Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 5 Coming ashore
"How have the local villagers responded in the past few days?"

Ximen Bao called his servant and asked him about the news he had gathered in the city and the countryside.

After investigating the environment around Ye County and interviewing many locals, Ximen Bao learned that although the Zhang River was fast-flowing, enough to kill people in an instant, the frequency of flooding was not very high.

This should have been a good thing, but unfortunately the local gentry and officials took advantage of it to collude with the witches, falsely claiming that this was the reward for "sacrificing to ghosts and gods" and making money every year.

The folks in the countryside were uneducated and knew little about astronomy, so they just thought that this was indeed the credit of the sacrifices. Therefore, after enduring for so many years, most of them only fled to other places when they really could not afford it.

In addition, because the city is located on a high ground, the reclaimed fields are some distance away from the Zhang River, making it inconvenient to get water. In addition, the witches and officials urge them all the time and whip them every year, making the villagers tired and poor. More and more people flee, and the fields become barren, and when the sky gets high, there will be drought.

therefore,

Ximen Bao intended to build a canal in Ye County.

But building a canal is not something that can be accomplished overnight.

Seeing that the villagers in Ye County were deceived by the witch, we can know that it is not easy for the local people to think long-term.

Ximen Bao could only take advantage of his new appointment, before he had finished his three major projects, to pass on the order to build the canal, plan out the routes of several water diversion channels, and recruit laborers and slaves, thus making a pretty good start.

But as time went on, many people began to complain, saying that they were born and raised in Ye and had experienced carrying water for many years, but their hard work could not compare to the hard work of Ye Ling in building the canal.

"The complaints are getting more and more intense," the servant replied. "Even those who have received favors before are complaining a little."

After negotiating with the local gentry, Ximen Bao asked for a lot of money from them. Part of it was used to repair canals and build temples, and part of it was used to compensate those who had suffered from the "He Bo Marrying a Wife" incident.

Because over the years, too many villagers fled from Ye County and few stayed in the local area, the gentry, who had already paid a lot of money, were not stingy with compensation. Since the county magistrate asked for it, they each gave some.

The latter was naturally very grateful to Ye Ling Ximen Bao after receiving the money.

However, there are too few wise people in the world. After being conscripted to repair the canal, some people forgot about Ximen Bao's kindness and complained about Ye Ling's "making trouble out of nothing."

In response, Ximen Bao said, "The people can enjoy the completion, but they cannot worry about the beginning."

"Now they complain about me because of the hard work of building the canal, but a hundred years later, their descendants will remember my contribution!"

"You continue to patrol the countryside. If the villagers are just complaining, don't bother. If anyone wants to sabotage the canal repair, report to me!"

The servant responded and retreated.

And on the other side,
After debugging for a long time, He Bo finally succeeded in getting himself ashore.

Maybe it's due to power limitations,
When he was in Zhanghe, he could do whatever he wanted and had the aura and feeling of being "all-knowing and all-powerful here".

But once on shore,

It's like a fish out of water or a plant without roots, and everything is at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, although the feeling was bad, it was not like the situation at Fajiu Mountain or the Yellow River, where there was a huge sense of rejection that made it difficult for He Bo to survive.

At this moment, He Bo felt
It is just like a person stepping into the long-rotten mud by the river. At first, no changes are noticed, but after a while, the person is slowly absorbed by the mud and it becomes difficult to get out of the mud.

But if he really couldn't hold on any longer, He Bo would just think about it, and the illusion he created would dissipate on the spot and return to the Zhang River. That would be it!

No worries on the road ahead,

He Bo could naturally ignore the feeling of discomfort. He paced back and forth along the river bank with his hands behind his back, enjoying the "down-to-earth" feeling he had not had in years.

When he had enjoyed himself enough, he began to think about taking it a step further.

He Bo walked towards the direction of Ye County and saw many people digging a canal.

He had sharp ears and eyes, and even from a distance, he could see the shirtless villagers wiping the sweat off their faces, and then said to his companions, "Let's not talk about whether this canal can be repaired, but I don't know how much use it will have if it is repaired."

"We only have so many people in Yedi right now, so why would we need so much water?"

Few people,

Less food is needed.

