Chapter 338: Sixty-six, Better Safe Than Sorry

Sixty-six, Better Safe Than Sorry

Du Du Shuqing was still nowhere to be seen.

Two days later, Magistrate Official Diao's letter and the news brought back by Yan Beside Yan Liulang from Longcheng arrived in Jiangzhou one after another.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was somewhat silent.

"Magistrate, I went to Meilu Pavilion to take a look. Du Du Shuqing should have lived there, it was cleaned very cleanly, fallen leaves and dust were all cleared, but... I didn't see his luggage and items.

"Also, the main gate was locked from the outside, but I saw this bunch of keys on the table in the side room."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong reached out, took the keys handed over by Yan Beside Yan Liulang, and lowered his head to look.

It was exactly the key to the main gate of Meilu Pavilion that he had handed to Du Du Shuqing with a smile when he saw off Li Li Zhengyan and the others at Prince Xunyang Ferry.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong dismissed Yan Beside Yan Liulang.

He held the keys in his hand and sat quietly in the seat of the main hall for a while.

The morning sunlight shining in from the side gradually retreated to the wooden threshold at the door from the foot of the table.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong came back to his senses.

Silently put away the keys.

Got up and went out, stood still in the courtyard, and basked in the warm sun near noon for a while.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong went to lead Dongmei and left the Jiangzhou main hall.

Promised his aunt to go back for lunch this morning,

The junior sister came, and she cooked lunch.

The young Chief Clerk rode a date-red rouge horse, passed by Prince Xunyang Ferry and the bustling West Market, and bought some small snacks that the junior sister and Ye Ye Weilai liked along the way.

His official uniform had been taken off, and he was only wearing a water-green soap uniform. No one recognized him, just like an ordinary member of the bustling crowd.

During this period, Magistrate Ouyang Rong's gaze fell on the busy streets, on the peddlers, tourists, and residents.

He actually quite liked the atmosphere of the bustling popularity of Prince Xunyang Ferry.

From the first time he came to Prince Xunyang City and saw this classical, old, and vibrant ferry, he was full of fighting spirit.

He regarded it as the second Longcheng.

It's just a pity that there are many Longchengs in the world.

As he is now, he can change this ferry, change the people's livelihood in Jiangzhou, but he cannot change other places in the world,

cannot control the imperial court's policy under the influence of various forces such as the Empress, the Wei clan, and the "Protect Li" faction.

Even Wang Wang Lengran was using his status as a superior and rules and regulations to secretly squeeze him out.

Returning to the residence in Huaiye Lane, he had a plain meal with his junior sister, Zhen Zhen Shuyuan, Ye Ye Weilai, and other women,

and that afternoon, Magistrate Ouyang Rong wore a scarlet official uniform and rushed to the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion solemnly.

Discussed for an afternoon.

In the evening, he left the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion under the gaze of various eyes, bright or dark.

The next day, the Jiangzhou main hall issued a document, following the order of the Jiang Nan Supervisor Prince Xunyang Prince, to prevent water disasters in the rainy season,

temporarily stopped the excavation of Shuangfeng Peak and the construction of the Donglin Great Buddha, and Prince Xunyang Ferry suspended recruitment.

That afternoon, Jiangzhou Chief Clerk Magistrate Ouyang Rong went to inspect important grain depots such as the Jimin Granary.

Subsequently, the Jiangzhou main hall, which was already well-stocked with grain, bought grain on a large scale under the pretext of preventing floods and expanding granaries,

and it was not yet the tax season, and the Jiangzhou treasury was stretched, so they used the method of bookkeeping to let the sellers draw their fingerprints.

Thanks to the good reputation of the Jiangzhou main hall under the leadership of the new Chief Clerk, the Prince Xunyang people responded one after another.

And the wealthy merchants of Prince Xunyang and the great merchants of Jiang Nan who passed by heard the news and moved, transporting grain... The Jiangzhou main hall bought and stored it all at a reasonable price.

Since then, for several days, the young Chief Clerk also used the pretext of checking the people's livelihood in Prince Xunyang to check the wells in every street and lane one by one.

Subsequently, he hired people to add forty or fifty wells in the empty space of temples or places with sweet water springs...

