No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 465: Lady Shi, please put in a good word for me?

Ouyang Rong was right, Rong Zhen was indeed not tall.

She has cultivated to the level of the sixth-grade jade girl of the Yin-Yang family early on. She has grown slowly and has almost stayed at the stage of a twenty-eight-year-old girl, turning into a large lolita.

She is almost the same as my own white-haired maid.

However, the aura of the empress' special female historian's identity made the officials in Xunyang, including Ouyang Rong, dare not underestimate her, and many people respected her and looked up to her.

Ouyang Rong cut down the bamboo of Yinbingzhai and made this special "jasper stick", which is just right in length and thickness.

He glanced at the back of the girl in palace clothes walking calmly at the front on the mountain road.

The Jasper Staff is quite easy to use.

"Ouyang Lianghan, when the imperial court announced the construction of Songde Tianshu and the debate among scholars was boiling, I heard about your deeds in Luoyang that you recited the original text of the Zhou Shui Debate in the Temple of the Holy Master."

Rong Zhen suddenly spoke up.

Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen left the city on their own on an impromptu basis today. They did not notify the Jiangzhou lobby officials stationed at the construction site, so they did not bring anyone with them.

"now."

Ouyang Rong asked: "What about now?"

"What are these people doing? Why do they throw the gravel they carried into the river at that fork?"

Ouyang Rong followed up, and the scenery in front of him also spread out before his eyes.

"Mr. Shi made me laugh." Ouyang Rong shook his head.

"After the tributary of Shuangfengjian was successfully excavated, the whirlpool became even worse this time, affecting the transportation of materials, so the official asked them to move the extra stones from carving the stone Buddha and fill it into the river, so as to minimize the whirlpool undercurrents. …”

"Why?"

Rong Zhen watched quietly for a while.

"I heard that after the construction of the twin peaks, this tributary was led out. Now the floods in the low-lying Xunyang City have been reduced a lot. In this year's Yangtze River flood season, the rising water did not even flood the lowest-lying Xingzifang. Get through it safely?”

"When I was in Luoyang, I received a lot of praise from the government and the public. Your Majesty also paid attention to it. I passed by Dragon City last time to see what was going on."

On the Xunyang River in the distance, there are faint fishermen returning to the ferry and fishermen singing late.

Ouyang Rong was stunned for a moment and nodded:
"Well, it's like this. The flooding seems to have been resolved, but it's just this year's wave. We have to observe and confirm next year. Don't be arbitrary. After all, human life is at stake, and flooding must be ignored."

After Rong Zhen listened carefully, he sighed softly:
"Similar to the Broken Wing Canal in Longcheng, it seems that when Ouyang Changshi served as an official, he really wanted to leave something to Xunyang that could be passed down for hundreds of thousands of years. Unlike other states, he just completed the tasks assigned by the court or won the prize. The jackpot is used to claim credit, and it is a transitional step to promotion.

During this period, from time to time, workers on the wall who were the size of rice grains accidentally escaped from the steep part of the cliff, causing a burst of exclamations. Fortunately, they were hung by emergency ropes tied to their bodies, and there was no danger...

The cold girl in palace clothes took a few steps forward leaning on a jasper staff and climbed onto a rock. Her vision suddenly became clearer.

"Exactly." Ouyang Rong nodded, and then asked curiously: "Ms. Shi, do you still remember the Broken Wing Canal in Longcheng?"

The Donglin Buddha is about 40 to 50 feet tall. The Buddha's head has not yet been carved. It looks like a faceless man with no expression of joy, sorrow or anger.

Rong Zhen murmured something in a low voice, then stopped talking and did not look at a certain "hypocrite" he once thought.

This scene fell into the eyes of Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen on the top of the South Bank, and it was spectacular.

"Well, it's nothing, I just didn't expect the female historian to be so careful." Ouyang Rong waved his hand.

"I did laugh at that time." She said with a straight face.

There are vaguely visible figures like black ants clinging to the hard and steep stone walls, hammering and carving around the stone carvings of the Buddha.

The girl in palace clothes leaning on the bamboo stick suddenly pointed to a dark flow of workers carrying stones in the southeast of the opposite bank and asked:

It was late afternoon, the sun had set early, and the afterglow, as red as the maple leaves, fell on the Buddha's head on the opposite stone wall.

"So, this can be regarded as a water conservancy project, just like... just like the Broken Wing Canal in Dragon City, right?"

