In the cabin of the pleasure boat, the river breeze gently blows the gauze curtains, bringing a faint fragrance of rice, which is the smell of rice ears filling up on the other side of the Wusong River.

As for the Wujiang side, although there are thousands of acres of fertile fields, there is a high stone pond separating the two, so the fragrance of rice cannot be smelled.

In the cabin, County Magistrate Yi kept urging people to drink, trying to get Master Zhao drunk.

He didn't know that he had accidentally touched the vital point of Mr. Zhao. Can you not drink wine when you see it? Can you not get drunk after drinking wine?

Fortunately, Zhao Shouzheng also knew his own limitations. After drinking three cups, he held down the cup and said, "Let's talk about business first. After drinking, we can only talk about romance."

"Oh, haha..." County Magistrate Yi laughed dryly twice, then smiled bitterly:

"Brother, you are really persistent. Okay, go ahead. But I have to say this beforehand. If you want to open the floodgates in this county, I advise you to keep your mouth shut, so as not to hurt our brotherly feelings."

"Uh..." Zhao Shouzheng smacked his lips and said, "Brother is really amazing. You guessed my intention right away."

"What's the big deal? Every Kunshan county magistrate had to discuss this with Wu Jiang. And not only with Wu Jiang, but also with Song Jiang. But after all the discussions, has there ever been a successful conclusion?" County Magistrate Yi picked up a piece of sausage and started chewing it hard.

"No." Zhao Shouzheng shook his head.

"That's it. All the previous predecessors were able to resist and refuse. How can I break this rule when it comes to me?" County Magistrate Yi felt the bouncy pleasure of the intestines in his mouth, closed his eyes and said comfortably:

"Brother, listen to my advice. Don't think that you are the father and mother of the county and you really care about the county. They are living their lives, and we are just passing through. There is no need to do such things that offend others."

"Brother, I don't agree with what you said." Zhao Shouzheng said solemnly: "Before I took office, an old senior once told me that if something is beneficial to the court, the people, and the gentry, we should overcome all difficulties and work hard!"

~~

"A-choo..." At Shangyuan County Court, Magistrate Zhang, who was taking a nap, suddenly sneezed.

"Cold." Zhang Dongguan snorted without even opening his eyes.

Concubine No. 2 hurriedly covered him with a blanket.

After a while, Magistrate Zhang snorted again: "It's hot."

Concubine No. 2 rolled her eyes and started fanning the old fool who was covered with a blanket.

~~

On the Wujiang official ship.

County Magistrate Yi was at a loss whether to laugh or cry after hearing this. "But this matter will do no good to my county, Wu County. You can't accomplish it anyway."

"Don't be so quick to refuse, brother. I'm not asking you to open all the sluice gates and flood your county's polder fields."

Mr. Zhao Er quickly proposed the solution given by Pan Jixun and said, "This county has consulted an expert and came up with a solution that does not harm either side."

"Oh, tell me about it?" County Magistrate Yi nodded expressionlessly.

"Map!" Mr. Zhao snapped his fingers, and Fang Wen appeared and presented a map.

County Magistrate Yi was shocked and had no idea where this guy came from.

"Do you think this will work?" Mr. Zhao asked Fang Wen to unfold the Susong map and pointed to an extra blue line on it.

"Wide the sluice gate at Gangmiao Town, Guixian County, and dig an artificial canal to connect to the Huangpu River. We have asked someone to calculate that if the canal is only ten feet wide, it can relieve half of the pressure on Kunshan. And after it is completed, there will be no need to go around the Wusong River between Guixian County and Songjiang, and you can go directly through this canal."

"Oh." County Magistrate Yi nodded without comment.

"Don't worry, bro. Your county won't pay a penny. This 'Taipu River' is owned by Kunshan County from beginning to end!"

Zhao Shouzheng patted his chest so hard that it made a loud noise, believing that the other party would definitely agree.

Because this was a brilliant plan proposed by the water control master Pan Jixun, which could not only preserve 90% of the polder in Wujiang County, but also relieve half of the pressure on Kunshan, and also create a shortcut between Suzhou and Songshan.

Kunshan County made great sacrifices for this, not only did they spend money and labor, but the entire river was no longer within the county. This means that once the river is built, merchant ships from Songjiang to Wuxian, or even south to Zhejiang, will no longer need to take the Wusong River. Naturally, they will no longer pass through Kunshan.

But such a plan of abolishing part of martial arts was unanimously supported by the whole Kunshan County... It can be seen to what extent the people of Kunshan have suffered from the flood disaster.

~~

However, the other party remained unmoved.

County Magistrate Yi hesitated for a long while before he met Mr. Zhao's expectant gaze and said, "Come, have a drink."

"You tell me first whether it's right or not." Mr. Zhao became serious and even put wine second.

"I told you, my job as an official is as calm as water, right?" County Magistrate Yi couldn't help but get a little angry, thinking how could this man not know his limits?

"Yes, I did." Mr. Zhao nodded.

"I've said that I'm leaving office soon. I don't have the energy to bother with this anymore. Just get by and get through the day, okay?" County Magistrate Yi said with a tired look on his face.

"Yes, I said that." Mr. Zhao nodded again.

"Then why are you still forcing me?" County Magistrate Yi rolled his eyes at him and said, "Yes, ten feet is not wide, but this river is damn long! From Miaogang Town to Dongmu Town, it is a full 110 miles, don't you know?"

"Counting the riverbanks on both sides, it's at least 15 meters wide, which means 4,100 acres of land!" County Magistrate Yi suddenly raised his voice and said, "We have to provide this land, right?"

"It's only over 4,000 mu of land." Master Zhao muttered softly, "You have reclaimed more than 100,000 mu of land around the lake. It's not even halfway done."

Then Song Erye said, "The county will pay for the land."

"Buy it? Do you know how much four thousand acres of land costs?" County Magistrate Yi couldn't help but sneer. He knew nothing about Mr. Zhao's ability to pay.

An acre of paddy fields in the south of the Yangtze River costs twenty taels of silver, but the paddy fields are not on the yellow book, so there is no guarantee. The maximum price is ten taels of silver per acre, which is not a problem for Master Zhao.

"It's just 40,000 or 50,000 taels of silver..." Zhao Shouzheng took out a wallet from his sleeve and slapped it on the table, saying, "As long as you nod, I'll pay you now!"

County Magistrate Yi twitched his lips. When did Beggar Kunshan become so rich?

What he didn't know was that this was not the county's public funds at all, nor was it even the Zhao family's money.

Rather, it was the nutritional allowance that the eldest princess gave to Mr. Zhao before he left Beijing.

Mr. Zhao is ready to donate his own income to help the county solve the century-old flood. What a good official he is...

"Even if you offer 100,000 taels, this county will not agree." But the incorruptible County Magistrate Yi still shook his head.

"Not to mention the land of thousands of households, this county will have to requisition it, right? Just to say that if this river is built, half of the floods will have to go through this county, which is too risky."

In fact, the main reason is that they are afraid of trouble. When that happens, Wujiang will have to fight against floods like Kunshan, from the beginning of plum rain season to the beginning of autumn. Just thinking about it makes people feel overwhelmed.

If the embankment was breached and people were drowned, he would be guilty of a great crime. How could he be included in the famous official temple of Wujiang County?

ps. Second update. Sorry, I wrote too slowly today. I just finished the basic update and there will be another update soon.