The substantial behavior of hoarding water and preparing grain in Prince Xunyang City, which was not short of grain or water, attracted the attention of many people.

The Jiangzhou main hall also welcomed a long-lost "guest."

When Jiangzhou Prefect Wang Wang Lengran walked into the main hall, Magistrate Ouyang Rong was chatting with Yuan Yuan Huaimin,

the former seemed to be asking the latter about an ancient lock-river tower built by predecessors in the past that had been abandoned by the side of the Prince Xunyang River.

Wang Wang Lengran stood with his hands behind his back, with a cold face, walked from the entrance to the seat at the very top of the Prefect's table in the main hall and sat down.

"Hmph."

A cold snort.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong turned a deaf ear and continued to ask Yuan Yuan Huaimin about the past history of the lock-river tower.

Yuan Yuan Huaimin was good at remembering, but he knew everything about the local chronicles and historical materials such as mountains, rivers, scenery, and humanities.

So Magistrate Ouyang Rong raised his eyebrows and recognized his "poetry and painting are both excellent" that he hung on his lips every day.

"Hmph, didn't Chief Clerk Magistrate Ouyang see that this official has arrived?"

Wang Wang Lengran interrupted with another cold snort.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong lowered his head, seriously recorded the things he had just learned with a brush, then put down the brush, and said indifferently:

"Lord Wang is a rare guest. Does the subordinate need to sweep the bed and wait, welcome you with shoes on backward, and wash away the dust for you?"

The main hall, which had been silent for a long time, was filled with the smell of gunpowder. Hearing the two superiors tit-for-tat, Yuan Yuan Huaimin stopped speaking and began to look at his nose and heart.

"It's not because Chief Clerk Magistrate Ouyang is clever and did a good job."

Wang Wang Lengran's expression was dissatisfied, and he questioned:

"I heard that Chief Clerk Magistrate Ouyang suddenly ordered the suspension of the construction of the Great Buddha of the Saint, and instead took the money to hoard water and store grain, and also reinforced the city walls and built some strange things.

"Ridiculous, where is Prince Xunyang City short of water and grain? What are you hoarding these things for? Are you trying to rebel? Those who don't know will think you want to defend the city and stand on your own!"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's expression was official:

"Suspending the construction of the Donglin Great Buddha is the Prince's order to prevent possible water disasters. The Yangtze River is in the flood season, so we must be prepared for a rainy day.

"And this matter, the subordinate has already reported to the imperial court. The Donglin Great Buddha will be built within the time limit, so it's not a moment's delay. What is Lord Wang in a hurry for?

"Heh, rebellion." Magistrate Ouyang Rong chuckled:

"The military power is not half in the hands of this subordinate. If you really want to say that someone in this Prince Xunyang City is rebelling, then the most likely and opportunistic one is probably you, Lord Wang!"

"You..." Wang Wang Lengran stood up suddenly, patted the table and scolded angrily: "Nonsense."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded: "Look, you're in a hurry again."

Wang Wang Lengran's blood pressure surged to his head, and his old face was flushed red.

However, he could do nothing about Magistrate Ouyang Rong, otherwise he wouldn't have rushed over angrily today.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong took out the name of preventing the Yangtze River flood, and had the political achievements of being praised for water control in Longcheng on record.

In the eyes of the Empress and the imperial court officials, he was an authority on water conservancy, and perhaps he could be included in the history books of this dynasty a hundred years later.

After all, there was the Folded Wing Canal, such a masterpiece left in the Jiang Nan area where water disasters were the heaviest. With this name, he could be considered one of the top masters in water conservancy in this dynasty or this era.

Wang Wang Lengran knew that even if he submitted a memorial as a Prefect, he would not be able to compete with him.

"Chief Clerk Magistrate Ouyang, don't think about using this to do any tricks, repairing the plank road openly and crossing the Chen Cang secretly. This official will keep an eye on you."

Wang Wang Lengran warned word by word.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong naturally understood the meaning in Wang Wang Lengran's words and some concerns.

He was afraid that Magistrate Ouyang Rong would get out of control from the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion and use this to do some unexpected things and completely break the situation.

