Chapter 177: Expert

The fourth day of the Great Feast.

A faint scent of wine drifted in the air, and everyone's faces were filled with smiles.

The Great Feast was to take out wine and meat to reward the people of the entire territory; eating and drinking their fill—but if everyone were really allowed to eat and drink freely, no one could handle it.

The reality could only be similar to distributing meat porridge, plus five days of tax exemption for wine shops.

This was already quite good.

Only the grain merchants were unlucky; encountering such a situation, grain prices fell further, reaching eleven wen per jin.

Counting the return costs, the losses were already so great that they were losing money, and they were probably cursing in their hearts.

Talking to the old monk, a former dynasty provincial graduate, over the past two days, Liang Qu discovered that the new county government team was more formidable than imagined, and he finally understood the intention behind the initial measurement of the fields.

The price control methods commonly used by general county governments are "leveling grain prices" and "price stabilization".

The former focuses on the reserves of important materials such as grain, while the latter establishes market price benchmarks.

When prices fall too sharply, the local county government buys and stores at high prices; when prices rise too violently, the local county government sells reserves at low prices.

By swallowing and spitting, prices can be effectively controlled within a certain range.

If following convention, when grain prices rise, the county government should open warehouses to release grain or sell grain at low prices to stabilize prices.

The Pingyang County government did the exact opposite; not only did they not take out grain to stabilize prices, but they even encouraged merchants to raise prices to over twenty wen, driving up the entire market price!

Making rice shops lower prices was harder than killing them, and wanting to raise prices easily wasn't allowed either; the government wouldn't permit it.

Now that they could legally raise prices, they wished rice was one tael of silver per jin.

Rice is a rigid demand that no one can do without; there is no such thing as small profits but quick turnover or high prices being hard to sell—the higher it rises, the more they earn.

Yet they never thought that raising prices was just a bait—a bait using high prices to attract grain merchants to transport grain from other places to Pingyang County.

Measuring the fields before was not for redistribution, nor for revising taxes, but just to add credibility after raising grain prices!

This move told everyone: Yes, Pingyang County has surveyed the population and land, and it is indeed this short of grain, and it has indeed risen to twenty wen per jin!

There is an expert in the county government.

Early May.

The weather gradually became hot, and the water level in the Jianghuai marshes rose a lot; fishermen rarely returned home, wading through sweat to cast nets and catch fish.

Summer fish are active, autumn fish are fat.

Summer fish are not as fat as autumn fish, but they win by being active enough, often going to shallow water areas to breathe and forage.

In autumn, fish need to fatten up for winter storage, and fishermen are the same, saving money to get through the winter.

Fishing at that time is very stressful; only in summer is it the happiest season for fishermen.

With a little extra money in hand, they don't have to worry about getting through the winter, and going into the water won't cause wind-cold, so they don't have to worry about getting sick; fishermen's figures can often be seen in wine shops.

【Water Marsh Essence +0.2】

Liang Qu sat cross-legged on the shell of the old giant clam, moving his whole body's qi and blood according to the qi-moving diagram in the "Vajra Scripture of Subduing Dragons and Tigers."

He had overestimated himself; the Golden Body was harder to condense than imagined, and in more than half a month, the progress was less than one-fifth.

If he himself had to cultivate for several months, wouldn't it take two or three years for others?

The progress of the viscera barrier was gratifying, though; just with the cockscomb fruit every day, the monster meat plus the old giant clam's contribution, there were more than a hundred points of Water Marsh Essence, and the progress steadily increased by one point every day.

More than eight thousand points of Water Marsh Essence remained untouched, the replenishment of qi and blood was still endless, and it had already reached one-third.

Before June arrived, Liang Qu would definitely be able to break through the viscera barrier, condense the aperture barrier, achieve the Galloping Horse realm, and become one of the people with the highest cultivation in the entire Yixing Town.

It is possible for ordinary people to waste more than ten years on the four barriers; such a cultivation speed is at the forefront even looking at the entire Great Shun.

"That's it for today; I'm leaving first, Old Shell. Remember to watch the lotus roots and don't let the fish eat them."

"Understood."

Liang Qu relieved the fatigue of his whole body, patted the giant clam shell, and floated to the surface along the water waves.

The old giant clam adjusted its position and struck a more comfortable pose to bask in the sun.

Liang Qu, with his chest bare, took out a compass and took a detour to Pingyang County.

Black Tooth's three wives had given birth to little ones yesterday, a total of six.

That's right, three female dogs, only giving birth to six little ones, all two per litter, no more.

Black Tooth already had semi-monster characteristics; not only was it smart, but its martial strength could even fight tigers and leopards, making it much harder to breed than ordinary dogs.

