Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 148, Rage of the Mountains and Rivers

The Yellow River may burst its banks!

Xu Feng did not dare to delay at all and immediately reported the matter of the Yellow River.

Fang Yong took it very seriously after hearing this. Since ancient times, the slightest movement of the Yellow River would affect billions of lives, so he immediately dispatched a large number of people to begin checking various dikes in Huizhou and Suzhou!
In fact, before this, when a large number of fish died, Fang Yong had already sent people to check carefully, but no problems were found.

But when it comes to the Yellow River, you can never be too careful.

Therefore, this time Fang Yong dispatched a large number of people to check along the river and its branches bit by bit, making sure to eliminate any danger.

As time passed, after a thorough inspection, all parties reported back that there was no danger.

There are no problems with all river embankments in the territory. Although some old embankments have fallen into disrepair due to years of disrepair, the water level is still safe and only needs to be repaired.

Moreover, compared with previous years, the water level this year is generally lower.

The further east you go, the lower the water level becomes. Especially after reaching Huaizhou, the water level of the Yellow River drops significantly.

With such an extremely low water level, it is almost impossible for the dam to burst unless there is a rare event in a century where heavy rains continue for a month causing the water level to rise sharply.

Although Huaizhou has experienced a lot of rain recently, it is still within the normal range and no extreme situation has occurred.

Therefore, after comprehensive judgment, the Yellow River should not burst its banks in the Lianghuai region.

So what went wrong?
Fang Yong is not sure.

However, in order to be prepared for any eventuality, he still ordered people to prepare a large amount of supplies and medicines in advance in case of sudden natural disasters.

At the same time, in Kaifeng, Henan, next to Huizhou, officials looked at the Yellow River above their heads and always had a bad feeling.

There is a unique sight in Kaifeng, that is, the riverbed of the Yellow River is higher than the city.

Due to the accumulation of silt in the Yellow River over the years, the height of the riverbed has continued to rise, and over time, this amazing sight of a suspended river has been formed.

This year, the situation is particularly serious.

Continuous heavy rains caused silt to accumulate at an extremely fast rate, blocking the river channel and causing the water level of the Yellow River to rise again and again.

Officials hurriedly recruited trackers to clear and dredge the river. However, perhaps as a result of cause and effect, a large number of trackers lost their jobs and changed jobs due to the introduction of the new policy, making it difficult to recruit enough trackers.

The heavy rain continued to fall, and the water level rose day by day, like a roaring dragon, and there was no telling when it would come crashing down.

In the memorial submitted to Emperor Longqing, the prefect of Kaifeng wrote:

"The Yellow River bed was three meters higher than the Kaifeng city walls, the masts of the canal boats were level with the city towers, and the soles of the boatmen's boots were level with the roofs of the city when they walked on the embankment."

Upon learning that the situation was so serious, Emperor Longqing took it very seriously.

In addition to being the source of food and clothing for people all over the world, the Yellow River is also a spiritual symbol of the land of China. It is of great importance and must not be lost!
Emperor Longqing then urgently summoned all his ministers to discuss the matter.

The final result is nothing more than recruiting migrant workers to build dikes and dams!
After the basic policy was decided, officials from the Ministry of Works were sent to conduct on-site surveys to calculate the required money and grain, the scale of the project, how to purchase, etc.

However, after arriving in Henan, the officials did not go to the Yellow River first, but were first treated to banquets and bribes by the local major families. It was still unknown whether the Yellow River would burst its banks, but they had to eat the fat meat in front of them.

Various forces were fighting for control and attacking each other over the project share. The newly appointed head of the Ministry of Works was impeached repeatedly before he even took office, and the dike construction was delayed further and further.

After a while, it was already August.

It was the flood season and the weather was not good. Heavy rain fell for several days in a row, and people in Henan became extremely nervous.

Copper tile compartment.

This is a dike of the Yellow River, located 120 miles east of Kaifeng Prefecture, at the junction of Henan and Shandong. To the north is Shandong, and to the east is Feng County of Huizhou, which is Fang Yong's territory.

At the foot of the dike, there is a thatched hut. In the hut lives an old man named Li Yougen, and everyone in the village calls him Uncle Yougen.

Li Yougen had no children and lived alone, so he moved to the dam and was responsible for watching over it. In August, it rained heavily for several days in a row, and the people were inevitably a little panicked, fearing that there would be problems with the dam.

Fortunately, the dam was still intact and did not collapse.

That day and night, the rainstorm gradually stopped, the clouds cleared and the moon came out.

People breathed a sigh of relief.

Although it is not yet the fifteenth day, the moon in the sky is already big and round.

Li Yougen smacked his lips and couldn't help but think of his childhood, when Daxi was still prosperous, his family still had land, and his mother was still alive.

Every Mid-Autumn Festival, my father would buy a big mooncake from town. The whole family would gather around the table and cut the mooncake, giving each person a piece, symbolizing reunion.

The center of the mooncake is the sweetest. When it is cut, the center will always break due to uneven force. At this time, his mother will put the broken piece of mooncake into his mouth.

That taste...

As the night wind blew, Li Yougen shivered and all the family members in front of him disappeared.

Li Yougen felt his pocket and found that he still had about a hundred dollars in his pocket. This was the money he had saved for marrying a wife. But for some reason, no matter how hard he worked, the money he saved became less and less.

At this age, it seems that I won’t be able to find a wife.

Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away. Let’s go to town to buy some mooncakes.

I haven't eaten it for so many years that I have forgotten what it tastes like.

Thinking of this, Li Yougen picked up the oil lamp and walked towards the embankment.

The wind tonight is really cold, and there seems to be a lot of moisture in it.

Li Yougen tightened his clothes and walked up to the embankment.

The moon is particularly bright tonight, and I can see the road clearly even without an oil lamp.

Thinking of saving some lamp oil, Li Yougen turned off the oil lamp.

Under the moonlight, the river water below the embankment was strangely calm. In fact, the level of the river was already very dangerous, but after Li Yougen reported it, there was no response from above.

Fortunately, the rain has stopped today, and I believe the water level will slowly go down.

The moon was shining on it, and it looked surprisingly beautiful.

Li Yougen looked at the full moon in the water, somewhat absent-minded. He walked around the embankment and did not find any problems.

Li Yougen went back to sleep.

In his dream, he dreamed of his childhood and slept very soundly.

Outside, the weather suddenly changed.

The dark clouds covered the moon again, and heavy rain poured down without warning.

First there was the sound of howling wind outside, followed by continuous rumbling thunder.

Li Yougen frowned in his sleep. There was a loud rumbling noise outside, but his dream was so beautiful that he really didn't want to leave it.

On the north bank embankment, water levels continued to rise amid continued heavy rains.

The waves rolled and rushed towards the dam violently. The solid dam body gradually broke under the endless impact.

Water is the softest thing in the world, and also the hardest thing in the world!
The vast Yellow River carries the power of the sky collapsing, endless and unstoppable!
When the river water level exceeded the dam, the already shaky dam could no longer hold.

(End of this chapter)