AD 1589, the seventeenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty.
This is the worst of times, and it is also the best of times.
Seven years ago, the reformer Zhang Juzheng died. Less than two years after his death, Emperor Wanli sent people to raid his home. Zhang Juzheng's eldest son hanged himself, and his family either starved to death or were exiled.
Two years ago, the famous minister Hai Rui died. Before his death, he was still thinking about the 5 coins he owed the Ministry of Household Affairs. After Hai Rui's death, the imperial court, which was belatedly aware of his death, posthumously awarded Hai Rui the title of Taibao, his posthumous title Zhongjie.
One year ago, the good general Qi Jiguang died. Qi Jiguang spent his whole life in the army, but in his later years, because he was burdened by the Zhang Juzheng case, he was dismissed from the post of commander-in-chief of Jizhen and transferred to the garrison of Guangdong. He ended up in a miserable state of poverty, and he died in depression.
As early as three years ago, Emperor Wanli, who was only in his 20s, temporarily stopped going to court on the grounds that he was "dizzied, light-headed, and weak." In the past few years, Wanli refused to go to court from time to time, citing the recurrence of old illnesses.
The courtiers had fewer and fewer opportunities to see Wanli, until a strange era was created in which "those who do not live in the countryside or go to court for 30 years" were created.
Famous ministers have died, good generals have died, and emperors are too lazy to go to court, but society is still developing, and has even become more prosperous than before.
According to historians' research, it was during this period that people's concept of life shifted from work to enjoyment. Therefore, Tang Bohu's paintings, Yongle's red paint, Xuande's copper stove, Shi Dabin, and Gong Chun's purple clay pots all became popular.
fashion.
In the Chinese tradition, there are "firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea" which are the seven things that open the door. By the Wanli period, they became the so-called "seven new things that open the door", such as talking about harmony, listening to music, traveling, gambling, hooking up with prostitutes, collecting flowers, insects, fish and birds.
thing".
In the hustle and bustle, no one knows that at the other end of the continent, Europeans are sailing out to explore the world; in the midst of the banquet, no one pays attention to the fact that in the far north, the Jurchen leader of Jianzhou, **Hachi, is building his army and coveting the thousands of miles of rivers and mountains of the Ming Dynasty.
.
Historians lamented that this was the turning point of the Ming Dynasty's decline from prosperity; writers praised that this was the most prosperous era of market literature; economists called this period the beginning of Chinese capitalism; later generations of grassroots angry youths
I sigh with regret and keep my words: If you give me a chance...
Amidst the turmoil of longing and resentment, a soul from the future fell into the mortal world.
…
Historical records: In April of the seventeenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, there was a drought in Nanji, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang...
The Chief Envoy of Jiangxi Province, Fengcheng County, Nanchang Prefecture, is located in Longkou Village, Zhegui Township, south of the city.
"Everyone is kneeling down. Listen to my orders and kowtow to the Jing Dragon King together. Don't laugh or make noise. If you offend the Jing Dragon King, you won't be able to dig a well. Everyone is going to eat Guanyin soil to celebrate the New Year this year!"
A man who looked like an official stood in front of a group of people prostrate on the ground, giving orders arrogantly. Perhaps because the weather was too hot, his forehead was covered with sweat, and his face looked unusually gloomy.
This official's name is Zheng Chun, and he is an ordinary official in the Fengcheng County government office. However, in front of the people, he is a great official. During the more than ten days since he came to the village, the villagers had to treat him well.
He was served well with food and drink, but if anything was not satisfactory, he would get angry and talk about the county magistrate and the female family members of the villagers from time to time.
Zheng Chun was sent by the county magistrate to Zhegui Township, not specifically to feed the people. He was charged with a very important task, which was to dig wells in the local area to fight drought.
Fengcheng is located in the lower reaches of the Gan River. It has a criss-crossed water network and numerous lakes and ponds. It should not be short of water. Who would have thought that this year's drought would be so severe that the small rivers in the county have completely dried up, and only one bottom is left in the lakes and ponds.
