Chapter 113
Words:1817Update:22/06/25 05:32:30
"Di di da da!"
"Dong dong dong!"
"Dang dang dang!"
…
The sound of gongs and drums came from afar, attracting the attention of Meton and Fang Xuanling. On the official road, a long procession was slowly approaching.
"What is this?"
Fang Jun looked curiously at the procession that was gradually approaching. It was so lively that it seemed like a wedding. However, it was already close to noon. No family would pick up the bride at noon.
As the procession got closer, the sound of gongs and drums became louder and louder, attracting many commoners who came to buy water carts to watch. The procession waved colorful flags and a musical group walked in front of the procession. The sound of suona, gongs and drums was deafening as they played with great effort.
Behind the musical group, seven little girls were barefoot and carried a triangular yellow dragon flag. Eight strong men carried a huge clay sculpture of the dragon king and followed behind them. A large number of commoners followed behind.
"Offering sacrifices to heaven and praying for rain!" Meton said in a low voice.
The seven little girls in front symbolized the Seven Girls Praying for Rain while the Dragon King sculpture at the back symbolized the Worshiping Dragon Praying for Rain.
Fang Xuanling looked at the procession in front of her and was embarrassed. She did not expect the drought to be so serious. Many commoners had already started to offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for rain.
The drought was not reported by the county magistrate. If not for the Mo Journal, they would not have known that the situation was so serious.
Every time the clay sculpture of the Dragon King stopped, all the commoners knelt on the ground. A large amount of sandalwood was lit and the air was filled with a pleasant fragrance. It was obviously expensive.
An old man with grizzled hair knelt at the front and kowtowed three times to the clay sculpture of the Dragon King. He shouted, "This humble one has neglected the Dragon King. Now, I specially offer you an offering. May the Jinghe Dragon King show mercy and bestow rain upon us."
"Please have mercy on us, Dragon King." All the commoners shouted.
"Then why are they asking for the Dragon King?" Fang Jun did not understand.
Meton explained in a low voice, "The drought this year was the most serious on both sides of the Jing River. The water level of the Jing River directly exposed the riverbed. The commoners in Guanzhong said that this year's drought must have offended the Dragon King."
The most serious drought was in the counties near the banks of the Jing River. Some places had not had a drop of rain for one and a half months. The water level of the Jing River directly dropped to the lowest point in history.
"Oh!"
Fang Jun was suddenly enlightened. He had been in Chang 'an City all the time and had never seen people praying for rain. He could not help but curiously look at the strange behavior of those people.
They burned incense, kowtowed, and offered sacrifices. The seven women knelt down and prayed for rain. In addition, this rain-praying team even invited a Taoist priest to dance there. They used almost all the methods they could think of to pray for rain.
"Sigh! Meton, do you think Jinghe Dragon King will forgive them for the rain? "Fang Jun touched Meton's shoulder and whispered.
"I beg the Dragon King for half a day, but I don't ask the heavens but the gods."
Meton sneered. If praying to a god was useful, then this god was too cheap. He could be easily bought over by a few pigs and sheep heads.
Fang Jun was speechless as he looked at the child in front of him. Can't you stop spewing out poems without a word? Can't you see that your parents are still in front of you?
"Don't ask the heavens but the gods!"
A loud shout came from behind Meton, which startled Meton. He quickly looked back and saw Li Er looking at the rain-praying team in front of him with a gloomy face. When the drought came, these people not only did not think about how to water the fields, but also prayed to the Dragon God for rain. If praying to the God could bring rain, then the drought of four years in Zhen Guan would not have happened.
"God of Ghosts!"
Li Shimin closed his eyes in pain. He had lost hope in the drought of four years in Zhen Guan.
"Your Majesty!"
Fang Xuanling exclaimed in a low voice. He did not expect Li Shimin to come here incognito.
Fang Jun and Meton were also surprised. They did not expect Li Shimin to be behind them. Fang Jun roared in his heart. This trip was really worthwhile. Following Mo Jiazi was the right choice. They could even meet the Emperor who was rarely seen.
The three of them wanted to salute, but Li Shimin waved his hand slightly to stop them. Obviously, he did not want to expose his identity.
Modun and Fang Jun had no choice but to give up. They cupped their hands slightly in greeting.
"Your Majesty is precious. How can you wear white clothes and risk your life?" Fang Xuanling whispered. Although this was outside Chang 'an City, if something happened to Li Shimin here, no one could bear the responsibility.
"Don't worry, I have already made arrangements!"
Li Shimin shook his head.
Fang Xuanling looked around and found that there were many people in disguise. Although these people looked no different from other people, they always looked at Li Shimin. The leader was a familiar face — Li Junxian. Fang Xuanling was relieved and stopped trying to persuade him.
"Besides, it must be urgent for my Prime Minister to put aside his government affairs and use his official plate to open the way. How can I not come to see it?" Li Shimin said.
He was originally outside Chang 'an City, inspecting the situation of the people and checking the drought situation, but accidentally saw Fang Xuanling coming out of the South City Gate. Out of curiosity, he followed and found that Fang Xuanling and Mo Jiazi were together.
"Meton, it seems that you are everywhere!" Li Shimin snorted and looked at Meton unkindly.
Meton suddenly felt a chill on his back and could not help but lower his head guiltily.
Fang Xuanling quickly whispered the irrigation tool that Meton said could make use of the ubiquitous underground water. Li Shimin's eyes suddenly lit up and he was excited.
Li Shimin was really shocked by the new water wheel of the Mo's Village. If this new water wheel was popularized, it could at least reduce the harm of the drought. But he did not expect that the Mo's Village would have the idea of watering the land far away from the river.
"I thought that the improved water wheel of the Mo's Village had given me enough surprises, but I didn't expect that there was another surprise waiting for me!" Li Shimin took a deep breath and calmed down. If it was someone else, Li Shimin might doubt it. But he was still very confident about Meton, who would always do something incredible.
Well water! Li Shimin was certainly familiar with it. In Chang 'an City, there were century-old ancient wells everywhere. No matter how dry it was, these ancient wells would never dry up.
It could be imagined how much water was buried under the land. If it could really be used for irrigation, it would really be a peerless weapon that could solve the agriculture problem of the Tang dynasty.
Generally speaking, as long as it was not a low-lying area, it would not have a big impact on the harvest of agriculture. But only drought was the biggest natural disaster of agriculture. Often when there was a drought, thousands of miles of land would be scarred and starving people would be everywhere.
"If you can really solve the problem of irrigation in dry land, I will write off your conspiracy with Gao Ming and let bygones be bygones." Li Shimin snorted coldly.
Meton sighed. That thing was really exposed. Being in the king's company was like being in the company of a tiger. Although Meton's intention was good and he was very tactful, Li Shimin still inevitably felt embarrassed.
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