What is undercurrent?
First of all, flood control dams are made of earth and rocks and are not as strong as people think.
Not to mention the solidity of earth and stone buildings in this era, even the solidity of the concrete dams in Ouyang Rong's previous life could not be completely sealed.
Once the water level rises or the flood peak approaches, the huge water pressure will seep into the dam through some tiny cracks that cannot be found on ordinary days.
This then forms an undercurrent everywhere, which is called "pipe surge".
Once the undercurrent surge continues and gathers, the dam may collapse.
Therefore, there is an idiom called a thousand-mile embankment that collapses in an ant nest.
This is something Ouyang Rong must be prepared for.
When Ouyang Rong led his men to rush down Longbei Mountain, they rushed to Di Gong Gate.
The left-behind officials and craftsmen on the embankment near the sluice were already in a hurry.
"How's it going!"
Ouyang Rong quickly crossed the road where the crowd spontaneously separated and rushed to the front road.
"Mingfu!" A long-term official said anxiously:
"There must have been a mudslide in the nearby mountains, and villages may have been washed away. Just when the wind blew, a big wave rolled up a large number of trees and bricks, and they all hit the dam!
"The most terrible thing is that some of them were still alive and crashed into the sluice."
Another official with a calmer face answered the conversation and said to Ouyang Rong, who had a frown on his face:
"An old craftsman surnamed Chen said that he found two places on the entire lock and dam where pipe surges seemed to be occurring. There were undercurrents and whirlpools in the water, and there must be cracks.
"One is near the main gate of the sluice, and the other is on the left half, near Longbei Mountain..."
Ouyang Rong murmured: "Guan Yong...two places..." He raised his head sharply, "Chief Chen, go and call the craftsmen."
Soon, several experienced craftsmen were brought over.
"Take me to see the location of Guanyong."
Ouyang Rong's expression remained unchanged and he ordered without hesitation.
Under the leadership of the craftsman surnamed Chen and others, Ouyang Rong quickly located two locations where undercurrents may be occurring.
Ouyang Rong made a quick decision and said to everyone:
"First block the pipe surge at the main gate of the sluice! Concentrate all your efforts to protect the sluice!"
"Mingfu, look at the flowers on the water surface, and the gap in the other place seems to be more serious..."
"The sluice is the core of the Dickong sluice. It is located in the middle section and has many wooden structures. It is the most vulnerable part of the entire sluice. Once the sluice gate collapses, it can cause the entire dam to breach, with disastrous consequences."
Ouyang Rong analyzed calmly, then turned around and ordered:
"But there are many of us. Let's go and gather some people. Let's do a two-pronged approach first. Drop sandbags in both places at the same time, fill them with gravel, and disinfect the water! Stop the pipe surge!"
Ouyang Rong turned his head, wiped a handful of rain off his face, and said decisively:
"Ah Shan, bring the main force of the Minyong Team with me. Let's go to the main gate to block the blockage first!
"He Changli, Craftsman Chen... you stay here and throw sand and rocks into the water to stop the pipe surge!
"Women, children, villagers, and unrelated persons delivering food and clothing should evacuate the dam first and are not allowed to surround the gate, causing congestion and hindering the transportation of sandbags..."
The current situation is extremely urgent.
Under the continuous rising and turbulent water in Yunmengze, the piping surge may expand at any time, causing a larger-scale breach with disastrous consequences.
However, a certain young county magistrate issued precise orders one after another, and everyone seemed to have found a backbone, their spirits were shaken, and they all took orders.
Act separately and race against time.
Ouyang Rong and his party first rushed to the main gate of the central sluice of the dam to assess the situation and locate the location of the piping surge.
"Look, it's right here!" You Minyong shouted.
Below the embankment, strong winds and high waves were seen, beating against the embankment wall.
Somewhere on the water surface, only flowers and sand were gushing out, all indicating that the cracks in the dam below were being penetrated and washed by the rapid water flow.
Ouyang Rong and other people who stayed on the gate picked up bamboo poles and worked together to wave away debris and debris on the water for the heroes who were about to enter the water.
After a while, Liu Ashan and other ten young and strong men who were the best at water skills among the people's brave team took off their clothes and shirtless. Regardless of the rapid waves below, they each carried bamboos and fishing nets and jumped into the water one after another.
The water was turbulent, and Liu Ashan and other water-loving men barely managed to keep their bodies steady and swam one after another to the location designated by Ouyang Rong on the shore.
Someone dived down to insert the pole.
Someone spread out to lay nets.
On the sluice, some people began to drop sandbags and gravel that had been prepared to disinfect the water.
Fortunately, Ouyang Rong had made preparations in the past few days and had made corresponding arrangements with the People's Volunteer Team.
Now that the crisis was looming, I took action immediately, managed to proceed in an orderly manner, and did not panic...
Through the efforts of Liu Ashan and other ten men who threw themselves into the water, and the cooperation of everyone on the shore.