The two of them stood on the top of the South Bank with the twin peaks. From a bird's eye view, they saw the prototype of the giant Buddha project on the cliff on the North Bank of Xunshui.

Rong Zhen returned to his calm tone, seemingly without any emotion:

The tributaries of the Xunyang River below, along the newly dug Shuangfengjian Canal, go all the way north, galloping endlessly, turning up turbulent water waves full of gold, and at the same time, they also ushered in supplies shipped from Xunyang Ferry. .

Rong Zhen stared at him for a while, then turned to stare at the slowly taking shape of the Donglin Giant Buddha below, as well as the workers who were working hard, and murmured to himself:

Ouyang Rong looked sideways and noticed that her eyes stayed on the rows of "ants" on the cliff for a long time.

“Long before the twin peaks were excavated, there were many undercurrents and whirlpools in the river next to it, which often caused shipwrecks, and passing ships had to take detours.

Ouyang Rong talked eloquently about the construction of this twin peak.

Rong Zhen said softly: "Ouyang Changshi is also very careful. I re-examined the plan drawings you sent me last night. Did you design a hidden drainage system for the Donglin Giant Buddha?"

Rong Zhen couldn't help but look back at him, and for a moment, he said thoughtfully:

"After all, the officials who come to inspect and accept the work will not pay attention to these details. It is difficult to count them as merits. In the eyes of many people, they are just useless efforts. Who do you want to show for working so hard, right?"

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips: "Xunyang has a lot of rain. In order to prevent the Buddha from being damaged, the accumulated water must be drained to prevent wear and tear."

There are about a thousand people on the entire statue construction site. Up and down the cliff, it is a dark place, and it is denser near the Buddha statue... They are like worker ants that never stop.

Ouyang Rong glanced at it and explained patiently:

"..."

Ouyang Rong raised his eyebrows slightly: "Yes. There is one."

Ouyang Rong shook his head calmly: "It was done easily, and it was also a matter of low-level official status. It is rare for a female historian to appreciate it. It is an excessive praise."

Rong Zhen reluctantly looked away from the spectacular scenery of the mountains and rivers below, and said softly:
"Is it these scattered and thoughtful small designs that increase the completion time of the Donglin Giant Buddha?"

"Ms. Shi, in fact, these cannot be regarded as useless efforts..."

Ouyang Rong insisted in his tone. Halfway through, he was interrupted by Rong Zhen:
"I know, you don't need to explain, but... you answer a question first." "Ms. Female History, please speak." Ouyang Rong said seriously.

"Currently, according to your calculations, how long will the delay be?"

Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, but still reported the number, which was also the number he had been keeping in mind recently: "It's later than scheduled...about four and a half months."

Rong Zhen frowned, looked at Ouyang Rong, and suddenly pointed at the faceless Buddha head prototype of the stone Buddha opposite and said:

"What if the Buddha's head is removed? Don't worry about the Buddha's head, just build the Buddha's body below."

Ouyang Rong couldn't help but frown: "Why is this?"

"I told you, don't ask questions yet, answer my questions first."

Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment and replied: "It can be one and a half months in advance and three months in advance. Wait, maybe it can be faster."

Rong Zhen pinched her fingers on her sleeve, as if she was settling some accounts. Her wrinkled eyebrows relaxed slightly and she said to herself:

"Will it be delayed for three months... It should be completed before the inner pillars of the Songde Center in Luoyang are completed..."

Ouyang Rong heard a few words and his eyes were curious, but before he could ask, Rong Zhen had already lowered his eyes and told:

"This is the latest news. The golden Buddha head of Donglin Buddha will be sent from Luoyang. You don't need to build it, which can save some time."

Ouyang Rong was startled for a moment, then asked calmly:
"Is this true only in Jiangzhou, or is it true in every state?"

Rong Zhen said coldly: "That's the case. Master Chang Shi just needs to cooperate. Don't ask any more questions."

Ouyang Rong nodded and said to himself:

"For the Buddha statues in the four directions, do you give a gold Buddha head to each big Buddha? Why not let the local cast it? The court is so considerate..."

Rong Zhen looked away and asked casually:

"I heard that Miss Qin, the granddaughter of Qin Jingqin, the general manager of Jiangnan Road's march, is also in Xunyang City."

