Chapter 325 Court Commendation
Chapter 325 Court Commendation
An iron-grey shadow filled the sky.
In the morning, sunlight could still penetrate through the gaps in the dark clouds. In less than half a day, the mottled clouds became thick and a drizzle drifted down.
On the ark, the boatman stood in the rain, his hair wet with sweat and stuck to his face. He stood straight and pointed at the dim low mountains in front of him.
"Sir, there is Shahe Mountain ahead. The terrain there is high and the boat cannot pass through. You have to ride a horse."
Wei Shao looked at the Shahe Mountain under the dim sky and said, "Let's find a place to stop the boat."
"Yes."
The two boatmen found a good position and put up the gangplank.
Wei Shao jumped off the boat, leading the blue horse. He rode the horse non-stop to the foot of the mountain, tied the reins and went up the mountain.
Someone came to report, but Wei Shao ignored him and went straight into "Jiangyun Teahouse".
The rain dripped along the edges of the broken beams and seeped into the cracks in the bricks and stones.
Young and strong warriors were carrying beams, shoveling broken tiles and bricks into baskets with shovels, and carrying them down the mountain in baskets. It was a busy scene.
Passing through the front hall, there are tea bowls scattered on several square tables, with two plaques stacked in the middle, "Heaven, Earth, Emperor, Parents, and Teachers" and "Upright and Honest", in red and white, with a few nanmu tablets on top.
Wei Shao frowned, the ominous premonition in his heart growing like weeds.
what's the situation?
The Shahe Gang was captured by Liangqu?
No matter how weak the Shahe Gang is, they have a master of wolf smoke. How could they allow Liang Qu, a mere galloping martial artist, to be in such a mess?
"Found it, found it! It's not crushed!"
A warrior looked excited as he held up a yellow plaque from the ruins. On it were four large characters "Loyalty for Thousands of Years" written on it!
The surrounding gang members cheered.
The entire Juyi Building collapsed, but none of the three plaques enshrined there were damaged, which can be considered a happy event.
"Thank you all for your hard work."
A large hand covered with brown spots grabbed the plaque and casually placed it on the tea table, which surprised the gang members who found the plaque.
Huyan Shijing put down the plaque, said thank you for your hard work, and walked to the front hall with Lian Jingye on crutches, bowing to Wei Shao and saying hello.
"I didn't know you were coming. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. Please come inside and have some tea."
"No need to say more polite words. You all know the purpose of my visit. Tell me, how many ships does the Shahe Gang have left now?"
Wei Shao's straightforward remarks made Huyan Shijing and Lian Jingye feel that the Hebo Sect was truly of the same lineage.
Huyan Shijing said with regret: "Sir, you are a step late."
Lian Jingye handed over the account book.
Wei Shao's face tensed and he took the account book and flipped 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 in cinnabar pen, indicating that it had been borrowed by Liang Qu.
There were indeed some remaining ships, but their uses were clearly stated and they could not be withdrawn, or they were too large to be convenient for sailing, so they were left behind.
Wei Shao frowned more and more.
Liang Qu actually managed to borrow the money, and it was such a huge amount.
Just by looking at the information revealed between the lines in the account book, it can be seen that the Shahe Gang has made great efforts and given almost all they could.
Some ships were even loaded with rice to help with emergencies.
Thinking that I had wasted several hours and encountered the worst possible outcome, I will meet Wei Lin tomorrow...
The indescribable pressure made Wei Shao's heart beat faster, and he couldn't help but confirm again: "Is there not an empty ship left?"
"That's how it is in the Shahe Gang."
Wei Shao grasped the key point: "Is this the case in the Shahe Gang?"
"Before leaving, Lord Liang told us to try to collect spare boats from nearby towns and villages. We must not let the Lord of the River and Port Office return empty-handed. In the past few hours, we have made some progress."
Wei Shao was stunned, and some inexplicable emotions arose in his heart.
"How many do you have?"
Lian Jingye took out the second account book.
Wei Shao flipped through them one after another.
No surprises.
A few hours was too short. The Shahe Gang made every effort to make this happen, but the ships they coordinated were only less than one-third of Liang Qu's fleet.
"It's better than nothing..."
Wei Shao's brows relaxed slightly.
……
Floods covered in mud poured into the village one after another, and the cracks in the walls were filled with fine white foam.
The people, sitting in bath tubs and hugging trees like monkeys, had to be pulled out of the flood one by one by the watermen.
A long gangway was built between the roof and the big ship. The child cried and shouted but dared not go forward, causing the villagers behind him to curse at him.
