Miao Chu

Chapter 187 Borrowing Strength
Although everything had been arranged, Qian Zhongming remained very cautious.

As he sipped his tea, he carefully reviewed every detail in his mind before asking Chief Ding, "Who was assigned to the river today? Were they quick-witted enough?"

Ding, the head constable, said, “Don’t worry, Chief Kong. I’ll have someone call Li Laizi from the east of the city. He’s a street urchin, like a rat. He’s sharp-tongued and quick-witted. If he takes the lead and calls a few others to join in, there’s bound to be trouble. Everyone on the river carries a shovel and a hoe. If someone makes a mistake and someone starts a fight, it’ll be strange if there isn’t one.”

"Once a brawl breaks out, even if the Heavenly King himself were to show up—even if Magistrate Cen himself were to intervene—people get carried away and can't be controlled!"

Qian Zhongming nodded and said, "It would be better if the fighting was bigger. Even if it wasn't big, as long as people were killed or injured, even if it was suppressed for a day or two, it could be easily reignited later. Let that Han guy and his bunch of idiots have a headache."

He thought for a moment and then asked, "When you were explaining things, there was no communication between the two sides, was there?"

Ding, the head constable, said, "Kong, you underestimate me! Although I may be a bit reckless, I know that we must be extremely careful at this time. If we let the cat out of the bag, and someone accidentally lets it slip, wouldn't all our arrangements be for nothing?"

He continued, "Last night I treated them to a good meal at Yuxianlou. They're a bunch of scoundrels, they don't deserve it! If they're lucky today, they'll just have diarrhea for a few days. If they're unlucky, that's just their bad luck!"

Hearing that no one had leaked the news, Qian Zhongming was relieved. He waved his hand and said, "It's getting late. You should go back to the yamen. The messenger on the river should be sending a reply soon. Go and see how Cen Dezhang reacts."

Chief Ding loudly agreed, "Just wait for my good news, Chief Kong!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly walked out, mounted his horse, and headed towards the yamen (government office).

As fate would have it, halfway there he found himself completely blocked by a caravan of mules and horses.

Upon inquiring, they learned that more grain had been delivered from Weizhou and was being transported to Mingfu Temple. However, the journey had been delayed, and the grain had to be stopped for the night. It was finally delivered early this morning.

Seeing the endless grain convoy stretching as far as the eye could see, Chief Ding's expression gradually turned grim.

He truly refused to believe it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

Across a state, in just two short days, I wonder how that Han fellow, a newcomer, managed to procure the grain, and I heard the price was extremely low, making it hard to find fault with it.

Last time, Qian Kongmu used an excuse to postpone the inventory and receipt of the grain. He thought that, as many times before, Magistrate Cen would be unable to command the yamen and would surely be thrown into chaos, and would eventually have to turn around and beg him to come out of his house.

Who would have thought that Han Wenji, together with several retainers of the Cen family, arranged for monks and students, and used the treasury accounts to control the lower-level officials. Not only did they smoothly take over all the grain, but they also seized several officials as scapegoats, forcing everyone to obey their orders.

The money was left hanging in mid-air, unable to go up or down.

In the past, this clerk had faced his superiors many times, even the prefect and the vice-prefect, and his actions were quite frightening. In the end, he always managed to land safely. When things were going well, he could turn the tables and manipulate the situation. When things were going badly, he could also escape unscathed, leaving his opponents helpless in the slightest.

Ding Dutou had followed Qian Zhongming for many years and knew that this man was deeply rooted in the local community. He not only had influence in Huazhou, but also had powerful backers in the capital. Moreover, Ding Dutou himself had already been on the same boat, and his wealth and fortune were also tied to it. He couldn't jump ship, and he could only hope that the boat would be stable.

However, thinking about this, he couldn't help but shake his head inwardly, feeling that he was just bored and had nothing better to do than to think about this and that.

Just now at the Qian residence, he didn't flatter him completely. Even now, after thinking it over again, he still felt that Kong Mu's two methods were truly brilliant. Starting with the conflict of interests between the kitchen and the people of the two prefectures was like walking on two legs at the same time, which would surely be effective!
After waiting for a while, seeing that the road ahead was still blocked, Chief Ding became impatient. He spurred his horse forward, his face dark, and cracked his whip, about to strike a driver.

Just as he was about to crack his whip, he turned his head and vaguely saw a person standing not far away, guiding everyone to quickly move the goods to the temple in the east—besides a government official, there was a person dressed as a student who looked very familiar, as if he came from the capital.

Ding, the head constable, quickly flicked his whip at the air, fearing that the men would discover his actions. He hurriedly turned his horse around and chose another route to escape.

Having been stopped for so long on the way, it was naturally late when we got back to the yamen.

As soon as Chief Ding entered the room, he sent someone to look for his trusted confidants, but no one answered. After waiting for a while, there was still no news.

