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Text: Festival 174, Zhao Ruzhaoqing¡¯s trip

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    During the trip to Tea River Island, Zhao Ru did not follow Pang Ning.  After entering the Li Oil Well on Dongbo Island, Pang Ning gained a new understanding of Zhao Ru's abilities.  Xiong Wencan has been sending monetary gifts on a monthly basis, but has never established in-depth communication.  In order to find out the direction of the Ming Dynasty, Pang Ning sent Zhao Ru to Zhaoqing this time, hoping to find out the direction of the Ming Dynasty from the mouths of the governors of the three provinces.

    Last year, Xiong Wencan was blocked by silver coins, and the Ming Dynasty did not launch a crusade against Nanhai Kingdom.  However, some time ago, the Nanhai Kingdom made a lot of noise in Liaodong. Travelers want to know whether the Ming Dynasty's strategy towards the south will change.

    Those low-level civil servants were sent to Zhaoqing just to send money, and Xiong Wencan had not even been seen.  The messenger sent by Xiong Wencan didn't say much and couldn't get anything out of him.  A year has passed, and the time traveler feels it is necessary to understand the situation in the south of the Ming Dynasty through Xiong Wencan.  It would be too dangerous for Pang Ning to go in person, so it would be more appropriate for Zhao Ru to go.

    It¡¯s already warm in Guangdong Road in early February, and it¡¯s already the rice-planting season.  However, the south is quite dry this year, with very little rainfall. Zhao Ru came along the official road and from time to time saw paddy fields on the roadside without water for irrigation.  Even if there is water in the fields, there is not enough water. The water surface is only an inch and a half close to the bottom of the fields, and it seems that it will evaporate in a single sun.

    According to historical records, there was a severe drought in Chongzhen for five years.

    Since Zhao Ru started business with Pang, he has not been in the fields for a long, long time.  The group rode for dozens of miles, only to find that the canals were all dry, and everywhere there was a drought scene with insufficient rain.  Farmers carry water on their burdens to irrigate their fields. They are all busy in the fields and rivers with sad faces on their faces.

    Zhao Ru felt uncomfortable and confused about the followers in Diwu.

    "Is the Eastern New Year bad this year? Why is there no such scene in Changhua Prefecture? Within ten days I saw "horse-drawn rice-planting carts" being used to plant rice everywhere. Isn't our Nanhai Kingdom not suffering from drought?"

    Several farmers and cadres looked at each other several times, but none of them answered this question.  Zhao Ru was stunned and immediately came down and asked, "Why, am I right?"

    Seeing the eldest son asking questions, several cadres could only answer with their hands raised,

    "The eldest son is right. The two kings of the East and the North have built water conservancy in Qiongzhou Prefecture. A lot of canals and dams have been built. Not to mention the places that were originally close to water. Even places that were slightly short of water now have water storage dams.  . Those merchants are reclaiming new fields. They also discussed the water conservancy plan with the government from the beginning This way, Haiguo will definitely not suffer from drought. "

    These are all echoes.  The cadre was afraid that Zhao Ru wouldn't understand.  added.  "There is actually not enough rain in Qiongzhou Prefecture this year. But with these water conservancy facilities, there will be no drought even if there is insufficient rain."

    Zhao Ru was stunned for a moment.  Only then did I understand why Dongwang and Hebei Wang ran in Manshan Valley last year.  He nodded and said.  "Farming is the country's ability and foundation. It is really the top priority." He looked at the depressed village in the distance.  Zhao Ru said again.  "The fields in Beigang were originally developed along the river. I'm not afraid. But if we open new fields in the future, we must also improve the water conservancy facilities."

    Dozens of followers said yes one after another.  Zhao Ru remained silent.  He raised his whip and continued on his way.  Everyone disembarked from Beichuan Island.  More than two hundred miles to the north is Zhaoqing, where the governor-general offices of the three provinces are located.  Everyone relies on the number of horses.  He only found a town to rest at noon. He always drove all the way.  I hope I can go directly to Zhaoqing to spend the night.

    The fields we passed by in the morning were close to a small river.  If you work harder to fetch water from the river, you can always irrigate some abandoned land and there are not many paddy fields.  But the further north you go.  Seeing the drought, he became more serious and arrived at a place far away from the rivers.  Already, we have seen acres of dry fields lying on the roadside.

    The water source is too far away and the water cannot cover all the fields.  Some must be discarded.  These abandoned fields have been neglected this year and some drought-tolerant weeds have grown.  Looking from a distance, I thought they were green seedlings.

    The abandoned fields directly affect the livelihood of tenant farmers, forcing these farmers to risk their lives.  Along the way, I saw men walking in groups towards distant water sources, carrying water back and forth to irrigate the fields. When they were exhausted, they carefully put down their buckets and sat down on both sides of the official road to rest for a while.

