Chapter 8: The Human Heart (6)

The Yellow River flows eastward, day and night.

"Boom, boom, boom!" "Boom, boom, boom!" On the north side of Dizhou, the river became turbulent and abnormal because of the sudden narrowing of the river, like an enraged yellow dragon, constantly slapping on the newly reinforced embankment, splashing clouds of golden mist, illuminated by the sun, like a dream.

More than the sound of the river beating against the embankment, it is the neat sound of the river workers, "One, two, start...... One, two, from ...... One, two, from ...... One, two, start ......"

"One, two, ...... One, two, from ...... One, two, from ...... One, two, start ......"

"One, two, ...... One, two, from ...... One, two, from ...... One, two, start ......"

The red flag was unfurled, and the rope was slowly pulled with the sound of the trumpet, and a stone tablet two feet high and five feet square was slowly erected, like a needle that fixed the water, standing majestically at the narrowest part of the river, and a rope bridge that had just been added up was far away.

On the front of the stele, the dragon flying and the phoenix dance are carved with seven Chinese characters, "Dizhou River Governance Merit Monument", each word has the size of a bucket, and the surface is specially coated with a layer of copper powder, which is set off by the sun and water mist, and immediately revels in a rui.

To the north of the stele is the name and deeds of the local gentry who have made meritorious contributions to the river. Each name and surname, together with the text below, although they only occupy two narrow lines, and the total is not more than three fingers wide, but it is particularly eye-catching.

"Zhang Baocai, a native of Dizhou White Horse, is honest and kind, rich but not arrogant. Worried about the danger of flooding and endangering the neighbors, he gave up his family for the country in the second year of Guangshun, purchased 2,400 acres of ownerless wasteland, and donated 5,000 stones of corn...... "The stele did not wait to stand firmly, and there were already good deeds, so I couldn't wait, and read out the first line of words on the back aloud."

"Thank you to the emperor, thank you to the prince, thank you to all the neighbors, grass people, grass people, how can you be, dare, dare to live on this monument, ashamed, ashamed!" A white-bearded, fat-headed, big-eared squire jumped up, hugged his fat fist, and saluted the surrounding groups. A round face, already out of shape because of excitement. His eyes were filled with tears of pride.

When he heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had sent people to the countryside to buy grain, he had donated five warehouses of aged corn with the idea of ruining his fortune and avoiding disasters, but he didn't expect to get it back for such an honor! Back then, the short-sighted guys in the clan laughed at him for being stupid! Now, who regrets beating his chest?!

It is true that this monument of merit does not protect against cold or hunger, but this is a real reputation. Since then, he has been a well-known benevolent family in the world, loyal and gentle. No matter which dynasty or generation, no matter who becomes the emperor in the future, on both sides of the Yellow River, no one dares to stretch their hands on the head of the Zhang family. Otherwise, it will be reduced to the fingers of thousands of people, and it will be difficult to move an inch in the local area!

"Liu Ershan, a native of Daliuzhuang, Dizhou, is kind to others and is willing to give. The mourning people had no food and clothing, so they specially purchased 2,000 acres of ownerless wasteland, donated 3,000 stones of corn, 200 horses of linen, and live sheep...... "The good deeds did not have time to accept Zhang Baocai's gratitude, and continued to tear open their throats and recite aloud the words behind the merit monument.

A man in his forties, with a red face on his face, immediately rushed over, took seven or eight family members, and stuffed the steaming meat buns into the mouth of the river worker near the stone monument, "Hard work, hard work, it is you who really work hard." The grass people, the grass people, the grass people are just stained with the light of His Royal Highness the Prince, His Royal Highness treats him so kindly, the grass people, the grass people are really ashamed, ashamed!"

shouted in his mouth that he couldn't stand it, but his back was straight, and his face turned left and right, lest the officials, gentry and people around him couldn't remember what Liu Ershan looked like!

"Li Da, a native of Linhe Village, Dizhou, is simple and unpretentious, and cherishes the ...... of the township" The recitation continued, and another local gentry squeezed out of the crowd, taking their own tenants, and swinging cooked meat, wine, and money at the feet of the Cangzhou soldiers who maintained order. "I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, it's all the military masters and river workers who work hard every day, I'm waiting, I'm just inspired by His Majesty and the crown prince to donate some food and materials, I'm really ashamed!"

"Qian Xiaoliu, ...... Dizhou"

"Xu Haoda ......"

"Li Fangfeng......"

More local gentry names were pronounced, and more figures were squeezed out of the crowd, each striving to hold his chest up and his waist straight.

When they bought wasteland and sold grain at a flat price, no matter whether some of them planned to break the bank and eliminate the disaster, or they really felt compassion for their neighbors and victims, at least, at this moment, each of them felt that their actions back then were like a fake accumulation of virtue and good deeds!

In these years, the emperor changed quickly, and the court changed quickly, but the accumulation of a family's good reputation took extra time. And as the river control project began to be completed, merit monuments near the ferries and bridges began to be erected, and they and the families behind them quickly became real local nobles.

In the future, whether it is a change of emperor, or a change of assassination history, or a county order, it is easy that no one will dare to snoop on their family property and land. Otherwise, it will oppress the good, poison the people, and will be ridiculed by the whole world, and will lose the support of the people and destroy the foundation!

