Zhou County is on the edge of Weishui, in the upper reaches of Chang'an City, its terrain is relatively low and flat, and there were several heavy rains in Chang'an a few days ago. In the early years, the emperor had ordered the Wei embankment to be raised one or two zhang higher to prevent the danger of bursting, but the Wei embankment was in disrepair for several years, and the original embankment had been eroded by the rain in previous years. Liu Bang also had just returned to Chang'an from Pingding Han Wangxin's substitute, and he had time to inspect the surrounding water conservancy facilities in the future, and Xiao He had also been supervising the construction of Weiyang Palace, and he did not pay attention to the water conservancy situation.

Zhou County has a population of nearly 1,000 households, and the dam was destroyed during the day, and now it is the beginning of winter, everyone will take advantage of their leisure time to make some pottery and porcelain to supplement the household, and the women are staying at home to pick up poles and weave cloth, but they are also happy. Suddenly, I heard someone say that Weishui had cut off the embankment, everyone hurriedly put down the work in their hands, and fled with their families in an emergency, and did not forget to take some valuable things at home to plan for the future, and rushed to the high hill. When I looked back, the swift river had covered everything, and the ocean was full. Some alert people had already climbed to the heights with agility, some babies who were still swaddling and the elderly with limited mobility, and some lonely people did not wait for others to tell them about the breaking of the embankment, and as soon as they went out, they were washed back into the house by the rapid cold river, and their lives were instantly buried in the water. When calm was restored, the bones of emaciated people floated above the ocean, and the current continued to rage towards the low-lying areas.

The news of the flooding of Zhou County spread quickly, and some of the guards who inspected the Beijing Division, and some of the county orders and Cheng who managed Zhou County hurriedly entered the palace or guarded or knelt in front of the gate of Changle Palace after receiving this report; Some officials who heard this also hurried to the palace, preparing to enter the palace to discuss the matter with the emperor.

Liu Bang, Lu Hou and others hurriedly returned to Changle Palace, and saw several officials kneeling in front of the palace gate. Liu Bang guessed that they were the officials in charge of the Zhou County area, and he had no time to deal with them at the moment, so he glanced at the trembling people on the ground, snorted coldly and hurriedly entered the inner hall. Liu Bang looked worried and anxious, frowning and pacing around. Empress Lu and Xiao He looked at each other, and they were at a loss for what to do. Liu Bang stopped and walked around, beckoned a few people to come over, and hurriedly instructed: "Take the talisman I received, and quickly announce the hundred officials into the front hall of Changle Palace." Liu Bang said and untied the talisman he was carrying with him and handed it to the confessor. The confessors received the charms, got up and hurried out of the temple.

Liu Bang looked nervous, fidgeting, and said to himself, "Heaven punishes the widow? Sacrifice heaven and earth, mountains, rivers and lakes every year, and the gods are not subject to the hearts of widows? Last year, Pingyandi, this year, now Weishui bursts the embankment, God does not bless the widow? ”

Xiao He Laocheng was serious, and his heart was urgent but calm, and he comforted him, "Your Majesty, don't worry, the gods protect the Han family." The ministers will definitely handle this matter well and give the people an explanation. Liu Bang was silent, pacing worriedly. Empress Lu poured a cup of tea and handed it to him, "The emperor drinks tea and waits quietly." ”

'Bang-', Liu Bang waved the tea in Lu Hou's hand, and said angrily, "What kind of god would you rather be?" This matter is very urgent, how to calm down? Seeing that Liu Bang was in a bad mood, Empress Lu didn't dare to argue and asked the palace people to hurry up and clean up. Liu Bang looked eagerly outside the hall, and when he saw that no one was coming, he sat on the couch anxiously, supporting his chin with one hand, and knocking on a few cases with the other. Suddenly, Liu Bang suddenly opened his mouth and asked the eunuchs close to him, "Is the person kneeling outside the palace the river embankment or the county order and Cheng in charge of Zhou County?" ”

"Back to the emperor, it is the county order and the Cheng who are kneeling, and the messenger of the river embankment is waiting next door to meet him."

Liu Bang immediately gritted his teeth and looked fierce, "Hmph! How dare you come to see me? When the people are killed, how can the county order and the city be safe and sound? All to Xuanjin Palace! Liu Banglongyan was furious, and pushed away all the bamboo slips on several cases and scattered them all over the ground. The eunuch cowered from under Liu Bang's dragon power and went out to announce the people.

After a while, the river embankment and the county magistrate and Cheng were frightened as soon as they arrived at the door, and they saw Liu Bang on the high hall with a black face from a distance, and a pair of old eyes with a cold and angry gaze never left them. ”

"Say! Why did Weishui burst the embankment? Liu Bang's voice was like a burst of terrible words suddenly coming out of the deep dark passage.

The county magistrate, the Cheng and the confessor did not dare to speak out of fear, and the three pushed each other. The river embankment officer is responsible for water conservancy and embankment construction, and is sometimes assigned by the central government to inspect the river and preside over major projects on the river. The main responsibility of this matter is still in charge of the river embankment of water conservancy, and after all, he could not finally shirk it in front of the emperor, so he had to report it head-on: "This matter ...... Wechen guessed that it was...... It was raining the other day......"

