"… This is a common occurrence. There are always several collapses every year. In the first two years of collapse, many people died underneath. There was a loud bang, and the rocks and soil above were unloaded. People were buried inside, and they died before they could be rescued."
An old man with a gray beard was weaving a bamboo basket while he was talking. His hands were dark and strong, and he was very powerful when he held the bamboo basket. After a while, he had threaded the messy bamboo strips on the ground into it and woven it into an exquisite bamboo basket.
Jiang Miao and his group sat under the dripping eaves, listening and watching his actions. Even Little White Dot did the same, with a pair of cat eyes wide open, and when he was excited, his front paws moved restlessly a few times, as if he also wanted to fiddle with it.
"In recent years, everyone has learned their lesson and no longer comes here during rainy seasons to avoid losing their lives in vain." The old man sighed. When there were many merchants in the past, the bamboo baskets he woven were still easy to sell. Later, as fewer and fewer people came, it gradually became unsuccessful.
"Uncle," Jiang Miao asked, "From what you said, this mountain road shouldn't have collapsed from the beginning, right? Then when did it start to collapse?"
The old man stopped what he was doing, recalled, and then said with certainty: "Seven years ago, this place had never collapsed before. One day seven years ago, I don't know what happened. It was raining heavily and it suddenly collapsed."
He still remembered that day, it rained heavily, soaking people's bodies and eyes. When he came back from draining water from the fields, he suddenly heard the village chief beating a gong, saying that the official road a few miles away was buried and there were people buried underneath, and asked the strong men in the village to take their weapons and prepare to see if they could rescue the people after the rain stopped.
Summer rain comes fast and hard, but it goes away fast. In less than half an hour, the rain stopped and the sky cleared up. They rushed there with their things, and after a lot of effort to dig a corner, they were all stunned by the tragic scene in front of them. Whether it was people or horses, they all looked terrified. When they were buried, some people still kept the movements they were in at the time, which was very distressing.
"Has there been an earthquake here?" Jiang Miao asked.
"Earthquake?" The old man pondered for a while and suddenly realized, "You mean the earth dragon turning over? We are under the care of the land god here, and there has never been an earth dragon turning over before."
There were no earthquakes, no volcanoes in Daliang, and it was not near the sea. So what kind of violent earthquake would cause the mountain to collapse? Could it be that the heavy rain washed the soil and rocks down? Jiang Miao was puzzled.
Pei Che also frowned, but what troubled him was how to govern this place in the future. After all, after passing the boundary marker in front, it would fall under the jurisdiction of Cangzhou.
Apart from the three people in the first class, Pei Che ranked eighth in the second class and was awarded the title of Jinshi. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy, which shows that Jinshi has a more respected status than other Jinshi. When a Jinshi is sent out, he will naturally not start as a county magistrate like other Jinshi. He was selected as the magistrate of Cangzhou.
Cangzhou, Suizhou, and Ruizhou were all under the jurisdiction of Chengtian Prefecture and the prefect of Chengtian Prefecture. Generally speaking, the prefect would not interfere too much in local politics, unless something big happened, he would send people to check it out. In other words, when Pei Che went there, he would be the top leader of the local area.
In theory, the prefectural governor was a fifth-rank official, while the champion was a sixth-rank editor in the Hanlin Academy. Why was the ordinary Jinshi a higher rank than the champion? This has to do with the difference between the emperor's feet and the remote countryside.
The top three people in the first class enter the Hanlin Academy. Although their positions are not high, their future is limitless. When the time is right, they can rise to the top and reach the center of power. Officials in poor and remote areas can only get this high. If there is no one in the court, they will probably have to spend their whole lives here. This official title is just a consolation for them. Of course, only poor places have vacancies for the fifth rank. In rich places, even a county magistrate is scrambled for.
Of course, Pei Che's status was different, so he didn't have to worry about whether he could be transferred back to the capital in the future. He just wanted to do this well with his own ability.
"It's already the third day. The rain stopped yesterday. Why is there still no movement over there?" Jiang Miao was very surprised.
"I'm afraid they won't be ready to clear this road for a while." Pei Che said.
"Why? What good will it do them if the road is blocked?" Jiang Miao missed the modern excavators very much. In places like this, the excavators could clear the road in just a few strokes.
"But it won't do them any harm." Pei Che said, "Although cars can't pass through here, if there's only one person and one horse, they can still pass by walking to the side. In this way, the court's important affairs won't be delayed, and those who can't wait to pass can pay to clear the way, saving their manpower and resources."
Jiang Miao stood there for a moment, and after a long time he uttered three words: "Shameless!" As a person who had to pay for the road clearance himself, Jiang Miao felt that those people in Cangzhou whom he had never met before were very hateful.
"Don't be angry. This road is not long and it won't cost much. I have already asked someone to do it." Pei Che knew that Jiang Miao would only "change color when talking about money", so he tried to persuade him.
"It's not a lot to spend, but I can't help getting angry when I think about the government's inaction!" Jiang Miao found a good excuse for himself. He didn't feel sorry for the money!
"Wait, didn't you say last time that you would give me all the money? So you've hidden some private money?" Jiang Miao looked at Pei Che with an expression that said "you're not being honest!"
Pei Che didn't expect that the fire would actually burn himself. He also blamed himself for saying too much to please Jiang Miao last time. If he had known, he would not have said so much!
"It's like this... I never carried any money with me before, I always left it with them. Today, as soon as I gave the order, they went. I guess they spent the money they had left over from the past, not some private money!" Pei Che racked his brains to find an excuse, trying to convince Jiang Miao.
Jiang Miao looked at Pei Che's eyes that were trying to show sincerity with doubt, and remembered that time at the lantern festival, when Pei Che couldn't afford thirty cents to buy a lantern, so he reluctantly believed him.
"Forget about the leftovers from the past. After so long, I'll give them to you. We shouldn't be too stingy when we ask people to do things for us. Here, take these silver coins and give them to them later." Jiang Miao went back to his room and took out two silver ingots. After thinking for a while, he took out another ingot and handed over a few loose coins. He had learned about the local labor prices in the past few days, and this silver coin should be just enough.
Pei Che liked to see him living a frugal life, which made him feel that life was particularly real. As long as the two of them were together, they could feel happy from the ordinary little things such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea.
Jiang Miao did not feel happy. He was still immersed in the sorrow of having wasted his money.
However, the money was well spent. Once the money was in place, the road was cleared in just one and a half days.
When the carriage passed the section prone to collapse, Jiang Miao was very alert, fearing that some rocks and soil would suddenly roll down from the mountain and hit the carriage. He didn't feel relieved until he passed that section of the road.
(End of this chapter)