Chapter 323

Lu Xinqing carried Huyan Shijing, crossed the terraced steps, and went down to the bottom of the valley.

With the mountain blocking the wind, the pond was calm and waveless, a few long reeds grew in the southeast corner, the surroundings were full of dogtail grass, and a thatched cottage was at the diagonal position of the reeds.

A large yellow dog ran from not far away, barking loudly at Liang Qu, trying to drive away the intruders.

"Shoo! Shoo!" Huyan Shijing just shouted a few times, easily drove away the local dog, and turned to explain to Liang Qu, "It's raised in the valley by the gang, it likes to bark when it sees strangers."

"The dog is not bad."

"If you like it, Lord, I'll give it to you."

"Forget it, there's already one at home."

"That must be a majestic divine dog!"

Liang Qu: "..."

Came to the thatched cottage.

Lian Jingye took the key ring from his waist, looked for the door key, and said while looking.

"After Yingjian died, Cheng Chong built a small thatched cottage at the bottom of the valley, where he practiced martial arts and slept, all inside. Except for necessary appearances and drilling the gang members, he basically didn't come out, and he had people deliver his meals to the door.

We thought Cheng Chong was staying behind closed doors to mourn the First and Second Leaders, but now it seems he was mourning his own son, Yingjian."

Liang Qu looked back at the terraced fields: "Who farms the fields?"

Lian Jingye turned back and said: "Tenant farmers farm them. Previously, the back mountain was empty. After Cheng Chong became the Third Leader, he said the back mountain was empty anyway, so it was better to grow grain. If someone attacked the mountain gate and surrounded it in the future, maybe they could hold out for a period of time."

Liang Qu held the booklet and wrote and stopped, looking up upon hearing this: "You have quite a few ideas."

"Cough, cough, don't blame me, Lord." Huyan Shijing's eyes twitched when he saw Liang Qu writing, "It's just a few jokes. There are so many people in the gang, half a mountain of fields, if you harvest it all, you can't eat for a few days, it's just for fun."

"Rest assured, I didn't write it down." Liang Qu looked at the terraced fields: "I heard people say that the Long Lake and the Heishuihe were connected sixty years ago and disconnected after sixty years. Is it because of enclosing the lake to create fields?"

Lian Jingye pushed open the door: "More than sixty years, the connection between the Heishuihe and the Long Lake was a matter of the Great Qian Dynasty, Inspector Huyan might know."

Huyan Shijing explained: "It is indeed more than sixty years. This should have been said to Lord Liang by some junior, right?"

"Around thirty years old."

"That's right, it's a junior. I am ninety-three this year. When I was a child, the Long Lake and the Heishuihe were already not very connected, only occasionally when there was a major flood could it overflow, acting as a flood discharge outlet. Enclosing the lake to create fields is only part of the reason.

The Heishuihe itself unilaterally discharged floodwater into the Long Lake, and a large amount of silt accumulated at the bottom of the lake, causing the lake level to rise continuously. The South Lake area gradually piled up into land, and its own flood storage capacity declined significantly.

Once the Great Shun Dynasty was founded, the population grew year by year. Once there were people, they had to eat, and to eat, they had to farm. The lake fields were fertile, and the people near the Long Lake began to enclose the lake to create fields.

One side flushing, one side enclosing, the two-pronged approach caused the Long Lake to become smaller and smaller. Compared with a hundred years ago, it is perhaps less than thirty percent of its size today."

"Governing water without governing sand..."

Liang Qu was thoughtful.

When he came, he noticed that the Heishuihe had a significant sand content, flushing and creating land; the disconnection between the Long Lake and the river was a matter of time.

Coupled with the river changing its course, maybe in a hundred or two hundred years, the Heishuihe itself would leave Huazhu County.

"Governing water without governing sand?" Huyan Shijing pondered for two sentences, his eyes lighting up, "Lord, you really hit the nail on the head! If you can become the Viceroy of the Liangjiang in the future, maybe the world's water disasters can be saved!"

