Chapter 74: Seventy-six, Openly Repair the Plank Road

Seventy-six, Openly Repair the Plank Road

"Magistrate, why have you come?"

"It's nothing. You all continue with your work; I'm just strolling around."

Longcheng County, outskirts, Shaojia Village, at a wharf.

Ouyang Rong had come early in the morning to supervise the construction, though he claimed he was just strolling around.

But when a leader says they are "just strolling around," is it really just a stroll?

At this moment, the small wharf and village, which had previously gone unnoticed, were gradually becoming lively due to the excavation of the Zhe Yiqu, a project utilizing the full strength of the county.

The wild ferry wharf at Shaojia Village had originally been unremarkable.

Although it was the junction where the straight upper reaches of the Butterfly Creek met the winding middle section, most southern ships coming from the upper reaches of Yunmeng Ze would sail straight past this point, entering the winding main river channel to head toward the Peng Lang Ferry near the city area to dock and rest.

But the Zhe Yiqu, which currently held the attention of the entire county, was like a work of divine craftsmanship—cutting off the bends to straighten the path, breaking the "wing" of Butterfly Creek to replace the main river channel.

It would proceed to excavate a relatively straight main river channel with a reasonable curvature.

The original old channel of Butterfly Creek would be ignored, with the latter receding to become a branch channel.

This would allow the river water to flow smoothly toward the main stream of the Yangtze River on the north side, increasing Butterfly Creek's flood discharge and peak-shaving capacity to withstand the high waters from the upper reaches.

Thus, this village by the water at the junction of the river's curves became the upper entrance of the newly opened river section and the starting point of the Zhe Yiqu.

The wild ferry wharf at Shaojia Village also became an important landing for unloading materials for the river excavation. All the resources prepared and mobilized by the Longcheng County government for the river diversion project were transported here by ship, which was also a convenience of Longcheng County's developed water transport.

"This scene of vigorous vitality, where all things are competing to flourish... It really changes every single day here."

Ouyang Rong stood with his hands on his hips on a mound used as a sentry post by the river, unable to help but sigh with emotion.

Behind him followed Yan Liulang, Liu Ashan, and the officials from the Works Department of the county government responsible for the river excavation.

"The Magistrate has invested so much manpower and material resources here; it would be difficult for it not to be lively."

It was Yan Liulang who replied.

This kid really wasn't learning anything good; his way of speaking was becoming more and more like Assistant Magistrate Diao.

Ouyang Rong smiled, turned his head, and gently instructed the officials from the Works Department to continue with their work and not to follow him.

After the people left, Ouyang Rong led Yan Liulang and Liu Sanbian toward the upper entrance of the new river channel currently under construction.

He tied the hem of his official robes into a knot and hitched them up to prevent them from getting dirty.

The three of them chatted as they walked.

Yan Liulang, holding his scabbard, suggested:

"Magistrate, you actually don't need to handle everything personally. You could appropriately rest a little, just grasp the general direction, and leave the tasks below to the people in the government office who are supposed to do them."

Looking at the young Magistrate's back, the blue-clad Constable couldn't help but smile bitterly. The Magistrate had run over early this morning, and he and the other officials were terrified that the Magistrate might have a disagreement and jump down to dig earth and carry loads himself.

Honestly, with this Magistrate who loved to stir things up, that really wasn't impossible.

"Moreover, the people below have been idle for too long; it's time for them to step up. The preparatory matters for the Zhe Yiqu were all handled by the Magistrate. Now that all the rules and frameworks are listed, and what needs to be done and when is clear, the Magistrate is practically teaching them hand-in-hand."

"Rest? If I don't come here, where would I go?"

"The Magistrate could go see Miss Xie more often," Yan Liulang suggested tactfully.

"I went to see her a few days ago. Little Xiao Shimei seems quite well, but it's a bit strange—why is she still lying in bed? Auntie still sends me to deliver food every day."

"She must be seriously injured. The Magistrate should go and fulfill his duties as a Senior Brother to take care of her."

"Go again? If I go again, I'll be so familiar with the eldest son of the Su family that we'll be swearing brotherhood. Wait, are you, kid, teaching me how to do things?" Ouyang Rong's mouth twitched.

