Chapter 77 Openly Attempting to Deliver a Tactical Maneuver
"Your Excellency, what brings you here?"
"It's okay, you guys do your thing, I'll just wander around."
A wharf in Shaojia Village, on the outskirts of Longcheng County.
Ouyang Rong came early in the morning to supervise the construction, even though he said he was just taking a casual stroll.
But is a leader's casual stroll really just a casual stroll?
At this moment, the small docks and villages that were originally deserted are gradually becoming lively because of the construction of the Zheyi Canal, which is being carried out with the full support of the county.
The unremarkable ferry dock in Shaojia Village was originally quite inconspicuous.
Although it is the junction of the straight upper reaches of Butterfly Creek and the winding middle section, most of the southern boats coming from Yunmengze in the upper reaches sail directly through this place and enter the winding main channel to stop and rest at Penglangdu, which is close to the city.
The Zheyi Canal, which is currently attracting attention throughout the county, is a masterpiece of engineering, straightening the bends of the Butterfly Creek and replacing it with a new main channel.
Next, a relatively straight main channel with a reasonable curvature will be directly excavated.
Ignore the original Butterfly Creek old road, which will be relegated to a side road.
This allows the river water to flow smoothly towards the main stream of the Yangtze River to the north, increasing the flood discharge and peak-shaving capacity of Butterfly Creek and holding back the large water levels upstream.
Thus, this riverside village at the junction of the river's bends and straight sections became the upper reaches of the newly opened section of the river and the starting point of the Zheyi Canal.
The Yedu Wharf in Shaojia Village also became an important ferry crossing for unloading and transporting materials for the canal. All the resources that the Longcheng County Government prepared and mobilized for the Zheyi Canal were transported here by boat, which is also a convenience of the well-developed water transport in Longcheng County.
"This vibrant scene, where everything is thriving... it really changes every day."
Ouyang Rong stood with his hands on his hips on a small hill by the river where he had been sentry, and couldn't help but sigh.
He was followed by Yan Liulang, Liu Ashan, and the county government officials in charge of dredging the river.
"With so much manpower and resources invested here by the government, it's hard to imagine it not being lively."
It was Yan Liulang who spoke.
This kid is really going astray; he's starting to sound more and more like Magistrate Diao.
Ouyang Rong smiled, turned his head and gently instructed the officials in charge of the work to continue their work and not to follow him.
After everyone left, Ouyang Rong led Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan toward the entrance of the new river channel, which was under construction.
He tied the hem of his official robe higher to prevent it from getting dirty.
The three of them walked and talked.
Yan Liulang, holding his scabbard, suggested:
“Your Excellency does not need to do everything personally. You can take a break and focus on the general direction. Leave the rest to the people in the government office who are responsible for the tasks.”
Watching the young magistrate's retreating figure, the head constable in blue couldn't help but smile bitterly. The magistrate had come early this morning, and he and the other officials were afraid that the magistrate would jump down and personally dig soil and carry loads if they disagreed.
To be honest, it's not impossible for this troublesome prefect to do such a thing.
"Besides, the people below have been idle for too long, it's time for them to take the lead. The preparations for the Zheyi Canal were all handled by you, Your Excellency. Now all the rules and regulations are in place, and you're practically teaching them step by step what to do."
"What rest? If I don't come here, where else can I go?"
"Your Excellency could visit Miss Xie more often," Yan Liulang suggested tactfully.
"I went to see her a few days ago. My junior sister seems to be doing well, but it's a bit strange that she's still lying in bed. My aunt is still sending me to deliver food to her every day."
"He must be seriously injured. Lord Ming, please go and do your best to take care of him."
"Going again? If you go again, you'll be so familiar with Su's eldest son that you'll practically become sworn brothers. Wait, are you trying to teach me how to do things?" Ouyang Rong's lips twitched.
"No, no. Then how about we ask Miss Xie if she'd like to go back to the Deer Park with Lord Ming to recuperate?"
"..."
