When Du Heng returned to the county, the first thing he did when he went to the Yatou was to call the workshop to discuss the construction of water conservancy.
In the past few years, the county government has no money in its account, so it has not done much construction, and the errands in the workshop are idle, and almost all of them are assigned to other jobs to do odd jobs.
Knowing that the county magistrate intends to build water conservancy projects, Dian Shi hurriedly found the water conservancy files that were piled up in the corner and were about to collect dust.
"If the county wants to store water in autumn and winter, it can only start with the Minyin River. It was also built in the past, but it has been eight years since now." After listening to the briefing
of Dian Shi, Du Heng took people to the city Min Yinhe from outside went to investigate.
This river is not a long river for water transportation, but rather looks like a large reservoir.
The previous county magistrate had also done construction of this river, and the plan was done, but this project was labor-intensive, and the number of people recruited was limited. According to the progress of the project, if it was not completed, they would have to be transferred. I don’t want to Let those who take over later take advantage of it, so the process was speeded up and ended hastily.
The previous county magistrate had done nothing while in office, and the public account was empty. Even if he wanted to, he could not spend money for construction. For this reason, the county river has not been maintained for many years.
During Du Heng's investigation, he found that the embankments built in a hurry had already been corroded by the summer rain, and many places were leaking.
The canals that went down were overgrown with weeds, and there were too many leaks, and the water could not be led to the village well.
After inspecting the county river and canals, Du Heng convened a six-room meeting in the county government.
"Almost everyone participated in this year's autumn harvest. Although the affairs of each house are different, the final accounts can be seen in our eyes. The county has a drought and the harvest is not high, and water conservancy will be done sooner or later."
" Since it needs to be done, it is better to do it as soon as possible. If the matter is dealt with as soon as possible, people's livelihood can also be improved as soon as possible."
Du Heng first mentioned that the matter of this village is imperative, and asked Liufang to talk about the difficulties of this move.
The history of the official house said: "The population of this county is small. If we want to build water conservancy, there are only about 60 county servants available at present.
" ", "Zhengzu", "Shouzu" three kinds.
Among them, "Gengzu" refers to the fact that adult men need to do voluntary labor for the local county government for one month in a year, and are arranged by the county government to do things for the county government, such as building water conservancy, serving as county soldiers in government offices, guarding city gates, and reclaiming wasteland. Wait... If you don't want to serve in the military, you need to pay a tax of about 100 yuan, and let the county government hire someone else to do the things you don't want to do.
"Soldier" means to go to Kyoto to do military service. This adult man only needs to serve once in his life, but he has to go for half a year at a time.
"Soldiers" are guarding the border, going to the border to guard, and only need to serve for three days.
The latter two services have almost nothing to do with the local county government. The main use of manpower depends on the "genius". If the population of the county is large enough, there will naturally be more people who come to serve, and the county government will have more free labor. To do things, there are few things that can be done with a small population. If there is a project that must be done, if the population is not enough, you have to spend your own money to hire people.
"I don't know how long ago my lord expects to complete this project."
Du Heng said: "Naturally, it is better as soon as possible. The most appropriate thing is that farmers can irrigate their crops during the summer drought this year."
According to the weather in Qiuyang County, at least four or five It has to be irrigated every month, so the usable time is only about six months.
The time is very tight. Now that the productivity and labor force are underdeveloped, it is really difficult to complete the water conservancy renovation in half a year.
The history of the official house said: "If county servants are used, a group of people will be replaced every month. It will take some time for the old and new county servants to handover and adapt. This will definitely delay the process. Someone needs to be hired to do something.”
When it comes to hiring people, you have to spend money, and the Household Code History simply calculated the accounts: "According to the daily wages of the county workers, hiring a strong adult can get forty cash a day, but if you hire it on a monthly basis, the minimum is 40 yuan." You get 800 cash per month. If you hire 100 people, you will spend 80 taels of silver a month." "
And the strong ones from October to February of the following year can be recruited, and the manpower will be less when the spring is plowing. A lot."
Standing beside Du Heng, Jiang Qi took down the questions and rough calculations raised by Liufang one by one.
Du Heng listened to everyone's opinions quietly, and said: "People must be invited. The official has already communicated with the village households in advance. In addition, each village has to build water trucks to operate irrigation." "The money for building water
trucks Is it the common people paying for it themselves or the county government?"
Du Heng said: "What's your opinion?"
Gongfang Dianshi said: "The construction of water conservancy is already busy. If the county government pays for the construction, even if you have money, you will not be able to do it.
