Yunlong Mountain winds and rises like a dragon, with its head raised to the northeast and its tail to the southwest.
To the north of the mountain is the Yellow River.
Zhang Xianzong, Song Li, Pan Xing, Gao Wei, Xue Xia and other people stood on the low mountain and looked at the turbulent river, feeling extremely heavy.
"If we can't divert it, the Yellow River embankment will collapse completely!"
Song Li raised his head and looked at the gloomy sky. The heavy rain had been falling for days, and it was as fast as pushing someone to the guillotine!
No, the man is already on the guillotine!
Gao Wei kicked a pebble away and gritted his teeth and said, "This damn weather is going to kill people. Mr. Zhang, we can't go on our way any longer. We must stop and think of ways to deal with the flood."
Pan Xing also nodded and said with a gloomy look: "Now we have reached the south of Xuzhou City. The Xuzhou prefect should have received the message and will bring people over soon. Why not control the flood in Yunlong Mountain?"
Zhang Xianzong had sunken eyes and a tired look on his face. In addition, he fell twice while riding a horse, which almost killed him. However, despite this, he still stood here with a strong will.
"The water in the Yellow River is too big and too heavy. If this continues, many people will die." Zhang Xianzong's voice was a little hoarse. He turned to look at Xue Xia and said: "Counting the time, the prefect of Xuzhou should have arrived, right? Could it be that the Security Bureau didn't send it? Got the news?"
Xue Xia's eyes froze slightly and said in a deep voice: "The Security Bureau will never delay the delivery of the report."
"Oh, sir, the Security Bureau will not delay, but some people will."
Gao Wei pointed to the north.
Zhang Xianzong looked up, feeling suddenly filled with anger.
In the distance, a gong opened the way, a sign was held high, a high horse was in front, the carriage was swaying lightly, and behind it, there were hundreds of officials lined up in an orderly manner, walking slowly.
"Is this Dai Wan, the prefect of Xuzhou?!"
Zhang Xianzong gritted his teeth.
Nowadays, the Yellow River is swollen and the water conditions are complicated. It can be said that it is a critical moment, but people are still seeing official cars and cars with their cards in the air!
"pity……"
Pan Xing shook his head.
Gao Wei asked: "What's the pity?"
Pan Xing smiled bitterly and said: "It's a pity that we don't have a senior official among us, otherwise his actions would be enough to remove the veil from his head!"
"Oh, just because he rode in a carriage? For such a reason, you can't even hand over the impeachment memorial. If he rode in a sedan, you might be able to impeach him one or two times."
Gao Wei sneered.
In the early Ming Dynasty, there was a strict sedan chair system.
Initially, officials could only ride in sedans decorated with plain ornaments, while officials of the first to third grades could use sedans decorated with gold ornaments.
In the sixth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that only elderly or disabled officials and women could ride in sedan chairs, while other officials could ride in cars or horses.
In the late Hongwu period, only officials of the third rank and above could enjoy traveling in sedan chairs.
And now, although the Xuzhou magistrate came slowly, it was just a carriage and did not violate the regulations of the court.
Dai Wan arrived at the foot of the mountain, got off the carriage, and led a group of government officials up the mountain. When he saw Zhang Xianzong and others, he quickly stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Dai Wan, the prefect of Xuzhou, has met Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Xianzong suppressed his anger, but could not vent it.
Dai Wan is the local magistrate, the fourth rank, and his superior is the Chief Envoy. Although he is a third-rank official, he is only the minister of the Ministry of Industry and has no right to question him.
It is a taboo in official circles to overstep one's authority.
Zhang Xianzong had a gloomy face, pointed to the Taotao Yellow River, and said: "Zhang, following the emperor's order, inspected waterways in various places. Now the water situation is serious. I wonder how Prefect Dai wants to deal with it?"
Dai Wan looked at Zhang Xianzong, bowed his head and replied respectfully: "Since Mr. Zhang has come here with orders, Dai and other officials should obey your orders. Once the Yellow River causes disaster, I will not be able to handle it."
Zhang Xianzong frowned, what did Dai Wan mean?
If he can't bear it, who can resist?
Could it be that he actually planned to let himself take the blame?
