Chapter 27: Waste of Money and Manpower
Zhu Cheng almost drank up the contents of the coarse earthenware bowl and hurried back to continue moving stones, because he always felt that the official who spoke to him at the beginning was always looking at him.
After drinking the bowl of water, he felt much lighter all over and worked harder. The scratch on his leg was actually nothing to people like them. Zhu Cheng had gone to the mountains to pick herbs before, and his legs were scratched by the saw grass all over the mountain, but he managed to survive. Now it was just a small scratch that bled.
But every time Zhu Cheng lowered his head and his eyes fell on the calf wrapped in coarse cloth, something in his heart seemed to be deeply touched, and he was at a loss as to why.
The sun gradually became stronger, and the sunlight felt hot on my back.
"Stop for a moment and come over to line up for food!" It was still that familiar official - that official was the one who supervised them here.
The man shouted from a distance, and seeing that the laborers all stood up but did not move, he shouted again, this time adding "If you don't come over soon, you will have no food to eat." After that, the laborers finally walked over hesitantly.
Because the laborers were all very afraid of the officials, even though the official did not use a whip or a stick to beat them.
Without any instruction, the laborers followed the official's instructions and formed a long line, each of them dragging their feet forward in silence.
Until the bamboo baskets placed in front of the official were opened to reveal the steaming pancakes inside...
"Everyone gets one, no crowding allowed! Those who don't follow the rules won't get lunch!"
Zhu Cheng was also in the queue. He lowered his head and prayed in his heart that the officials would not see him.
Finally, it was Zhu Chenggong's turn. He walked over with his head lowered, and saw an official taking out a pancake from a bamboo basket. The person next to him was holding a greasy cloth with a black thing inside. The official scratched the pancake on the greasy cloth, and the originally yellow and white pancake became stained with oil.
The official handed the pancake to Zhu Cheng. Zhu Cheng stretched out his hands and grabbed the pancake eagerly. Just as he was about to leave, he heard the official say "wait a minute".
Zhu Cheng's head almost dropped into his filthy, tattered linen robe. Could it be that the official recognized him? Did he fall at noon and decide to teach him a lesson by not giving him food?
"Does your leg still hurt? Can you continue working this afternoon?"
...
Zhu Cheng sat beside the stone in a daze, holding the bread he had just received in his hand. If he had something to eat normally, he would have stuffed it all into his mouth impatiently, but now he didn't. He just sat beside the stone, his dull mind seemed to be thinking about something. As he thought about it, he seemed to feel that his mind was not so dull anymore.
Until he heard the people around him exclaiming one after another——
"Salty! It's salty!"
“There’s salt in it…”
“This pancake is the best pancake I have ever eaten.”
Zhu Cheng listened to them talking at once. He glanced hesitantly at the pancake in his hand, and finally his eyes fell on the greasy mark. He leaned over to smell it and smelled a salty fragrance.
He took a big bite of the pancake. No matter how delicious the pancake was, it would still choke him. But with the salty taste, Zhu Cheng ate it with big mouthfuls and it was very delicious.
He didn't come to his senses until he finished eating, and then he was filled with regret. He looked around and saw that no one was watching. This pancake was so good, they might not get to eat it once a year. He should have put it in his arms and taken it home for them to eat...
...
The laborers here were responsible for moving stones, transporting soil, piling up sand and mixing mud. All the laborers working near the river were responsible for building and reinforcing the embankment. Under the command of that adult, they built the embankment higher and thicker.
All of them came with heavy steps - because each of them was a laborer conscripted by the government, but here as long as they worked hard, they could have good meals, and there was also mung bean soup in the shed to relieve the heat. As long as they worked hard and did not slack off, the supervising officials would not scold or whip them at all.
So now the laborers are working harder than before.
They didn't think about what they were doing here or what kind of work they did. They only knew that they could eat enough here and take the saved bread home. The adult even promised that each of them would get copper coins after finishing their work.
Lu Liang in the prefectural mansion of Fengxian City only knew that Feng Guangwei was transporting grain out in carts and had asked him for silver several times. Lu Liang was very generous at the beginning, but as Feng Guangwei asked for more and more grain, he began to feel distressed. He also vaguely sensed that something was wrong, so he asked Feng Guangwei several times in a roundabout way what he was doing.
Feng Guangwei always laughed it off and used the same excuse as at the beginning, saying that he had chosen a place and was going to lay the foundation, and then continued to ask Lu Liang for money and food.
Anyway, all the soldiers and officials in the team building the dam were Feng Guangwei's men, and no one passed the news to Lu Liang.
The place where the dam was being built was outside Fengxian City. Lu Liang asked his confidants to go and see what was going on. His confidants had the same virtue as Lu Liang and did not want to take the rugged road, so they asked their men to go and have a look. The confidants' men saw that there were countless laborers working busily like ants, so they went back to report to their confidants, saying that something was indeed being built. The confidants then went to report to Lu Liang.
Lu Liang's suspicions finally dissipated.