Ouyang Rong ignored him and pointed ahead, muttering:
"Remember to leave a thick wall at the top of that new river channel to block the water. Once the river channel is completed, blow it up and let the water flow into the new canal... By the way, do we have any explosives?"
This time, Yan Liulang was taken aback. "What's explosives?"
Ouyang Rong paused, then continued forward, shaking his head: "It's alright, if we can't blow it up, we'll just dig it up by hand. Hey, that's too slow."
He had heard his junior sister mention before that on the night the tents in the East Warehouse burned down, the mysterious sorcerer would throw out some kind of explosive flame contraption, and it seemed that the strange component that burned Old Cui was also one of those contraptions.
Ouyang Rong initially thought that the Great Zhou Dynasty already had gunpowder in use, but after asking around, he discovered that this thing was currently called the Fu Huo Fan Fa (伏火繁法), which was invented by Taoists and sorcerers practicing external alchemy, and belonged to a crooked and heretical path.
It seems that only that group of mystical sorcerers have some strange research on this path, which is what my junior sister calls evil magic.
Furthermore, this world is blessed with mythical Qi-refining techniques that are beyond his comprehension, and Ouyang Rong is unsure whether they are the same as the knowledge he gained from his previous life.
In any case, these were all phenomena that seemed plausible but were based on flawed common sense, like a tangled mess that Ouyang Rong couldn't sort out for the time being, nor did he want to waste time sorting them out.
He feared that if he explored too much, he would become too engrossed in it, bound by people and things, and unable to leave.
In addition, seeing that the flood control project was nearing completion, Ouyang Rong couldn't sleep last night and, unable to contain his impatience, secretly went to the Merit Pagoda.
"Let's dig with our hands then."
On the country road, Ouyang Rong walked ahead, muttering to himself.
Yan Liulang was speechless upon hearing this:
"Minister Ming, how are we slow? We're already moving at lightning speed, aren't we...?"
"If this were in another county, the preliminary planning would take half a year, and gathering manpower before implementation would take another half a year. The earliest that construction would start would probably be next spring."
Seeing the young county magistrate shaking his head, Yan Liulang was both amused and exasperated.
"Your Excellency, around the Dragon Boat Festival, you led us to visit the upstream and downstream areas, assessed the water conditions, measured the riverbed slope, created a highly accurate simulation sand table, and even tested the feasibility of the new canal..."
"Now, with Manager Wang, Manager Li, and Master Cheng, who have invested in the new ferry crossing, they are working hard to prepare the materials. The goods have been arriving in the past few days. The county government and the brothers led by Brother Ashan just need to dig step by step according to your plan, Your Excellency. It is estimated that the digging will be completed by the end of the year... It's really not slow."
To be honest, not only Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan, but also all the officials in the county government, including County Magistrate Diao, were somewhat surprised by the speed.
However, the thought of a micro-management master who wanted to try directing even the digging positions with just a shovel on the front lines of canal construction made me feel relieved.
Ouyang Rong sighed, "But it's still too slow."
Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan exchanged a glance.
Afterwards, Ouyang Rong toured the bustling canal-digging construction site, then led them back with frowns.
Actually, he said it was slow because only he knew that in the next few months, there was a high possibility of another flood during the rainy season in Yunmengze.
The Zheyi Canal can indeed solve the problem of future flooding in Longcheng once and for all, but this is only after it is dug. Before that, if the water rises again, there will be no way to deal with it, and it may even affect the construction of the Zheyi Canal.
This is also an urgent matter at present.
When he first took office in Longcheng, he was already clearly aware of this, but most people, including County Magistrate Diao, were skeptical.
Even when Ouyang Rong announced the new construction, the next major flood he mentioned in his speech was subconsciously assumed by most of the people of Longcheng to be in the next few years, since according to a certain saying, there's a major flood every four years...
However, the construction of the Zheyi Canal was also very important.
Besides boosting morale, gathering strength, uniting the majority of people, and isolating the Liu family, it can also play a role in shifting the balance of power.