, As for the water wells in each village, the pitiful well water will be taken away by the impatient villagers before the bucket is full. The originally mighty Ganjiang River, due to the competition among prefectures and counties in the upper and middle reaches to lift water, the flow of water has been reduced.
By the time it reached Fengcheng, it was already on the verge of depletion and could no longer be used for irrigation.
Faced with such a severe situation, leaders at all levels from the Chief Secretary, Nanchang Prefecture, and Fengcheng County made important speeches, asking the villagers to unite to fight the drought. The Chief Envoy, the Prefect, the County Magistrate and others took the lead in donating several
With monthly salary, a batch of money and food were squeezed out from various places to support private well drilling. Zheng Chun was one of the leaders of the well drilling team sent by Fengcheng County Government.
Despite the severe drought, Fengcheng, located in the hinterland of the Ganfu Plain, is still very rich in groundwater resources. In the past ten days, good news about the drilling of high-yield water wells has been reported in various townships across the county. Although the water output of these wells is still
It can't be said that it can alleviate the drought in the county, but it has given Magistrate Han Wen some hope.
Of course, there is also pessimistic news. The efficiency of the well-drilling teams everywhere is really unbearable. Han Wen recruited all the wizards and wizards in the county and asked them to be responsible for surveying the well locations. However, it often took three or four useless wells to be drilled.
In order to build a well with enough water, a large amount of money was thrown into bottomless dry pits one after another.
The most tragic thing is Zheng Chun's team. I don't know what evil was committed. Every well dug by the team led by Zheng Chun is an abandoned well. Some of them are just dry wells, and some of them can be seen.
Water is produced, but only a few cubic meters can be produced in a day and night, so it is of no practical value.
Zheng Chun knew how much investment it took to dig a well. Although some earthworks were completed by the villagers on a voluntary basis, the craftsmen who hired the wells still had to be paid. In addition, there was also some material expenditure for digging the wells. In order to reduce the burden on the farmers, these
Everything is provided by the county government, and the cost is not small.
After spending so much money and not drilling a single well, Zheng Chun felt a lot of pressure. He called Chen Guanyu, the Feng Shui master who surveyed the well location, to scold him. Chen Guanyu said: Maybe the villagers in the village are disrespectful to ghosts and gods.
This move made the Well Dragon King angry, so he took the water away. In order to build a well, all the men in the village must come out to worship, so as to ensure that the well is built.
Zheng Chun was also doubtful about Chen Guanyu's words, but at this point, there was nothing else he could do. So, at noon that day, he asked the village chief to call out all the men in the village and kneel before the beating.
In front of the well, perform a ritual of worship.
April of the lunar calendar is equivalent to May of the Gregorian calendar, and it is early summer in the south. The sun at noon is extremely hot, making all the men in the village dizzy. But Chen Guanyu said that otherwise it is not enough to express the need for water.
Sincerity. This is why Chen Guanyu is relatively kind. It is said that in some places, in order to pray for water, there are things like hooking the statues to people's bodies with iron hooks, bloodying them in order to move God.
After all the people knelt down, Chen Guanyu, wearing a Taoist robe, came to a small slope in front of him and began to read a long sacrificial text. He read for half an hour, and then he began to instruct everyone to kowtow:
"Bow down! The Dragon God is merciful and gives me clean water to save all sentient beings..."
"Two obeisances..."
"..."
"The flash flood is coming, evacuate quickly!" A shout interrupted the man's chatter, causing everyone to turn around and take a look. In the corner of the crowd, a young man dressed as a health worker was struggling desperately with his eyes closed, his mouth
He was grunting and shouting something. Beside him, a farmer of similar age hugged him and covered his mouth with his hand to prevent him from shouting.
"Brother Hao, Brother Hao, wake up!" the young farmer whispered to the young student.
"Mountain flood..." The young man named Su Hao suddenly opened his eyes. In front of him was a dazzling sun, and hundreds of villagers and guards watching him. He closed his mouth subconsciously, his eyes flashing.
With a look of fear and surprise.
"Who is disrupting the worship?" Zheng Chun strode over with a dark face and shouted angrily at the two people.