About half an hour later.
Bamboo and wooden poles are inserted into the underwater river bed very orderly and at short intervals.
Large fishing nets were spread out among the wooden poles,
Together, the two temporarily formed a semicircular underwater space.
This "semicircle" covers the sluice embankment and surrounds the main gate where the undercurrent occurs.
If you just insert the pole fence, it will not be stable.
But on the dam, Ouyang Rong and the young men who stayed behind were constantly throwing the sandbags and gravel they had stored into the semicircular space below.
As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning.
However, due to the existence of the "semi-circular" cover formed by wooden piles and fishing nets, the turbulent undercurrent of water waves did not wash away the sandbags and gravel that initially sank to the bottom of the water.
They were all blocked in this designated underwater space, gradually filling it up.
Soon, the water potential, which was originally very rough, slowly diminished as the sinking sandbags and other heavy objects were filled in.
After the arrangement was completed, Liu Ashan and ten other brave men came ashore with the support of bamboo poles stretched out from the embankment, like loaches.
They didn't rest for a moment. They turned around and cooperated with Ouyang Rong and others, and continued to throw sandbags and gravel toward the semicircular water surface below.
After half a stick of incense, finally, the turning of flowers and sand on the water surface quietly disappeared, and the original calmness returned.
On the dam, Ouyang Rong and others temporarily put down the sandbags they held in their hands, wiping sweat on the backs of their hands and looking at each other.
Without saying a word, Liu Ashan dropped his mantle, jumped into the water like a flying fish, and dived to the bottom of the river. After a while, he emerged from the water with a "plop" and waved with one hand to everyone on the gate with a look of joy.
Most of the sandbags were filled with earth and rocks under the water, which steadily suppressed the piping caused by the gap.
The danger of piping at the main gate of this sluice has been contained!
Ouyang Rong and the people's brave team relaxed their shoulders and exhaled with joy.
However, when Liu Ashan was brought to the sluice, Ouyang Rong looked serious and turned around and said:
"There is one more place, let's go and do it in one go!"
Ouyang Rong led Liu Ashan and the people's brave team to immediately pack up their things and rush to the crowd gathering place on the other side of the dam to quickly provide support.
"How are you doing here?"
The person in charge here is a senior official named He. Because he has always been relatively calm among his colleagues, Ouyang Rong asked him and Old Craftsman Chen to be responsible for disinfecting the water here and temporarily curbing the pipe surge.
After they have dealt with the main gate of the sluice, which has a higher priority, they will allocate main support.
"Mingfu, something is wrong."
He Changli turned his head, and his first words made the hearts of everyone who came there sink.
"What's wrong?"
Together with his colleagues, He Changli threw a bag of sand and gravel into the water. He pointed at the rapid waves hitting the dam wall below and said:
"Mingfu, we have thrown hundreds of sandbags, and the water below is invisible to the naked eye."
Ouyang Rong frowned and turned to look at Liu Ashan.
The latter stepped forward with a tacit understanding, jumped into the water with two brave men, braved the wind and waves, and dived to the bottom.
But soon, three people came ashore one after another, bringing bad news to everyone who was already worried.
"Sir, it's not good. There is a deep ditch right below this pipe. All the sandbags and rocks that were thrown down have filled the ditch."
Everyone's heart sank.
Ouyang Rong frowned and asked about the depth of the ditch. Liu Ashan looked thoughtful. After a while, he said a few words in a voice that only Ouyang Rong could hear, which seemed to be a rough analogy.
Everyone saw that the young county magistrate frowned even more.
Doesn't seem like good news.
The atmosphere among the crowd became increasingly tense.
Ouyang Rong turned his head and asked He Changli and others: "How many sandbags and gravel do we have?"
He Changli and others gathered together, made a rough count, and reported: "When we returned to the Ming Dynasty, we have thrown down one hundred and one bags, and there are still one hundred and twenty-seven bags of sandbags left. As for the gravel, six of them have been used." become……"
After Ouyang Rong heard this, he took a deep breath, raised his head, and made a quick decision:
"Keep filling! This piping surge must be stopped. We have no way out, let alone giving up halfway? However, the ditch is a bottomless pit, and it is impossible to fill the entire ditch. We have to find another way to save materials."
After finishing his words, he turned his face and gave orders to the good people in the Civil War Team, with a solemn look on his face:
"Ah Shan, it's up to you this time to find the water hole in the underwater dam. Build a fence around it with stakes. Make the fence smaller. We can fill it with sandbags and save as much sand as possible... "
The pipe surges here, and the wind and waves are high even on the water surface, not to mention the risk of undercurrents and vortices below the water surface?
However, Liu Ashan said nothing and picked two men with the best water skills among the people. They took bamboo poles and fishing nets and entered the water without looking back.
On the embankment, when Ouyang Rong and others saw this, they held their breath and concentrated. There was only the sound of rain around them.