" Fang Dianshi said dryly: "Although there is still some money in the public account this year, it is not at all rich."
Now there are about 8,000 taels of silver in the account, which is the most abundant county account in recent years. Yes, but Liufang can also see that their Xinzhi County is ambitious, and the money to do things is still very tight.
He kindly reminded: "After all, I still owe the court five thousand taels of silver."
Having said this, everyone sighed slightly.
Lifang Dianshi said: "But the farmers are short of money. The cost of this waterwheel must be more than ten taels of silver. How can anyone pay so much money. I'm afraid they will be asked to raise money when the time comes, and there will be complaints. Still can't get it out."
Du Heng looked at everyone expressing their opinions, although there was no result, he was still a little relieved, compared to the time when the county officials had their own ghosts and only thought about their own pockets, it was much stronger.
The leader set an example and cared about the people and construction of the county, but gradually brought up the atmosphere of the county government team.
"Everyone is right. The current situation is that the public account is not full and the common people have no money. If this is the case, then the county government will arrange for half of the investment to build the waterwheel, and the remaining half will be left to the farmers to figure out a way. How about that? "
Liufang Dianshi paused for a moment, then looked at each other and nodded.
After a morning meeting, the construction of water conservancy, the construction of canals and the construction of water trucks to irrigate crops were settled.
The ceremonial room issued notices, the official house was in charge of recruiting workers, the workshop was measuring water conservancy, and the household house was busy with settlements...while the punishment room was still dealing with bandits, the people in the military room complained even more, since they were disgusted by Feng Wanhe After the county soldiers failed, during this period of time, people in the military ward went to hoard land to report almost every day.
In short, none of the six offices of the county government was idle and busy again.
Du Heng also summoned Shierxiangli to come. The county government is busy, and the farmers in the township should also take care of things.
First of all, each village has to remove weeds from the river canals of its own village, measure and calculate which fields are close to the canal and can be irrigated with bobbin trucks, and which fields are high-lying and need to be irrigated with water trucks.
The range that can be irrigated by a waterwheel is limited, and the cost of the short distance is naturally less, while the long distance needs to build wooden canals for drainage, which costs more.
What the village needs to do is to plan which families share the same waterwheel and invest together.
Calculate the number of waterwheels to be built in a village, and collect all the money after clearing it, so that logging and construction can start earlier.
Lizheng in Twelve Townships also got some rumors that the county magistrate would build water conservancy to irrigate the crops, and the village was full of lively discussions like the New Year. They were a little worried about things, but they didn't expect that the county magistrate would summon Lizheng to gather in a few days. Discussion to cooperate in the construction of water conservancy.
But the villagers are all at ease.
The townships are recording in detail the official duties assigned by Du Heng. They heard that Shuiche Jianzi paid half of the capital to the county government, and all of them praised the decree.
"Also, now that the county has begun to survey the canals, the county officials are not manned enough, and Zhenghui Townships in all Lizhenghui Townships must mobilize the strength of the village to help with the construction." The county government issued a notice and waited for the call."
The positive ruddy in Taoshui village said excitedly: "The young and strong in this village are willing to fully cooperate with the county to build water conservancy projects without wages before the spring plowing in February, and more than ten people have signed up. Du Heng raised his eyebrows when he heard the words
: "Really?
"
A young man should sign up."
At first, the village lost the handed-in grain, and the county did not blame it, and the village was very grateful. Now, whenever Du Heng takes any action, Mangping Village is always the first to respond and support.
"Okay, okay, that's great! As long as the people in the county support it, the farmers are motivated, and the government and the people work together, the work will definitely be completed during the spring and summer irrigation."
Many farmers are willing to voluntarily assist the county in water conservancy projects, which is a pleasant surprise for Du Heng and the county government. This not only solves the problem of shortage of manpower in the county, but also saves financial expenses.
But Du Heng thought that he couldn't ask people to come here for nothing, and each person should be subsidized with 20 Wen per day, and they would eat at home in the morning and evening, and the lunch meal was always subsidized.
November was originally a desolate and lonely winter, but this year the county is very lively. Villagers cleaning canals can be seen everywhere in the countryside, and they can also be seen logging and building waterwheels in the village.
"Look at my roc spreading its wings! Heh! Haha!"
The pear tree's branches are bare in winter when the leaves are gone. The pear branches have some curves, so there is still something to watch in the wind.
