Bachelor

Chapter 431 Qing Jiangpu ([-])
The rain had stopped, and a crescent moon hung high in the sky, making the ground white.The bluestone slabs on the embankment are even as flat as paper, like a mirror under the moonlight.

However, the Yellow River, which was already rising, was still roaring, shining yellow light in the dark night, like a galloping dragon, which made people's eyes dazzled.

Even though he was unwilling in his heart, under Xia Yan's urging, the boatman still bravely sailed the boat to the south bank.

Knowing how powerful it was, Xia Yan immediately led his men to jump onto the embankment, and said coldly, "Come here, bring a shovel and a crowbar, and remove the stone slabs from here."

"Yes." With an order, several yamen servants began to move their hands.

The wind was strong, and under the clear moon, Fu Lin felt a little chilly, and his voice trembled: "Master Xia, what the boatman said just now is too outrageous, more than 60 taels of silver, more than 30 kilometers of dams, turned into tofu , it was actually made under the noses of our Hedao Yamen, it's really unbelievable..."

Xia Yan suddenly calmed down, and said lightly: "Before we broke the river embankment, we didn't know what was going on, and we couldn't just listen to the boatman's side of things. Mr. Fu, you seem a little cold?"

Fu Lin's body was shaking uncontrollably: "My lord."

Xia Yan: "Don't worry, calm down and say something else."

"Yes yes yes." Fu Lin also felt a little embarrassed in front of Xia Yan, so he quickly took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.He had nothing to say, and said, "My lord, I heard that Yang Shoufu personally appointed you to come to Nanhe Hedao this time?"

"No." Xia Yan replied with a smile: "Sun Dan and Sun Jingyuan recommended it to His Majesty, but it has nothing to do with Lord Shoufu."

"Ah, it was recommended by Sun Jingyuan." Fu Lin suddenly became a little excited: "Fu Lin admires Sun Jingyuan's talent and learning with all his heart. It's so exciting that Mr. Xia is actually familiar with Sun Dan. If there is a chance in the future, I will return Please recommend one or two in front of Sun Jingyuan, so that the lower officials can ask Sun Dan for advice on how to control the river."

Xia Yan suddenly smiled: "Actually, Sun Jingyuan and I only met once, and we are not familiar with each other. Speaking of which, I had a little misunderstanding with him back then. Now, Sun Dan is a close minister of the emperor, a candidate for the future cabinet .Xia Yan is just a small military officer. I thought I would never have any contact with him again. But I didn't want Sun Dan to miss me as an official, and recommended me in front of His Majesty, which is really surprising!"

"It's a good thing to remember Sun Jingyuan, so why haven't I been remembered?" Fu Lin sighed, and then lowered his voice: "I heard from people that the imperial court intends to combine the three river defenses together. , set up a general river yamen, with the same organization as the chief envoy. That is to say, the governor of the river will be concurrently held by a second-rank official."

Fu Lin's heart suddenly trembled. He also learned the news through the same year in Beijing.This political reform can be described as earth-shattering. If the three river defenses were merged into one, it would mean that there would be an extra staff of chief ministers, and I don't know how many people would soar into the sky.Xia Yan's appointment as Nanhe Prime Minister He Dao at this juncture, is it to prepare for the establishment of the Zonghe Yamen in the future? Is this Xia Yan going to be of great use?

If that's the case, a sixth-rank speech officer suddenly becomes a second-rank official, what else can it be if it's not going straight to Qingyun?
Hearing Fu Lin's question, Xia Yan didn't shy away from it.In fact, since he came to Nanhe Hedao, the people in the Hedao Yamen are very repulsive to him.In a place like Hedao, a lot of money is transferred every year, and a huge interest group has been formed, so naturally he is not willing to let an outsider like him intervene.And Fu Lin was not well received in Hedao Yamen, so the two got very close.Perhaps, from the bottom of his heart, Xia Yan already regarded Fu Lin as one of his own.

Xia Yan didn't even think about it, and replied directly: "The imperial court has this idea. In fact, this opinion was put forward by Sun Dan. Sun Jingyuan said that the river course and the water transport are originally integrated. Not only is it unnecessary to divide them into three sections, but it is anti-artificial. However, river regulation is a major event that requires national mobilization. If it is divided into sections, the three sections of the river will work independently, which is not conducive to overall planning and cooperation, and there will be a lot of trouble. It is better to combine them, and it will also facilitate the use of river project funds. and mobilize local manpower and material resources."

Fu Lin thinks it is true: "That's true. To control the river, we really need everyone to work together. If we each do our own thing, there will be many demon moths. For example, if the upstream wants to release water and flood, if the downstream side does not Coordinate well, if you are not careful, it will be an unprecedented flood."

Xia Yan nodded: "Also, the imperial court allocates so much Hegong silver every year. If an independent government office is not established to manage it, there will be more people handling it, and it is inevitable that some people will reach out for ink."

Just as he was talking, several yamen servants had already removed some bluestone slabs on the river embankment.

After digging, both Xia Yan and Fu Lin lifted their spirits, and they hurried over to watch, without bothering to talk.

Originally, according to Nanhe Channel, the dams in this area were all built of bluestone, but when the stone slabs on the surface were pulled apart, a layer of loess was exposed.