There are no strange strategies or wonderful plans for governing rivers; it all lies in binding water to return to the channel. There are no strange strategies or wonderful plans for the method of binding water; it only lies in firmly building dikes.

This sentence was mentioned in the "General Examination of Building Dikes" and "General Examination of Protecting Dikes" given to Liang Qu by Xu Yuelong. It is said to be said by the former Viceroy of the Liangjiang, and one can roughly see the governance plan of ordinary people in the face of water disasters.

However, the policy of binding water can only be soft, not hard.

Liang Qu had taken geography classes and knew that the only way to alleviate water disasters was to comply with hydrological laws and solve soil erosion.

"But how to govern sand?" Huyan Shijing couldn't figure it out.

Liang Qu looked surprised: "Cutting down trees without seasonal prohibitions, water and drought disasters may not be caused by this, haven't you learned it?"

Huyan Shijing was ashamed.

"The only way to govern sand is to plant trees. It is all in the classics, and the imperial court is not unaware of the relationship between water disasters and planting trees, but it is not easy to do.

If you want to plant trees to achieve results, how much time will it take? How much money? Plant today, and tomorrow the people who lack firewood at home will have their eyes on it, and the day after tomorrow, the families who are getting married will lack furniture and need a stool leg.

Only by spending astronomical costs can it be done, but no one can guarantee that this cost will necessarily have results, and at the same time, you have to take into account people's livelihood without causing heaven's anger and people's resentment.

In short, planting trees to govern water is a very complex matter, and there are almost no people who know it and can do it."

"Almost no one?" Huyan Shijing was stunned, "Does the Lord mean someone has done it?"

Liang Qu didn't answer Huyan Shijing because he suddenly realized his statement was wrong.

Past life experience cannot be copied; without strange powers and chaos, it is indeed only planting trees, but in the Great Shun...

Liang Qu thought of the underground flow channel under Pingyang County.

Such a channel that violates hydrological laws does not look like a natural occurrence at all...

"Lord?"

"A place you don't know."

Liang Qu responded casually to Huyan Shijing and entered the room.

There were not many furnishings in the small cottage.

A small cabinet, a bed, a warped-head table, plus a cushion in the middle.

It was so simple that it didn't look like the residence of the Shahe Gang leader.

Looking around, the spirit-calming incense was still burning on the warped-head table, and wisps of white smoke rose from the incense burner.

Liang Qu had used spirit-calming incense a long time ago, sent by Senior Brother Hu, which could allow martial artists to concentrate and guide Qi and blood more smoothly.

Many wealthy martial artists would light half a stick when practicing, but later Liang Qu learned the "Wan Sheng Holding the Origin."

The core of the Wan Sheng Holding the Origin lies in holding the essence, Qi, and spirit of a person, so that they do not consume internally or escape externally, keeping them full in the body for a long time, saving him a sum of money from the attributes of the cultivation method.

Recording the general structure of the house, Liang Qu pulled open the cabinet and found several cultivation methods, small booklets, and two scrolls inside.

He glanced at the cultivation methods and was not very interested; they were not as good as his own.

Opening the two scrolls, one was a young man, and the other was a beautiful woman.

Liang Qu looked at Lian Jingye and Huyan Shijing.

Lian Jingye identified them: "That young man is Cheng Yingjian, and that woman is the seventeenth concubine of the First Leader, and also the only woman who gave birth to a child."

Liang Qu exclaimed in surprise: "Seventeenth? How many rooms are there in total?"

"In total, eighteen rooms..."

"Your First Leader is quite capable."

Lian Jingye and Huyan Shijing laughed awkwardly twice.

Lu Xinqing stepped forward holding an inkstone.

Liang Qu licked the ink with a brush and recorded it.

Eighteen people, one child, and it wasn't even his own; it was obvious the First Leader couldn't do it.

After a circle around the house, he didn't find any clues, so Liang Qu extinguished the spirit-calming incense and went out with the others.

