I, Sun Shan, and the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1479 Construction of Water Conservancy

After the escort team left, Sun Shan arranged for them to serve in the military.

I'll take advantage of these two weeks before the autumn harvest to finish my service for the second half of the year.

County Magistrate Wang and Chief Clerk Wu were very puzzled as to why Sun Shan had moved up the timeframe for his military service. According to past practice, military service was only scheduled after the autumn harvest, when everyone was completely free.

Magistrate Wang frowned and asked, "Sir, if we start serving early, the people will probably have many speculations. It would be better to follow the usual practice and start serving after the autumn harvest."

Wu, the clerk, shared this view. It's best to remain unchanged amidst constant change; suddenly altering the rules will trigger various speculations.

The most important thing for them in their official careers was to ensure a smooth transition.

Sun Shan explained his plan: "Before the autumn harvest, I will complete the labor service. After the harvest, I will provide funds and grain to hire workers to repair the water conservancy project."

Magistrate Wang stared wide-eyed and asked, "Sir, money and grain? Where does the yamen have money and grain?"

Upon hearing that Sun Shan was going to dig into the yamen's slush fund again, Magistrate Wang strongly objected.

The emptier the slush fund, the less you can extract money from it. If officials don't make money, why bother studying so hard in the first place?

Wu, the registrar, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Sir, building water conservancy projects is a huge undertaking, and it will cost a fortune. Even if the yamen is rich and well-fed, it can't afford it. Besides, the yamen is dirt poor."

Sun Shan did not answer, but asked, "County Magistrate Wang, I heard that your village built a small reservoir last year to facilitate irrigation."

County Magistrate Wang was stunned. It was clearly about recruiting workers, so how did it turn into his own business?

Could it be that Lord Sun still remembers his attempt to take advantage of the situation and get the government to pay for water conservancy projects?

Why bother remembering things from the old almanac?

As I had imagined, Lord Sun was indeed petty and vengeful.

Magistrate Wang coughed and said, "Sir, that's a small reservoir that our clansmen pooled their money to build. Hehe, we farmers can't do without water."

Sun Shan nodded in agreement: "Wang, the county magistrate, is right. How can farmers, especially rice farmers, survive without water? We need to build reservoirs and dig ditches for irrigation, so that we can harvest more rice next year."

He paused, sighed, and said, "If every village were like Wangjia Village, strong enough to build its own reservoir, that would be great. Unfortunately, Yuanlu County only has one Wangjia Village; there won't be another one."

"As the magistrate of Yuanlu, if I don't oversee the water conservancy projects, who will? Lord Wang! I hope every village can become as prosperous as Wangjia Village."

County Magistrate Wang's lips twitched; judging from Sun Shan's expression, the water conservancy project was definitely finished.

He came to inform them, not to solicit their opinions.

County Magistrate Wang, unwilling to give up, said, "Sir, the bird guano fertilizer workshop isn't making any money, and the yamen is only managing to collect grain taxes with great difficulty, so we don't seem so poor. But in the blink of an eye, it'll all be spent. What if we encounter an emergency and run out of money and food? How will we cope?"

Sun Shan nodded in agreement again: "What Magistrate Wang said is very good. However, before I took office, Yuanlu County was not very wealthy either, and we had neither money nor food for emergencies."

I believe the Chenzhou Prefecture is aware of the situation. If they truly need money and grain, even if I were to resign my post, I would still plead with the Chenzhou Prefecture to provide them. After all, they've collected so much grain tax from us.”

County Magistrate Wang and Registrar Wu exchanged a glance: .....

Everyone could see that Sun Shan was blatantly acting like a scoundrel.

Asking Chenzhou Prefecture for money and grain? I wonder who gave Lord Sun such a big face?

Chenzhou Prefecture is already being merciful by not levying taxes on its subordinates, yet it still demands money and grain from its superiors. I wonder if Lord Sun is truly naive, or just pretending not to understand?

