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Lin Ke's expression suddenly changed, but he quickly returned to normal. He laughed and said, "You can't talk about books with me. If you want to ask me how much goods my Lin family has shipped this year and how much money they have earned, I can tell you.
It’s all clear. Hahaha.”
Lin Jue smiled and said, "Let's not talk about books then. Why do you want me to come to my place?"
"Can't you come if you have nothing to do?" Lin Ke said with a smile.
"Of course I can come, but my second uncle has just come back. I thought you would accompany him around today."
"Originally I was going to accompany the second uncle, but... you also know that the second uncle's return to Hangzhou is a big event, and the officials in Hangzhou are lining up to entertain him. Isn't this... early in the morning, Zhang Yi
I sent someone to invite you, and my second uncle has already been invited by him to have fun, and there will be a banquet on the West Lake Painted Boat at noon."
Lin Jue laughed and said: "Zhang Tongpuan has long legs. Yesterday he was the prince, and today he is the prince. Even the prefect Yan has not snatched him away."
"Why would Magistrate Yan come to rob him? You don't know Magistrate Yan? He never entertains others. That's all, we can't control their affairs. I'm here to apologize to you on behalf of my second brother for what happened at the banquet last night.
. He also regretted what he said last night, but he was afraid that you would care about him, so he was too embarrassed to speak. As the eldest brother, I saw you brothers having quarrels, so it was my duty to mediate. So I came." Lin Ke smiled.
road.
Lin Jue smiled and said: "What happened last night? I have forgotten what happened last night. Besides, I don't dare to bother my brother about this matter."
Lin Ke said with a smile: "There is no such thing as hard work. It is normal for brothers to have some minor conflicts with each other. What my second uncle said is true. Our Lin family needs to work together as one to revive the family. What do you do?
The Lin family has done a lot, and it is wrong for the second son to say that to you, so this apology must be made."
Lin Jue smiled and said: "There is nothing to apologize for. I didn't take it to heart at all. Second brother is just being too preoccupied."
Lin Ke nodded and said: "Very good. It's good that you are so generous. There shouldn't be too much care between brothers. Lin Jue, I felt a little guilty about what you said before leaving last night.
Confused, I don’t know why you said that.”
Lin Jue's heart moved. Lin Ke was trying to test himself. He heard the implication, but he was not sure, so he came to his courtyard today to test him further.
"Last night, what did I say last night? I can't remember it." Lin Jue said with a smile.
A cold and stern light flashed in Lin Ke's eyes, and he immediately smiled and said: "Lin Jue, why should we be like this between brothers? What did you say at the end, 'It's best not to hang up the plaque, because once it's hung up, you can't take it off.'
It's so meaningless. Originally, it was such an honor for my Lin family to receive a commendation from the imperial court. But after you said this, the head of the family and the second uncle felt unhappy, and we didn't understand what it meant. I wonder if you can follow me.
Explain?"
"So that's what I said. I just said it casually. It doesn't mean anything special." Lin Jue waved his hand.
Lin Ke's face sank and he said: "Lin Jue, this is your fault. You obviously have something to say, so why do you deny it? Do you mean that you can't have a heart-to-heart relationship with me? Are you on guard against me?"
Lin Jue smiled slightly, looked into Lin Ke's eyes and whispered: "Brother, others don't understand, don't you understand?"
Lin Ke stiffened and his face turned cold. He was originally here to explore Lin Jue's background. Lin Jue's words last night made him quite uneasy. He wanted to find out whether Lin Jue really knew something, so he came to see Lin Jue.
Jue probed for details. Although Lin Jue didn't say anything, this sentence was actually enough. Lin Jue had a smile in his eyes and contempt in his voice. He just talked about sacrificing his life for righteousness. All of this was
Lin Ke seemed to understand it best. Lin Jue's heart slowly sank, sinking into the cold darkness.
"Lin Jue, how could I understand what you said? I don't understand what's going on." It only took a second for Lin Ke's face to go from gloomy to bright, and that white and fat face was full of kindness.
smile.
"Well, since you don't want to say it clearly, I won't force you. I'm not here to ask these questions today. I'm here to resolve the dispute between you and my second brother last night. Let's do this, I'll be the host, Xihu
Our family bought a piece of land on the west bank. It is a place with beautiful scenery. We built a courtyard called Lin Family Garden. I will be the host tonight and we brothers will go there to get together. I will ask my second brother to apologize to you in person.
This matter is over. From now on, we brothers will work together for the Lin family, what do you think?"
Lin Jue smiled and said: "Is this necessary? I already told you that I don't care. Why do I need to apologize in person and hold such a grand banquet? Wouldn't this kill me?"
"Well... just think of it as a gathering of us brothers alone. Speaking of which, we have never gotten together before. Just think of it as a small gathering to connect the friendship between my brothers. You don't know how to save this face.
Don't give it to me." Lin Ke looked at Lin Jue expectantly.
Lin Jue looked at Lin Ke quietly. From Lin Ke's smiling eyebrows, Lin Jue felt the indifference in his eyes. His words and smile were fake, but he didn't know it. Lin Jue
But it can be felt. A person's true enthusiasm and false enthusiasm can be felt completely, and this does not require any special powers.
"In that case..." Lin Jue said.
