The Luming Banquet was officially held, and the scholars themselves had to celebrate.

Wang Chang, the escort student, was the host and invited everyone to go to the lake - Jinsha Lake (reservoir) in Shiyang County in later Shiyang County, which is now much smaller in area, and the ancestral house of the Wang family is near it.

"Second brother, sister-in-law, hurry up!" Zheng Yuanyi is already urging.

"It's coming, it's coming."

Zheng Fatzi actually didn't want to go, the people who went to the appointment today were all high-achieving students, and he didn't have the talent to chant poetry.

Zhu Ming didn't care about this, just swim in the lake to relax.

Everyone left Texas City, came to the Han River wharf, and boarded a passenger boat of the Zheng family.

Cross the Han River and drive westward into its tributary, the Jinsha River.

On both sides of the Jinsha River, there are paddy fields, and most of the rice has been harvested.

Zheng Hong said: "These are the fields of the Wang family, which have been in operation for more than 100 years for generations, and there are nearly 10,000 acres of paddy fields alone. ”

"Big landlord." Zhu Ming sighed.

Although there are tens of thousands of acres of land in his own Daming Village, there are only two or three hundred acres of paddy fields, and most of the rest belong to mountainous areas.

After going up the river for a few miles, you will arrive at Jinsha Lake.

Zhu Ming couldn't help but ask: "This Jinsha River and Jinsha Lake, was it possible to mine Jinsha in the past?" ”

Zheng Hong said: "The ancestors of the Wang family relied on the traces of gold mining sofas, and only became a scholarly family after leaving the Jinshi. Now there is no golden sand to be mined, but the Wang family has gained a firm foothold and saved a lot of land to become a rich man. ”

Sure enough, many local clans have a black history, and the ancestors of the Wang family must be the "golden tyrants" who mined Jinsha.

There are already more than a dozen small boats parked in the lake, all of which are scholars and their families who have come to swim in the lake.

There is also a big boat, a lake boat belonging to the Wang family, and from time to time it is necessary to invite scholars to come to the boat party.

On the lake boat, Wang Chang greeted him warmly.

There are more than 20 scholars in total, most of whom have not been admitted to the Juren, and they are purely here to play for free.

The wine and food have been arranged, and we can chat while swimming in the lake.

Gradually, the wine order began to be carried out, and the ladies also participated, all of them were masters of wine, and even Zheng Yuanyi raised their glasses and drank freely.

may think that Zhu Ming's poetry level is too awesome, and everyone is too lazy to compare with him, so they actually omit the on-site poetry writing link.

After playing drunk, Wang Chang began to get down to business: "The provincial test is in early February, and I will leave after the New Year, so it's too late to hurry up." But last year there was a heavy snowfall, and I heard that the snow in Tokyo was eight feet thick, and the snow in the suburbs did not melt at the beginning of spring. ”

"So, we're talking about leaving early, and it's best to arrive in Tokyo before the heavy snowfall." Min Zishun said.

A scholar from a slightly poor family said: "If this is the case, I am afraid that I will have to stay in Kaifeng for more than three months, and the cost of food and lodging will inevitably be too great." ”

Wang Chang said: "The two families of King Min should be subsidized as much as possible, and there is no need to worry about food and accommodation. ”

This is because the number of lifting places in Yangzhou is small, and they are willing to help each other.

Yang Zhizhou and Li Tongju recommended two additional escort students, and they were not all collecting money to do things. Eight people, plus two escort candidates, arrived in the capital just ten people to jointly guarantee, otherwise they would not even be able to get together the guarantors for the exam.

In other words, the ten people who are about to go to Beijing to take the exam are each other's guarantors, and it is normal to subsidize their living expenses.

"When are you leaving?" Zhu Ming asked.

Wang Chang said: "September is just right, and early October at the latest. ”

Zheng Fatzi joined in the fun and said: "Take a middle number and set off at the end of September." ”

"Yes."

Everyone agreed with this suggestion.

After talking about business, we played again and went ashore to eat at noon.

In the afternoon, he fished by the lake, Zhu Ming was not interested in it, and wandered around the village by the lake.

