Daqin: A buff of incredible comprehension

With the spring harvest concluded, the expeditionary force assembled and set out. After a period of training, Zheng Ping and the young Hu people embarked on their journey back to the grasslands. Their mission included scouting the various tribes and searching for the Cuckold King. Meanwhile, the Lü family of Bashu made a long journey to Guanzhong, presenting a large number of Shanyi slaves, thousands of ironworkers, and maps to foreign lands to ensure their family's safety.

** After receiving the news, my heart was as calm as water.

"Su Sheng, is it really... like this?"

A new small waterwheel was built in Xianyang City to cooperate with the existing water mill.

The stone mill turns, and white soy milk flows out from the mill hole.

"That's right."

"Just pour it into the pot, boil it, and then add some braising sauce."

The sound of ** rang in Su Jin's ears. The wooden barrel was quickly filled. When Su Jin bent down to change the barrel, ** still clung to her, refusing to let go like a piece of taffy.

"Su Sheng, are you still not satisfied?"

"Didn't I promise to teach you how to make tofu?"

Su Jin was both angry and amused, and couldn't help but complain:

"Indeed, you also agreed to let me eat soy products!"

"Xiaoling, do you want to..."

"do not want!"

As soon as she heard the beginning of his words, Su Jin knew what was coming next. She glanced nervously at the gate, where a guard was standing guard.

"Xiaoling, come on!"

** said with a grin and tried to unbutton her clothes.

"No, there are people guarding outside."

Su Jin dodged in panic.

"There's no one there."

"We can go upstairs and hide among those thousands of pounds of beans so no one can find them."

** Approach with arms open.

Su Jin was torn between two things, hesitating whether to agree to his unreasonable request. "Your humble servant, Zhao Zhou, requests an audience with Young Master Qin."

Suddenly, a low voice came from outside the door: "Young Master Qin, please wait a moment."

After the guard knocked on the door and reported, "Got it!" came a somewhat impatient response from inside.

** gestured to Su Jin, indicating her to hide upstairs.

"Go do your thing first."

Su Jin pushed him out the door as if he had received a special pardon. "Let's meet again another day."

"I'll definitely make an appointment another day."

** Turn around and remind.

"understood!"

Su Jin shyly and helplessly scooped the soy milk into the pot.

Soon, a loud shout came from outside: "What?!"

"Junior Brother Zhao, how many times has this happened?"

"You tried to forge a plowshare and lost your tools. You built a water mill and lost the gears."

** He stared in amazement at Zhao Zhou, who bowed his head and admitted his mistake. Upon hearing this, Su Jin put down his tools and walked out.

"Qin Sheng, what happened?"

** glared at Zhao Zhou and said, "Ask yourself."

"Junior sister, those gears were not really lost, but were deliberately thrown into the water," Zhao Zhou explained hurriedly, as if seizing the opportunity to rescue them.

"Brother, don't be anxious."

"Mr. Qin, we are all family, let's discuss it slowly," Su Jin persuaded him for a few words, and finally calmed down **'s anger.

After the three of them sat down, Zhao Zhou described the problem they had encountered: the villagers, fearing it would offend the river god, refused to accept the construction of the waterwheel. A female Taoist priest at the temple spread rumors that anyone who offended the river god would suffer disaster. So, at night, someone took advantage of the guards' negligence and pushed a pair of gears weighing hundreds of pounds into the Wei River's banks.

"This is a difficult problem! The silt is so deep that it is almost impossible to salvage it."

Hearing this, Su Jin recalled the story of Ximen Bao's conquest of Ye: back then, people also held similar superstitious beliefs, requiring the intervention of a powerful figure. "What nonsense, Qin Sheng? Every mountain and river in the world is inhabited by gods." Xiangli pondered for a moment and said, "Junior brother, why don't you find a new location with good feng shui to place the gears?"

** He quickly interrupted her, "Why do we have to change the land? Since they are performing the sacrifice, shouldn't they make room for us?" ** He nodded unsatisfiedly and glanced at Zhao Zhou, "Have you contacted the local headman?"

"Of course I have looked for it, but..." Zhao Zhou shook his head again.

** The more he listened, the more annoyed he became: "Why doesn't the useless Nei Shi Ya clerk do anything?" "Have you asked the high-ranking official?"

**'s anger gradually increased.

"The Internal Affairs Secretary once sent people to arrest several villagers," Zhao Zhou sighed. "But the culprit is probably the female Taoist priest in the temple... As long as she's around, even after the project is completed, there won't be long-term peace."

"Humph, are you rebelling against the heavens?" ** sneered

Suddenly, he stopped and unconsciously stepped aside. He saw a tall, richly dressed figure in front of him, surrounded by several guards. His aura was powerful, clearly someone not to be trifled with. He Po's dim eyes suddenly gleamed.

"Your face looks strange, sir."

"Are you here to offer sacrifices and make a wish?"

She approached him enthusiastically. The man, his hands clasped behind his back, asked with authority, "What deity is enshrined in the temple?"