There will naturally be less land to cultivate.
In the eyes of some people, instead of working hard to dig a few canals, it is better to just fetch water from the Zhang River during the busy farming season.

"Look at what you're saying... Don't complain about the hassle of carrying water during the busy farming season!"

There are also sensible people who say, "Being busy for a short time is different from being busy for a lifetime. Don't you know this truth?"

"This canal has been repaired and is right here. Can it be taken away by someone and made their own?"

"Last year, you carried water here and there, and half of the bucket was empty. You almost collapsed from exhaustion, and you lay on the bed howling. You forgot!"

The man was embarrassed and didn't talk to the other party, but he still stiffened his neck and said, "Hmph!"

"The canal is to divert water from the Zhang River, I'm afraid it will offend the River God!" "Well, speaking of the River God... I heard something interesting these days!"

I was just so tired that when someone started a conversation, someone else immediately joined in.

The news of this world is circulating,
Convenient,
It's not convenient.

It is certainly not possible to say that it spread across the country overnight.

But some strange people and things happened quickly among the same people from the same place.

First of all, the city is not big, so it is easy to spread the news.

Secondly, it is people’s innate nature to watch the fun.

After a few days, the strange dreams that the gentry had were naturally spread.

The nobles who had previously wanted to skin people alive suddenly changed their minds and took the initiative to donate money to repair temples and canals as compensation. In the eyes of the villagers, if the gods and ghosts had not really appeared, how could they do this?
"Ah, then let's build a canal to divert water, so as not to really anger the River God!"

The water of the Zhang River,
But it’s He Bo’s “family wealth”!
How can we tolerate a group of mortals stealing?
After just a short conversation, the villagers' deep-rooted belief in "He Bo" became active again, and they worried that building the canal might lead to some bad things.

The county magistrate can be replaced by then.
It is not easy for the locals like them to escape.

"It's just some river water. How could He Bo be so stingy?"

While secretly observing the villagers' conversation, He Bo walked slowly over and stopped above a section of the canal that had been dug.

The villagers stood in the canal, leaning on their hoes and looking up at this young man they had never seen before.

The other person had his back to the sun, so his appearance was a little hard to see, but we could tell that he was tall, with a ruddy face and white teeth, and was a beardless young man.

The exposed hands had long fingernails common among noble people, but there was no mud in the gaps between the fingernails, which showed that he did not need to do any work.

The clothes are somewhat similar to those often worn by the county magistrate...but I heard that the clothes worn by nobles are used to show their status.

Since they are similar, he should be similar to the county magistrate Ximen Bao.

anyway,

It was enough to look down on the villagers who were covered in mud from digging canals.

"Who are you?" someone asked.

"I can be considered a local." He Bo thought for a moment and answered.

"Then why haven't I seen you before?"

“I never went out.”

"How is this possible? You didn't participate in the ceremony of Habaek marrying a wife?"

The whole city participated in such a commotion. Otherwise, it would be disrespectful to He Bo. Who knows if the witch will bring her disciples to your house the next year and say that your daughter and He Bo "are destined to be husband and wife."

"To be honest, I participate every year!"

"You're really funny!" Someone stepped forward and looked up at He Bo and said, "You said you don't go out, but you also said you attend the ceremony every year. Don't you think there's something wrong with what you said?"

"I'm just telling the truth."

He Bo smiled back.

It was a rare day for him to go out, so he was naturally in a good mood. As for the other party's arguments, he just took the attitude of "ignorance is not a crime".

"You can participate in the ceremony without leaving home, are you Habaek?"

Someone let out a frivolous laugh, which caused others to laugh out loud, and the whole place suddenly became full of joy.

He Bo shook his head and did not acknowledge it directly.

After all, his illusion was still usable, but he didn't want to reveal his identity so early and return to the Zhang River.

"Renovating the canal is a good thing. The current magistrate of Ye is a man of action. You just need to do as he says."

“If you endure some suffering yourself, your descendants won’t have to endure it.”

The villagers curled their lips, and some said, "I've lived here forever and have seen everything."

When He Bo heard their complaints, he just thought they were jokes and wrote them down for the time being so that he could use them as a "bound book" to make fun of those who said these things when the water diversion channel was repaired in the future.

……

(End of this chapter)