Under the scorching sun, two military horses walked slowly on the official road outside Gongchang City with their mouths half open.
The horse's back was already wet with sweat, and waves of mist rose up like a boiling pot.
Looking at the shade under the big tree on the roadside not far away, Xiao Lizi on horseback raised his hand to wipe the hot sweat from his forehead: "How about we go to the front to take a rest? People can still persist, but the army and horses,
It seems like it’s hard to breathe.”
Xiao Chen nodded: "Well, there is no good green grass, and the horse's physical fitness can't keep up."
Jumping off their horses, the two of them tied their horses to a big tree and sat down regardless of whether there was any dust on the ground.
Lying on the ground, he habitually broke off a grass branch and stuffed it into his mouth. Looking up at the blue sky and the slowly moving white clouds, Xiao Chen gradually calmed down.
"Xiao Chen, do you remember?" Xiao Lizi sat next to him and asked.
"Remember what?"
"When I was a kid, I climbed up the tree to pick fruits, and you always stayed below to wait. Brother Wang and I were full on the top, so we threw a few for you." Little Plum laughed sheepishly.
"Why are you both older than me?" Xiao Chen grinned, "When we were kids, you two always bullied me."
"Now, even if you want us to continue bullying you, I am the only one left." Xiao Lizi slowly lowered his head.
Xiao Chen was stunned: "What do you want to say?"
"Brother Wang is dead, and the culprit who caused his death, Liao Xianghe, is still locked up in the Dongchang Prison with no worries about food and clothing, and is living well." Xiao Lizi lowered his head and looked at his toes, and whispered.
"His case has been reported to the court by Dongchang. If Cangcheng, the Minister of Rites, had not delayed the execution time, he would have been beheaded long ago. Now, even if the emperor doesn't say anything, Dongchang can't do anything to him."
Xiao Chen explained casually.
As if he mustered up the courage, Xiao Lizi turned his head and looked at Xiao Chen seriously: "Do you want him to die, or not?"
"Why are you asking me that?" Xiao Chen sat up a little puzzled.
"Liao Xianghe works for Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Zhang is your father's subordinate..." Xiao Lizi's voice became lower and lower.
"Are you afraid that because of this relationship with Mr. Zhang, I will forget about Brother Wang's hatred and protect Liao Xianghe?"
Xiao Chen finally figured it out.
Let's just say that since he told his brothers in Dongchang about his life experience, Xiao Lizi seemed to be avoiding him intentionally or unintentionally. It turned out that he was struggling with Wang San's hatred.
"One is a brother and the other is a family member. To be honest, I don't want to see you in trouble." As if he felt that what he said would make Xiao Chen sad, Xiao Lizi slowly lowered his head.
"Hahaha." Xiao Chen laughed, "Many people in the court think that I am cold and heartless. In fact, they are right. I am heartless many times. But there is one thing.
I still have my own principles in my heart."
"I must avenge the family feud. However, they must also bear the faults committed by my father's men. In order to avenge their father, they fight with the court. This is their pursuit. However, those innocent people lost their lives because of this.
It's their fault."
"Mr. Zhang asked me to follow him and overthrow the Ming Dynasty, but I didn't agree. The family feud is big, but if I have to sacrifice the people's peaceful life and let them suffer the devastation of war to avenge my father, I can't do it.
.”
Xiao Lizi frowned: "If they continue to go against the court as before, what will you do?"
Xiao Chen smiled bitterly: "What can I do? I can only help the two of them. But no matter which side of them wants to do something detrimental to the people, I still have to stop it."
"As long as you think about the people, that's fine." Xiao Lizi laughed.
"We all grew up eating the food of hundreds of families. Without the common people, we would have starved to death. If we don't think about them, who do we think about?"
"Yes." With a smile on his face, Xiao Lizi nodded vigorously, "Where are Mr. Zhang and Shopkeeper Wang? Why did they disappear when we arrived in Dingxi?"
Xiao Chen smiled lightly: "I have finished the things inside the Hou Mansion, and they have finished the things outside the Hou Mansion."
"Now that Ding Xihou knows your life experience, we can't let him come to Beijing alive." Xiao Lizi covered his mouth as if he was exerting all his strength.
