Chapter 188

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Although everything had already been arranged, Qian Zhongming remained extremely cautious.

He drank his tea, mentally reviewing every detail once more with great care, only then asking that Dutou Ding: "Who did you arrange to go to the river channel today? Are they clever enough?"

Dutou Ding said: "Sir Clerk, rest assured. I sent for Li Laizi from Chengdong. This man is used to hanging around the streets, slippery as a rat, with a sharp tongue and good eyes for reading situations. With him taking the lead, plus a few hangers-on he rounded up, a disturbance is sure to start — everyone on the river channel carries shovels and hoes; a single careless move, with someone fanning the flames, and it would be strange if a brawl didn't break out!"

"Once a group fight starts, even if the Jade Emperor himself came — even if Cen the Assistant Magistrate appeared in person, with people's tempers flared, he wouldn't be able to suppress it!"

Qian Zhongming nodded, saying: "The bigger the fight, the better. Even if it's not that big, as long as there are casualties, even if it's suppressed for a day or two, a light prod later will reignite the fire, letting that surnamed Han and his bunch of fools have a headache."

He thought for a moment, then asked again: "When you gave the instructions, the two sides didn't coordinate with each other, did they?"

Dutou Ding said: "Sir Clerk underestimates me! Though I'm somewhat rash, I know that at a time like this, utmost caution is needed. If word leaked, and someone let something slip, wouldn't all the arrangements be for nothing?"

He added: "Last night I already treated them to a good meal at Yu Xian Lou. A bunch of riffraff — where do they get off! If they're lucky today, they'll just have diarrhea for a few days; if not, that's just their own bad luck!"

Hearing that no wind had leaked from below, Qian Zhongming set his mind at ease, waved his hand, and said: "The hour is not early. You go back to the yamen. By now the river channel should have sent word back. Go watch and see what Cen Dezhang's reaction is."

Dutou Ding agreed loudly: "Sir Clerk just wait for my good news!"

Speaking, he hurried out, and indeed mounted his horse at the door, riding straight for the yamen.

It just so happened that today was this coincidental: halfway there, the road ahead was nothing but mule and horse trains, completely blocked.

Riding forward to ask, he learned that Weizhou had sent another grain shipment, being transported to Mingfu Temple. It had been delayed on the road, forced to stop overnight halfway, and only arrived early this morning.

Looking at the grain train stretching endlessly, with no end in sight for a long while, Dutou Ding's face gradually turned ugly.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he truly wouldn't have believed it.

Separated by a prefecture, in just two short days, who knows how that surnamed Han, newly arrived, managed to raise the grain. The price was said to be extremely low, leaving no room to pick faults.

Last time, Clerk Qian used a pretext to push the grain tallying and acceptance onto him, thinking it would be like the many times before — Cen the Assistant Magistrate couldn't command the yamen staff, would surely be thrown into chaos, and in the end would have to turn around and beg, inviting him out from home.

Who would have thought that Han Wen Ji would, together with a few Cen family retainers, arrange monks and students, and use the warehouse accounts to control the lowly clerks, not only accepting all the grain smoothly, but also seizing several clerks as scapegoats in one go, forcing everyone to obey orders.

It left Clerk Qian suspended in mid-air, unable to advance or retreat.

Many times before, this Clerk had confronted superiors — even the Prefect and Assistant Magistrate — with terrifying momentum, yet in the end always landed safely. When things went well, he turned the tables to control them; when they went badly, he still escaped unscathed, leaving the opponent unable to do a thing to him.

Dutou Ding had followed Qian Zhongming for many years. He knew this man's roots ran extremely deep — not only could he turn clouds and rain in Hua Prefecture, but he also had backers in the Capital. Moreover, Ding himself was on the same boat; his wealth and honor were staked on it. He couldn't jump ship, only hope the vessel stayed steady.

But thinking here, he couldn't help secretly shaking his head, feeling he really had nothing better to do after eating his fill, to keep thinking this and that.

Just now at the Qian mansion, he hadn't entirely been flattering. Even now, thinking again and again, he still felt the Clerk's two schemes were truly ingenious — starting from the kitchen and the conflict of interests between the commoners of two prefectures, like walking on two legs, they were bound to succeed!

He waited a good while. Seeing the road ahead still impassable, Dutou Ding truly grew impatient. He spurred his horse forward, face dark, and with a flick of his whip, was about to lash out at a carter ahead.

Just as his whip was about to fall, he turned his head and vaguely saw, not far off, a man standing directing everyone to quickly move things into the temple — besides a yamen official, there was also a man dressed as a student, looking very familiar, like someone from the Capital.

Dutou Ding hurriedly twisted his whip aside, cracking it into the air, afraid those people would spot his actions. He hastily turned his horse and took a different road, fleeing.

Delayed halfway for so long, his return to the yamen was naturally late.

Dutou Ding entered the room and first sent someone to find his trusted aide, but no one answered. He waited a moment more, still no news.

He found it strange, and secretly speculated. Calculating the time, the morning worksite mealtime should have long passed. By now they should have finished eating and worked for half a double-hour. Even if the outbreak was slow, there shouldn't be no news at all.

