Fenghou

Chen Qing urged his horse to come to the bank of the Cai River. Sure enough, the river was very narrow, at most five or six feet wide, and at least it had to be widened to about ten feet. Thousands of people began to dig, and the crowd was so busy that it was very lively.

The efficiency of Chenliu County's work is very high, which really satisfied Chen Qing. However, Chen Qing found that there were still many houses on the bank. He pointed at the houses in the distance with his horsewhip and asked, "Do all the houses on the bank need to be demolished?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, if it is extended to fifteen feet, it will involve the relocation of the houses near the front. If it is only extended to ten feet, then only more than one hundred houses will be relocated. At present, Zhang Anfu envoy has decided to expand to ten feet, which is basically the same. It is enough, and it will be expanded to fifteen feet in the future."

Chen Qing frowned slightly, originally it was agreed to expand to fifteen feet, why did it change?He didn't say much, he had to ask Zhang Xiao directly, it was useless to ask Lu Dai.

"Is it difficult to relocate?"

Lu Dai nodded, "Everyone wants to live by the river, which means a lot of benefits. It is impossible for them to move farther away. They must ensure that they are still by the river before they are willing to move. We in Chenliu County One section was fine, but I heard that the section in Bianliang County was asking for a lot of money, and the new magistrate of Fu County was beaten up by the local villagers and fled in embarrassment."

After a pause, Lu Dai said again: "If Jin Bing asked them to move, they wouldn't dare let a fart go. They moved away overnight. Xi Jun is still too kind. People are kind and they are bullied!"

Continue to go north along the Caihe River, and after walking for more than [-] miles, you enter Bianliang County. After escaping, a large group of farmers were chasing after him with hoes.

Chen Qing immediately sent a hundred cavalry to meet him. Perhaps because he saw an army on the official road, the peasants in the village returned to the village one after another.

Not long after, the cavalry brought the officials and government servants over. The official was Fu Hong, the new magistrate. There were five streaks of blood from scratching the fingernails, and the other servants were similar, and they all died.

Fu Hong saluted with a weeping face: "See Your Highness!"

"What's the matter, these farmers refuse to move?"

"No! Relocation is not a problem. Changing the width by ten feet will basically not involve relocation. The key is that these farmers have rushed to the river to repair their houses. If they want to widen the river, they have to dig their new houses. Everyone has to The sky-high price, demolition of a house is five hundred, one thousand."

"The land by the river has no owner?"

Fu Hong quickly shook his head, "No, the government used to stipulate that farming and building houses are not allowed within five feet along the river, and it stands to reason that it is all official land."

Chen Qing nodded, and asked again: "How many farmers want to build houses by the river?"

"There are many, very many. This is the first village. I want to persuade them to demolish the houses to set up a demonstration effect. The result is... hey! I am incompetent."

Chen Qing was furious immediately, and immediately ordered: "Wang Zhan, where are Li Que!"

The two guardsmen stepped forward and clasped their fists together and said, "Humble post is here!"

"Wang Zhan led a thousand people to the village to arrest people. I caught all the young and strong men and tied them up to meet me by the river!"

"Follow the order!"

Wang Zhan led [-] cavalrymen and [-] infantrymen to rush towards the village in a mighty manner. For a moment, the village was crying for father and mother.

Chen Qing said to Li Que, another soldier commander: "You also lead a thousand brothers to follow the yamen servants to the river, and when you see the house you built burnt down, if anyone in the house refuses to come out, no matter how old or young, just knock them out and drag them Come out and tie up."

"Follow the order!"

Commander Li Que also rushed to the river with [-] cavalry and [-] infantry. Fu Hong moved his lips and didn't dare to say anything. There were old people in those houses, and they were all looking for death and life. They were forced to come to the village to try to persuade the villagers , I didn't expect King Yong to use the simplest and most rude way to solve the problem, hey!
Hundreds of houses were built along the seven or eight mile-long river, all made of wood, mud, and straw mats. At this time, they were all engulfed by raging fire, and the old people living in the houses were dragged out by soldiers and tied up. He lost his feet, couldn't move, and watched the house burn down.

Not long after, hundreds of young and strong men were escorted over with their hands tied behind their backs. Many of them were beaten to the point of bleeding. This was caused by fighting with soldiers. It was also because they were civilians. If they were enemy soldiers, they would have been stabbed Cut off the head.

A large group of women and children followed behind the man, weeping and crying. The old man who was still yelling and crying was shocked when he saw his children and grandchildren being tied up and brought, and fell silent for a moment.

Chen Qing pointed at the horsewhip and shouted: "Knock them all down! Each person will be beaten with fifty sticks, and those who dare to resist will have their heads cut off!"

Hundreds of men were pinned to the ground. Soldiers used spears as sticks and beat them hard. The peasants were beaten so hard that they cried for their parents and cried for their mothers.

After the fifty sticks were beaten, everyone was beaten to a bloody mess, unable to move, and everyone was in great pain.

At this time, more than a dozen old men knelt down and begged for mercy, Chen Qing said coldly: "Why did you beat them, because they disrespected the magistrate, this is just a warning, if anyone dares to disrespect the magistrate, he will be exiled. "

Chen Qing pointed at the burning house and said: "Widening the river is a good thing for the country and the people, but you are trying to take advantage like flies. Today I am warning you. From now on, whoever dares to occupy the river in the states along the way will cancel the tax exemption." , and double taxation."

A group of old people were so frightened that they kowtowed that they didn't dare.

Chen Qing led the army away, and women, children, and old people went up to help their men one after another, complaining to each other. Several leading men were surrounded by a group of old people and yelled at them, begging for money for medical treatment,

The news about personal interests spread quickly along the banks of the Cai River as if it had grown wings. Farmers demolished the temporary houses one after another. Seeing that they could not take advantage of the benefits, they would lose ten years of tax-free benefits. This kind of chicken-and-egg fight No one wants to do it.

When Chen Qing returned to the camp, Zhang Xiao rushed over after hearing the news, and thanked him with a bow: "Our most troublesome problem was unexpectedly resolved by His Royal Highness, and I am really grateful. We can officially start work tomorrow."

Chen Qing waved his hand and said, "I would like to ask, how did it shrink to ten feet from the original plan to widen it by fifteen feet?"

Zhang Xiaowei smiled and said: "This is the suggestion made by Zhang Yuanlang, the former capital water envoy, and I think it makes sense."

"What's the point?"

"A ten-foot-wide river can accommodate five cargo ships of [-] shi in parallel. Inland river vessels are basically below [-] shi. Even if a fleet of a thousand shi occasionally travels, there is no problem. If it is a ship of two or three thousand shi You can go on the inland river, just add a guide official in front, he will direct everyone to pull over, and the fleet of two or three thousand shi can still go smoothly."

"What if it's a fleet of five thousand shi?" Chen Qing asked.

"Your Highness, it's rare for a five thousand stone fleet to appear a few times a year. Even if there is, then you can use the new Yellow River route! You don't need to squeeze the inland waterway, and it's still not safe."

Chen Qing was at a loss for words for a while, Zhang Xiao smiled and said: "Another consideration is the amount of work. If it is widened by [-] feet, it will not be completed this year, and it will be delayed until next year, which will affect the implementation of His Highness's market plan, and will also Affect the normal operation of Bianliang."

Chen Qing nodded, "This Zhang Yuen Long is not bad, how old is he?"

"Around fifty years old, he was a sixth-rank official in the previous dynasty."

"If I want to meet this person, let him serve as the supervisor of the water affairs of Henan Province, and as an official of the appeasement department, he will be responsible for dredging the waterway and transshipment of ships."