After turning around, Zhu Ming climbed high and looked into the distance, and saw a large area of dry land in the northeast. He wandered back to the lake and asked, "Why can't we build an aqueduct through the dry fields in the northeast?" ”

Wang Chang explained: "The tens of thousands of acres of land over there are high in the middle and low on all sides, and they can't lead to water. ”

It's no wonder you can't lead it!

Ling Guxu, who was fishing, silently walked to Zhu Ming's side and motioned for him to talk alone.

The two of them chose a remote place under the pretext of changing fishing spots.

Ling Guxu said: "My family lives over there, and my family has more than 2,000 acres of land, but only a few dozen acres of paddy fields, and I rely on my own digging ponds to store water for irrigation. The current policy of solving the test is that my article is the river dam canal, although the state officials are quite favored, but it will never be able to really dig the canal. ”

"Why?" Zhu Ming said curiously.

Ling Guxu said: "The land of Jiangba is 30,000 or 40,000 acres, next to the Han River on two sides and the Jinsha River on the other, but it is extremely difficult to get water. In fact, it is very simple to build a canal, but it is necessary to rely on Jinsha Lake to build a weir dam, and the paddy fields near the lake will be flooded, and all the flooded are the Wangjia paddy fields. ”

Zhu Ming asked, "How many paddy fields need to be flooded, and how many dry fields can be irrigated?" ”

Ling Guxu said: "My family has asked a gentleman who understands water conservancy to come and see, just by flooding hundreds of acres of paddy fields of the Wang family, the weir dams and canals built can irrigate more than 30,000 acres of dry land." Even, more than 10,000 acres of dry land can be transformed into paddy fields that can grow rice! ”

"It's hard." Zhu Ming shook his head and sighed.

The hundreds of acres of paddy fields around Jinsha Lake are all fertile fields, how could the Wang family agree to build a dam?

After the water conservancy is repaired, it will compensate the Wang family for its losses, but it is all false, and it is inevitable that there will be ripped off and accidents.

The water conservancy here was not promoted by Li Yuzhi, a water conservancy expert who returned to his hometown after dismissal, until the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, with his extremely high influence.

Moreover, it was a disaster at that time, and the government could not deal with the victims, so Li Yuzhi persuaded the government to provide relief through work. But the resistance was still too great, and a hastily built a section of canal gave up, which could only irrigate a few thousand acres of land.

The next time we build water conservancy, we will have to wait until the founding of New China to completely solve the irrigation problem of tens of thousands of acres of land.

Zhu Ming kept this matter in mind, it was about his future military rations.

Ling Guxu said: "My family's land accounts for about one-twelfth of the land there, and the construction of water conservancy is the biggest beneficiary. But there are still countless neighbors who can benefit, for decades, they have been communicating and negotiating with the Wang family, but they don't even have the slightest way. My family even promised that after the flooding of the Wang family's land, after the transformation of the paddy fields, they would compensate his family for how much land they had and give away an additional 50 acres of paddy fields. He also asked Zhizhou to sign the deed, which was sincere, and the Wang family did not listen to it at all. ”

Zhu Ming just smiled and put himself in his shoes, if he was from the Wang family, he would definitely not agree, because there were too many variables during the period.

It must be forcibly pushed by force!

Ling Guxu continued to elaborate on the renovation plan of his hometown, pointing to the west and saying: "Water conservancy can also be built over there, which can irrigate thousands of acres of land, and has nothing to do with my family." But to build a weir, it is also necessary to flood the fertile land of the Wang family, and it is necessary to pass through the fields of the Wang family. The main sect and the small sect of the Wang family almost occupied all the water sources of the Jinsha River. ”

At this time, it was useless to talk about this, Zhu Ming asked: "Does Brother Ling understand water conservancy?" ”

Ling Guxu said: "I have learned, but I have read books by myself, and I have no practical experience." Mr. Zhu's mathematics is of great benefit to water conservancy, and I am also serious about learning. Agriculture is the foundation of the world, and water conservancy is the foundation of agriculture. If I can be named on the gold list one day, every time I go to a place to be an official, I will definitely repair the local water conservancy! ”

Zhu Ming asked again: "What do you think of the current imperial court?" ”

Ling Guxu said: "If you don't eradicate the traitors in the DPRK and China, it will be difficult to revitalize the society." ”

"Why are there so many traitors in the court?" Zhu Ming asked.

