Rise From the Humble

At the end of the autumn of the 31st year of Jiajing, floods in the south of the Yangtze River were on the rise. When Taizhou Prefecture was ravaged by floods and struggling, Jingnan County kicked off the "work-for-relief" program. On this day, a total of six projects were under construction at the same time in Jingnan County. Zhu Pingan personally led the largest relief-for-work project, the East Lake Project.

In order to carry out the work-for-relief program smoothly, Zhu Ping'an had sent people to nearby Taiping County in advance to exchange 60,000 taels of silver. All of them were converted into copper coins and placed in the county government treasury. After the work started, horse-drawn carriages pulled carts of copper coins to various project areas. The carts of copper coins dazzled the eyes of the people and refugees, making them put their hearts in their stomachs and no longer worry about their work wages. No more wages.

Of course, the carriage was guarded by sword-wielding guards, and no one without a good eye would dare to attack the carriage.

The East Lake Project Area is Zhu Pingan’s key project for this work-for-relief project.

Zhu Ping'an checked the county annals and found that floods occur frequently in Jingnan. A small flood occurs every three to five years, and a major flood occurs every seven or eight years. The people of Jingnan are always faced with the threat of floods.

Before and after the floods, Zhu Ping'an climbed mountains and ridges, waded into rivers, calculated the relative drop of the river bed, and surveyed the terrain of Jingnan two or three times. With the help of modern geographical experience and knowledge, he finally figured out the reasons for the frequent floods in Jingnan. . The main reason is the terrain. Jingnan is surrounded by mountains and faces the sea. The terrain is generally higher in the west and lower in the east, gradually sloping from west to east. Mountains in the west are continuous, with thousands of meters of peaks rising one after another, hills are gentle in the middle, and plains and tidal flats are wide in the east. The rivers in Jingnan are winding and winding, and the flow direction is generally the same as the terrain, flowing from west to east into the sea. The riverbed in the eastern mountains has a larger drop, the water flow is turbulent, the flood peaks are high and large, and the water level naturally rises and falls; the hills and plains in the central and eastern areas The terrain of the area is low and flat, and the river flow speed suddenly slows down. During the flood season, the rapid river water and flash floods coming from the western half often have no time to vent, so it is easy for the river to overflow and cause floods.

After Zhu Pingan investigated the reason, he came up with the East Lake Project.

Fifteen miles east of Jingnan County, close to Sanli River and Tiaoxi River, an East Lake with a circumference of more than ten kilometers will be excavated. When the flood season comes every year, when the river water surges, the floodgates are opened and released into the East Lake to store water for flooding; during the drought period, the water levels of Sanli River and Tiaoxi River drop, and when the water level of East Lake is higher than that of Sanli River and Tiaoxi River, the accumulated lake water can be returned at any time. Sanli River and Tiaoxi River. In this way, Jingnan can be protected from floods for a hundred years, and the surrounding fields can also be irrigated. It can be said that it serves multiple purposes with one stone.

"East Lake is divided into two parts: Upper East Lake and Lower East Lake. The planned perimeter of Upper East Lake is 18 miles, and the planned perimeter of Lower East Lake is 20 miles. The Bajiao Pavilion in Dongwang Township is the eastern boundary, the western boundary is the Babao Temple in Qingyu Village, and the southern boundary is Duo Baoshan, the northern boundary is the Lingxiao Pavilion, and there is no boundary between the upper East Lake and the lower East Lake.”

"East Lake is related to Jingnan's century-old plan. During the construction process, we must pay attention to quality and don't be greedy for speed."

Before starting the construction, Zhu Ping'an called the accompanying subordinates and servants to him, unfolded the construction plan and construction drawings, and carefully explained to them the construction plan of East Lake and the precautions for work-for-relief.

"Don't worry, the county lord, we will live up to the expectations of the county lord, and we will dig the East Lake well." The subordinate officials took orders one after another.

For the sake of accuracy, Zhu Pingan, Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others took the lead and marked the boundaries of East Lake by inserting bamboo poles. The boundaries of East Lake were clearly visible with bamboo poles about a hundred meters apart.

