Ever since Li You proposed the fund-raising strategy for flood control, County Magistrate Chen had been thinking over and over again in the past few days and found that in order to complete this achievement before the triennial assessment, only Li You's method was feasible. As for the political risks it brought,
It is very likely to be resolved.
Finally, he made a decision, implemented Li You's idea, and reported it to the Ministry of Industry of the Imperial Court.
On May 30th, the magistrate of Chen County summoned Zhou Xian Cheng, Chief Wang, Master Huang, and Li Dianshi to his official room to discuss water conservancy matters.
In the flower hall of the official palace, Magistrate Chen was seated at the top, the eighth-rank Prime Minister Zhou County and the ninth-rank Royal Lord Bo were sitting across from each other. Master Huang was at the bottom, and Li Dianshi could only stand behind Master Huang.
First of all, we discussed the budget. Mr. Huang fiddled with an abacus, and he turned out to be a man with many skills. He muttered something: "If the bottom is two feet wide, the height is one and a half feet, and the top is five feet wide, the materials used for each foot of embankment...
…”
Li You saw how hard Master Huang was working and was waiting impatiently. He calculated it in his mind and said, "One point, eighty seven and five square meters, no, it's one and seven-eighths square."
Everyone just said that Li You was talking nonsense. After a while, Mr. Huang suddenly raised his head and said with shock on his face, "It is true."
Everyone in the house was shocked. Li You was immediately intoxicated with the vanity of a math master in the early 21st century. From then on, he was famous not only for his poetry, economic talent, but also for his mathematical expertise.
Master Huang continued to calculate: "One and seven-eighths of the material is needed for each foot, and the total length of the river bank is 3,150 feet. A total of materials are needed..."
Li You thought for more than a minute and calculated the result in front of Mr. Huang. When he was about to answer, someone rushed to answer: "Eleven thousand eight hundred square meters!"
Li You was shocked. There was a junior high school-level speed calculation master in this room? He followed the voice and saw that it was Chen Zhixian.
Chen Zhixian looked at Li Youmei with a look of disbelief and said: "There is no need to show off if you have some small skills."
When Mr. Huang finished the calculation, it turned out to be 11,800 square meters.
Li You immediately changed his face and said: "The great master is mighty!"
For a while, there was a flood of flattery from Zhou Xian Cheng and Wang Zongzhu. Only Master Huang calmly continued his calculations without being affected at all, as if he had known all this for a long time.
Meng Yasheng's famous saying came to Li You's mind: "Those who work hard govern others, and those who work hard govern others." He also passed arithmetic on his way to the imperial examination, and Chen Zhixian was able to get the fifth place in Jinshi (the ranking is higher, but it is still quite impressive)
(the ranking of people's sorrow and anger), he can be called extremely smart, and it is not surprising that he can calculate quickly. But he doesn't bother to calculate. As the saying goes, it is impossible, but it is not possible.
After waiting for a while, Master Huang estimated the total cost of materials: 83,000 taels of silver.
Chen Zhixian frowned and said, "It's a bit too much." The cost of materials alone exceeded the entire original cost estimate.
Master Huang said helplessly: "This county does not produce stone materials, so we need to purchase them from surrounding counties, so the materials are expensive."
Xujiang County is a low-lying plain water town prone to flooding. Chen Zhixian, Huang Shiye, Zhou Xiancheng, and Wang Zhuxian are all outsiders. After thinking about it, I have the impression that there are only a few small mounds in this county and there seems to be no stone resources.
Zhou Xian Cheng said: "Why not build more earthen weirs and use stone ponds in critical places? This may reduce the cost of stone materials."
If the plan to build a stone embankment was abandoned, Magistrate Chen was reluctant to give up. He wanted to build a long stone embankment that ran for twenty miles, and its reputation would last for at least decades. You may not have noticed, but Su Embankment is still being recited for hundreds of years.
, how do you know that Chen Gongdi will not be spread hundreds of years later?
Chen Zhixian was unwilling to give in and turned to ask Li You, the only local man present: "Is it true that there is no stone in this county?"
Li You hesitated and said: "Back to the eldest master, it seems that there is, but..."
"What you have is what you are, and what you don't have is what you don't have. What do you mean by hesitating?"
Li You said: "In the north of the county, near Taihu Lake, in a remote area, there is Feiyanji, which is twenty feet high and two or three miles in diameter. It has many stones..."
Chen Zhixian was overjoyed and said: "This is enough!"
Master Huang also said: "With this one item, you can save tens of thousands of dollars."
This will be a tourist attraction in later generations, Li You thought in his heart, and then reported: "There are many rumors among the ignorant people in the countryside. They suppressed evil spirits under Feiyanji, and cut mountains to get rocks for fear of causing criticism."
"You don't have to worry about the strange power that disturbs the gods. Exploding mountains and taking rocks to benefit the common people is a great good deed for thousands of families to give birth to Buddhas. Why should we fear evil spirits?" Magistrate Chen made a decision: "Hire laborers for the next month.