He found it strange and secretly speculated in his mind. After calculating the time, he realized that it should have been past the morning lunch time at the construction site. They should have finished eating and worked for half an hour by now. Even if the onset was slow, there should have been news by now.

He immediately sent someone to urge him on, saying, "Fourth Brother went to the river before dawn, it's been almost two hours now. Send someone to check what's going on, right now..."

Just as the subordinate was about to reply, he heard a series of hurried footsteps outside the door.

As soon as Ding Dutou looked up, he saw that his usually composed confidant was now pale and looked extremely anxious.

As soon as he entered, seeing that there were people inside, he called out their names and said, "Find me a copy of Wei Xing Tong, quick, very quick!"

Ding, the head constable, could tell that something was wrong, so he quickly assigned two tasks and sent the man away.

Before he could even speak, his trusted aide hurriedly said, "Captain, something terrible has happened! They've captured Li Erjing over the river! They're sending him to the yamen, and he'll be there soon—what should we do?"

Ding, the head constable, was startled, but he pretended to be unmoved and cursed, "What's wrong with that? So what if he's arrested? He's just a thug, what does it have to do with you and me?"

Upon hearing this, the confidant finally calmed down a bit.

Ding, the head constable, spoke casually, but inwardly he was anxious and flustered, asking, "Why were you arrested out of the blue?"

Hearing his confidant recount how Li Erjing instigated unrest in two prefectures with a pile of human excrement, how Han Li identified its true owner through that evidence, and how he pacified the people on both sides, Ding Dutou almost couldn't help but cheer if he hadn't been sitting on another chair himself.

"This is really weird, this chicken is definitely going to get sick!"

He couldn't help but curse, but dared not delay or call anyone else. Just as he was about to set off to find Qian Zhongming himself, another person hurriedly knocked on the door and entered.

"Captain! Captain! Fang Liu has been arrested!"

Ding, the head constable, froze in his tracks, exclaiming, "Who? Who arrested me?!"

"Fang Quan of the Fang family horse shop was arrested by the judicial authorities. Old Tian, ​​the man with the long beard from Magistrate Cen's household, was with him. He was just taken into the back office. I happened to see it and that's how I found out about it!"

"Did you find out why you were arrested?"

"They said it was poisoning," the henchman's voice grew even lower, "but the poisoning failed, and instead, the kitchen staff on the river pulled it out along the vines..."

Ding Dutou felt his scalp tingle and his heart pound. A thousand words were on his mind, but they all boiled down to one sentence: "Damn his ancestors!"

***
Not to mention that Chief Ding was busy cursing other people's ancestors here, on the river, he had captured Li Erjing and calmed down the laborers from the two prefectures who almost caused trouble that morning, and Han Li was still in a hurry to leave.

Although the matter was resolved in the short term, it also exposed another problem. Although Li Erjing deliberately stirred up trouble between the two sides, the point he came up with was really clever—hearing everyone cursing at each other just now, it was clear that urinating in public was not uncommon.

It was lunchtime, and everyone went to get their own food. After everyone had finished, Han Li went up and asked for a serving as well.

He didn't care that the ground was dirty, nor did he use a mat. He sat on the ground, chatting with others while eating the mixed bean cakes with scorched rice soup. After washing the dishes, he slowly asked questions as he walked towards the river.

"Do you often see people urinating or defecating in the river these days?"

He had been with everyone for many days, eating and sleeping together, and had just judged the case so fairly that everyone in the room was convinced. When asked this question, everyone was willing to answer.

"That's how it is. People urinate and defecate everywhere every day, but we can't catch them. All I can do is curse them for giving birth to children but not raising them."

"It's so annoying! I don't dare walk in the river anymore, I only dare to walk on the outside, because there's a strong smell of urine every now and then inside!"

"The smell of urine is one thing, but last time I kicked it... Ugh, never mind! It's a shame my straw sandals only lasted a month!"

Hearing the complaints from the crowd, Han Li asked again, "Aren't there latrines set up every so often? Are there not enough latrines, or are they not working properly?"

"It's not enough, and it's too far away!"

"We eat at the same time every day, and there aren't many toilets available, so we have to wait a long time. If we can't get one after waiting for half a day, we'll end up pooping and peeing in our pants!"

"That's right. It's fine if it's a short distance, but it's still two or three hundred feet to walk there. Sometimes I really don't want to move, so I might as well turn around!"

This was a slip of the tongue; he had just been criticizing others for not having anyone to support them, but it turns out he wasn't much better off himself.

Han Li then asked everyone how close the outhouse should be to each other, and how far away would be ideal. After getting a detailed understanding, he then approached another group of people and questioned them again.

When he asked, he had Lu Wenming by his side. After several groups of people finished asking their questions, he turned to the latter and said, "Brother Lu, do you have any thoughts?"

Lu Wenming had been thinking about this all the way, and when he heard Han Li ask, he said, "The leader entrusted this matter to me, but I didn't handle it well—I thought too simply when building the outhouse, only considering that it should not be too close to the river, otherwise it would stink, but I did not expect that they would rather build it directly in the river to save a few steps..."