Ling Guxu said: "The official family is deceived by traitors. ”

Zhu Ming couldn't help laughing: "Why don't the officials want to do certain things, and those traitors just do what they like?" ”

Ling Gu Xu was silent.

Zhu Ming also stopped talking and fished seriously.

When the lever looked, the bait had been eaten.

Ling Gu Xu also pulled the rod to change the bait, stared at the buoy for a long time, and suddenly said: "If there is a faint monarch in charge, you should start with the prince." ”

Zhu Ming pouted, that prince was not even as good as his father.

"Brother Zhu, it's cool here." Zheng Yuanyi came over with a fishing rod and brought some snacks to Zhu Ming.

Zhu Ming lay in the grass, covered his eyes with a leaf, blocked the light and began to nap and rest.

It's a really pleasant day.

Zheng Yuanyi sat next to him, threw the fishhook into the water and ignored it, watching Zhu Ming sleep with a smile on his face.

Ling Guxu was patient, staring at the lake quietly, and soon caught a grass carp.

In the evening, a fire was lit by the lake, and the servants were busy taking care of the fish and dressing the bamboo branches, and the scholars and ladies set up a fire to roast the fish.

I played in Yangzhou for half a month, and I also went to visit Zhizhou and Tongju.

Waiting for the Zheng family's merchant ship to go to Daming Village to load autumn tea, Zhu Ming and Bai Chongyan left on a tailwind boat.

Zheng Yuanyi kept sending them to the riverside, and the reluctant look made Zhu Ming a little soft-hearted.

Zheng Fatzi stood at the bow of the boat, blowing the river breeze, full of ambition.

His eldest brother was too out of tune, and last night his grandfather made up his mind to train Zheng Fatzi as the heir of the family.

Zheng Hong, who likes to play fun, has a sense of responsibility inexplicably, and he is much more active in doing things.

When I went to Daming Village, I not only had to transport back autumn tea, but also some corn. When things are done, he will take over the green tea business with full authority, and slowly take over the entire family business.

"Farewell, two!" Bai Chongyan disembarked at Shangbai Village.

The merchant ships continued to move forward until they docked at the outskirts of Daming Village.

There were also hundreds of poor people in Yangzhou on this boat, who dragged their families to land and were placed between the abandoned tea mountain and Daming Village to reclaim the wasteland.

A lot of food and household items were removed off the ship and exchanged for corn and autumn tea.

Why does Daming Village buy food?

Because corn is in short supply, one pound of corn can be exchanged for fifteen pounds of rice, and the big landowners in Xingyuan Mansion and Yangzhou are buying corn seeds at high prices.

It's a pity to eat it, of course you have to sell it.

This year's corn harvest in the village, if all of it is replaced with miscellaneous grains, there will be too much grain to eat!

But with a hammer sale, corn will be able to spread next year, and corn seeds will no longer be scarce and valuable.

Baskets of corn were brought up, and there were a lot of autumn tea, which filled the merchant ships to the brim, and the Zheng family could make a fortune by selling grain to make the difference.

Also making money, there is also the old white member, who has also planted a lot this year.

Looking at the villagers carrying the goods, Zhu Ming could feel their joy.

Moreover, all of them are much stronger, not as good as last year.

Seeing Zhu Ming, the villagers took the initiative to stop and greet him. The fear has decreased a little, and the respect has increased a little, which is a support from the heart.

Zheng Hong has a sense of responsibility, and Zhu Ming's situation is similar.

He must be responsible for these villagers who sincerely support him, and he can't fool around, and if he is not careful, it will be a point of no return.

Zhu Ming looked up at the sky, the autumn breeze was crisp, and the sky was clear.

(End of chapter)