He immediately shouted for someone to go urge them on, and said: "Old Four left for the river channel before dawn. It's been nearly two double-hours. Send someone to see what's happening. Right now..."

The subordinate was about to answer when the sound of running footsteps came from outside the door.

Dutou Ding just looked up and saw his usually calm and collected aide, now with a somewhat pale face and an expression of utter alarm.

The man entered, saw someone inside, called the other's name, then said: "Find me a copy of the Wei Criminal Statutes, quick, be quick!"

How could Dutou Ding not see something had happened? He hurriedly assigned two tasks as well, sending the men out.

The moment they left, before he could speak, the aide said urgently: "Dutou, it's bad! The river channel side has seized Li Erjing! They're escorting him to the yamen now — he'll arrive in no time. What do we do?"

Dutou Ding's heart jumped, but he forced himself to appear unmoved, cursing: "What's so bad? Arrested is arrested. A riffraff — what does his arrest have to do with you or me?"

Hearing this, the aide finally calmed down somewhat.

Dutou Ding spoke lightly, but inside he was frantic and chaotic. He asked: "How did he get caught out of the blue?"

Hearing the aide recount how Li Erjing used a puddle of human excrement to incite unrest between the two prefectures' people, and how Han Li then used that puddle of evidence to discern who its true owner was, and how he appeased both sides' commoners — if Dutou Ding's own buttocks weren't planted in a different chair, he almost couldn't help but cheer aloud.

"Strange beyond belief. This chicken is truly plague-spreading enough!"

He couldn't help cursing, but didn't dare delay, nor dare call anyone else. Just as he was about to set out personally to find Qian Zhongming, another person hurriedly knocked and entered.

"Dutou! Dutou! That Fang Liu has been arrested!"

Dutou Ding's feet froze instantly. He cried out: "Who? Arrested by whom?"

"Fang Quan of the Fang Family Horse Stable. The Law Department sent Patrol Soldiers to arrest him. That old bearded man Tian from Cen the Assistant Magistrate's household went along. Just now they've already been pressed into the Hou Ya. I happened to run into it, so I learned of this!"

"Did you find out why they were arrested?"

"They say it's poisoning." The subordinate's voice grew even lower. "The poisoning failed, and instead the river channel kitchen people traced the vine and pulled it out..."

Dutou Ding only felt his scalp go numb, his heart pounding wildly. A thousand words, ten thousand phrases, all turned into a single sentence: "Fuck his ancestors!"

Leaving aside Dutou Ding busy cursing someone's ancestors here, at the river channel, after seizing Li Erjing and appeasing the laborers from two prefectures who nearly rioted that morning, Han Li did not rush to leave.

Although the matter was handled for the moment, it exposed another problem.

This time, although it was Li Erjing deliberately provoking relations between the two sides, the point he chose was truly ingenious — from the mutual cursing just now, it was clear that random urination and defecation on the ground was not rare.

It was precisely mealtime. Everyone went to get their own food. After everyone had gotten theirs, Han Li also stepped forward to ask for a portion.

He didn't care that the ground was dirty, didn't even use a mat, just sat on the ground, chatting idly with the people while eating the mixed bean cakes with scorched rice soup. After washing his bowl, as he walked into the river channel, he slowly began asking questions.

"These past days, do you often see people running into the river channel to relieve themselves?"

These many days he had come and gone with the crowd, eaten together, even slept in the shed together for several days. Just now he had judged so fairly that everyone present was quite convinced. At this question, everyone was willing to answer.

"It's like this. Every day there are people relieving themselves everywhere, but they can't be caught. I can only curse a few times about people born without parents to raise them."

"It's a pain. Nowadays I don't even dare walk inside the river channel anymore, I only dare walk outside. Inside, every so often there's a stench of urine!"

"Forget the stench of urine. Last time I stepped... sigh, never mind! What a pity, those straw sandals of mine had only been worn for a month!"

Hearing everyone complaining, Han Li asked again: "Aren't there toilets set up every so often along the road? Are those toilets not enough, or are they not usable?"

"Not enough, and too far away!"

"Everyone eats at the same time, so when the time comes there aren't enough toilets, and you have to keep waiting. Wait half a day and still can't get one, and you'll end up crapping and pissing in your own pants!"

"Exactly. Even if there aren't enough, it's still two or three hundred zhang to walk over. Sometimes you really don't feel like moving, so you might as well just turn around!"

This was a case of letting the cat out of the bag. Just now he was scolding others for having no one to raise them, but it turned out he himself wasn't any better off.

Han Li then asked everyone how close the toilets should be to be most suitable, and how far apart to set one up. After understanding the details in full, he then sought out another group of people and questioned them again.

When he asked, he brought Lu Wenming along to one side. Finally, after several waves of people had been questioned together, he said to the latter: "Brother Lu, do you have any thoughts?"

Lu Wenming had been thinking along the way. Hearing Han Li ask, he said: "The leader entrusted this matter to me, but I haven't handled it well. When building the toilets before, I thought too simply. I only considered keeping them not too close to the river channel, otherwise the stench would fill the sky. But I didn't expect that, to save walking those few steps, they would rather just go inside the river channel..."

