A few days later, the two finally arrived in Hanoi County and arrived at the Xinglan Grand Canal.
Ren Ning calculated the time and took a short rest at the ferry dock.
The two of them went to a restaurant in Linjiang, asked for a private room, and looked outside while eating.
"There are so many ships." Lei Er was impressed, "They are densely packed, one after another."
If it weren't for the flying fireballs and crossbow arrows in the sky, and the desperate shouting and killing in the water, he would have thought it was the East China Sea of Baekje.
Ren Ning laughed dumbly, "It's quite a lot."
It is the harvest season and preparation for winter. In addition to the usual passenger and merchant ships, there are also many grain transport ships.
The wide canal is crowded with boats coming and going.
Huh
The two of them exclaimed in surprise.
Looking west along the canal, there is a majestic bridge under construction in the distance.
There are densely packed workers working in the fields on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Those who built bridges, those who built bridges, and those who built roads, were all very busy.
"Little brother?" Ren Ning took out some broken silver and put it on the table, "We just came back from the north and found out that there is a new bridge. What's going on?"
His eyes flashed.
There is fertile land on both sides of the canal, and the owners behind it are almost all the high gates of Star City.
It is not easy to occupy such fields to build bridges and open roads at the same time.
In previous years, even if the Ministry of Industry personally intervened to mediate, it often failed.
The waiter's eyes lit up.
He didn't care whether Ren Ning was from the north or the south, he decisively collected the broken silver on the table.
"Your Majesty, you have asked the right person." He smiled proudly, "I know the new bridge very well. It has been secretly scolded by our boss."
Ren Ning and Lei Er looked at each other, not surprised.
Within a few dozen miles of this place, there is only the Dujiang Pier where you can get on and off boats or cross the river. People going north and south have to squeeze through here, and the flow of people is huge.
The bridge looks quite big. Once it is repaired, the number of customers passing by will be reduced. No wonder the owner of the restaurant will scold her.
However, this river crossing pier was built early and its area is relatively small.
As the canal becomes busier and busier, both the pier and the original old bridge have been overwhelmed.
For example, last fall, the Starfall Army passed by here when they moved north. As a result, the entire army got stuck on the south bank of the canal, and it took more than ten days to cross the river.
At that time, I was severely complained by the forward leader Chu Jinding.
However, complaints are complaints. Most of the surrounding land is privately owned, and the owners behind it cannot be underestimated.
Although the local county government and even the Hanoi County Sheriff know that this place has become outdated and dilapidated, they still cannot easily expand it.
In the end, I could only make do with it and keep using it.
"The two guests are here for the first time, so they must not know which wealthy family owns most of the land on both sides of the canal."
Lei Er winked at Ren Ning with a strange look on his face.
They do know this.
As expected, the waiter lowered his voice.
"I heard from my boss that most of the land here is owned by the Taishi Mansion in Xingji City."
"Do you two gentlemen know what the Grand Master's Mansion is?"
Tsk tsk.
The waiter shook his head repeatedly.
"That is not an ordinary family. It is said that the screen wall of the Grand Master's Mansion is also engraved with the holy reputation left by His Majesty the Founding Patriarch. It seems to be called "Eternal Master of the Emperor."
"The county magistrate may be great, the county governor may be helpful, but you don't even dare to fart in front of the grand master's house."
cough.
Ren Ning coughed lightly, interrupting the waiter's bragging.
"Second brother, let's talk about that one
Is there another road to Xinqiao? Taishi Mansion and so on are too far away from us ordinary people. We have to pass here every year going north and south, so the bridge is more important."
Besides, he didn't spend money to hear stories about his "home".
"Yes, yes." The waiter nodded quickly, "As for the new bridge and the road, there's actually nothing much to talk about."
"It was last year, I guess. The eldest son of the Grand Master's Mansion was named Ren."
The waiter thought for a while before he remembered.
"By the way, my name is Ren Rong. He went back to Xingluo County to visit relatives and passed by here."
"I don't know if Ren Rong took the wrong medicine, or if a rich and powerful person felt that he had nowhere to spend his money, and suddenly decided to build a bridge for people to cross the river in the north."
Ren Ning and Lei Er looked at each other again.
Ren Rong once raced the Dragon Boat Festival with the two of them, and they knew each other quite well.
He is not a hot-headed person or someone who dislikes money. There must be reasons for him or the Grand Master's Palace to build bridges and roads.
"The Imperial Master's Office is out, where's the money for road construction?" Lei Er chewed his favorite beans, "Did the Hubu pull it out?"
"Household Department?" The waiter in the store said with contempt on his face, "Those bastards who collect taxes are really fast, how can they allocate money?"
Ren Ning asked innocently: "It costs a lot to build bridges and roads. If the Ministry of Household Affairs doesn't pay, then who will pay? Is it a local good person?"
"Of course not." The waiter didn't answer the question and just sneered, "You two gentlemen must have read the recent newspapers."
He didn't wait for Ren and Ning to reply, and pointed directly to the west.
"There was a big battle in Dingxi County at the end of last month. Although we drove out the Xiliang people, we suffered heavy casualties. It is said that the entire Dingxi garrison, ranging from county captains to small soldiers, died in the battle."
well.
As he spoke, the waiter sighed and his eyes turned red.
In the blink of an eye, he became gnashing his teeth again.
"But people coming and going on the canal have told me recently that the Ministry of Household Affairs has been evading the situation and refused to spend money and food to ask for help from Dingxi County."
"At first, they said that the news in the newspapers was not trustworthy. Later, General Huo from Yancheng Fortress finally sent back the battle report, but they also said that they needed time to raise food and grass and that there was no one to lead the team to the west."
"I don't know what's going on now."
"Fuck him." The waiter cursed angrily.
"No one is leading the team? We ordinary people are not stupid. It is obvious that the Ministry of Household Affairs feels that all the people in Dingxi County are almost dead and it is not worth spending money and food to save people."
cough.
Ren Ning coughed again.
"What the Household Department did is a bit excessive. When I have time, I will write an article in the newspaper to scold them to death."
Phew.
The waiter was originally furious, but now he couldn't help laughing.
He looked Ren Ning up and down.
"Come on, Sir. That newspaper only publishes two copies in a whole month. It's not easy to publish an article on it. If you don't say number one, you must at least have the experience and experience of Master Hongguang."
When he mentioned Master Hongguang, the waiter's face darkened again.
He cursed loudly, "Jinlin Guards are really nothing. They took Master Hongguang away for no reason and they haven't released him yet."
Seeing the strange looks in Ren Ning's eyes, the waiter scratched his head.
"I'm so sorry, you two guests. My uncle got sick while doing corvee service in Misty County in the west. He happened to meet Master Hongguang and survived. So"
Ren Ning nodded and asked a few questions about Master Hongguang before turning the question back to the new road and the new bridge.
"That road and bridge," the waiter slowly wiped the table, "the Ministry of Household Affairs refused to pay, and the Ministry of Works refused to send people. The Taishi Mansion spent its own money to find people to repair them."
"To be honest, I really can't understand the thoughts of the noble men of Xingji City."
"Fill it out
The land belongs to Taishi Mansion. They have a lot of land, so there is nothing to say about filling it. But the Ministry of Industry does not take any action, and the workers invited to build the road are not serving as slaves, and it will cost a lot of money.
.”
"It can only be said that they have too much money."