Then he sat in the prefect's mansion and thought about whether he should give Feng Guangwei more labor. He also wanted to see the results quickly so that Feng Guangwei could report to the emperor.
...
The people of Fengxian City were not allowed to get close. They could only stand on this side and watch from afar that along a winding river, there were always laborers walking back and forth with their backs bent under the scorching sun. They looked very tired. As the days passed, there were more and more laborers walking there, and the work they did seemed to be getting heavier.
A few days later, various stories began to circulate in the city. The most widely known story was about a woman named Jiang who had been married to her childhood sweetheart for just one year. Unexpectedly, her husband was conscripted as a laborer and crushed to death by a pile of rocks in a quarry. Officials in Fengxian City then buried him carelessly beneath the rocks. Jiang asked around about her husband's whereabouts. Finally, upon learning the truth, she wept and went looking for him. Perhaps Jiang's sincerity moved the heavens, and the rocks shattered, revealing her husband buried beneath. The grief-stricken woman followed him.
The story was told vividly and was passed from one person to another in Fengxian City. A sentimental woman even wet her handkerchief with tears after hearing it.
The people in Fengxian City, who were in better conditions, couldn't help but sympathize with those who were conscripted as laborers. In addition, the oppression they had suffered from the Fengxian City government for many years made them even more angry. They heard that there was news recently coming out from the prefectural government - the reason why the prefectural government conscripted laborers was because the emperor ordered the construction of a temporary palace for his enjoyment. For a time, the people in Fengxian City also felt resentment towards the new emperor.
...
Yan Xuanyu was very concerned about the progress of Feng Guangwei's dam construction in Fengxian City, and even when Concubine Zhang came to Chengtian Palace to talk about the Emperor's birthday, he was absent-minded.
Because the flood will soon claim countless lives and make countless people homeless, and Yan Xuanyu still has a chance to prevent this. Although he cannot guarantee that everyone will survive, he wants to try his best to minimize the damage caused by the flood. In ancient times, floods may be accompanied by epidemics, and protection after floods is also a headache.
Feng Guangwei's letter was delivered directly to Yan Xuanyu. The journey back and forth was long, so Feng Guangwei would pick out the important things and put them together to write a thick letter and send it to him.
After Yan Xuanyu opened today's letter, he frowned at first, and then couldn't help laughing out loud.
This Feng Guangwei...why didn't he realize that this person was so interesting before?
In the letter, he said that what Your Majesty had done would definitely be known to the people in the future. He remembered that this person was calm and upright.
Of course he knew what would happen in Fengxian City, because he had the tyrant system, and he knew it when the system prompt sounded.
[Host achieves the "Waste of Time and Money" (Basic Level) achievement, rewarded with 50 points.]
He was given 50 points at once. Doesn’t he know what happened in Fengxian City?
These are all trivial matters, and Yan Xuanyu doesn't care at all about being scolded briefly.
He only hoped that the heavy rain would not be so severe after a while. After all, in this era, natural disasters were really terrible for the people.
...
Feng Guangwei said that the dam must be repaired within two days, so both the laborers and the officials hardly slept for two days. Feng Guangwei ate and lived with the laborers, changed into a civilian uniform and worked like any ordinary laborer.
Feng Guangwei's hands and feet were soon covered with blisters, and his back was also covered with scars. All of this was seen by the laborers. They didn't know what kind of official Lord Feng was, but no official had ever treated them like this. They persuaded Lord Feng to rest, but even though Lord Feng almost fainted, he just drank a bowl of mung bean water and continued to work with them.
On the day the dam was completed, all the laborers cheered. The last meal of the day was vegetable pancakes and a bowl of multi-grain porridge with some minced meat in it.
After the meal, Zhu Cheng and other laborers were dismissed. Before leaving, they lined up to receive a string of copper coins from the officials and then went home. When the officials distributed the copper coins, they reminded them not to show their wealth and asked them to keep the copper coins safe so that they would not be robbed.
These men were all silent, and some even couldn't help crying while holding the copper coins in their big hands.
Zhu Cheng carefully wrapped the copper coins and took them home. Before he could take out the copper coins, he was grabbed by his wife with red eyes.
Zhu Cheng looked at his wife in confusion, only to hear her anxiously ask him, "Ah Cheng, do you know someone named Fan Xiliang?"
Fan Xiliang is the husband of the infatuated woman Meng in the rumors.
Zhu Cheng: What Fan Xiliang?
After listening to his wife's explanation, Zhu Cheng's eyes were red, but he was not moved, but because of anger!
"That's not true!" he shouted, and even his wife was startled.
They didn't build any palace at all. Lord Feng told them that they were building a dam to prevent floods! It was for the benefit of the people!
After listening to her clumsy husband's explanation, the wife was stunned. After a while, she said, "But many people outside say that."
Such scenes appeared in many people's homes. The laborers who returned home told the real situation to the people nearby. Many people knew the truth and learned that the laborers had been living so well these days.
But some people still don't believe it. They believe that there was indeed a love-struck woman named Meng who cried so hard for her husband Fan Xiliang that she broke stones.
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