Li Zhi, don't be a coward

Chapter 304
Using the army to dig canals and divert water for the people is an experience Li Qinzai learned from his previous life.

Although the army of the Tang Dynasty did not have the concept of serving the people at all, they belonged to the army of the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and would not admit that they were soldiers of the people, but Li Qinzai still ordered in the form of military orders to turn an army into a labor force and put it in the folk.

During disaster relief, every labor force is precious.

The farmers saw this wolf-like army without armor, copied all kinds of tools and started digging ditches without saying a word. After being stunned, they immediately felt grateful to Li Qinzai.

The old man held his hand, weeping and babbling about his gratitude, and the young people in the village quickly joined the team of digging the canal.

The women and children were not idle either, and they went up the mountain to collect wild vegetables one after another. Every household offered the little game they had left, and boiled it together with the wild vegetables to make a thick broth.

The simple and honest farmers were grateful and took the trouble to salute and thank every soldier who participated in the canal digging. The soldiers went from being lazy at the beginning to gradually being shocked.

Seeing those young children clumsily holding water and handing it to the soldiers, the cold hearts of everyone seemed to soften.

The soldiers were originally the frontier troops under the Ningshuo Governor's Mansion, but because they were not far from Bingzhou, they were urgently dispatched by the imperial military department to dig ditches here.

Originally, the soldiers didn't understand. They were just men in the army who went to battle to kill the enemy. The duty of the army was not to help the people dig canals for disaster relief. They were somehow transferred by the Ministry of War, and they were not allowed to wear armor. No benefit, who can be happy?
However, seeing the grateful expressions of the people, the women and children kept bowing and saluting, wiping away their tears, as if this was the only way to repay the kindness of the soldiers.

The atmosphere in the army has changed unknowingly.

The soldiers suddenly realized that it is not so unacceptable to do something for the common people.

All of them are government soldiers, they all come from various villages, and their roots are actually ordinary farmers. Although they eat military rations, they feel the same in the eyes of the disaster.

Li Qinzai watched with a smile as the soldiers were busy, and smoke and dust rose from the construction site. In just half an hour, the ditches in the village extended in all directions, gradually extending towards the Fen River.

As expected of the army, a home of 1 people working together, the progress is indeed fast.

The old man in the village knelt down and saluted him tremblingly, but Li Qinzai quickly supported his body with sharp eyesight and hands.

"Great benefactor! You saved the people in these ten miles and eight villages. I really don't know how to repay you..." The old man choked with tears.

Li Qinzai said with a smile: "Don't be polite, old man, this is my job."

The old man Qiqi Ai said: "Last time I heard from my benefactor that you are an official in Bingzhou City. I wonder if you can reveal your name. We will set up a longevity tablet for you in the ancestral hall and offer incense every day to pray for God to bless you. Longevity, long life."

Li Qinzai shook his head: "My name is Li Qinzai. I am the governor of Bingzhou who just took office. I was ordered by the emperor to come to Bingzhou to deal with the drought. Don't worry about me, the old man. Don't mention the memorial tablet. I'm panicking."

The old man and the people around him knelt down again: "It turned out to be Inspector Li. Bingzhou is lucky, Li people are lucky, and they have to meet the blue sky."

He helped up the old man, but couldn't stop the other people. Li Qinzai had no choice but to pay homage, and said with a wry smile: "The ditch will be dug before the autumn harvest. This year's harvest is not good. The emperor has decreed that all farmers in the state will be exempted from taxes. After the autumn harvest, I will also raise food to help everyone tide over the difficulties."

All the peasants were overjoyed and knelt and bowed three times in the direction of Chang'an, praising the benevolence, righteousness and kindness of the emperor.

Li Qinzai supported the old man, his voice was low but firm: "don't worry, old man, this year is really not easy, but I will try my best to help you get through it. I just hope that no matter how difficult it is, you will not leave your hometown. Homeland is not as good as homeland after all. Trust the government. Will properly help the people."

Looking at the construction site in full swing, Li Qinzai called the captain who led the army and handed him the drawings he had drawn, ordering him to dig ditches according to the drawings, all the way to the Fen River, and divert the river water into various villages.

After the instructions, Li Qinzai returned to Bingzhou City with his followers.

On the way back, Liu Asi couldn't help clasping his fists at Li Qinzai, saying, "Wu Shaolang's actions have indeed created immeasurable merit and accumulated great virtue. From now on, the 1.1 meters of millet eaten by the people in Bingzhou will be given by Wu Shaolang." .”

Liu Ah Si had a look of reverence on his face. He really admired Li Qinzai very much. He had followed Li Qinzai before, and Liu Ah Si had done a lot of things, be it beating people or setting fire to them.

But this time, Liu Ahsi really admired him.

Digging canals to divert water, repairing reservoirs and embankments are great merits from ancient times to the present. It is not too much for the local people to set up ancestral halls and memorial tablets for longevity.

"Take it easy, don't praise me, once you praise me, I'll drift off, and once drifting off, I can't help but want to do something stupid to make it up, or I'll always feel weird in my heart." Li Qinzai was riding on the horse, squinting his eyes and sighing road.

Liu Asi grinned: "Fifth Young Master wants to do something stupid, the villain will definitely help you do it properly, and I am willing to accompany you to do something stupid."

Li Qinzai blinked, and said: "How about...you gather all the grain merchants in Bingzhou City, let them line up, stick out their faces, and I will use the soles of my shoes to go down the line and enjoy the silky smoothness." , what a pleasure."

Liu Ahsi actually took it seriously, and immediately cupped his fists, saying: "Wu Shaolang wait a moment, the villain will do it right away, and I will let Wu Shaolang enjoy the smoothness in two hours."

Just as he was about to ride his horse forward, Li Qinzai grabbed the reins and sighed: "You people live too rigidly, you can't even tell the truth..."

"If I'm really interested in this, wouldn't it be more pleasant to draw some grain merchants and let all the brothel girls in the city stand in a row in front of me, and I'll go all the way down?"

Liu Ah Si wondered: "This... I'm afraid it will hurt your body a bit, Wu Shaolang, please think twice."

"You are in better health than me, so let the grain merchants strip naked and stand in a row, and help me get down all the way?"

Old Liu Ahsi's face darkened: "Wothhouse women, yes. Grain merchants stand in a row, no! Scholars can be killed but not humiliated."

…………

It was evening when we returned to Bingzhou City, and before we even reached the Governor's Mansion, we saw countless people blocking the gate of the city.

It was the first time for Li Qinzai to see the crowds of people on Bingzhou Street since he took office as Governor of Bingzhou.

It's a pity that the people came for him, and it was obvious that the people who came were not good.

Hundreds of thousands of people knelt on both sides of the street. Seeing Li Qinzai and his followers entering the city, the people touched their heads to the ground one after another. Some old people, women and children even wept bitterly.

Li Qin got off the horse, and his face suddenly turned cold: "What's going on?"

Liu Asi and his followers became nervous, and immediately surrounded Li Qinzai in the center. Liu Asi held down the handle of the knife and shouted, "Don't you dare to stop the officer, are you not afraid of questioning?"

An old man kowtowed and cried bitterly: "The governor asked the grain merchant Zhang Cunjin yesterday, and today the price of grain in the city's grain shops has risen to fifty cents per liter of millet. , don’t embarrass the grain merchants, and leave us and our people a way out.”

Li Qinzai's face was instantly livid, and a surge of anger lingered in his chest.

(End of this chapter)