Chapter 113 [VIP]
After a few rounds of drinks, everyone was a little tipsy. The children went to play in the east room after they had eaten their fill, leaving only the adults to chat.
The first thing that came to mind was this flood.
Chen Qingyan and his family had never experienced flooding before and did not know how severe it was. In particular, Qingsong and Qinghuai only thought that the flood had destroyed their crops, which was why the family came to the prefectural city.
Wang Ying then began to recount the events in detail to them.
"The rain that started in mid-June lasted for three days at first, and the river in the village rose to more than three feet deep, almost flooding the fields."
The little river usually only reaches up to an adult's knees. When Old Liang lived in the village, he used to catch fish and shrimp there all the time.
"Seeing that the rain was too heavy and I was afraid that the fields would be flooded, I gathered the villagers to dig mud and build dikes, thinking that it would be best to save the crops, but there was nothing I could do if I couldn't. As a result, the rain became even heavier in the afternoon. It was as if the sky had been torn open, and the rain was pouring down like buckets. I immediately decided to go to the mountain to take shelter. If the water suddenly surged up, it would be too late to run away."
Chen Qingyan quietly gave him a thumbs up. He was ashamed of his own lack of decisiveness and intelligence. Under those circumstances, he would never have made the decision to take the whole village to the mountain to take shelter from the rain.
Uncle Chen chimed in from the side, "My husband asked me to go to the village to inform everyone to go up the mountain. It just so happens that the village head Chen said there is a cave on the mountain behind us, which can provide shelter from the wind and rain. When I heard that this place was good, I quickly came back to tell my husband."
Wang Ying continued, "The next morning, everyone packed their things and went up the mountain. At that time, there were still a few families in the village who did not come. Chen Xi could not persuade them to come, so he gave up. Who would have thought that the water had not risen much in the morning, but by the afternoon it had flooded the road."
Liang Boqing said, "Then the dam must have burst. The water is flowing so fast that it won't have overflowed in just half a day."
"Back then, we had no idea it was the Yellow River bursting its banks. We just thought it was because of the heavy rain. The next day, when Tianju and the others went down the mountain to keep watch, the water was already almost up to the rooftops. Those who didn't have time to escape, we don't know where they were swept away by the flood..."
Everyone couldn't help but sigh. In the face of natural disasters, people are like ants, powerless to resist. Fortunately, Wang Ying was clever and led the others to escape the calamity.
Li took a sip of tea and said, "It wasn't peaceful even up in the mountains. The caves were damp and cold, but at least we could avoid the wind and rain. After two days, we encountered a group of people from a neighboring village who wanted to rob us."
"What? There's such a thing!" Chen Qingyan was somewhat surprised. Wang Ying had never mentioned these things to him in the experimental field.
Wang Ying said, "It all started because there was a man in our village who tried to take advantage of the chaos to humiliate a widow, but I chased him away. Coincidentally, he ran into some refugees from Zheng Village on the mountain, so he led them here, intending to rob this cave. Fortunately, there were many more people in our village than them, and they were all carrying farm tools and knives, which scared the group away before they dared to come in."
Even now, Wang Ying still feels lingering fear when she talks about it. In that situation, a fight could have broken out at any moment. Fortunately, the people in Zhengzhuang were also afraid and didn't dare to make a move.
“We stayed on the mountain for four days until the rain stopped before we came down. We found that the village had been washed away by the flood, and the mud on the ground was more than a foot deep. Our villa was also washed away, leaving only a few walls.”
Liang Boqing felt heartbroken upon hearing this. That little courtyard was so lovely. Looking back over the years, he realized that he had only enjoyed two years of peaceful life in Chenjiazhuang.
Wang Ying: "Since the village was uninhabitable, I thought I'd go back to town to take a look. But when I got back to town, I found that it was pretty much the same as the village. The flood had washed away all the houses, leaving nine out of ten households empty. People who had drowned were lying in the streets, and there wasn't even anyone to collect their bodies."
Fortunately, the old house was sturdy and didn't suffer much damage. Only the main house in the front yard collapsed halfway, and a few sections of the courtyard wall were damaged. We repaired them after returning home.
Everyone was deeply moved by what they heard. Although it was just a few words, they could feel how difficult it was at the time.
"The time we spent in town was also a hardship. First of all, the survivors had no food to eat. Fortunately, our family's warehouse had a lot of grain that was not washed away, so I thought of transporting it to the village so that they could replant quickly and have something to eat by autumn."
Others might not know, but Chen Qingyan certainly knew where the grain came from; it must have been taken from the experimental field by Aying.
The rest is history. Lord Wang sent people to pick them up and bring them to the prefectural city.
After listening, Liang Boqing sighed and said, "At first, we didn't think the flood was that serious. In addition, the news was not transmitted and we didn't take it seriously. Later, Wang Tongzhi of Jizhou sent someone to deliver a letter to me, saying that the lower reaches of the Yellow River had breached the dikes. Only then did I realize how serious it was. I quickly asked him to help send someone over to inquire about it."
"It's all thanks to Lord Wang sending people to meet us, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get into the city even if we came on our own."
Chen Qinghuai asked in confusion, "Why?"
“Floods have occurred in many places, and refugees who could not survive have flocked to the prefectural city. Several thousand people have gathered outside the city, including some areas where epidemics have broken out. The officials guarding the city dare not let them in.”
Everyone sighed again after hearing this.
Liang Boqing said, "We should thank Wang Yi properly for this. He went to great lengths to help both sides. Tomorrow, Qingyan, you and I will go to his door to express our gratitude."
"Why!"
After talking about things back home, they started talking about the things Chen Qingyan and his companions had encountered along the way. The three of them picked out the most memorable things and told their families about them.
As the ancients said, "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles."
