Chapter 55 This person is interesting This person is interesting

A spring rain brings warmth, an autumn rain brings cold. After a few rains, spring in the south seems to jump to summer all of a sudden. The weather is so hot and humid that people feel uneasy, especially when the sun is shining brightly. People can't wait to dive into the well to cool down.

Summer brings not only heat, but also vitality. At least the south is full of lush greenery. Even the Qingjiang River, which took the lives of countless people last year, has become lively. From time to time, you can see brave children swimming in it.

Unless the adults at home scold them, these children can soak in the Qingjiang River from morning to night.

After all, soaking in water is the coolest thing to do.

Unlike this group of children, the Fifth Prince was cool enough in his house in Qingzhou Prefecture without soaking in water. There was a basin of ice in his study, which was emitting cool air.

However, the owner of the study did not enjoy this pleasure. Instead, he frowned, especially when he saw the letters one by one. The condensed aura on his body was almost colder than ice.

Suddenly, the Fifth Prince paused his reading, looked up, and asked, "Where is this Zhang Huaiming from?"

The subordinate standing nearby immediately replied, "He is a ninth-rank clerk from Linchuan County, a subordinate of Qingzhou Prefecture, who has served in office for many years."

The Fifth Prince laughed and said, "Linchuan County was severely affected by the disaster. The county magistrate at the time lost his head. The fact that he was still able to hold office shows that he is a capable person."

The subordinate also said, "Indeed, the prefect Fang had previously praised this clerk a lot, saying that if he hadn't been born a scholar, his talent would have far exceeded this, and he even said it was a pity."

"He's certainly talented," the Fifth Prince said, flipping through the booklet. "Three months have passed since the river management began, and the section he's in charge of has not only caught up to schedule, but was even able to complete it ahead of schedule."

"Those few who spoke so much nonsense earlier are now trying to find excuses to shirk responsibility, and they're eager to blame it all on the labor. It's clear that talent has nothing to do with whether one is a juren or jinshi."

This subordinate was also smart and said with a smile: "If Your Highness likes him, it would be good to promote him when the time comes."

The Fifth Prince glanced at him and said calmly, "Fang Zhiwen is a smart man. He won't miss such a person."

Then he paused and ran his finger over a name on the list: "This Su Fengzhang is quite interesting."

The subordinate didn't know what he meant and hesitated whether he should report back.

The Fifth Prince quickly asked, "The top scorer in the Qingzhou Prefecture Examination looks quite young and handsome. I didn't expect him to be so capable and intelligent at such a young age."

Hearing his master calling a child of the same age, the subordinate's face turned red with embarrassment. Every time at this time, he had a strange feeling, especially when he remembered that this Su Fengzhang, the first son of Su An, was taller than the Fifth Prince.

The fifth prince raised his eyebrows and squinted his eyes at him: "Iron Stone, what does that expression mean?"

The guard named Tie Lei quickly said, "If Your Highness feels that this person is worthy of training, you might as well extend an olive branch. Su Fengzhang is still young and will definitely continue to take the imperial examinations. If he can pass the exam in the future, it will also be helpful to Your Majesty."

"Assistance?" The Fifth Prince laughed heartily, not knowing what he was thinking. "What good would it do me to ask for help? If my father, the Emperor, finds out, I wonder how worried he'll be."

His language was vulgar and he said it in a nonchalant manner, but Tie Lei was already used to it. He lowered his head, looked at his nose and his nose at his heart, pretending that he heard nothing.

The Fifth Prince didn't care and continued with a smile, "But you are right. This Su Fengzhang can indeed be cultivated. Scholars nowadays are either pedantic and stubborn, or self-righteous and full of nonsense. It's rare to see someone so knowledgeable, interesting, and with some real ability."

"Oh, this Lord Zhang is also very optimistic about Su Fengzhang. He praised him implicitly, saying that he practiced what he preached and worked closely with the people, which is why he was able to come up with such a good idea."

The subordinate then added, "The method they sent over there is indeed good. It makes the people rush to help without any effort. Not only do they not complain about the court, but they even express their gratitude. This is simply..."

"You were sold and you still helped count the money, right?" The fifth prince finished the rest of his words for him.

Tie Lei touched his nose and said quickly, "Your Highness, that's not what I meant. I meant that this Mr. Su has a good head. Officials praise him, and so do the common people."

It is not difficult to be praised by people on one side, but it is not easy to be praised by people on both sides.

The Fifth Prince laughed heartily and suddenly said, "Go check Su Fengzhang's resume."

Tie Lei said, "No need. I learned about this Mr. Su when I was checking this batch of students. He is from Hushan County, Qingzhou Prefecture. His grandfather and father were both Juren. His biological father was also a minor official, but he later resigned and returned home."

"He originally had an older brother, but I heard he died of a serious illness. Su Fengzhang was only fifteen at the time. Now he has a widowed mother and a stepmother at home, as well as a pair of twin brother and sister born out of wedlock. It's hard to imagine the pressure on a young boy to support the family."

After hearing this, the Fifth Prince stopped asking questions, nodded, and did not mention Su Fengzhang again.

