The Little Lucky Girl

"I heard the story of their ancestors told by Grandpa Tong," Ming Youyou stood on tiptoe and grabbed Magistrate Tao's arm, motioning him to put the wooden man in front of the waterwheel, "It is said that one of the ancestors could spit out a lot of water just by opening his mouth. Isn't it interesting?"

"What next?" Magistrate Tao put it down as he was told. "Where will the water come from?"

"You open his skull and pour water into it, and then the water will come out of his mouth." Ming Youyou said with a laugh.

It felt quite horrifying. Magistrate Tao was speechless about the kid's aesthetic taste, but he still took the teapot and poured it in.

The "turbulent" water flowed out of the wooden man's mouth, then drove the waterwheel, the mill, the stone mortar for pounding rice, and finally flowed along the channel made of thin bamboo and gathered into a small stone bowl.

Magistrate Tao found it quite childish at first and watched it with great interest. Gradually he seemed to think of something and his eyes became profound.

"There is little water in Chang'an, and there are no tools that can utilize water power. The court does not pay enough attention to this aspect," he sighed.

"There are many talented people among the people, but their skills are not valued. Artists have no channels for communication, so it is difficult for their skills to improve. As a result, the results of one place can only be applied locally."

"Then why don't you write a letter to His Majesty and ask him to issue an imperial decree to reward you?" Ming Youyou suggested.

Magistrate Tao was amused by the childish words. "How can it be so easy? The court must do things in an orderly and measured manner, and must have a name and a purpose. How can we give rewards casually?"

The hundred arts have been considered minor since ancient times. Not to mention that the court officials may not agree with it, even His Majesty is probably powerless... because he is short of money.

Ming Youyou was a little sad. She had heard from Grandpa Gu that one of the tasks the institute was doing was to go to various places to find artists and record their skills in a protective manner, hoping to leave more reference materials for future generations. This way, when needed in the future, it would be possible to restore and study them.

She didn't quite understand what was said, but she knew that on such a powerful star, it was possible to lose some very precious things. If they lost something here, they might never have it again.

"When I have the ability in the future, I will definitely build a Hundred Arts Garden so that artists with unique skills can live there and pass on their skills." Ming Youyou said with a serious face.

Magistrate Tao laughed heartily and said, "I hope you will still remember this ambition when you grow up."

He said: "Craftsmanship is the foundation of many people's family heritage. If you want people to give it to you, you have to give them enough benefits and a sense of security. Do you know what this means?"

Magistrate Tao smiled and said, "This means you have to be very rich, and you have to be willing to spend all your money."

Ming Youyou felt that she was being looked down upon, and snorted, "Then I will start with the Ten Arts Square, then the Hundred Arts Square, the Thousand Arts Square, and maybe I can finally reach the Ten Thousand Arts Square."

She can now support three little playboys. Well, Zheng Huan and the others are not considered playboys now, but their schooling is still quite expensive.

Then she will definitely be more powerful in the future than she is now. And Grandpa Gu also said that once the creativity of skills is discovered, not only can one be self-sufficient, but also create huge profits, which means making a lot of money.

Magistrate Tao stroked his curly beard and praised: "Not bad, not bad. You understand the principle of 'accumulating small steps' and 'accumulating small streams'. It seems that the books you read in the academy are not in vain. I hope you can 'reach a thousand miles' and 'become a river or sea' in the future."

This is to test her with scriptures. Ming shook her head leisurely. She is now a learned person and knows things that others have never heard. So she showed off: "Some people say 'water can overturn a boat, but it can also carry it'. The use of water is greater than we think. My Lord, you have to think about it carefully."

She had also seen something called a light bulb in the mall that would light up as long as water flowed, and it seemed brighter than the moon. Unfortunately, the system said that they could not build the hydroelectric simulation device.

But Ming Youyou felt that as long as they kept working hard, they would always be closer to that goal.

"That makes sense. I should indeed discuss this with the Minister of Works." Magistrate Tao thought for a moment, "Who said that? This simple sentence may seem ordinary, but it contains a profound implication. If we turn it around, 'Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it', it seems to be admonishing those in high positions to cherish the people."

Ming Youyou blinked, feeling somewhat magical. After going around in circles, the words finally returned to their original meaning.

Thinking that Magistrate Tao was still thinking about asking about the source of the sentence, she quickly pointed to the small stone bowl that held the water and changed the subject:

"Look, sir, if we can bring down the spring water from the high ground, then we won't have to work so hard to carry water to drink."

Tao County Magistrate said helplessly: "This is a good idea, but do you think others have not thought of it? It is really not easy to implement. Not to mention other things, it is difficult to find a water pipe. The bamboo tube is not durable and the joint is too easy to loosen. It is better to fetch water by ourselves than to spend time on repairing it."

Seeing the child frowning and thinking hard, Magistrate Tao patted her head and said, "You have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. Don't worry, things will be solved slowly and life will get better and better. Maybe when you grow up, you can drink the water brought to the yard by the pipe."

Magistrate Tao looked far away. He said nothing more. He just poured the water from the stone bowl back into the wooden man's head and watched it flow through with a smile. He repeated this several times before he stopped and asked Ming Youyou, "I heard that you have started writing the second volume of "Biography of Bao Gong"?"

Ming Youyou nodded, "Yes, we want to take advantage of the free time during the New Year to finalize the first draft."

"Ask Zheng Huan and the others to come over in a few days. I have something to tell you."

As everyone expected, "The Biography of Bao Gong" became unstoppable after its first round of dissemination. It is now so popular in the capital that it is sold out in an instant as soon as it is released.

This grand occasion not only became a hot topic of discussion on the streets, but even His Majesty mentioned it to his ministers in the court.

It would be fine if it could attract His Majesty's attention, but the key point is that he also sighed: "I wonder if there is an official like Bao Zheng in my country, Dayu, who is not afraid of power, self-denial and dedicated to the public, and is honest and upright?"

This question made the court officials standing below feel very upset. What kind of image did His Majesty have of them in his mind?

But it seems impossible for them to pat their chests and say that they are such people. After all, if it were them, they would probably not have the determination to chop off their own nephew like Bao Zheng did; or to have the courage to change His Majesty's mother and take the dragon robe at the same time.

But your majesty's words were spoken before, and if we don't answer them, not only will it make the officials of Dayu appear incompetent, but it will also seem that your majesty will lose face.