Although the journey was bumpy, it broadened my horizons even more. Many things that I didn't understand in books before became clear during this trip.
During the event, the three of them also read aloud their own poems. Wang Ying wasn't very good at this, but she could still tell the quality of the poems.
Compared to the past, these three people have indeed made great progress. Their poems are no longer superficial but have deeper content, which is what Mr. Liang meant by having a framework.
Having taken a nap during the day, neither of us was very sleepy, and we chatted until late at night before going back to our rooms to rest.
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan entered the house hand in hand. Yuanbao was already asleep on the small bed. The two of them also took off their hair, removed their outer clothes, turned off the lights, and went to rest.
"It's so nice, just lying next to you feels so comfortable." Chen Qingyan turned his head and sniffed Wang Ying's neck, then wrapped his arms around her waist and relaxed completely.
Wang Ying grasped his hand and patted it, "Me too."
Four years have passed since she transmigrated, and Wang Ying never imagined that she would have developed such a deep attachment and affection for him.
Because of his parents, he felt he would never get married or have children in his past life, and he also had a pessimistic attitude towards love.
Unexpectedly, an accident sent him to such an unfamiliar dynasty, but he was also so lucky to meet Chen Qingyan.
From that moment on, their relationship became even closer, transforming from lovers into soulmates who would spend their lives together.
*
The next morning, Liang Boqing got up early and, together with Chen Qingyan, took the prepared gifts and went to the Wang family in person.
Today is the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month. The government office has long been closed for the day. Wang Tongzhi was at home receiving visiting friends when he heard that Liang Boqing had arrived. He immediately got up and personally went out to greet him.
"Boqing, when did you get back? Come inside quickly!"
Liang Boqing followed him into the main hall, where servants quickly served hot tea.
"I just arrived yesterday morning. After resting for a day, I came to see you and brought you some local specialties from Yangzhou."
Two fine bolts of brocade, precious medicinal herbs, and some fruit shops selling local specialties from the south.
Wang Tongzhi retorted, "What kind of relationship do we have? Why did you bring things with you?"
"Thanks to your help this time, otherwise my little apprentice and his family would not have been able to enter the city."
“It’s no big deal, why would you come all this way to thank me?” Magistrate Wang had the things taken away and began to reminisce with Liang Boqing.
When the two first met, Wang Yi had just been demoted to the post of Sihu in Jizhou.
At that time, Liang Boqing, having seen through the imperial examination system, traveled to Jizhou for leisure. Coincidentally, the two of them both loved poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and thus became friends.
During that period, Wang Yi's official career was not going well, so he took Liang Boqing to enjoy the scenery and traveled to all the famous mountains and rivers around Jizhou Prefecture. During this time, he also wrote many poems and songs, and the two forged a deep friendship.
More than twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye, but the affection between the two has not diminished at all. This is why Wang Tongzhi was able to help pass on the message and send people to pick up Chen Qingyan's family.
Chen Qingyan knelt down and kowtowed, "Please accept my bow."
"Get up quickly. Even without my help, your husband can still find a way to make a living with his family."
Liang Boqing laughed and said, "What do you mean by that?"
“Wang Ying is quite a capable young man. He opened a shop not long after arriving in the prefectural city, and now the whole city knows about him. He is my own nephew, and I was the one who asked him to open that shop.”
Chen Qingyan was startled. "Please forgive me, sir!"
I never knew Ah Ying was so bold as to open a shop under Lord Wang's name.
Liang Boqing didn't seem to mind and laughed heartily, saying, "That child has always been like this, so please bear with him."
"Hey, it's no big deal. Even if he doesn't borrow from me, I'll still help him. But it's better if he can make a living on his own, so I don't have to worry about him. You know how big this flood was. Liu Wenzhou was demoted to Liuzhou by the emperor in a fit of anger. That place is a godforsaken place with miasma everywhere. What's the difference between that and exile?"
"I heard about it on the way. Although the punishment was severe, it was his own fault. For so many years, no one was sent to check the Yellow River embankment, which caused so many people to suffer."
Wang Yi smiled bitterly and said, "It's his bad luck to encounter such a thing. If it weren't for this heavy rain, he would have been transferred back to the capital next year. Now it's too late to say anything. I've also been implicated and will not be moved for three years."
"You're getting on in years, it's time for you to take a break."
“I want to rest, but will the people below let me rest? I have four sons and more than ten grandchildren. How can I rest easy if I can't help them make a future?”
Liang Boqing frowned and said, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Can you help them for a while and then help them for a lifetime? When we old folks die, won't they have to rely on themselves?"
Only if Old Liang said these words could he take them to heart; if anyone else had mentioned Wang Yi, he would have already turned hostile.
Speaking of Wang Yi's sons, none of them were successful. At most, they could only pass the imperial examinations to become Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations), and they could not go any further.
"Sigh, I can't count on my son anymore. I just hope my grandsons can amount to something."
Liang Boqing felt somewhat helpless, realizing that his old friend was becoming less and less carefree as he had been in his youth.
"Enough about me. Are your apprentices planning to enter the fray next year?"
"Yes, let Qingyan and Qinghuai take the exam first. Qingsong is too young, so it's not too late to wait two years."
"These kids are bright and talented; they're clearly destined for greatness. If they can win the championship, I'll benefit from it too."
The more successful candidates a prefecture had, the better its evaluation. Two years ago, Jizhou only had seven successful candidates in the autumn examination, ranking ninth among the seventeen prefectures in the country, which was considered average.
Suzhou ranked first with 33 successful candidates, while Yangzhou ranked second with 31 successful candidates.
Those ranked at the very bottom are all poor and remote prefectures, where you might not be able to pass the exams at all. So once you're exiled to such a place, it'll be very difficult to achieve any political accomplishments in your life!
A note from the author:
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