back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 775
The heavy rain was still falling, and mud rushed into the river from time to time. Li Jie sighed quietly when he saw this scene, and thought, "No wonder Your Majesty said that no matter how much money you have, you have to build a canal. If the main stream and tributaries of the Yangtze River are connected, the Yellow River Bursting will not be so frequent anymore. If we dredge the river course and plant trees, after three generations, the Yellow River will be flooded, and it will not be flooded for thousands of miles, causing harm to the five prefectures and six prefectures!"

Li Jie was thinking about his own thoughts, while the hundreds of farmers beside him were discussing whether or not they should worship Lord Dragon and ask it to stop the rain.The Dragon King is the king who leads the water tribe in the water in Chinese myths and legends. He is in charge of Xingyun and rain, and belongs to one of the four spirits.Legend has it that the dragon can move clouds and rain, eliminate disasters and bring blessings, which symbolizes auspiciousness. The dragon king's flood control has become a belief believed by the common people.As long as there are people, there will probably be three temples: the Temple of the City God, the Temple of the Dragon King, and the Temple of the Earth.The Town God's Temple is in charge of the underworld, the Dragon King Temple is in charge of the weather, and the land protects the safety of the land, which shows the position of the Dragon King Temple in the hearts of the people.Whenever the wind and rain are out of balance, there is a long drought without rain, or when the rain does not stop for a long time, the people will go to the Dragon King Temple to burn incense and pray, so that the Dragon King can control the water and the weather will be smooth.

The common people believe that there are dragon kings in the southeast, northwest and four seas, and they are called the Dragon King of the Four Seas.There are also five dragon kings, heavenly dragon kings, river dragon kings, etc.According to folklore, wherever there is water, no matter rivers, lakes or seas, there are dragon kings stationed there.The Dragon King can produce wind and rain, and thunder and lightning, and he is responsible for floods, droughts, and abundance.Therefore, there are many Dragon King Temples in the north and south of the river, just like the Earth Temple, you can see them everywhere.If there is no rain for a long time, the villagers of one side must first go to the Dragon King Temple to worship and pray for rain. If the Dragon King has not yet manifested, they will carry out its statue and expose it to the hot sun until it rains heavily.

These peasants were hired to control the river. On the one hand, the wages given by the court were really tempting, and on the other hand, they were also thinking about their own fields.Before they put down their hoes, they were poor farmers. If they wanted to control the river, where would they get the time, energy and money?Now that the imperial court is determined to control the river, they are eager to sign up.They never thought that the imperial court paid so much wages. They originally signed up for the corvee service with the idea of ​​"voluntary labor", but they learned that the wages were settled every day, and they almost broke the threshold of the Henan government yamen.

Throughout the dynasties, all common people have to serve corvee, which is unpaid labor, even food is ignored.Corvée includes forced labor, miscellaneous service, military service, etc. If each household has two sons, one of the sons must serve in corvée, unless the family has an official.This has been the case in all dynasties, but in the Dashun Dynasty, it went against the norm and abolished corvee.When the imperial court wants to recruit labor, it always pays money, or hires craftsmen to do the work.These people in Henan Province thought they were like the previous dynasty, and they were determined not to spend money as coolies. They didn't expect the court to be so benevolent and righteous. How could there be any reason not to work hard?

It is precisely because of this that the Yellow River was able to dredge the eastward flow again in just over a year, and open the gates to release the water before the river overflowed the embankment, which relieved the temporary worries.

