Of course, the actions of these county magistrates are not entirely based on shirking responsibility. There is another reason that cannot be ignored: since the beginning of the new year, there has not been a single snow or rain.

In previous years, even if it didn't snow before the Spring Festival, there would be one or two snowfalls in the first month. If you were in the south, the first spring rain would appear at the end of the first month.

It is now April and there has not been a single rain.

"As the saying goes: If there are too many dragons to control the water, the world will be in severe drought!" A county magistrate's wife said: "I heard from our master that ten dragons are controlling the water this year, and so far, not a drop of rain has fallen!

The canals in several villages have dried up. We have to carry water to water the fields every day, but the river water has also bottomed out. The water is turbid and full of mud!

The rice will be heading in more than half a month. As it is now, shouldn’t there be no harvest? Mr. Chu, you are an agricultural officer, so you have to think of a way!"

Ten dragons control water.

How many dragons control the water, how many days bring relief, how many oxen plow the fields, etc. These sayings all evolved from the ancient method of keeping track of the stems and branches of the day.

The first month is the beginning of the year. The plan for the year is spring, and the first month is the beginning of spring.

Based on their good wishes for a good harvest, ancient people used the first month of the lunar calendar to predict the future of the year.

This method is also a summary of the practical experience of the ancient working people and is full of simple philosophical thoughts.

People often say "Chen dragon", that is to say, starting from the first day of the lunar month, when the Chen day appears on the first day of the lunar month, the dragon will control the water.

This year is the eleventh year of Qingde, and the first "Chen Day" corresponds to the tenth day of the lunar month. Therefore, this year is the "Ten Dragons Controlling Water".

A farmer's proverb goes like this: The more dragons you rely on, the less dragons will be flooded.

It means: one dragon and two dragons control the water, and the rain will be more, and the harvest will be poor; the nine dragons and ten dragons will control the water, and the rain will be less, and the drought will happen; the five and six dragons will control the water, and the weather will be good.

Ancient people believed that dragons were in charge of rain, so they judged the year by the number of dragons.

It is said that the more dragons there are, the more rain there will be, and floods may occur. In fact, the exact opposite is true. If there are too many dragons, droughts will occur.

As the old saying goes, "If there are too many wives, dinner will be late." "If there are too many people, there will be chaos and there will be drought." This means that if there are too many people, work will be stopped, and each other will count on each other and pass the blame.

The modern cartoon "Three Monks" has the same meaning - one monk carries water to drink, two monks carry water to drink, and the three monks have no water to drink.

Chu Qing knows this statement, but is it true? Is it true? Chu Qing believes that he dare not say anything else, but the principle of mutual blame must be true.

Otherwise, why would these people come every day to force her to commit to choosing a site to grow cotton?

Last year, there was a lot of rain in the south, severe floods, and reduced grain production. If there is a drought this year, grain production will continue to decrease.

But, is this Chu Qing’s responsibility? She only cares about site selection and nothing else! They already said that the place they want is not suitable for growing cotton, so what nonsense are they talking about!

Without Zheng Xiaorou's help in dealing with these people, Chu Qing would be heartbroken.

These women, who can't be beaten or scolded, talk about specious truths, build friendships out of thin air, and line up to come to her every day to rub off on each other. It's so fucking annoying!

There was another message last night, which was sent to her by the secret agent of the Secret Detective Department sent by Chu Qing to the Kingdom of Voss:

The fourth prince of the Voss Kingdom, Kelidi, instructed his staff, the former Donglun nobleman Ge Taijing, to contact some bureaucrats of the old Donglun Kingdom in New Lun State, and prepared to follow Yushitai to collectively impeach the Chu Qing Dynasty for "harming public affairs and enriching private interests, and harming the people."

Striving for profit and hoarding food and grass privately."

As long as there is any movement at the Yushitai, the old bureaucrats here in Xinlun Prefecture will go to the official offices in Xinlun Prefecture to make trouble, forcing Song Tingshan to report to the court.

"Injuring the public and enriching the private sector" refers to the fact that Chu Qing used the country's iron ore to manufacture various products and sell them, enriching his own pockets.

"Competing with the people for profit" refers to the fact that the Chu and Qing Dynasties owned many cotton fields, produced and sold their own cotton, and monopolized the market. As officials, they did not leave a way out for cloth merchants.

"Private Grain and Grass Farm" refers to Chuqing's horse farm and "Baoqingsheng" warehouse.

Chu Qing not only owned a vast horse farm, but also bought a lot of surrounding mountain land to grow pasture; and stored a large amount of grain in the "Bao Qing Sheng" warehouse.

What's the disadvantage? The magistrate of Xinlun Prefecture is Song Tingshan, who has always been on good terms with Chu and Qing. If he also reported this matter, wouldn't Chu and Qing be isolated?

However, our boy is very good. He secretly sent a message to Chu Qing as soon as he got the news.

The two items of "harming the public and enriching private interests" and "competing with the people for profit" were not big things for Chu Qing. Who was harmed and who was enriched, the emperor knew better than himself.

The key is "privately storing grain and grass", which is difficult to explain clearly.

Originally, the racecourse in Xinlun Prefecture was state-owned, but Chu Qing just opened up a large piece of land next to it and built his own racecourse. Who made that place suitable for this?

But where there is a racecourse, there are horses. Forage is imported for the cultivation of the horses. Coupled with the grain that the "Bao Qing Sheng" warehouse did not completely sell to the Voss country last year, it really feels like a "private farm of grain and grass".

It's okay if the emperor doesn't think too much, but if he really thinks about it, it will be extremely destructive.

If Bai Jiaxing and Zheng Xiaorou were here, Chu Qing would have been able to go to Xinlun Prefecture long ago to see how passive he was.

No matter how many things there are, they must be dealt with one by one. First, get rid of the ladies who are here to be "guests".

"I can't control how many dragons control the water. The dragons have to blame each other and don't work. What can I do?" Chu Qing said patiently: "Madams, whether it rains or not is God's business. Is there any water in the river?

, it’s a matter for water conservancy officials, I’m just a little ‘Simian Yuanwailang’.”

"Master Chu, you can't say that!" The wife of the prefect of Yibin Mansion spoke. She felt that she was the wife of the prefect, and she still had a royal title. Her status was higher than that of Chu Qing, so her face was not as easy-going as before.

She said: "Even if you only talk about the official position of 'Si Cotton Yuanwailang', that's fine. Isn't this just discussing cotton planting with you? Can't you just open your mouth and nod?"

"Liang Yiren," Chu Qing changed her words. Just now he called her "Sister Gao", which was considered to be using her husband's surname, which echoed the closeness she expressed by "Chu sister".

Now that people have changed "Chu Meizi" to "Mr. Chu", let's keep things official: if you are a fifth-grade Yiren, then you should call yourself "Liang Yiren".

Chu Qing said: "Liang Yiren, it is the duty of Mr. Gao to teach farmers and mulberry trees. Chu Qing dare not comment and has no right to comment.

The only thing Chu Qing could do was to find a place to grow cotton. Apart from choosing a good location, there was no suitable place in Yibin Mansion.

If Mr. Gao thinks there is a suitable place, he can give it a try without Chu's consent."

If you don't say it clearly, people will feel that there is room for maneuver and will continue to be nagging; if you say it clearly, you will express your rejection, which will offend others.

Chu Qing could only refuse now.


Chapter completed!