Husband, quarry the stone to make stone strips for storage. After the autumn, the whole county will collect civilian labor and start construction." He ordered the king to record: "You go to check the household Bo Dingkou, measure the number of people, and order three people to go to work every autumn.
Ten of them, those who disobey the order will have their armors and shackles on their heads to show off to the public, and the whole group will sit together and serve as corvees!"
He also ordered the Prime Minister of Zhou County: "Although we banned mining after Jiashen, the amount of gunpowder needed to blast the mountains and extract rocks this time is still not easy to purchase. You must go to Nanjing to purchase quickly. This matter must be completed before July."
Finally, he told Mr. Huang: "You and Li Dianshi posted a list and invited wealthy households to donate money, and collected at least 50,000 taels. From now on, the county will not take any of the cross-river money, and will only share the profits with the investors according to their shares."
Li You watched Chen Zhixian issuing orders, and he mourned in his heart for the future tourist resort. He was afraid that the entire Feiyanji would be blown up. Even the most cruel county magistrate in later generations has never heard of anyone who dares to make a decision.
The whole mountain was razed to the ground. But... I felt a little envious.
Zhou Xian Cheng and Wang Zhubo were dissatisfied and helpless. Chen Zhixian left all the hard work in the preliminary work to them. Master Huang and Li You were only responsible for collecting money...
After a business talk, everyone was thirsty. Tea was served at the door, and everyone sipped the tea and chatted about the romance, the romance of the country, and the people in the village.
Zhou Xian Cheng glanced at Li You and said with a smile as if he was careless: "Recently, there are rumors that Yan Daxiucai, who has eyes as high as the sky, has suffered a lot."
As soon as Zhouxian Cheng opened his mouth, Li You secretly thought that something was wrong, this old thief must not have anything nice to say.
Chief Wang asked with great interest: "Who dares to let him suffer?"
"A few days ago, Li Huan, a prostitute in this county, wanted to leave the court. Yan Xiucai paid eighty taels of silver and won the first prize. He entered the bridal chamber with one foot but was kicked out again."
"Who is this?" Wang Zhubo seemed to be complimenting him in cross talk.
"Far away and yet so close, it's none other than Li Dianshi."
"Oh? How powerful is Li Dianshi? Can he make Yan Xiucai suffer?" Wang Zhubo was a little unconvinced.
The Prime Minister of Zhou County said without a smile: "Li Dianshi is very smart. He only said that Shangguan chose his concubine and scared away the Yan scholar!"
When Master Huang heard this, he gave Li You an appreciative look. Well, Li You really worked hard, even at the cost of offending Yan Xiucai.
But I heard Zhou Xian Cheng continue to say: "I heard that Li Dianshi was very happy that night. After driving away Yan Xiucai, he stayed and stayed with his two sisters until dawn. Haha! I thought that Yan Xiucai could not afford eighty taels.
But Li Dianshi randomly used an excuse to take the lead, which is ridiculous."
This is an eye-opener for Li You... If you choose a concubine for the eldest master at the expense of offending others, you are diligent in your work, but after choosing a concubine, what does it mean to sleep with her first?
The Royal Lord, Bo Bu Lao, was only in his thirties, and he always liked to listen to these rosy rumors. At this time, he was speechless in surprise, and looked at Li You with "admiration and admiration" in his eyes. He said, "My dear brother, you are really a warrior."
Li You cursed Zhou Xian Cheng and Yan Xiucai in his heart. He was not a fool. He could guess the cause and effect after a moment's thought. Zhou Xian Cheng obviously knew something inside. In order to drive away Yan Xiucai, Sister Li Mei must have let Yan Xiucai know.
What could the scholar guess? Now the only ones who knew the inside story were himself, Sister Li Meicai, Yan Xiucai and several others. Apart from Yan Xiucai, where else could Zhou County Cheng get the information?
It must be Yan Xiucai who asked Zhou Xiancheng to partner up to rectify himself! In fact, it was Li You who was young and impetuous and always had some shortcomings. For things like buying concubines, he could just find a few helpers to spread the word. He, who was considered by everyone to be a close confidant of the county magistrate, personally came forward
, wouldn’t it make people think of the magistrate?
He couldn't breathe, so Li You put on a calm face and glanced at Chen Zhixian secretly from the corner of his eye. He didn't notice any emotions at all, and he was quite intangible. He also saw that Master Huang's expression changed and he frowned in thought.
The look made my heart skip a beat.
Prince Bo also noticed that the atmosphere in the room was strange, so he laughed and said, "There are still business matters to be done." Then he left.
Then everyone said goodbye one after another and left the official residence of Chen Zhixian County.
It is difficult for Li You to explain this matter clearly. He said that the woman and the eldest man had different personalities and therefore they did not get along? Everyone thought this was a quibble, so it would be better not to mention it. Damn it, he still underestimated the power of rumors.
Chen Zhixian is a face-saving person who doesn't say anything, but...
On that day, the Grand Master issued a notice to establish a new river engineering institute and appointed Mr. Huang as the ambassador of the river engineering institute. However, he did not mention a word about Li You, nor did he appoint Li You as deputy envoy as rumored.
In the eyes of sensible people, Li You's market price dropped sharply.