In fact, the whole Prince Xunyang City had always been in a state of loose outside and tight inside. Wang Wang Lengran was always watching the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion and firmly controlled the inspection power and military power.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at him and looked at each other calmly:

"Coincidentally, this subordinate also likes to keep an eye on people."

Wang Wang Lengran was silent for a while, and suddenly asked:

"This official heard that you sent a letter to the Hongzhou Jiangzhou Cishi's Mansion in the name of the Jiangzhou main hall."

"Lord Wang's news is quite well-informed."

"This official is the main official of Jiangzhou, naturally has the right to know these things. Chief Clerk Magistrate Ouyang, you sent official documents privately in the name of Jiangzhou, pointing fingers at Hongzhou, what do you mean."

"Naturally, it means what it

"Going over the heads of superiors to issue official documents privately—you are losing face for this official! Hongzhou over there probably thinks this official is incompetent in governance."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at him with a strange expression, as if asking, isn't that the case?

Wang Wang Lengran immediately scolded him with raised eyebrows:

"This official racks his brains every day for major military and political affairs, which is why I don't come often. What do you understand? It was just dealing with some petty civil affairs, a small matter, and you really think you are peerless in the country, thinking you can interfere in everything?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's expression did not change, and he suddenly said:

"This subordinate is not very clear about how Wang-my lord racks his brains. This subordinate has something to say; I don't know if I should say it or not."

Without waiting for Wang Wang Lengran to say "you shouldn't say it" in a bad mood, he immediately said:

"Wang-my lord, don't guard this one-third of an acre of land in Jiangzhou anymore. Find an excuse to temporarily transfer the soldiers of the Third Zhechong Prefecture of Jiangzhou to the Fourth and Fifth Zhechong Prefectures of Hongzhou,

"reinforce Hongzhou immediately to prevent any accidents.

"Otherwise, once a problem arises in Hongzhou, Jiangzhou only has this one Zhechong Prefecture, which is also of little use. The two nearest Zhechong Prefectures are already in Hongzhou."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong sighed.

Wang Wang Lengran, who was furious a second ago, suddenly became quiet, narrowed his eyes, stared at him, and asked:

"Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Changshi, have you heard something?"

"Middle Envoy Hu is not like Wang-my lord, covering everything up tightly and not discussing it with anyone."

"Did Middle Envoy Hu also send a letter to Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Changshi?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong smiled; naturally, he would not mention Qin Heng and expose friendly forces.

Wang Wang Lengran also sneered: "It seems Middle Envoy Hu and Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Changshi have a good relationship."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and advised again:

"If the worst-case scenario occurs and Hongzhou is lost without any reinforcements, Jiangzhou will only have one prefecture of soldiers left, which will also be hard to protect, unless the whole state is conscripted...

"Wang-my lord, as the military and political chief of a state, please think for the overall situation."

Wang Wang Lengran laughed, twitched his mouth, and mocked:

"Do you know what that Grand Jiangzhou Cishi Zhu used to do? He was just cleaning up some disobedient garrison soldiers who were arrogant and making demands to provoke the imperial court. Do you really need a junior like you to point fingers?"

Standing up, Wang Wang Lengran flicked his sleeves,

left behind the words "someone should behave themselves," and left the Jiangzhou Great Hall without looking back.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong pursed his lips; he knew Wang Wang Lengran's thoughts.

What he and the Jiangzhou Zhechong Prefecture truly cared about was never the northern-returning garrison soldiers, but the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion.

As long as the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion was guarded well and no accidents occurred, there would never be any fault.

And once an accident happened to the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion, even if he made a great contribution, it would be of no avail; at least Wang Wang Lengran himself would be safe.

"Why is Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan suddenly interested in this Lock-River Pagoda?"

On the morning of the second day after the unpleasant parting with Wang Wang Lengran, Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Yuan Yuan Huaimin went together to a historical site by the river, not far outside the city.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong squatted on the pagoda base platform facing the river, ignoring his image, reached out to touch the rusty iron chains below, and then rubbed the rust flakes between his fingers,

his eyes fixed on the rust flakes, and he did not speak.

"Legend has it that when Great Yu was controlling the floods, he used iron oxen to suppress the water. Therefore, inside this building, there were once four iron oxen cast in ancient times to guard it, but due to years of disrepair, two were lost, leaving only half."

