At the end of the autumn of the 31st year of Jiajing, when the floods in the south of the Yangtze River were in the ascendant, when all parts of Taizhou Prefecture were ravaged and struggling by floods, Jingnan County opened the prelude to "work for relief". On this day, a total of six projects were under construction in Jingnan County at the same time, and Zhu Ping'an personally led the largest cash-for-work project - the East Lake Project.

In order to carry out the cash-for-work smoothly, Zhu Ping'an had already sent people to nearby Taiping and other counties in advance to exchange 60,000 taels of silver, all of which were converted into copper coins and placed in the county government treasury. After the start of construction, a cart of copper coins pulled by a carriage rushed to the project area, and the copper coins of the cart swayed the eyes of the people and refugees, so that they completely put their hearts in their stomachs, and no longer worried about not receiving wages for their work.

Of course, the carriage was guarded by a sword-wielding officer, and no one dared to hit the carriage without a long eye.

The East Lake Project Area is a key project of Zhu Ping'an's cash-for-work project.

Zhu Ping'an consulted the county records, and found that floods often occur in Jingnan, with small floods every three or five years and major floods every seven or eight years, and the common people of Jingnan are always facing the threat of flooding.

Before and after the flood, Zhu Ping'an climbed over the mountains and mountains, went down the river and waded through the water, calculated the ratio of the riverbed, surveyed the terrain of Jingnan two or three times, and with the help of modern geography, he learned geographical experience and knowledge, and finally figured out the reason for the frequent floods in Jingnan. The main reason is the topography. Jingnan is surrounded by mountains and faces the sea, the terrain is generally high in the west and low in the east, gradually inclined from west to east, the mountains in the west are continuous, the peaks and peaks of thousands of meters are repeated, the central hills are slow, and the tidal flats of the eastern plain are broad. The rivers in Jingnan are meandering, the flow direction is the same as the terrain, from west to east into the sea, the eastern mountain range riverbed ratio is larger, the water flow is turbulent, the flood peak is also high and large, and the water level naturally rises and falls; The hilly and plain areas in the central and eastern parts of the country are low and flat, and the river flow rate is reduced suddenly, and whenever there is a flood season, the rapid river water and mountain torrents coming from the western half often have no time to discharge, so it is easy for the river to flood and cause floods.

After Zhu Ping'an found out the reason, there was this East Lake project.

Fifteen miles east of Jingnan County, next to Sanli River and Tiaoxi, excavate an East Lake with a circumference of more than 10 kilometers. When the flood season arrives every year, when the river water swells, the flood gate will be opened to discharge the flood into the East Lake and store the floodwater; During the dry season, the water level of Sanli River and Tiaoxi decreases, and the water level of East Lake is higher than that of Sanlihe River and Tiaoxi, and the accumulated lake water can be returned to Sanlihe and Tiaoxi at any time. In this way, Jingnan can be guaranteed to be free of floods for a hundred years, and the surrounding fields can also be irrigated, which can be described as a multi-task.

"The East Lake is divided into two parts, the Upper East Lake and the Lower East Lake, with the planned circumference of the Upper East Lake being 18 miles and the planned circumference of the Lower East Lake being 20 miles. The octagonal pavilion of Dongwang Township is the east boundary, the west boundary is the Babao Temple of Qingyu Village, the south boundary is Duobao Mountain, and the north boundary is Lingxiao Pavilion, of which there is no boundary between the Upper East Lake and the Lower East Lake......"

"East Lake is related to the centennial plan of Jingnan, and during the construction process, we must pay attention to the quality and do not need to be greedy for speed......"

Before the construction began, Zhu Ping'an called the accompanying officials to him, unfolded the construction plan and construction drawings, and carefully explained the construction plan of East Lake and the precautions for cash-for-work.

"Rest assured, we will live up to the expectations of the county, and we will dig East Lake." The officials and servants received orders one after another.

For the sake of accuracy, Zhu Ping'an took Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others to take the lead in marking the boundary of the East Lake by inserting bamboo poles, and the bamboo poles about 100 meters apart were used as the boundaries of the East Lake, which was clear at a glance.

