Gao Jingshu said: "My lord, it is only a small gap, which is not enough to cause the embankment to burst, and I think there must be another reason for this matter." ”

Governor Li asked with a stiff face: "Do you know what place you ordered to be chiseled?"

"In the upper reaches of several estates, this allows water to be diverted to irrigate the farmland." Gao Jingshu gave his hand again, "This is for the sake of the people's livelihood. ”

Governor Li slapped the table and scolded: "You don't even know the place, you dare to nod"

"Although the lowly position has no time to go and check it, the lowly position knows the size of the gap, and according to the previous experience of the lowly position, such a small gap is not a problem at all."

Gao Jingshu was afraid that Governor Li would not believe it, so he ordered someone to take a drawing and submit it, "My lord, please see, this is the drawing that those squires showed to the lowly position." ”

When Gao Jingshu unfolded the drawings, Mei Xiaoren glanced over and had read them all.

It was a section of embankment depicted on it, and the openings in the cornerstone were indeed very small, so at first glance there seemed to be no problem, no wonder Gao Jingshu could be fooled by those squires.

Governor Li asked Mei Xiaoren again: "Tell me, why did you order someone to seal it after you saw the gap?"

"My lord, because the embankment is at the bend of the river, facing the water, if it wants to resist the flood peak, it should be stronger than other places, how can there be a gap."

Gao Jingshu heard this explanation clearly, and he hurriedly defended: "My lord, it was those squires who deceived the lowly position, they only showed the lowly position this drawing, and the lowly position thought that it was just a dam on both sides of the river."

"The old man has told you many times, but you can't believe what you hear or what you say on paper, and you have to see it with your eyes if you want to do errands."

Gao Jingshu lifted his robe and knelt down, kowtowed: "After being humiliated, you must remember the teachings of Lord Futai." He raised his head again and said, "I will rush to Taki County to preside over the disaster relief, and when the flood recedes, I will stay on the construction site and watch them until the canal is built, so as to ensure that there will be no more omissions." ”

"No need, this time it was Mei Xiaoren who saved your life, and from now on, the affairs of the river workers will be handled by Mei Xiaoren." Governor Li glanced at the officials of the workshop, and said, "You only need to obey the orders of Mei Tongju in the future, and you must not violate it."

The crowd responded, "Obey the command." ”

Gao Jingshu slowly kowtowed, and a cool breath sank into his heart.

"Mei Xiaoren." Governor Li shouted again.

Mei Xiaoren stepped forward and arched his hand, "Humble duty." ”

"Now that the canal is a top priority, you have to keep an eye on the old man wholeheartedly, and then take over the lawsuit when the canal is completed."

Mei Xiaoren responded: "Please rest assured, my humble position will live up to my lord's trust." ”

Governor Li got up to leave, but Gao Jingshu knelt on the ground and moved to the side to make way for Lord Futai.

Governor Li passed by him and stopped, raised his hand and pointed directly at his back and reprimanded: "Go back and give the old man a good reflection and reflection."

"Yes"

Gao Jingshu bowed his head and didn't stand up until Governor Li left. His back was straight, as if he wanted to regain his authority in front of his subordinates, and then he didn't look at anyone and went straight out the door.

Lao Li and Gao Jingshu were gone, and Mei Xiaoren was also about to leave, and as soon as she turned around, she saw all the officials in the workshop kneeling down and saluting her.

"You are" Mei Xiaoren didn't quite understand.

They had already wiped a cold sweat when they were questioned by Governor Li, afraid that Mei Tongju would shake out all their rhetoric that day, after all, the evacuation of the people was Mei Tongju's insistence on going his own way, and they not only disagreed with it at the beginning, but also rebelled against it en masse

But the Judge didn't say a word about those things, so that they could get out of the way, how could they not know how to be grateful.

"I will obey the orders of my lord in the future, and I will never dare to have different intentions, and I hope that my lord will forgive us for our ignorance in the past." Someone took the lead.

Others echoed the words: "I hope you will forgive me for my ignorance."

"I don't remember the previous incident, and I hope that in the future, you will do your part and do your own errands." Mei Xiaoren said gently, and then called them all up.

It doesn't take much clever means to win people's hearts, it is enough to be forgiving and forgiving.

The officials became more and more grateful, because it was not that the adults did not remember, but that the adults were tolerant and did not care about them, and such a boss was worthy of the loyalty of his subordinates

。

Half a month later, the flood waters in Takixian County had all receded, but the city was already in shambles, many houses had collapsed in the flood, and the people were displaced.