"Later, during the Wei Jin dynasties, literary style was advocated. At that time, it was still Prince Xunyang Commandery, and Prefect Wu Xiu built this building, which took eighteen years to complete."

"This building was called the River-Locking Key Building at that time because it towered into the blue sky, was elegant and ancient, and the pagoda shadow locked the river, elegant and subtle, thus becoming one of the ten scenic spots of Jiang Nan. Literati and scholars came in an endless stream to view the river scenery and splash ink like rain."

"As the saying goes, looking out, the Wu and Chu lands stretch for a thousand miles; below the building, the waves gather in Prince Xunyang."

"It is a pity that after experiencing the Wei, Jin, North, and South, the wind and clouds changed overhead, the waves tumbled underfoot, and it was even affected by the flames of war during the period. After four hundred years of changes, the riverbank collapsed, the building was destroyed, the oxen sank, and the pavilion fell..."

Yuan Yuan Huaimin was knowledgeable and sighed:

"Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan, actually, whether it is called the Lock-River Building or the River-Locking Key Building, as the name suggests, it is naturally to lock up the unruly river water."

"The flood is like an evil dragon or a breeding dragon; this pagoda implies suppressing and locking the dragon to eliminate disasters and avoid harm, forever ensuring peace."

"It is just that this kind of flood control strategy has a prayer-like nature, which Brother Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan, who is truly proficient in water conservancy, should find hard to look at."

"This building seems to have had other uses as well."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong smiled lightly, pointed his finger at the rusty iron chains under his feet, and said in a flat tone:

"How did I hear someone say that during ancient wars, there was an unnamed defending general who came up with a strange strategy, made iron chains, lowered them at this dangerous place to cut off the Yangtze River, and also made large iron cones, placed in the river water..."

"The location of this Lock-River Building is truly good; it is exactly at the narrowest part of this section of the river."

He was somewhat touched by the scene and sighed:

"It is conceivable that throughout history, there has been no lack of capable people and high-minded scholars who knew that the location of Prince Xunyang City in Jiangzhou was critical. It can monopolize the Yangtze River and guard the southeast gateway."

Yuan Yuan Huaimin was stunned:

"Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan even knows about these old events. Cutting off the Yangtze River—was it a defending general of Eastern Wu? However, I remember that he did not meet a wise master, and this strategy of locking the river ended in failure, with the country broken and the family forgotten."

"As the saying goes, strange strategies to serve the country, pitifully useless, dust dimming the white feathers... Iron chains across the river, brocade sails surfing the waves, Sun Lang's bitter efforts... but worrying about knocking on the laurel oars, sadly chanting the Liangfu, tears flowing like rain."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's mouth twitched.

Fine, fine, fine, so you are being such a killjoy, right?

"Alright, stop showing off, you master of calligraphy and painting. You've dropped your book bag on my face... Let's go, let's go to the other side and take a look."

He stood up and patted the rust dust off his hands:

"If the local gazetteer is correct, there is another place called Huilongji on the other side of the river, with an abandoned small pagoda, which is the place connecting the other end of the iron chain."

He took Yuan Yuan Huaimin by boat to the other side of the river.

Afterward, they spent the whole afternoon conducting field inspections.

On the second day, Magistrate Ouyang Rong went personally to the Sishi Cao, one of the six offices of Jiangzhou, and found the Sishi Military Advisor.

This office was mainly responsible for the construction of houses, vehicles, and ships, as well as the management of craftsmen in the state.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong questioned the difficulty of casting iron chains and immediately ordered the Sishi Cao to summon the skilled blacksmiths in the city.

At the same time, he began to walk around, collecting iron materials from the market.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was preparing to renovate the River-Locking Key Building; to be precise, he was renovating the cross-river iron chains.

As for the building, let it continue to be abandoned.

Just as he was busy with this matter,

on this morning, Yan Beside Yan Liulang suddenly ran into the blacksmith shop of the Sishi Cao and said urgently to Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who was supervising the melting and casting of the iron chains:

"Mingfu, Middle Envoy Hu is back!"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's movements stopped.

Good brothers, Xiao Rong is adjusting his schedule. There should be no update at twelve tonight; the update should be tomorrow. Consider it granting Xiao Rong a half-day break, woo woo woo.

(End of chapter)