Spring is the beginning of summer, the summer sun is beginning to grow, the flowers have not yet fallen, and the wheat is growing young.
The sun rises earlier every day, and the sun sets later and later.
The heat made the people of Dazhou take off their thick robes and put on cool clothes. Some people with strong enthusiasm even rolled up their sleeves to reveal their lean arms.
Tea stalls and cold drink stalls have also sprung up along the streets.
This year's summer came earlier and was hotter than in previous years.
The people laughed and joked: "I'm afraid Sun Wukong kicked over the alchemy furnace of Taishang Laojun, and the alchemy fire fell on our state and county and turned into a mountain of flames!"
"I just don't know where Princess Iron Fan is hiding. Who can ask her to borrow a banana fan? If the heat continues like this, the rice seedlings in the field will suffer."
The farmers poured water into the fields one after another. When the sun set and the fields were no longer so hot, they squatted in groups on the ground and chatted about "Journey to the West" line by line.
This book is written well, and people who read it can't stop reading it. But when the farmers cast their sights on the bubbling wheat in the fields, their hearts felt as if a huge stone had fallen, and it was heavy.
In the storybook, the people living near the Flame Mountain prepared some rituals and asked Princess Iron Fan to extinguish the fire and ensure smooth weather.
But in the real world, who has such ability?
"It's better to go to Gengjia Village. Su Erlang led them to build the canal back then, so this year it will save us a lot of trouble!"
The farmer's eyes showed envy.
The neighbor sitting opposite him curled his lips: "So what? Most of their land was forcibly expropriated by the Holy One! The good canals were all filled up!"
Another old field man who was knitting a straw hat for his little grandson raised his head and said in surprise: "Don't the fields in their Gengjia Village belong to the general?"
"Oh, you didn't know this! The imperial court did not allocate funds to Yunzhou. In the past few years, the general relied on his own property to survive. I heard that the general's fields and villages near Kyoto were sold. ”
"Alas." Old Tianhan sighed and looked at the ground with uncontrollable worry in his eyes.
Ten days ago, it took twenty buckets of water to carry one acre of land.
Today, we have to carry twenty-five buckets of water for one acre of land, which is not enough.
The elders in the village say that this year will be a disaster year, and they only hope that the disaster will not be too serious or too widespread.
I wonder how it is on the other side of Yunzhou? Last year, "Yunzhou Weekly" reported that water conservancy projects have been constructed throughout Yunzhou, and almost every village has canals and water trucks.
If there is really no way to survive, will you flee to Yunzhou or Kyoto?
……
This year's heat is not limited to Kyoto, but the entire week.
"Sir, Yunzhou sent someone to ask if they would like to send someone to provide us with some technical guidance on water canal construction? Their soil and cement factory has a large output and can be sold to us cheaper."
In the Shuozhou governor's office, several county magistrates looked at their governor He Yunyan eagerly.
"Sir, Mr. Xu and Wang Ziting of Yunzhou both predicted that there will be a severe drought this year! Xiaguan went to several villages under his control to find some elderly people, and they also said that the harvest this year will not be good."
"Sir, I went to Woye Town and had a look. They all built things on the ditches. Wang Ziting said that this can reduce the evaporation of water."
A canal is so long, who would bother to cover it?
By doing this, they must be preparing for drought.
"The day before yesterday, the Huaishuo Town County Government also issued an announcement, encouraging every household to build a water well. If the conditions are not enough, joint ventures will be built in Lifang units. The county government will provide a one-year interest-free loan." Drilling a water well is not a piece of cake. It's a simple matter. First, the well digger needs to find a suitable location to dig the well, and use some tools to find out whether there is any water source underground.
Even if there is a water source, it still depends on whether the attack can be carried out. If it encounters a hard and thick rock layer, the attack will have to be moved to another place.
After the whole process, if you want to dig a well, you have to spend at least three dollars.
In Yunzhou, except for the saline-alkali land in Woye Town, other places have rivers passing through them, some wider and some narrower.
The people of Yunzhou would rather walk a long way and spend some effort to fetch water from the river than spend money to dig a well.
But this time the county government issued an announcement and they had to comply.
Listening to the reports from several county magistrates, He Yunyan's cheeks became swollen.
He is different from Gu Nanxi. Gu Nanxi is a well-known person in Yunzhou and can do whatever he wants.
There are many powerful people in Shuozhou!
He Yunyan also wanted to improve water conservancy, but the Shuozhou government office had no money!
Those powerful people all lived in the fortress, and there were hundreds of tenant farmers, and they didn't take Shuozhou government office seriously at all.
"Okay, I understand. I will discuss it with Duke Yun."
After dispatching several county magistrates, He Yunyan returned to the study with his confidants.
He Yunyan slumped down on the chair, picked up the "Tao Te Ching" on the desk and flipped through a few pages.
Governing by doing nothing, conforming to the weather.
Seeing how miserable this year is, what should I, the governor, do?
"You said, if I go to Duke Yun to borrow some soil and cement... forget it, Yunzhou is not rich either. If I want to build the entire Shuozhou water conservancy project, it will consume too much soil and cement. Even if Duke Yun is willing, I I can’t open this mouth either.”
He Yunyan stood up, frowning so tightly that she could almost kill a fly: "Tell me, how come we, the powerful people in Shuozhou, can't contribute money and effort like the aristocratic families in Yunzhou?"
The staff member said softly: "Sir, are there any powerful families in Yunzhou?"
Those who could run ran away, but those who couldn't ran were skinned by the county magistrates.
After Yun Guogong arrived in Yunzhou, he made another operation. Those powerful people could get a chance to spend money to save their lives, so they were grateful to Yun Guogong!
He Yunyan also knows this truth, but she is really exhausted mentally and physically by Shuozhou's predicament. She wants money but has no money, wants people but has no one, and the people under her are not obedient. What can we do?
The staff suggested: "Sir, why don't you try asking Duke Yun? Some time ago, Su Erlang brought you a gift on his way back to Kyoto, which is quite respectful to you."
He Yunyan smiled bitterly in her heart.
This gift-giving was purely because Duke Yun’s gift was thoughtful, not because he valued himself!
He Yunyan pulled out the portrait sent by Su Yunting and asked his staff to take a look: "Please help me think about it, what does this mean?"
The staff member took a closer look and saw an extremely crude rooster on the white paper, lowering his head and pecking at the small black dots on the paper.
To be honest, even a rooster drawn by a six-year-old child who has never learned to draw would be better than this picture.
But this was painted by Yun Guogong, it must have a deep meaning!
"I know! This is no ordinary rooster, but a Pleiades star official!" (End of Chapter)