Chapter 324: Imperial Reward
Iron-grey shadows dominate the sky.
In the morning, the sun could still shine through the gaps in the dark clouds. Within half a day, the mottled clouds formed a thick layer, and a drizzle fell.
On the ark, the boatman stood in the rain, his hair wet with sweat and stuck to his face. He straightened his waist and pointed at the hazy low mountain ahead.
"Sir, there is Shahe Mountain ahead. The terrain is so high that boats cannot pass. You have to ride a horse."
Wei Shao looked at Shahe Mountain in the distance under the dim sky: "Find a place to park the boat."
"yes."
The two boatmen found a good position and climbed onto the springboard.
Wei Shao took the green horse and jumped off the boat, rushed to the foot of the mountain without stopping, tied the reins and went up the mountain.
Someone came to report, but Wei Shao ignored it and went straight into "Jiang Yun Teahouse".
Rainwater dripped along the corners of the broken beams and seeped into the gaps between the masonry.
The young and strong warriors carried the beams, shoveled the broken tiles and bricks into baskets with shovels, and carried them down the mountain in baskets, creating a busy scene.
Passing through the front hall, there are tea bowls scattered on several square tables, and two plaques of "Heaven and Earth, Lord, Prince, Master" and "Upright and Bright" are stacked in the middle, red and white interlaced, with several nanmu tablets on top.
Wei Shao frowned, and the ominous premonition in his heart grew like weeds.
what's the situation?
Did the Shahe Gang let Liang Qu capture it?
No matter how bad the Shahe Gang is, there are still some masters of fighting, so how could Liang Qu, a small galloping horse martial arts master, be made to behave like this?
"Found it, found it! It's not crushed!"
A warrior looked excited and lifted a yellow plaque from the ruins with the four characters "loyalty for eternity" written on it!
The surrounding crowd cheered.
The entire Juyi Building collapsed, but none of the three enshrined plaques was damaged, which can be called a happy event.
"Thank you everyone."
A big hand covered with brown spots grabbed the plaque and placed it casually on the tea table, which surprised the gang members who found the plaque.
Hu Yanshijing put down the plaque, said a word of hard work, came to the front hall with Lian Jingye on crutches, and bowed to Wei Shao to say hello.
"I don't know if you are far away from me when you arrive, please come inside and have some tea."
"There is no need to say too many polite words. You all know the purpose of my trip. Tell me, how many ships are left by the Shahe Gang now?"
Wei Shao's straight to the point made Huyan Shijing and Lian Jingye feel deeply that the Hebo Institute was of the same origin.
Huyan Shijing looked regretful and said, "Sir, you are a little late."
Lian Jingye handed over the account book.
Wei Shao's face tightened, he took the account book and looked through it.
The account book contains information records of most of the Shahe Gang's ships, including their size and scale.
More than half of it was circled with a cinnabar pen, indicating that Liang Qu had borrowed it.
Although there are remaining ships, they all have clearly stated uses and cannot be mobilized, or they are too large to be sailed, so they are left behind.
Wei Shao frowned more and more.
Liang Qu actually borrowed it, and it was so powerful.
Just looking at the information revealed between the lines in the account book, we can see that the Shahe Gang worked hard and gave almost everything they could.
Some ships even carry some rice and grain to help with emergencies.
Thinking that I had wasted several hours and encountered the worst result, I will meet Wei Lin tomorrow...
The unspeakable pressure made Wei Shao's heart beat faster, and he couldn't help but confirm again: "There is no empty ship left?"
"That's how it is in the Shahe Gang."
Wei Shao grasped the key: "Is this the case in the Shahe Gang?"
"Before Mr. Liang left, he told us to try our best to collect spare boats from nearby towns and villages, so that the adults at the riverside could not return empty-handed. Within a few hours, we achieved some results."
Wei Shao was stunned for a moment, feeling some inexplicable emotions in his heart.
"How many have you collected?"
Lian Jingye took out the second account book.
Wei Shao looked through it one after another.
No surprises.
A few hours were too short, and the Shahe Gang tried their best to facilitate this matter, and the ships they managed were only less than one-third of Liang Qu's fleet.
"It's better than nothing..."
Wei Shao frowned slightly.
…
Floods covered in mud poured into the village one after another, and the gaps in the walls were filled with fine white foam.
The people sitting in the bathtub hugging the trees let the watermen fish them out of the flood water one by one.
A long springboard was built between the roof and the ship. The children were crying and shouting and did not dare to step forward, causing the villagers behind to yell and curse.
Women had to pick up their children and crawl across the gangplank with them in their arms, exhausted.
Liang Qu stood on the tall mast, no matter how the ship swayed beneath him, it seemed like roots were growing under his feet.
With his golden eyes burning, he surveyed the overall situation and commanded the fleet in an orderly manner.
