Chapter 72 Flood Control Embankment Engineering

  Xiao Jiading hastily said, "Yes, it's exactly this matter, involving several people. I have his confession." As he spoke, Xiao Jianding took out Liu Xiangzheng's confession from his bosom. Before coming here, he had already anticipated that Tang Lin might attend, so he had thought of finding an opportunity to tell him about this matter and had brought the confession with him. Now was exactly the right moment, so he took it out.

  Tang Lin didn't take it, turned his head to stare at him, obviously knowing that Xiao Jia Ding had grasped some evidence. Seeing Xiao Jia Ding awkwardly withdraw his hand, he slowly said: "I know everything, what do you plan to do?"

  Xiao Jiading's heart skipped a beat, realizing that the so-called secrets he had grasped were actually already known to others. He hastily said: "Because it involves high-ranking officials in the government, I dare not take liberties or write this part of the content into other records, lest I startle the snake by hitting the grass. I wrote it separately and kept it myself, without letting others know. I plan to collect enough evidence and then provide it to the Supervising Censor. They should handle it properly."

  The Supervising Censor is equivalent to the current Disciplinary Inspection Commission and the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Procuratorate, specializing in supervising all officials.

  Tang Lin nodded slightly, finally revealing a hint of a smile: "You're quite clever, when dealing with such cases, one must be cautious. I'll go and inform the Surveillance Commissioner - the one in charge of our Jian Nan Dao surveillance is named Cheng Chonghui, he knows what to do."

  This was exactly what Xiao Jiading had in mind. He just didn't want to say it directly, as that would give people the impression that he was ordering Tang Lin around.

  Xiao Jiading put away the confession and said, "This case involves many high-ranking officials who are all connected to each other. It's not very realistic to investigate them all at once. Bribery is usually a one-on-one transaction, making it difficult to gather evidence. We need to find a breakthrough. So, I think we should choose one of the officials as the breakthrough point, collect evidence and then have the Supervising Censor take him in for questioning, which will lead us to more clues. But where to start, I'm not sure."

  Tang Lin thought for a moment and said, "You can start by targeting Deng Quansheng, the county magistrate of Shaocheng County. He has a low official rank and no backing except for Zhong Facao. If there is evidence, even Zhong Facao won't dare to protect him, fearing that it will backfire. Therefore, it's relatively easier to take action against him. If you directly target an official like Zhong Facao, who has people behind him, the resistance will be great, unless you have very sufficient evidence."

  This thinking is the same as Xiao Jiading's, so he has arranged for Huiyi to investigate the financial situation of Deng County Wei's family and monitor his movements. Enough evidence has been obtained so far. He didn't take action yet, just wanted to test Tang Lin's attitude. As long as he has his support, he can act boldly. Now that he has got Tang Lin's consent, Xiao Jiading is very happy. Decided to take action immediately after returning.

  Xiao Jiading continued, "There's another case to report to the boss - the county governor's brother-in-law killed someone in a dispute over a woman and injured many others. This case has been pending at the county yamen for almost a year now."

  "Is there such a thing?" Tang Lin's eyebrows were slightly furrowed. The Tang Code clearly stipulated that the deadline for solving and trying homicide cases was one month. If it exceeded the time limit, they would be punished with a stick. However, this case had already been solved, but the trial took nearly a year. In modern terms, it is called "prolonged detention". As for why it happened, Tang Lin, who had been handling prison cases for many years, didn't know.

  He said to Xiao Jiading, "I will let Chong Hui take over this matter and handle it. This person is not bad, he was promoted by me when I was in the Imperial Censorate, upright and selfless, proficient in criminal law. You can have more contact with him if you have the opportunity."

  "Ah, someone recommended by the big boss must be worth befriending!"

  Tang Lin glanced at him and said, "Your poetry is quite good, this is a very rare talent, grasp it well, can help you go further on the official path. So, you should take advantage of various opportunities to fully showcase your talents. The annual Yizhou Poetry Conference will be held soon, you must strive for the top prize. This is a great opportunity for you to make a name for yourself, don't miss it."

  Xiao Jiading smiled and said: "Boss, your words have reached my heart, I will definitely do it. By the way, I have already joined the Bailu Poetry Society of our Shaocheng Prefecture, and we are going to compete with the Yizhihua Poetry Society of the Provincial Government, I heard that you, boss, are going to participate as a judge, right?"

  Tang Lin smiled and nodded: "Yes, the poetry competition between your two academies can be said to be a prelude to the Yizhou Poetry Conference. Because the number one scholar and number one poetess of Yizhou are in your two academies, this competition will attract a lot of attention and will have a great influence on the judges' decisions later. You must work hard! Moreover, I heard that the Huazhu poetry academy has also invited a very powerful scholar to join, named him from the capital city, with a reputation among the literati in the capital city, said to be a poet with quick wit and fast composition speed. You can't be unprepared!"

  Cut! Even the fastest thinking can't outrun Laozi's plagiarism! Who cares?!

  He thought to himself, but his face was serious, saying: "Yes, thank you for the reminder, but I don't know what this talented person from the capital is called?"

  "Lu Zhuolin!"

  Xiao Jiading was taken aback.

