"Once upon a time, there was an old man who raised monkeys in the Song Dynasty in the pre-Qin Dynasty. He liked monkeys and raised them in groups. The macaques could roughly understand the old man's words. The old man may be gifted, or he may be living with monkeys.
After being together for a long time, we also understand the monkeys' thoughts.
"In order to raise monkeys, this old man often saves the family's food rations to satisfy the monkeys' appetite. As time goes by, the family naturally lacks food rations.
"There was no choice but to reduce the food for the monkeys, but he was afraid that the monkeys would be angry and not obey him, so the old man first deceived the monkeys and said: 'I will give you three acorns in the morning and four more in the evening.
pellets, enough to eat?'
"The monkeys were furious when they heard this. The old man immediately changed his mind and said, 'I will give you four acorns in the morning and three more in the evening. Is that enough?' After hearing this, the monkeys were very happy.
He happily lay at the old man's feet and obeyed him...
"Your Majesty the County Magistrate, Miss Xie, you are from an academy and are well-read, so you must have heard this little story about wandering around. What do you two think of this story?
"Is this monkey breeder from the Song Dynasty both kind-hearted and wise? As for those monkeys, we can't completely laugh at their stupidity. Because humans and monkeys are inherently different, this is the nature of monkeys.
"The important thing is not to forcefully reason with them and explain that there is no difference between working around the clock and working around the clock. No monkey will listen. It is about complying with their nature and resolving these small conflicts when getting along. In this way, monkey keepers and macaques
Only then can we get along harmoniously... This is the most important thing, isn't it?"
In the private room on the second floor of Yuanming Building, Liu Ziwen looked across the table of delicacies, looked at the two people opposite him with a smile, and slowly finished telling a short story with some emotion in his mouth:
"Liu saw this story when he was studying. He sighed very much. It is really not easy for monkey farmers in the Song Dynasty. There is really nothing new under the sun. Our ancestors have taught us the truth."
"Oh? Really?" A handsome young man said with a smile: "Master Liu's ancestors believe in these things, why are they a little different from my ancestors?"
Xie Lingjiang said crisply: "Maybe senior brother and he are not from the same ancestor."
Liu Ziwen's smile did not change: "Really? What's the difference between the county magistrate's ancestors and Liu?"
Ouyang Rong rested his elbows on the table and rested his chin lightly on the back of his interlocked hands.
Under the gazes of Xie Lingjiang beside him and Liu Ziwen across from him, he leaned forward slightly, smiled and nodded:
"What a coincidence, I happened to have heard the story of a monkey farmer from my ancestors. But it seems to be slightly different from what Mr. Liu told me."
"Oh? What's the difference? Sir, tell me."
"The story I heard was not from the Song Dynasty in the pre-Qin period, but from the Wei Kingdom next door to it.
"There used to be an old man who raised monkeys in the Kingdom of Wei, but what was different from the monkey farmers in the Song Dynasty was that he made a living by raising monkeys. The same thing was that he could also understand the monkeys' thoughts, and the macaques under him also
Can roughly understand what he said.
"Early every morning, the old man would line up the monkeys in the open space in front of his house and start a meeting to assign tasks. He would let the old monkey be the leader and lead the macaques to the back mountain to pick acorns and return at nightfall.
Every time the old man who raises a monkey will take one-half of it as a tax to support himself.
“If any monkey is disobedient, refuses to give or hides acorns, or does not earn enough acorns every day, the old man will beat the monkeys with an iron whip.
"The monkeys are all afraid of him and dare not disobey him.
"However, one day, a group of monkeys who went up the mountain to pick fruits encountered a wild monkey. The wild monkey saw this and curiously asked: 'Are all the fruit trees on this mountain planted by the old man?' The monkey group said: 'No, they grow naturally.
of.'
"The wild monkey asked again: 'Then without the old man, we can't pick fruit?' The monkeys said: 'No, anyone can pick it!'
"The wild monkey asked again: 'Then why do you rely on him and pay tribute to him?' Before the words were finished, the monkeys immediately understood.
"That night, the monkeys waited quietly until the old monkey keeper fell asleep, then dug out the railings, took away the stored food, lit a fire in the yard, ran into the mountains happily, and never came back. In the end, the monkey keeper of Weiguo
Starved to death."
After Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and finished speaking, he raised his head and smiled and asked:
"Mr. Liu, you are familiar with the story of raising monkeys. Have you heard of this story? What do you think of the story I told you?
"It seems that the monkey is not that stupid and can understand the truth. After all, the more correct the truth, the simpler and even obvious it is.
"Also, this monkey's nature seems to prefer being in the mountains. Does Mr. Liu have any way to adapt to it? How does Mr. Liu think monkey farmers can resolve this 'little conflict' and get along harmoniously with the monkeys?"
The young magistrate paused, smiled and waited.