"Furthermore, when we were preparing, there were only about a thousand people, but now there are three thousand. We haven't had time to set up more latrines, so it's no wonder we don't have enough!"

"So how do you plan to remedy this?"

“I’ll have someone count the number of people outside the outhouse for a day to see how many are in line at the peak. Then I’ll combine that with what they just said and make a plan to see how far apart we should set up the outhouses. I estimate we’ll need to build a few more.”

He hesitated for a moment, saying, "I'm not afraid of anything else, but there's a severe shortage of all kinds of bricks and timber right now. We need them everywhere, and I don't know when we'll have more, or how much we'll be able to get. Other things are easy to wait for, but we can't wait for this toilet!"

Han Li then asked him if he had any other difficulties.

Lu Wenming thought about it carefully and said, "Aside from the materials, we also lack manpower. Could we ask them to build this outhouse themselves?"

Han Li said, "Brother Lu comes from a proper government background, and his actions are characterized by stability and integrity, but sometimes he is bound by these two qualities—why must he build this outhouse himself? Can't he borrow someone else's help?"

Lu Wenming was still somewhat bewildered and had not yet reacted.

Han Li then said, "What kind of business is the peddling industry in the capital? They almost fight to the death over every little bit of territory. Is excrement only valuable in the capital?"

"There are over three thousand people here, and there may be even more in the future. How many Valleys of Reincarnation will be created every day? Even if the merchants in the city are hesitant to agree due to their high prices, does not a single merchant in Weizhou feel tempted?"

"As long as we find a suitable place nearby to compost, by the time it's done, Huazhou will be a major thoroughfare, and it will sell well everywhere. Even if we just send it to the lower counties and towns, there will be plenty of people scrambling to buy it."

"Talk to someone, they can help build an outhouse. It won't be too much trouble, just two boards or two pieces of cloth to cover it up. We can't charge for the excrement, but we can get some benefits in return, like some meat or other useful items."

Upon hearing the first sentence, Lu Wenming felt as if he had been enlightened. As he listened further, he became even more insightful and excitedly said, "I think there is a great need for a vendor selling everyday goods along the riverbank. In the past two days, some vendors have been carrying loads from the city to do business here, and they are selling at quite high prices. Why don't we talk to the Zhang family about this and see if they would like to open a shop here?"

“A legitimate shop can’t set prices too high, but by making small profits and selling a lot of goods, it’s not impossible to make a profit!”

Upon hearing this, Han Li nodded and said, "That's right. You should draft something, and I'll take a look at it and then show it to Judge Cen. If he approves it, you will take the lead in this matter."

Having spent many years working under officials, Lu Wenming naturally saw this as an opportunity for him to rise in the ranks. Although he didn't know if it would actually work, he couldn't help but feel happy and immediately nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone outside the river shout loudly, "Leader Han!"

The man called out as he approached Han Li, his expression and demeanor showing great anxiety.

Han Li looked up and saw that it was a student who had come from the capital.

He walked over in a few steps, and the student couldn't help but climb down into the river. He leaned closer and said, "Boss, something happened in the kitchen. They say someone poisoned it, and they've already sent people to catch them. Team Leader Kong told me to come and report to the boss!"

Upon hearing that something had happened in the kitchen, Han Li's expression changed slightly. He asked a question, and without stopping for a moment, he headed straight for the small village.

***
After breakfast was arranged, Song Miao led the people to go through all the different items in the storeroom again, especially the ones with strong colors and flavors.

Although no other problems were found, she dared not use it for the time being, so she sealed it away and waited for the authorities to arrest Fang Quan and obtain his confession before deciding how to deal with it.

Fortunately, there was still some spare grain in the kitchen, which was just in time to fill the gap.

While the others were busy with the arrangements for lunch, Song Miao herself was not idle either.

Because the riverbank said that they would make some meat today as a reward for the team that did the best job on the construction, she received this request and thought that since it was a reward, it should be something that would catch the eye of the workers.

So yesterday she made arrangements for the purchase, asking them to buy some pork spine bones so she could make braised pork ribs.

Pork spine bones are large, naturally in big chunks, making them easy to hold and gnaw on. The meat is from the back, firm and tender, especially since each large bone segment has a white marrow in the middle of the bone hole, making it very flavorful and rich. Most importantly, compared to pork neck bones and pork leg bones, which are also suitable for making braised pork ribs, this part of the bone is the cheapest.

With the goods delivered, Song Miao was preparing the braising liquid while her subordinates were washing and soaking the bones.

　There are fewer reader titles this month, so don't rush to participate. You can wait until next month to participate, as it will be much easier then!
　　However, we especially welcome food lovers (even those who already have a fan title) to share pictures of the same dishes Xiaomiao makes, or share their own dining tables. I've always been curious about what people from different IPs usually eat~
　　(End of this chapter)