"No, no. Then how about asking Miss Xie if she is willing to return to Meilu Yuan with the Magistrate to recuperate?"

"..."

Ouyang Rong ignored him, pointing his finger forward and nagging:

"At that upper entrance of the new river channel, remember to leave a thick wall to block the water. Wait until the river channel is completed before blowing it up to release the water into the new canal... By the way, do we have explosives?"

This time it was Yan Liulang's turn to be stunned. "What are explosives?"

Ouyang Rong paused, continued forward, and shook his head: "Never mind. If we can't blow it up, we'll just dig it by hand. Sigh, it's too slow."

He had heard Little Xiao Shimei mention before that on the night the East Warehouse was burned, that mysterious Immortal-Seeking Sorcerer threw something that exploded with flames. Later, the strange ingredients that burned Old Liu's head seemed to be part of that.

Ouyang Rong had thought at the time that the Great Zhou already had gunpowder applications, but after asking carefully, he discovered that this stuff was currently called the "Volatile Alum Method," created by Daoists and occultists practicing external alchemy, which belonged to heterodox paths.

It seemed only that group of superstitious occultists had some strange research into this path; it was what Little Xiao Shimei called sorcery.

Moreover, this world had the blessing of mythological Qi-refining arts that exceeded his cognitive range, and Ouyang Rong wasn't clear if it was the same as the knowledge he brought from his previous life.

In any case, they were all phenomena that seemed true yet false, with common sense in chaos. It was like a tangled mess of hemp; Ouyang Rong couldn't sort it out for the time being, and he didn't want to waste time sorting it out.

He was afraid that if he delved too deeply, he would get trapped in it, bound by people and things, and be reluctant to return.

Additionally, Ouyang Rong saw that water control was not far from success. He had suffered from insomnia last night and, unable to restrain his impatience, had secretly gone to the Merit Tower.

"If we have to dig by hand, we'll dig by hand."

On the country path, Ouyang Rong walked in front, muttering to himself.

Yan Liulang clicked his tongue upon hearing this:

"Magistrate, how is this slow? It's already god-like speed, okay...

"If it were any other county, just the preliminary planning would take half a year, and gathering manpower before implementation would take another half year. At the earliest, construction wouldn't start until next spring."

Seeing the young Magistrate in front shaking his head, Yan Liulang felt a mix of amusement and frustration:

"Magistrate, around the Dragon Boat Festival, you already took us to run through the upper and lower reaches, assessed the water conditions, measured the riverbed slope, made a high-precision simulated sand table, and even verified the feasibility of the new canal...

"Now, with Young Shopkeeper Wang, Shopkeeper Li, and Squire Cheng, who have invested in the new ferry, responsible for working hard to prepare and gather materials, the goods have arrived one after another these past few days. The county government and the brothers led by Brother Ashan just need to dig step by step according to your plan, Magistrate. It's estimated that it will be finished by the end of the year... It's really not slow."

To tell the truth, not only Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan at this moment, but the entire operating county government, including Assistant Magistrate Diao, were somewhat astonished that the speed could be so fast.

However, once they thought of a certain "micromanagement master" who even wanted to try to direct the digging position of a single shovel on the front line of the canal excavation, they felt relieved.

Ouyang Rong sighed: "But it's still too slow."

Yan Liulang and Liu Ashan exchanged glances.

Subsequently, Ouyang Rong made a round of the bustling canal excavation front line, then took them with him and returned, frowning.

Actually, he said it was slow because only he knew that in the last few months, there was a high possibility of another plum rain season flood in Yunmeng Ze.

The current Zhe Yiqu could indeed solve the subsequent Longcheng water disaster once and for all, but that was after it was dug through. Before that, if the water rose again, he would naturally be helpless, and it might even affect the construction of the Zhe Yiqu.

This was also an imminent matter.

When he first took office in Longcheng, he had already clearly realized this point, but everyone, including Assistant Magistrate Diao, was mostly skeptical.

Even when Ouyang Rong announced the new construction before, most of the Longcheng commoners subconsciously thought the next big flood mentioned in his speech would be in the next few years. After all, according to a certain rhyme, there's a big flood every four years...

But the construction of the Zhe Yiqu was also very important.

Besides boosting the morale of the people, gathering strength, uniting the majority, and isolating the Liu family, it could also serve to shift the balance of power.