Before the floods appeared, he was already looking for ways to
As a retreat, are you thinking about how to protect yourself wisely?
"In that case, I will give the order."
Zhang Xianzong had no time to argue with Dai Wan. He looked at the water of the Yellow River and said sternly: "First, immediately evacuate all prefectures and counties in Xuzhou and the people on both sides of the Yellow River embankment; second, send people to patrol along the embankment. Once danger is discovered, you are not allowed to evacuate without permission, and you must go to the I'll report. Third, find some people who know the Yellow River waterway and the surrounding water systems, whether they are officials or businessmen, or boatmen, craftsmen, or farmers, I want them!"
"Fourth, send me maps of the Yellow River, Huaihe River, and all water systems and lakes in Henan, Shandong, and South Zhili. Fifth, send people to Kaifeng in the upper reaches and Suqian in the lower reaches to investigate the water conditions and report them as quickly as possible."
"Once a disaster occurs due to delay, I can't hold you accountable, but the court can! I hope you will all work together to do more for the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."
After Dai Wan heard this, he turned around and shouted to the officials behind him: "Haven't you heard clearly? Go and do it!"
All the officials left one after another.
The sky is getting gloomier, and heavy rain will pour down again at any time.
"Master Zhang is tired from the journey. Surveying and searching for information always takes time. Why don't you let me guide you and take you to see the big stone Buddhas of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the cliff carvings of the Tang and Song Dynasties?"
Devan suggested.
"Master Dai is elegant and nice, but we really have no intention of visiting."
Song Li frowned, took a step forward, and after saluting, he looked at Zhang Xianzong and said seriously: "Sir, if there is another heavy rain, the Yellow River destroys its embankments, and the Huaihe River is captured again, there may be another human tragedy. Please give me your order, go. Investigate one or two things north of the Yellow River."
"Okay! Be careful along the way."
Zhang Xianzong looked at Song Li worriedly.
Song Li saluted Zhang Xianzong, and then saluted everyone else one by one, but only Dai Wan was left behind, saying: "I'm going."
Gao Wei, Pan Xing, and Xue Xia all understood the purpose of Song Li's visit, and they all looked at Song Li's back with very depressed moods.
That night.
Xue Xia was on guard when he suddenly heard a thunder and was suddenly startled. Through the lightning that split the darkness, he saw endless clouds and heavy rain pouring down.
"No, Mr. Zhang is sick."
Pan Xing ran out and shouted loudly.
Xue Xia quickly entered the room to check. At this time, Zhang Xianzong was lying on the bed in the Zen room, trembling all over and his lips were turning white.
"My head feels very hot and I have a fever. I'm going to see the doctor!"
Xue Xia was very anxious. After asking where Dr. Dai Wan might be transferred, he went down the mountain in the rain and headed straight for Xuzhou City.
Gao Wei wet the handkerchief, covered Zhang Xianzong's forehead, and said uneasily: "It's really killing people right now. Why is the rain coming so hard?"
Pan Xing did not speak, but looked at the sick Zhang Xianzong silently.
Two hours later, Xue Xia arrived at the meditation room carrying an old man on his back and a wooden box in his hand.
Gao Wei and Pan Xing looked at the old man who couldn't help vomiting in surprise. Gao Wei asked: "Is he a doctor? Why do I think he is more like a patient?"
Xue Xia grinned and said, "No way, he can't ride a horse."
"Then?"
"I taught him how to ride a horse."
Listening to Xue Xia's simple words, Gao Wei shuddered.
Teaching people to ride horses?
It looks like it was brought here directly on the horse, right?
The doctor wiped the corners of his mouth, with tears in his eyes. He was originally expected to live for three years, but now he could only live for three days. There was nothing he could do, the people in the court were so deadly.
"Heal quickly."
Xue Xia urged.
After the doctor took a breath and calmed down, he walked to the bedside and took Zhang Xianzong's pulse. Then he frowned, stood up, lifted the quilt covering Zhang Xianzong, and examined it carefully.
"This is not a cold or febrile disease, but a fever caused by suppuration in the wound."
The doctor pointed at Zhang Xianzong's thigh, which was covered in blood and flesh under his clothes.