The young farmer's name was Su Xiaohu, and he was a neighbor of Su Hao's family. Just now, he and Su Hao were kneeling together and praying devoutly when he suddenly heard Su Hao yelling manically. He was so frightened that he quickly covered Su Hao's mouth.
But it was already too late. Seeing the official coming to scold him, Su Xiaohu quickly knelt down and begged:
"Master Guan Cha, Brother Hao may have suffered from heat stroke, which is why he screamed and scared Master Guan Cha. Please forgive me."
When the villagers nearby saw that the person shouting was Su Hao, they all curled their lips, with some disdain on their faces, but also some expected meaning. Su Zhong, the village leader, came over, saluted Zheng Chun and explained: "Master Zheng.
, this Su Hao is a scholar and is weak. Being in the sun for so long may have caused hypochondriasis. Please forgive me."
"Oh, that's what happened." Zheng Chun saw Su Hao dressed as a scholar, and knew that there was nothing he could do to him. Scholars are also people with fame, and this is not something that he, a miscellaneous official, can punish. He was about to say a few words
During the scene, I suddenly saw a young girl running over from the side. The girl ran to Su Hao's side, touched his head and asked eagerly: "Brother Hao, what's wrong with you, is it okay?"
"Who are you?" Zheng Chun asked angrily.
Chen Guanyu had told him before that praying to God is a sacred thing and women must not participate. Because of this, all the men in the village worshiped here, while the women were driven a hundred steps away.
We can only watch from a distance. Now this girl actually ran over, isn't she about to collide with the Dragon God?
"She...she is Su Hao's sister, her name is Lu Xiu'er." Su Zhong explained. After explaining, he shouted to Lu Xiu'er: "Xiu'er, why don't you leave quickly? Is this a place where women can come?"
"Uncle Zhong, look, my brother has a heatstroke." Lu Xiuer turned back to Su Zhong and said, the village chief is also a cadre, and Su Hao's family is considered a disadvantaged family in the village, so Lu Xiuer is still quite afraid of the village chief.
, not to mention, there is an official sergeant beside him.
"It's over, all the previous efforts have been wasted." Chen Guanyu came over at some point. When he saw Lu Xiu'er, he had a look of gloating on his face. He cupped his hands and said to Zheng Chun, "Mr. Zheng, I just saw the Dragon King's manifestation.
As a result, when the woman collided with him, the Dragon King got angry and ran away. I think this well is in danger."
In Chen Guanyu's heart, he was extremely grateful to Lu Xiu'er. He actually had no idea that he was just faking it. He had dug so many dry wells, and he had no idea whether the next well would produce water.
After engaging in such a worship thing, if he doesn't get out of the way, he won't be able to survive anymore. Maybe the magistrate will get angry and it's hard to say what crime he will be convicted of.
Now it's good. With Lu Xiu'er breaking into the worship site, Chen Guanyu can put all the blame on Lu Xiu'er, and he can take it off himself.
"Sir, are you saying that this well is abandoned again?" Zheng Chun asked Chen Guanyu tremblingly.
Chen Guanyu pretended to pinch his fingers for a long time, and then sighed deeply: "Not only this well, but also the surrounding area of 10 miles, don't even think about getting water out. The Dragon King is the most popular with women among the people, and women are the most unclean.
things..."
"You bitch, you ruined my life!" Zheng Chun was so angry that he raised his right leg and kicked Lu Xiuer.
Lu Xiu'er was caring about her brother Su Hao at this time and did not notice Zheng Chun's actions. However, when Su Hao, who was confused, saw this situation, a flash of lightning flashed in his mind, and he followed up with a flying kick, hitting the target without thinking.
The ankle of the foot kicked out by Zheng Chun.
This is the so-called lifting a thousand pounds with four ounces. In terms of physique, Su Hao is just a weak scholar, and Zheng Chun's strength is more than twice as strong as him. However, Zheng Chun's feet are kicked forward, and Su Hao's
A force was given to him from the side, and Zheng Chun suddenly lost his ability to stand and flew to the side.