(2-in-1)

The Daling River runs from east to west, traversing hundreds of miles, connecting more than a dozen rivers in the east and west directions, converging into a mighty river, which flows into the sea of Liaodong Bay from the southeast direction. The Daling River has abundant water, does not dry up all year round, and its basin reaches hundreds of miles in a radius, moistening a large area of land east of Dadingfu, forming a rich and abundant grassland and wooded land, feeding a large number of people in Liao.

The reason for its abundant water, in addition to the source, is precisely because of the inflow of more than a dozen large and small rivers along the way, which makes it vibrant. Among them, a tributary called the Yakniu River contributes almost half of the water source.

The Yakniu River is also a large river, it is a river that runs north-south and runs through the north-central area of Chukyo Province to Yuntai Mountain in the territory of Kamigyo Province. Although Yuntai Mountain is not a high mountain, its mountain range is hundreds of miles in circumference, and because it is close to the north, there is a large amount of snow accumulation in the mountain every year. Every spring and summer, the ice and snow melt, merge into the Yakniu River, cross the northern area of Zhongjing Road, and flow into this section of the river of Daling River on the south side of Xingzhong Province for more than ten miles in a vertical crossing.

There is a large area of the Gobi Desert in the northern part of Zhongjing Province, which is arid and rainless. The Yakniu River runs through it, and the amount of water is abundant, which will naturally arouse the desire of the Liao people to use the water of the Yakniu River to alleviate the drought of the Gobi. So, 60 years ago, after Liao Xingzong ascended the throne, the more virtuous emperor in the history of the Liao State ordered to start building a dam on the Yakniu River to hold back water, trying to use the water resources of the Yakniu River to alleviate the water shortage in the northern Gobi.

After nearly ten years of construction, Emperor Xingzong finally saw the completion of the Yakniu River Dam before his death. It is a super dam located more than 50 miles northeast of Xingzhong Province, using a canyon in the remnants of Dahua Mountain. The construction process needs to be briefly described in order to understand the majesty of this dam.

The construction of the dam was divided into three steps, the first step was to select a canyon in the remaining veins of Dahua Mountain as the site for the construction of the dam. But that's not where the river flows, so the second step is to dig the river into the canyon and connect it through an artificial channel to allow the river to flow. The final step was to completely block the original river channel and allow all the water to flow into the canyon dam.

It's easier said than done. Especially in this era, it was completely done by manpower, and it is no wonder that it took ten years to complete the entire relocation of the river. The ambition of storing water in the canyon dam has been completed. After the Liao people completed the dam, the Liao court proudly declared that this dam surpassed the Gezhou Dam of the Great Zhou Dynasty and was the largest dam in the world. But in fact, they themselves know that it is a big talk. Although this dam is majestic, it is still far from Gezhouba. However, the storage capacity of this canyon dam is staggering, and the tall dam built on the canyon cliff as a barrier directly turns the entire canyon into a sea of oceans. Flood all the small mountain villages twenty or thirty miles upstream.

However, anyone with a little insight will understand that such a dam standing upstream, it is definitely an extremely dangerous hidden danger. If the dam fails, the downstream area within a radius of hundreds of miles will be wiped out. The Daling River could not withstand the influx of huge amounts of water, and it would inevitably flood, drowning everything within a radius of hundreds of miles. The Liao court naturally understood this, and in addition to the heavy garrison of guards, many measures had been taken as early as the construction of the dam.

Nearly 100 water flaps are installed throughout the dam, of different depths and sizes. Its main function is to be used in dams where the danger is to discharge floodwater. Depending on the water level, different flaps are opened to drain the water to keep the water level within the dam's capacity. As for what kind of water level the dam can tolerate, only the dedicated water officials who know it well will know. In short, under their control, the dam has not been in danger for decades. On the contrary, by adjusting the water level, it has played an important role in diverting floods and relieving drought in the upstream and downstream.

