thenovelthief Chapter 1173 - 1155: Acquaintance
Chapter 1173 - 1155: Acquaintance
Fu Zhi was an upright man, and believed that children and grandchildren had their own allotted fortunes, so he never used his power to seek private gain for his descendants; on the contrary, he always used private means to serve public ends.
He had forced his eldest son to become a Prince Consort, and then forced him into officialdom to run about for Great Jin, which resulted in disharmony between the couple; husband and wife both nursed grievances and vented their anger on the young Fu Changrong.
So Fu Zhi felt the deepest guilt toward Fu Tinghan, and was mostly ashamed before Fu Xuan; thinking on this, he became largely laissez‑faire with his remaining three sons, giving them the greatest freedom.
He did not insist that they must enter officialdom, nor demand that they must save the state, only hoping that they could stay alive.
Thus father and sons only corresponded occasionally, simply exchanging news of their safety.
But in such a turbulent age, when traffic was cut off and information hard to transmit, they had lost contact as father and sons for more than three years.
The last time he received a letter from his father was at the New Year between the First Year and the second year of Yongjia, when his father complained to him that the winters in Luoyang were growing ever colder and grain prices ever higher; in Luoyang City, there were already commoners who could not buy grain even with money, and Prince East Sea was powerless to stop the situation from developing.
He was very afraid Luoyang would become a second Chang’an; Chang’an had been suffering grain famine for a long time and the problem could not be solved. He wrote to tell Fu Chang that if in the end Prince East Sea and the emperor broke with each other, Luoyang would likely fall into turmoil again, and the Xiongnu Kingdom to the north were also stirring. If a great war broke out, he hoped that he, Second Son, and Third Son could survive.
If by good fortune he chanced upon the third and fourth sons who had gone out to study abroad, he hoped Fu Chang could lend his two younger brothers a hand.
"Your eldest brother has already been dragged down by me. He is Jin’s Prince Consort, with responsibilities of his own, and cannot help you."
Fu Chang knew that the heavy burden on his eldest brother’s shoulders had been forced onto him by their father; father and son had quarreled many times because of this. Eldest Brother had long been trapped in Chang’an, unable to get away; let alone help them, even his own survival was in question.
He had always strictly abided by his father’s exhortation, doing his utmost to preserve himself and his two sons amid the ravages of war, yet he truly had not expected that he would fail to see his father one last time.
Fu Chang forced down his grief, and, using the farm tools Zhang Ce had sent, stubbornly led the villagers in harvesting the rice first; only after calming the people’s hearts did he bring up the matter of leaving the mountains.
After a period of calm and reflection, the villagers were persuaded as well. Thirty‑nine households, each household head sat in the open space in front of Fu Chang’s house; the villagers who were not heads of household also came to join the crowd, forming a circle, hands tucked in their sleeves as they listened to the people seated in the center hold council.
Looking at the young faces gathered all around, an old man sighed and said, "What the County Lord says is reasonable. For the sake of our descendants, we cannot go on living cramped in these mountains."
If there were still war outside, they definitely would not go out, but now that the outside had become stable, there was not much meaning in staying in the mountain hollow.
Yet... looking at the paddy fields not far away that had just been harvested, the old people still felt reluctant in their hearts.
Unconsciously someone said, "Otherwise, let the children go out, and we stay in the mountains—what do you think? It’s too much of a pity to abandon this hard‑won cultivated land just like that."
The key point was that the soil in this mountain hollow was truly very rich, and irrigation and watering were both convenient; they hated to give it up.
Fu Yong said, "There are many fierce beasts in the mountains. If all the able‑bodied men leave and only the old and weak are left here, how can they resist wild animals?"
The reason they had been able to survive in the mountain hollow was certainly not because they had always been lucky. They lived right by the water source and had seen many beasts, but they could coexist in peace only because they had enough able‑bodied men.
Wild animals have instincts; they know what they can provoke and what they cannot.
Once the able‑bodied men in the village left, the old and weak who remained would become food for the beasts.
This was the second time Fu Chang showed a strong hand; since they were to leave, then all of them would leave.
Letting his gaze sweep over pairs of eyes that were anxious and fearful yet full of expectation, Fu Chang pressed down the impulse to fly back to Luoyang at once, deciding to see them all properly settled before he left.
