A few "related households" in the Prime Minister's Office and the Censorate have received news of the national county examination in advance.

And those unlucky guys naturally won't get the fastest news.

This unlucky person is not only Xiao Hunhou, but also Hushu County Magistrate Father Yan.

Hushu County.

In the fields, the county magistrate Yan was doing farm work with a group of farmers.

The people of Hushu County still like this friendly county magistrate very much.

This county magistrate is a strange man. Because he is from a humble background, he doesn't like to stay in the county government. He mingles with the farmers in the county all day long, repairs ditches, helps with farm work, and often chats with him how to get rich.

The independent father Yan came to Hushu County, set an example, personally led the gentry and the farmers worked hard.

The ditches were repaired and the entire Hushu County ditch was renovated.

The increase in the reclaimed wasteland was as high as 30%.

Just by increasing arable land, political achievements will be remarkable.

With more arable land, there will naturally be more food.

The political achievements that ordinary county magistrates can achieve in three or four years can be achieved after working hard for half a year. If he can become a county magistrate, he may be able to double the arable land and grain in Hushu County.

However, the Lord's Father Yan had no joy on his tanned face.

He looked up at the sky from time to time, but instead became worried.

It's been a long time since it rained... It's about a month or two.

"Mr. County Master, God is so weird. It hasn't rained for many days, and there is no drop of water in the field! It's been two months, right?... I'm afraid it's going to be drought?"

"If it doesn't rain anymore, I'm afraid the harvest will be reduced!"

Some old farmers gathered in the shade of old trees by the river, looking worriedly at the scorching sun in the sky, and then at their county magistrate.

The Lord Father Yan licked his chapped lips and felt bitter in his heart.

People are in trouble and drinking water is too bad.

The rice in the fields is in the late stage of maturity, and it is the critical time to produce millet.

It seems that it will be ripe in just half a month and can be harvested.

Before harvesting, water is required to be irrigated for the last time.

But all the water in the ditch was dry, and even the river water dropped to less than half of the normal water level.

The land in the south of the Yangtze River is originally a place with many rains and rivers. Waterlogging is better than drought. It doesn’t matter if it rains for a month. There is also river water and well water available.

However, the river water gradually disappeared and the water level dropped so much that the water diversion truck could not be used, and it was impossible to divert the river water into the fields for irrigation, so it became difficult to fetch water.

Without river water, no matter how many ditches you dig, it will be useless.

In the critical later stage of rice planting, if there is no water to irrigate, the yield will definitely drop by at least 20%.

All his work in reclaiming wasteland in the past six months has been in vain.

After a drought, grain output is probably the same as last year.

All political achievements have been ruined!

It doesn’t matter if a county magistrate like him who has no backstage. If he can’t even make any outstanding achievements in the officialdom, who would take him seriously?!

The Lord's father Yan was so angry that he gritted his teeth, "Every household prepares a bucket and goes down the river to carry water!"

People carry the water up and water the rice fields, and they can snatch back 30% of the rice.

"Going down the river to carry water?"

All the old farmers were shocked and looked at the thirsty rice, in a dilemma.

Hushu County is so big, with a land of hundreds of miles in radius and so much arable land. Carrying water from the river to water the fields is a life-threatening thing!

After harvesting the rice, they still need to prepare for the second half of the year's transplant.

Can the people in the county withstand the physical strength?

I'm afraid I'll lose half my life.

...

Dong Xianliang led a group of minor officials and runners from the county yard and soldiers to the countryside to summon the gentry and were preparing to arrange for each township to collect grain into the warehouse.

However, the rice is still growing in the field.

It is in the late stage of grouting, and I have to wait for half a month, but I can't harvest it immediately.

Dong Xianliang went down to the field, but found that the fields were dry and cracked and the rice was wilted.

There was even more water in the river.

Under the scorching sun, the earth was almost burnt.

"Where is the water in the ditch?"

"I used up all the irrigation before! I'm looking forward to the next rain!"

"Is this a drought?...When is this, and why has the county magistrate not received any reports on drought?"

Dong Xianliang was stunned.

He spent all this time in Jinling City, and he was a little negligent about the drought.

The gentry and the stingers looked at each other, and no one could answer.

Floods are easy to judge. Once they occur, the water level will surge and flood a large area in three to five days, and you will be able to detect it immediately.

However, the drought has lasted for one or two months and does not rain, and the water level has decreased slightly, but it cannot be seen at once.

Droughts always happen silently.

Who dares to say that it must be a drought now?

Maybe, today I reported the drought to my superiors during the day, and suddenly there was a heavy rain at night, and the drought disappeared instantly.

But when officials report the drought, it is a false report on the disaster.

Who will bear the responsibility for falsely reporting the disaster?

The county officials all hoped that there would be a rain today, and of course they would not report the drought casually... Maybe the black hat on their heads would be lost.

Unless rice production is determined to have been reduced and the harvest is absolutely impossible, it will be considered a severe drought.

Only after the drought is truly confirmed is that local officials dare to report the rice production has been greatly reduced and the harvest has been completely eliminated.

Therefore, the report of drought is often extremely slow. If the severe drought is found to be reduced for two or three months, it will be reported.

Dong Xianliang saw the geniuses and looked dodging, knowing that they had been hiding and not reporting, and his face changed.

The clerks are unwilling to take this responsibility.

"Mr. County Magistrate...Aren't you good at calling the wind and rain? Why don't you come to an altar to pray for rain? As soon as the rain comes, the drought will disappear immediately."

"Yes, this drought only needs one rain to solve. Three or five days after the heavy rain, harvest immediately, and the spring grain this year will be preserved."

The minor officials and the gentry were full of expectations and said in a vain manner.

Dong Xianliang did this on stage praying for rain once when he first came to Moling County, but it was even successful.

Their gentry respected the Dong County Magistrate as a god, and they secretly hoped that he would use his magical skills again.

When Dong Xianliang heard this, he couldn't help but look up at the sky.

When he first took office, it was spring, with more clouds and more rain.

First, look at the clouds in the sky. Choose a time to go on stage to pray for rain. You will naturally have a 50% chance of success. It is more than enough to fool the foolish people in the countryside.

But now.

There is no cloud, and the scorching sun is in the sky.

There is no water at all.

What a beg for nothing!

He is not a god!

If the drought cannot be alleviated this time, the political achievements of Moling County will be a bit ugly.

"This county magistrate also consumes mana power to cast spells and pray for rain. The mana power that was exhausted last time has not recovered."

Dong Xianliang was almost angry by these idiots. He rolled his eyes and said angrily: "Immediately report the drought in Moling County to the magistrate of Danyang County to see if he has any solutions.

Forget it, I'd better go to Wanling in person!

It would be fine if the drought was in one county. If there were more than ten counties in Danyang, or even ten counties in Yangzhou, there would be chaos!”

Once the county and county respond improperly, a large amount of food will be eliminated, which may even cause refugees to rise.

...

Xie Anran became the prefect of the county in Wanling City, the capital of Danyang County.
To be continued...