The Long River 天下长河 Episode 20

Since Wanli, Qingshuitan has basically not been repaired, mainly because the project is cumbersome, and everyone feels that there is no need to spend a lot of time on it. However, Jin Fu believed that the canal was a whole, and it was important not to end at one end and at the other, so he decided to stay in Qingshuitan for food and lodging from today, and called sixty-four officials to take charge of the river affairs to ensure that the construction period would be completed before the spring flood next year.

Although the river project is still going on, there are too many projects to take care of. Jin Fu appointed Chen Huang and Xiaohu to pretend to be beggars, check the situation of each construction site along the way, and report back in time if any suspicious incidents occur. Sure enough, Chen Huang found something strange at the construction site of Guiren Dike. Wang Dengxuan, the chief officer in charge of the river, eats delicious food and drinks spicy food every day.

It was also because of Chen Huang's questioning that the fat yamen servant was dissatisfied, and the two clashed. The old man Hegong persuaded Chen Huang to leave as soon as possible in private. If they hadn't been rooted here for generations, they would have wanted to escape from this place that eats people and doesn't spit out their bones. When Chen Huang learned that Wang Deng used cooked soil to build the dam, he thought about going out with Xiaohu pretending to be sick, but he didn't know that the fat yamen official avenged his personal revenge and ordered them to work for ten days.

It was cold in the middle of the night, and Chen Huang lit a fire to keep warm. When the old man came to chat with him, he mentioned that Wang Dengxuan often took advantage of his position to make profits. Not only that, Chen Huang also discovered that the place where the old man and others often rested was actually the bottom of the dam. Originally, the dam should be built solidly, but Wang Dengxuan was greedy and cut corners without telling the truth. Such an empty dam will definitely harm the people if the flood season comes.

On the other side, Mr. Yang went to the door instead of A Xixi to send a message to Wang Dengxuan, informing Chen Huang that he was already at the construction site. In order to avoid the exposure of corruption, Wang Dengxuan simply dealt with it first and then quickly arranged for the supervisor to arrest all the river workers, and would rather kill them by mistake than let them go. All the river workers already had a lot of grievances in their hearts, so naturally they would not be arrested with their hands tied. Chen Huang guessed that the supervisor's move was aimed at him, and hurriedly ordered Xiao Huang to find a way to run out to inform Jin Fu. Seeing the chaos at the scene, Chen Huang was about to declare himself, when he was suddenly knocked unconscious by an officer.

Jin Fu led the river workers to continue repairing the dam, and unexpectedly discovered that the blue stones could not withstand knocking, and would shatter at the slightest touch, completely indistinguishable from tofu. Thinking about the problem with the stone, Jin Fu immediately ordered everyone to stop building the dam, but Jin Zhiyu, who was in charge of taking care of the stone, didn't know it until the river officer brought the blue stone and smashed it, which shocked him.

Everyone knew Jin Zhiyu's identity, even if he was at fault, Jin Fu should deal with it. Now that Qingshuitan is closed, Jin Fu gave Jin Zhiyu three days to figure out the ins and outs. Jin Zhiyu summoned the merchants who supplied stone materials overnight, and asked the river soldiers to torture them.

The patriarch of Baihegou Village took the villagers to transport the blue stones, and flattered Jin Zhiyu in all kinds of ways, hoping to settle the wages for nearly half a year. In the past, Jin Zhiyu seldom inspected stone materials, but now he held up a hammer and knocked one by one. Seeing this, the patriarch hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and discussed the profit share with him in a low voice.

Jin Zhiyu resolutely refused the patriarch's bribe, and then dropped a hammer, and the blue stone split into pieces in an instant. The patriarch became angry after failing to bribe, and deliberately framed Jin Zhiyu, making it clear that he did not want to settle his wages. The villagers in Baigou were ignorant and all stepped forward to surround Jin Zhiyu. The scene got out of control several times, Jin Zhiyu accidentally stabbed the patriarch to death in desperation.

After the incident happened, the patriarch's relatives rioted in the county government to demand justice, and the county magistrate had no choice but to bring officers and soldiers to arrest Jin Zhiyu, and promised Jin Fu that he would find out the truth. At this moment, Jin Zhiyu was terrified in his mother's room, squatting in the corner and crying, Jin Fu sighed and pulled Jin Zhiyu up, promising that there would be a way to protect his son.