The woman had to pick up the child and climb over the gangplank with the child in her arms, exhausted. Liang Qu stood on the tall mast, letting the ship sway beneath him as if he had taken root.
With his golden eyes burning, he took in the overall situation and commanded the fleet in an orderly manner.
"Old Song, split the fleet into three parts, and send two of them to Cangji Town in the east..."
"Separate all the young and strong! Don't put them in the same cabin with women and children!"
"Old Song! Send a few people to the cabin to carry ten bags of rice to make porridge. Don't take more than you want. Remember not to make it too thick. One bowl per person, just make sure they don't starve to death. Give an extra bowl to the young and strong so that they can drink it and help with the work!"
Countless gang members followed Liang Qu's orders and shuttled between the ships.
Even Lu Xinqing was no exception. He took out a large iron pot and prepared to boil water and start the stove.
"Master Liang, is there something wrong over there?"
Old Song looked up and shouted to Liang Qu on the mast.
Liang Qu turned his head and saw two young men standing in the middle of the deck fighting, hugging each other and rolling into a ball. Soon other people joined in, and a group of people on the side watched in confusion.
The captain of the ship jumped out and asked, "What's going on? What's going on? Why is there a fight over there?"
"Oh my, it's those two bastards from the Li and Chen families!" The village elder who was rescued on the boat understood immediately, "These two families used to be neighbors, and they often quarreled over little things..."
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..."
"Want to wait for me to do it myself?"
Before the village elder could react, a member of the Shahe Gang had already rushed onto the deck on a springboard, slapped the young man to the ground with two slaps, grabbed one with one hand and threw him into the water, cursing loudly.
"You two sons of bitches, what did you eat in your past life, centipede shit or toad urine, and you want to become human? Today I'll make your wish come true! You two have so much strength, why don't you go down to the river and play around!"
After resolving a farce, Liang Qu heard screams from the east.
"Master Zhou, there's a big crocodile over there!"
"The big crocodile is coming, the big crocodile is coming! Help, help!"
Two giant crocodiles, each about ten feet long, swam towards a small wooden barrel. Just as they were about to grab it with their claws, they suddenly felt a heavy pressure hitting their heads.
A giant ape with shining golden eyes appeared in the minds of the two beasts. Immediately, their muscles became completely stiff and they flipped straight out of the water.
The woman in the wooden barrel poked the crocodile with a mallet, but the crocodile did not move. It was dead!
"Go get some people to fish the people out! Catch the big crocodile as well, kill it and stew it with the porridge!"
"Sir, there is some rice in the village ancestral hall. It 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 go!"
"I am coming too!"
……
On the Blackwater River, dozens of long boats stopped at the port.
A large number of emergency tents were set up on the open space outside the dock.
The soldiers lined up to unload the rice from the boat, leaving some of it where it was and putting 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 rescue and brought preliminary emergency supplies.
Ke Wenbin allocated a batch of rice and asked the soldiers to cook porridge on the spot for relief.
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 also took the lead in donating 8,000 taels of silver to purchase rice. He is really rich and powerful."
Ke Wenbin smiled and said, "Eight thousand taels is not a lot. Didn't you also spend five thousand taels to buy a hot pot recipe?"
"Don't make a fuss. How can that be the same? I bought a house. I can earn it back sooner or later. But the donation is gone forever."
"Not necessarily. The court will definitely reward us afterwards, so it's not a loss."
Exemptions and official relief had to be approved by the emperor before ministers had the right to implement them, but those officials who opened their granaries and released grain when disaster struck were all rewarded as positive examples without exception.
"It's just some verbal praise, what's the point?"
"You don't understand. The benefits that County Magistrate Jian can get are invisible and intangible at the moment, 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 lost.
With Xuan Huang Qi in hand, he has already walked halfway on the path to becoming a master. According to his age, he may even have the hope of becoming a martial saint in the future."
"That thing comes too slowly. It's exhausting just thinking about turning Pingyang County into Pingyang Prefecture. There's not much benefit to be gained, and everyone will be blamed.
Look at the magistrate of Huazhu County. The dam collapsed out of nowhere. No matter how well he had done before, it was useless!"
"I don't think so. Pingyang County will become a prefecture within three years!"
Xiang Fangsu shook his head, unwilling to argue, and changed the subject: "I wonder where Ah Shui is and how things are going? This kid is the first time to be a Du Shui Lang, so he won't make any mistakes, right?"
Ke Wenbin shook his head.
"Don't worry, Ah Shui is young and actually quite considerate."
(End of this chapter)