Tang Dynasty good doctor

Chapter 614
When the people heard Wang Ping'an's call, they all stopped and looked over here.The young commoner said: "I just wanted to beg for a drink, and I didn't come to arrest us. I just said, I haven't violated the king's law, why arrest us!"

But the old people said: "It doesn't matter if you have broken the king's law or not, if you are arrested, you will be arrested. How can an official be reasonable!"

The common people nodded together and whispered: "Yes, there is no reason to be an official. Can a reasonable person be an official?"

They said so, but no one dared to move the place anymore, for fear of offending the officials, they could only wait for Wang Ping'an and the others to come over.

Wang Pingan ran to the front, got off his horse, and smiled at the people, "You guys have worked hard. You are here to fetch water. There is no well at home?"

The people looked at each other in blank dismay, no one dared to come up to talk to them, they had never dealt with the officials, even the small officials hadn't seen a few, at most it was the small officials who came to urge food and raised eyebrows at them.From birth to now, they have never seen even half of the officials who can talk to them pleasantly!
Che Sitong arrived right after him. Seeing the people standing still, he said loudly, "This is the new governor of the prefecture, Mr. Wang, you little people, don't hesitate to pay your respects!"

Although the common people don't understand the officialdom, they still know that the governor is the biggest official in this prefecture. They heard that this young man is the most important official among the high officials. Lord Qingtian, please forgive me.

In the minds of the people, if you don't kowtow when you meet a high official, you are violating the king's law, and if you break the king's law, you have to be arrested and sent to do heavy work. I don't know what happened to other places, but this is the rule in Qingzhou anyway.

Wang Pingan looked back at Che Sitong and thought: "With these people, I'm afraid I won't be able to ask anything. If I want to understand the people, it seems that I have to rely on private visits. Alas, no wonder officials have loved it since ancient times. It’s not that they eat too much and want to digest their food, but if they don’t use microservices, they really can’t get anything out of the interview!”

Wang Ping'an reached out to help the people, and said, "Get up, get up. I have something to ask you." He asked the people to get up, looked at the bucket beside them, and asked, "What's the name of this river? "

The people still didn't speak to anyone, they all waited for others to speak, and no one dared to speak first.

Che Sitong was afraid that Wang Ping'an would be unhappy. Anyway, if he followed Ji Ji's temper, if he asked someone and he didn't answer, then Ji Jishi would definitely be unhappy, and he might lose his temper.He said: "As far as the prince is concerned, this river is called the Daliang River. Two miles away from here, there is also a Xiaoliang River. These are the two largest rivers in Qingzhou."

Wang Ping'an said, "I haven't heard of these two rivers in my memory. The geography of the Tang Dynasty is very different from that of modern times. Even the Yellow River has changed its course countless times. Let alone the big and small rivers... don't talk about rivers, it is Qing. He doesn't even know where the state is in modern times.

He walked to the side of the bridge and saw that this wooden bridge was very old, but it was well-maintained, at least it could pass people, and it seemed that it could pass carriages.He walked onto the bridge slowly, waved to the bottom, and said, "Fellow folks, please come up and talk."

Che Sitong quickly stared at the people, and said in a low voice: "Whatever the governor asks you, you can answer whatever you want, don't talk nonsense!"

Di Renjie let out a hey from the side, and said, "Still talking nonsense, they are all so scared by you that they can't speak!"

Che Sitong's official position was higher than Di Renjie's, but he didn't dare to put on the airs of an officer, he hurriedly said with a smile: "Yes, yes, this official is wrong, Master Di is right to blame!"

Di Renjie laughed and said, "I didn't blame you, but my elder brother did. It's my turn!" He and Qiu Tingxuan walked up the wooden bridge side by side.

Che Sitong had no choice but to think: "The people from Chang'an are all uncles!" Shaking his head, he also got on the bridge.

The common people, trembling in their hearts and feeling weak in their legs, followed the officials back to the bridge, still holding their buckets in their hands.

Wang Pingan looked under the bridge, pointed to the river, and said, "Fellow folks, why do you carry water on the bridge? Is it because it takes too much effort to lift water from the bank? I think the embankment has a slope. I'm afraid I'm going to spill a lot, right?"

The common people were afraid to speak again, so Wang Ping'an could only point to the oldest one and asked, "Tell me, is it because of this?"