Thus Fu Chang had them start packing their belongings, while he took Fu Yong and two yamen runners out to meet Zhang Ce and discuss how to arrange things for these people from the mountain hollow.
After living together for more than three years, everyone was already familiar with one another and had developed habits of mutual aid, so Fu Chang hoped they could all live in a single village.
To move out of the mountain hollow, they would need to build new houses, and the land they farmed would be newly allotted. Fortunately they had cultivated before; it was just that the fields had lain fallow for many years and grown over with wild grass. Though reclaiming them would be laborious, it also meant the land’s fertility was good. He hoped he could choose for them a piece of land near water on which to build their homes, so that both drinking water and irrigation would be convenient.
But he had not expected that when he arrived in Liang County, the first person he saw would not be Zhang Ce, but Shen Ruhui.
Shen Ruhui had received word that, according to rumor, a Hermit from the mountains who knew how to manage water had appeared; he was said to be Fu Zhi’s son, and Shen was needed to test the man’s knowledge of water control to confirm his identity.
Shen Ruhui had immediately hurried back from the banks of the Yellow River, only to find that the person had already left; he could only wait in Liang County, and this wait lasted quite some time.
As soon as Fu Chang appeared, he rushed over; when the two met, they could not help but break into smiles. "County Magistrate Zhang is afraid you might be impostors. Now this is good—the real thing could not be more real."
Fu Chang was also surprised. "So Doctor Shen is the young friend."
Shen Ruhui was very glad to see Fu Chang. There was a considerable difference in their ages; they had only met twice, but the impression had been deep, and both had good memories, so they still remembered each other.
Shen Ruhui was much the same as ever, not much changed, while Fu Chang had grown quite a bit older.
Shen Ruhui let out a long breath of relief and said to Fu Chang, "It is good that it’s you. The silt build‑up in the Yellow River is severe, and dredging it will consume vast amounts of manpower and resources. Some of the key dikes have collapsed from long neglect. Fortunately, in the past two years there has been little rain in the Yellow River basin, so no great disaster has occurred. I have only inspected one section, and just calculating in my head the funds and grain required made my eyes go dark. There are not many officials at court who can manage water, and you have truly inherited Mr. Fu’s learning. I wonder if you have any good ideas?"
Fu Chang was slightly stunned; he had not expected to be asked about water control as soon as they met. After a pause he said, "I have never seen the Yellow River, so I cannot give you an answer. This time I came out to settle the people from the mountains, then return to Luoyang to attend the funeral."
Remembering that Fu Zhi had passed away not long ago, Shen Ruhui hastened to say, "That is as it should be; you are still in the period of deep mourning. I have heard that Minister Fu and the Prince Consort have built a hut on the mountain to keep vigil for their father. If you go back now, you should still make it in time."
Liang County was not far from Luoyang; by fast horse it was two days’ ride, and even on foot it would not take many days. Precisely because it was close, Fu Chang needed a great deal of willpower to suppress his urgent desire to return home.
Shen Ruhui asked, "How do you plan to resettle those people from the mountains?"
Since Fu Chang was genuine, everything became easy to discuss. Zhang Ce agreed to all his requests and even generously allowed him to personally choose a piece of land outside the city for them to settle on and establish a village.
When it came to finding water sources and judging fengshui, there were truly few who could match Fu Chang; after all, among those who could manage water, who would not understand fengshui and landforms?
Shen Ruhui was more familiar with the local area and immediately offered him several suggestions, taking him to see three locations. Fu Chang was very satisfied and chose one of them: it lay in a stretch of wilderness, with a river running through it, and within a ten‑li radius there were also four ponds and two small streams.
This place was somewhat distant from the county seat, with the nearest village fifteen li away; that whole area was at present ownerless wasteland. However, the spot he chose was very close to the official road.
Fu Chang thought that so long as things remained stable, ten years from now this area would surely be bustling and prosperous, with many large villages springing up, and their village, because of its location, would be chosen as the main market town;
And if things did not remain stable, then living here, they could flee at any time; if they wished, they could more quickly enter the deep mountains and once again hide in the mountain hollow from the ravages of war.
This place was not far from the entrance through which they had entered the mountain hollow.
Fu Chang had considered their situation from every angle. Zhang Ce also promised that no taxes would be levied on them this year, and that he would send people to help them build houses. Together with the supplies they had brought out from the mountains, their days would be better than those of most commoners outside.