The two young cubs under the tree trunk were dancing happily with a Guan Gong sword.
After using a move with a random name, there was a thin layer of sweat on Dong Rixia's forehead.
"I'm exhausted."
"The freshly made plum blossom pancake is ready, the two young masters, come over and have a rest."
Hearing the sound of water celery, Dan Ce hurried over with Guan Gong's sword in his arms, and grabbed a piece The warm pastry was stuffed into his mouth, he wolfed it down and did not forget to judge the taste of today's pastry: "Xiaohu, come and eat the fruit, it's very sweet." The little strong cub heard the words and ran over, and the cub and
Dan Ce was about the same height, but almost a year older than him. Although his strong face was still tender, he could vaguely see the shadow of Feng Wanhe.
Tan Ce casually took a piece to Feng Xiaohu, then carefully selected a piece of the most beautiful plum blossom cake from a plate of fruits, took out a small handkerchief from the collar and wrapped it up.
Feng Xiaohu, who likes Guan Gong's broadsword, couldn't bear to put down the broadsword even when he was eating, so he put it under his armpit, holding the plum cake with both hands and eating it deliciously.
The boy ate very rough, and after a while his clean mouth was covered with crumbs of biscuits.
He sniffed, stared at Tan Ce doing this delicate work with big cow-like eyes, and imitated his father's tone of voice: "Students are just fussy, what are you doing?
" My brother keeps a piece."
Feng Xiaohu opened his eyes a little more when he heard this, but before he could speak, he saw Qin Dance put the big knife on the table, and walked into the depths of the garden.
"Wait for me!"
Feng Xiaohu quickly swallowed the cake, and chased after Tan Ce with a big knife in his arms.
Tance ran so fast that he disappeared after a while. He chased all the way to the end of the garden, looked at Qin Dance standing outside the porch, and was about to say what are you doing here, but Qin Dance Cover your mouth.
"Shh, don't talk! If you quarrel with Madam Tang, you will be scolded!"
Feng Xiaohu looked at Qin Dance's serious look, and nodded his head quickly.
Dan Ce let go of him, and tiptoed to the window of the hall, poking out only half of his head to sneak a glance at the podium.
Tang Momo was drooping her eyes and didn't know what was written, her expression was serious and she didn't pay attention to the side. He stepped on the small stone pier and gently leaned to the window.
Several brothers and girls in the room were holding pens, but Tan Ce didn't care about what they were doing with pens, and only focused on Cheng Yi who was sitting by the window.
It's winter, although it's not very cold in the county, but sitting in the house all day long, she doesn't jump up and down like Tan Ce. Chengyi, who is already weaker, wears one more coat than Tan Ce, and even the coat is thicker a little.
Today, she is wearing a round-neck satin with silver and white base and decorated with gray rabbit fur. It is a bit fluffy, and it sets off the already white Chengyi even more white and lovely.
Tan Ce likes his brother's white clothes very much, because he looks like a soft and cute snow doll, but he himself doesn't like white clothes, because he can turn white satin into gray satin in less than a quarter of an hour, and only a small Sweet cake can write on such white clothes without getting dirty.
He watched as his elder brother was drawing orchids on the white paper with a small brush brush, and after a few strokes, a mochi orchid appeared vividly on the paper.
Tan Ce was more satisfied with the orchid than Chengyi, although he didn't want to interrupt his serious brother, but he was afraid that the plum blossom cake in his hand would be cold later.
So he pursed his lips and blew lightly.
Chengyi turned her head and saw that her hair was a little messy, and Dan Ce with a flushed face was lying on the edge of the window.
Looking at the appearance, he knew that Tan Ce must be playing big swords in the garden again, and he must have run over just now.
He folded his brows and wanted to wipe the sweat off Tan Ce's forehead, but he had just used his handkerchief to wipe ink, so he had no choice but to give up.
Tan Ce hurriedly handed the snack in his hand to Chengyi, hoping that he could eat it.
Chengyi looked at the pastry wrapped in a handkerchief, although he felt warm in his heart, but now that he has learned how to read and learn etiquette, how can he eat this in class.
So he shook his head lightly, motioning for Dan Ce to eat after class.
But Tan Ce was not happy, pouted and refused to leave.
After a pause, he lifted the handkerchief and gently handed the plum cake to Chengyi's mouth, raised a finger, pursed his mouth and frowned, asking Chengyi to take a bite.
Chengyi had nothing to do with him, so she had to lean slightly to the window.
