Great Tang Idyll

Chapter 98 The Drought Continues To Worsen

Zhou Kong, Magistrate Cheng and the others immediately left after having lunch at the restaurant. Only Song Jing'gong and the people he brought along were still eating and drinking at the restaurant. It seemed that tonight they were going to keep the lights on and recite poems until dawn. Some that could not hold their liquor well had fallen asleep on the spot and did not depart; they planned to wake up at night to continue the battle.

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't expect Zhou Kong and Magistrate Cheng to bring in a lot of money to the restaurant. Usually, a person that came down from the prefecture to stay here for a few days would not spend all their time drinking wine. It was the same case for the people Magistrate Cheng brought too. A trip back and forth would take up the entire day, so it was not worth it to come here just for a meal.

The purpose of getting those two to come was that once the construction is completed at the Little Luo'shui River, the two places will be connected and those that were jealous of the business will realize that these two places were under the protection of the County Magistrate and the Can Jun from the prefecture. This way, rivals would be more cautious, and would be wary of making any movements if they were not capable of competing. As for those that were capable, they will be dealt with separately.

Both Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were already waiting for Zhou Kong to come over and ask about things, but he left right after eating. It was as if he forgot about the masterminds' existence. However, this made the two of them feel less tensed.

The Dragon Boat Festival passed by with lively celebrations. This year, apart from the Zhang and Wang Manor that had given out bamboo rice dumplings to their residents, the Ge Manor also copied them by giving out bamboo rice dumplings too. This year, the Ge Family did not have to pay grains to the Imperial Court, but the residents still had to pay to their Master family. There will be a large surplus, so this was considered as giving back grains to the residents in advance.

Furthermore, the restaurant has also opened, and the three are operating together, so they could not continue to be stingy anymore. When the rice dumplings were sent, the Ge Manor's residents were able to straighten up their backs and be proud since they finally had something to brag about when they met the Zhang and Wang Manor's residents.

After coming over to show support, Magistrate Cheng rushed back to the administrative office and then rested for a while. He looked at the sky and noticed how late it was already. He called Magistrate Assistant Zhang Ming'sheng over and he prepared some side dishes and a small bottle of wine. In the dark night, they began to discuss things.

"Xu'yang, many days have passed without rain. Not only has grain production decreased, but water is running out for people and livestock to drink. If we don't come up with a plan, people will die from thirst." Magistrate Cheng poured out a bowl of wine for the Magistrate Assistant, and spoke while sighing. A melancholic look lingered on his face.

The Magistrate Assistant held the bowl in both hands, and waited for the County Magistrate to finish pouring. He gently placed the bowl in front of himself, and then spoke sorrowfully, "Six days ago, there was a bit of rain on the east side of the county seat, but the rain stopped after less than two hours. It was not even enough to moisten the ground. Right now, the ground at many places in the county are still dry and cracked, and there is not much water coming out of the wells."

Magistrate Cheng also knew about this situation. He stretched out his chopsticks to pick up some food, but he stopped and drank a large sip of wine instead. He exhaled out a breath of alcoholic air "The water in the well is lesser now, can it be dug deeper down? Is it possible to dig out more water?"

"It's possible, but the well is no longer in the same condition as when it was first dug. Now, if a person wants to be sent down, it will not work unless the well was wide enough. If we want to dig deeper, then the well needs to be completely torn apart first. My lord, if it can be like that auspicious well, such that water can come out after a bang, then it would be great. That well is still providing water to a lot of people."

The Magistrate Assistant joined him by taking a sip of wine too. He spoke with the Magistrate, and as he spoke, his troubled expression suddenly showed some hope. He and the Magistrate knew how that auspicious omen came to be. The Zhang Manor used this to make an exchange with the people at the prefecture. As a result, water came out of the well after a bang, and there was still quite a bit of water even until now.

When Magistrate Cheng heard this, his eyes lit up. That is right, was there anything that the Zhang Manor cannot do? Why didn't he think about asking them? Since one well can produce water, then with that many wells, there should be a lot of water.

"Good, that's way too excellent. Xu'yang, you have done a good job. If the matter can be resolved, the people of the San'shui County will thank you. Hurry, call Chen Dong over here, and get him to rush to the Zhang Manor. Even if he has to beg, then he should beg them to help. This matter is related to the life and death of so many people. If it is impossible to get their help, then Iwill kneel there until water comes out."

Magistrate Cheng made up his mind. He didn't know how the people at the Zhang Manor made water come out of the well. Perhaps they borrowed some magical force that would eat away at one's lifespan, but he had no other way. When the time comes, he will ask if it actually reduces one's lifespan by a lot, then he has to come up with another plan; after all, it is not just one well.

If it is reduced by a few days, then a longevity tablet1 could be set up in the county seat to remind the people in the county of who sacrificed their life to bring water to the people during this time. A report will be sent to the throne too. They will first make water come out of the well, then send in the report.

Chen Dong happened to be on the nightshift that night, and he came in when he heard that his name was called. He waited for the County Magistrate to finish speaking and then promised, "My lord, don't worry, I will rush over there as quickly as possible and let them know about the dire situation over here. I believe the Zhang Manor would not just stand by and watch."

"Go ahead, if they are sleeping and cannot be woken up, then wait until dawn. The restaurant over there should open, so just go there and wait in the meantime. You might be able to eat some food and drink some wine." Magistrate Cheng ordered him to not dawdle and he got Chen Dong to leave.

"Come on, Xu'yang, let's have a drink together. I really don't want to eat anymore. There is still food here, but the people might not even have water to drink." Magistrate Cheng felt relieved temporarily and was in high spirits again, and asked the Magistrate Assistant to eat food and drink.