Destroying this dam was the last resort of Yelu Zongyuan to stop the Jurchens from attacking. The Jurchens are under the city of Xingzhong at this moment, and once the dam is destroyed, within half an hour, the rolling torrent will sweep the entire downstream cleanly. Including the hundreds of thousands of Jurchen cavalry, they will be washed into dust and disappear without a trace. Of course, the price of doing so is huge, and although the hundreds of thousands of Jurchen soldiers and horses will all be wiped out, the cities and markets and villages within a radius of hundreds of miles downstream will also be destroyed. Millions of people will also lose their homes, and countless people will die and lose their property.

But Yelu Zongyuan had no choice, and Yelu Cai's defeat completely turned the tide of the battle. The morale of the soldiers and horses of Da Liao was low, and they could not fight the other side head-on at all. Instead of waiting for the other party to conquer Xingzhong Mansion, seize half of the territory of Zhongjing Road, and approach Dading Mansion. That's not to be ruthless. If the Jurchens are allowed to wreak havoc under their noses, the prestige they have already lost will be even more difficult to pick up. He must use thunderous means to solve the Jurchens at any cost. Free up your hands to solve Da Zhou, a fisher in troubled waters. He couldn't wait any longer.

So, yesterday evening, after he got the news of Yelucai's defeat, he immediately made such a decision. It is not that he is unaware of what this decision will entail and what the consequences will be. But he didn't really care too much about it. Burn your eyebrows, and look at your eyes. At that time, a few officials will be killed, saying that they are not effective in guarding the dam and prevaricating in the past. Anyway, I can't think too much about it.

The two golden eagles did play a role in preventing the news from being intercepted and unable to be conveyed, one golden eagle was robbed of the bamboo tube, and the other passed the will of Yelu Zongyuan to Xingzhong Mansion. Zhang Yuanqing, the governor of Xingzhong Prefecture, and Xiao Zhengan, the privy envoy of the Great Liaobei Privy Council, were waiting anxiously above the hall of the palace. When both of them saw this order, they both gasped.

The two of them looked at each other silently, and they both saw the horror in each other's eyes. They all understand what the word 'damming' means. Digging a dam, what dam was dug? Naturally, it is the canyon dam on the Yakniu River dozens of miles to the north. What does that mean? It means that the flood will be raging, and the towns and villages of the city and the state capital will be swept away within a radius of hundreds of miles. It means that the flood is surging, and I don't know how many people died.

"Lord Zhang, since the emperor has an order, we can only obey the order. The golden eagle sent a message, that is, if we want to do it. Master Zhang, what do you see? Xiao Zhengan finally said in a deep voice.

Zhang Yuanqing frowned and said, "Lord Xiao, you should know the consequences of this incident. Dam ...... Not only will our Xingzhong Mansion be swallowed up by floods, but a radius of hundreds of miles downstream will become a Ze country, and the loss of casualties will be incalculable. The emperor wants us to do this, and that is to ...... Let us be sinners through the ages. The emperor did not have a holy decree, and he did not send a messenger to come, but he just used this secret letter to order, if you and I do this, we will be responsible in the future. ”

Xiao Zhengan frowned and said, "What does Master Zhang mean?" Could it be that you want to disobey the emperor's orders? ”

Zhang Yuanqing said: "Lord Xiao, this official thinks that this matter should be thought twice. Shall we send another letter to ask the emperor what he means? Even if the emperor insists on doing this, there must be a formal will. And give us time to move the people of the city. Several cities and people downstream must also be notified, otherwise how can it be done? ”

Xiao Zhengan looked at Zhang Yuanqing and smiled bitterly: "Master Zhang, what funny words did you say?" The emperor sent the golden eagle to summon the message, so that we could do it. The Jurchens are building siege equipment, and they are about to attack the city as soon as they speak. Do you think there is still time for you to notify the state capitals at this time? And once the news leaks out, the Jurchens will have to escape. Fools know the emperor's intentions, and the emperor is to annihilate the power of Allah with floods at all costs to ensure the safety of our Daliao Society. Maybe a lot of people will die, but what is this compared to my big Liaojiang and Shansheji? Master Zhang, don't dwell on it, I think, let's make a decision. ”

Zhang Yuanqing frowned and hesitated. Xiao Zhengan said in a deep voice: "Lord Zhang, don't hide it, when I came from Dading Mansion to lead the army...... The emperor has already told me...... As a last resort, the dam was dug as a last resort. So...... None of this came as a surprise to me. You said that it was not necessary to ask the emperor again. Because...... This was the emperor's original plan. ”

