"This year's flood season on the Yellow River is earlier than in previous years, and the water potential and rainfall are also greater. At present, the embankment at the breach cannot withstand the erosion of the water flow at all, and it is still collapsing and widening the breach, and it is extremely difficult to plug it. ”

"Since last night, Xia Guan has led thousands of people to continuously drop sandbags, but with little effect. Judging from the sky, the heavy rain shows no signs of stopping, and the water level of the Yellow River may still rise. ”

Chen Tao didn't dare to cover up and avoid the important at the moment, and told Shen Yichen the crisis he was about to face. Even if He Xian is angry and asks for the guilt because of this, it is better than watching the situation deteriorate.

Last year, Zhangqiu Town in Yanggu County broke down to the extreme, and the problem lay in the prevarication and cover-up by all sides, which eventually led to a catastrophe for millions of displaced people.

In any case, this scene cannot be staged in Shawan, Dong'e County this year!

Shen Yichen listened to Chen Tao's proclamation and didn't speak, he had already seen that the people were throwing bags of sandbags into the breach, but under the impact of this huge current, the sand bags were washed away in an instant, and there was no way to block the breach.

After observing for a while, Shen Yichen said: "You can't throw sandbags so hard to block the breach, Master Chen, you lead the people to build a skeleton with wooden stakes and ropes, and push forward the blockade step by step along the embankment." ”

In fact, plugging the breach is the same as repairing the load-bearing wall, there is no steel bar as a skeleton inside, and there is no way for the cement to attach to it, and it will collapse when it reaches a certain height.

In ancient times, there was no such thing as reinforced concrete, so the skeleton could only be built by relying on wooden stakes, and then stacked sandbags so that they would not be easily washed away. In addition to plugging the breach, the existing embankment must be strengthened under the dual erosion of river water and rainwater.

As the "chief engineer" of building embankments and dams, Chen Tao is almost a straightforward construction principle. Immediately after receiving the order, he organized the people and began to drive wooden stakes along the embankment, connected them with thick hemp rope, and then stacked a high wall with sandbags.

The rain was still pouring down, and as night wore on, it was getting darker and darker.

By changing the way the breach is blocked, the Shawan Dam has stabilized the deteriorating situation. Although the breach has not yet been blocked, the existing embankment has been strengthened and has not continued to collapse.

Shen Yichen, who was standing on the embankment, the rain kept sliding down his cheeks, and he didn't have any joy in the face of the improved situation.

Because he knew very well that reinforcing the embankment was only the first step in sealing the breach, and as the breach narrowed, the water would inevitably become faster and faster, and it would be far less simple to drive the stake and drop the sandbags than it is now.

If you want to prevent the stakes and sandbags from being swept away by the current, you have to use larger and heavier stones to plug it. However, in ancient times when there were no construction machinery, there was no way to transport stones weighing hundreds of catties or even tons to the Yellow River embankment.

So the real problem is still not solved!

When night fell, thousands of support forces organized by Jiang Pei of the county also braved the heavy rain to rush to Shawan in Dong'e County.

"Jiang Xiancheng, you immediately lead the new arrivals, no matter what way you use, you must build a new arc-shaped cofferdam behind the Shawan embankment."

Shen Yichen does not have absolute confidence that he can block the breach of the embankment in Shawan. Or take a step back and say that even if it is blocked, will the temporarily blocked levee withstand the test when a larger flood peak arrives in the future?

If you want to completely keep the flood water out of the safety line, you must have a back hand, and the curved cofferdam is the last guarantee.

"The subordinate obeys."

Jiang Pei had already seen the monstrous water potential at the mouth of the Shawan embankment, and this scene reminded him of the scene of the embankment burst in Zhangqiu Town last year, which was exactly the same as today.

What is different from last year is that today there are more Shen Yanxian in charge, and there are more officials and people, will there be a different ending?

Time passed minute by minute, and the news of the bursting of the embankment in Shawan, Dong'e County, continued to spread. In addition to the thousands of people led by Jiang Pei, there are also several people from the surrounding state capitals, who spontaneously came to support the water control!

"Xiaguan Dongchang Mansion Linqing Prefecture Tongzhi He Li, heard that Dong'an County broke the embankment, and specially led the state capital squad to send 300 people, obeying the dispatch of Youxian!"

"Ziyang County, the lower official Yanzhou Prefecture, sentenced Ji Wenfan, and requisitioned more than 1,200 laborers, and is willing to block the breach under the leadership of Youxian!"