After the lake boundary was marked, the "East Lake Work-for-Relief Project" started vigorously. A total of more than 50,000 people participated in the East Lake Relief for Work attack on the city. Men and women, carrying earthen baskets and dustpans on their shoulders and hoes and rakes in their hands, dug soil and dug lakes, and built embankments with grass and mud; women, children and children were in the planned cooking area. , preparing lunch, everything is full of hope. Because bamboo poles are used as the boundary of East Lake, the common people call East Lake "Bamboo Pole Lake" in private, saying "Zhu Qingtian rode his horse around the lake, and Jingnan County will no longer suffer from floods".

In addition to the East Lake project, there are five other projects in different places in Jingnan, including repairing city walls and rebuilding villages. The six work-for-relief projects mobilized almost all the 100,000 people and refugees in Jingnan.

After the East Lake project was on the right track, Zhu Ping took Liu Dadao and others to inspect and supervise several other work-for-relief projects.

The Dongwang Township reconstruction project is located next to the East Lake Project. It is responsible for two people, Mr. Liu Fuzi, the household official, and Mr. Zhang, the warehouse official. The Dongwang Township reconstruction project is to rebuild the destroyed buildings in Dongwang Township.

The first stop of Zhu Pingan's inspection tour was the Dongwang Township reconstruction project.

The total number of people involved in the Dongwang Township reconstruction project is more than 8,000, and it is in full swing just like the East Lake project.

The project is advancing in an orderly manner, and the people and refugees are working hard, and the order is in order. Zhu Ping'an nodded in satisfaction.

"County Lord, 20 Wen per person per day is a bit too much, isn't it? There are nearly 100,000 people in Jingnan County participating in the work-for-relief program, and each person is 20 Wen per day. In this day's wages alone, we have to pay 2,000 Two taels of silver, which is 60,000 taels a month. This does not include the consumption of grain, grass, etc. Even the "donations" received by the county officials from the grain merchants, plus the surplus in our county government warehouse, it is just enough It’s only one month. According to the county’s plan, this work-for-relief project will take at least more than two months to complete. A good woman cannot make a meal without rice. After one month, the subordinate’s warehouse will no longer be able to produce a single copper. Subordinate I implore the county to think twice, reduce wages, and limit the number of people who use work as relief."

Mr. Qian, the treasury official, suggested to Zhu Pingan in a low voice when he was accompanying Zhu Pingan to inspect the project.

"Your Majesty, this is an extraordinary period, so we can reduce the price by 30%." Liu Fuzi, the household administrator, also agreed.

"No." Zhu Pingan shook his head decisively and said to them earnestly, "If you want the horse to run, you must let the horse eat breakfast. The daily wage of twenty cash is the bottom line and can only be increased. It cannot be lowered.”

"But the county magistrate, this money." Qian Dianli was confused.

"Qian Dianli, Liu Dianli, you don't have to worry about money. First of all, we organize old, young, women and children to cook a big pot of rice at the construction site and provide it to people. This meal is not free. The standard breakfast is 1 cent, lunch is 2 cents, and dinner is 1 cent; also We provide small stoves, and there is an additional charge based on the number of meat and vegetable dishes. Through meals, each person can recover about 5 cents per day; secondly, more and more grain merchants come to Jingnan to sell grain, and we 'collect' There are more and more donations. I will send someone to collect this kind of donation once a month. It is impossible not to make some contribution to the flood wealth in Jingnan. So, you don’t have to worry about money. At least we can make ends meet.”

Zhu Pingan said confidently.

"Ahem, County Lord, sending someone to the grain store every month to 'collect donations' won't damage the County Lord's reputation."

Master Liu said worriedly.

"How much is a reputation worth?" Zhu Ping'an twitched the corner of his mouth indifferently, pointed at the working people and refugees, and said to Master Liu, "It is the right thing to govern the people to keep them full."

Zhu Pingan, whose soul grew up under the red flag, was different from the scholar-bureaucrats in the feudal era in that he was pragmatic rather than pragmatic.

Hearing this, Master Liu, Mr. Qian and the accompanying subordinates all paid deep respect to Zhu Ping'an.

The county magistrate endured humiliation and heavy burdens, did not seek fame or fortune, and devoted himself to serving the people. How great it is.

With the joint efforts of the whole county, Jingnan's series of work-for-relief projects are getting better and better. People have work to do, money to get, and food to eat. The whole county is prosperous.