Zhang Yuanqing looked at Xiao Zhengan in surprise and said, "It turns out ...... It turns out that you have been thinking about this for a long time. I didn't know. ”

Xiao Zhengan said with a straight face: "Lord Zhang, do you want you to know what to do?" I advise you to hurry up and find a way to evacuate the soldiers and civilians in Xingzhong Mansion. You have a heart for the people, I understand, we still have time to evacuate the people to the mountains to the north, and I can't bear to let the people in the city die in the flood. But it is limited to the people of Xingzhongfu, and it is too late in other places. In a few moments I will lead the men to the dam overnight, and the soldiers and horses of the city will be withdrawn in an hour. You'd better hold on. ”

Zhang Yuanqing was helpless, looked up to the sky and sighed, knowing that things could not be changed, so he immediately began to evacuate the people. Xiao Zhengan took a fast horse out of the city and went straight to the dam overnight. At dawn, they arrived at the dam from Xingzhong, woke up the water officials who managed the dam from their sleep, and announced a terrifying news that they almost fainted.

Every year in the summer, when the water surges, the Ministry of Water Affairs of the Ministry of Works, Langzhong Shenzhi, personally sits at the dam in Chukyo Province and monitors the water level and safety of the dam. Because the dam is too big to be left behind. Officials of the Ministry of Water of Liao spend half of the year on this dam, and even a Yamen of the Ministry of Water has been built here, because many daily affairs need to be handled here.

After Shen Mozhi heard the news that Xiao Zheng'an was going to dig a dam to discharge the flood, even though he almost fainted, his white beard flew up, and he waved his hand again and again: "Never, never." It's just a joke. How could the emperor make such a will? Impossible, impossible. ”

A group of water department members and directors also echoed it, even saying that it was impossible. Digging dams? How can it be? How could the emperor give such an order, wouldn't that make millions of people downstream? As the Emperor of Great Liao, even the most mediocre emperor would not give such an order.

Xiao Zhengan didn't entangle with them, he knew that it was useless to be reasonable, and this matter was unreasonable. So Xiao Zhengan ordered his soldiers to control Shen Mozhi and the others, and called the general of the dam garrison to come over and explain the situation. The dam garrison was originally the soldiers and horses of the Northern Privy Council, and Xiao Zhengan was their superior, so he was naturally completely obedient. Although he didn't understand why there was such an order, he didn't think much about it, and took Xiao Zhengan and others to the dam.

Xiao Zhengan stood on the tall dam, looked back at the huge dam body dozens of zhang high on the southwest side, like a cliff, and then looked at the vast blue water on the northeast side, and sighed in his heart. The dam intercepted the water in a radius of one or twenty miles, and the high cliffs on either side of the canyon exposed only a narrow edge. The originally tall mountain peaks have become isolated islands in the water. The amount of water intercepted by this dam is staggering. Even Xiao Zhengan realized the horror of the dam bursting.

However, he could not fail to carry out his mission. So Xiao Zhengan gave an order and began to open the sluice gate to release water. The so-called order to dig the dam does not require the dam to be excavated, in fact, the dam was designed and built with the need for vigorous flood discharge at critical times in mind. As a result, 360 water gates were installed at all over the dam, and once these gates were opened, it was almost like a levee burst. In the decades since the dam was built, the most critical one was the opening of 20 water gates, which solved the crisis of the dam's rapid rise. But this time, all 360 water gates will be opened.

The rusty shaft creaked, and the water gate was opened one by one. The roaring dragon-like water rushed through the dam under tremendous pressure. There was an earth-shattering sound, and the thick flood gate of Zhang Xu Fang Yuan erupted more than ten zhang away, which showed the great water pressure. Except for more than 30 water gates that could not be opened because of rust, more than 300 water gates were opened in just half an hour.

At this moment, the mountains and fields are already full of the sound of the river rushing as if the sky is falling apart. Hundreds of columns of water are like hundreds of dragons spitting water, and in a very short time, the river channel below the dam is washed out of a huge deep pit. The rushing rocks slipped down, and the ground shook the mountains.