    But Zhao Ru and his entourage, who were wearing bright clothes and angry horses, made these farmers nervous. Seeing the swords worn by these "officials", the farmers were even more frightened and could not avoid it.  Most of the people who wore swords in the Ming Dynasty were military attach¨¦s, who were the most unreasonable kind of officials.  Wherever these untouchables in tattered clothes dared to approach, they picked up buckets and fled to the fenced village.

    Zhao Ru was used to living in the Nanhai Kingdom, but he was really not used to it after entering the Guangdong territory.  The people of Nanhai Kingdom have never been afraid of officials. Even when King Bei wanders around the city on weekdays, he acts like an ordinary person.

    "Zhao Ru was sometimes treated as a hero by the citizens in Nanhai Kingdom, sometimes teased and flirted with by girls, but there was never a situation where he was treated like a god of plague by the common people and ran away.

    Zhao Ru kept a grimace all the way without saying a word.

    This era??,

    "He's still alive. Where's the medicinal gauze that Julie and I asked for? Use it to bandage them and stop the bleeding."

    The eldest son was nosy again. The followers looked at each other and grinned helplessly.  Everyone did not dare to disobey Zhao Ru's wishes and rushed over to rescue the injured farmers.  Zhao Ru walked to the top of the hill and saw water trickling out of a pool. It must have been the water source that farmers from the two villages were competing for.

    Zhao Ru¡¯s face was covered with dust after a long journey. Zhao Ru washed his face with some water, but accidentally let some water seep into his mouth.  Zhao Ru felt that the spring water was extremely painful, and he spit out the water.  He finally spit out the bitter taste in his mouth, and while he was looking at the spring unhappily, a personal guard came up to report,

    "Young Master, three of them are out of breath, and the other two may not survive for a few days."

    Zhao Ru looked at the sky, sighed and said, "Throw it away, those farmers will come back to clean it up, let's go."

    It was getting late, so everyone returned to Guandao and hurried to Zhaoqing.  Zhao Ru was in a bad mood because of the dead farmers, and he didn't say a word on the road.  Changing horses along the way, dozens of people rode non-stop from afternoon to evening, and finally arrived at the south bank of the Xijiang River before the ferry stopped.

    Opposite is Zhaoqing Mansion, where the governor-general offices of the three provinces are located.

    Many merchants gathered at the ferry station south of the Xijiang River. These people were tired after a long day of driving, so they sat in the dim shed of the ferryman.  Zhaoqing Mansion in the north of Xijiang River had just woken up at this hour, and it was the time when various houses were holding banquets.  Looking across the river, the lights there are as bright as the stars, creating a scene of prosperity.

    The ferry boat is quite big, and the owner seems to have some background. He is the only ferryman a few miles away from the official road.  It was already the last ferry. When Zhao Ru and his party came over, a waiter was standing in front of the ferry and shouted,

    "It's getting late today, and the last ferry is full. Don't you know this old rule? There are six beds in my guest hut, and each bed costs two dollars. Those who live in the guest hut can be the first one tomorrow morning.  Cross¡­¡±

    As soon as these words came out, the merchants waiting to cross the river started shouting with dissatisfaction and cursed loudly.

    "Two coins for a broken bed? A guest room in Guangzhou Mansion only costs three coins. Isn't this extortion?"

    "Last year it was still one penny, but this year it went up again?"

    The head of the house is a rather elegant middle-aged man. He is standing aside and looking at the merchants coldly, with a disdainful smile on his elegant face.  He shook his head, turned around and saw Zhao Ruyi walking over.  Seeing Zhao Ru's group, all of whom were wearing rich clothes, holding swords on their horses' waists, this man was stunned, and he came over in a panic and asked,

    "Are you guys going to cross the river?"

    Zhao Ru looked at him but said nothing.  Next to him, a civil servant who had been visiting Zhaoqing all year round and gave Xiong Wencan money all year round came out and shouted loudly,

    "Bullshit, but what is Jiang doing here?"

    The leader was scolded but was not angry. He laughed and said, "This is the last boat trip today. I don't know where you are coming from"

    The Du family still wanted to find out the background of this place by making some insinuations, but the clerk was already impatient.  He took out a jade pendant that Xiong Wencan usually gave to his relatives and friends and waved it in front of the head, and immediately made the man shut his mouth.  When the master saw the jade pendant, he clasped it to the ground without saying a word, raised his head and said, "Sir, please wait a minute." He turned around and dealt with it neatly.

    "Zhao Mazi, clear the boat and let the distinguished guests here cross the river."

    "Huh? The boat is full in my hometown!"

    The leader was so anxious that he lost all his demeanor and yelled at the top of his lungs, "You can clean up all the nonsense! If you continue to mess around, I will break your legs!"
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