Xiao Chen smiled with relief on his face, stretched out his right arm, and patted Xiao Lizi's shoulder hard: "I won't let him have a chance to enter Beijing alive."
After resting for most of the day, the hot steam on the army horse's body has disappeared, and the half-open mouth has been closed.
The two got back on their horses and walked toward the construction area a few miles away.
I heard that the government took the lead in building water conservancy projects, and nearby villagers came to join the ditch digging team. Coupled with the government officials, from a distance, the land was sparsely stretched for about a mile.
Next to the construction site, there are four large iron pots.
Two pots were filled with boiling hot porridge, and the other two pots were filled with cold boiled water.
Wei Li, the magistrate of the government office, was holding a gourd and ladle in his hand and was filling the kettle in his hand with water.
When he saw Xiao Chen and Xiao Lizi, he hurriedly put down what he was holding and greeted them with a smile.
"Sir, why did you come to the construction site on such a hot day?"
"Everyone is doing physical work like digging soil and ditching and they are not afraid of the heat. I can't even come to the construction site with nothing?" Xiao Chen chuckled and looked at the crowd in the distance. "The progress is very fast. It has only been a few days since the construction started and it's all over.
The long ditch looks like it won’t be long before the streams in the Nanshan Valley can be diverted here.”
Wei Li chuckled and rubbed his hands a little cautiously: "The drought has been severe this year, and the people have experienced a lot of sins. I heard that the government took the lead in building water conservancy projects, and almost all the people from nearby villages came here. With more people, the progress will be natural.
It has sped up a lot.”
"The weather is hot, so you must rest when you need to. There must be no shortage of boiled water to quench thirst. Also, people must not be allowed to drink cold water. During the disaster, many people have not completely recovered from their illnesses, so drinking water cannot help
problem, allowing the disease to spread again."
"Yes, yes." Wei Li nodded hurriedly, pointing to the two large pots next to him, "The two iron pots take turns to boil water, never stopping."
"Yeah." Xiao Chen said, "We will also provide food for the people, so that everyone will be more motivated."
"Yes, both." Wei Li nodded hurriedly and bowed.
Xiao Chen glanced at Xiao Lizi, and then focused on Wei Li: "Isn't there not much left in the court's disaster relief food funds?"
"Sir, according to the current scale of the project, we can still hold on for a few months. There is still no problem in completing less than half of the entire water conservancy project in Gongchang Mansion." Wei Li reported hurriedly.
As the imperial envoy for disaster relief, Xiao Chen entrusted all the disaster relief food funds to his own management. This was an absolute trust.
Wei Li also planned carefully and tried his best to maximize the use of grain money in building water conservancy projects.
"If we can only repair less than half of it, we must complete the water conservancy work in the entire Gongchang. This year's drought is a lesson. Once the water conservancy is repaired, we will never have such a famine again in Gongchang Mansion in the future. The Dingxi Marquis Mansion has just completed the house raids.
, we have a lot of property and food, so you can go ahead and work until the water conservancy of the entire Gongchang Mansion is completed." Xiao Chen said with a smile.
"That's great." Wei Li's eyes couldn't help but feel a little wet, and he knelt down in front of Xiao Chen with a "pop" sound: "I thank you, sir, for the tens of millions of people in Gongchang."
The magistrate Wang Kuan's squandering and Xiao Chen's strong support for the people formed a sharp contrast in Wei Li's heart. Having such an imperial envoy was really a blessing to the people of Gongchang.
"Get up." Xiao Chen pulled Wei Li up, "This is the emperor's wish. The emperor asked me to misappropriate Dingxihou's property and build water for Gongchang. We must remember this kindness and the emperor's kindness.
It’s done.”
"Yes, yes." Wei Li bowed his hands again, "Thank you, the emperor, and thank the court."
"Yes." Xiao Chen nodded, "Do a good job, I can see what you have done. After returning to Beijing, I will explain all this to the emperor and see if I can let you serve as the governor of Gongchang Prefecture."
Wei Li's face was full of surprise: "Really? I would like to thank the imperial envoy in advance."
