It’s raining in Jingnan, it’s raining in Taizhou, it’s raining everywhere in the south of the Yangtze River
This continuous rain that stretched across most of the south of the Yangtze River lasted for twelve days before it stopped. The dark clouds that had shrouded the sky over the south of the Yangtze River slowly dissipated, the sky gradually showed signs of clearing up, and the hazy sun was looming.
"Oh, the rain has stopped. But what about the floods? Where have the floods gone?!" The newly appointed magistrate of Taiping County stood in the courtyard of the county government office, stretched out his arms and turned around, raised his head to look up at the shy sun, and said to the staff around him with a sneer.
"What Dong Weng said is absolutely right. It's only been a few days of light rain, how can it cause floods? The guy in the neighboring county is worrying too much."
The aide laughed in agreement and, knowing his superior's intention very well, took the opportunity to step on Zhu Ping'an from the neighboring county.
This staff member was brought by the Taiping County Magistrate when he took office. In fact, he was commonly known as a legal advisor. However, there was no title of legal advisor in the Ming Dynasty, so the term "staff member" was used. Although the Taiping County Magistrate's words were incoherent, the staff member, as his confidant, knew that he was talking about the letter sent by Zhu Ping'an, the magistrate of the neighboring county, reminding people to prevent floods.
"I have said before that Zhu Ping'an is not worthy of his reputation. His 'achievements' that are praised by others are just coincidences, and the ignorant people are deceived by him. The previous magistrate was incompetent, and although he had many soldiers and sufficient food, he followed the example of the treacherous minister Qiu Luan and tried to bribe the Japanese pirates to divert the trouble to the east. In the end, he shot himself in the foot and was taken advantage of by the Japanese pirates, which only made this boy famous. Jiangnan has always been rainy, and this boy is so ignorant and surprised. How ridiculous."
The Taiping County Magistrate sneered.
"The man from the neighboring county probably did this to add icing on the cake and gain more credit for flood prevention and control before leaving office." The aide speculated maliciously.
"Hmm? That's right. I have long seen through this man who is only seeking fame and reputation. How can I fulfill his wish?"
Upon hearing this, the magistrate of Taiping was stunned for a moment. After thinking about it for a while, he felt that it was very likely. He became even more dissatisfied with Zhu Ping'an and felt that he was very wise to throw Zhu Ping'an's letter into the trash can.
If it weren't for the fact that Zhu Ping'an was about to take up the post of Assistant Censor of the Fifth Grade of the Ministry of Justice, who would be his future superior, the Magistrate of Taiping might even have thought it would be impolite not to reciprocate and would have sent Zhu Ping'an a letter to ridicule him.
At this time, Zhu Ping'an, the object of contempt and scorn by the Taiping County Magistrate, was inspecting the flood prevention and control situation with Liu Dadao and others. The continuous rain that lasted for twelve days stopped, but the flood prevention and control could not stop.
When it rained continuously, people were very cooperative and active in flood prevention and control. But now that the rain has stopped, people are not so enthusiastic about flood prevention and control, and some discordant words have spread.
Basically, the county magistrate keeps talking about flood prevention and control, but now the rain has stopped. Isn't that embarrassing?!
As expected, Zhu Ping'an also heard these discordant remarks while inspecting and directing flood prevention and control.
The head of the village, the elders and others at the scene could not help but become nervous and glared at the young men in the village, trying to find out which troublemaker was looking for chaos in the world and bringing disaster to the village.
"Haha, as long as everyone can be safe, I even hope to see more slaps like this."
Zhu Ping'an didn't care about these discordant remarks at all. He smiled slightly, looked at everyone, and said self-deprecatingly. He waved his hand to stop Liu Dadao, the head of the village, the elders and others from trying to find the person who spoke out.
Everyone laughed immediately. The nervous and uneasy head and elders of the village were obviously relieved, and the tense atmosphere at the scene disappeared immediately. Zhu Ping'an's figure became more majestic in the eyes of the people.
"Our county magistrate will definitely become the prime minister in the future." Someone in the audience whispered confidently to the person next to him.
"Why?" The people around him were puzzled.
"Because a prime minister has a big heart, our county magistrate has a big heart and will definitely become a prime minister in the future."
The man below said with great confidence.
The man next to him couldn't help but laugh when he heard this, but after a smile, he thought about it carefully and nodded. How old is the county magistrate now? He is already a fifth-rank assistant to the Ministry of Justice. It is very likely that he will enter the cabinet and become the prime minister in the future.
Seeing that everyone's awareness of flood prevention and control had slackened because the rain had stopped, Zhu Ping'an said to everyone, "You only live once, and life is more important than Mount Tai. Flood prevention and control is a top priority for the lives of the people of the county, so please pay more attention to it. The rain has stopped today, but what about tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and next year? Flood disasters cannot be predicted, so we can only prepare in advance. Flood prevention and control projects are a century-long plan that concerns the national economy and people's livelihood. If flood prevention and control are done well, no matter when flood disasters occur, we will be prepared."
"Don't worry, magistrate. This is all for the sake of all of us. We know what's important. Now that the rain has stopped, it's a good time to work. I will urge the old and young masters to work harder and repair the dam."
The village elders and village heads all spoke up.
Zhu Ping'an raised his arm to them and everyone returned the greeting, loudly expressing their determination to work hard to build the dam.
Zhu Ping'an inspected from morning till night, and reminded and encouraged everyone wherever he went. Under Zhu Ping'an's inspection and guidance, the flood control and prevention project in Jingnan County was built quickly and well.
No rain all night.
On the second day, the weather was better than the day before. In the morning, the sun, which had not been seen for more than ten days, rose from the east.
When the Taiping County Magistrate got up in the morning and saw this scene, he became even more disdainful of Zhu Ping'an from the neighboring county, and he complained about Zhu Ping'an even more sharply to his staff.
On this day, the sky cleared up, sweeping away the haze that had lasted for more than ten days. The sky was a deep blue, and the long-lost bright sunshine returned to the sky over the south of the Yangtze River.
In the late afternoon, when the sun was about to set, thin, white, fish-scale-shaped clouds slowly emerged in the blue sky, and gradually most of the sky seemed to be covered by these fish-scale clouds.
"Wow, lord son-in-law, look, look, the clouds in the sky are so beautiful." When the chubby little maid Hua'er noticed the fish-scale clouds in the sky, her girlish heart couldn't help but jump, and she couldn't help but pull the sleeve of Zhu Ping'an who was writing at the desk.
After being reminded by Huaer, Zhu Ping'an looked up and out the window. He didn't take it seriously at first, but after noticing the fish-scale clouds in the sky, he was suddenly shocked. He stood up in an instant, put down the brush in his hand, and walked outside.
"Uncle, wait for me..."
Hua'er, the little maidservant, was surprised that her son-in-law liked the clouds in the sky so much that she couldn't help but go out to see them.
However, after going out, Huaer realized something was wrong. Her brother-in-law had a serious face, as if he did not like the clouds in the sky.
"There are fish-scale clouds in the sky and rain pouring down on the ground. I'm afraid it's going to rain heavily." Zhu Ping'an looked up at the sky, his brows furrowed, and he muttered to himself.
This is not a good sign!