Xie Lingjiang saw Liu Ziwen across from him, his face darkening after listening to his senior brother's story. Now he looked at his senior brother expressionlessly and did not speak.
The atmosphere at the table became silent.
Ouyang Rong suddenly smiled and said:
"It seems that Mr. Liu's ancestors didn't teach this...
"It's okay. In this great Zhou Dynasty, there are many people who have never heard of the story of the monkey farmer of the Wei Kingdom. The most widely circulated story is the story of Mr. Liu, the monkey farmer of the Song Dynasty. There is no need for Mr. Liu to belittle himself. I also heard about it through hearsay.
.”
He also showed some sentimental expressions:
"It's also very surprising that the monkey farmer in Weiguo lives a very good life. He does nothing every day and can get half of the tax.
"But the ending is quite interesting. It seems that there is something new under the sun. Our ancestors raised a group of monkeys and they can tell so many stories. Monkeys are difficult to maintain. You have to be careful. Maybe there will be some new tricks in the future.
Come out, Mr. Liu, do you think so?"
The young county magistrate asked with a smile, raised his glass, offered a toast to Liu Ziwen, who was silent across from him, and raised his head to drink.
The noble lady Xie next to her smiled, raised the thin-mouthed wine jug, and filled him with another small glass.
"Okay, that's a good story. Thank you to the county magistrate for your generous advice. Liu has learned a lot more today."
Liu Ziwen suddenly nodded and clapped with both hands.
He reached out, grabbed the wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, and took a long breath and said:
"Okay, as a token of my gratitude, the porridge shed can be closed."
Xie Lingjiang nodded lightly: "It should have been like this."
Liu Ziwen did not look at her, but stared at Ouyang Rong, nodded and said: "Liu showed sincerity, I wonder if the clear path given by the county magistrate is broad enough."
"In fact, I can do both. It mainly depends on how big Mr. Liu's appetite is. You can give me some advice."
"Okay, let's not hide it anymore, Liu. We will build a Dickong Gate, plus close the porridge shed and the nursery, hoping to get admission tickets to Zheyi Canal. Our Liu family will vote for this number."
Liu Ziwen stretched out a finger towards Ouyang Rong.
The latter glanced and nodded: "One million strings?"
"..."
"It's 10,000 guan." Liu Ziwen frowned and said, "Don't joke, magistrate. With 1 million guan, is this going to build the Grand Canal?"
"It turns out it's only 10,000 guan, so that's okay."
Ouyang Rong smiled lightly.
But in fact, he was quite surprised. Ten thousand yuan was already larger than what Wang Caozhi, Shopkeeper Li, and Shopkeeper Ma invested. Although it could not shake the Longcheng County Government's commitment to the new construction of Zheyi Canal.
Although it has the leading power, it is also the party with the largest investment besides the county government.
So, are the Liu family so optimistic about Zheyi Qu? Or do they really want to shake hands with him and make peace with him, with full sincerity?
Just as Ouyang Rong was looking away, Liu Ziwen nodded and said, "However, the Liu family has a small condition for Zheyi Canal."
"Let me tell you what the conditions are." After a pause, Ouyang Rong added: "The county government already has enough manpower, and there may even be some left. We may not be able to arrange for anyone to come in for Mr. Liu."
"That's not the condition."
Liu Ziwen looked as usual and said:
"Liu thinks that if we want to build a river, we should build the biggest and best one! Liu looked at the miniature sand table of the county magistrate and felt that it is still a bit petty. I suggested deepening and widening the river, so I used Liu's sand table.
This ten thousand dollars!"
Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang couldn't help but take a second look at the young head of the Liu family.
It sounds like there's nothing wrong with it. Anyway, there is money from the culprit, and no one wants to give it away for free, but...
Xie Ling Jianghu said:
"If we add more specifications, we need to improve the previous preparations and stop and make changes... The completion time of Zheyi Canal may be delayed again. Are you businessmen willing to wait?"
Liu Ziwen glanced at Ouyang Rong, who was silent, shook his head, and said calmly:
"Nothing, Zheyi Canal is of great importance to Longcheng, so it must be built as best as possible. Our Liu family is willing to pay for it. Anyway, it is a good thing for everyone. Time is not urgent. The county magistrate and Miss Xie can go back to the county office, and then
Discuss it, it doesn't matter if the repair is slower, quality is the most important thing.
"Liu Mou heard before that the county magistrate wants to build the Zheyi Canal in two phases. It's because we are short of money, food and manpower, so why not build it first? I don't think this is appropriate. If it is built in two phases, we will now have to expand it.
Wouldn’t it be troublesome to have a wide river?
"It's better to build it all at once. Do the preliminary work well and don't rush. If there is a shortage of money, food and manpower, our Liu family is willing to support you and the county government. Ten thousand yuan is not enough, and you can add more."
Liu Ziwen looked at Ouyang Rong with a smile: "What do you think, sir?"
The young county magistrate glanced at him and said nothing for a while.