Ouyang Rong was right, Rong Zhen was indeed not tall.

She has cultivated to the level of the sixth-grade jade girl of the Yin-Yang family early on. She has grown slowly and has almost stayed at the stage of a twenty-eight-year-old girl, turning into a large lolita.

She is about the same size as my white-haired maid.

However, the aura of the empress' special female historian's identity made officials in Xunyang, including Ouyang Rong, dare not underestimate her, and many people respected her and looked up to her.

Ouyang Rong cut down the bamboo of Yinbingzhai and made a specially made "jasper stick" with just the right length and thickness.

He glanced at the back of the girl in palace clothes walking calmly at the front on the mountain road.

The Jasper Staff is quite easy to use.

"Ouyang Lianghan, when the imperial court announced the construction of Songde Tianshu and the debate among scholars was boiling, I heard about your deeds in Luoyang reciting the original text of the Zhou Shui Debate in the Temple of the Holy Master."

Rong Zhen suddenly spoke up.

"Mr. Shi made me laugh." Ouyang Rong shook his head.

"I did laugh at that time." She said with a straight face.

"..."

Ouyang Rong wiped his face and asked, "So, what about now?"

"now."

Rong Zhen murmured something in a low voice, then stopped talking and did not look at a certain "hypocrite" he once thought.

The cold and cold girl in palace clothes took a few steps forward, leaning on a jasper staff, and climbed onto a rock. Her vision suddenly became clearer.

Ouyang Rong followed up, and the scenery in front of him also spread out before his eyes.

The two of them stood on the top of the South Bank with the twin peaks. From a bird's eye view, they saw the prototype of the giant Buddha project on the cliff on the North Bank of Xunshui.

Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen left the city on their own on a temporary basis today. They did not notify the Jiangzhou lobby officials stationed at the construction site, so they did not bring anyone with them.

It was already late afternoon, the sun had set early, and the afterglow, as red as the maple leaves, fell on the Buddha's head on the opposite stone wall.

The Donglin Buddha is about 40 to 50 feet tall. The Buddha's head has not yet been carved. It looks like a faceless man with no expression of joy, sorrow or anger.

There are vaguely visible figures, rows of black ant-like figures, clinging tenaciously to the hard and steep stone walls, hammering and carving around the stone carvings of the faceless Buddha.

There are about two thousand people on the entire statue construction site. Up and down the cliff, it is a dark place, and it is more densely packed near the Buddha statue... They are like worker ants that never stop, giving them a sense of order.

During this period, from time to time, workers on the wall who were the size of rice grains accidentally escaped from the steep part of the cliff, causing a burst of exclamations. Fortunately, they were suspended by emergency ropes tied to their bodies, and they were safe...

Below the Giant Buddha, the tributaries of the Xunyang River flow northward along the newly dug Shuangfengjian Canal, galloping endlessly, turning up turbulent water waves full of gold. At the same time, they also welcome ships carrying supplies from Xunyang Ferry.

rocking boat.

Looking around, on the Xunyang River in the distance, there is a faint fisherman returning to the ferry, and the fishermen are singing late.

This spectacular scene fell in the eyes of Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen on the top of the south bank.

Rong Zhen watched quietly for a while.

Ouyang Rong looked sideways and found that her eyes were resting on the rows of "ants" on the cliff for a long time.

The girl in palace clothes leaning on the bamboo stick suddenly pointed to a dark flow of workers carrying stones in the southeast of the opposite bank and asked:

"What are these people doing? Why do they throw the gravel they carried into the river at that fork?"

Ouyang Rong took a look and explained patiently:

"Long before the twin peaks were excavated, there were many undercurrents and whirlpools in the river next to it, which often caused shipwrecks, and passing ships had to take detours.

"After the Shuangfengjian tributary was successfully excavated, the whirlpool became even worse this time, affecting the transportation of materials, so the official asked them to move the extra stones from carving the stone Buddha and fill it into the river, so as to minimize the whirlpool undercurrents.

…”

Ouyang Rong talked eloquently about the details of the construction of this double peak.

Rong Zhen listened and couldn't help but look back at his focused expression. After a while, she said thoughtfully:

"I heard that after the construction of the twin peaks, this tributary was led out. Now the floods in the low-lying Xunyang City have been reduced a lot. During this year's Yangtze River flood season, the rising water did not even flood the lowest-lying Xingzifang.

Get through it safely?”

Ouyang Rong was stunned for a moment and nodded:

"Well, it's like this. The flood problem seems to have been solved, but it's just this year's wave. We have to observe and confirm next year. We can't be arbitrary. After all, human life is at stake, and flood problems must be monitored."