However, Li Jie knew very well that this was just treating the symptoms, not the root cause.In order to truly control the water, as Lu Chengqi said,
Just when Li Jie was distressed and depressed, a civilian husband who was elected as the representative stepped forward and said respectfully: "Mr. Li, the rain has been going on for a long time. According to our customs, it is required of the Dragon King..." He said eloquently After making a big deal, please ask the Dragon King to write the "Book of Heaven" on yellow paper, burn it for the Dragon King, and send someone to sound the gong to announce "no painting (slaughter)", and no fish and shrimp are allowed to be marketed. , Those who eat meat will be punished.Then, hundreds of thousands of peasants will form a team to ask for a stop in the rain. With the big flag as the forerunner, the guns and gongs will follow, and then the dragon pavilion, the miraculous sedan, playing musical instruments, beating and praying with chanting companions, and go to the Dragon King Temple to invite Dragon King.On the way back, the team asking to stop the rain wielded axes and dragon swords, called "protecting the dragon".After returning home, carry the "Dragon King" and the statue of the Dragon King in the dragon barrel to the Temple of the City God.The "Dragon King" in the dragon bucket must change the water frequently to prevent the "Dragon King" from being unlucky. People take turns to "be holy" day and night, and the big households in the clan take turns to offer "Holy Head Rice", and offer incense three times a day.If there is a long drought, it will rain, and the rain will fall appropriately; or if the long rain stops suddenly and there is no more precipitation, it will be regarded as "efficacious". The "Xielong" play and the paper festival will be performed, and finally the "Dragon King" will be sent back to the Dragon King Temple.

Although Li Jie didn't believe in gods and Buddhas, he listened carefully to the opinion of the man.He knew that this was the wish of the people of Henan Prefecture, and he could not easily disobey it.

"The long rain doesn't stop. In my opinion, it should be due to Feng Shui. The so-called dragon's qi is churning, and the clouds spread the rain, and it doesn't stop easily..." Li Jie looked at the muddy yellow river water, feeling it. Said.In fact, he still has half of the words to say, the Yellow River is the birthplace of Chinese civilization, and it is also a symbol of dragon energy. It is because of its endless turbulence that it has vitality.Once the Yellow River dries up, there must be a change of dynasty.If something goes wrong, there must be a demon!
"Li Xianggong knows how to read Feng Shui?"

The man was very surprised. In his subconscious mind, the masters who knew how to read Fengshui were all in the imperial court. How could this Li Xianggong also know this way?In fact, Li Jie, as an architect specializing in architecture, is no stranger to Feng Shui.Feng Shui together, to put it bluntly, it is the yin house and the yang house.Li Jie is not involved in Yin houses, he builds Yang houses, Yang houses are for people to live in, they must be ventilated, dry and comfortable, as long as people live comfortably, that is good Fengshui.As a master architect, Li Jie will definitely be involved in Feng Shui. Although he is not very proficient, he is still very good, especially in the design of Yang Zhai, there will never be any mistakes.In fact, most people choose the same place to live. There are mountains and rivers, clear water, looping streams, clear and lush everywhere, beautiful water and mountain spirits. There must be villages living in it; I hate it, how could it thrive here!
Although Li Jie knows how to look at Yang Zhai, but he only has a half-knowledge about mountains, rivers and rivers.He faintly felt that something was wrong, but he just couldn't tell what was wrong.It's okay to fool this civilian husband, but there are great Fengshui masters in the imperial court. If you fool the emperor, you can't fool them!
"Sigh, if I had known that being Minister of the Ministry of Industry was a tricky official position, I would not have taken it..." Li Jie had a faint feeling that if he spent time by the Yellow River, he might not be able to manage the river in ten years.

In Chang'an City, Lu Chengqi returned to the Chuigong Palace angrily, and cursed: "These so-called important officials of the court, don't they see the benefits of river governance? They all rose up to impeach Li Jie, thinking that I didn't know, and they wanted to use their strength , to suppress the New Deal!"

Gao Hao lowered his head in the hall in fear, bearing Lu Chengqi's anger.

"Your Majesty is really angry today." Gao Hao thought in his heart, "These ministers shouldn't, knowing that His Majesty cares about the New Deal, but trying to suppress it, isn't this embarrassing His Majesty?"

At this moment, a servant came in from outside the hall, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Qin Tianjian is asking to see Chen Xun."

Lu Chengqi just got angry, and felt that the anger in his heart was smoother, and frowned: "What is he here for? Didn't I make him a servant of Fuwen Pavilion? Do you still want to come to ask for an official?"

(End of this chapter)