Now, on the surface, everyone could see that it wasn't the Liu family using the Di Gong Sluice to wear him down, but him using the Zhe Yiqu to wear down the Liu family.

However, at the moment, the young Magistrate who had already gained the advantage of "human harmony" on the Longcheng County poker table had to reconsider a question.

Is water control more important, or is dealing with the Liu family more important? Or perhaps, in some cases, the two do not conflict?

But regarding the big flood that might come soon, he wasn't completely helpless...

After inspecting the area, Ouyang Rong and the others bid farewell to Shaojia Village, boarded a boat at the wild ferry, and returned to the Peng Lang Ferry in the county.

On the way, with river winds blowing from all sides, in a secluded spot at the bow of the boat, Ouyang Rong looked back and asked: "Liulang, regarding Wang Caozhi's side, how are the people they were asked to find?"

Yan Liulang looked left and right and whispered:

"They said that craftsmen with superb skills capable of building that kind of water conservancy sluice are relatively rare in Jiangzhou. They belong to a very delicate category. Even if there are any, they are the darlings of every county repairing water conservancy and won't be easily let go, just like the batch of craftsmen the Liu family keeps at the Gu Yue Sword Shop.

"So, for now, we can only go to more distant prefectures to find them and see if we can gather enough manpower. They said it will take some more time."

Ouyang Rong frowned slightly. The techniques used for the Zhe Yiqu weren't too many; as long as the general direction was determined, a large amount of manpower could be applied.

But the construction of things like the Di Gong Sluice was indeed a technical job in this era, even if the construction volume was small.

Although he had strong hands-on ability and loved to stir things up, he considered himself not yet heaven-defying enough to be able to hand-craft it.

Ouyang Rong had also gone to see the ruins of the Di Gong Sluice upstream several times before, so he had some bottom line in his heart regarding certain things.

As Ouyang Rong was silently calculating, Yan Liulang's lowered voice drifted from behind again:

"Magistrate... actually, this subordinate has one thing I don't understand. Since we have the Zhe Yiqu, why do we still need to worry about the Di Gong Sluice? Didn't you say before that it could only treat the symptoms, manage it for a while, but couldn't treat the root cause and manage it for a lifetime?"

Ouyang Rong pondered: "Liulang, sometimes, what's missing might just be this 'while'."

"Master, there have been some movements from the Liu family side recently."

"Oh?" Ouyang Rong looked back.

Liu Ashan, who had been in a transparent state behind him, suddenly said:

"I heard from an acquaintance at the Gu Yue Sword Shop that the Liu family has recently started to clear out an important sword furnace on the west bank, letting over a hundred craftsmen sit idle one after another. I don't know what they are doing."

He paused and continued:

"Recently, the Liu family has also frequently sent people to inquire about the situation of the Zhe Yiqu. It should be quite difficult for us to keep it confidential. The Liu family has deep roots, and there are too many acquaintances and eyes and ears."

"Understood. Thank you for your hard work, Ashan. Keep watching them."

Ouyang Rong nodded and fell into deep thought again:

"Is Liu Ziwen... anxious?"

Actually, regarding the latter piece of news, Ouyang Rong wasn't surprised. However, the former piece of news... was a bit intriguing.

Could it be that he had worn the Liu family down to the point of anxiety, and they were preparing to loosen their stance on the Di Gong Sluice matter, which had been deadlocked for a long time, and bow their heads to admit their mistake?

Otherwise, why would they clear out so many craftsmen for no reason?

Someone lacking effective information could only ponder in this direction.

A moment later, the young Magistrate still faced the river wind, let out a sigh of relief, and gained some confidence.

Regardless of whether the Liu family was preparing to admit defeat or preparing to stubbornly resist.

At least they, who had originally been like turtles and eggs, motionless, had started to become anxious. Being worn down by his slow fire, they had started to move, which could be considered a slightly better trend.

"I'm not afraid of you taking action; I'm only afraid of you not moving, not revealing the slightest flaw. As long as you start moving, even a ten-thousand-year-old turtle will have to reveal its head."

Ouyang Rong stood at the bow of the boat and murmured.

The clothes I bought are on the way... (There will be another update at twelve o'clock later) ===== CHAPTER 75 =====