Xuzhou.

Zheng Sen has been promoted to Xuzhou Zhizhou for more than a year, and the twenty-three-year-old Zhizhou is a very rare existence in the Datong New Dynasty, which is young as a whole. . .

"Xiao Songzi, are you going out of the city to inspect today?" Zhao Zhenfang took out a set of official civilian clothes and asked the maid to help Zheng Sen change them.

Zheng Sen said worriedly while changing his clothes: "It has been raining heavily in Henan for several days, and it has risen sharply here in Xuzhou, and the Zhenkou Gate has just been repaired. If I don't inspect the embankments myself, I really can't rest assured. ”

"School is on vacation, I'll go with you." Zhao Zhenfang said.

Zhao Zhenfang's identity, in addition to Princess Rongfu and Mrs. Zhizhou, is also a member of the Physics Society of the Datong Mathematical Society, and even served as the secretary general of the Mathematical Society for a time. Now that she came to Xuzhou with her husband to take up her post, she also applied for a job as a teacher in Xuzhou Middle School, teaching mathematics (geometry) physics and other subjects.

As for Xiao Songzi, that is Zhao Zhenfang's nickname for her husband, and Zheng Sen has a nickname "Fusong".

The couple walked out of the backyard of the state government together, only called a few errand officers to follow, and then let the driver drive the carriage out of the city. Good horses are all requisitioned for military use, and the people are all inferior horses, even the carriage allocated by the Xuzhou government, the horses are not much bigger than donkeys.

The embankment in the north of the city has already been inspected, and Zheng Sen and Zhao Zhenfang took the car all the way upstream.

After driving for a while, I saw a gathering of people by the river.

Zheng Sen got out of the car and went over to check, and found that it was Yang Ding, the magistrate of Xiao County, who was also leading people to inspect the river embankment in the territory.

"Meet the princess, meet the Taishou!" Yang Ding recognized the two and immediately surrendered.

Zheng Sen and Zhao Zhenfang returned the salute at the same time and began to inquire about the situation of the river embankment.

Xuzhou is a large state with four counties under its jurisdiction.

Yang Ding sighed and said: "Today's water level is half a foot higher than yesterday. If it goes on like this, Henan should dig the embankment and discharge the flood again, and the people of Shandong will suffer! ”

"It's really bitter, I just hope that the Yellow River will be successfully controlled as soon as possible." Zheng Sen also sighed a little.

This year's disasters have already been obvious, with floods in the north and drought in the south.

The drought in the south of the Yangtze River has dried up the river, but in Henan it has been raining heavily for several days. According to the usual means, when the water level rises to a certain extent, it is in the eastern part of Henan Province to open the north embankment of the Yellow River to discharge floodwater. In this way, Henan will be flooded one or two counties, and Shandong will be flooded by several counties.

As for Xuzhou, which was assigned to Jiangsu, it was the safest.

Zheng Sen took Yang Ding to inspect the river embankment and said: "At the end of autumn, the water level is shallow and not yet frozen, so we have to organize the people to dredge the river." Now that the north has been reclaimed, the water transport is getting busier and busier, and the sediment downstream is too much silting to be very unfavorable for ships to navigate. ”

"What Taishou said is very true," Yang Ding hurriedly said, "Xiaguan is only the magistrate of Xiao County, and the matter of dredging the river has to be taken by you Taishou, and Dangshanfeng County and Pei County are also brought to govern." ”

Zheng Sen nodded and said, "After the flood is over, let the magistrates of these four counties come to the state government to hold a meeting and discuss." ”

Near noon, when they arrived at the ferry, everyone stopped and rested to eat and drink at the wild shop near the ferry.

The rules of the imperial court were cumbersome, and officials strictly forbade drinking at noon on weekdays, and could only drink alcohol during dinner.

There was nothing good in the wild shop, so he fried a few side dishes, and Zheng Sen clinked glasses with Yang Ding with tea instead of wine.

Yang Ding was a little restrained, and it was just a matter of meeting Zhizhou, this Zhizhou was still a concubine, and the princess herself was also at the same table.

"Yang Zhixian is from Sichuan?" Zheng Sen asked casually.