"Nonsense!" Before the words were finished and was interrupted by Liu Bang, Liu Bang immediately jumped like thunder, pointing at him and being angry, "It rained a few days ago, you deacon the embankment, why don't you pay attention to whether Weishui is in danger of bursting the embankment, whether the river dam is high, have you ever thought that once the Weishui bursts the embankment, the people of Zhou County will die instantly?" Liu Bang glared angrily, his face flushed and reprimanded, "You don't seek politics in your position, and you don't have much of a meal with a corpse." If it weren't for that, wouldn't you still be paying attention to the construction of the dam? I had ordered the original embankment to be built with rammed earth, which was very unreliable, and this year I ordered it to be built with stones, how could the embankment still burst? Say! Did you cut corners and use rammed earth? ”

The river embankment speaker had already been frightened by Liu Bang's reprimand, his head was full of cold sweat, and he was incoherent, and he didn't know how to answer to escape the catastrophe, so he was frightened and lay on the ground and pleaded guilty to Liu Bang: "The minister, the minister really didn't think that Weishui would be wrecked...... Minister, Weichen deserves to die, please forgive the emperor. ”

"Be irresponsible, what do you want, make amends to the people of Zhou County." Liu Bang yelled and called the two eunuchs to drag him out. As soon as these words came out, the people on the embankment were so frightened that they were so frightened that they kowtowed until they bled and cried, crying and begging: "The emperor is gracious, the fact that the Weishui embankment broke is not to blame His Majesty, the emperor is gracious." ”

"Pull it out!" Liu Bang ignored it. 'Bang The county commander and Cheng who were kneeling on the ground with their heads bowed were so frightened that they didn't dare to move, and their throats were like fire and they couldn't swallow their saliva. The person who told the embankment was even more at a loss and cried for help: "The emperor spared his life...... "Where is Liu Bang willing to spare him, is it a trivial matter for Weishui to burst the embankment?" Liu Bang snorted angrily and ignored his sleeves, and asked someone to pull him out quickly.

Xiao He on the side looked solemn, his eyebrows were tightly locked, and a pair of old eyes were already brewing with worry, and he immediately called out to the guards: "Wait a minute." Xiao He immediately went to Liu Bang and persuaded him: "Your Majesty, killing him at this time, the minister feels that something is wrong." As soon as the words fell, Liu Bangqiao looked at Xiao He sharply, and his index finger was pointed at Xiao He like an arrow, and he was angry: "You want to intercede for him?" Xiao He couldn't be afraid, and hurriedly bowed his hand respectfully and eagerly, "No, this person has been governing Weishui for many years and has a lot of experience, if His Majesty kills him at this time, others don't know the situation of Weishui, how will he govern it in the future?" Empress Lu listened to Xiao He's words on the side, and felt quite reasonable in her heart, so she persuaded with good words: "What the prime minister said is reasonable. ”

Liu Bang's heart became more and more angry, and he was not happy with what Empress Lu said to himself when he was in Weiyang Palace, although it was reasonable, but it came out of the woman's mouth that Liu Bang was just uncomfortable. Now killing a person is also being manipulated by others, and this person is still an irresponsible villain, the prime minister and the queen intercede for him, and it seems that he is not a Ming Jun, and considering Chrysostom Yuyan, it is not easy to take back his fate. The nameless fire in Liu Bang's heart suddenly rushed up, and he glared angrily at Empress Lu and Xiao He: "Do the prime minister and the queen see that there is no talent in my Han Dynasty who can manage the river embankment?" Xiao He was terrified, and hurriedly bent over and hurriedly waved his hand to compliment, "My virtuous talent is like a pearl in the sea." ”

"Hmph-" Liu Bang glared at the river embankment and pointed at Xiao He and said: "In this case, he took it as his responsibility to guard the river embankment, and he should always think about the danger of breaking the embankment, and he should have built a dam to prevent it, but this person was lax and caused the Weishui to burst the embankment, is he not guilty?" Don't you deserve to die? ”

"Imperial ......" Xiao He didn't say anything, Liu Bang stopped angrily: "Qing Xiu wants to discuss again, I kill the person who should be killed, do you want to stop it?" Then he motioned for the guards to drag him out.

"The emperor spares ......" The man was pulled out by the guards, still begging for mercy. Although Xiao He and Empress Lu felt that it was inappropriate, they couldn't persuade Liu Bang. When everyone was nervous and unhappy, they heard someone outside, "If the emperor wants to kill this person, why bother, the minister will cut him with a knife, and it will be good to do it early." Before I saw the true face of this person, I heard a big man outside the door speak eloquently and powerfully, just like the mighty talk of a man from Hong Zhong. This man caught the river banker, and poked him a few holes with his golden halberd, only to see that the man was heartbroken and his lungs hurt so badly that he died after a few screams. Seeing this, Xiao He hurriedly went out, and the river embankment fell to the ground, covered in blood. Xiao He sighed, walked to Dahan's side, and bowed his hand slightly: "General, you have made a mistake again." The big man just smiled and entered the main hall.

When this person entered the palace, Liu Bang turned his anger into laughter, laughed a few times, got down from the couch and walked quickly to his side, pulled him over, stroked his back and said with a smile: "Qing, let me think about it." With Qing here, I don't have to worry about it. ”