  Lu Zhaolin, along with Wang Bo, Yang Jiong and Lu Binwang, was known as one of the "Four Greats of the Early Tang". A prominent figure in the early days of Tang poetry, he wrote the famous lines: "If we can be together like mandarin ducks, what need is there to die? I wish to be a pair of mandarin ducks and not envy the immortals." This was one of Xiao Jiadong's favorite quotes!

  Unexpectedly, I can see the great poet I admire. Xiao Jiading was slightly excited, but soon he self-deprecatingly said: What's there to be happy about? He's a rival, and in the future, we'll have to compete with each other. Although I have a belly full of famous poems from ancient times, it won't be difficult to defeat him, but using plagiarized poetry to defeat a truly famous poet is really uninteresting.

  Tang Lin saw Xiang Jia Ding like this and asked: "What? You've also heard of his reputation?"

  Lu Zhaolin became famous very early, but under the extremely backward communication conditions in ancient times, his reputation would not have spread too far. So Xiao Jiading shook his head and said: "I've only heard that he's from the capital, and Boss is so serious, I suppose he's a formidable opponent."

  "Yes, if you can defeat him, your reputation will spread throughout the capital in no time. He is the five-time champion of the Capital Poetry Society! This time, he was specially invited to participate in the Yizhou Poetry Society, but somehow, he joined the Huazheng Poetry Society under the State Government Office."

  Tang Lin saw that Xiao Jia Ding's expression was somewhat strange, so he asked: "What's wrong? No confidence? In fact, if I were to evaluate, your poetry is not inferior to his. So far, the poems you've written that I know of can be said to be basically all excellent and extraordinary, it's not an exaggeration to say that they will be passed down for thousands of years! Therefore, you don't need to be afraid of him at all!"

  Xiao Jiading immediately puffed out his chest and said, "Good! Boss is right, whether it's a mule or a horse, take it out for a spin and you'll know!"

  "Ah! You must be like you were when we first met through poetry: with the courage of a five-cart load and the talent of eight dou. Take out the momentum to sweep everything, believe in yourself, you will surely defeat Lu Zhao Lin, and let every literary person in Beijing know your name!"

  Xiao Jiading listened to him speaking with great enthusiasm and couldn't help but feel a little surprised. It seemed that this old man was even more anxious than himself? Could it be that his own poem winning the top prize was also part of the old man's plan?

  Be careful then.

  He was thinking in his heart, but on his face, it was a look of determination ignited by Tang Lin's words, and he became enthusiastic and stirred up.

  Xiao Jia Ding's performance made Tang Lin very satisfied, he glanced at him sideways and said slowly after a while: "I heard that the imperial court is going to build a Jinjiang flood control dike in Huayuan Township and Wutai Township of your Shaocity County in April this year. This is one of the major projects nationwide this year! It can benefit many people on both banks!"

  After finishing speaking, she looked at Xiao Jia Ding again.

  Xiao Jiading was taken aback, how did the conversation suddenly turn to engineering? Tang Lin had previously been a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice, and had never been involved in any construction projects. He wasn't even directly responsible for managing local administration or governing the common people, so why would he be interested in a flood control dam project?

  In this daze, he took advantage of the lanterns hanging in the cabin to shine a light on the profound meaning in Tang Lin's eyes, and his heart moved involuntarily. Just now, when Tang Lin mentioned this project, he spoke very carefully, directly mentioning the specific construction site and time of the project. Was he reminding himself of something?

  Construction projects, that's where the big money is made. Xiao Jiading from modern society certainly has a deep understanding of this, his clients include many construction bosses who are wealthy and extravagant, spending money like dirt, leaving a deep impression on him.

  Previously, Tang Lin had said that he did not object to officials making money, as long as they did not personally operate businesses and the income was legal. In fact, he secretly accepted it because this would make officials wealthy and therefore uninterested in bribery, thereby achieving the goal of "high salaries supporting integrity". Now, he deliberately told himself this news, was he trying to remind himself to think of a way out?

  After crossing the Tang Dynasty, he also had some understanding of the construction projects of the Tang Dynasty. The rent and labor system implemented by the Tang Dynasty stipulated that each able-bodied person would serve as a laborer for twenty days a year, which was an obligation, and they had to bring their own food, without wages. In addition to this, if they served fifteen more days, they would be exempt from paying taxes, and if they served thirty more days, they would be exempt from both taxes and labor. These laborers were mainly used for national construction projects, including water conservancy projects such as flood control dykes, which were all built by local people who volunteered to work. Therefore, in the large-scale state investment construction projects of the Tang Dynasty era, there were no modern architectural companies or construction teams participating, but rather the local government organized the local people to volunteer to work.

  So how did they make money in construction projects during the Tang Dynasty?

  He didn't understand, but he was certain that Tang Lin's proposal must have had an ulterior motive, and it was absolutely not a casual remark. It was definitely for his own benefit! As for how to benefit, that would depend on one's own wit. A high-ranking official like him wouldn't possibly give himself such specific instructions; being able to point out a way was already a great help.

  Xiao Jiading hastily cupped his hands and said with a delighted heart: "Yes, yes, the emperor's kindness is boundless, we common people are grateful and respectful!"

  Although he said it was imperial grace, his eyes were on Tang Lin, and this sentence was clearly thanking him for revealing the message and pointing out the way to wealth.

  Tang Lin saw Xiao Jia Ding and understood, haha laughed loudly, waved his hand and said: "Go back!"

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