My father ordered me to kill the emperor, but His Majesty bestowed a princess upon me instead.

It takes at least half an hour to get from the ash kiln to the north bank of Qingfeng.

The premise is that the horse is still willing to run.

My horse has started to pant.

Ah Liu's horse is more direct.

He stopped halfway through the run by the roadside and lowered his head to nibble on the grass.

Ah Liu coaxed and begged from horseback.

Finally, Yan Xiaoyi struck the horse's rump with the scabbard of his sword.

The horse finally understood that it could eat grass again in its next life.

But people may not have a next life.

The river maintenance sheds on the north bank of Qingfeng were built below the old embankment.

Looking into the distance, a sea of ​​lights could be seen.

It doesn't feel like I'm about to go to sleep.

Like they're getting ready to move.

Dozens of empty vehicles were parked outside the workers' shed.

The able-bodied young men were tied together in several groups by ropes.

They were rushing to get into the car.

The elderly, the sick, and the children were left in the shed.

Just as Du Cheng said.

Those who can walk should turn towards Qingxia.

Those who can't walk, wait for water.

When the river workers' guards saw us approaching, they immediately banged a gong.

A man dressed in the robes of a sixth-rank official rode out on horseback.

Who dared to trespass on this restricted river construction site at night?

I presented the imperial seal for opening the account.

"Shen An, the Censor-in-Chief."

The man was clearly taken aback.

They probably didn't expect me to arrive so quickly.

"So it's Lord Shen."

"Your humble servant is Tao Kun, the chief supervisor of the Qingfeng River Management Office."

"We are currently being ordered to relocate the river works to avoid the autumn floods."

"Where to?"

"South Coast Highlands."

Bai Zhi looked at the tire tracks.

"The front of the car is facing west."

"The south bank is to the east."

Tao Kun said, "The bridge on the west side is more stable."

"Take a detour."

"Go around to Qingxia?"

His face darkened.

"Miss Bai, the scheduling of river works involves water conservancy and military affairs, and it is not something that the accountant can ask casually."

Bai Zhi nodded.

"Then I won't ask."

"Please bring me, Lord Tao, the work contracts, grain registers, and transfer lists for the 126 river workers."

Why should I give it to you?

I handed the seal of the warehouse to the inner guard.

"Then seal it off."

Tao Kun's expression finally changed.

"Lord Shen, the autumn flood season is approaching."

"If the river construction project stops, who will be responsible for the safety of tens of thousands of people in Qingfeng?"

"Will you take responsibility?"

"This humble official will naturally take responsibility!"

"very good."

I pointed upstream from the old embankment.

"Did you sign the order to open the floodgates at midnight?"

His eyes narrowed.

"What's being opened?"

"It seems not."

"Since it's not, take the one who forged the order first."

Tao Kun immediately said, "Wait a minute."

Only after I finished speaking did I realize that I had answered too quickly.

I looked at him.

"Does Lord Tao know?"

"The sluice gate has been in disrepair for many years."

"To release the accumulated water from upstream, it is indeed necessary to test the gate at night."

Why weren't all river works removed before the sluice gate test?

"Withdrawal in progress."

"What about the elderly?"

I pointed to the workers' shed.

Tao Kun said, "They have difficulty moving around; another vehicle will be available later."

"Where is the car?"

"On the way."

"How many?"

Six vehicles.

"Where did you come from?"

"Qingfeng County Town"

"Where's the license plate?"

"We haven't arrived yet, how can we verify the license plate?"

The answer was very complete.

It was so complete, it was as if I had thought of it beforehand.

I didn't ask any further questions.

Just have Ah Liu call out his name.

His throat is still not better.

Hoarseness.

"Feng Dashan!"

Someone in the convoy suddenly turned around.

"Who called me?"

Tao Kun's expression changed.

Ah Liu continued shouting.

"Li Chunsheng!"

"Zhao Xiaohe!"

"Sister Qin!"

One by one, the river workers looked up.

They only had numbers on Tao Kun's workbook.

A17.

B three.

River Girl Six.

However, his name appears in Du Cheng's revised workbook.

Bai Zhi raised the revised workbook.

"One hundred and twenty-six people were employed in Qingfeng Warehouse."

"Original place of origin, old name, and family members are all here."

"Lord Tao said they were doing the river work voluntarily."

"Why isn't my name written on the employment contract?"

Tao Kun said, "The disaster victims have no official registration, so we can only temporarily assign numbers to them."

"How can we pay wages if there are no names on the wages?"

"Send according to number."

"Send it to the person in question?"

"certainly."

Bai Zhi took out the river work grain register.

"Seventeenth grade, monthly grain allowance: three shi (a unit of dry measure)."

"Feng Dashan".

How much do you receive each month?

Feng Dashan was tied to the team with a rope.

He glanced at Tao Kun.

I didn't dare say it.

I had the guards cut the ropes first.

"Now tell me."

Feng Dashan rubbed his wrist.

"Two bowls of porridge every day."

"No food?"

"no."

"Wages?"

"Never seen it before."

Bai Zhi continued to ask the others.

The answers are similar.

Each person in the account receives three shi of grain per month.

There were actually only two bowls of porridge.

The difference was collected by the grain merchants of Qingfeng River.

Behind the grain merchants was Luo's Grain Company.

The water line eventually flows into Yongfeng Jiangbei Box B.

Tao Kun's face was grim.

"The grain for river engineering projects is distributed by the contracted grain merchants."

"My only responsibility is the dikes."

"The grain merchants' embezzlement is none of my concern."

"Open the floodgates?"

"The river sluice gate is the responsibility of the sluice gate official."

"What about transferring the good luck?"

"The county officials are responsible."

"Where's the workers' shed?"

"The person in charge is responsible."