There has been no precedent for all the water gates to be opened since the dam was built, so this is the first time in history. No one knows what will happen, but Mizube Langzhong knows what will happen. He was escorted by the soldiers to the house at the west end of the dam, and when he heard the roar of the watergate getting more and more violent, he shouted loudly: "Stop, you bastards who don't know anything, you are going to destroy the dam." ”

The soldiers, who would take care of him, puffed up their eyes and looked at him. Silent violently broke free, stumbled out the door, and ran towards the dam. He shouted, "Stop, stop, the dam can't hold it." The dam can't hold it. ”

Xiao Zhengan, who was returning quickly with the soldiers on the top of the dam, saw Shen Mozhi waving his hand and rushing over, frowned, and said in his heart: Who let him go, this old man is really annoying.

Suddenly, Xiao Zhengan felt the trembling of the dam under his feet, and he stopped in surprise. In the midst of the cacophony of the dragon's roar, Xiao Zhengan clearly heard the wild laughter of the silent stumbling in front of him.

"You goddamn bunches, fools. It's all over, it's all over. You too must die. The dam is going to fall, hahaha, you're all going to die. It's a pity that I've been guarding you for half my life, God, punish these goddamn fools. ”

The sound of silence was drowned out in a loud roar, and the dam beneath his feet began to vibrate, skew, and then collapse. Xiao Zheng'an and hundreds of soldiers on the dam, as well as Shen Mozhi, were all swallowed up by the torrent in an instant, and their bones were shattered.

The dam has been built for decades and has already suffered from vicissitudes. Due to the water pressure of the dam, there have been many small earthquakes here, and the entire dam body has been damaged. But the dam can still withstand it, as long as it doesn't act recklessly. However, the sudden opening of all the water gates today seems to reduce the pressure on the dam, but it hastened the collapse of the dam. The reason is simple: the water leaking from hundreds of water gates is so strong that it quickly hollows out the river channel below the dam. The more than 300 water gates have also been silent for decades, and have already been corroded and damaged to varying degrees. A huge flow of water runs through it, and the surrounding soil and rocks are eroded loosely. It's as if water is washed through the passage between the tofu, hollowing out the entire piece of tofu.

Under the influence of both sides, the dam collapsed under the huge water pressure after less than a stick of incense was supported. Xiao Zhengan didn't understand this, but Shen Mozhi understood this. It's a pity that Xiao Zheng'an won't ask him for his opinion, so that the entire dam collapsed.

The dam collapsed, and the water in the dam rushed out like an angry dragon. It was as if countless dragons and beasts had broken out of the cage with their teeth and claws, violently slamming into the river below and the canyon slopes on both sides.

Large areas of canyon cliffs began to collapse, and entire mountain slopes began to slide and fall like torrents. But the falling rocks and earthworks could not stop the footsteps of the slightest flood, and the overflowing flood carried all the sediment, rocks and trees rolling forward, like thousands of horses galloping out of the mouth of the canyon.

The narrow river channel is like a small ditch in the face of the flood, and it is simply unable to carry this overwhelming torrent. The flood overflowed and swelled, and when it rushed out of the canyon, it had already formed waves as high as more than ten feet. When it rushed to the flat river beach, it was like a wall of water built high on the ground, covering the sky and the sun, and the fierce claws roared forward.

Everywhere we went, everything was swept away. The houses and trees on the ground, the cattle and sheep and the shepherds in the wasteland, everything disappeared without a trace after the great wave hit. The whole earth is like the scene of the apocalyptic flood, and the white waves as high as more than ten zhang high form a long white line of several miles, rushing to the south like thousands of troops and horses, and moving forward.

Soon after, the torrent reached the Daling River, which ran in front of it. At this moment, the Daling River is calm and open, sweeping to the east. But the next moment, the roaring flood broke through the north bank and broke into it, and the entire Daling River suddenly churned like boiling water. The waves swept through the south bank embankment, uprooting the willow trees that protected the waves, and the south bank embankment was broken by the waves. The rolling torrent rushed into the vast fields south of the Daling River, which was more expansive.