"Furthermore, when preparing beforehand, there were only about a thousand people. Now there are already three thousand, but no more toilets have been built in time. No wonder there aren't enough!"

"So how do you plan to remedy it?"

"I'll first arrange for someone to count the people outside the toilet for a day, to see how many are lined up at the busiest time. Then I'll combine that with what they just said, plan it out, and see how far apart a toilet should be built to be more suitable. I estimate we'll need to build quite a few more."

Saying this, he also felt some difficulty, and said: "As for the rest, I'm not afraid. But now bricks, timber, and all kinds of materials are in severe shortage, needed everywhere. I don't know when there will be more, or how much will be allocated. Other things can wait, but urine and feces cannot!"

Han Li then asked him if there were any other difficulties.

Lu Wenming thought carefully and said: "Apart from materials, we also lack manpower. Could we let them build that toilet themselves?"

Han Li said: "Brother Lu comes from the orthodox yamen. In your conduct, you value stability and correctness, but sometimes you're bound by these two words. Why must you build this toilet yourself? Can't you borrow strength?"

Lu Wenming had not yet reacted at this time, and was still somewhat bewildered.

Han Li continued: "How big is the business of the Tingjiao Hang in the Capital? To fight over that bit of territory, every time they brawl until they're almost fighting with weapons. Is manure only valuable in Jingcheng?"

"There are over three thousand people here, and there may be even more in the future. How much Cultivation will be produced in a day? Even if the Tingjiao Hang in the city dare not accept because of Kong Mumu, isn't there a single merchant in Weizhou who would be tempted?"

"As long as you find a suitable place nearby to make compost, once it's ready, Huazhou will already be connected in all directions. Where can't it be sold? Even if it's just sent to the counties and towns below, there will be plenty of people fighting to take it."

"Find someone to talk to. They help build the toilet, and it's not too much trouble. Two boards, or two pieces of cloth to cover it, and it'll do. We can't charge money for the manure, but we can get some benefits in return. Ask for some meat, or anything else useful."

Hearing the first sentence, Lu Wenming felt as if he had been enlightened. Listening further, he drew inferences from one case to many more, and said excitedly: "I think there's also a lack of a daily sundries shop by the river channel. These past two days, peddlers have been carrying loads over from the city to do business, and the prices are quite high. We might as well discuss this with the Zhang family too, and see if they want to open a shop here."

"A proper shop. Although the price can't be set too high, with thin profits and high sales, there might still be money to be made!"

Hearing this, Han Li nodded and said: "Quite right. You draft something up. Let me take a look, then I'll take it to Cen Tongpan for review. If it's approved, you'll take the lead on this matter."

Lu Wenming had been drifting about under officials for many years, and naturally saw this was an opportunity to speak up for himself. Although he didn't know if it would actually work, he really couldn't help being happy in his heart. He immediately nodded, and was about to speak, when he heard someone outside the river channel shout loudly: "Han Lingtou!"

The man shouted while walking toward Han Li's direction. His expression and bearing were both extremely anxious.

Han Li looked up and saw it was actually a student who had come from Jingcheng.

He walked over a few steps. The student had already couldn't help but dismount into the river channel. He came close and said: "Lingtou, something happened in the kitchen. They say someone poisoned the food. People have already been sent to catch them. Kong Zuzhang sent me to report to you!"

Hearing that something had happened in the kitchen, Han Li's expression changed slightly. He asked while walking, his feet not stopping for a moment, and headed straight for that small cun luo.

After breakfast was arranged properly, Song Miao led people to go through all the various things in the storeroom again, especially the strongly colored and strongly flavored ones.

Although no other problems were found, she didn't dare use them for the time being. She could only seal them up, waiting for the yamen to catch that Fang Quan, get a confession, and then see how to handle it.

Fortunately, there was still a portion of reserve grain in the cooking room, which came in handy just in time.

The others were busy with the arrangements for noon. Song Miao herself was not idle either.

Because it was said on the river channel that today they would make some meat as a reward for the group that did the best work on the project. She received this request and thought at the time that since it was a reward, it naturally had to look appealing to the workers' eyes.

So yesterday she had already given instructions for purchasing, asking them to buy some pork spine bones back. She wanted to use them to make sauced bone racks.

Pork spine bones are large, naturally big chunks one by one. Easy to hold, easy to gnaw. The meat is the live meat from the spine, firm and tender. Especially between the bone holes of each large bone, there's a strand of white marrow. The taste is very rich and fatty. Most importantly, compared to pork neck bones and pork leg bones which are also suitable for making sauced bones, the bones of this part are the cheapest.

Now that the things had been delivered, while her subordinates were washing and soaking the bones, Song Miao herself was preparing the brine.

?? There are fewer reader titles this month, so everyone doesn't need to rush to crowd in. You can wait until next month to participate. Next month will be much easier~

? Especially welcome food friends (even if you already have fan titles) to share pictures of food in the same style as Xiao Miao, or share your own small dining table. I've always been curious what people from different IPs usually eat~