I don’t know how much time passed.
Just when Ouyang Rong felt bad and his expression changed slightly.
Finally, Liu Ashan and others emerged from the water and waved to Ouyang Rong and others!
Successfully, they found the crack in the underwater dam.
Maybe it's luck.
Or maybe the cracks on the underwater dam have spread very deep and obvious.
But no matter what, everyone acted quickly,
More brave men went into the water and narrowed the area. At the crack in the dam, just like at the first main gate, they followed the steps and used wooden stakes and fishing nets to surround a semicircular water area.
On the gate and dam, Ouyang Rong, He Changli and others, without stopping for a moment, immediately picked up the sandbags piled at their feet and dropped them one by one as if they were free. So are the stored gravels.
Until... everything is lost.
"What should we do, Mingfu, our sandbags are all gone! We have used up all the stones, and we still can't fill them up!"
Even Chief He's mouth trembled, and he asked in a trembling voice as he looked at the still-churning water below.
what to do?
Facing the people on the gate who were looking in panic, Ouyang Rong looked down at the water, his bloodless lips tightly pursed into a slit, and only one word came out from the slit:
"fill!"
In full view of everyone, Ouyang Rong stood up first, undressed and took off his belt, and threw relatively heavy items such as a jade belt and a crown into the water below.
Then he dug out a wet aqua official uniform, shoveled away the sand and mud, wrapped it in silk official uniform and knotted it to make a "small sandbag".
Without even raising his eyelids, he threw it behind his head and fell into the water below the dam, acting as filler.
On the embankment, in the wind and rain, Liu Ashan, chief official He, craftsman Chen... all the civilian heroes, chief officials, and craftsmen present looked stunned.
Immediately, as if a switch was flipped by Ouyang Rong's silent action, they reacted, moved around, and followed suit.
Someone threw earthen pots, shovels, benches, bamboo poles and other debris into the water.
Some people worked tirelessly to run between Caifeng Mountain and Dickong Gate, running wildly in the rain, carrying gravel to fill the river.
Some people also collected the clothes that people took off, wrapped them in soil and sand, made simple sandbags and threw them into the river.
The villagers settled on Longbei Mountain and Caifeng Mountain didn't know where they learned about the movement on the gate and dam. Under the call of the old man with gray Hu, they descended from the mountain one after another and ran to Di Gong Gate regardless of the danger to bring the jingle bells. Noisy pots and pans, jewelry hairpins, children's toys and other heavy objects were thrown into the water...
All kinds of strange but familiar things were thrown into the surging water below and sank to the bottom.
The enthusiasm and enthusiasm of the villagers swarmed Ouyang Rong, who was shirtless and only had a close-fitting skirt knife that he could not throw away, as well as the people of the people's brave team, chief officials, and craftsmen, all stunned.
In fact, there are many things that the villagers don't need to throw down. If they are thrown down, they will float on the water surface and cannot sink to the bottom, so they are of little use.
But Ouyang Rong never said these words, he just stood there silently, opened his mouth, and then closed it.
The sounds around him were chaotic. The old man with the gray beard and the villagers seemed to have said a thousand words to Ouyang Rong, but he didn't know how to reply, so he had to nod as if in response.
The young county magistrate also has a lot to say.
Ye Weilai emerged from nowhere and stood at the edge of the dam. She casually pulled out a hairpin that she liked to tie up her silver hair and threw it into the river below, along with other accessories.
After throwing away these personal belongings, Ye Weilai, who was in plain clothes and makeup, looked relaxed, with her waist-length silver-white hair flying in the air. She walked to Ouyang Rong without looking back and quietly pulled his fingers that were holding the handle of the knife.
At this moment, the only heavy object on the white-haired maid's body was probably the black lacquered porcelain bowl she held in her hand all the way from the mountain.
Ye Weilai held the bowl in both hands, the soup in the bowl was swaying slightly, and her big blue eyes were full of caution;
"Tan Lang, take a sip of the ginger soup. The eldest lady said you have a root cause of disease and are prone to wind and cold..."
Ouyang Rong came back to his senses, turned to look at her, and did not refuse this time. He took the soup bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
Immediately, an empty bowl was thrown out and sank into the water with a "plop".
He didn't know what the ginger soup tasted like. His mouth was a little numb, and he had lost some of his taste buds after eating a lot of muddy water.
Ouyang Rong didn't want to know. At this moment, he, like his colleagues and the surrounding villagers, were all focused on the bottomless pit-like water below the dam.
There was nothing left to throw away, the crowd became quiet, and everyone looked down.
I saw that the roiling waves on the water surface at the pipe swell became much smaller. It seemed that many fillers sank and stabilized the pipe swell at the crack.
The atmosphere in the crowd at the gate fell silent, and then there was a burst of joy: "It's blocked!"
Ouyang Rong, who looked tired, also breathed a sigh of relief.
(End of chapter)
