How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

"I was bewitched for a moment and coveted the disaster relief grain. I only hope Your Highness can give me a chance to atone for my sins. No, no..."

Xie Chengze smiled gently and tapped him on the back of his neck with the golden fan. Liang Wanda shuddered violently and fell to his knees in fear.

"You mean, don't chop off your head?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me for my hard work, even though I have no merits. I will serve you till my death, and will never commit corruption or abuse of power again! I will take out all the disaster relief grain that I have hidden, so that your plan to seal off the city can proceed smoothly and ensure that there will be no mistakes!"

The flood would inevitably lead to an increase in food prices, and most of the silver was embezzled by the higher-ups. Liang Wanda naturally came up with the idea of ​​using the relief grain, and secretly hid most of it in his own cellar, waiting for the price of grain to rise before finding his own people to "launder" the relief grain into commercial grain.

Shen Yuan did not use the relief grain because he wanted to keep it for emergency use, which was a way for himself to escape. But now, Xie Chengze has attracted a large number of grain merchants to come to Yizhou, and his plan requires this relief grain for emergency use. Therefore, it is appropriate to use this relief grain at this moment.

Xie Chengze originally wanted to pressure Liang Wanda before asking for food, but since the other party was so considerate and asked first, he was happy to do so.

"You are a smart man. As long as you are willing to change your ways, I will naturally give you a chance." Xie Chengze helped him up with both hands and said with a smile, "Go and do your work. If you do well, I will let you live."

There are very few people who like to make big promises these days. How could I bear to see you die?

As for how to survive in the end... Xie Chengze showed a sinister smile in his heart. He had already chosen the most appropriate punishment method for Liang Wanda.

Liang Wanda withdrew with many thanks, and conscientiously sent someone to do what Xie Chengze had asked him to do.

Xie Chengze stood at the door, waving a golden fan. After a moment, he said calmly, "Wuhen, follow him."

There can be no room for error in this matter. Just in case, let Wuhen follow Liang Wanda and keep track of his movements at all times.

Then he glanced slightly at the distance and saw a wisp of clothing disappearing behind the pillar.

It seems that some people are also worried about him.

-

On this day, the people of the entire Jiangdu County were mobilized.

The old men started cooking and steamed the remaining grain in the county government office into hot steamed buns. The women who were sewing oil paper were so greedy that they swallowed their saliva, but they could only endure the hunger and lower their heads to work on their own tasks. The men who were carrying bedding and iron pots could not help but glance over here when they passed by, relying on sight to satisfy their hunger.

Hearing that they could get steamed buns as long as they could memorize the ballad, the children gathered at the gate of the government office and followed the students' babbling in their clear and childish voices:

"There is a mountain fairy in Yizhou, who has compassion on all living things. He appeared in Liang Zhifu's dream in the middle of the night and gave him advice. A rainstorm is coming, and mountain torrents are about to fall. If Yuji takes shelter for three days, he can save thousands of lives."

"The prefect should do as he is told. Sure enough, a flash flood came and the water supply to Yuji Mountain was cut off, saving everyone's lives. The prefect was quick-witted and prayed to enter his dream. The mountain fairy came into his dream and asked what was the matter."

"Can this mountain be pushed? Can this river be split? If the east and the west are not evenly divided, the people will suffer! The mountain fairy laughed loudly, praising his courage and thinking. He stretched out his hand and pointed, and all the methods came!"

"This mountain can be pushed up! This river can be split! Divide it into east and west, and the Land of Abundance will come!"

The children's voices were so powerful that they moved people's hearts and made them think about the meaning of the ballad: Can this mountain really be pushed? Can this water really be split?

Can Yizhou really become a land of abundance?

"How can it be!"

In the inn, Ji Songhua munched on a steamed bun and shook his head. "This Governor Liang is really willing to do anything for his reputation. He made up a ballad like this to deify his own achievements. If it weren't for Brother Ouyang Jiu's knowledge of the stars and the sky, and Brother Cheng had not passed it on to him, how could he have predicted the future? And the second half of the ballad is just nonsense!"

