Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 481 Flood
Qu Shaoyang tried to persuade him earnestly, but Qu Zhenwu, a young and ignorant man, refused to listen and said that he didn't like studying and didn't want to go to school.

If he is not allowed to go to the Military Academy, he will just join the army directly.

With Qu Shaoyang's temper, could his son still control him? So, the father and son had a "friendly negotiation".

Although Qu Zhenwu is strong, he is young and lacks experience.

Qu Shaoyang is not even forty years old. Although he has been busy with official duties in recent years and has had less exercise, he has been trained on the battlefield after all, so it is no problem for him to deal with Qu Zhenwu.

The two men had a fight, and Qu Zhenwu was defeated in the end.

"Boy, it's a little too early for you to challenge me now, your father is not old yet.

When you can beat me, I will let you go to the Military Academy. Now, you should go back to middle school and study."

After Qu Shaoyang subdued his son, he spoke while breathing heavily.

"Oh, I see. I'll go back to school now."

Qu Zhenwu was a little depressed. He was always the winner in the usual competitions between his brothers. He didn't want to compete with his father today, but he was easily subdued.

This kid is usually very arrogant, but when he was suddenly hit, he couldn't accept it.

Qu Shaoyang reached out, pulled his son up, and brushed the dirt off his body.

"You are already pretty good, when I was your age, I didn't have your ability.

Your father and I are people who have fought on the battlefield and survived the hail of bullets. You, however, are still a little short of that.

Boy, practice slowly. Dad has high hopes for you. Maybe your achievements in the future will surpass mine."

Qu Shaoyang currently has thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters.

Among so many children, the one who looks most like Qu Shaoyang is the third child Zhenwu.

Qu Shaoyang has high hopes for his children and does his best to educate them, hoping that they will become successful.

Of course, he also understands that not every child loves to study and can study abroad.

Some children are not suitable for studying, and it will be painful to force them to study.

But no matter whether you like to study or not, you must finish high school, accumulate a certain amount of knowledge, and have some culture.

Hearing his father's affirmation of him, Zhenwu's eyes suddenly lit up, "Dad, you didn't coax me?"

"Brat, why should I coax you?" Qu Shaoyang laughed when he heard it.

"Dad originally planned to send you to our provincial military academy after you graduated from high school.

After training for a few years, he went to a German military academy for further studies and then returned to join the Dingbian Army.

Since the Northeastern Military Academy has been established, it's okay to go there. The teachers there are definitely better.

However, this military academy is not what you think, they also teach cultural courses.

Your uncle Tianzhi originally studied artillery. I heard that he had to be good at math because he had to calculate ballistics and so on.

Son, no matter what you do, you must be educated. Times are changing, and in the future you will not be able to make a living without education.”

Qu Shaoyang patted his son on the shoulder and persuaded him patiently.

"Dad, I understand. I will definitely study hard in the future. Don't worry, Dad."

Qu Zhenwu just agreed to go back to study, but he was still reluctant.

At this moment, under the dual encouragement of Qu Shaoyang's fist and sweet dates, Qu Zhenwu had turned around and went to school happily.

After Qu Zhenwu left, Chen Xiuyun, Meng Lanxin and others who were hiding in the corner came out.

"I didn't expect that even though you have been living a life of luxury for all these years, your kung fu skills have not fallen behind." Several people walked closer and said, smiling.

Qu Shaoyang frowned and rubbed his arm. "Fuck, this kid is too strong. I got hit twice without paying attention. It hurts so much."

People have to accept the fact that they are getting old. Although Qu Shaoyang is not yet old, his strength is not as good as before, and his flexibility is not enough.

It seemed easy for him to win against his son just now, but only Qu Shaoyang himself knew that in another two or three years, he would not be a match for Zhenwu.

No matter what, it’s enough to calm my son down for now, and we can worry about the future later.

Qu Shaoyang went back to his room, changed his clothes, and went to the yamen to do his work.

June came in a blink of an eye, and the weather was like a leak, with rain all day long.

Although there is an old saying that money can't buy you a dry May, but continuous rain in June can buy you a full meal, it has never rained for so long.

Seeing that it had rained for more than ten days in a row and the water level of the Songhua River continued to rise, Qu Shaoyang became a little restless.

The province has invested a lot of money in repairing dams in recent years, but the current situation does not look good.

If the rain continues to fall, the river water may overflow the levee and flood Jilin City.

The provincial government held an emergency meeting and immediately mobilized troops stationed in various places to strictly guard both sides of the Songhua River and work with local villagers to reinforce the river embankment.

At the same time, in some low-lying areas, each village and village association tried their best to mobilize villagers to relocate to higher areas first.