"Old Songtou, split the fleet into three and send two to Cangji Town in the east..."
"Separate all the young adults! Don't put them in the same cabin with women and children!"
"Old Songtou! Send a few people to carry ten bags of rice to make porridge in the cabin. Don't take more. Remember not to make it too thick. Just one bowl for each person, so as not to starve to death. Give an extra bowl to the young and middle-aged people and let them drink to help. Work!"
Countless gang members followed Liang Qu's orders and shuttled between the ships to take action.
Even Lu Xinqing was no exception. He took out a large iron pot and prepared to boil water and start the stove.
"Master Liang, did something happen over there?"
Lao Song raised his head and shouted to Liang Qu on the mast.
Liang Qu turned around and saw two young men standing in the middle fighting on the deck, hugging each other and rolling into a ball. Others soon joined in, and a group of people on the side watched at a loss.
The boss of the ship jumped out and asked, "What's going on? What's going on? Why is there a fight over there?"
"Hey, it's the two bastards from the Li and Chen families!" The village elder who was rescued on the boat understood at a glance, "These two families were neighbors and often quarreled over a little land..."
Liang Qu's voice came from afar, clear and powerful: "I don't care what grudges they have, drive them all away now!"
The village elder hesitated: "Sir, this..."
"Do you want me to do it myself?"
Before the village elder could react, a member of the Shahe Gang had already stepped on the springboard and rushed onto the deck, slapped the young man down with two slaps, grabbed one with one hand and threw him into the water, cursing.
"Two damn bastards, what centipede shit and toad urine did you eat in your last life to become a human being? Today, I'll make your wish come true! You are so strong, why not go down to the river and have some fun!"
After solving a farce, Liang Qu heard screams from the east again.
"Captain Zhou, there are crocodiles over there!"
"Crocodiles are coming, crocodiles are coming! Help, help!"
Two crocodiles, each about ten feet long, swam towards a small wooden barrel. Just as they were about to grab the crocodile, they suddenly felt a heavy pressure hitting their heads.
A giant ape with golden eyes appeared in the minds of the two beasts, and then their muscles became completely stiff, and they flipped out of the water.
The woman in the wooden barrel poked it with a mallet, and the crocodile was motionless, and it was dead!
"Go get some people to fish the people out! Catch the crocodile too, and kill it and stew it with the porridge!"
"Sir, there is some rice in the village ancestral hall, which should not have been flooded. It was collected by the village elders last year to prepare for the disaster."
"Okay! Go get some people to help move the rice out!"
"I'll go!"
"I'll go too!"
...
On the Blackwater River, dozens of long boats stopped at the port.
A large number of emergency tents were built on the open space outside the dock.
The soldiers lined up to unload rice from the ship, leaving some on the spot and some on small boats to be transported to various places in Huazhu County.
Xiang Fangsu and others stood on the deck to supervise.
They were the second wave of this rescue and brought preliminary emergency supplies.
Ke Wenbin allocated a batch of rice and asked the soldiers to cook porridge on the spot.
Xiang Fangsu stared at the Pingyang County logo on the rice bag and sighed: "County Magistrate Jian opened the Pingyang County official warehouse to help with disaster relief, and took the lead in donating 8,000 taels of silver to purchase rice and grain. He is really rich."
Ke Wenbin laughed and said: "8,000 taels is not a lot. Didn't you also buy a hot pot recipe with 5,000 taels?"
"Don't make a fuss, how can it be the same? I bought a house, and I can earn it back sooner or later, but the donation is gone without return."
"Not necessarily, the court will definitely reward it afterwards, so it's not a loss."
Exemptions and official relief must be approved by the emperor before ministers have the right to implement them, but those officials who opened the warehouses to release grain when they encountered a disaster were all rewarded as positive examples without exception.
"It's all just verbal praise, what's the use?"
"You don't understand, the benefits that County Magistrate Jian can get are invisible and intangible now, but they will be reflected when he becomes the lord of the mansion in the future, at least a wisp of Xuanhuang Qi will not be less.
With Xuanhuang Qi in hand, the road to becoming a master is equivalent to walking halfway. According to his age, he may have the hope of becoming a martial saint in the future."
"That thing comes too slowly. It's exhausting to think about turning Pingyang County into Pingyang Prefecture. There is not much benefit to be gained, and the blame is certain.
Look at the magistrate of Huazhu County. The dam collapsed for no reason. No matter how well he did before, it was useless!"
"I don't think so. Pingyang County will become a mansion within three years!"
Xiang Fangsu shook his head, unwilling to argue, and changed the subject: "I don't know where Ah Shui is, how is the matter done? That kid is the first time to be a water boy, there won't be any mistakes, right?"
Ke Wenbin shook his head.
"Don't worry, Ah Shui is not very old, and he is actually very careful."
