Chapter 980: Huai East River Patrol Office!

Hantai Prefecture.

The Bai family mansion.

Bai Bai Mingzhe narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, searching for a winding arc in the vast sky and lake light.

That was the ridge of the Ice Mirror Snow Mountain, the hard and sharp earth and stone covered in a thick layer of white snow, as gentle as a young girl's back.

Compared to a few months ago, the snow line on the mountainside was constantly retreating.

Another summer.

No, it was late September, almost October; autumn had already arrived.

He had grown up here. At nine, he went to Southern Zhili to study with the great scholars of the time, reading the classics and histories. At fourteen, he went to the Imperial Capital to receive the most orthodox martial arts education. He had three Perfected Form teachers alone. He returned at twenty-four and became an Elder of the Bai family at forty-two. In the sixty-year cycle, "The Ice Mirror Mountain, the Blue Lake, the scenery of my hometown—I can never get tired of looking at them."

"Master! Master!"

Bai Bai Mingzhe shook off the memories: "How is it? Have you found out the background of those few people?"

"They are from Southern Zhili! Third Uncle Bai recognized their accent as soon as he heard it." The young man had freckles all over his face, spraying white mist, panting for breath. "We checked more than a dozen ports, asking one by one, and found the place where they got off and on the boat."

"Any clues?"

"No, they changed boats all the way here. By the time they got on the boat, they were almost at Hantai. The boatman who picked them up can no longer be found. We are still looking."

"West and East are so far apart. Changing boats four or five times—finding them won't be a matter of a few months. Are there any other clues? Who is their superior, and what is their purpose?"

"No." The young man was very ashamed. "They handled their tracks very cleanly. Third Uncle flipped through their luggage and didn't find any useful clues. Just a single letter stained with fire lacquer. Looking at it against the firelight, it was just family talk, the content was plain.

We are still studying it now to see if there is any other meaning. It is more likely that it was oral, with no written clues."

Bai Bai Mingzhe pinched his brow.

Since five years ago, the Imperial Court had been sending people wave after wave...

"It is an eventful autumn. Just like before, have the clan disciples restrain themselves more. Go out less, cause less trouble. Those who commit offenses, no matter who they are, will be grounded for three months—no, start from half a year! Have Third Uncle go out and find an excuse to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.

For those in the outer five generations of the eighth branch, if the offense is serious, execute them on the spot."

"Yes!"

"Phew, this weather is really dry."

Unlike Cha Qing took off his fur coat and opened his water bottle to take a sip.

Clearly, Hantai Prefecture was adjacent to the Blue Lake and the Snow Mountain and did not lack water, but the air was inexplicably dry. Running here from Pingyang Prefecture, not to mention uncomfortable, nothing felt right.

Water and soil incompatibility was a small matter.

What was more unfortunate was the communication.

In such a large Hantai Prefecture, one couldn't even find people who spoke the official language—just a few kittens and puppies. Fortunately, in the four months the three of them came on the road, they worked hard to learn some, but helplessly, the locals were born with vigilance against outsiders. Speaking with a half-baked accent, they had been here for several days and still hadn't opened up the situation, only renting a small hut.

"On the fifteenth of August, the Hengren caravan's Kangji ship sank in the 'Three Vortexes' water area in the lower reaches of the canal. Three thousand shi of official salt were lost. The cut on the sunken ship was smooth, suspected to be cut by a sharp weapon. The Three Judicial Departments' preliminary investigation locked onto the collusion between the Registrar of the Canal Transport Department and the black market—requesting the River Patrol Office's approval for assistance."

"Eating inside and out, arrest them!"

*Thump. *

Stamped.

"Blood Stone Chamber of Commerce, carrying mysterious iron—blood stone weapons, heading north to Heyuan Prefecture at the request of the Imperial Court—requesting a passage document (no contraband, inspected, the transfer order is true)."

"Release!"

*Thump. *

Stamped.

【Water Marsh Essence +24】

【Water Marsh Essence: 247,600】

Liang Qu pinched the official seal, pinched a lotus seed, looked at it again, and wrote his "opinion" under the seal.

"The Zhang family caravan from Xiangyi County is heading north to Heyuan Prefecture. They are doing quite well... Just in time, take Senior Brother's treasure horse along."

