, which is not a bad thing for everyone. ”

Listening to Zhao Jiaren's words, another subordinate couldn't help but interject. "County Lieutenant Zhao, this matter has been said several times. But it costs money to build a canal, but there is no money in the north. We have done our duty to give them water, and we cannot let us lend them any more money. After we built the canal in Mulanpi, we were just full of food. If we ask us to pay for it, we will naturally not be able to do it. The north is now poor, so let them have the money to pay us back, and we don't know how many years from now. ”

"I see. I see. Zhao Jiaren nodded again and again, revealing a look like waking up from a dream. But he wasn't so excited. He even thought maliciously, 'That's because you didn't meet Jia Yidao.' At least Jia Yidao is willing to do the feat of helping them beg for officials and paying for it himself'.

This kind of ridiculous thought was fleeting, and Zhao Jiaren's train of thought returned to Mulan Pi itself. He had known about the situation in Mulan Pi for a long time, so he dared to volunteer to come to Putian to repair the canal. Even if he knew the basic situation, Zhao Jiaren was very worried that the local people in Mulan Pi did not want to distribute water to the north at all, water is the lifeblood of farmers, and even in the 21st century, where there are various irrigation systems, because the fighting caused by agricultural water distribution has not completely disappeared in China. Not to mention the fact that we are now dependent on the sky for food.

Knowing that the people of Mulan Pi intended to divide the water, Zhao Jiaren felt much better in his heart. His original plan even included the use of the power of Fuzhou Zhizhou to mobilize the army to suppress the resistance. If this matter can be resolved peacefully, Zhao Jiaren naturally feels better.

Zhao Yong watched Zhao Jiaren and the two subordinates who were originally silent suddenly talking happily, and couldn't accept it for a while. After listening for a while, he scratched his head and felt that he couldn't understand. The third prince and his two subordinates can understand the reasoning, but they don't understand how they listen to it. didn't wait for Zhao Yong to ask again, but heard Zhao Jiaren say: "It's late today, hurry up and go to sleep." I'm going to be on my way tomorrow. ”