Pan Jitao's previous itinerary was to inspect the new river of the Jialu River, but he did not mention the idea of inspecting the old river, which suddenly changed the itinerary and caused a lot of trouble to the local officials who arranged the reception.

Originally, Pan Jitao was to inspect, Zhoujiakou in the downstream of Zhuxian Town, Zhoujiakou in the south to Jianghuai, and Shanxi in the north, because the Jialu River and the new river are connected, the population is increasing day by day, and it has become an important commercial town.

When the local governor heard that Pan Jitao was coming to inspect, he was making a big fuss, but he didn't expect that people suddenly changed their itinerary, which made the governor vomit three liters of blood, and showed the blind man a flattering look.

But Pan Jitao's change of itinerary and sudden inspection of the north was even worse for the local officials of Guide Province. The only thing that is more 'lucky' than the officials of Chenzhou is that they are still 'in the dark' and do not know anything about Pan Jitao's arrival.

The water on the Jialu River is turbulent.

The boats of Pan Jitao and other Henan officials sailed very gently on the river.

Jialu River, Pan Jitao did not come for the first time, but came two or three times, the most recent time was in the seventh year of Wanli.

Pan Jitao remembered his experience when he ruled the Yellow River in the seventh year of Wanli, before he was at odds with Zhang Juzheng due to political opinions, and was driven back to Zhejiang by Zhang Juzheng to retire when he was the governor of the river.

But later, Zhang Juzheng knew that Pan Jitao had to control the water, so he slapped his face and wrote a letter to implore Pan Jitao to go out of the mountains and control the river.

Pan Jitao promised Zhang Juzheng to go out of the mountain, but the condition was that the matter of controlling the river would be decided by me alone.

Zhang Juzheng agreed, and after Pan Jitao came back, he asked the court to control the river with the strategy of 'plugging the breach to save the river, and building an embankment to break down'.

At that time, Pan Jitao spent a year of hard work to block 139 breaches of the Yellow River, with only 8,000 people served, and the Ministry of Industry gave 800,000 taels of silver, and he only used 560,000 yuan, saving 240,000 taels for the imperial court.

So far, he majored in the Xuyang section of the Yellow River, and there has never been any bad pool, in the face of Pan Jitao's exploits, even Zhang Juzheng, who has no one in his eyes, also wrote a letter to say, the century-old plan depends on the public Yingduan, and the public merit is not under Yu.

Zhang Juzheng had the grace of knowing Pan Jitao, and later Zhang Juzheng was liquidated after his death, and Pan Jitao stood up to speak for Zhang Juzheng.

This is not Pan Jitao's gratitude to Zhang Juzheng for his kindness, he and Zhang Juzheng don't have such a deep friendship, just have something to say, and don't think too much about it at all.

There is only one way for Pan Ji to become an official, go straight, and don't ask whether it's right or wrong.

In the end, Pan Jitao was implicated and dismissed, and he thought that he would return to the old forest from now on, but Shen Shixing cared about the old feelings, and the Son of Heaven also remembered his exploits in governing the river three times, so he re-emerged from the mountain, the governor of Caohe.

Pan Jitao, who is a member of the official residence, has no other thoughts about his career, in fact, his body is not as good as before, he only wants to be able to govern the Yellow River in his final term and end the river disaster that lasted for thousands of years after Dayu.

Thinking of this, Pan Jitao felt that there was a thousand catties of heavy burden on his shoulders, he was now the imperial court, the highest official in the river, and he could mobilize any manpower and material resources along the river.

The first few times he governed the river, the court personnel was elbowed, so he had never gained so much power, but now he has great power, but he is not sure about governing the river and ending thousands of years of river troubles.

The reason is that manpower can win the sky.

Thinking about it, Pan Jitao can only encourage himself with the words "do his best, and after death".

As for the water situation of the Jialu River, he couldn't have understood it better.

At that time, the Yellow River seized the Jialu River several times, resulting in the silting of the new river and the old river were very serious, so Pan Jitao planned to cut off the entrance of the Yellow River of the Jialu River and let the old river silt up by itself, so he didn't want to dredge it at all.

Only the new river of the Jialu River is left to run through Henan, and Xuzhou is fine.

Now Lin Yanchao has re-dredged the old river, once the flood is big, the river will take the way, and it will go south along the old Jialu River, so Xu, Huai will be dangerous.

When it comes to Xu, Huai is a thorn in Pan Jitao's heart, Xu Huai is not only the economic center, but also the ancestral tomb of Fengyang.