Fu Lin was taken aback, and couldn't help shouting: "Why is this, isn't it said in the official document that they are all stones?"

A yamen servant asked Xia Yan: "My lord, are you still digging?"

Xia Yan's face was livid: "Dig, keep digging."

According to the specifications of a general embankment, even if it is not an all-stone structure, it should be rammed earth underneath.It's strange to say that the yamen servant's hoe digs into the soil easily.In just a moment, a big hole was dug out below.

Now, everyone felt the seriousness of the problem.

The yamen servants also stopped: "My lord, are you still digging?"

Xia Yan paused, grabbed a handful of soil in his hand, squeezed it lightly, and water came out.

Fu Lin felt a little fearful in his heart, and timidly called out, "Master Xia."

At this moment, the color on Xia Yan's face was gone, and he looked extremely ferocious under the moonlight: "Who built this dam, who inspected it, and who allocated the money?"

"grown ups……"

"Say!" Xia Yan stood up abruptly, and immediately threw the ball of wet mud onto Fu Lin: "Fu Lin, I remember that you are an accountant, the ins and outs of more than 60 taels of silver, labor, materials, and construction period But you are the accountant, say!"

Fu Lin felt as cold as if he had fallen into a hole in the ice, but he also knew that if he didn't explain the matter clearly at this moment, he would not be able to bear the blame.

He raised his head and said in a loud voice: "Lord Xia, I'm just an accountant. Lord Wang asked someone to repair the embankment. After the completion, Eunuch Gan inspected and accepted it. In the end, Lord Wang allocated the money. Exit Guan Ben also thought about coming to Suining to have a look in person, but every time he said he wanted to come, Mr. Wang always said that Suining would be in charge of him personally, so I don't need to come to troublesome things."

"Wang Shu and Gan Bida did it in person?" Xia Yan's pupils shrank suddenly, and he fell silent.

Wang Shu is the general manager of the Nanhe River, a fourth-rank official, not only in charge of the Nanhe river, but also in charge of the water transportation of the Grand Canal from Zhenjiang to Shandong, holding a lot of power.In terms of its prestige and power, it is three points higher than the governor of the second rank, and now it is Xia Yan, the immediate boss of Prime Minister He Dao.This Wang Shu has already taken refuge in Huang Jin, and Huang Jin spoke for him in the capital, and now he has won the emperor's favor.It is said that after the unification of the three sections of the river, this Wang Shu will serve as the governor of the river and become a second-rank official.

As for Gan Bida, the godson of Qian Ning, the eunuch who was in charge of the chief inspector of ceremonies during Emperor Wuzong's time, after Qian Ning's fall, he was very depressed for a while.Later, he climbed to Huang Jin somehow, and now he is working as a eunuch in the Nanhe River Channel of Nanhe Caoyun.

These two people have a great relationship with Huang Jin, and ordinary people can't afford to mess with them.

Fu Lin also knew how powerful it was, so he didn't dare to talk nonsense, and just stood there silently.

"Are you still digging?" the yamen servants asked again.

"We can't dig any more. This embankment will collapse if we dig any more." Xia Yan came to his senses, waved his hand, and signaled the servants to leave.

Then I asked Fu Lin: "Master Fu, let me ask you, if you look at the current embankment, how much will it take for thirty miles? You are an accountant and have experience in river control. Tell me."

Fu Lin replied in a low voice: "If it's just what it looks like now, a maximum of 10 taels will be enough. In other words..."

"That is to say, the other 50 taels were swallowed up in such a vague way?" Xia Yan asked sharply.

Fu Lin nodded silently.

"Wang Shu is a thief, so bold, I will go to the imperial court to impeach this corrupt official." Xia Yan was so angry that his eyes were red.

"My lord, this... I'm afraid I can't sue Lord Wang?"

"Why, are you scared?" Xia Yan sneered.

"No, I'm just worried..." Fu Lin said in a low voice, "Even if your lord wrote the memorial, but Mr. Wang belongs to Eunuch Huang, and Eunuch Huang is responsible for approving the red. I'm afraid His Majesty hasn't seen the memorandum yet." , was left by Eunuch Huang.”

Xia Yan continued to sneer: "Should I just wait and do nothing?"

Fu Linxin said: "This matter is really difficult to handle. There are only a few people in the world who can move Wang Shu, such as Yang Tinghe and Guo Xun."Besides, this matter in the officialdom will lead to troubles when Huang Jin is brought out.

He couldn't bear to remind Xia Yan that he could only keep silent at this moment.

At this time, there was a dull rumbling sound in the distance, and there were occasional flashes of light.

This bright light startled Xia Yan and Fu Lin, they turned their heads to look at the same time, but saw that the bright light was in the direction of Suining City ten miles ahead.

"What the hell are you doing?" Xia Yan was puzzled and couldn't help asking.

But as soon as the words fell, I could only feel my feet trembling, and then there was a sound of rumbling water coming from the front.The sound became louder and louder, making the ground crisp.

"Ah!" Fu Lin exclaimed in a low voice.

Xia Yan still didn't understand what was going on, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Fu Lin's face was as white as a dead man's: "The embankment has burst!"

"what!"

"The embankment has burst!" Fu Lin yelled hoarsely.

(End of this chapter)