Feng Xiaohu, who was squatting on one side, only looked at Qin Dance's expression of taking cakes and acting coquettishly, and was very puzzled what he was doing.
Curious about what the people inside looked like, although Tan Ce told him to squat down and keep quiet, he couldn't help standing up anymore.
As soon as he raised his head, he saw a white and pink face, with a cherry-colored mouth slightly open, taking a bite of the shortbread that Tan Ce was holding.
From the corner of Chengyi's vision, he saw another head popping up suddenly, his face was reddish, he subconsciously hid back, and accidentally touched the books on the table and made some noises.
Mother Tang looked over upon hearing the sound, her brows moved slightly: "Chengyi, what's wrong?"
Chengyi apologized: "If you go back to Mother, it's because Chengyi touched the book with too much drawing just now."
Mother Tang In response, he retracted the god again.
Dan Ce, who hid under the window and didn't dare to vent his breath, hurriedly dragged Feng Xiaohu back to the garden.
Feng Xiaohu still opened his mouth slightly with a dazed expression on his face, and he still hasn't recovered from the surprise of seeing such a cute and cute kid.
"Are you scared?"
"Is that your brother just now?"
Tan Ce nodded as he gnawed on the plum cake that Chengyi took a small bite of just now.
Feng Xiaohu watched Tan Ce gnaw the cake and wiped his mouth bewilderedly, then sadly found that his mouth was covered with cake crumbs, and immediately wailed out.
My mother said that a child must be clean, so that others will like it when they look at it. He looks like a big tabby cat, but if he is looked at like this by a pretty little brother, he will definitely not be liked! Tan Ce thought that he was envious of him, and he was mad again, so he
opened his round eyes and asked: "What's the matter, don't you have a brother?"
Okay, but brother, I won’t give you half of it!”
Feng Xiaohu was furious when he heard this, fearing that he would be the queen, and said anxiously: “I have a brother too! Hmph!” His
voice became quieter as he spoke. : "It's just that there is no such a small brother."
Tan Ce groaned, finished eating the cake in his hand, and drank a large bowl of water.
He picked up the Guan Gong sword: "Let's continue to be stubborn!"
Feng Xiaohu put the Guan Gong sword tightly in his arms on the stone table, and pushed it in the direction of Tan Ce.
"You don't want the big knife?"
"Let the big knife be with you." Feng Xiaohu said, "I often come to see you to play with the big knife."
Tan Ce pursed his lips: "Okay."
The two agreed, and it was very We're going to be stubborn again soon.
When Du Heng came back from the Yamen, he heard the voices of Huzi, Huzi, come and chase me all over the garden.
He raised his eyebrows, isn't the tiger cub raised in the village of Luoxia County?
It was inconvenient to bring a dog with me when I came here, so I put the tiger in the small courtyard of my hometown to watch the house.
Now hearing the familiar voice of teasing a dog, Du Heng suddenly felt like a dream.
Before Du Heng could ask, he first saw two young cubs running around in the garden wielding big knives.
And his son was affectionately calling Feng Ruohe's precious son, Huzi.
Du Heng almost choked on his own saliva.
"Daddy is back!"
Tan Ce happily ran to Du Heng with a big knife in his arms.
"Look at the sweat all over this body, it's not too hot."
Du Heng knelt down and wiped Tan Ce's face, then watched Feng Xiaohu who ran over and called him Uncle Du.
"Xiaohu is here too."
Feng Xiaohu nodded his head.
Earlier, Qin Xiaoman went to take care of Feng Wanhe's family members to live in the county. Feng's family members asked Qin Xiaoman to visit him as a thank you. , and the relationship between the next two is very good.
Du Heng said to Tan Ce: "Why do you call Xiaohu a tiger cub?"
Dan Ce was born in a mansion, and had never seen a tiger cub, and his memory was vague at that time, although he felt that he was shouting. Feng Xiaohu's nickname had an inexplicable sense of familiarity, but he didn't know why, and he thought it was the feeling of a good friend.
Just like Yunduo who was in the old mansion of Little Sweet Cake before, he can still be happy, shouting non-stop all over the garden.
Before Tan Ce could reply, Feng Xiaohu proudly said: "Hu Zi is my nickname, my father gave it to me! It's amazing!" "..." Du Heng
twitched
his lips, "As expected of your father "
Feng Xiaohu made me and Tan Ce the best in the world: "I asked Tan Ce to call me by my nickname."
Tan Ce nodded his head excitedly: "Yeah! Huzi!"
