Boom!
Muffled thunder rolled over, kicking open a door with unparalleled arrogance.
Shecuo Village.
The old man Wang Wujiu walked out of the door and looked at the heavy rain in front of him. An ominous feeling came to his heart. He called out to the old woman and opened his mouth to shout: "The rain is too heavy, I'm afraid something will happen. Go and get the children." Shout.”
Mrs. Wang was already over fifty, her legs and feet were not very agile, and she had recently fallen ill. She got up with difficulty, looked at the wind and rain outside, and said, "It hasn't rained so heavily in previous years, so I guess it won't be a problem."
Wang Wujiu put on his raincoat and shouted: "It's different. In previous years, such a heavy rain wouldn't last more than an hour before getting lighter. I saw that today's rain was heavy at the beginning and the raindrops were heavy. It takes two The hour is not yet small, and the river is probably going to rise."
Mrs. Wang quickly got out of bed and saw the small yard with the help of lightning. Raindrops were falling and the sound of pattering kept coming. The stagnant water in the yard didn't even have time to flow away. Once there was stagnant water, the depth of the stagnant water already exceeded the feet.
Wang Wujiu was very worried. The foundation of his yard was still high, and drainage ditches were dug, but even so, it was like this. If the terrain was slightly lower and there was no foundation, wouldn't it mean that other people's homes would be soaked in water?
Picking up the lantern, Wang Wujiu ran out.
"Be careful, your old bones can't stand another fall."
"At this time, you are still worried about whether you will fall or not. If something happens, you will die! Go call the child!"
Wang Wujiu ignored this and ran into the alley. Looking at the path that had become a stream, his face was very ugly. After running for a few steps, his feet slipped and he fell to the ground.
Soaked to the skin.
The candle in the lantern seemed to be crooked, burning the lantern paper outside, and went out before it could even light up.
After throwing down the lantern, Wang Wujiu didn't care about anything else. After throwing it down two or three times, he finally reached the home of the liar chief Wang Dapeng and shouted at the top of his lungs through the fence: "Chief Wang, something serious has happened."
A little light tremblingly opened up the darkness.
Wang Dapeng opened the door, looked outside the fence, and shouted, "Who is it?"
"it's me!"
"Mr. Wang?"
Wang Dapeng heard the sound, picked up his raincoat, put on his hat and ran out. Standing behind the fence gate, he looked at Wang Wujiu, who looked frightened, and asked, "Why did you run out on such a rainy day? You even fell?" Bar?"
Wang Wujiu didn't have time to explain so much, so he shouted: "This year's rain is heavier than any previous year, and the river embankment may not be able to bear it!"
"It's impossible. In the fourth year of Hongwu's reign, there was a lot of rain, and the dams were not as safe as before."
Wang Dapeng stretched out his hand and watched the raindrops fall on his palm.
Wang Wujiu became anxious and shouted: "The rain in the fourth year of Hongwu was caused by dragons sucking water across the border, first downstream, then upstream, and finally ran to Fuzhou Prefecture. Quanzhou Prefecture did not burst its embankments, but the flood in Fuzhou Prefecture destroyed houses and drowned them. How many people and animals were there? Although the government said that two hundred and thirty people died, we all know that it was not two hundred and thirty people, but two hundred and thirty households, more than a thousand people!"
"Chief Wang, we can't take it lightly. Look at what the water is like outside. The households of King Pichai's family at the end of the village must have been soaked by the water. No one will die yet. If the embankment breaks, our entire Shecuo Village will be in danger. It’s all gone!”
When Wang Wujiu said this, Wang Dapeng also felt that the situation was serious. He turned around and went back to the room to find the gong and ran out again. He shouted to Wang Wujiu: "It is better to be scolded than to die. I will lead you." Wang Jiang and others go to take a look at the embankment. You call all the villagers and prepare to avoid disaster. Everyone is waiting for my news. If there is danger, I will send someone to notify and everyone will evacuate towards the small southwest slope five miles away."
Wang Wujiu took the gong and was about to turn around when a bolt of lightning split and figures suddenly appeared not far away.
"who is it?"
Wang Dapeng and Wang Wujiu panicked.
In the darkness, figures kept approaching.
"This is Shecuo Village?"
A young man came out of the rain and asked majestically.
Wang Dapeng saw the government officials behind the young man and knew that he was an official. He quickly said: "Yes, this is Shecuo Village. I am the mayor here. Wang Dapeng, are you from the Nan'an County government?"
Zhao Sanqi shouted: "What county government? This is Magistrate Gu!"
Gu Zhengchen turned around and glared at Zhao Sanqi sternly.
"Prefect Gu?!"
Wang Dapeng and Wang Wujiu were shocked. This place was more than thirty miles away from the Jinjiang government office. How did they get here on such a rainy day?
Just as he was about to salute, he was stopped by Gu Zhengchen.
"Inform the people here immediately and take people to the southwest for safety! You have to be fast! In addition, organize some young men to follow me to the embankment!" Gu Zhengchen finished speaking quickly, then pointed to the direction of the water flow and shouted: "People in low-lying areas must move as soon as possible without any delay!"
"Yes, I will follow Magistrate Gu to the embankment. Mr. Wang, you are responsible for getting the villagers to evacuate here quickly!"
Wang Dapeng shouted, kicked open a few more doors, and soon found a dozen young men, following Gu Zhengchen towards the embankment.
On the dam, Qian Bang, an official from the government office, was leading people to check the water level.
When Gu Zhengchen came, Qian Bang quickly reported: "Prefect Gu, something is not good. The water level is increasing, and there are only five feet left before it overflows the embankment. If it rains like this for two more hours, it will definitely overflow the embankment!"
After Wang Dapeng heard this, he trembled all over.
Zhao Sanqi and others were also full of uneasiness.
Gu Zhengchen knew that the danger of overflowing the embankment even exceeded the risk of the embankment bursting.
Once the embankment breaks, there is still some chance to seal it, but once it overflows, the entire embankment is likely to completely collapse under the impact of the undercurrent, forming an unstoppable dam break. By then, there will really be no way to save the day. .
"Is the magistrate of Nan'an here?"
Gu Zhengchen asked.
Qian Bang shook his head: "Not yet."
Gu Zhengchen's face turned even darker. He stared at the river in front of him and said in a deep voice: "Zhao Sanqi will lead the villagers of the community to the east to inspect the dam. Qian Bang, you and others will set up a tent here as a temporary command place. The others will Follow me west to inspect the dikes!”
"yes!"
Everyone agreed.
Gu Zhengchen ordered someone to make a long wooden pole to better carry a lantern to observe the river.
Fortunately, no vortex has appeared near the embankment, which means that at least there is no major seepage in the embankment. But how long can this dike last? When will the rain stop?
Walking westward along the embankment, after walking about three miles, Luo Gengshen, the magistrate of Nan'an County, came with the county prime minister Wang Han and a group of people.
When Luo Geng saw Gu Zhengchen, he cupped his hands and said eagerly: "Prefect Gu, it's dangerous here. You can't stay here. Leave this place to me."
Gu Zhengchen shouted sternly: "Leave it to you, can you bear this responsibility, can you handle this crisis? I drove more than thirty miles from Jinjiang, and it took you so long to even travel ten miles, leave it to me How can you, my officer, rest assured? Also, Magistrate Luo, where are the young men you brought with you?"
