Chapter 128: Digging a Well Connecting the Jiang and Huai Rivers
It turned out that Zheng Tiling was the grandson of Duke Liang, so everything made sense.
Thousands of people and thousands of faces.
The Duke of Wei was resolute and brave, and was especially good at strategy. He kept the people contented during his marches and did not suffer from the soldiers. He had a very good reputation. His third son, Xu Wenzhu, inherited the Duke of Wei's character strengths and was even better than his older brothers.
As a grandson of a different generation, Xu Yuelong is a little lazy, but he is also a calm person.
The Duke of Liang was the exact opposite. He was extremely arrogant and a thorough military general, with the abilities and temper of a famous general.
He had done countless absurd things, such as the defender opening the gate too late and sending troops to attack his own city.
He treated his subordinates as his own private soldiers, and the promotion, demotion, and dismissal of military officers were entirely up to him, completely bypassing the imperial court.
Killing prisoners more than once violated Taizu's taboo.
If it were any other general, dying a hundred times would not be enough, but Taizu was extremely tolerant and only demoted him, changing his title from Duke of Liang to Duke of Liang.
His grandson Wei Lin looks like the Duke of Liang when he was young, and is favored by him. He is even more lawless. He once went to Hechuan for training and almost caused a civil uprising.
He himself liked to kill the surrendered bandits. In order to kill the bandits, he massacred villages and exterminated families, set fire to mountains, and trampled fields on horseback.
A warrior's long lifespan can greatly extend the time his body spends at its peak. Wei Lin is only thirty-five or thirty-six years old. Even if he never advances to another level, he will still have at least seventy years of peak time.
People of similar age like Xu Yuelong have never been married, but Wei Lin has already adopted more than a dozen sons and placed them in the army.
If he didn't have a good grandfather, he would have been tried by military law long ago.
This is also the reason why Xu Yuelong said that Liang Qu would not have an easy time.
On the one hand, the two families have always had a grudge against each other.
On the other hand, Wei Lin had an extremely bad character. He was vindictive and unruly, and would either beat or scold his subordinates who disobeyed him.
Liang Qudu felt that the emperor appointed Wei Lin as the chief but insisted on letting Xu Yuelong be his deputy, perhaps he had some other intentions.
There's just no evidence and it's too vague.
Xu Yuelong's disembarkation broke the silent atmosphere of the entire pier, and the crowd became noisy again.
The officials and soldiers on the ship where Xu Yuelong was located disembarked one after another.
As the merchant ships at the river port were finally able to move around and people were hired to unload their cargo, the entire port became bustling.
Only Wei Lin's ship was deserted.
There are still many things to do today. One is to select a location for the Hebo Office, and the other is to make a simple arrangement for the personnel.
Without Wei Lin's approval, no decision could be made based on Xu Yuelong's agreement alone.
But Wei Lin looked like a troublemaker at the moment, as if to say "don't mess with me", and Liang Qu felt that he was difficult to deal with.
Hey.
The Ghost Mother Cult hasn't even started to be dealt with yet, and already such trouble has occurred.
Fortunately, he is just a small He Bo, responsible for carrying out tasks, and he is not completely without support.
These days, it's hard to get by anywhere.
That one has a grandfather who is a duke, that one has a father who is an earl, and any soldier you pick out is a legitimate descendant of a noble family whose ancestors have served in the army for three generations.
At night, Wei Lin seemed to realize that his pretentiousness had delayed things, and finally sent an adopted son to discuss the address of the Hebo Office.
After some discussion, everyone decided to build it on a high ground near the Jianghuai River, which was located between Yixing Town and Pingyang County.
After the decision was made, the soldiers began construction.
In the next few months, Hebo's temporary work location will be on two ships, which are large enough.
There is no one who can work in a river or lake who cannot swim or is seasick. There are even many martial arts that are specifically designed to be performed with the help of water, which has a multiplied effect, so that one can fight monsters in the water.
Xu Yuelong came to Yang's house that night and had a good time drinking and chatting.
During this period, Liang Qu met his master's wife again. His master's wife's originally gray hair turned black overnight!
As expected, after he ate the dragon tendons, he didn't see much effect, because he was too young, and even if his life span increased, he couldn't become a toddler.
But the effect of the dragon tendon on Xu was too obvious. She almost returned to her twenties or thirties, looking only in her early thirties. Coupled with her weathered temperament, she looked even more dignified and beautiful.
I wonder how many dragon tendons are needed to achieve this effect?
Master Yang's foot is more than five zhang long. It is unlikely that he can use it all, but he should have at least ten zhang.
The dinner lasted until 15:05, when Liang Qu called Chishan to go back. Just as he was about to reach out to grab the reins, Chishan opened his mouth to bite. Liang Qu slapped him on the forehead with such force that Chishan shook his head and his eyes became clear again.