Now, it's obvious to everyone that it's not the Liu family using the Di Gong Gate to torment him, but rather him using the Broken Wing Canal to torment the Liu family.
However, the young magistrate who has gained the advantage of "human harmony" at the poker table in Longcheng County must now reconsider a problem.
Is flood control more important, or is dealing with the Liu family more important, or are the two not necessarily in conflict at times?
However, he is not entirely helpless regarding the potential for heavy flooding in the near future...
After inspecting the area, Ouyang Rong and his entourage bid farewell to Shaojia Village, boarded a boat at Yedu Wharf, and returned to Penglangdu in the county.
On the way, with the river breeze blowing from all sides, in a secluded spot at the bow of the boat, Ouyang Rong turned around and asked, "Sixth Brother, how's the situation with the people Wang Caozhi asked them to find?"
Yan Liulang glanced around and whispered:
"They said that there are very few skilled craftsmen in Jiangzhou who can build such water conservancy gates. They are a very specialized type. Even if there are, they are highly sought-after by the counties that build water conservancy projects. They will not be easily let go, just like the group of craftsmen that the Liu family kept in Guyue Sword Shop."
"So right now we can only look in more distant states to see if we can gather enough manpower. They said it will take some more time."
Ouyang Rong frowned slightly. The Zheyi Canal did not use many techniques. As long as the general direction was determined, a large amount of manpower could be deployed.
However, the construction of something like the Di Gong Gate was indeed a technical task in that era, even though the amount of work involved was small.
Although he is good with his hands and loves to tinker, he doesn't think he's so amazing that he can actually make something out of thin air.
Ouyang Rong had visited the ruins of Di Gongzha upstream several times before, so he had some idea of what was going on.
As Ouyang Rong silently pondered, Yan Liulang's hushed voice drifted from behind him:
“My lord… there is something I don’t understand. We already have the Zheyi Canal, so why do we still need to deal with the Di Gong Sluice? Didn’t you say before that it can only treat the symptoms and provide temporary relief, but not the root cause and a lasting solution?”
Ouyang Rong pondered, "Sixth Brother, sometimes, it might just be a matter of a moment."
"Master, there's been some activity from the Liu family lately."
"Oh?" Ouyang Rong turned around.
Liu Ashan, who had been mostly invisible behind him, suddenly said:
“I heard from an acquaintance at the Guyue Sword Shop that the Liu family has recently started to vacate an important sword furnace on the west bank, leaving hundreds of craftsmen idle. I don’t know what they are doing.”
He paused for a moment, then continued:
"Recently, the Liu family has been frequently sending people to inquire about the situation at Zheyi Canal. It should be quite difficult for us to keep things under wraps. The Liu family is deeply entrenched and has too many acquaintances and informants."
"Understood. Thank you for your hard work, Ashan. Keep an eye on things."
Ouyang Rong nodded, then fell into deep thought:
"Is Liu Ziwen... in a hurry?"
Actually, Ouyang Rong wasn't surprised by the latter news, but the former news... was rather intriguing.
Could it be that they've pushed the Liu family too far and are now ready to back down and admit their mistake on the long-standing stalemate over the Di Gongzha incident?
Otherwise, why would we need to free up so many craftsmen?
Someone lacking effective information can only think in this direction.
After a short while, the young magistrate, facing the river breeze, breathed a sigh of relief and gained some confidence.
Regardless of whether the Liu family is prepared to back down or stubbornly resist.
But at least they, who were originally as still as turtles, started to get anxious and began to move after being slowly simmered by him, which can be considered a slightly better trend.
"I'm not afraid of you making a move, I'm afraid of you not making a move and not revealing the slightest flaw. As soon as you start moving, even a thousand-year-old tortoise will have to show its head."
Ouyang Rong stood at the bow of the boat and murmured to himself.
The clothes I bought are on their way... (There will be another update at midnight)
(End of this chapter)
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