In the middle of August, the weather was still quite hot. This kind of weather was extremely rare in Jiangyin County in the past. It was rare to encounter such a situation. Because of this, Du Ye became more and more worried because he had been appointed for almost half a month, but there was still not a drop of rain. Obviously, there was something wrong with the weather.
During this period of time, Du Ye had become more and more tanned. His cheeks had become bronze under the sun.
He no longer had the fair skin of the past.
Even during this period of time, Du Ye had grown a little taller. Although he was only eleven or twelve years old, he was already more than 160 centimeters tall, which was not considered short. He used to have a little bit of baby fat, but now, it was all gone. He had become completely thin, which made him look more capable, and even the trace of immaturity on him had disappeared.
During this period of time, Du Ye had been dealing with the county government's official business. The county government's official business was nothing more than some prison and some disputes between neighbors. Although it was a little complicated, it was not difficult. Most of the time, he was patrolling the construction site to understand the situation there.
He was very concerned about the reinforcement of the river bank and the cleaning of the river silt.
In fact, it was the best time to clean it up.
Because it had been dry for several months, there had been no heavy rain during these months. Even if there was an occasional drizzle, the ground would be dry in the blink of an eye. Therefore, there was no water in many river channels, so it was easy to clean up the silt.
Du Ye was so busy every day, so many people had already known Du Ye.
They did not call him County Magistrate Du.
Instead, they called him Little County Magistrate Du.
Because Du Ye was young, and Du Ye really took this opportunity to enter the hearts of the people and gain the recognition of many people. These people who were working were all residents of Jiangyin County. They worked at the construction site, and Du Ye was personally concerned about their food and wages, so many people were very grateful to Du Ye and recognized him.
On this day, as usual, Du Ye was patrolling the river and telling the workers to be careful of their own safety, but Xu Tu quickly ran over.
Xu Tu's face was obviously angry.
Because of this period of time, Du Ye and Xu Tu were already very close to each other. Although Xu Tu was older than Du Ye, Xu Tu admired Du Ye very much. A disciple of a large family, even a disciple of an aristocratic family, was able to endure such hardships. This was not something an ordinary person could do. Other than that, Du Ye's thoughts were meticulous, and he handled things quite shrewdly, so Xu Tu also admired him.
Du Ye saw Xu Tu's expression and said, "Old Xu, did something happen?"
Xu Tu said, "County Magistrate Du, I just feel a little indignant."
Du Ye asked, "What do you mean?"
Xu Tu said, "We're working ourselves to death here. What's the point of all this? It's so that once it rains, our Jiangyin County can escape this disaster. But I didn't expect that someone would make sarcastic remarks. "
"Many people in Jiangyin County and other counties say that you're crazy. You actually have nothing better to do than to dredge the rivers and canals. They all say that there's no need to dredge the rivers and canals in Jiangnan. Even the county magistrates of the surrounding counties said the same thing. "
"That's fine."
"After all, those people are all outsiders."
"But some businessmen and people from big clans in our Jiangyin County also began to mock and ridicule us. They said that we're doing this for money. They said that County Magistrate Du came to Jiangyin County for nothing. "
Xu Tu gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Our Xu Family has paid a lot for this river dredging. Originally, it was said that 80% of the market price was used as the wage, but in fact, it was far lower than 80% of the market price. But we didn't deduct the workers' wages at all. They were all paid according to the market price. We even provided a meal at noon every day. "
"Our Xu Family has paid a lot."
"But we've been mocked and ridiculed by others. It's really infuriating."
"It's fine if these people don't get involved and don't want to help. But they're really infuriating to criticize and speak so wantonly. It's simply too abominable."
Xu Tu said, "I can't wait to take action and beat these people up."
After hearing that, Du Ye was silent for a while.
Soon after, Du Ye smiled and said, "Old Xu, if you're angry, then you've fallen into a trap. You must know that these people are making sarcastic remarks, hoping that we won't succeed. So we don't need to pay attention to these people at the moment. "
Xu Tu said, "Don't tell me we don't care?"
Du Ye said in a deep voice, "Of course we don't care, but we'll remember these things. As for this matter, we will slowly settle it after the construction of the river channel is completed and the heavy rain falls. "
Although Du Ye was young, he had a lot of thoughts.
He didn't have a kind personality.
Du Ye's eyes were sharp as he said, "When the heavy rain falls, these surrounding counties will naturally suffer. Once the heavy rain falls, it will flood many fields and inundate countless people's houses, causing countless people to become homeless. At that time, it will be our chance to take revenge. "
After a pause, Du Ye said, "Old Xu, I'll tell you something. I've already purchased a large amount of grain from Jiangdu. I've exchanged the extra money from the county government for grain, and now it's all stored in the granary. Your Xu Family has money, so you can buy some more grain from the surrounding areas. When the heavy rain falls, you'll naturally make a profit. "
Xu Tu said, "Thank you, County Magistrate Du."
Du Ye said, "In fact, in Changzhou, and even in Jiangnan, the government has already given warnings to various places. They said that there might be a disaster and asked the officials to make adjustments. Unfortunately, the officials didn't take it seriously. "
Xu Tu said, "Not everyone is like County Magistrate Du."
Du Ye chuckled.
He shook his head.
In the half a month he'd been the county magistrate, he'd encountered a lot of things, and also encountered a lot of ups and downs. It was precisely because of this that he had a better understanding of the local situation. The imperial court had issued an order, but when the order was passed down, it would change layer by layer. Perhaps by the time it was implemented locally, it would already be different.
Therefore, when it was implemented, the final result would be different.
This was the complexity of the local situation.
Xu Tu suddenly changed the topic and said, "County Magistrate Xu, we'll see the places outside Jiangyin County as a joke in the future. But within Jiangyin County, these people are all mocking and ridiculing us. How should we deal with these big families and big merchants? We can't just leave them be after they've received benefits. "
"Of course not!"
Du Ye's eyes sharpened.
He'd never been the type to repay kindness with evil. What he advocated was the same as his father, Du Qi, was to repay kindness with kindness, and to repay hatred with justice. He'd take note of all the people who'd wronged him.
Du Ye said in a deep voice, "When the heavy rain comes, I'll make a special announcement to clearly state the contributions of the Xu family, as well as the people who supported the county magistrate. As for these big families and big merchants who mocked and ridiculed us, I'll expose and criticize them one by one. After the official announcement, it'll naturally have a great impact on them. I want the entire Jiangyin County to despise them. "
Xu Tu said with a smile, "County Magistrate Du is wise!"
He was originally full of pent-up anger, but now that he'd heard Du Qi's words, his heart was completely at ease. So much so that Xu Tu was looking forward to the next development.
Du Ye asked, "Old Xu, the construction has been going on for almost half a month. Especially in this half a month, we've spent a lot of money and mobilized countless people to participate. Now, how much time do we have left to finish? If we drag on for another half a month, I'm afraid the weather won't be able to hold on. Although the weather in the past few days has been good, it's still changed a bit. It's not as hot as before. "
Xu Tu said, "County Magistrate Du, there's at most three days left. Everything will be finished in three days. When the time comes, we'll only need to deal with the border between Jiangyin County and the other counties. We'll have to make sure that once the rivers at these borders rise, they won't affect us. This matter will be a lot easier. "
Du Ye nodded and said, "We must hurry up. There's not much time left."
Xu Tu said, "I understand."
The two continued to patrol and at the same time talked about many things related to digging ditches.
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