"His flesh was worn out by horseback riding for a long time. In addition, due to the humidity in the rain, the wounds turned into pus. You can see that the flesh has turned white or even broken."
The doctor looked at Xue Xia and the others and said, "This kind of wound can only be scraped off dead flesh, but it's hard to say whether a person can survive it."
"how so?"
No one ever thought about this.
Xue Xia is from the Security Bureau and needs to ride a horse a lot in daily life. Pan Xing was a doctor in the Ministry of War, and Gao Wei was in charge of the governor's office. Both of them had to ride to the military camp.
Although Song Li was the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he went out to the capital several times in the past two years to inspect the implementation of the One Whip Law. Only Zhang Xianzong, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, had not been out of the capital in the past few years, let alone riding a horse for a long time. OK.
Even Xue Xia and others felt a little uncomfortable after riding horses for several days, let alone Zhang Xianzong, who usually sat in court.
"How he endured it."
Gao Wei couldn't believe it.
How much tenacious will and faith is required to endure the friction and heartbreaking pain at this time!
"I want him to live!"
Xue Xia took out the medical gauze he had brought with him and opened it. He found that it was soaked and unusable, and the medical alcohol was broken on the way here. He gritted his teeth and said, "Prefect Dai, does Xuzhou Wei have any medical gauze?"
"Medical gauze? What is that?"
Devan asked a little confused.
Xue Xia gritted his teeth. As strategic military supplies, medical gauze and alcohol were currently only supplied to the northern border, the three major battalions and the naval fleet. There were not enough quantities to supply the inland garrison.
"Let it be fate."
Gao Wei said softly.
The doctor took the short knife from Xue Xia's waist, and after roasting it on the flames, he glanced at the unconscious Zhang Xianzong and began to scrape off the dead meat with the knife. The sound was very dull and the atmosphere was horrifying.
There was thunder outside and the wind was blowing everywhere.
Boom boom.
The official of the prefecture's Yamen wiped the rain from his face, walked into the room, and said in a low voice: "Sir, the river is rising a little fast. If it continues like this, the river surface will be level with the dam in a day or two. Once If the embankment collapses, people for hundreds of miles around will suffer."
"How is the transfer of the people going?"
Devan asked uneasily.
"Time is too tight and it's a rainy day. Many people are unwilling to move, so..."
"Don't tell me that the people haven't been transferred yet?!"
Dawan's eyes widened in anger.
"My subordinates will go and urge you immediately!"
The official lowered his head and said.
Dai Wan roared angrily: "Go away, I don't care what method you use, take everyone out of Xuzhou! Immediately!"
The southeast wind blew up the water violently, and a wave of water slapped on the north bank of the Yellow River. Song Li stood on the embankment and watched the flying waves reaching his feet.
"Can this embankment be saved?"
Song Li looked at Yang Yong, the former water transport officer.
Yang Yong was silent for a while, and his voice was low and painful: "Sir, it's time to make a decision. If the south bank collapses, the Yellow River will inevitably seize the Huaihe River again. By then, Xuzhou, Suzhou, Bozhou, Wuhe, Lingbi and other places will , all will encounter floods, and it will even affect Huaiyuan and Fengyang Prefecture, and millions of people will suffer!"
Song Li gritted his teeth, turned to look to the north, pointed his finger, and said: "Do you know that your method will make most of the north fall into Zeguo! Yixian, Peixian, Tengxian, Linyi, Yanzhou, Juye, Jining Prefecture, and even most of Shandong, will suffer disaster! Can such a method be regarded as a way to provide disaster relief? "
Yang Yong smiled coldly, so sad that it was sad, and said: "Sir, which one is more important, Henan, Anhui, and South Zhili, or Shandong? It's raining heavily right now, and it's just a matter of time before the river embankment breaks. No matter how long it takes, Going down, Kaifeng upstream can’t bear it, and downstream Suqian can’t bear it either!”
"Once the dam breaks, what will be the consequences... If we take the initiative to divert the Yellow River, divert the water from the Yellow River into Shandong, and use the many water systems and lakes in Shandong, there may not be a major disaster!"