Du Heng looked at the two The happy little boy felt helpless and a little funny.
"Lord Du, are you in the office?"
Du Heng was about to laugh, when suddenly a strange voice fell into his ears, and when he turned around, he saw a young man dressed in brocade.
A little stunned, and then he said politely: "Mr. Feng."
The younger brother's face is softer for men, but because his father is a rough general, Mr. Feng's face is sharper than ordinary younger brothers. .
It's not a good complexion, but it's also pretty.
"Xiao Hu has been out for half a day, it's getting late, I should take him home."
Feng Xiaohu, who was making trouble with Tan Ce, saw the person who came, and called his brother.
Du Heng stayed a few words politely, and he made up his mind to leave, so he certainly wouldn't stay because of a few polite words.
Du Heng did know that Xiaoman and the Feng family often moved around recently.
Although Feng Wanhe and him were a bit at odds at first, the military officer's rudeness was really not easy to provoke at first, but after a long time, he got to know people's hearts, and they gradually got along with each other when they had more business contacts.
Both of them are busy with their business affairs, and they don't have much time at home, and they don't care much about family members.
Take Feng Ruojing, the eldest son of the Feng family, as an example, Du Heng has only met him three or two times, but Xiao Man has met him many times.
After saying goodbye to Du Heng, Qin Xiaoman sent Feng Ruojing outside, but Du Heng avoided suspicion and did not follow.
The two children were a little bit inseparable, and they parted ways after agreeing on a time to play together, Du Heng held on to his strategy, but felt that today was just an ordinary visit.
"Yi Yan, you escort Mr. Feng back, and make sure Mr. Feng is safe in the house."
Yi Yan, who was standing at the gate like a door god, answered Qin Xiaoman's order.
Feng Ruojing watched the expressionless man go down the stairs first, and pursed his lips indistinctly.
Du Heng was going to go inside with the cub in his arms, and was about to pick up the little sweet cake that was due to go to school, but when he heard Qin Xiaoman's order, he stopped again.
"Why did you ask Yi Yan to send you off?"
Qin Xiaoman turned back and heard this, and opened his eyes a little bit: "I can't order your Yi Yan?"
Du Heng asked his servants to take Dan Ce away first, he tsk With a sigh, he said to Qin Xiaoman: "Look at what you said, I mean how to send that Mr. Feng's family?"
Qin Xiaoman said: "Mr. Feng said that he just came to Qiuyang County not long ago. He should not be familiar with him. I was almost harassed by local ruffians a few days ago, and I was a little scared. He came to our house as a guest, and I was sincere to appease him and call for a personal escort. Besides, he is the son of General Feng. If there is something good or bad on the way home, our family will eat It's a crime."
"In our family, Yi Yan has the best hands and feet, so it's not wrong to call him an escort."
Du Heng nodded: "That's right."
"It's just that the Feng family is a family of generals, not to mention Mr. Feng, a young brother who inherited his father's footsteps and can punch two punches. It's common for your son not to learn these weak and weak, but the Feng family always has no shortage of capable guards. If the pampered young master is afraid of being harassed by hooligans when he goes out, the carriage that is not surrounded by guards is like an iron bucket? Do we need someone from our family to deliver it?" Qin Xiaoman raised his eyebrows, feeling that what Du Heng said made sense
.
"I saw that Feng Ruojing didn't bring two guards with him. Why did he tell me this?"
Du Heng asked, "Tell me carefully how he told you?"
Qin Xiaoman said, "He just said he was afraid. The ruffian, he also said that he just came to Qiuyang County not long ago, and those stupid servants at home guarding the county can't figure out the way, and I'm afraid it will take a while to go back." "Then I want to call
someone to clear the way for him to escort him That’s it, it’s not a big deal.”
After hearing this, Du Heng felt that it was outrageous: “I’m afraid that the local ruffians will naturally have to be good at their hands and feet, and those who are not familiar with the county roads will naturally have to spend a period of time in the county to get familiar with them. There are no two servants in total, who else can have both of these things besides Yi Yan? What is the difference between him and someone calling him to send him back?"
Qin Xiaoman was dumbfounded, and remained silent for a long time, as if he suddenly figured out something .
"It's said that soldiers never tire of cheating. General Feng is an old thief. If he values Yi Yan, he won't give him face and refuse him. He is still so wicked, and this time he asked his brother to seduce us, Yi Yan!"
"... ...."
Du Heng held his forehead and opened his mouth, but he still couldn't utter a single word.