After the boundary of the lake was marked, the "East Lake Cash-for-Work Project" was vigorously started. In total, more than 50,000 people participated in the siege of the East Lake with work for relief, men and women, carrying earth baskets and dustpans on their shoulders, hoes and iron rakes in their hands, digging the lake and building embankments with grass and mud; Women, children and children are preparing lunch in the planned dormitory area, and everything is full of hope. Because the bamboo pole is used as the boundary of the East Lake, the common people privately call the East Lake "Bamboo Pole Lake", saying that "Zhu Qingtian rode the horse circle lake, and there is no flood in Jingnan County".

In addition to the East Lake Project, five other projects were carried out in different parts of Jingnan, including repairing the city wall and rebuilding the village. The six cash-for-work projects have mobilized almost all of the 100,000 people and refugees in Jingnan.

After Zhu Ping'an got on the right track for the East Lake project, he took Liu Dadao and others to inspect and supervise several other cash-for-work projects.

The reconstruction project of Dongwang Township is on the edge of the Donghu Project, which is responsible for the two people, Liu Fuzi, the warden, and Mr. Zhang, the warden of the treasury, and the reconstruction project of Dongwang Township is to rebuild the destroyed buildings in Dongwang Township.

The first stop of Zhu Ping'an's inspection was the reconstruction project of Dongwang Township.

The total number of people in the reconstruction site of Dongwang Township is more than 8,000 people, and the East Lake project is in full swing.

The project was carried out in an orderly manner, and the people and refugees worked hard in an orderly manner...... Zhu Ping'an nodded with satisfaction.

"County Zun, 20 clerks per person per day, isn't it a bit much? A total of nearly 100,000 people in Jingnan County participated in the cash-for-work program, with 20 wen per person per day, and the salary for the next day was 2,000 taels of silver, and 60,000 taels in a month. And that's not even counting the consumption of grain and grass. Even if there is a 'donation' received from the grain merchants, plus the surplus of our county treasury, it is just enough for a month. According to the county's plan, this cash-for-work will last at least two months to complete. It was difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and after a month, her subordinate treasury could no longer take out a single copper. The subordinates implore the county to think twice, reduce wages, and limit the number of people who use work for relief......"

When Mr. Qian, the warehouse keeper, accompanied Zhu Ping'an to inspect the project, he whispered to Zhu Ping'an.

"County Zun, now is an extraordinary period, and it can be reduced by three percent." Liu Fuzi, the warden of the household, also agreed.

"No." Zhu Ping'an shook his head very decisively, and said to them in a serious tone, "If you want the horses to run, you have to let the horses eat early." The daily wage of 20 wen is the bottom line, which can only be increased, not reduced. ”

"But the county honor, this silver ......" the money warden was embarrassed.

"Qian Dian, Liu Dian, you don't have to worry about the money. First of all, we organize the old and young women and children to make a big pot of rice at the construction site and serve it to people, this meal is not free, the standard breakfast is 1 Wen, lunch is 2 Wen, and dinner is 1 Wen; Small stoves are also available, and there is an additional charge depending on the number of meat and vegetable dishes. Through meals, about 5 wen can be recycled per person per day; Second, there are more and more grain merchants who come to Jingnan to sell grain, and we are 'receiving' more and more 'donations'. I will send someone to collect this kind of donation once a month, and I will make a flood fortune in Jingnan, and it will not work if I don't make some contributions. So, in terms of money, you don't have to worry, at least you can break even. ”

Zhu Ping'an said confidently.

"Ahem, county honor, this monthly sending people to the grain store to 'raise donations' won't damage the reputation of the county."

Liu Fuzi said worriedly.

"Reputation is worth a few dollars...... Zhu Ping'an pulled the corners of his mouth indifferently, stretched out his hand and pointed to the people and refugees who were working, and said to Master Liu, "It is the right thing to rule the people to eat their stomachs." ”

Zhu Ping'an, whose soul grew up under the red flag, is different from the scholars and doctors in the feudal era, pragmatic and not pragmatic.

Hearing this, Mr. Liu, Mr. Qian and the accompanying officials all paid deep respect to Zhu Ping'an.

The county respects the humiliation and burden, does not seek fame and fortune, and is dedicated to the people, how great is it......

With the joint efforts of the whole county, Jingnan's series of work-for-work relief projects are gradually getting better, and people have work to do, money to take, and food to eat, and the county is thriving.