Chapter 69: 70. First Meeting

70. First Meeting

"After going back, tell them to change the name. Don't do this set, what Lianghan Canal, just call it 'Flattery Canal'."

"Magistrate, actually they also have good intentions. After all, it is an unprecedented water control measure, and it is only right and proper for the Magistrate to leave his name."

"Is this something you kid came up with?"

"No, no, I don't have this literary talent... It was Magistrate Diao who named it. Magistrate Diao is famous in our Longcheng County for knowing how to name things. Many streets and pavilions in the county were named by him."

"He knows how to name things? He knows how to get promoted. No wonder there are so many streets and lakes in our county. Either they are called Di Gong, or they are called Tao Gong. Those who don't know would think we are the hometown of these two celebrities, but they just served as Magistrates... I guess their hometowns are not as active as our Longcheng."

"Anyway, don't use my name."

"Yes, Magistrate."

Light rain.

Halfway up Mount Dagu, Zhamu Pavilion.

Ouyang Rong, Yan Liulang, and Liu Ashan, a group of three, were taking shelter from the rain in this pavilion with a wide view again. It's just that this time, the three were not going down the mountain, but climbing it.

Yan Liulang handed a proposal from the county government regarding the new construction of cutting bends and straightening to Ouyang Rong, who criticized it severely after reading it. The blue-clothed constable scratched his head, his face embarrassed.

"Forget it, I'll name it."

Ouyang Rong sighed, handed the document back to Yan Liulang, walked to the front of the pavilion, and looked into the distance.

The pavilion was quiet for a while.

He narrowed his eyes, looked at the Butterfly Creek that was about to be "straightened," and tapped the railing lightly with his right hand:

"Since the original winding river channel looks like a pair of butterfly wings, and today we are cutting the bends and straightening it, which is breaking the wings, then let's call it... Zhe Zhe Yiqu."

Yan Liulang's eyes brightened slightly, and he nodded, muttering: "Zhe Zhe Yiqu... Magistrate has great talent! Your subordinate will bring the new name back."

He paused, then smiled bitterly:

"By the way, Magistrate, there is also the name of the new ferry. They said before that since there is already Peng Lang Ferry, the new ferry should be called Tanlang Ferry. But according to the Magistrate's request just now, this name won't work either..."

"Alright, alright, let's discuss this another day."

Ouyang Rong turned his head helplessly and dismissed it vaguely. Actually, he was also bad at naming things. He had wasted his brain to come up with one, so that was enough.

The young Magistrate looked at the dim sky under the pavilion eaves and whispered:

"Zhe Zhe Yiqu is the top priority. Once it is dug through, it will be a vast sea and sky. The new ferry and new commercial street are just the natural result of the melon ripening, take it slow, it's still early."

Ouyang Rong actually had one thing he didn't say: maybe by then, he would have already gone home.

Yan Liulang, who was full of energy, didn't know these things, only feeling that following the Magistrate, he was full of energy.

He had experienced the brand-new atmosphere after the excavation of the Zhe Zhe Yiqu in these days, his face was excited, and he nodded vigorously, "Then fine, everything listens to the Magistrate."

"How is the grain separated from the righteous granary?"

Ouyang Rong turned his head and asked again.

Yan Liulang smiled:

"Reporting to the Magistrate, it has already started to be loaded onto ships and will be transported out of Longcheng in a few days."

"According to your previous instructions, we Longcheng righteous granary will keep 150,000 shi for disaster relief and the excavation of the Zhe Zhe Yiqu, and the remaining 160,000 shi of grain will all be used to support Jiangzhou City and other disaster-stricken counties and towns."

Ouyang Rong nodded and exhorted:

"Remember, first send the register of the grain-carrying trough ships to the Supervisory Commissioner Shen in Jiangzhou City, and let Commissioner Shen handle this batch of grain. Before that, don't act on your own and send it to other counties. In addition, pay attention to safety on the road."

"As you command." Magistrate Yan, burning the grain ships... we've played with what's left."

Ouyang Rong glanced at him and said nothing. He turned his head and asked the wooden Liu Ashan:

"Any movement on the Liu family's side?"

Liu Ashan shook his head, "Only some old sword craftsmen are complaining, no movement from the Liu family has been found yet, and everything in the sword shop on the west bank is as usual."

Ouyang Rong nodded thoughtfully.

Yan Liulang couldn't help but glance sideways at the wooden, thin, and tall man.

He was mainly responsible for the affairs of the county government office by the Magistrate's side, which was biased towards official business; while some private matters that were not convenient to be made public were all handed over to this Brother Ashan by the Magistrate.

Some things were even kept from him, this trusted aide, and he only vaguely realized it afterwards.

I remember that after Liu Ashan was redeemed, the Magistrate didn't let him join the county government system, but let him organize a group of young and strong people among the refugees in the disaster relief camp.

So, compared to the constable class under Yan Liulang, they were two groups of people, both working under the Magistrate, one in the light and one in the dark. And not long ago, when they enthusiastically entertained the visiting grain merchants like Wang Caozhi, it was their first cooperation.

But looking at it now, this Brother Ashan's connections and sources of information in Longcheng seemed to be wider than his, at least in the Ancient Yue Sword Shop where he had been a cook and official slave for many years.

"Wait a moment, don't follow. I and Liulang will go find the abbot. You go home and visit your mother and sister."

Ouyang Rong gave an irresistible order to Liu Ashan, then took the lead and left the Zhamu Pavilion with the two, continuing up the mountain. Wild flowers and green grass poking into the center of the road along the blue stone steps wet the hems of the three people's robes.

In these few days, there had been quite a lot of rain in Longcheng, falling and stopping repeatedly.

