The next day it was still drizzling and the rain continued.

As soon as the day broke, the insignificant officials of Kunshan County rushed to the county government office from all directions to attend the first "morning court" of the new county magistrate.

Oh no, Yacan.

This is another enviable benefit for the county magistrate.

Even if an official in Beijing holds the rank of Shangshu or Grand Secretary, he cannot enjoy the respect of this local emperor.

Those upright poets who had never been released from public service in their entire lives could not imagine how intoxicating this happiness was.

County Magistrate He, Chief Clerk Bai and Dianshi Xiong, who lived in the county government office, also came out of their respective official residences and walked along the corridor towards the lobby.

"I'm so sleepy." Bai Shouli yawned repeatedly and complained to his two colleagues in a low voice, "I worked until four o'clock last night to distribute porridge. It was almost dawn when I came back to sleep."

"You shouldn't have slept." County Magistrate He looked at him and said, "Look at Old Bear, he also didn't sleep all night, how energetic is he?"

Xiong Dianshi had a dark complexion and deep eye sockets. His eyes were small but frighteningly bright, and he had a thick, short beard around his mouth. He looked like a tough guy who was not easy to mess with.

The county police chief and prison warden stood straight and didn't say anything, but the two colleagues were used to it.

He took a boat to the border of Loujiang County yesterday to meet Zhao Shouzheng, but he didn't see him all day. It was not until midnight that he learned that the county magistrate had come around the Wusong River.

Only after the city gates were opened at dawn did Dianshi Xiong return to the county government office.

"Cheer up, be careful of bad luck again." County Magistrate He stretched and walked into the lobby with his spirits raised.

At this time, the county inspector, the teacher, the instructor, the postmaster, the tax inspector, the six clerks, and the three shift leaders had basically arrived. The hall was crowded with people in green official uniforms and blue clerk robes.

"I heard that the master went into the city yesterday and brought more than a hundred followers with him?"

"That's right. Two whole boats are full of people."

"This is really troublesome..."

"Yeah, it will be inconvenient to do anything in the future."

The hall became a little quieter when the three assistants came in.

However, after waiting for a long time, there was no sound of the cloud board for the master to come out, and the petty officials started to make a commotion again.

"Is it past time?"

"Yes, it's already past the hour of Mao."

"Why hasn't the master come out yet?"

"Did you oversleep?"

"Second Master, go ask."

Without their urging, He Wenwei had already hurried towards the Moon Gate.

After a while, County Magistrate He came back with an embarrassed look on his face and said to everyone, "The master went to inspect the dike early in the morning."

"Patrol the dike?" Many officials heard the county magistrate say yesterday that they would patrol the dike today.

But no one paid much attention to it. They thought that the master would first satisfy his urge to serve in the government office, and then go to the Confucius Temple, Guandi Temple, City God Temple and other temples before he would walk around the levee, just for show.

Instead of doing so many glorious things, you run to the embankment and step on the mud... Are you out of your mind?

Thinking of the scolding they received when they welcomed the emperor yesterday, the officials felt even more upset, wondering how could a master who seemed so kind be so twisted?

Alas, the days ahead will be difficult.

"Then should we wait here?" Bai Shouli thought to himself that it would be a good time for me to go back to sleep.

"Wait!" He Wenwei rolled his eyes at him and ordered everyone, "Hurry up and go to the dike to meet the county lord!"

"Oh, okay."

The officials hurried out of the yamen, got on their respective sedan chairs or horse-drawn carriages, some rode donkeys, and some walked, all heading towards Chaoyang Gate in a noisy manner.

~~

At this time, dozens of people wearing straw raincoats, bamboo hats and wooden clogs were walking on the Wusong River embankment in the rain.

Compared with the 100-mile river embankment built with stone slabs in Wujiang County, the earthen river embankment in Kunshan County is simply inferior.

Days of rain had soaked the embankment, making it soft and loose, and muddy enough to walk on, making it very difficult and frustrating to walk on.

It was not until they entered a thatched pavilion for observing the water level that the leading group took off their straw hats and untied their raincoats, revealing ugly faces, some white and some green.

They were Zhao Shouzheng and his son, as well as Gu Dadong, Zheng Ruozeng and other heads of the major families in Kunshan.

The dog owners were all staying in the city last night. Zhao Shouzheng had them all woken up before dawn, and then asked them to lead the way, and to inspect the river embankment in the wind and rain.

At this moment, they had walked ten miles eastward along the Wusong River from Nanshan Temple at the mouth of the Xiaosong River.

Naturally, they were all exhausted. Old men like Zheng Ruozeng sat down on their straw raincoats, unable to speak.

What the wealthy men didn't expect was that the master, a weak scholar, looked as usual, without any sign of fatigue on his face.

"It's not optimistic." Zhao Shouzheng looked at everyone and said sternly, "The river bank is too low and there's not enough piles and fences. How can we resist this year's flood?"

Mr. Zhao had done some cram school before coming here, and he knew that if he wanted to build an earthen embankment to resist floods, he would first have to drive a wooden stake one foot deep, with each stake at least three feet into the ground.

Then, a row of bamboo poles were nailed horizontally behind the wooden stakes to make a sturdy bamboo fence. With the fence to resist the impact of the river waves, the earth could be piled up to form a embankment, building a fairly solid river defense.

"It was done in a very strict way before." Gu Dadong smiled bitterly and replied, "But when the river water rose, we had to fill the river bank with soil and pile it up high. The bamboo and wooden fences couldn't bear it at all and broke into pieces. When the old parents took over, they simply stopped wasting money and effort and only asked for victory after the summer harvest."

"As long as there is no hurricane, the earthen embankment can hold up. It's nothing more than making it thicker." The Dai family's patriarch put on a high hat and replied with a resigned look on his face: "When a hurricane comes, the wind is high and the waves are fierce. The bamboo and wooden fences can't withstand the impact at all. So what Mr. Feng's parents did was a wise move."

The other gentry also spoke at once, with basically the same argument... Kunshan is in such a bad state now, as long as we can hold on until the summer harvest, we can be flooded.

Anyway, the water will recede in September, and the newly built county town is solid, so it won’t be flooded…

Zhao Shouzheng understood that they were unwilling to mobilize a large number of troops and build a large-scale project, so he looked at Zheng Ruozeng and said, "What do you think, Mr. Kaiyang?"

"Haha, to answer my parents, I certainly hope that the dikes will be permanently strong and there will be no more floods. If I can see Kunshan become a land of fish and rice again, I will die without regrets."

The question is, can it?

Zheng Ruozeng defeated Zhao Shouzheng's army.

"I firmly believe that this day will come!" Zhao Shouzheng glanced at the gentry and said confidently, "Let's start by defending this section of the river bank!"

"Yes..." The gentry responded sparsely.

"You all seem to lack confidence?" Zhao Shouzheng's expression darkened, thinking to himself that my son and Mr. Qingteng were talking again.

"Tell me, how can you have confidence?!"

"Repairing the dike will cost money, a lot of money..." The gentry said, "Kunshan is poor. The county has no money, and neither do we. Nothing can be done without money."

No matter what, the dog owners are all worried. Their elderly parents dragged them to the levee early in the morning. It was like a weasel paying a New Year's visit to a chicken - they had no good intentions.

They were all afraid that the new county magistrate would take advantage of the opportunity to blackmail them.

But Zhao Shouzheng waved his hand casually and said loudly: "You don't have to worry about the money, the county can solve it ourselves!"

Right, son?

ps. I finished writing the third update at almost twelve o'clock yesterday, so today I can only post it while writing.