Jilin City is a city built along the river. The Songhua River makes several turns along Jilin City. Once a mountain flood breaks out upstream, the city will probably be affected.

As a result, the provincial government urgently ordered all factories and schools to suspend work and classes, and shops to close, and to implement all possible flood prevention measures.

The young and strong laborers stayed behind to prepare for flood control, while the old, young, women and children moved to high places such as Beishan, Wangyunshan, Taoyuanshan, and Longtanshan in Jiangbei.

"Wife, you take Lan Xin and the others to live in the Beishan camp temporarily. You must take good care of the children."

Qu Shaoyang sent people to escort the women and children in his family out of the city.

"I know. You must be careful. Fire and water are merciless."

Chen Xiuyun and others went out of the city in the rain. Before leaving, Chen Xiuyun gave her husband some instructions.

"Don't worry, I know it."

Qu Shaoyang instructed Xing Jia Xing Ye and others to take good care of the women and children in the mansion. Xing Jia Xing Ye agreed and led their men away in the carriage.

Seeing that his family had left the city, Qu Shaoyang immediately took his men, wearing straw raincoats and holding lanterns, to inspect the river bank.

"Sir, many people in the city are unwilling to leave. They insist that everything is fine, saying that Jilin City hasn't experienced a flood in many years and they won't leave." Someone came hurriedly to report.

No matter what year or where, there will always be some people who don't listen to advice and go against others.

These people were pedantic and stubborn, and they were optimistic. They were reluctant to leave the few belongings they had at home, and despite the advice of provincial officials, they insisted on staying at home and refused to go anywhere.

"Send soldiers from the patrol battalion over there and tell them that if they refuse to evacuate, they will bear the consequences if danger arises, and ask them to sign a guarantee."

At this point, how could Qu Shaoyang have the time to care about these people?
You can evacuate or not. If you don’t, once the flood breaks through the river embankment and enters the city, your life or death will be at stake.

"Yes." Someone answered and did it immediately.

The heavy rain was still falling, and the water level of the Songhua River was rising rapidly, getting closer and closer to the dam.

Everyone was worried. Once the river overflowed the embankment, would their makeshift protective belt made of sacks and sand be able to hold up?

Starting from June 26, heavy rain continued for three days. By the evening of June 29, the highest water level of the Songhua River had overflowed the levee. Fortunately, during the past few years when Qu Shaoyang was in office, he spared no expense to repair Jilin City and strengthen the city wall.

In addition, the soldiers had been reinforcing the temporary protective embankment for several days in a row, and the raging flood had not yet been able to break through the defense line.

However, as the water level continues to rise, the temporary embankment is at risk of bursting at any time.

The heavy rain was still falling, and at noon on June 30, a mountain torrent broke out in the upper reaches of the Songhua River. The rolling flood, carrying a large amount of mud, sand, trees, etc., roared down.

The temporary protective embankment was destroyed by the flood, and the water rushed over the embankment and entered the city, and Jilin City suddenly turned into a vast ocean.

Those who stubbornly refused to leave, some climbed onto the roofs of their houses, others hugged big trees, and looked at the waist-deep water below, and were all dumbfounded this time.

The officers and soldiers of the patrol battalion, riding in birch bark boats prepared in advance, shuttled through the city, searching for trapped people, rescuing them and sending them to higher ground.

The rain is still falling, but it seems to be getting lighter.

Qu Shaoyang, along with a group of provincial government officials, tried their best to search for people and resettle the civilians in the city.

The rain continued until the early morning of the first day of July, and finally it stopped.

Qu Shaoyang and others sat on the roof of a primary school, looking at the red sun rising in the east, and their hearts finally settled down.

After the rain stopped, the rate of water level rise slowed down. By the evening, the water level stopped rising and showed a tendency to fall.

A few days later, the flood gradually receded and people inside and outside the city breathed a sigh of relief.

A flood caused varying degrees of damage to various areas along the Songhua River.

Fortunately, most places took active protective measures, reinforced the levees, and evacuated people in advance, so the casualties were not serious.

However, some old houses were washed away or collapsed in the flood, and many daily necessities and livestock were not moved in time and were washed away by the flood.

Crops were also soaked by the floods and fell over on a large scale. It is estimated that the yield will be reduced this year.

After the flood, the young and strong people in the city cooperated with the officers and soldiers of the patrol battalion to quickly clean up the silt everywhere.

Then lime was spread everywhere in the city, and bleaching powder was added to the drinking water to disinfect the environment.

After a flood, it is easy for epidemics to break out, so we must prevent them.

After the disinfection was completed, the people who had moved to various places moved back.

Those whose houses were destroyed were also resettled as much as possible. The provincial government issued an order that all localities should do their best to help the people rebuild their homes and resume production and life as soon as possible.