The elderly people had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak, and he said: "As far as my lord is concerned, the water of the Daliang River is deep and the banks are high, so standing on the bank to draw water is indeed difficult, but standing on the bridge is different. You can carry a bucket full of water. Little people come together, just bring a rope, which is faster than standing on the shore to fetch water."

The young commoner couldn't help it anymore, and boldly said: "The river is slanted. Standing on the bank, it is easy for people to slip down. If the water quality is not good, people will drown!"

Wang Pingan made a sound, and then he understood, thinking: "I have never studied this kind of thing about standing on the bridge to lift water before. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't even have thought of this kind of thing based on my imagination." situation."

He asked again: "Isn't it difficult to drink water normally? Then you can only water the crops in this way? You can't water a few acres of land this day!"

The people shook their heads together, and the elderly people said with a bitter face: "Where you can irrigate a few acres, you can irrigate a few acres, that's good. It depends on the rain from God."

Wang Pingan thought for a while, and said, "I'm afraid there will be a drought this year, and the water level of the river will be lower. It will be even more difficult for you to carry water. By the way, has this good and small river ever dried up, and has the river bed been exposed?"

The old people said: "That's not the case. I've never seen the bottom of this river exposed, and there has never been a drought. However, if there is a lot of rain, the river often overflows."

"Will the floods submerge farmland and housing?" Wang Ping'an asked.

The people and the officials shook their heads together, and drove four ways: "My lord, the two rivers in Gyeongju are relatively peaceful. There have been no major floods in this dynasty, but due to the water level, it takes too much effort to fetch water, and if the canals are built If it is, it is easy to divert the channel. It was repaired in the Sui Dynasty, but it may not have been well designed. As a result, the river was diverted and caused floods. Since then, no canals have been repaired. The strength has been repaired."

Wang Ping'an sighed, it's all about money, the reality is so, there is nothing to do!

He also shook his head, sighed, and said a few words of comfort to the people, telling them to stay in the countryside as much as possible. Even if there is a drought this year, the government will give money to the people according to the new disaster relief law, so that they don't leave easily and beg for food.

After a few words of consolation, Wang Pingan asked the people to leave, and before leaving, he asked his subordinates to give each of the people ten copper coins, which was regarded as a consultation fee, and could also be called a shock fee.The official only asked a few words, and seeing the appearance of these common people, it seemed that they were frightened enough.

The people left, but Wang Pingan didn't move. He stood on the bridge, patting the dilapidated railing, and didn't speak for a long time.The officials all stood behind him, looking at Lord Inspector in fear.The more Wang Pingan remained silent, the more frightened they became. It was really hard to guess what the Lord Duke was thinking.It is the most terrible thing in the officialdom when a subordinate cannot figure out the mind of the boss, it means that the official road is blocked!

After standing still for nearly two quarters of an hour, Wang Ping'an turned around and said, "Show me the direction of Xiaoliang River."

Che Sitong hurried forward, pointed to the northwest, and said, "It's more than two miles away from here, less than three miles away. However, the Xiaoliang River is narrower than the Daliang River, but it is longer, running through most of Gyeongju. There are more villages along the river than here, and the life of the common people is better than here in Daliang River, and there are fewer people fleeing in disaster years."

Wang Pingan looked in the direction of Xiaoliang River, but he couldn't see much because of the trees. He frowned and said, "Forget it, it's probably not much better than here, so I won't go to see it. I just came to Gyeongju, too much I can't control the things in the city, I can only control the things in the city first, let's go to the city to have a look!"

He got off the wooden bridge, got on his horse, and returned to the city, followed by the officials.

Entering Qingzhou City again, Wang Ping'an pointed to the dilapidated houses on both sides of the street, and said, "What is the first thing a foreigner sees when entering the city? It can't be the governor's mansion, but these houses facing the street. Master Che, and everyone , look at how dilapidated this house is, and some corners of the walls have urine marks and feces... Is this absurd? When a foreigner enters the city, he sees this appearance, and then he sees the governor's mansion. That look, what do you think they will think?"

The other officials slowed down their mounts and stayed as far away from Wang Pingan as they could, but Che Sitong had no way to hide, so he had to bite the bullet and listen. He thought, "We can't blame us for this, it's not just Qing The state is like this, which other states and counties are not like this?"

Qingzhou City is the city of Heshui County, and Di Renjie is the county magistrate here, a serious local administrator. He is also very dissatisfied with the situation in the city, saying: "There should be shops at the gates of every city. A good place for business, a place for distribution of goods, Chang'an is like this, Zhuque Avenue, you know, that is the first thing that outsiders see after entering Chang'an."