It was opened again.

He only cared about the dike.

The embankment cannot speak.

The safest.

Bai Zhi walked to the foot of the embankment, squatted down, and touched a handful of fresh mud.

"When was this section of the dike repaired?"

Tao Kun said, "Last month."

"How much stone was used?"

"Five hundred cubic meters."

"Where's the bill?"

"At the River Works Office."

"The actual amount is less than three hundred cubic meters."

Tao Kun said coldly, "Miss Bai, you can tell the quality of the stone with just one glance?"

"I'm looking at the car."

Stone-carrying carts were parked along the embankment.

Records were kept of axle wear, wheel track, and number of round trips.

In the past month, the highest amount of stone delivered was 320 cubic meters.

Five hundred cubic meters in the account.

One hundred and eighty cubic meters less.

I asked, "What should we use to fill in the missing part?"

Tao Kun did not answer.

Du Cheng was helped off his horse by the imperial guards.

He looked terrible.

But they still walked to the embankment.

"people."

The river workers quieted down.

Tao Kun stared at him.

"You're not dead?"

"I have disappointed Lord Tao."

Du Cheng pointed to twenty-three slightly lighter-colored stone troughs at the foot of the embankment.

"One person, one trough."

"If there isn't enough stone, then fill in the waste material."

Ah Liu's face turned pale.

"People filling the embankment?"

Tao Kun angrily retorted, "Nonsense!"

"The river workers died in the flood, and their bodies were buried on the spot as is customary."

"Buried inside the dike?"

"The flood situation is urgent; this is a temporary measure."

I finally admitted it.

It's not that there's no one.

It's just a stopgap measure.

I walked to the nearest stone trough.

A small piece of cloth was stuck in the drain hole.

Gray coarse cloth.

The same as the clothes worn by river workers.

There is also an iron plate on the edge of the cloth.

Chapter 21.

Bai Zhi opened the revised workbook.

Chapter 21.

His original name was Xu Mu.

A native of Nanliu Village, Qingfeng County.

The report stated that the person died from the epidemic the year before last.

I joined Hebei Engineering last March.

The date of loss was the seventh day of the first lunar month.

The dam repairs were scheduled for the eighth day of last month.

The dike was repaired one day after the person died.

I had someone remove only the outermost stone.

The embankment will not be significantly altered.

There is no soil behind the stone.

It was lime and straw mats used to wrap the body.

No need to dig anymore.

Everyone present understood what was inside.

Someone in the river work team cried.

"Xu Mu is my brother."

The speaker's name is Xu Shan.

The register of live granaries, section 20.

The two brothers were both written about dying from the plague.

Let's go to the river construction site together.

After her younger brother died, he was buried in the dike.

My brother continued to move stones on the embankment every day.

Little did they know that their loved ones were right beneath their feet.

Tao Kun stepped back.

Yan Xiaoyi's knife was already across his shoulder.

"Take another step back, leave your legs here."

Tao Kun stopped moving.

I asked, "Are all twenty-three people here?"

He gritted his teeth.

"When people die on river works projects, they are buried on the spot; this has always been the custom."

"Is there a mortuary register?"

"have."

"Does the family know?"

"These people are unregistered."

"No family members."

Xu Shan stood in front of him.

"I am."

Tao Kun didn't look at him.

Because upon seeing it, the person instantly transforms from a damaged body back into a living one.

Bai Zhi began reading out the names of twenty-three people.

Each time one name was read aloud, someone in the river work team would respond.

"know."

"From the same village."

"It's my uncle."

He did not die from the epidemic.

Twenty-three losses.

Seventeen witnesses were found on the spot.

The remaining six people also had their old records in Du Cheng's revised register.

Tao Kun's river works register only lists numbers.

The numbered person died, and there were no family members.

Even if a name dies, people will still ask about it.

That's why they deleted their names.

A loud rumbling sound suddenly came from afar.

The upstream gate has started to move.

It's not midnight yet.

Someone opened the gates ahead of time.

The water level in the river is rising.

For the first time, Tao Kun's face showed genuine panic.

It's not that I'm afraid people will die.

It's because they're afraid of being here themselves.

"Who opened the floodgates?"

I asked.

"It wasn't me!"

How many main switch keys are there?

"Two."

"You can have one."

"The other one is in the hands of the magistrate of Qingfeng County."

"What's the magistrate's name?"

"Xue Zhong".

Bai Zhi took a name from the pages of the general ledger of the warehouse.

Xue Zhong, magistrate of Qingfeng County.

Lanling Grain Line picks up people.

The water gate is opened.

The registrar of Yong'an County was responsible for writing people's names as dead.

The magistrate of Qingfeng County was in charge of releasing the water.

The river management office was responsible for recording the bodies as losses.

The three segments finally connected.

I watched the river flow faster and faster.

"Close the gate first."

Tao Kun said, "Once the old floodgates are fully opened, they cannot be closed from downstream!"

"Then let's go upstream."

"Too late."

Yan Xiaoyi looked at the winch on the embankment.

"It can break the rope."

Tao Kun's expression changed drastically.

"A broken cable will destroy the sluice gate!"

"Is the gate more expensive than a person?"

He couldn't answer.

Yan Xiaoyi had already led the inner guards towards the winch.

I had people dismantle the workers' sheds first.

The elderly, the sick, and the children all boarded the bus.

Young and able-bodied workers no longer need to use ropes to connect them to the river.

He carried the person on his back.

Carry the medicine yourself.

There were no officials urging them on.

It's actually faster than before.

Ah Liu also carried a child on his back.

The child hugged his neck.

"Uncle, who are you?"

Ah Liu was panting heavily from running.

"Living people."

That's a good answer.

At least for today, it's more important than any other identity.