"Seal the thatched cottage, do not allow anyone to approach. In two days, people from the Three Judicial Departments will come to inspect. I will protect you regarding Cheng Chong's destruction of the dikes, but if there are missing pieces of evidence or any troublesome matters arise, you are on your own. Do you hear me clearly?"

"Clear, clear."

Huyan Shijing shouted: "From today on, I will build a grass shed next to the thatched cottage and guard it every night. Whoever comes to destroy it must step over my body!"

"That's not necessary, take me to see the boats."

Lian Jingye took the lead: "This way, Lord."

Several people returned to the mansion, sent people to carry the unconscious Cheng Chong over the Shahe Mountain, and a mighty fleet appeared at the foot of the mountain.

Liang Qu's heart jumped; he didn't expect the Shahe Gang to be so helpful. Just the large boats over five feet long were numerous, and there were countless fishing boats.

They weren't boats, they were clearly swaying merits!

Lian Jingye called over a dark-skinned old man with a mouthful of rotten teeth and introduced him to Liang Qu: "Old Song, followed boats since he was a child, has been a sailor for twenty years, helmsman, sail-handler, bucket-handler, anchor-handler, there is nothing he doesn't know.

Later, he was a boat leader for twenty years, and his teeth were all rotted by blowing the river wind.

There is no boat master in the entire Shahe Gang with richer experience than him. You can let him handle anything, Lord."

Old Song hurriedly bowed: "Greetings, Lord Liang."

Old Song didn't need to guess to know that the knife on Lian Jingye's neck was held by the young man in front of him.

And Lian Jingye being able to hold a knife to his neck was equivalent to the young man holding a knife to his own neck.

"Those two large boats, it's not convenient to travel in the flood, right?"

Liang Qu looked at the fleet, pointing to the two large boats leading the way, which were twelve feet long and had a very deep draft; it had taken a lot of effort to stop them here.

Old Song cupped his hands: "Lord, you have a discerning eye. In flood relief, large boats are really inconvenient. They can't enter small alleys, and the water level is shallow, making it very easy to hit the bottom."

"It's hard work for you all. Forget about the large boats in the front, take all the rest with me!"

"Yes!"

Old Song left in a hurry to integrate the fleet.

Liang Qu's thoughts moved, and the Chishan and the finless porpoise at the foot of the mountain brought the pleasure boat toward this place.

He carried the Fubo on his back, carried the black iron great bow, and gave his final instructions.

"After I leave, there should be other River Patrol people coming. At that time, don't say anything about Cheng Chong. Why the Gathering of Righteousness Hall collapsed, why you were injured, think of a way to round it up yourself, otherwise it will be very difficult for me to handle. Do you understand?"

"Understand, understand, rest assured, Lord."

"Rest assured, Lord, I am not a loose-lipped person, and I will keep the gang members under me strictly watched."

"In the meantime, try to look elsewhere to see if there are any extra boats, even fishing boats will do. Try to mobilize as many as you can, don't let him leave empty-handed."

Lian Jingye and the others were a bit confused.

Listening to the first sentence, Liang Qu seemed to have a grudge against the other party.

Listening to the second sentence, it seemed like he didn't?

The two didn't dare to ask more and promised to do as told.

When the pleasure boat and the Chishan arrived, Liang Qu ordered people to put the unconscious Cheng Chong into the pleasure boat.

He let a large boat lower the gangplank, let the Chishan go up, sat in the pleasure boat himself, personally supervised the Shahe Gang leader, and left with the mighty and continuous fleet.

Cheng Chong's matter had too great an impact and must not give Wei Lin's side a chance to make an issue of it.

Otherwise, just a few words of "intentional" and "concealment" would make the matter quite big.

Let Xu Yuelong handle it alone, take the lead in "surrendering" with people, and there would be much more room for maneuver.

But Liang Qu didn't have the idea of letting the other party return empty-handed and deliberately causing trouble.

One more person, one more bit of strength.