Mastering the six pitch standards, harmonizing the five notes

"Get to work, get to work! No slacking off!"

"Coming, coming!"

"A Hu, go measure the depth. Have you checked all the terrain? Don't pick a mudflat where the piles won't hold!"

"Don't worry, Old Li! It's all done!"

The river rang with shouts and chatter.

Waterbirds swept across the sky and looked down. River Conservancy Office clerks rode small boats, scattered over the river like half a handful of black sesame seeds. Large ships came and went, unloading materials, while sea beasts hauled stone blocks into the depths, working hard to build their new homes.

After today, nearly half the sea merchants' water beasts would remain in Jianghuai permanently, trading with the humans.

The River Conservancy Office's senior officials had long since settled on a permanent site for the sea merchants. It lay along the winding line connecting Pingyang Prefecture's capital and Jiangchuan County, somewhat closer to Pingyang and farther from Jiangchuan.

The three formed a triangle, each supporting the others.

In truth, the sea merchants were unlike the Merfolk. They engaged in mutual trade, and judging by past experience, their settlement could perfectly well have been placed along the shore, half in the water and half on land, allowing goods to change hands more quickly.

Yet this proposal had been rejected.

Only afterward had Liang Qu worked out why.

At the boundary between land and water, half the transport would go overland and half by water. The Demon Subduing Division, the Three Laws Department, and even the local Prefectural Office would all have reasons to stick a hand in—auditing, taxation, security... several major offices could get involved. But beyond the land, with all transactions taking place on the water, the River Conservancy Office could keep a firm grip on the initiative by virtue of its jurisdiction.

As for