Eat in Song Dynasty

Chapter 295
He asked Lu Xi and others to go to those counties to lobby for the first time, saying that Si Tianjian watched the stars at night and felt that there would be a catastrophe on Jiangnan Road in a month.

Of course, with just this sentence, it is difficult to shake anything.

But if those officials were dedicated to serving the people, even if they didn't fully believe what they said, they would definitely have doubts in their hearts, and they would definitely investigate if they had any doubts.

And before any catastrophe comes, there will be visions in heaven and earth, and some experienced farmers can even roughly deduce them.Therefore, as long as those officials do a little investigation, they can get a glimpse of it, and what Si Tianjian said, they must be extremely shaken and worried.

This kind of mood will evolve after two days of fermentation, it is better to believe it than to believe it.

After that comes action.

The routine operation of information and disaster prevention is to strengthen the embankment. This kind of ordinary maintenance and reinforcement is done every year in the prefectures and counties along the river, but the extent to which it can be done depends on whether the local officials pay attention to it.

Even if the routine is done seriously, it is far from enough for this year's rain.So he told Lu Xi and others to persuade the states and counties to raise the dam by at least six feet (2 meters).

This is a big project, which will consume a lot of manpower and financial resources, and it is impossible for the county magistrate to complete it as long as he hesitates.

At this time, it is the season of summer harvest, and most of the people are busy with the summer harvest in the farmland, and there is no manpower at all.The only way is to harvest crops during the day and build dams at night.

How could the common people easily agree to such a turn of events, which hurts the muscles and bones.

The prefectural and county government treasuries have limited funds, and they cannot spend extra money as labor costs for embankment repairs, so they will inevitably face the lack of cooperation of the people.

In order to strengthen the dam smoothly and prevent this appalling flood, Lu Yuancheng made a bold decision after receiving a message from Feige from Lu Xi.

He asked Lu Xi to tell the county government to tell the people that as long as the farmers who participated in the dam construction work, the land tax of two mu of land could be reduced or exempted for each person.

For families without land, three liters of rice (about five catties) per mouth per day is used as a supplement for work.And these money and food are ultimately borne by the Weiyuan Houfu.

With this promise, the county magistrates had no scruples and vigorously promoted the new policy of building dikes, and the common people were willing to endure fatigue and build dikes overnight because of "profitability".

After some hard work, all four counties completed the work within 20 days.As a result, the Marquis of Weiyuan paid thousands of grains of rice and [-] grains of taxes to be borne.

This almost emptied half of the Hou Mansion's property!And he, Lu Yuancheng, is not yet the head of the Marquis of Weiyuan.

Fortunately, other counties and counties saw that the construction of embankments in these four counties was in full swing, and they seemed to be doing something real.

Things can develop as expected, and Lu Yuancheng is also relieved.

"The matter is done, but in this way, the young master will have no money." Lu Xi said with a mournful face.

Not only did he have no money, but he was also in debt of thousands of pennies!The IOUs paid to the county government are all debts.

"If Master Hou finds out."

"Cough" Lu Yuancheng coughed unnaturally, and said, "No problem, Master Hou will understand."

No wonder, Lu Xi expressed his disbelief.

Fortunately, Lord Hou spends most of his time in the Taoist temple, and rarely returns home, so it can be delayed for a while. I just hope that the young master can make up for this hole before then.

Just sighing, I heard the young master say: "You guys did a good job on this trip, the journey is tiring, so you should have a good rest in the past two days. Go back to the accountant to pay [-] guan, and go to the teahouse with Lu Wu and the others to relax. "

There were five people who went to Jiangnan to lobby this time, fifty guan tea money, and one person could share ten guan. Normally, Lu Xi was overjoyed, so he walked away.

But now, facing the son who is heavily in debt, Lu Xi couldn't bear to accept it.

"My lord, let's forget about the tea money." He wanted to say, it would be a little bit less.

"Go as soon as I tell you to go." Lu Yuancheng waved his hand, "You will be rewarded for your achievements, and you will be punished for your mistakes. You deserve it."

Seeing his insistence, Lu Xi had no choice but to say yes, but when he turned around, he was still thinking: Why does the young master insist on doing this?Is it worth it?
How did he determine that there would be floods in the south of the Yangtze River that month?

However, these questions were asked long before departure, but the young master did not answer them.

As a loyal and competent subordinate, although he put away his curiosity at the time and acted according to orders, he still felt worthless for his son in his heart.

Do you want to ask Lu Yuancheng if his heart hurts?
Naturally, it is heartache, and it must be the property of most of the family.

However, as an official of the imperial court who is supported by the people, he cannot sit idly by and remain indifferent, even if he needs money very much now.

