At this time, Huang Liang looked very embarrassed in the face of the county commander Li Weiguo, and replied: "Before, I saw that the adult was young, and I mistakenly believed the words of Master Xiao, thinking that the adult was the son of a high-ranking official and a wealthy family who came to Chongming County to gild and plague the people, so I agreed to Master Xiao to report illness at home. These days, all the things that the adults do are good deeds for the people of Chongming County, and they used to be humble and spend the belly of the gentleman with the heart of a villain, and ask the adults to forgive their sins. Last night, the embankment burst, eighty percent related to Master Xiao, who hated him for being mad, so he personally brought people to the breach, intending to plug the breach. ”

Seeing that Huang Liang still had a conscience, Li Weiguo's expression suddenly slowed down, and he asked, "How do you know that it is related to Xiao Yang at this time?" ”

Huang Liang hurriedly said: "Don't hide it from your lordship, I have served as a workshop warden for many years, and most of the Yangtze River dams in Chongming County have been built under the auspices of my humble position, so I know very well." Last night's levee burst was by no means a natural disaster but **. ”

Li Weiguo was not surprised, but asked with interest: "How can you see it?" ”

Huang Liang replied: "Don't hide from your lordship, our Yangtze River embankment in Chongming County has always given priority to reinforcing and repairing the rich household area, the embankment in the rich household area is better than the civilian area regardless of height or width, and even the stone used is better than that of the civilian area. However, now that the breach has been inspected, it is found that this breach is in the area of a wealthy household that is repaired every year, and it will never break unless it is a man-made embankment. ”

Li Weiguo had already known this, so he was even less surprised, and just asked, "Then who do you think will do it?" ”

"This ......" Huang Liang suddenly gritted his teeth and stopped talking.

"Forget it! Those who help the abuse will be punished sooner or later! Li Weiguo waved his hand, no longer embarrassed Huang Liang, but asked: "You are not only the warden, but also responsible for the river work, this county only asks you, how can you block these breaches!" ”

Huang Liang said with a wry smile: "If you don't do your best, the flood is too big to block the breach, and the humble duty can only lead the people to protect the broken head on the river embankment and prevent the dam from bursting."

"This breach must be closed immediately! Otherwise, this county will punish you for the crime of unfavorable water control! Li Weiguo shouted loudly, leaving no room at all, after all, in his opinion, this Huang Liang was in collusion with Xiao Yang and deliberately prevaricated.

Huang Liang frowned suddenly, and seeing Li Weiguo's tone, it was clear that he was deliberately embarrassing him. This Yangtze River is no more than an ordinary river, once the breach is difficult to block, but the people are county orders, and the officials crush people to death, so they honestly replied: "My lord Mingjian, you must wait for the rainy season in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River to pass, otherwise even if Dayu is resurrected, it will be useless."

"Fart! When the rainy season is over, the people of Chongming County are starving to death! Li Weiguo was immediately furious, at first his tone was relatively tactful, after all, Huang Liang as a workshop warden can play a role in blocking the breach, but when he heard Huang Liang say that he could not block the breaches until the rainy season in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River ended, Li Weiguo suddenly became angry.

What are you kidding, won't you have to wait for a month or two when the rainy season in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River ends, when the entire Chongming County will be a country, which will not only affect the speed of post-disaster reconstruction, but also delay the sowing time of the next crop, which is related to the food of 200,000 people in Chongming County, how can we wait?

"My lord is angry, the Yangtze River broke last year, and the former county commander waited until this year to block the breach!" Huang Liang was scolded, and his heart was uncomfortable, but thinking that 200,000 people would be starving, he was also uncomfortable in his heart, so he persuaded hard: "If God bless the rainy season in the upper reaches ends soon, maybe there will be a chance to close the breach before the next season of farming." ”

Li Weiguo sneered, glanced at Huang Liang with disdain, and said arrogantly: "This county doesn't believe it, a living person can suffocate urine!" If you don't make a effort, get out of the way for this county, don't get in the way here, this county vows to block this break today! ”

At this time, the heads of the four families of Su, Zhou, Zan and Yan rushed to gather near the break one after another, and they brought more than 3,000 people, a large number of tools, wood and earthwork.

Li Weiguo stood on a high place, looking at the crowd around him, his heart was full of pride, and he shouted: "Fathers and fellow villagers, this county knows what everyone is worried about!" In previous years, this break could not be blocked until the rainy season passed in the upper reaches, but that was equivalent to delaying the next season of farming in our Chongming County, and last year our Chongming County had already delayed a farming, and more than 100,000 people were starving. Now the county will never allow such a thing to happen, and the county has decided to block this breach at any cost, and must not delay the next farming time. There is a way that the flood is ruthless and people are merciful, this county swears in front of everyone today, if this breach is not blocked today, this county will be sorry for the people of Chongming County, if this breach is not blocked, this county would rather die here! ”

"What? The prefectural magistrate even said that he would die here if he couldn't stop the battle! ”

The tens of thousands of people around were in an uproar, and their eyes looked at Li Weiguo, their eyes full of complicated looks.