At the moment, it was just past noon. Although the sun could be seen high in the sky, the light rain overhead was still capricious. Taking advantage of the halftime break of this sun rain, Ouyang Rong and his group continued to hurry to Donglin Temple.

Climbing the mountain today could also be considered official business.

The excavation of the Zhe Zhe Yiqu this time bypassed the main building complex of the county, and crossed from a position not far from the foot of Mount Dagu.

A certain young Magistrate who only wanted to make money thought that since he would enjoy the convenience of this water transport in the future, the incense would be more prosperous, so this dog-rich ancient temple should also invest some money and effort to show its meaning, joining in, official-monk joint construction.

So today was a second visit to beg for autumn wind, no, it was a parent official coming to the grassroots to show concern again, and experience the food in the temple.

Thinking of the generous and open-minded Abbot Venerable Shan Dao and his holy face that would not give way, the young Magistrate hurrying on the mountain road couldn't help but show a somewhat embarrassed smile.

However, it was no wonder he was thinking about it, because at the moment, the Wei clan Empress was openly supporting Buddhism and suppressing the Northern and Southern Daoist sects that had close ties with the Li clan royal family, which led to a very prosperous Buddhist style in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and temples everywhere were indeed very rich.

After hurrying for most of the way, before reaching the ancient temple, light rain fell again.

Fortunately, although Liu Ashan was quiet, he was experienced and brought three oil-paper umbrellas when he went out. Ouyang Rong took a red umbrella and opened it.

The three walked forward with umbrellas, wanting to find a pavilion to rest again.

Perhaps it was the illusion of a sunny morning, or perhaps today was some special day, the three saw many wealthy incense pilgrims from Longcheng County traveling to climb the mountain along the way.

Especially the young ladies and wives of wealthy families, many of whom were wearing veiled hats and taking maids to climb the mountain to burn incense at Donglin Temple.

However, this sun rain in the middle of the journey obviously disrupted the hands and feet of most of them.

The three walked for a while and finally met a small empty pavilion beside a bamboo forest. They were about to go over to rest, but Ouyang Rong saw many incense pilgrim ladies who didn't carry umbrellas running to the small pavilion.

He exchanged a look with Liulang and Ashan, and didn't go over to occupy the space.

Ouyang Rong took them and stood under a cluster of dense bamboo leaves a little further away, resting while holding an oil-paper umbrella.

During this period, many passing female incense pilgrims discovered the small pavilion one after another and ran into it in a hurry.

Watching this small pavilion gradually being occupied by other young ladies and wives of wealthy families, and being idle, Ouyang Rong cast his gaze over.

Looking and looking, Ouyang Rong was attracted by a rather conspicuous graceful figure among them.

This was a young lady wearing a peach-colored chest-high dress, wearing a white veiled hat, unable to see her appearance, but her posture was graceful, standing quietly in the rain.

Beside her was a bun-faced little maid with an anxious face, trying to squeeze into the crowded pavilion, but like other ladies on the edge, of course, she couldn't squeeze in.

And if it were just this, Ouyang Rong, whose gaze was picky, wouldn't pay too much attention.

But he, who was bored while resting, discovered some differences.

For example, at the moment, the small pavilion had been occupied by other young ladies and wives of wealthy families with their maids.

The peach-skirt young lady and the bun-faced little maid could only stand on the last step outside the pavilion, which was a place where the eaves couldn't block the rain, and most of their bodies were gradually getting wet.

But compared to other anxious ladies who were also squeezed out of the pavilion, the peach-skirt young lady's posture was very quiet. Wearing a veiled hat that couldn't block much rain, her expression couldn't be seen, and she stood still in the light rain.

Before long, this sun rain outside the pavilion slowly stopped. The young ladies and wives who were hiding from the rain reached out to probe, and after discovering it, they hurriedly took their maids and ran out of the pavilion, running towards the ancient temple.

That peach-skirt young lady still didn't move. Instead, she took the bun-faced little maid, who had a puzzled face, turned around calmly, walked into the small pavilion that was crowded just now and empty at the moment, and lowered her head to gently pat her sleeves.

And at this time, the sun rain fell again, coming as soon as it said it would. The young ladies and wives who had just run a little bit saw that the ancient temple was still far away, so they hurriedly ran back. By the time they returned to the small pavilion along the original road, their bodies were already completely soaked.

The peach-skirt young lady standing in the center of the small pavilion didn't gloat, but turned around silently, took out a handkerchief, and lowered her head to help several ladies who seemed to be acquaintances wipe the rain off their dresses.

All of this fell into the eyes of someone who was resting not far away.

The performance was different from beginning to end, and when placed together with other ladies who were following the crowd in a panic, it was hard not to be conspicuous.

For some women, even if you can't see their faces, their temperament is enough to make people look sideways.

Under the misty rain curtain, a certain young Magistrate thought for a while, calmly put away the red umbrella, and handed it to Liu Ashan.

"Send it to the pavilion."

"Master, how can one umbrella be divided? Forget it, forget it, you are busy."

"No need to divide, just find a maid to go to the temple and borrow an umbrella from the monks."

Ouyang Rong shook his head gently and turned to share an umbrella with Yan Liulang.

Liu Ashan was stunned, nodded, took the vermilion oil-paper umbrella, and hurried to the small pavilion.

He stuffed the umbrella to a little maid with a slightly stunned face in the rain in the pavilion without saying a word, then left immediately, turning back to chase Ouyang Rong and the other two who had already turned and left.

Just taking it as a small interlude, the three didn't turn their heads and continued to hurry, heading to Donglin Temple.

In the small pavilion behind, other ladies looked at the back of the handsome young man who sent the umbrella without leaving his name with shyness or curiosity. Su Guoer slightly lifted the white veil under her hat with two fingers and glanced at the red umbrella. ===== CHAPTER 70 =====