In mid-August, the autumn harvest is coming to an end, and there are more and more pedestrians in the fields.

Many villagers have completed the most important harvest of the year, but they have no time to stop and rest, and they have to dehull and process the millet as soon as possible.

The moisture of the newly harvested grain is still undefeated, and if it is processed at the first time, the depreciation will increase, but the small civilian households can only pay the rent adjustment with this harvest, and there is no surplus grain to accumulate for the time.

At this time, the mills along the Luoshui River are also the busiest time, and they are busy processing the grains delivered to them from the surrounding villages at night. Of course, the processing of these grains is not free, and it is already considered benevolent and righteous to be able to obtain six buckets of grain in one stone of grain.

However, the villagers have no choice, if they do not send the grain to the mill for processing, and process it themselves, the time-consuming and laborious process may not be able to catch up with the government's collection period.

Moreover, the end of the autumn harvest does not mean that the year is over, and the land must be plowed in preparation for the sowing of winter wheat and other overwintering crops. Repairing houses, digging cellars, accumulating salaries to prepare for the cold, etc., repeatedly, there is no respite from the end of the year.

On the riverside road upstream of Luoshui, there is a team of pedestrians riding horses. All of them were dressed in plain hakama, with a standing collar around the neck, a leather belt around the waist, and a small crown of black gauze at the waist and a small crown of black gauze.

Such a uniform dress makes people feel unfamiliar with ordinary passers-by at a glance, and there is a secret awe in their hearts.

There was a pontoon bridge on the road ahead of Luoshui on the tributary of Luoshui, because there was no bridge foundation to support it, and the bridge deck was only rickety and shallow floating on the river.

At each end of the pontoon stand several monks, each of whom is powerful and holding sticks, looking like the Vajra Arhats in the statue mural.

They stood guard at both ends of the pontoon bridge, scanned the passers-by sternly, and while asking the pedestrians for fares, they checked their luggage, and if they carried too much cargo, they had to cross the bridge in separate times, and the fare for crossing the bridge was naturally one trip.

In the past, most of the pedestrians were from the villagers on the left, and the price of the bridge toll was naturally not too high, nothing more than a few handfuls of corn or a few chickens. Rao is like this, and several large baskets next to the monks are also full of all kinds of seasonal goods from the countryside.

The group of knights approached here, and the villagers who were queuing up to cross the bridge avoided it when they saw this, not wanting to cause trouble.

The first knight, who looked weak in age, waved his hand to refuse the concessions of the villagers, and ordered the retinue behind him to dismount and line up to cross the river.

"May I ask the old man, why is the bridge here controlled by Shamen?"

Glancing at the monks guarding the bridge, the young man patted a fellow with a large bamboo basket in front of him with some curiosity and asked.

When the fellow saw this young man's magnificence, he didn't dare to slack off, and after hearing this, he hurriedly replied: "This canal is called Evil Jiaogou, and the water is rapid, and many people have drowned in previous years. The county officials and township elders used to build bridges, but they didn't last long. It was all suppressed by Master Gaode of Pushan Temple, so that the evil Jiao did not dare to do evil, and built this pontoon bridge for the villagers to cross the ......"

When the young man heard this, he nodded, and then asked: "I came from the south, and I saw that there are many Jindu bridges along Luoshui, and there are all water lists, as long as the villagers can recognize the list text, they can be exempted from the ferry fee, why don't you see it here?" ”

"The clouds cover the moon on the fifteenth day of August, and the snow lights up on the fifteenth day of the first month! This month, the old man also heard about it, and it took him a long time to write it down, and he wanted to save some money on the road, but he didn't see it after walking two bridges. I don't know where the idiots in the countryside spread rumors and deceive people! ”

When the fellow heard this, he was angry, and a pedestrian sitting on the pallet truck next to him laughed: "The old man has less knowledge, and he still complains about others for cheating." Lao Tzu is coming from Weibei and has been crossing Baishui, and there is no need to spend money to cross the river and bridge. I heard that the envoy of the DPRK and China sent a virtuous official to the envoy of Dushui to take charge of Hashijin on the Naksu, so he had such an order. ”

When the young man heard this, he immediately became interested, and leaned over and asked, "I am a villager who knows the foot, so do you know what kind of affairs this water virtuous official is in charge of?" How many decrees have been made to benefit people? ”

"That is naturally known, the water messenger is the ancient name of the water balance captain, the canal, the bridge, and the weir well are all in the pipe. It's the river of this waterway, the fish and shrimp must obey the order! ”

When the merchant heard the question, he was also interested, and he showed off his knowledge, but after seeing the monks at the bridge, he sighed and said, "It's a pity that the Fa-rectification in this world is gone, and the gods of the mountains and rivers have to make way for these ghosts and demons!" The old peasant is stupid, what do you say about evil Jiao harming people, it's not that the Pushan Temple built dams and used water to make paper in the upper reaches of the river, and the old bridges in the river were all destroyed and demolished by those demon monks......"

When the man said this, he immediately noticed a few vicious eyes staring at him, and quickly closed his mouth, not daring to talk nonsense again.

When the young man heard this, his face sank, and he retreated into the group and did not speak again.

Not long after, it was the turn of the merchants to cross the river, because there were too many goods on the car, and they needed to be transported in batches.

Although the merchant's face was ugly, when he saw the vicious appearance of the monk who held the chariot, he could only laugh dryly: "The Bodhisattva builds a bridge to benefit the people, and the believers should also accumulate merits, and the mages are tired and hard!" ”

He complimented him and offered the cloth goods, so that he was allowed to go.