For the successive Cao Governors and River Governors, protecting the safety of Fengyang's ancestral tombs is higher than governing the river and protecting Cao. Once Fengyang is flooded, not to mention that he Pan Jitao is going to be finished, even the Son of Heaven must also kneel in the Taimiao Temple to beg the first emperor for forgiveness.

Therefore, Pan Jitao was very dissatisfied with Lin Yanchao's change of his previous idea of governing the river and dredging the Jialu River.

Lin Yanchao is a clear person, he is young, and he is bent on making political achievements, so it should be correct for the officials of Kaifeng Mansion to describe him as having great achievements.

Now that the old river of the Jialu River has been dredged, he Pan Jitao must go and see what kind of reputation Lin Yanchao is doing? If it ruins his plan to tame the river, or Lin Yanchao will control the river, it will be a mess.

Then Pan Jitao will directly ask the Son of Heaven to remove Lin Yanchao.

As for Shen Shixing's face and the personnel relationship in the officialdom, it has never been considered by Pan Jitao. His way as an official is only eight words, and he walks straight, regardless of right and wrong.

The river is surging, and Pan Jitao's boat has entered the old course of the Jialu River.

In the past, when the old river was silted up, boats with more than 200 stone were not allowed to sail on the Jialu River.

But the old river is connected, not to mention the 500 material boats that he Pan Jitao took on, even a few thousand stone boats with a deep draft and even thousands of stone grain boats from the upper reaches of the old river, which are also unimpeded on the river.

Pan Jitao knew that the old river was more than 200 miles long, and if the thousand-stone grain ship could reach the point of unimpeded, then it meant that the Jialu River had been dredged along the entire line.

As far as Pan Jitao knew, the dredging of the Jialu River was not an appropriation from the imperial court, but an expenditure from the treasury of Henan Province, and it is said that it was cut out of the funds for the construction of the Luwang Mansion.

Half of the money was deducted for dredging the new river, and the money finally went to Lin Yanchao, with less than 100,000 taels.

With less than 100,000 taels of silver, the old river of more than 200 miles was dredged, and ordinary mediocre officials could not do it without 200,000 taels. So don't talk about anything else, just talk about the word ability, Lin Yanchao is called a capable official, which is well-deserved.

However, in the eyes of Pan Jitao, the more capable he is, the more he will do bad things, once the Yellow River is flooded, the future of the big river will be the way downstream, directly into Henan, the hinterland of Huaixu.

The imperial court river work is not very good, but there are many dams built on both sides of the Yellow River, whether these dams can block the water for the time being, but at least it can be of some use.

But in the event that the river takes over, it will be as if the enemy has a group of men and horses that bypass the front of our army's heavy defenses and attack the grain and grass in the rear.

In this way, the greater the ability, the greater the bad things to do, and the consequences of Lin Yanchao's forcible dredging of the Jialu River are not as good as those corrupt officials who embezzled the river and the bank.

Thinking of this, the better the effect of the dredging of the Jialu River, the more Pan Jitao frowned.

Pan Jitao saw that someone was building a dam on a section of the embankment, and said to the left and right: "Stop the boat and take a look at the dam!" ”

The boat docked at the pier, and a group of officials followed Pan Jitao ashore. Shan Zhifu and the others looked at Pan Jitao's face gloomy, and their hearts were secretly happy.

Pan Ji tamed the officials and walked up to the embankment, and the dozens of river workers stopped and looked at them with shovels and hoes.

Pan Jitao first asked, "Who asked you to repair the embankment?" ”

When the people saw a big official like Pan Jitao, they were so frightened that they didn't know how to speak, and the officials below were about to question.

At this time, a person suddenly shouted, "Isn't this Lord Pan?" ”

Pan Jitao looked, but saw an old man, his lips trembled.

Pan Jitao didn't remember who this person was, and asked, "Who are you?" Do you know Bento? ”

The old man wiped his tears and said: "Master Pan is a noble person, more than ten years ago, do you remember Zhou Donkey, who blocked the entrance of Zhangjiadian?" ”

Pan Jitao suddenly remembered that Zhou donkey, when the Yellow River burst, the river water backflowed, and there was a danger of flooding Kaifeng.

As the governor of the river, Pan Ji immediately recruited old boatmen who were familiar with the water potential of the Yellow River, and let them drive dozens of boats loaded with stones and sink directly at the breach.

At that time, the donkey was the old boatman he had recruited, and he risked his life to open the boat to plug the gap. At that time, Pan Jitao was overjoyed and took out his own money and rewarded him with five taels of silver.