County Magistrate Wang and Chief Clerk Wu both agreed that it was the latter; Sun Shan was a very cunning man!

Doesn't he understand the situation in Chenzhou Prefecture? Hmph, it's obviously a fabricated excuse.

Seeing that Magistrate Wang and Registrar Wu remained silent, Sun Shan smiled meaningfully and said, "Magistrate Wang, Registrar Wu, my investment of money and grain to hire workers for water conservancy projects will only benefit you and will not cause you any harm."

He gave Magistrate Wang a deep look: "Especially you, Magistrate Wang, did your family's business increase several times over this year's Spring Festival?"

County Magistrate Wang stared at Sun Shan in shock. How did he know?

Who told him such a private matter?

Only he, his second brother, and their father knew about the family's revenue. How did Sun Shan find out?

Could there be a spy in the family? Who exactly exposed the Wang family's accounts?

County Magistrate Wang tried hard to recall which member of the Wang family Sun Shan had the most contact with. The more he thought about it, the more chills ran down his spine.

Because Sun Shan had the most contact with him, not to mention every night, he saw him every day. Even on his days off, when he was having tea at a teahouse, he would occasionally run into Sun Shan leading his strong wife and his big, fat daughter shopping.

Could it be that I revealed it unintentionally?

But how could he say it out loud?

Could it be that he was using witchcraft and involuntarily revealed it?

Thinking of this, Magistrate Wang trembled and looked at Sun Shan in fear.

Sun Shan was speechless. Judging from the constipated look on Magistrate Wang's face, he was clearly overthinking.

How did Sun Shan know? He could tell with just a pair of eyes.

Magistrate Wang has taken a new concubine this year. Because of her seductive beauty, Madam Wang's wife bared her fangs and almost tore Magistrate Wang apart.

Granny Wang also said that Madam Wang wanted to sell her concubine, but Magistrate Wang refused, and the couple got into a fight.

If it weren't for Old Master Wang arriving in time, the couple would have almost strangled each other to death.

Of course, this is just a trivial matter of gossip, and can only serve as supporting evidence.

Sun Shan knew this entirely out of sheer intuition.

Last year, Sunshan built a large-scale bird droppings workshop, quarried soil, paved bridges and repaired roads, and hired many locals to work. After the project was completed, the workers were paid promptly.

People spend money as soon as they have it, and since the Wang family is the largest merchant family in Yuanlu County, the money naturally flows into the Wang family.

As a result, they made a fortune, earning a lot of money every day.

Sun Shan continued, "County Magistrate Wang, Chief Clerk Wu. When I hire workers, they earn money and then go on a shopping spree. But you... hehe... you all know who does the best business in Yuanlu County without me having to tell you."

In the end, the money still flows back into the hands of the shopkeepers. Why were all the shopkeepers in the city all smiles last year, holding lantern festivals and dragon boat races? Because they made money.”

He turned around, his eyes fixed on Magistrate Wang and Registrar Wu: "If I hadn't paid people to do the work, I guarantee that the shop's business would have been reduced by half, and the money in my pocket would have been reduced by half."

County Magistrate Wang and Chief Clerk Wu stared at Sun Shan in disbelief.

If they understood correctly, Sun Shan meant that the government's slush fund ultimately flowed into their family's shop, meaning that the government's slush fund ultimately benefited them.

Sun Shan received no money because he had no business in Yuanlu County.

County Magistrate Wang and Chief Clerk Wu thought about it again and again. Sun Shan's words were right, but not quite right either. As for what was wrong, they couldn't figure it out.

Sun Shan didn't care whether County Magistrate Wang and Chief Clerk Wu understood or not.

Building water conservancy projects, paving bridges and roads is beneficial to all parties involved, and even if it is not beneficial, it is only a small part that is not.

Sun Shan must utilize the slush fund of the government office to launch large-scale construction projects in order to stimulate consumption.

Of course, we definitely won't engage in lending, lest we accumulate huge debts and harm both officials and the people.