He Po didn't mind, explaining that the ceremonies in this remote area were mostly for the surrounding residents, and that the nobles in the city naturally wouldn't care too much about it. After all, city dwellers didn't farm and rarely prayed for a good harvest. She replied:

"Sir, the deity enshrined here is the water god of the Wei River."

"His name is Fuxi, the eighth son of the Dragon King, and he is specifically responsible for the Wei River."

"He is in charge of the rise and fall of water levels, the distribution of clouds and rain, and all things related to charity."

"Most people come here to pray for peace and a good harvest, and He Bo will appear to bless them all."

He Po had a kind smile on her face, and powder fell with the smile.

"Laoba?"

"Is he that powerful?"

The man's tone was filled with contempt. He Po sensed something was amiss in the atmosphere, but she suppressed her discontent and said, "Sir, He Bo is very powerful. Just worship him and you'll know."

"Bow?" He said, "I never bow to anyone. You should call him down and let him bow to me."

Pointing at the statue of a human with a dragon's head in the temple, his eyes were full of provocation. He Po hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy, not daring to directly call out his fault.

He sneered, "How effective is your Habaek? Let's make a bet. If I can hurt you and you survive, it means Habaek is protecting you. If you die... then I'll send him some special snacks."

He then ordered the guards to take He Po away and sent soldiers to summon the nearby neighbors to the scene.

---

The soldiers rushed in, roughly controlled He Po, stuffed a rag into her mouth, and then dragged her out.

Looking around the solemn and majestic hall, he saw that it was well-built and made of high-quality materials. He turned and instructed his men to conduct a detailed search of the temple.

Half an hour later, he stood on the high ground on the shore, surrounded by tools, materials and straw huts for building a waterwheel.

This high ground was suitable for building a waterwheel during the dry season and could protect it from floods during the wet season. He found that only this place was suitable for building a waterwheel, and the Hebo Temple happened to be located here.

Tian Zhou brought with him a heavy treasure chest filled with valuables. These treasures were hidden in a wooden box, along with a notebook containing financial records. The contents were illegible, but he soon deciphered the pictorial symbols: the square-horned ones were sheep, the round ones were coins, and so on.

He was curious that He Po could write account books even though she was illiterate and had such a rich fortune.

As villagers from various villages arrived one after another, he scanned the scene. These village heads and village chiefs were neatly dressed, with clean hands and feet, and clearly did not look like farmers.

When questioned, the headman explained that during the spring festival, large amounts of tribute and money were collected to pay tribute to the river god, and then handed over to He Bo through a sunken offering. When he mentioned that a precious jade bracelet had not been submerged in the water, everyone was panicked and speechless.

At this time, he picked up the pair of jade bracelets and asked:

"Is this for Habaek? Why did it end up in your hands?"

The people around were talking about it in private, especially when they saw that He Po had accumulated so much wealth and many of the properties looked very familiar.

"You take the lead in donating large amounts of money every year, yet now you live better than the rich people in the city."

"My Lord, I would like to ask, are the beans you planted in your fields golden or silver?"

"Or... you colluded with He Po and returned the gentry's money intact, while the common people's money was divided 70% and 30%!"

The official's voice became louder and louder, and he asked sternly:

"The Hebo Temple was originally established to worship the gods, but I didn't expect it to become a place for you to plunder the people and accumulate wealth!"

A village head was so frightened that his legs went weak and he fell to his knees, trembling all over: "Sir, spare my life!"

He Po tried eagerly to give him secret signals, and the pavilion chiefs and village heads on both sides kept signaling in various ways.

They knew that if the truth came to light, everyone would be ruined. They could only grit their teeth and hold on, hoping that the other party wouldn't be able to find any actual evidence and could get away with punishing them.

"Please, sir, we have not usurped the people's offerings."

"All the wealth and property are dedicated to the River God. How dare I take it?"

"The villagers can all testify that the offerings and gifts have sunk into the water!"

Other pavilion chiefs, li chiefs and village heads cried out for justice.

"Oh, you're really tough." The official sneered.

"But it doesn't matter. As an official appointed by the court, my duty is to eradicate those who harm others."

"Untie He Po first."

The official looked down at her. Although her hands and feet had been untied, she neither made a fuss nor made any unreasonable demands, as if she was fearless.

"He Po, you grew up in the temple and have the closest relationship with He Bo."

"Now that the priest has had problems, I'm sure Hebaek will be unhappy. How about calling him out for a face-to-face confrontation? If there's anything wrong, I'll compensate him out of my own pocket."

He Po was stunned for a moment, then raised her head and said, "As long as I cast a spell, it won't be difficult to invite He Bo to come down and confront him."

"Why bother!" the official shouted.

"Isn't He Bo in the river? You just need to go there." He gestured to the two guards, and the guards carried He Po and walked towards the high ground by the river.

"My Lord, the Wei River is vast and boundless. The River God must inspect a thousand miles of land."

"If I don't cast a spell to notify him, he will definitely not show up!" He Po panicked and shouted loudly.

The official ignored him and ordered: "Aim the artillery at the Wei River."