"Well, Miss Qin is on good terms with the princesses of the Xunyang Palace and they are only temporarily staying in the city, and the lower officials have few opportunities to see her. I wonder what the female historian is asking about this?"

"How did I hear that the Qin family also participated in the construction of the Xunyang Grottoes organized by Lord Changshi?"

Ouyang Rong said without raising his eyes: "There is such a thing, but Mr. Qin still cares about the prince's face..."

"I heard about the Xie Qin family banquet last time."

Rong Zhen suddenly interrupted and said slowly:
"As for the postponement, if you can persuade Chief Qin to speak for you, the imperial court's reaction...maybe it will be smoother."

Ouyang Rong couldn't help but glance at Rong Zhen who made the suggestion seriously.

"What does Ms. Shi mean?"

"The matter has been postponed for three months. Changshi Ouyang is going to write a letter and go to the prince and the general manager of Qin. Don't delay this matter any longer."

Rong Zhen turned around and went down the mountain. When passing Ouyang Rong, he dropped a sentence:

"I...will also write to Her Majesty the Queen to tell the truth clearly and truthfully."

Ouyang Rong was stunned for a moment.

"Ah? What did the female historian say? What did you write?"

He suspected he heard wrongly.

Rong Zhen looked away and began to go down the mountain with his bamboo stick:
"Don't think too much, this is just... my job.

"We're already halfway through repairing it. What else can we do now? It's like we've boarded your gang's pirate ship, but this Xunyang Grottoes is really thoughtful... As for Luoyang, I can't say for sure how Her Majesty the Queen will respond. , Master Changshi, please be prepared."

Ouyang Rong turned around and looked at the back of the cold and cold girl in a trance.

Is this female historian going to... give him a nice word?

Three days later.

Ouyang Rong, as the governor of Jiangzhou, accompanied the superintendent and King of Xunyang Lixian, and jointly submitted a letter to Luoyang regarding the postponement of three months.

Among the people who signed the letter this time were the eminent monk Shandao Dahui, the nominal Jiangzhou Biejieli Fusu, and a group of Jiangzhou officials who participated in the statue creation and were close to the palace.

As for Rong Zhen's proposal, asking Qin Ying to pass on the word to persuade General Qin to help him speak, Ouyang Rong did not comply. He even didn't mention it in front of Qin Ying and stopped the younger junior sister who was about to ask.

There are two main reasons.

First, according to the interest-binding theory conjectured by Li Guo'er, the old Qin general did not simply favor him and let his granddaughter and the Qin family business participate in it. He just secretly made friends with Prince Xunyang's house and took the opportunity to make a fortune at the same time.

So it is unlikely that Qin Jingqin would participate in a joint report, which is easily labeled as an ally by the political opponents of the imperial court. After all, the relationship of interests means that if it is beneficial, there will be peace, and if it is not beneficial, there will be dispersion. There is no way to force it.

Second, the frontline battlefield was at a critical moment. Ouyang Rong did not want to trouble Qin Jingqin now and distract the general's attention. Doing so would break the rules no matter how he looked at it.

Although Qin Jingqin and the Qin family, the current general manager of Jiangnan Road Marching, are very important in the court, speaking for the postponement of Donglin Giant Buddha is still quite easy to arouse suspicion. I believe the wily Qin Jingqin will not think of this. .

Therefore, instead of placing hope on this not-so-deep friendship, it is better to save it for the critical moment in the future...

Soon, Xunyang Wang Lixian, Ouyang Changshi and others submitted the postponement of the memorial, which immediately caused a wave of heated discussion in the Jiangzhou lobby.

As the governor of Jiangzhou, Wang Lengran stood by and watched the whole process and had no intention of participating in the joint signing and presenting the memorial together.

This matter became more and more speculative, but in the evening of that day, a piece of news spread rapidly in Xunyang City:
It turned out that it was Rong Zhen, a female official in Cai Shang who was a celebrity around Her Majesty the Queen and was sent to monitor. Later in the afternoon, she also submitted a memorial, seemingly with everyone else.

This incident immediately caused an uproar within the official system of Xunyang City.

In the main hall, Ouyang Rong, who was packing his things to prepare for his shift, heard the faint discussion, calmly went out, boarded the carriage, and quietly looked inside, glancing at the string of green-gold fonts that were rising day by day in the merit tower.

He touched his chin.

It seems that this wave of merit and goodwill is not a loss, this wave is a bit profitable.

(End of this chapter)