"Young Master, what should we do about this matter?" Ye Yi asked pitifully.
He had always been in charge of supervising the canal project, and whenever a problem arose, his first thought was to seek help from Ye Ziâan.
"Go find Ye Si. Heâs in charge of the tax money at the county office. Tell him to allocate a portion of it to fill the gap in Stone Village. Also, send someone to Stone Village to arrest the Land Officer and take a look at how much land and how many houses his family owns. Leave enough for his family to live on; sell the rest, be it land or houses. If he dares to embezzle these funds and still denies it, he must be punished."
"Yes!" Ye Yi chuckled, "You always have a plan, Young Master. Actually, if we really sell the Land Officerâs land, we probably wonât even need to use the county officeâs money."
"What do you mean?"
"You donât know, Young Master, but the Land Officer has already used all his silver to pay off his sonâs debts. However, the land is still there, not a single acre sold. He has over thirty acres of good farmland. Weâre not using much land from Stone Village for our canal; even if his land isnât enough, the silver from the county office is limited."
He continued, "Young Master, although we are not using much land from Stone Village, Fushui County has taken a lot. Fushui County hasnât provided any subsidies to Fushan Village, nor to the other villages. If this issue isnât resolved, Iâm afraid we wonât be able to dig the canal."
"Mm, Iâm aware," Ye Ziâan grunted. "Get ready. Ye Er, Ye Wu, and I will set off for Fushui County. You handle the Stone Village matter. It wonât be easy to sell the Land Officerâs land immediately, so for now charge it to the county officeâs account to cover the deficit. Once itâs settled, start digging. I want to meet and deal with the Fushui County Magistrate."
"This subordinate will head to Stone Village immediately and arrest that scoundrel of a Land Officer."
After Ye Yi left, Ye Ziâan instructed Ye Er to arrange the carriage while he went to find Yang Chuxia.
"Xiaxia, I need to make a trip to Fushui County now. I definitely wonât be back tonight; at the earliest, Iâll return the day after tomorrow."
"Whatâs happened?" Yang Chuxia asked, noticing his troubled expression.
"The canal weâre digging needs to connect with a river in Fushui County. Itâs going to use quite a bit of land from Fushui County. We had previously given Fushui County a large sum of silver to compensate the expropriated villagers, but they didnât distribute it to the villagers. Now, the villagers of Fushui County are blocking the canal work. I need to confront this Fushui County Magistrate, to see if he plans to pocket the silver and shirk his duties."
Ye Ziâan was visibly upset when discussing the matter.
Seeing this, Yang Chuxia stepped forward to smooth out his furrowed brows, and once he seemed a bit more relaxed, she asked, "How much silver did Mianyang give to Fushui County?"
"Since itâs not within our county, the compensation was doubled. The canal runs through three townships and dozens of villages, totaling more than thirty thousand taels of silver. You know, Young Master, if Yanghe Town doesnât connect to the outer rivers, it will become a dead river. It will not only accumulate Mianyangâs rainwater but also receive excess water from upstream Lanjiang River. No matter how much we expand the river channels or raise the levees, in the long run, the problem of flooding will still occur. Since I took charge of Mianyang, Iâve been determined to solve the issue at its root. But if he doesnât distribute the silver, the villagers wonât let us break ground, and the canal wonât be dug."
"Iâll accompany you," Yang Chuxia said after listening. "I reckon Fushui County is eying this sum of silver for themselves. If thatâs the case, they definitely wonât return it to you or admit to it. To prevent word from spreading, they might even harm you."