Yang Ding replied with a smile: "A native of eastern Sichuan, General Huang (Huang Mi) has not yet led troops into Sichuan, so the lower officials followed Qianmingzhi County and surrendered the city to General Qin (Qin Liangyu). Thanks to His Majesty's refusal to give up, the lower officials were promoted from a soap official all the way to the magistrate. This is not possible in the former Ming Dynasty, the lower officials were born in a family of soap officials, and their children and grandchildren were not even qualified to take the imperial examination. ”

Zheng Sen joked: "Haha, heroes don't ask where they come from, my family used to be pirates." ”

"Taishou said it was a joke." Yang Ding didn't dare to say much about it.

Zheng Sen casually asked, "What are the difficulties in Xiao County?" ”

Yang Ding said: "Several coal mines have been discovered in the county, and what steam engines have been developed in the south in recent years, I heard that coal needs to be burned to weave cloth. The coal in Xiao County can be mined and transported to the south of the Yangtze River by ship to sell silver. However, this mining involves land requisition, and the state has approved it, but the province has not approved it. There is coal in this Xiao County, and it can't be dug up and sold! ”

Zhao Zhenfang suddenly said: "Why do you want to dig coal and sell it to the south?" Steam EngineI know, the steam spinning machine has been developed, and the steam loom continues to improve. You can contact local businessmen in Xuzhou to order steam engines in the south. He opened a textile factory in Xiao County, bought cotton from Shandong, and used Xiao County's coal to spin and weave cloth in Xiao County. When the time comes, the Xuzhou waterway extends in all directions, whether it is sold to the south or the north! ”

"That's right!"

Yang Ding patted his head: "Shandong immigrants have been recovering for several years, and grain and cotton are recovering. The quality of Shandong's cotton is better than that of Jiangnan cotton. Our Xuzhou is next to Shandong, and the freight to buy cotton is also cheap, so how good it is to spin and weave cloth with coal. is worthy of Her Royal Highness the Princess, her brain is ten thousand times smarter than ours! ”

Zheng Sen said with a smile: "In this way, I will visit the province and help get the approval for opening the coal mine." The peasants who have been expropriated from the land, you need to resettle them there. Open a coal mine first, try to do it, and continue to do it if it is a good thing, and stop it if it is not conducive to people's livelihood. ”

"Thank you Taishou!" Yang Ding was even happier.

The two tables next door were all retinues brought by Zheng Sen and Yang Ding, and they were peeking at the princess while eating at the moment.

Fortunately, the people from the state government are okay, the errand from Xiao County is very curious about the legendary princess, and he has peeked at it countless times all the way.

"Look at it again, my eyes are popping out!" Liu Mang scolded in a low voice.

Ying Da Gao smiled and said: "Liu Tou'er, this is a princess, don't see it much today, it will not be easy to see it in the future." is also thanks to the blessing of the county, if we don't accompany the county on patrol, where can we meet the princess in this life. ”

Wang Qian said, "You can see it, you can see it." I heard that the princess was a teacher in Xuzhou Middle School, and she was more knowledgeable than many male gentlemen. ”

Ying Dagao was surprised: "The princess still understands knowledge? ”

Liu Mang said: "This is called family history. His Majesty is a descendant of the royal family of the Great Song Dynasty, and has had family inheritance for generations. Your Majesty's knowledge is brilliant, can the princess be knowledgeable? ”

Ying Da Gao said sourly: "This kid surnamed Zheng has been burning high incense for eight lifetimes, and he can actually marry a ......."

Liu Mang kicked under the table and scolded: "You want to die, don't pull us up!" The princess and the princess are also what we can discuss? ”

Ying Da laughed and said, "Be quiet, they can't hear it." This Zhizhou is very young, I heard that he is only in his early twenties, and most of them are also stained with the light of the princess, otherwise how can he be a Zhizhou at a young age? ”

Wang Qian said: "I heard that Zheng Zhizhou is also a hero from the dragon, and he has been following His Majesty since he was fifteen or sixteen years old. ”

"Really?" Ying Dagao asked.