Rong Zhen stared at him for a while, then turned to stare at the slowly taking shape of the Donglin Buddha below, as well as the workers who were working hard, and murmured to himself:

"So, this can be regarded as a water conservancy project, just like... just like the Broken Wing Canal in Longcheng, right?"

"Exactly." Ouyang Rong nodded, and then asked curiously: "Ms. Shi, do you still remember the Broken Wing Canal in Longcheng?"

Rong Zhen returned to his calm tone, seemingly without any emotion:

"When I was in Luoyang, I received a lot of praise from the government and the public, and Your Majesty also paid attention to it. I passed by Dragon City last time to see what was going on."

"Well, it's nothing, I just didn't expect the female historian to be so careful." Ouyang Rong waved his hand.

Rong Zhen whispered: "Ouyang Changshi is also very careful. I re-examined the plan drawings you sent me last night. Did you design a hidden drainage system for the Donglin Giant Buddha?"

Ouyang Rong raised his eyebrows slightly: "Yes. There is one."

"Why is this?"

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips: "Xunyang has a lot of rain. In order to prevent the Buddha from being damaged, the accumulated water must be drained to prevent wear and tear."

After Rong Zhen listened carefully, he sighed softly:

"Similar to the Broken Wing Canal in Longcheng, it seems that when Ouyang Changshi served as an official, he really wanted to leave something to Xunyang that could be passed down for hundreds of thousands of years. Unlike other states, he just completed the tasks assigned by the court or won the prize.

The jackpot is used to claim credit, and it is a transitional step up the career ladder.

"After all, the officials who come to inspect and accept the work will not pay attention to these details. It is difficult to count them as achievements. In the eyes of many people, they are just useless efforts. You said, who do you have to show so much hard work, right?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head calmly: "It was done easily, and it was also a matter of low-level official status. It is rare for a female historian to appreciate it. It is an excessive praise."

Rong Zhen reluctantly looked away from the spectacular scenery of the mountains and rivers below, and said softly:

"Is it these scattered and thoughtful designs that shortened the completion time of the Donglin Giant Buddha?"

"Ms. Shi, in fact, these can't be regarded as useless efforts..."

Ouyang Rong insisted in his tone. Halfway through, he was interrupted by Rong Zhen:

"I know, you don't need to explain, but...you answer my question first."

"Ms. Female Historian, please speak." Ouyang Rong said seriously.

"Currently, according to your calculations, how long will the delay be?"

Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment and then reported the number. It was also the number that had been in his mind recently:

"It's later than scheduled... about four and a half months."

Rong Zhen frowned, looked at Ouyang Rong, and suddenly pointed at the prototype of the faceless Buddha's head carved on the stone opposite:

"What if we remove the Buddha's head? Don't bother with the Buddha first, just build the Buddha's body below."

Ouyang Rong couldn't help but frown: "Why is this?"

"As I said, don't ask yet. First, answer my question. How long will it take to postpone the construction of the Buddha's head?"

Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment and replied rigorously:

"It can be done one and a half months in advance, which means it can be postponed for three months. Wait, maybe it can be faster."

"Then it will be considered as an extension of three months."

Rong Zhen pinched his fingers in his sleeves, as if he was calculating an account.

Although Ouyang Rong was curious, he couldn't be bothered, so he held his breath and concentrated.

After a while, I saw her wrinkled eyebrows loosened slightly, and she muttered to herself at the corner of her lips:

"Three months... It should be completed before the inner pillars of the Songde Center in Luoyang are completed..."

Ouyang Rong heard some fragments of words and his eyes became more and more curious. But before he could ask, Rong Zhen glanced at him, then lowered his eyelids and whispered:

"There's nothing I can't say. This is the latest news. The gold Buddha head of Donglin Buddha will be sent from Luoyang. You don't need to build it, which can save a lot of time."

Ouyang Rong was startled for a moment, then asked calmly:

"Is this true only in Jiangzhou, or is it true in every state?"

Rong Zhen said coldly: "It's all like this. Master Chang Shi just needs to cooperate. Don't ask any more questions."

Ouyang Rong nodded and said to himself:

"For the Buddha statues in the four directions, do you give a gold Buddha head to each big Buddha? Why not let the local cast it? The court is so considerate..."

Rong Zhen looked away.

The atmosphere between the two was silent for a while.

She seemed to ask casually:

"I heard that Miss Qin, the granddaughter of Qin Jingqin, the general manager of Jiangnan Road's march, is also in Xunyang City now."
To be continued...