Once upon a time, officials would care so much about the people? If they don't scavenge the people's fat, the people's ointment, fish and meat, the common people are good.

And this young county magistrate actually said that he would rather die here if he didn't block the break!

These words hit everyone's heart deeply, making people's blood boil and tears in their eyes!

"Well said, the flood is merciless, people are merciful!"

"The benevolence and righteousness of the county commander is the blessing of the people of Chongming County!"

"The county commander is right, if we don't block this breach, farming will be delayed, and we will starve to death!"

"That's right! This breach must be closed immediately! We are willing to follow the prefectural order! ”

"That's right! Everyone has a strong contribution, and together with the county commander, they vowed to block this break today! ”

……

Seeing that the enthusiasm of tens of thousands of ordinary people was mobilized, Li Weiguo immediately shouted: "Pass on the order of this county, everyone has someone to contribute, and make a strong contribution, prepare a sufficient amount of sandbags, wood, and earthwork, and the river workers who are proficient in water should immediately go down the pile and make every effort to block the breach." ”

Although Huang Liang, the warden of the workshop, was also moved by Li Weiguo's bold words and was impressed, he still shook his head, sighed, and said: "Li County Order is still young and vigorous, and no one has been able to block the breach in the rainy season of the Yangtze River since ancient times, how can this be resisted by manpower?"

Although Huang Liang did not hold out hope, he did not sit idly by, and also joined the river engineering team to contribute.

"The river is too fast, and it can't go down the pile at all......"

"The sandbags and rocks over here were washed away!"

……

"County master, what should I do?"

The river workers tried to put piles, stones and sandbags into the breach, but the water depth of the Chongming section of the Yangtze River is usually as high as more than 10 meters, and it doubles during the flood season, so that the drop between the two sides of the embankment reaches seven or eight meters, and the flood water into the waterfall generally rushes into the territory of Chongming County, which is extremely fierce, and the stones and sandbags of ordinary weight cannot be stopped at all.

Li Weiguo understood why Huang Liang, the warden of the workshop, said that the Yangtze River could not be blocked in the rainy season, but Li Weiguo firmly believed that man would conquer the sky, thinking about how dangerous the Yangtze River flood was in 98, and the People's Liberation Army at that time could use flesh and blood to block the breach, not to mention that the breach in front of him was much smaller than at that time, so he did not believe that it could not be blocked.

"Don't throw sandbags one by one, don't throw stones one by one, put them all in the net with wire and rope, and then push them down."

Hearing Li Weiguo's order, the experienced river workers' eyes suddenly lit up and they immediately did so.

Sure enough, it is much better to put sandbags and stones in a large net and push them into the breach together than to throw them one by one.

In this way, the rivermen quickly regained lost territory, and the breach quickly narrowed.

However, as the two sides closed in the middle, the flood became more turbulent, and even the sandbags and stones covered with large nets could not be suppressed.

Li Weiguo sighed, in this era, the blocking of the breach was all due to manpower, and the sandbags and stones carried by hundreds of people were not as many as a large truck in later generations. The Yangtze River embankment is narrow, and although tens of thousands of people have gathered around it, only a few thousand people really come in handy.

Li Weiguo suddenly had an inspiration, he thought of the deeds of sinking ships and sinking trucks to block the breach when the Yangtze River was fighting floods in later generations, so he shouted: "Little Liuzi, go and ask the head of the Su family to prepare a few big boats, all of which are filled with stones and sandbags, the more filled the better, as long as the boat is not sunk." When you are ready, drive to the breach, and then sink the ship directly, so that the break will definitely be blocked! ”

The Su family is engaged in maritime trade, and there must be ships.

However, the head of the Su family soon came to Li Weiguo's side and explained: "The adults want to use the sunken ship to plug the gap, which is really clever, but the merchant ship of the grass people's family has a shallow draft and a small load, and at the moment, this breach is at least a hundred zhang long and five or six zhang deep, and it will not work at all for a few big ships to fill in." ”

Only then did Li Weiguo remember that the merchant ships at this time were all wooden structures, and the tonnage and volume were very small, and it was impossible to sink a large cargo ship or a few heavy trucks to block the Yangtze River breach as in later generations.

"How many boats do you have?"

"More than two hundred!"

"How many counts? All requisitioned! ”

"Ahh

Of course, Li Weiguo understands that the price of asking the Su family to take out more than 200 merchant ships is not small, but compared with Chongming County, which was flooded for several months and 200,000 people starved to death, it is still cost-effective.

"You just do it, and the county will double the compensation for your Su family's losses."

Seeing that the head of the Su family was still hesitating, Li Weiguo frowned, a little displeased, but he still persuaded him with good words: "In this way, after the county overthrows Xiao Yang, he will inevitably raid his home, and then you will go with the county!" ”

Needless to say, the head of the Su family's eyes lit up, and he was immediately overjoyed, and hurriedly responded: "Thank you, Lord for your grace, the grass people will go and call all the boats of the Su family!" If it's not enough, the grass people will ask their peers to borrow some big boats! ”