On the other side, the section of the river that Su Fengzhang and his team were responsible for had been almost finished, and the progress was faster than that of all other river sections, a full month faster than expected.

This is naturally inseparable from Su Fengzhang's contribution. Although he could not come up with a good way to improve the labor force, he came up with many ways to increase enthusiasm.

Before, they didn't mention the food they received based on their work, but later they even wrote letters home to those who performed well. That wasn't all. Su Fengzhang came up with a way to ask Lord Zhang to squeeze out some extra rations, which would eventually be used as rewards for outstanding work.

The amount of food pulled out individually is actually not much, but if it is distributed to ten laborers individually, it is not a small amount after they share it, and it is enough for one laborer to have food for three months.

For ordinary people, this is not a small amount of money. As soon as the news was released, everyone was full of energy to work the next day, and they wanted to work for twelve hours a day.

Lord Zhang didn't expect that a small reward would make the laborers so diligent.

In the end, he was even willing to pay out of his own pocket and give some silver as a reward.

Su Fengzhang was also glad that the officials the three of them met were honest and willing to get things done. If they had met someone who turned a deaf ear and refused to agree no matter how many ways you came up with, it would have been useless even if he had all the skills.

But Lord Zhang is different. He looks stern and is a little harsh in his behavior. He is not an easy person to talk to, but he actually has a good heart.

The laborers in this area can eat their fill, no one dares to withhold food, and they can get the silver they receive in full. This is actually a very difficult thing.

At this time, Su Fengzhang had already heard of the Fifth Prince's thundering methods, but even so, the silver distributed to many places was still exploited at every level, it was just a matter of how much.

After staying here for three months, even without going down to the river to work, Su Fengzhang and the other two had become more than one shade darker, especially Su Fengzhang, who originally had fair skin and was the one who was exposed to the sun the most, so his skin became even darker.

When they were free, Wenzhu would tease him, "When we take the college entrance exam in September, will people still recognize our pass when we go to register? Our pass said we both had white faces and no beards, but now we both have black faces and no beards."

Su Fengzhang also laughed: "What are you afraid of? It's not just us two who have turned black. I guess all the scholars in Qingzhou have turned black."

Wen Zhu also laughed secretly: "Did you hear that two of the three students in the section next to us fainted from the sun in one day?"

Wenzhu is actually a weak scholar, but this does not prevent him from making fun of those who are not as good as him.

"It's better to exercise now. The college entrance examination will be the hottest time. You can't stand this little sun. It would be even worse to faint during the exam." Su Fengzhang said.

Wen Zhu whispered again, "I suspect they are pretending to faint so they can go back under the pretext of being sick. Who knows, even if they faint, they can't leave, and they have to continue working after waking up."

People are like this. When they are miserable, they feel more at ease when they see people who are even more miserable.

At this time, Lu Mingchuan came over and saw them sitting on the ground talking. He shook his head helplessly and said, "It's already this late, how can you two still be in the mood to joke around like this?"

Wenzhu looked at him strangely: "What's wrong? What happened?"

Lu Mingchuan always thought that he was a calm person, but when he looked at the two people in front of him, he felt that he was too impatient.

He walked over and sat down, not caring whether the floor was dirty or not. He lowered his voice and said, "It's almost September now. When will the Fifth Prince let us go back? If we can't go back, what will we do about the academy exam? Will we still take it?"

Wenzhu didn't care about the college entrance examination. God knew he was about to forget about it. After all, he didn't want to take the college entrance examination.

Su Fengzhang consoled him, "Since Lord Fang didn't say the college entrance examination would be canceled or postponed, it must be held as scheduled. Unless he doesn't want most people to participate, we can all go back sooner or later."

Lu Mingchuan said indignantly, "I haven't studied for several months, and I don't know if I can still pass the exam. Humph, now I envy those students from remote areas. They don't even have to come here."

"I can go back sooner or later. How late is that? You can't just notify us today after the college entrance exam tomorrow."

As time was approaching, Lu Mingchuan's anxiety was almost overflowing. In comparison, Su Fengzhang and the others were indeed much calmer.

The more this happened, the more anxious Lu Mingchuan became. He asked them, "Aren't you anxious? We're so unlucky. We've worked for months in vain and received no benefits. We're still one step behind in the exam."

Su Fengzhang said, "I don't think so. This time, the Fifth Prince and Lord Fang jointly decided to come here to control the flood. If that's the case, they will definitely not let these students down."

"You don't have to worry. Lord Fang is the local leader and he must be more concerned about the examination than we are."

Lu Mingchuan's expression remained grim. After a moment's silence, he said, "I heard that Lord Fang didn't want his officials to obey the Fifth Prince, so he withdrew us. Can he..."

Halfway through his words, Lu Mingchuan saw Su Fengzhang's disapproving look and immediately swallowed the rest of his words.

Su Fengzhang patted his shoulder and comforted him: "It is precisely because of this that Lord Fang will not treat us unfairly."

"I hope so." Lu Mingchuan said, and finally stopped complaining.