In the early morning, the sun rises with hazy dew on the spacious streets. Almost in the blink of an eye, the huge city of Beijing becomes lively.
"What about you, keep to the right, are you too lazy?"
"Can't you see the middle line? Your legs are long, do you want me to cut them off for you?"
The patrolman at the shop stood arrogantly in the middle of the road, his eyes fierce and his voice louder than anyone else's.
The vendors' shouts became quieter and quieter, and they secretly glanced at the patrolmen, saying they were not polite.
Pedestrians stayed away and looked at the sword in his waist, showing awe.
Everything is so orderly.
"With these patrols in the capital, things will become much more peaceful."
He opened the car curtain and casually glanced at the street. A smile appeared on Yan Yingyuan's lips before he put it down.
Although he was sitting on a carriage, he was dressed in official robes, a black gauze hat, and black leather boots, looking dignified.
Opposite him, there was another person sitting, also wearing an official robe, but the person was a sixth-grade egret. He had a kind face, but his face was a little ugly.
"Futai, if we go like this, we might offend someone!"
Magistrate Daxing hesitated to speak, but finally spoke out.
"Offend people?" Yan Yingyuan said coldly: "Since you are an official in the capital, don't be afraid of offending people."
As he spoke, he said meaningfully: "It should be noted that in Shuntian Mansion, at the feet of the Emperor, how can you hide your words and deeds from the Emperor?"
"You mean?"
The county magistrate was delighted.
"If you do this well, it will be an opportunity for you to be promoted."
Yan Yingyuan patted the subordinate and looked calm.
In other words, in the eyes of those nobles, the small sixth-grade magistrate is not worth mentioning at all.
But the second-grade Shuntian magistrate is fearless.
From being a magistrate to being the prefect of Shuntian now, with half a foot in the center, Yan Yingyuan naturally has his own considerations.
These days, he has been thinking about why the emperor trusted him so much and appointed him.
Finally, he came to the conclusion that the emperor needed a strong order to cleanse the capital.
Therefore, recently he has become more and more harsh and unkind, and has offended many nobles, but he is confident in his heart and not afraid at all.
Back then, Hai Rui dared to demolish the home of former Chief Minister Xu Jie in Nanjing. That was because the whole cabinet wanted to implement a whipping method.
And he just complies with the emperor's heart.
The carriage moved gurglingly, and soon it arrived at the Hun River. More than a hundred people came from the government office and the county government office.
Lifting the curtain, Yan Yingyuan stepped out of the carriage with a swagger, trampling on the soil.
The magistrate of Daxing County followed closely, looking at the sluggish Hun River with sediment, and said: "The Hun River flows down from the plateau, just like the Yellow River, it also carries sediment, so it is also called the Little Yellow River."
"The water flow is surging and unbridled, and it often breaks the embankments and changes the river course, so the people jokingly call it Wuding River."
"Wuding River? It's quite appropriate——"
Yan Yingyuan looked at the wide river surface, turned his head and saw that there were many old river channels around, forming many ponds, but the water was still turbid.
He took a few more steps and looked down at the sluggish river: "Now it seems that there isn't much water left. It doesn't live up to its name."
"The water has been blocked."
The magistrate of Daxing County sighed: "From here upstream, hundreds of miles away, there are dozens of watercourses. The Hun River that used to run unbridled is now short of water."
"There are more and more water rolling over, and the Hun River is almost dry. I heard that in Tianjin Prefecture, children can play in the water."
Yan Yingyuan frowned, feeling unhappy.
The shelling of grains requires either human power or animal power, but stone grinding using water power has become popular since the Han and Tang Dynasties.
After all grains are harvested, they need to be shelled. People have no choice but to pay high fees to shell them and eat them.
Just processing has a lot of benefits. With a water mill, you can harvest money effortlessly, easily and stably.
By the Tang Dynasty, water mills were even the most valuable item in dowries, even more coveted than land deeds.
Logically speaking, water milling, a tool that improves production efficiency, should be vigorously promoted.
In fact, the more water mills there are, the river water will be intercepted layer by layer, and the water flow will become less and less, thus harming agricultural production.
In order to utilize water power, the princes and nobles competed with the people for water and did not hesitate to destroy the Zhengbai Canal, which reduced the Guanzhong Canal during the Qin and Han Dynasties to a display.
The first thing Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty did after banning Buddhism was to demolish the temple water mill on the Guanzhong river to ensure agricultural irrigation in Guanzhong.
"Come on, let's go take a look!"
Yan Yingyuan was naturally extremely disgusted with this act of destroying agricultural production.
Water is in the north and is a more precious thing than food.
That's why he vigorously promoted windmills before, just to replace this type of water mill and ensure agricultural production.
The carriage moved forward again, and after a while, it came to the nearest water mill.
The fence, the villagers, and the noisy noise in the distance all declare the existence of water grinding here.
"Whose farm is this?"
"Xuanguo Duke's Mansion."
"Write it down and keep walking -"
Yan Yingyuan did not go in recklessly and destroy the so-called water mill. Instead, he ordered someone to take note of it and continue to move forward.
The further you go, the more you can feel the rapidity of the river, the vastness of its banks, and the number of manors, which is even more incalculable.
As for the water mill, it was displayed generously, and the loud noises completely covered up the sound of running water.
"Do you still remember?"
"No."
Yan Yingyuan took a deep breath, his face solemn.
Along the way, there were countless manors on both sides of the strait, and their owners included most of the officials and nobles in the imperial court.
There are even many military farms.
That's right, in the entire Shuntian Prefecture, only the area near the Hun River is relatively far away. The land nearby is barren and there are not many people fighting for water, so it is the most suitable place.
But this time is different from the second year of Shaowu. After more than two years, Daxing County has become increasingly prosperous, more people have moved, and the Hun River water may not be enough for a while.
"This is fighting for profits with the people!"
Yan Yingyuan sighed with emotion, shook his sleeves, boarded the carriage resolutely, and headed back home.
The magistrate of Daxing was confused, and then he got into the car with him.
"How many people are there in Daxing County now?"
"About 30,000, and the number has increased in recent months, and more land has been reclaimed, so the official is worried. In another two years, the water in the Hun River will not be enough."
"You do have a good heart!"
Yan Yingyuan glanced at him and said with approval: "Although he lacks courage, he still has a heart for the people."
"Hey! The mansion is overly popular."
"You grind the water in Daxing County, register it in detail, and send it to the government office for me."
Yan Yingyuan's eyes were far-reaching: "The entire Shuntian Mansion has been crushed by so much water!"