Pan Jitao remembered that when he governed the river for more than ten years, he traveled thousands of miles by car, and the day and the servant were mixed with the reeds and reeds, bathed in wind and rain, and wrapped in wind and dew. He was full of emotion, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Remember, why doesn't this governor remember Zhou Donkey, he can lie in the water for three days and three nights without going ashore." ”

"Oh, you are his brother, you look like him, how is Zhou Donkey now?"

The old man sighed and said, "I was sick last year, and I didn't spend the winter. ”

Pan Jitao sighed when he heard this: "That's a well-known hero, no one in the Yellow River can compare to him in these hundreds of miles, I didn't expect to fight the Dragon King, but I can't fight the King of Hades." ”

"Master Pan, you're old too." The old man also spoke.

Pan Jitao laughed when he heard this: "Yes, I didn't expect to see the old man here." ”

The old man said: "Master Pan, the villain introduced you, this is my son, who also crossed the river with you back then, and this is Zhou Donkey's nephew, there are all good men on the shore in the water, come, kowtow to Lord Pan." Master Pan is a real good official, how many good embankments have been built for our people, and how many good things have been done. ”

Several young men knelt down and kowtowed to Pan Jitao.

And when the people heard that it was Pan Jitao, who ruled the river back then, they all hugged him, one by one.

And the officers and soldiers on the left and right wanted to stop it, Pan Jitao waved his hand and said: "Don't stop them, they all ruled the river with Ben Governor in the past, and Ben Du wants to talk to them from the bottom of his heart." ”

Only then did the officers and soldiers withdraw.

Pan Jitao and the old man asked, "Tell me, who asked you to build this embankment?" Don't worry about anything, be honest with Bendo. ”

Zang Weiyi and other officials all listened from the sidelines, ostensibly as if nothing had happened, but secretly pricked up their ears one by one.

The old man smiled and said, "Master Pan, where is this, of course it was repaired for the government, how can it be repaired for our own family?" We are all hired by the government. ”

"Hire?" Pan Ji has a good idea in his heart, he knows the court service law, and there is a difference in strength.

One whip law is to encourage the government to replace the power difference with silver difference. That is, let the people who were supposed to serve pay money, and then the government used the money to hire the people to do the service, instead of servitizing the people.

It turns out that in order to dredge the Jialu River, Lin Yanchao's 100,000 taels of silver allocated by the feudal treasury must not be enough, so the cost of repairing the river will be apportioned to the heads of the common people, and then he will hire servants to repair the river.

This is such a great achievement, regardless of the lives of the people.

Pan Jitao was secretly angry in his heart, his face was silent, he pointed to the others and asked with a smile, "Are they all hired?" Is it hired by the government, or are you hired? ”

The old man nodded and said, "They are all hired by the government, they are all selling hard work, five dollars a month, and they are in charge of food." ”

"Five dollars of silver, and I still take care of the food, which is a lot. So you can still work hard at such an age? ”

The old man smiled and said, "Master Pan, a few years ago, the villain injured his waist and couldn't even carry the bag of soil. Many villains are old river workers, and the government hires them to take care of the affairs of future generations. ”

"And such a good thing? How much money does the government give you a month? ”

The old man smiled and said: "It's not according to a month, it's a year, a big ingot of silver a year, twenty taels of silver." ”

"Twenty taels?"

The officials present were all taken aback.

Shan Zhifu stepped forward and sneered: "Old man, do you know what you are talking about? How much money does the court official pay a year? If you build a broken river a year, can it be worth twenty taels of silver? ”

One said: "Yes, I heard that the Guide Mansion has been in arrears for two years? How can you give a common man twenty taels of silver? ”

The old man blushed and said, "Why not?" Lin Qingtian won't lie to us, and besides, the River Engineering Department hires these two or three hundred old river workers, and many of them take more money than villains. ”

When all the officials heard this, they didn't believe it, how could Lin Yanchao give Lao Hegong such a high salary, I heard that he gave his staff around him only twelve taels of silver a year.

If there are two or three hundred old river workers in the River Work Bureau, then it will cost thousands of taels of silver a year, which government has the financial resources.

Pan Jitao understood something when he heard this, and his years of experience in river governance made him deeply feel the lack of talents for river governance, especially old river workers like this old man.

Such an experienced old river worker, sometimes a person can top a dozen or dozens of people, in the river control, the experience of these people can make them take a lot of detours.

But the people were reluctant to serve, and they didn't even dare to tell the government that they were familiar with river workers. If the government knew that these people had experience in river work, they would look for him every year, and these people would not die of exhaustion on the river.