He looked at the groom beside him: "What's going on?"
The groom bent down and said, "In reply to Master Jiu, if I am not mistaken, Chishan is in heat. It is already April, and the date is correct. Chishan is a big stallion, and he will be irritated by the smell, and his temper will explode.
You don’t know, Master Jiu, that Chi Shan’s temper is only good in front of you, but in front of us kids, he is so fierce that he almost rushed out of the stable today.”
"Oh, is there such a thing?" Liang Qu raised his eyebrows.
Since he came to Chishan, he has never been disobeyed. He thought that Dashun had his own way of breeding horses, but it seems that he just treats people differently according to their needs?
Could it be related to my own Ze Ling?
Liang Qu thought that when he made progress in his cultivation, the four beasts would often feel uneasy.
Perhaps we can feed Chishan some sturgeon king meat. After eating the meat of the water beast two or three times, Chishan might change and become able to be controlled.
Liang Qu rode up Chishan Mountain and returned to Yixing Town.
He came to the yard, feeling the changes in the water veins below and thinking about where to dig a well, when suddenly the sound of a wooden hammer brought his thoughts back.
Liang Qu climbed over the wall and saw Liu Quanfu who was still riveting wood and building a stable in the yard.
"Uncle Fu, are you still working so late?"
Liu Quanfu, who was concentrating on his work, was startled by Liang Qu's voice. He turned around and saw that it was Liang Qu. He patted his chest and said, "Oh, you scared me. You have nothing to do. Ah Shui is still awake? Did I disturb you?"
"Not really, I just came back." Liang Qu jumped down from the wall, "Uncle Fu, let me ask you something, can you build a boat?"
"Boat?" Liu Quanfu was stunned. "What kind of boat?"
"Did you see the building ship today? It was like that."
Liu Quanfu was stunned and shook his head quickly: "How can I do that? Although they are all carpentry skills, there are many tricks in shipbuilding. You can ask me to build a sampan, but I can't even build a wupeng boat. Everyone has their own expertise."
"We don't need to build it that big. We can make it smaller, about seven or eight meters long. It doesn't have to be able to go into the water. It just needs to have a shape, and we can put some random structures inside."
"Building a ship without launching it?"
Liu Quanfu had been a carpenter for half his life and had rarely built boats, but he knew how outrageous this requirement was.
If you build a ship but don’t launch it into water, what’s the point of looking at it?
"Uncle Fu, if you can build it, I won't look for anyone else. Nowadays, wherever I go, I find strangers. They are unreliable. In the end, they have to be my own people. I won't treat you unfairly, Uncle Fu. I won't count the cost of materials, but the labor cost of one hundred and two people for one boat."
One hundred taels?
Liu Quanfu swallowed his saliva.
That’s too many. A small boat of seven or eight meters should not be too difficult to build, right?
He muttered for a while: "I haven't tried it, so I can't guarantee it. Ah Shui, how about this, let me go back and try it first. I'll make a smaller one and you can see if it works. If it does, I'll take the job. If not, forget it. I can't cheat you out of money for nothing."
"Okay, uncle, I feel relieved with your words. It's too late, go back and rest early."
"Okay, I'll go back after I finish riveting this rafter."
Liu Quanfu stood up the wooden stick and inserted it into another wooden stick, making it fit perfectly.
Liang Qu nodded, climbed over the wall again, followed the water vapor to find a water vein and dig a well on the spot. He took out a shovel he had bought when he came back and started digging the hole.
It is not easy for ordinary people to dig a well, as the bottom of the well is cold and it is not convenient to transport soil. However, Liang Qu had nothing but great strength, and soon he dug to a height of fourteen or fifteen meters. The soil under the well quickly became moist, and muddy water kept oozing out.
There are generally two types of wells. One is a seepage well, which requires digging and laying bricks at the same time. After digging, the mud and water must be washed out for two days before the well can be used.
The other way is to open up the Yin River, which is to go directly to the underground river. Sometimes you can even see fish in the well.
Liang Qu naturally would not dig the first type. If he wanted to go to the Jianghuai River from home, he had to dig a large well that led directly to the underground river.
At 6:15 pm, at the 17-meter mark, the bottom of the well was filled with solid rock.
Liang Qu simply gave up the shovel and smashed the rubble with his fists. He then dug another three or four meters down. The sound of gurgling water finally came through the cracks in the rocks.
Liang Qu gathered all his strength, circulated his energy and blood, and punched down. A large amount of rubble broke apart and fell into the underground river, splashing water.
The wall of the well was slippery, and Liang Qu exerted force suddenly, and fell into the river without stepping firmly.
(End of this chapter)