Wang Qian said: "I also heard from others, my uncle worked in the state. ”

Ying Dagao sighed: "Alas, if we were southerners, we would have followed Your Majesty to start an incident, maybe we would be a big official now." ”

Liu Mang said: "You can be content, many people have died in Hebei and Shandong, and it would be good if we could live." We all went south early, otherwise if we continued to stay in the north, we might have contracted the plague and died long ago. ”

"That's right." Ying nodded his head.

These three guys are all officials of the Xiao County Government.

Liu Mang went south from Tianjin for several years, initially settling down outside Xuzhou and planting land as a farmer for a whole year. Because he had served as an officer in Tianjin, when he was recruited as a peasant soldier, he quickly became the leader of the peasant soldiers.

The arrival of new immigrants, the population of Xiao County is increasing, and the county has a shortage of police, so Liu Mang was transferred to the city to become a policeman.

Now Liu Mang's official position is probably the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau of Xiao County.

Ying Dagao suddenly said: "Liu Tou'er, the county has to post a notice every year to find a Tianjin officer named Liu Mang or Liu Meng." Your name is Liu Mang, could it be you? ”

"I don't have any relatives, it's definitely not me." Liu Mang said with a smile.

To avoid someone impersonating, the notice issued by the government did not say what to do looking for Liu Mang. Even the name, Zhao Han couldn't remember it clearly, and vaguely remembered that it was called Liu Mang, but it seemed that it was possible to call it Liu Meng.

Wang Qian took over the conversation: "This notice is posted every year, and it is also posted in the state. I'm afraid that some noble person in the court is looking for his lost relatives. Brother Liu is from Tianjin, and he happens to be an officer, and his surname is also right, so he should have gone to receive the notice a long time ago. ”

Liu Mang waved his hand and said: "Even if there is such a good thing in the world, it will not be my turn to be surnamed Liu." I'm also old, and if I can retire with a classic history, I will be very content in this life. ”

After a brief lunch, Zheng Sen put down his chopsticks and got up, planning to continue to inspect the river embankment, and there were still two dangerous sections of the river to see.

Yang Ding then stood up and suddenly shouted, "Liu Mang, come here!" ”

Liu Mang hurriedly responded: "Here!" ”

Yang Ding called Liu Mang to his side to command, but Zhao Zhenfang remembered something and stared at Liu Mang's face repeatedly.

She was too young to remember. The person in front of him seems to be a little similar, but it doesn't seem to be like it.

Finally, Zhao Zhenfang couldn't help but speak: "Your Excellency's name is Liu Mang?" ”

Liu Mang was stunned: "The princess is talking to you?" ”

"Your name is Liu Mang?" Zhao Zhenfang asked again.

Liu Mang nodded.

Zhao Zhenfang asked again: "Where are you from?" ”

Liu Mang replied: "I used to live in Tianjin and followed Mr. Wang (Wang Tiaoding) to the south. When Mr. Wang arrived in Xuzhou, he put us here, and he took the former Ming prince to Nanjing. ”

Zhao Zhenfang laughed: "Have you ever been a soldier in Tianjin?" ”

Liu Mang said: "I was in the Tianjin New Army, and when Li Ge Lao (Li Banghua) rectified the New Army, he was promoted to the management team by Li Ge Lao. It's a pity that as soon as Li Ge left, the Tianjin New Army was rotten, and our team has been doing it for more than ten years. ”

Liu Mang has a lot of fate with the Datong court, not only helped the emperor and princess, but also served as a soldier under the cabinet minister Li Banghua.

Zhao Zhenfang asked: "In the first year of Chongzhen, there was a great drought in Tianjin, did Your Excellency ever be ordered to guard the bridge?" ”

Liu Mang said in a daze: "It seems to be a mistake, but I can't remember it clearly." ”

Zhao Zhenfang immediately curtsied: "Engong, please accept my worship!" ”

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was shocked.

Liu Mang panicked: "Don't dare to be a princess gift." ”

Zhao Zhenfang smiled: "Deserve it." If it weren't for Your Excellency's help, my brother and I would have starved to death. ”

Ying Dagao and Wang Qian glanced at each other, and they both felt incredible. Their colleagues in the county government are actually the benefactors of the emperor and the princess!

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