Liang Qu hadn't forgotten the idea of raising a dog in the courtyard; among the six cubs, he chose a black dog with the largest frame and thickest claws.

No way around it, Black Tooth's influence was too great; all the cubs were black-haired, or else spotted, so he simply chose a pure black one.

Usually, when puppies were born, Yang Dongxiong mostly gave them away or let others take them, or continued to raise them in the courtyard.

If a disciple needed one, naturally the disciple got to pick first; Liang Qu's several senior brothers had all asked for one a few times.

Every day after finishing his cultivation, Liang Qu had to take a detour to take a look and leave some scent so the cub would remember him, just waiting for the forty-day cub period to pass to take it back.

By the way, he brought some monster bones over; part was ground into powder to feed the cubs to accelerate growth, and the other part was fed to Black Tooth and its wives, which was unexpectedly welcomed by Black Tooth.

Water beast bones—it rarely ate them usually, so they were very fresh.

In the garden.

Liang Qu broke off a section of water beast bone, rubbed it into powder in his palm, mixed it into milk, and personally fed it to the cub.

He had done it once yesterday; today the cub no longer had much resistance, sniffing the scent and crawling to the bowl to lick it, its mouth covered in milk.

Yang Dongxiong shook his head: "Fed the way you are feeding it, this cub will probably be more formidable than Black Tooth when it grows up."

Liang Qu chuckled: "Wouldn't that be just right."

"Has the reward from the River Patrol Office come down yet?"

"Listening to Brother Xu's meaning, it should arrive in a day or two; two great merits are nailed down, but I don't know if I can be promoted to a regular eighth-rank River Earl."

"Fishing in the water is a leisurely affair, yet one holds the power of life and death; playing chess is a clear game, yet it stirs the heart of battle."

The two factions in the River Patrol Office govern separately and are still at peace, but I see the River Patrol Office's mansion is about to be built; at that time, water and fire will mix, and it will definitely not be as relaxed as it is now.

You have earned a Great Creation Title and are a young regular eighth-rank official; you will definitely be envied by villains, so pay attention to yourself.

By the way, I heard last time that someone in the River Patrol Office wants to defect to you; I can't manage such things, but you must have a number in your heart about who should be befriended and who should not."

He almost forgot that Yang Dongxiong was the manager of the River Patrol Office; although it was a leisure position, it wasn't that he was completely ignorant of the situation.

Liang Qu's River Earl official position had an element of imperial appointment.

Normally speaking, for a military official to reach the eighth rank, they basically have to be a Galloping Horse martial artist.

Low strength and high position easily lead to trouble.

"Master, don't worry; the disciple knows right from wrong."

"Hmm, picked green plums yesterday; in ten days, remember to come over to drink green plum wine."

Yang Dongxiong left a sentence and walked out of the garden with his hands behind his back.

"Hear that? Come over in ten days to drink green plum wine."

Liang Qu patted the dog's head; the puppy couldn't open its eyes and let out two whimpers.

Eating until full and then sleeping is the most comfortable thing, and it is also the instinct of a cub; Liang Qu put the sleeping cub back into the nest and took a boat home.

At the gate, Chen Tongmin, who was sitting on the steps, saw Liang Qu and stood up suddenly.

"Master Liang!"

"Brother Chen? Why are you waiting at the gate? Come in and have a cup of tea?"

"Some small matters, no need to disturb you." Chen Tongmin took out a few sheets of paper. "This year's River God Festival on the sixth of June is the same as last time; it is still Master Liang who will be the chief sacrificer. This is the sacrificial text; you are familiar with the general process, and there are no changes."

"Many thanks." Liang Qu took the sacrificial text and read it through; it was basically the same as last time. As he looked, he suddenly said, "Tongmin, can you say this sacrificial text can be changed a little?"

"Ah, change? Why change it?"

Chen Tongmin was puzzled.

It was mostly the same every year; he didn't know what was different this time.

"Just a small matter; look, can the object of this sacrificial text be changed to the Jianghuai River?"

"Why is that?"

"Since the Jianghuai River God is the incarnation of the Jianghuai River, then wouldn't it be the same if we directly sacrificed to the Jianghuai River? Just change the content of the sacrificial text slightly."

Chen Tongmin was a bit confused: "Seems like that."

Since the Jianghuai River God is the incarnation of the Jianghuai River, sacrificing to the Jianghuai River and sacrificing to the Jianghuai River God seems to be no different.

"Then help me ask Elder Chen; sorry to trouble you."

Liang Qu returned the sacrificial text. ===== CHAPTER 178 =====