The above government affairs were all handled by the two brothers Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe, as well as a group of subordinates. It was not complicated to handle, and he could get it done by spending half an hour a day.

He was going to the Great Snow Mountain soon, and he had to arrange everything.

As a Fourth-Rank Huai River Langjiang.

Liang Qu's main duty was to arrest and release people within the entire Pingyang Prefecture and the surrounding canals and waterways,

and if there were monsters causing trouble on the water, he was responsible for killing them. It leaned toward military affairs, and occasionally he would inspect the army.

Xu Xu Yuelong and the others were more complex. As the Chief and Deputy Commanders, they coordinated civil and military affairs, and their duties were more comprehensive: maintaining canal waterways, hydrological observation, issuing licenses... Due to the special nature of Pingyang Prefecture, it could be said that their actual scope of control was not just within the prefecture itself, especially with Su Guishan sitting in command.

Pingyang Prefecture had many rainstorms in August and September. After returning from observing Meng Meng Bai Huo, life was indeed busy.

The only regret was that after two months of seclusion, he had passed the entire month of July. Senior Brother Yang Xu had limited time and had already ridden the Red Mountain away, so he didn't see him for the last time.

Using the convenience of his official position, he saved a small amount of treasure horse shipping fees.

There was a hurried knock on the door.

"My Lord!"

"Pingjiang? What is it?"

Long Pingjiang stepped in and presented a booklet: "September rainstorm, the flood submerged three towns and six townships in Haiyan County. The villagers flocked to the Dragon King Temple, looting the granary for offerings and old grain—"

"The levee broke again?" Liang Qu pinched the official seal, his heart shocked.

Long Pingjiang hurriedly said: "The levee did not break. It was just the heavy rain causing the lake to overflow. It overflowed but was not ominous, submerging farmland. Some people took advantage of the chaos to incite the villagers to loot. There were casualties, but it was because of the crowd trampling."

Liang Qu relaxed. As long as the levee didn't break, the degree of impact was very different.

"What did the Commander say?"

"First, grant the tax-exemption Golden Scale Command Flag to attract grain merchants to stabilize the people's hearts. Additionally, have you mobilize eighty Shark People and three hundred soldiers, and send people to Haiyan County to divert the water."

"You lead the team, you arrange it, and discuss with County Magistrate Brother Quan regarding the Shark People."

"Yes!"

Looking at the sky, Liang Qu opened the window, preparing to fly to Haiyan County to check the situation.

*Ding-a-ling. *

The copper bell on the table rang.

It was Su Guishan summoning him.

"Uncle, why are you calling me? Haiyan County is waterlogged, I'm rushing to see it."

"Waterlogging is not a levee break. The Haiyan County Magistrate can suppress it. There are three things." Su Guishan tapped the table. "First, these on the table, take the first three back, and reward them according to the situation."

"These are—"

Liang Qu looked down.

From left to right, there were cyan official uniforms, emerald silk ribbons, and waist tokens like silver fish scales. All were exquisite and beautiful items. At a glance, the cost was not low...

"Second, the Pingyang River Patrol Office has been promoted."

"Promoted?" Liang Qu didn't understand. How could a River Patrol Office be promoted?

"Effective immediately, the Pingyang River Patrol Office is renamed the Huai East River Patrol Office. The latter half of the Jinglan Canal from Weishan Lake, the Southern Zhili section of the Huai River, and the shallow water areas of the four regions of the Jianghuai Great Marsh all belong to the Huai East River Patrol Office. The River Patrol Offices of each prefecture and department in the corresponding water areas must cooperate with us.

Therefore, the Imperial Court has issued new accessories to give to the excellent officials of the Huai East River Patrol Office. Ninth-rank receives cyan ribbon clothing, eighth-rank receives emerald wave ribbon, and seventh-rank receives silver scale waist token. The quantity of these three grades is several. Seeing them is regarded as seeing a superior, and they have special authority.

In addition, there are three spiritual artifacts: the Gray Turtle Seal, the Mysterious Armor Face, and the Purple Lightning Official Boat. Our entire Huai East River Patrol Office only has three. I thought about it and felt that this Mysterious Armor Face should be given to you; it might be useful."

"What use?"

"Impartial and selfless. Below the fifth rank, you can execute first and report later." ===== CHAPTER 981 =====