Chapter 111 Meng Deyou
"Granny, Granny, you can't be hurt! You're all I have left now. Zhao Decai, Jiang Mi, I will never let you get away with this. You will all die a horrible death."
Zhao Decai angrily said, "How dare you insult an official! Guards, slap him!"
Sun Qinwan's hands were tied, and she was slapped twenty times. Blood was flowing from the corners of her mouth, and her cheeks were swollen high. She could no longer utter any more curses.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Mi didn't feel happy, but she also didn't pity her. After all, Sun Qinwan almost sent someone to ruin Jiang Mi's reputation!
After the punishment was carried out, Sun Qinwan and Granny Kong were thrown out, and everyone else left. Zhao Decai asked Huo Ran in disbelief.
"Lord Huo, what's going on here?"
Ever since Huo Ran killed Magistrate Sun on the spot last time, Zhao Decai has been calling Huo Ran "Lord Huo." After all, someone who dares to kill a magistrate so casually must be of a very high status.
Huo Ran said, “Who in Shushan County doesn’t know about Lord Zhao’s actions? Not just Shushan County, but other counties all know how much you love the people. Our country is in need of officials like you. I just wrote down your deeds. The Emperor is a wise ruler. After hearing about this, he will make an exception and promote you to the position of magistrate of Shushan County. This is what you deserve.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Decai said gratefully, "Thank you very much, Lord Huo. I owe everything I have today to your recommendation."
Huo Ran smiled faintly, not taking the matter seriously.
“The previous Magistrate Sun didn’t care about the lives of the people at all, so there are many such evil people in Shushan County. We will have to trouble Magistrate Zhao in the future.”
Zhao Decai quickly replied, "Not at all, this is what I should do."
He then said to Jiang Mi, "The previous Linshui County always refused to bring water over, simply because they felt I wasn't of high enough status. Now, the drought problem should be solved."
This is also what Jiang Mi hoped for: "Now the water level is getting lower and lower, and many villagers in our village have noticed that something is wrong. In order to keep them calm, I didn't tell them that this is a sign of drought. If everyone knew, it would cause panic and probably worsen the drought."
If the villagers knew that a drought was coming, they might try to bring water from the river and wells into their homes to save themselves, which would waste a lot of water and be counterproductive.
"I'm going to Linshui County right now." Zhao Decai didn't even care about the things he had to deal with after taking office; he wanted to solve the drought problem first.
Jiang Mi also went along. She was afraid that others wouldn't know some of the details of the water diversion process, and if problems arose later, not only would the water be wasted, but the villagers of Shushan County would also be unable to get water to drink.
Huo Ran followed along; now that he had encountered this matter, he couldn't possibly ignore it.
The group arrived in Linshui County together. It was obvious that the villagers there were much wealthier than those in Shushan District. The food and clothing in Linshui County were much better than those in Shushan County.
"It's true that places with lots of water are good for people. People say that those who live near mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near water live off the water. The people in Linshui County are all so healthy and radiant."
Jiang Mi had never left Shushan County in her previous life. Not to mention Shushan County, she had only been to the town a few times, let alone seen the wider world. People from poor families like her could not even imagine the lives of the rich.
Therefore, people still need to have broad knowledge; only by broadening their horizons can they achieve better and greater development.
"This is the county government office of Linshui County. I'll go knock on the door now," Zhao Decai said proactively. Although he was now the county magistrate, he had no airs of one and remained the same as before.
Huo Ran and Jiang Mi waited in the back. When the county government officials opened the door, they found it was still Zhao Decai. They said impatiently, "Our county magistrate said that we need your county magistrate's seal. Since you don't have a county magistrate, then we'll talk about it when the new county magistrate takes office."
Previously, Zhao Decai had earnestly explained that he could wait, but the people could not.
"Go tell your county magistrate that the Emperor has made an exception and promoted me to be the magistrate of Shushan County. Now I can make all the decisions."
The man looked incredulous and said disdainfully, "Are you out of your mind to become a county magistrate? What kind of pipe dream is a mere village head having?"
Then the two security guards burst into laughter without any restraint.
Jiang Mi couldn't stand it any longer, so she took out the imperial edict and the county magistrate's seal and said to them, "How dare you! Do you see what this is? Hurry up and invite our county magistrate inside!"
The two gatekeepers were not very literate, but they recognized a few characters related to the county magistrate. When they saw that the seal was actually in their hands, they immediately stopped laughing and went inside to report the news.
Meng Deyou, the magistrate of Linshui County, rushed over in a hurry. He was initially skeptical, but when he saw the imperial edict and seal in Jiang Mi's hand, he immediately became respectful.
"Oh dear, I was blind to your greatness. Come, come, Brother Zhao, please come in."
Zhao Decai didn't put on airs, and the two of them politely deferred to each other as they went inside.
As soon as Zhao Decai entered, he started talking about the drought. Meng Deyou hesitated, saying, "Well... diverting water isn't impossible, but it's a huge project. My small county doesn't have anyone capable of that. As for your Shushan County..."
“I can do it,” Jiang Mi immediately replied, though it was somewhat inappropriate, but the disaster was urgent. “Magistrate Meng, please rest assured, I will find a way to successfully divert the water.”
Meng Deyou frowned unhappily: "Who is this woman?" He had been suspicious of Jiang Mi's identity from the beginning, and couldn't help but wonder if Zhao Decai had just become the county magistrate and immediately found a young woman.
Zhao Decai quickly introduced, "Although this young lady is young, she knows a lot. The locust plague in our area was solved entirely because of her methods."
"Oh?" Meng Deyou was unconvinced. He had heard about this, but he felt that people were just spreading rumors about Jiang Mi and making her seem so amazing. In reality, it was probably just Jiang Mi who stumbled upon this by chance.
Meng Deyou ignored Jiang Mi and said to Zhao Decai, "Brother Zhao, I always thought you were a rare pillar of society. I never thought you would actually achieve this. I am truly happy for you."
Zhao Decai was preoccupied with the drought and had no interest in chatting with Meng Deyou about anything else: "Thank you, Brother Meng. It would be best to proceed with the water diversion as soon as possible."
"No rush, no rush. Although we have plenty of water here, what if a drought hits us? Where will we get water then?" Meng Deyou said casually as he took a sip of tea.
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