"Guard Lu." As soon as Lu Xi stepped out of the door, he saw a young servant coming in from the courtyard door, who was one of the kumquats sent to the elder girl earlier.

"Is it delivered?" he asked.

"Delivered."

"This is you?" Lu Xi glanced at the basket in his hand.

"Oh, it was the eldest girl who asked me to give it to the young master, and she said it was from Mrs. Wen." The young servant said truthfully.

Miss Wen?

Lu Xi paused as he was about to leave, and asked with surprise, "Miss Wen Xiao gave it to the young master?"

"Ah, yes, right." The boy scratched his head, recalled it carefully, and felt that he had understood correctly, so he nodded in affirmation.

Lu Xi didn't know what to think of, so he laughed immediately, turned his head and shouted into the room, "Master, Mrs. Wen has brought you something."

Lu Yuancheng, who was still immersed in joy, was taken aback when he heard the sound, then strode out and asked, "What is it?"

Lu Xi lifted the cloth on the basket excitedly, and said firmly: "It must be." Before he finished speaking, the smile froze on his face, and he said with a look of astonishment: "A few eggs."

What the hell, shouldn't it be a pastry?What about letters?What about Huajian?

"what are you doing?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Lu Xi withdrew his hands that were rummaging in the basket in embarrassment, and said angrily, "I'll help you see if there's anything broken."

Lu Yuancheng wouldn't believe his nonsense, but he didn't go into it. He looked at the eggs in the basket carefully for a while, and wondered in his heart why Miss Wen gave him eggs.

He really didn't think about the egg as a magic bird's egg, after all, it was really that thing, she couldn't have sent it so hastily, without even saying a word.

And according to his experience and observation, the fat-stealing one should be male.

After thinking for a while, Lu Yuancheng said to the boy, "Take it to the kitchen."

Although the Hou Mansion is not short of a few eggs, it is always a good intention.

"Didn't I ask you to bring some kumquats back from Jiangzhou, where are the things?" He turned his head and asked Lu Xi.

"I sent one basket to the eldest girl, and there are two more baskets in the concierge." Lu Xi replied.

Lu Yuancheng nodded, and ordered: "Send half a basket to Wen's house tomorrow morning, and send a message to Miss Wen by the way, asking her if the treat she said before counts. If it counts, I'll be free someday."

"Ah." Lu Xi opened his mouth wide in surprise.

Is there still something like this to beg for food?
Sure enough, people are poor and short-sighted. The former sons never did this.

"Not yet." Seeing him standing where he was, Lu Yuancheng frowned.

What kind of expression is this, as if he heard something from the Arabian Nights, Mrs. Wen took the initiative to invite guests, and he didn't take it to heart when he was not free in the past, but seeing her delivering eggs today, he must have failed to invite him. I feel ashamed, so I gave some other compensation.

Tomorrow is the summer solstice, and the imperial court will rest for three days, so why not just agree to the appointment, even if one of her worries is solved, he can relax himself.

"Oh, yes, yes, my little one will leave." Lu Xi walked out of the yard with heavy steps.

I was still thinking in my heart, why don't I give up the fifty guan.

He was hesitant and hesitant on this side, shocked by the idea of ​​his son begging from the girl. On the other side of Wenjingyuan, after tasting a few newly delivered kumquats, Lu Xingwan said to Luliu: "Pick one tomorrow morning. Basket, send it to Xiaocha Lane."

"Girl, these are kumquats from Jiangzhou. It will take another two or three months to go on the market this year. Just such a basket, you."

Yinhong wanted to say, why don't you keep it for yourself, how rare it is.

Kumquats are originally produced on Jiangnan West Road, which is thousands of miles away from Bianjing. In addition, these kumquats must have been preserved last year, which is even more rare.

Lu Xingwan smiled, "No matter how good things are, I can eat as much as I have. It's the so-called reciprocation. Mrs. Wen just sent us a basket of eggs, so what if we return a basket of kumquats?" .”

Yinhong blushed at what she said, and thought of Wen Shu's kindness to them in normal times, she couldn't help lowering her head in shame, "Young lady is right, I'm being mean."

Lu Xingwan shook his head, and asked again: "Did the girl who went to inquire about brother come back?"

"Not yet, it should be soon." She looked out, and after a while, she saw a girl in a crimson summer shirt push open the courtyard door and hurried in.

Luliu hurriedly went up to ask about the result, and returned to the room after a while to tell the result.

"What, leave it to the kitchen!"

Lu Xingwan: "."

　Thank you for winning the 100 starting point of the reward, and I can still receive the reward at this time, ashamed, ashamed!
　　For this reward, I coded a chapter overnight, and immediately felt comfortable.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)