Soon it was the knight's turn to cross the river, and the young man was not in a hurry to cross the river, he looked at the monk at the head of the line and said, "What is the standard for collecting bridge fees here, measuring things and people?" ”

The monk glanced at everyone, but he was not afraid, but said: "Build a bridge to benefit the township, regardless of the fee." However, the bodhisattva's kindness also requires the villagers to sincerely propagate the Dharma. According to their hearts, if their hearts are not sincere, they will naturally not be sheltered. ”

When the young man heard this, he sneered, drew his knife and pointed at the monk and said, "The master is here to protect the bridge and protect the Dharma every day, and he must sincerely worship the Buddha." With this sharp blade in my hand, can the Master save the Buddha from you? ”

When the monk heard this, his face changed sharply, and he immediately withdrew and retreated, and then he called out to his companion.

At this time, the white-robed old monk who was collecting bridge money on the side hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your guest and his party have an extraordinary bearing, do you want to be an official?" Although a certain Shamen is a believer in Buddhism, he is also a good citizen of the state and county, how dare he interfere with the official's itinerary! Officials are invited to come along! ”

As he spoke, the old monk himself stepped forward and led the horse to the bridge. The young man glanced at the bewildered people up and down the bridge, and then withdrew his saber, leaving half of the men and horses to stand by, and waited until they crossed the other side of the river before the defenders crossed the bridge.

"These demon monks are especially dissatisfied with confusing the township and defrauding the villagers, and they are still blocking the river for danger and making profits, which is really damned! After returning from this trip, you must tell you to engage in it, and strictly investigate such demon monks and thieves! ”

After crossing the bridge, the young man looked back at the pontoon bridge and cursed hatefully.

This young man's name is Mao Shijian, and he is the young son of Mao Yao, a tycoon in the north, and was recommended by Zhou Huidazi Zhou to be the official of Dushui. When the soldiers were recruited to return to the office, due to the death of many inmates, they had not yet been officially recruited into the army, and this time they were ordered to go north along Baishui to inspect the canals.

It has been a few days since the establishment of the Metropolitan Water Administration, and the measures have already achieved some results in the downstream areas south of Baishui. But the confession water has not yet been touched.

The first is naturally because the time for the establishment is still short, and the second is the stubbornness of the nostalgia above Baishui. Especially the latter, as Mao Shijian saw along the way, the pontoon bridge occupied and operated by the Buddhist temple was only one of them.

What's more, on the Luoshui River that was beyond the reach of some imperial court decrees, there were even local tyrants or Jihu tribes who erected fences along the canals, prohibiting villagers from diverting water or fishing.

It was also after being immersed in the scene and witnessing it with his own eyes that Mao Shijian realized the deep meaning of the previous boss's so-called need to be benevolent and firm in water control. The various demons in the upper part of Luoshui are not only due to the breeding of evil in the township, but also to the fact that Wang Zhi is not overcome.

The stubborn control of the rural situation by the chieftains of Haoqiang Hu is only concentrated along the Luoshui River. As for the reason for this, it is much more profound, although the Metropolitan Water Administration is full-time in water control, but in order to achieve this goal, it needs to solve many stubborn problems.

Mao Shijian can only endure his anger at the moment and continue to go north along the river.

When he walked to a manor in front of him, he saw several slaves in front of the manor beating a person, and the person who was beaten was a fellow who Qiao Nan had met before.

"Stop!"

Mao Shijian was already a young man, and when he saw Hao Nu bullying the old man, he couldn't hold it back, and roared loudly before riding his horse.

Seeing that there were many people in his entourage, several hao slaves did not dare to be presumptuous for a while, but the fellow still grabbed the trouser leg of a hao slave and said in a trembling voice: "Please, please...... Those fish breasts are more than 100 catties, although they are not expensive, but I only ask for an old knife! My dog was recruited into the township group, and he can't live without a knife! ”

"Your own household affairs, bother Lao Tzu what to do! Is Lao Tzu greedy for your fishy things? The downstream thieves scavenged the fish, and the price of the land was marked. Want a knife? Dream! ”

The slave kicked the old farmer to the ground with a look of disgust, and seeing that Mao Shijian and the others still showed no signs of leaving, he gave his companion a look, and the companion turned around and fled to the village.

Mao Shijian saw that this rich slave was buying fish and meat in the township through the water, and he was immediately angry, and said angrily before entering: "The downstream government collects fish according to the current price, how dare Diao slave deceive!" You return the old man's fish, and I will exchange it with him! ”

"Where did the stupid thief come from, this township is a place for you foreigners to spread wild?"

The slave was even more angry when he heard this, but when he saw Mao Shijian and the others wearing swords, he dragged the fellow's legs and retreated to the manor.

Mao Shijian traveled all the way, he was already full of evil fire, and when he saw that this slave was still so vicious, he couldn't hold it, drew a knife in his hand, rushed forward on a prancing horse, and slammed straight towards the slave: "Don't say that this township, I am in charge of water up and down Luoshui!" Diao slave is rebellious, die! ”

With this knife cracking, the slave was swept away by the sharp blade, and he was no longer alive when he landed.

At this time, nearly 100 slaves also rushed out of the manor, and when they saw this scene, they were immediately furious, and they rushed forward with weapons waving: "What a thief, dare to disturb my village!" ”