The terrible thing about the violent flood is not the sheer volume of water, but the power of its rapid impact. Wherever the torrent goes, the ground is stripped of a layer of skin, and the thick turf and ground are torn apart and wrapped in the flood. Many trees are uprooted, and boulders on the ground are rolled up and carried far away. Like a giant standing up to the sky, he wielded his huge palm at the earth with a thunderous fury. The mustard trees and houses were as fragile as playthings under his palms.

The torrent rolls southward, although the wave head gets lower and lower and the impact becomes less and less powerful as the area it passes through gets larger and larger. But it was still powerful enough to destroy everything in its path.

Half an hour after the embankment burst, Xingzhong Mansion ushered in a huge flood peak more than ten zhang high. Because Xingzhong Province was built on the Daling River, it was not only subjected to the onslaught of the huge waves rolling down from the north, but also to the overflow caused by the sudden rise of water in the Daling River. In fact, the strong walls of Xingzhong Mansion can withstand the impact of Hongfeng, after all, they are all solid walls made of rammed earth and bluestone. But for the people in Xingzhong Prefecture, the most terrible thing was not the impact of the flood, but the sudden overflow from within the Daling River.

In the short tea time when Hong Feng arrived at the Daling River, the flood in Xingzhong Mansion rose sharply to a height of six or seven zhang, which was even higher than the top of the city tower on the city wall of Xingzhong Mansion. The entire Xingzhong Mansion fell into ruin almost instantly. You must know that the location of the Xingzhong Mansion is on a high slope. The Daling River has risen many times, but it has not been able to cause flooding in Xingzhong Province. However, this time, Xingzhong Mansion did not escape this catastrophe.

The city was evacuated by the prefect Zhang Yuanqing more than an hour ago, but because it was late at night, and Zhang Yuanqing could not tell the people that the emperor was going to dig a dam to release the flood, he could only lie that the Yakniu River dam was in danger and that the dam might burst. But such a reason is obviously not convincing to the people. The people refused to leave, and Zhang Yuanqing persuaded them to leave. Eventually, when the flood hit, nearly half of the people in the city had not yet evacuated, including Zhang Yuanqing himself.

The flood quickly flooded the entire city, and only a few towers and a tall tower on a hill in the entire city were exposed to the water. Other than that, a white expanse of water. Nearly 50,000 people in Xingzhong were swallowed up by the flood, and it is clear that none of them will be spared.

Within three hours of the dam bursting, a roaring flood raged for eighty miles, submerging everything within a hundred miles. They flooded the city, destroyed everything in the wasteland, and rushed wherever they wanted, carrying everything they could. Eventually, the flood came to a halt at the foot of Helongshan, and the huge waves rushed up to the slope of Helongshan Pass, which had already become the end of the crossbow. They turned their heads, gasping for breath and calming down, eventually becoming stagnant in the ocean.

The sun was scorching and dazzling, and it was nearly noon. In the wilderness of the eastern section of Zhongjing Road, the original green river meandered, which was originally a magnificent scenery of great rivers and mountains, but at this moment, the scorching sun could only shine on the white and yellow-orange flood. The flood was dirty, and there were large piles of foam and sawdust and grass floating on the water, tangled together to form patches of black spots. Drowned corpses were everywhere, soaked round like inflatable dolls. The carcasses of people, cattle and sheep, and animals rippled beside the garbage on the water's surface. The branches of the surviving trees were covered with rags and tangled grass branches, and the branches were crawling with dying rats and snakes. In addition, there was a dead silence in the flooded land within a radius of 100 miles. Not even a single bird could be seen in the air.

Yelu Zongyuan created a man-made catastrophe, in order to keep his throne as the emperor of Liao, in order to stop the Jurchens' soldiers and horses, and for his own selfishness, Yelu Zongyuan was desperate and committed this heinous crime of human and god's anger. In just a few hours, more than 200,000 Liao soldiers and civilians were killed by the flood. Countless cattle, sheep and wild beasts have lost their lives. Countless houses, more than a dozen castle towns, hundreds of villages, and even the entire thriving oasis in the eastern part of Nakyodo were all destroyed.