The government has sent an official document to Beijing to explain to the court the ins and outs of the flood in Takixian County, but if you want to ensure the stability of the government office, you can't take fault for yourself, so the document attributed the cause of the embankment burst to a natural disaster rather than a man-made disaster, and did not mention the fact that Jingshu dug the embankment privately.

Mei Xiaoren knew that Lao Li was a person with clear rewards and punishments, and it was helpless to perfunctory the court, but how could he spare those culprits, so Lao Li beat the dogs behind closed doors, arrested those squires in the name of the government office, and strictly handled all the houses, and used the confiscated money for the post-disaster reconstruction of Long County.

But for Gao Jingshu, Lao Li only took away his errand as a river worker, and there was no other way to deal with it.

Jiang Rong didn't understand, and Ye Zhi didn't understand, how could Gao Jingshu make such a big mistake and not end up at all

Mei Xiaoren could guess a few points in his heart, it was nothing more than someone who wanted to protect him, it could be that Lao Li deliberately let him go for the sake of Gao Jingshu who had followed him for many years, or it could be that the backer behind Gao Jingshu was contributing.

After this incident, Gao Jingshu was still very polite to her, as if nothing had happened, but Mei Xiaoren could not be unguarded in his heart.

After Mui Siu Yan took over the river work, he packed his luggage and personally stationed at the construction site, patrolling along the river every day to ensure that there was no more errand.

This time, she didn't let Jiang Ei come, but recommended Ye Zhi to Lao Li to accompany her.

Governor Li agreed to let Ye Zhi receive an errand in the government office, and followed her as before.

As for the lack of money to treat the injuries of the laborers, Mei Xiaoren also obtained Lao Li's consent and allocated the money on a monthly basis.

Everything is in place, everything is moving in order.

Late April.

The river work in Xuanzhou could be completed in a month, and under the pressure of the imperial court, other state capitals were almost completed, so the imperial court sent a governor to inspect the whole line, and walked through it before His Majesty left.

When the governor was about to arrive in Xuanzhou, Governor Li summoned Mei Xiaoren to return to the state capital to prepare for him.

Mei Xiaoren hurried back and rushed back to Xuanzhou a few days before the governor arrived.

When she and Ye Zhi were away, in addition to Jiang Rong, only Aunt Ye and Zizi Feihua were left in the mansion. It's old and young here, and even she feels bored for Jiang Ei.

Before she left, she persuaded Jiang Ei to return to Beijing, but Jiang Ei would rather help her take care of the two children than pack up her baggage and leave the house.

When Jiang Rong learned that she was back, he slowly came out of the room and walked into the courtyard.

Mei Xiaoren couldn't help but smile and ask when he saw him: "Sick, don't you feel bored?"

Jiang Yi glanced at her, had already looked away, looked at her again, and looked at her carefully.

Mei Xiaoren looked down at herself, puzzled: "What's wrong?"

Jiang Rong walked around her and frowned, "Which ink tank did you fall into and roll over, it's so dark." ”

Mei Xiaoren suddenly smiled, and moved away with a cold face.

Jiang Rong watched Mei Xiaoren return to the room, hooked the corners of his lips, and unfolded the folding fan in his hand.

In this place of Xuanzhou, it is cold in winter and hot in summer, and the sun is already in the sky before summer.

Jiang Rong smacked his lips, the poor villain was wandering around outside all day long, and it was strange if he didn't tan, it was a pity that he had a handsome little white face.

Less than two hours after Mei Xiaoren came back, a small servant came to the door. She thought it was summoned by Lao Li, but who knew that it was neither from the Yamen nor from the Li Mansion.

The little servant presented a red sticker with both hands: "Lord Tongju, my lord is very happy to learn that the lord has returned to Xuanzhou, and he will set up a banquet in the house at noon tomorrow to catch the wind and wash the dust for Lord Mei, this is an invitation." ”

"Who else is there besides me?" asked Mei Xiaoren.

"My lord only invited Master Mei alone, and the lord said that the lord and he are colleagues under the same roof, and they should move around more."

Mei Xiaoren accepted the post and nodded: "Got it." ”

After the little guy left, Jiang Rong showed his anxiety: "Villain, you dare to take the post of this Hongmen banquet"

"The Hongmen banquet is also a banquet, Gao Jingshu is bigger than me, I can still tear up the invitation he sent" Mei Xiaoren shook the red sticker in his hand.