Chen Dong also knew that the matter was serious. He brought two horses out of the administrative office. He did not stop at all and switched between the two horses. Surprisingly, he arrived at the Zhang Manor in just three hours. He saw that the restaurant was still brightly lit. Chen Dong licked his lips; he really wanted to go in and drink a bowl of wine, but at the same time, he knew the people would not take his money.

It was still more important to get things done first so he endured the dry thirst in his mouth. He arrived outside of the Zhang Household's yard and knocked on the door twice, and the night watchman opened the small door to look out. To the night watchman's surprise, it turned out that a bailiff had arrived. The magistrate had just left at noon. Could it be that on their way back, they got lost, and the administrative office did not see them return so they came here to ask about the Magistrate's whereabouts?

This was not something he could deal with on his own, so he ran to the back to wake up the housekeeper. Housekeeper Zhang had also just fallen asleep. Everyone else could go to bed earlier, but he couldn't since he was in charge of a lot of things. He got up reluctantly and walked to the living room, and Chen Dong was waiting there.

Tea was served, and he chugged down two bowls. Then he began to talk about the purpose of his arrival. He waited for Housekeeper Zhang's reply, but he had to go ask the masterminds first.

Housekeeper Zhang estimated the amount of time it would take and said to Chen Dong, "Wait here for a while, I will go ask whether it can be done or not, then I will come back and tell you."

After speaking, Housekeeper Zhang left the living room and walked towards the Young Master and Young Miss' courtyard. He knew that his Young Master and Young Miss were just about to wake up to study at this time. If not, then he would have to get the bailiff to come back tomorrow morning.

When Housekeeper Zhang arrived, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were having a meal. They were still growing so they became hungry quickly and they ate food whenever they had the time.

After Housekeeper Zhang reported the matter, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan glanced at each other and reached consensus. He said to Housekeeper Zhang,

"Go tell that bailiff to use a map and circle out the wells that he wants water to come out from, then send it here. He does not have to do anything else. Also, tell him that not every well will have a lot of water coming out, and that doing this kind of thing will shorten one's lifespan, so it can be done only this one time."

Housekeeper Zhang took the order and left. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan looked at each other again, and sighed at the same time. A lot of gunpowder will have to be made. They had no choice but to mention that it affects one's lifespan, otherwise someone from the court would make them bomb the other two places and the surrounding areas' wells too. This was not doable.

"Xiao'bao, how about artificially increasing the rainfall by cloud seeding? Recently, there are always clouds floating above, but it doesn't rain. I'll try to make some rockets, do you this will work?" Wang Juan suggested.

"Sure. Then you can launch me up there with a bucket of water in each hand, and I will pour it wherever you want me to pour. Even if you can make a rocket, and it shouldn't be hard to create the launching equipment, but I can't make dry ice." Zhang Xiao'bao spoke as he reached out his to touch Wang Juan's forehead to see if she had a fever.

"Don't touch. It's just a random suggestion. People should always hold onto a bit of hope, and carry that hope when working. I believe you will make dry ice and even liquid nitrogen at some point in your life." Wang Juan knocked away Zhang Xiaobao's hand.

"Dry ice? Believe it or not, if you force me too hard, I'll become a dried corpse tomorrow. Hurry up and eat; it's going to become cold soon. This is fungus soup, it's expensive."

Zhang Xiaobao knew that Wang Juan was just joking to ease the atmosphere. Just anybody else would know that cloud seeding was not necessary at this time.

After finishing off the bowl of soup to drink and eating something else, Wang Juan said, "How are we going to arrange this? We can't let others discover this secret, so we can only bomb the places when others are not paying attention. Then, it must be at night. We need to assign some people. Er'niu counts as one, and his elder brother, Da'niu, is another. Who else is absolutely reliable?

"Hu'zi is fine too. I'm not certain about others. Just the three of them should be enough. Quite a bit of money has to be spent on buying materials, and we can't get reimbursements from the County Magistrate. Let's do it like that. Read your book." Zhang Xiao'bao did not have many good candidates right now so he had to trouble those three to work hard.

Housekeeper Zhang told Chen Dong what the Young Master said, and Chen Dong became happy when he heard it. He got up and wanted to rush back to tell the magistrate the good news, but Housekeeper Zhang stopped him. He told Chen Dong that even if he goes back now, the County Magistrate will be sleeping already, and that it would be better if he waited until 5:00 am before rushing back. This way, by the time he makes it back, the magistrate will be awake.

There was no need to arrange a place in the yard for him during this time; Housekeeper Zhang asked a night watchman to take Chen Dong to the restaurant, eat something, and take a good rest. His horses were fed and allowed to rest too.

When Chen Dong arrived at the restaurant, he was served two main dishes: one meat and one vegetable dish, and four side dishes. A small bottle of wine was heated up, and he was given a bowl of rice. Because it was a joint business of three families, a different tab was made and it was considered as a special hospitality expense.

Chen Dong was not in the mood to enjoy the food; he quickly finished eating and then went to lay down and sleep. The next day he woke up by himself and left with his horses without even eating breakfast.

When he arrived at the Administrative Office, he didn't care whether the magistrate was awake or not, and he ran inside and shouted, "My lord, it's set , the matter is set. "

Translator's Notes

1. Longevity Tablet

This is a memorial tablet created for people who are still alive, and is placed in a

temple.

It is usually created to commemorate a benevolent person's good deeds. People would burn incense and bow in front of this tablet to pray that the person on the tablet will live a long and good life.