In this way, we were busy until mid-to-late July. Most of the people had settled down, and everything in the city gradually returned to normal.

There was widespread rainfall in Northeast China this time, and the Liaohe River and Nenjiang River were flooded. It was not just Jilin Province that was affected.

Many places in Fengtian and Heilongjiang provinces also suffered from floods.

In some places, the disaster was very serious because officials did not respond in time and did not take adequate protective measures.

The flood caused many people to lose their homes and property, and many people even disappeared in the flood. The people had difficulty surviving and had no choice but to leave their homes and flee to other places.

In early September, starving people in Fengtian City started a food grabbing movement, and many grain warehouses and rice shops were looted.

The government sent troops to suppress the riot, but was resisted by the victims. Fengtian officials urgently mobilized officers and soldiers and took a lot of effort to suppress the riot.

Under the pretext of guarding against the Korean revolutionary leader Lee Beom-yoon, Japan sent additional troops to Yanji and established village covenants and community presidents to expand its influence.

On September 16, Japanese military police in Juzi Street, Yanji, shot and wounded Qing army engineer Guo Zhenqing.

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese army forcibly repaired the government office building and shot and killed or injured many people from the patrol battalion.

After Han Dengju, the governor of Yanbian, learned the news, he immediately sent troops to Juzi Street to argue with the Japanese army, and a conflict broke out between the two sides.

Qu Shaoyang also sent reinforcements to Yanji to encircle the Japanese army, intending to start a war directly if there was any disagreement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing Dynasty lodged serious representations to Japan regarding the Juzijie Incident, demanding that Japan punish the murderers and planners, provide preferential compensation to the dead, and withdraw the Japanese military police from Yanji.

Under pressure, Japan finally had to agree to the Qing court's demands.

In October, Emperor Guangxu was critically ill. The Empress Dowager Cixi issued an imperial decree that Puyi, the son of Prince Chun Zaifeng, be raised in the palace, and Zaifeng would serve as regent.

On October 21, Emperor Guangxu died of illness in Hanyuan Hall in Yingtai.

The Empress Dowager Cixi once again issued an imperial decree, appointing Puyi as the heir to the throne, succeeding Emperor Muzong and also inheriting the ancestral throne of the late emperor.

The next day, Empress Dowager Cixi died.

The imperial court issued an order that during the national mourning period, marriages were prohibited, and various banquets, opera performances and other entertainment activities were not allowed.

On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Puyi, the son of Prince Chun Zaifeng, ascended the throne as emperor. Governors and governors-general from all over the country submitted memorials to show their loyalty to the court.

In mid-winter, the Jilin Banner Office factory opened in the provincial capital of Jilin.

The factory aims to plan the livelihood of the people in the banner, promote technology, train various workers, and popularize it throughout the province and the whole banner.

The funds are raised by the Flag Office itself, and any shortfall is subsidized by the government.

There are five departments: leather work, metal work, weaving, sewing and dyeing. There are 45 craftsmen and 160 apprentices. The graduation deadline is determined according to the difficulty of the craft.

By the end of winter, after overcoming various difficulties, Jilin Baohua Electric Light Co., Ltd. finally generated electricity and supplied electricity to most areas of Jilin City.

The wealthy families in the city installed electrical wires and began to use electric lights.

"Quick, quick, turn on the light and let us see what this thing looks like."

In Qu's house, the people from the electric light company had just laid the electrical wires and installed the light bulbs and switches.

The group of children below couldn't wait to see what the electric light looked like.

The worker from the electric light company pulled the switch with a smile, and saw the light bulb above his head suddenly light up.

When the children saw this, they screamed in surprise, and many of them held their heads, covered their ears, and hid aside.

Then, the man pulled the switch again and the lights went out. The children exclaimed again, "This thing is so interesting."

"Oh, this thing is really good, much better than the candles we use.

If you have any problems at night, just pull this switch. You don't have to get up in the dark and light a candle like before.

It is also convenient to turn off the lights, just pull it, no need to blow it with your mouth. "

Chen Xiuyun looked at the glowing light and couldn't help but sigh, this thing is still very advanced.

"Sister, this thing is so strange. It lights up without me even lighting a fire. It's really interesting."

Meng Lanxin and others also found it interesting when they saw it. This thing is really weird. It can light up without fire. How does it light up?

"I'll try, I'll try."

The children were all looking at it in curiosity, and the brave ones clamored to turn on the light and try it out.

When Qu Shaoyang entered the room, the children were testing the lights one by one. They saw the light bulbs turning on and off, flickering.

"Oh my god, you guys are really good at this. This thing can't be connected to a switch, or it will easily break the light bulb."

(End of this chapter)