As a superior, Di Renjie is very aware of leadership, and what leaders are best at is nothing more than speaking, speaking to subordinates, and subordinates have to listen.

He also said: "The feeling of Suzaku Street to foreigners is only two words, that is prosperity. Because of the prosperity, businessmen from all over the world will know that doing business in Chang'an can make money, so they are willing to set up business in Chang'an. Buying and selling. If there is a lot of buying and selling, someone needs to do the work, and the local people will have the work to do, and they will have the money to make ends meet. It won’t happen that if it doesn’t rain, the people’s homes will stop cooking, and they won’t run away to beg. So, on the surface There is still work to be done!"

Qiu Tingxuan also said: "Yes, at least the streets can't be filled with feces!"

Che Sitong thought to himself: "It's all right for the governor to scold us, who will let him be a high official! Although you two are county magistrates, your official positions are smaller than mine, and you dare to teach me a lesson. It's really unreasonable!"

It doesn't matter what he thinks in his heart, what matters is that he dare not say it out of his mouth.Che Sitong said with a smile: "The rural people in Qingzhou can't compare with the people in Chang'an. If you want to talk about houses...you can't say that. The people are poor, and they can't afford to repair their houses. As for This, this filth by the street, used to be picked up and transported out of the city to make fertilizer, but this year there will be a drought, and the common people don’t want to fertilize the field, no matter how fertile it is, it will not grow without water Crops, if the fertilizer needed is less, naturally no one will pick it up, so..."

Wang Pingan didn't listen to his explanation, and waved his hands and said, "In short, it's just a word, all the responsibility is because God doesn't rain, and it has nothing to do with you officials, right?"

Not only was Che Sitong's scalp numb, but even his eyebrows were numb. He had never seen such a difficult boss. He said: "I dare not shirk my responsibility in a lowly position. But, but... this natural disaster..." He said no again Go down, turn your head and stare at the officials fiercely, if you don't speak again, be careful and I will deal with you when you turn around!

The officials had no choice but to harden their scalps, and said: "Yes, yes, this natural disaster is coming, there is really no way, and the humble officials really have nothing to do!"

Wang Ping'an snorted twice, quite dissatisfied with the officials in Gyeongju, these people are too much to dawdle, let's see how we can fix them.

After walking along the street for a while, I saw a few bustling places with relatively concentrated businesses. It can be regarded as a big market in Gyeongju, with hundreds of merchants, and Jin Sanquan's shop is also here.

Seeing a large group of officials coming, the merchants thought to themselves: "Isn't it true that the governor Wang brought so many of his men to collect taxes on his first day in office?"

Jin Sanquan led a group of businessmen, big and small, and ran out to greet Wang Ping'an and the officials.People in Gyeongju official circles, including small officials like Cui Dawei, looked down on businessmen. Seeing the businessmen running over to flatter them, no one got off their horses, they all looked at Jin Sanquan and the others proudly.As long as it is not an occasion for merchants to pay, they will never look at these merchants.

However, Wang Ping'an was very polite. He got off his horse, greeted the merchants, talked and laughed with them, and even asked the merchants to point out his own shops. He actually went in and walked around a few shops and bought a few things.

This pretentiousness, in the eyes of the officials, is "too easy-going", but in the eyes of the businessmen, they all feel that Wang Cishi is a model of loving the people like a son, a master of Qingtian, a capable minister and official, and a noble man. Candidate for the first prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.Anyway, what do businessmen think of Wang Ping'an, how pleasing to the eye!

After inspecting the city, Wang Ping'an went back to the governor's mansion, reprimanded the officials, and then ended the meeting. After lunch, he changed into civilian clothes, called Di Renjie and Qiu Tingxuan, and asked them to go out of the city with him. Go to Weibo for a private visit.

The three of them rode horses, and when they left the city, it was already dark.

Di Renjie said: "Brother, it's already such an hour. I'm afraid I won't be able to return to the city tonight. Are you going to spend the night outside the city?"

Qiu Tingxuan also said: "I'm afraid I got a lodging from the people's house."

But Wang Pingan said: "Let's go for a walk by the river first. I have to think about building the canal. If we want to solve this year's drought, I'm afraid we have to do a lot of things!"

(End of this chapter)