"I don't think so. Just because you can't come up with a solution doesn't mean others can't." Gu Ying retorted.

"That's right! I agree with what Brother Gu said!" Zhu Xiaobiao responded immediately.

“You two…” Ji Songhua pointed at them and finally waved his sleeves in anger, “That’s unreasonable! Brother Ouyang, look at them! They don’t really think that Magistrate Liang is some kind of god, do they?”

Ouyang Jiu glanced at Xie Chengze, "He is certainly not a god."

But maybe…

Ji Songhua immediately said to Zhu Xiaobiao proudly, "Look, Brother Ouyang also said that Governor Liang can't do it!"

He then asked another student beside him, "What do you think?"

The student was tall and strong, but seemed to be extremely taciturn, making it difficult to notice his presence. After Ji Songhua spoke to him, he just shook his head silently and continued to eat the bread in his hand.

"See, normal people think it's impossible!" Ji Songhua said proudly.

Zhu Xiaobiao disagreed. "I've thought about it. Why can't the mountain be leveled? Why can't the water be split? Since we can carve out a quarry, why can't we level Yuji Mountain? Since we can design ditches in the compound to divert rainwater, why can't we divert the Minjiang River?"

"They are just a little bigger, so we can find more people to do it, it's just a matter of time!" Zhu Xiaobiao said angrily, "How can you say it's impossible when you haven't even tried it!"

"Is it bigger? It is much bigger! You saw how turbulent and fierce the Minjiang flood was on Yuji Mountain that day. Fighting against nature means losing both wealth and life!" Ji Songhua said angrily, "You can only talk!"

Zhu Xiaobiao was choked by him and was speechless.

Bian Yangchun thought for a moment, then looked at Xie Chengze, who was fanning himself and smiling, "Brother Cheng, you are good friends with Prefect Liang, do you know something?"

Everyone couldn't help but look at Xie Chengze. After the flash flood hit, they found that Xie Chengze and his group seemed very familiar with Prefect Liang. However, the other party was a rich man after all. It was normal for them to spend some money to get in touch with him and be taken care of by him, so they didn't doubt it much.

"Well..." Xie Chengze shook his head, "I haven't heard of anything."

Gu Ying and Zhu Xiaobiao were instantly deflated.

After the gathering, the group dispersed. On the way back to the government office, Zhu Xiaobiao hung his head and looked listless. Xie Chengze raised his folding fan and tapped his head, "What's wrong? You look so dejected."

"Your Highness, am I really wrong?" Zhu Xiaobiao lowered his head aggrievedly, "Is it because I have never been educated that I can only take things for granted?"

Xie Chengze raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Why don't you ask Jingze? Hasn't Jingze read a lot of books? You even praised him as a talented scholar."

Zhu Xiaobiao thought so too and immediately looked at Jing Ze expectantly, "Jing Ze? What do you think? Am I right, or are Ji Songhua and Ouyang Jiu right?"

Jing Ze was silent for a moment, then said, "Young Master is right."

"You hesitated!" Zhu Xiaobiao pouted, not wanting to pay attention to Jingze anymore, "And you've even learned to flatter me!"

Jing Ze couldn't help but laugh.

"You! You don't like to hear the truth, and you don't like to hear flattery?" Xie Chengze knocked Zhu Xiaobiao's head with his folding fan again, lowered his head and whispered in his ear, "Xiaobiao, do you want to see a real immortal?"

Zhu Xiaobiao looked up blankly, "Ah? Real gods? Are there really gods in this world?"

Xie Chengze smiled wantonly and confidently, his bright eyes seemed to sparkle with brilliance, making him radiant and even suppressing his stunning appearance. He said, "That's right! I will help you realize the myth you imagined!"