However, two or three hundred people are too exaggerated, and Guide is just a house.

Pan Jitao asked: "What are these old river workers in the River Engineering Department good at?" ”

"How much? There are dozens of villains who are good at damming, and there are also good at measuring water potential, good at nesting, can plug breaches, and at most they can silt the ground! Many people are capable people, and I don't know what the government will do to find him. ”

The officials all laughed when they heard this, thinking that this old man was talking nonsense, and what he said was serious, so let's listen to it for fun.

However, Pan Jitao was a little relieved, if the Guide Mansion really invested in seriously repairing the river, then at least the safety of the Jialu River could be guaranteed.

"Let's go! And he took the governor to the dam and looked at it. ”

At the moment, the old man took Pan Jitao to inspect the embankment, Pan Jitao is so familiar with the officials of the river workers, there is no problem with the repair of the embankment, whether the government is working on the repair of the embankment, it is naturally obvious at a glance.

Pan Jitao looked at it, squatted down at every embankment, looked at it carefully, and then stepped on it with his feet.

And the Shan prefect is also looking for faults along the way.

Pan Jitao looked here and there, the more he looked at his face, the more he stretched, and then said to the left and right: "Look for yourself, the old man will follow me to the top of the dam to have a look." ”

The two walked to the top of the dam, and Pan Jitao looked out at the Jialu River and the embankments on both banks.

Most of the dikes have been built, covered with earth and grass. He has just seen the embankment, which is as strong as a hill, and such a levee is stronger than many of the embankments built on the banks of the Yellow River, and can withstand the flood that occurs once in a century.

At least along the river, salix was planted. The willow saplings have just been planted, and the scenery is very ordinary, but Pan Jitao can imagine that the two banks of the Jialu River must be a scene of green willows and silk hanging rivers.

Pan Ji was very pleased, and the old river worker said to Pan Jitao: "Master Pan, the soil on this dam is all mud dug out of this river, and it is best to use it to build a dam." ”

"River mud? River mud damming is the best, but it takes a lot of effort to get the soil, right? ”

The old river worker said with a smile: "It doesn't cost anything, we have dug the river in advance, and after the river is dry, we will go down to dig up the river mud, and then pile it on both banks as embankment, so that the river is dredged and dammed." ”

"Next year, we will build sluices between the embankments, and when the river water is in June, the water will be diverted to both sides of the embankment to irrigate the farmland, so that the water potential of the big river can be slowed down, and the river water can be used to silt the fields, killing two birds with one stone."

Pan Jitao nodded and said, "It seems that your prefect is really a good official." ”

The old river worker was surprised and said, "Master Pan, where are these words?" Of course, Lin Qingtian is a good official. ”

Pan Jitao smiled.

Lao Hegong hurriedly said: "Master Pan, didn't I eat a few mouthfuls of imperial food, so I said good things for others." If you don't believe it, go to Guide to take a look in person, take a look, speaking of Lin Qingtian, as long as we Guide people don't admire it from the bottom of their hearts. ”

Pan Ji said: "Didn't I come to Guide to take a look and take a look?" ”

Lao Hegong said categorically: "Then you have to take a good look, Lin Qingtian can't finish what he has done for our people in three days and three nights." If you look at the embankment and the silt field, you will know that Lin Qingtian is really a good official who can call the shots for our people. ”

Pan Jitao smiled: "The Bendu you said hasn't seen it yet, and people outside don't say that." ”

The old river worker said excitedly: "People outside? Those who are in office? Can you listen to what the official says? ”

"Yes, I know that I am a common man, what our people say, it is useless, no matter how loud you speak, no one can hear it. Otherwise, there are so many corrupt officials along the river, and the emperor will not remain in the dark until now. But Master Pan, you are a big official, a good official, you can speak to the emperor, if you tell the emperor that Lin Qingtian is a good official, he will definitely believe it! ”

Pan Jitao thought a little when he heard this, then pointed to the river and asked: "Then tell me honestly, how many acres of land along the Jialu River will benefit from this diversion of yellow and irrigation and silting?" ”

"I can't say that there are more than 300,000 acres of land, and there will be more than 300,000 acres, and there will be more after the river gate is repaired next year."

Pan Jitao frowned and asked, "What does more than 300,000 mu look like?" Are they all dammed and silted? Okay, you can take me to the nearest silt first. ”

"Lord Pan, your body?"

Pan Jitao waved his hand and said, "It's okay, if you don't take a look for yourself, Ben Du can't even dream that it's true." ”