"What do you mean?"
"My lord, if you look at these two places, the Qi River and the Huan River flow into the Wei River here. Over the years, this has formed a stretch of fertile riverbank land in this area..."
"Silence!"
Before Gao Zhiyao could finish, an old man with white hair standing beside him suddenly rebuked him.
Seeing the old man speak, Gao Zhiyao could only shut his mouth.
"If the river embankment here were to be moved back a little, and this area returned to the river channel..."
Han Mo's eyes immediately lit up, but in the next moment, he understood that this matter was probably not as simple as he had imagined.
"Whose land is this?"
"My lord, it's best you don't ask. Let's think of another way. We can't afford to offend anyone here..."
Hearing the old man's words, several village chiefs nearby lowered their heads.
"Send someone to investigate whose land this is and report back to me!"
Seeing their reaction, Han Mo didn't deliberately make things difficult for them. Instead, he turned to Xu Fengnian and instructed.
"My lord, why put yourself through this?"
Seeing Han Mo's resolute attitude, the white-haired elder fell silent again.
"Old man, if this tens of mu of land here were returned to the river channel, the river channel within Neihuang County would be significantly widened. A wider river channel naturally means less scouring force on the river embankment. Although I am young, I understand this principle."
"But my lord, that is the land of the Shenxiao Wanshou Palace. Let alone you, even the Prefect would find it difficult to tamper with it..."
"You say this is the land of the Shenxiao Palace?"
After all this talk, it turned out to be the doing of those Taoist priests. Han Mo finally understood why none of them dared to speak...
While it was extremely difficult for others to handle such matters, it was incredibly easy for Han Mo.
"Gao Zhiyao, if we proceed with your plan, all the conscripted laborers in the county will be at your disposal. Do you have the confidence to complete all the engineering work before the flood season arrives? Also, how much money and supplies will you need?"
"My lord, you are inviting disaster upon yourself! These Taoist priests are not ordinary Taoist priests!"
"Yes, my lord, this matter must not be undertaken. We should plan carefully. If it's absolutely impossible, we can even create a breach in the land on the opposite bank!"
Not only did the white-haired elder object, but the village chiefs accompanying him also knelt on the ground.
Although Han Mo had only been in Neihuang County for a little over a month, during this time, he had already cleared out Li Mao'er's gang.
Coupled with several searches by the imperial army, the banditry within Neihuang County had been basically eradicated.
Having finally had a few peaceful days, these people were truly afraid that Han Mo would encounter any trouble at this time.
"I say, everyone, I am not afraid, so why are you all scared? Aren't they just those Taoist priests from the Shenxiao Palace? Even if Master Yuanmiao were here, he would have to show me some respect, let alone his disciples and grand-disciples!"
Han Mo knew that they were acting out of good intentions, so he said directly.
"You fools, don't you know that when my lord helped His Highness Prince Xin with disaster relief outside Bianliang City, he borrowed a hundred thousand shi of white rice from Master Yuanmiao!"
Seeing their doubtful expressions, Xu Fengnian directly revealed another shocking piece of information.
"Master... Master Yuanmiao?"
It had to be said that Lin Lingyu's reputation was still very effective among the common people.
After Xu Fengnian finished speaking, none of the village chiefs who followed dared to say another word.
"My lord, rest assured. We can first build a dike behind the current one, and after the new dike is completed, we can then excavate the front one! This way, the river embankment will not need to be as high as before, and the cost will naturally decrease! Fifteen thousand guan should be sufficient!"
As expected of an expert, a simple sentence pointed directly to the crux of the problem.
"Since that is the case, this matter will be entrusted to you. You can start mobilizing personnel tonight. As for the money, grain, and supplies, they will all be in place within five days!"
With the flood season fast approaching, Han Mo did not want to encounter such widespread flooding in his first year in office.
"Yes!"
Gao Zhiyao's throat moved. After acknowledging with a kneel, he burst into tears.
From the age of eighteen, when he witnessed the Wei River breach and the entire Neihuang County turn into a waterlogged land, with Neihuang County town besieged by floods for half a month, he had begun preparing for this matter.
When he was twenty-five, he eagerly presented this ingenious plan to the county magistrate at the time.
However, all he received was an incomprehensible response, and then he was thrown out.
When he was thirty, Neihuang breached again, and all the farmland within Neihuang County was wiped out. He once again proposed his renovation plan.
But it was again rejected by the imperial envoy. At that time, he was like a madman, repeatedly trying to persuade the imperial envoy to take another look.
In the end, he was imprisoned for half a year. It was quite laughable that his crime at the time was blaspheming a court official.
It was at that time that to bail him out, his family sold their original residence in Neihuang County town, and the entire family moved out.
When he was released, his family was destitute, to the point of having nothing.
From then on, he fell silent again, dedicating himself to ensuring his wife and son could eat.
However, fate was not in his favor. Often, for the poor, being able to eat was not solely dependent on one's own efforts.
At that time, Wang Ge was in power, and the entire Hebei circuit was filled with public resentment. Countless bandits, like locusts, were devouring the last vestiges of the common people's livelihood.
The entire Hebei circuit was already burdened with immense tax pressure. Even in years of good harvest, the common people had to scrape by with wild vegetables just to survive.
Under such circumstances, they still had to endure the dual exploitation of bandits and corrupt officials from time to time.
In such an environment, it was extremely difficult to make a living.
In just three years, his and his wife's lives came to an end.
When disaster strikes, even birds of a feather flock separately.
His wife finally left, remarrying with their son.
It seemed as though all of life's misfortunes had descended upon this man. Under the dual pressure of livelihood and spirit, he himself did not know how he had managed to get through it all.
It wasn't until Han Mo completely cleared out the bandits and he heard that Han Mo was coming to inspect the river embankment today that he mustered the courage again and approached Han Mo.
As it turned out, he had finally made the right gamble today...
"What's wrong with him?"
Looking at the sobbing Gao Zhiyao, Han Mo was somewhat puzzled.
"He's happy, happy..."