"Liang Xiao Da ......"

"Yellow Four ......"

"Zhou Fangzheng ......"

More names were pronounced, and with the roaring yellow water, it spread far and wide, on both sides of the Yellow River.

Standing on a makeshift platform not far from the Yellow River, Prince Chai Rong turned around and silently high-fived him in Zheng Ziming's favorite way of celebration.

Three years ago, the two joined forces to raise a huge amount of money and grain for the imperial court with a series of dazzling means such as "selling wasteland, collecting grain at a low price, and promising to make stone contributions", and provided rich material support for the river control project. But at that time, no one believed that they would really fulfill their promise afterwards and really engrave the names of those misers who "just spit out undeserved national hardship wealth" on the merit tablet.

And now, the merit monument has really been erected, and the "misers" have really become well-known good gentry.

Were those "good gentry" whose names were engraved on the monument of merit really happy and charitable in the past? Clear-sighted people actually know the answer! Those "virtuous gentry" whose names were engraved on the monument of merit did not greet the eight generations of the ancestors of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in their stomachs and secretly pricked needles into the villain with the name of the Champion Hou written on them when they were forced to sell the grain they had originally intended to hoard at a reasonable price? However, from the time when the news of the merit monument was about to be erected, until now, and even into the next few years, those whose names are engraved on the merit monument will definitely do their best to restrain themselves and their clansmen, try their best to behave like a good gentry, and will never dare to trample on the good reputation that they may not be able to accumulate in several lifetimes. And let every good deed have a good reward, from now on, it will also become a tacit understanding recognized by the people and governments on both sides of the Yellow River, and it will be passed down for a hundred years or even thousands of years.

"Ziming, you, you really have you!" As a witness of the year and one of the main leaders of the entire river control project, Fu Zhaowen's eyes were red with excitement, and he also came up and high-fived the crown prince Chai Rong and Zheng Ziming one after another, "In this way, in this way, Your Highness, Your Highness, the name of a thousand gold, will definitely spread all over the world." Moreover, the folk customs on both sides of the Yellow River will also change greatly! This, these are all real merits, and the ancient sages and sages may not be ......."

"It was His Highness who dared to make a decision at the beginning, so there is today's result!" Zheng Ziming smiled and shook his head slightly.

"Lonely dare not be greedy for this miracle!" Chai Rong's heart was also full of heat. He waved his arm, emphasizing in a trembling voice. "There is no Ziming, there is no Wen Zhong, there is no Pan Mei, Zangyong and Tao Dachun, Lonely, Lone can't even think about it today!"

A good reputation that must be practiced by words, and a miraculous achievement in solving the flooding of the Yellow River are simply a relief in the snow for him now. In the face of the joint suppression of Wang Jun, Wang Yin, Li Chongjin and those speculators, he, the crown prince, has not dared to return to Bianliang for several months. And as the news of the resolution of the flood and the feat of changing customs were brought back to the court, those who united to spy on the crown prince's throne would surely be dealt a blow to the head!

"Don't be modest, at this time, you can't be humble. There are some things, you don't dare to think about it, you have to think about it, who called you the prince!" Zheng Ziming raised his hand and gently hammered Chai Rong's shoulder, a pun. "Some responsibilities are also fate, none of us can escape!"

Anyway, it doesn't matter how Chai Rong understands his words. Turning his head, he looked at the bustling crowd by the river, and smiled.

Repair bridges and repair roads, blind eyes, pit blindness, abduction and deception. When the majority of people living in a certain country or a certain region lose their pursuit of "goodness" and respect for "goodness", and turn to indiscriminately, to fight with open fire as bravery, and to take ingenuity and plunder as glory, the spirit of this group of people will become weaker and weaker, and they will even die.

When the majority of people living in a certain country or a certain region are even in the hands of their own neighbors, how can they have the courage to sacrifice their lives for righteousness? How can they stand up and unite in the face of invaders?

Taking Shi Jingjiao as a model and Han Kuangsi as an example, making a biography for those who betrayed their clansmen, erecting a monument for those who led wolves into the house, killing those who dared to stand up to resist foreign humiliation on trumped-up charges, and putting those who resisted and died with the enemy into a separate book with the word "ignorance" is just an external manifestation of his spiritual decline.

If it is a disease, it will be cured, this is the creed of the healer.

Zheng Ziming's Qihuang technique ranks first in the world, and Zheng Ziming's understanding of the stubborn diseases of the world is far beyond his peers and predecessors. The fragments of time in his memory that became clearer and more complete made him give birth to a pair of eyes that were far sharper than ordinary people. You can see through the surface of the disease and into the bone marrow of the patient. Even in a certain area, you can penetrate time and see three lives clearly!

Take a top-down approach and take the initiative to repay those good deeds, whether the original do-good person is forced to be helpless or has a heart, it is just one of the prescriptions he prescribes to the world in front of him. In his backpack, there are more prescriptions, more needle stones, ready to be taken out, just waiting for enough space outside, just to find the right time.

"Boom, boom, boom!" the Yellow River flows, day and night.

The waves are exhausted, and the romantic characters of the ages!