Lin Ke's pupils shrank slightly and his breathing became somewhat rapid.
"Being respectful is worse than obeying orders. It's good for us brothers to get together tonight. For no other reason than for the future of the Lin family." Lin Jue said with a smile.
Lin Ke breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Yes, for the future of the Lin family, for the future of you and me. Then, I will be waiting for you when the time comes. I will ask someone to pick you up in the evening, in case you don't know the way.
.”
"Thank you, brother." Lin Jue smiled.
"That's it. I won't disturb your studies. Just study hard. This autumn and next spring, you must take the gold medal exam. That will be a great event for my Lin family. I'm leaving first."
"Brother, walk slowly. The stones at the door are uneven. Brother, be careful."
"It's okay, no need to give it away, you can just study."
Lin Jue watched Lin Ke's back disappear beside the flowers and trees. When he turned around, his face already had a look of solemnity.
…
The west of the West Lake is originally a deserted land. Weeds and trees are everywhere, extending to the foot of several mountains in the west. In the previous spring and summer flood seasons, this place was a vast muddy place where mosquitoes and flies breed.
Snakes and rats were infested, and the rotting vegetation emitted a foul smell. It once became a glaring scar on the shore of the West Lake.
Over the years, several Hangzhou prefects have tried to heal this scar and clean up this desolate bad land. However, because of its remote location and the huge drainage and flood prevention project, they were unable to do so.
We can only let this scar exist there year after year, becoming an inaccessible and forbidden area. The large water area of West Lake near Hangzhou City is beautiful and bustling with tourists, but when it reaches the west side of the water area, it is completely empty.
This situation finally changed after Yan Zhengshen took office three years ago. Yan Zhengshen is committed to improving people's livelihood and water conservancy in Hangzhou. He is almost a perfectionist, so he made the decision to manage this place after inspecting it.
However, management is easy to say, and the scale of the projects involved and the amount of money involved were beyond Yan Zhengsheng's expectation. Among other things, the first priority in managing this place is to clear out silt and drain water, and transform this place.
Floods occur every spring and summer. This requires a huge amount of engineering work, careful planning, and financial and manpower support. After convening relevant officials for more than a dozen discussions, the final plan was to turn the Huxi
All the deposited silt and vegetation were dug out to make the West Lake deeper to store more water. At the same time, a river channel was dug southward to the Qiantang River in the southwest of the lake to drain excess lake water when the lake water surges.
Ensure that the waterline of the West Lake is at an appropriate level. If these two measures can be implemented, the large wilderness area on the west side of the West Lake can be exposed and thoroughly cleaned.
However, although this solution is a solution, the problem is still the same old problem, which is the problem of cost and manpower. These two things actually boil down to a problem of money, because as long as there is money, there will be a lot of manpower available.
Without money, nothing can be done. Another headache is how to dispose of the silt and weeds dug out of the lake? They are transported from the lake to the shore by boat, and then transported by horses and carts from the shore to dump elsewhere.
, which increases manpower and money by 30% for no reason, and is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
As an official who has been working at the grassroots level for many years, Yan Zhengshen has a good reputation as an official wherever he works. This reputation is not in vain. After several nights of thinking, Yan Zhengsun found a solution. About digging out
In order to deal with the silt and weeds, Yan Zhengsheng proposed to build a levee across the north and south of the West Lake from Nanping Mountain in the south to Qixialing in the north, a few hundred steps away from the west bank of the West Lake. This embankment would be made of excavated silt.
The weeds were constructed with a small amount of earth and stones. This not only solved the problem of silt transfer and placement, but also provided a passable road from the north to the south of the West Lake. In addition, six locations were designed so that the dam would not block the flow of water from the east to west lakes.
The arch bridge provides water access to the lake. Willows will be planted all over it in the future, and it will become an excellent scenic spot.
As soon as this plan was proposed, it immediately aroused everyone's applause. This is a wonderful idea. It not only solves the problem, but also facilitates the people. It is a clever plan.
The even more wonderful thing is yet to come. Yan Zhengshen also has a way to solve the problem of money required for management. After rough calculation, the entire project will cost 200,000 yuan in labor. Calculating the labor cost of 200 yuan a day, the labor cost
It will cost 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver. The cost of renting other stones, carriages, boats, etc. is also nearly 50,000 to 60,000. The entire project will cost 100,000 taels of silver. This amount is staggering. After solemnly reporting to the court, the court
The amount of silver allocated was only fifteen thousand taels, and this was due to Yan Zhengsheng's face. How to make up for the shortfall became the key to the entire plan.
The most serious solution is to sell land and water surface. When the West Lake is restored, there will be a large area of water on the lake where red water chestnuts can be grown. Red water chestnuts are the favorite food of every household in summer, and they are also expensive. In fact, planting red water chestnuts
The water surface is equal to the acres of land. Yan Zhengshen took out part of the 300 acres of water surface in the west and sold it to farmers who grow red water chestnuts. According to the market price, the price of an acre of land is twelve taels of silver, and the land on the water is priced at a discount of 12 taels.
Calculating ten taels of silver, this item is worth three thousand taels of silver. This is the result of Yan Zhengsheng's consideration of the overall landscape of the water surface. After all, there cannot be too much water to plant red water chestnuts, which will affect the smoothness of the West Lake water surface and the overall landscape.