"Cao Hongqing, a township sage in Liaocheng County, Dongchang Prefecture, led one hundred and forty children in the clan, and is willing to do his part to control the water and protect the township!"

"The lowly Jinan Wei commanded Ren Xu, and rushed from the Yanggu County station to support, and I respectfully obey the edict of the Constitution!"

……

At that time, the imperial court issued a holy decree to not only arrest Zhu Zhaohui, the king of Lu, for questioning, but also to investigate the crime of "colluding with foreign vassals" by the officials of the Shandong Buzheng Division, and escorted them back to Beijing for trial.

Although there is no longer Zhang Ji and others stationed in Yanggu County, the Jinan guard sergeants who once guarded them on the periphery were left behind by Shen Yichen.

Because of the displaced people in the three provinces and eight prefectures who suffered from the floods, they still rushed to Zhangqiu Town in the following period. Settling the victims to maintain order, relying on thousands of people from Dongchangwei and Taianwei, it is far from enough, just enough for Jinan Wei to come in handy.

And doing things under Shen Yichen is also something that the Jinan guards have long dreamed of. Not to mention the virtual things of respect and equality, this kind of treatment is unparalleled in Daming!

The food and salary are in place, the treatment is in place, and the soldiers can be compassionate, Jinan Wei does not give Shen Yichen his life, who else will he give his life?

Three days later, with the concerted efforts of everyone, the breach, which was originally tens of meters wide, was gradually blocked to a distance of less than five meters. But this last big hole could not be blocked, the wooden stake could not be driven to the end, and the stone sandbag was put down like a stone sinking into the sea.

Faced with this situation, Chen Tao gritted his teeth and organized a wave of death squads to find out. As a result, only three of the ten people who were tied to the ropes were pulled ashore, and the remaining seven were directly swallowed by the rolling torrent.

And this situation is not the worst, I don't know when the river section of Dong'e County has seen a lot of floating branches and broken trees washed down from the upstream, which means that the upstream water potential has increased greatly, and there will be a bigger flood peak coming.

After hearing the advice of his subordinates, Shen Yichen rushed from the cofferdam to the breach, looked at the helpless people, and asked, "What happened, why can't it be blocked?" ”

"Back to the constitution, this hole is like a bottomless pit, and it is completely impossible to touch the end."

As soon as Jiang Pei's words fell, Shen Yichen heard the panicked discussion of the people next to him.

"There are ghosts under this opening, and if you go down, you won't be gone."

"Yesterday, many bones were washed out of this hole, and there must be demons at work."

"If the demon is not removed, this opening will not be blocked, and whoever goes will die!"

"I have tried my best to control the water, but the will of heaven is like this, I am afraid that the breach will not be blocked."

Demons?

When these words heard Shen Yichen's ears, it was simply nonsense, but in the hearts of the people of Daming, when they encountered such a force majeure event, they subconsciously leaned on the evil spirits.

The discussion of the people's forces was not only heard by Shen Yichen, but also by Jiang Pei, the county leader behind him.

"You Xian, why don't we find three tributes to sacrifice to the river god, and see if we can appease and plug the breach?"

Jiang Pei whispered a suggestion, in the past, when the government encountered such an unexplained incident, the chief official would sacrifice it to appease the "gods" of all parties.

"The First Evolution"

"Ridiculous!"

Hearing this suggestion, Shen Yichen refused without hesitation.

He looked at the officials and people in front of him, and said loudly in a sonorous and powerful tone: "As early as ancient times, in the face of floods, Dayu did not wait to be killed, let alone ask God to worship Buddha. ”

"In thirteen years, three times without entering the house, people have won the day!"

"This official never believes that the will of heaven cannot be violated, and he does not believe that there are any demons and evil in the river. Colleagues, fathers and fellow villagers, you can have the confidence to block the break with this official! ”

Shen Yichen knew very well that once he fell into the battle between ghosts and gods, any problem on the river embankment would be infinitely magnified into demons and evils, which would be extremely demoralized to control the water.

It is necessary to reshape the belief that officials and people block the break, in the history of China, it has never been ghosts and gods who decide fate, but things are man-made!

"The lower officials are willing to block the break with Yu Xian!"

Almost instantly, the chief bookkeeper Chen Tao responded.

He has been planning a water control strategy for more than ten years, and to put it bluntly, what he does is that man will conquer the sky, so why should he be afraid of demons, evil spirits and gods?

"It's the lower officials' nonsense, there is a constitution to control the water, why worry about not keeping your mouth shut?"

Jiang Pei also quickly realized the problem, the sacrifice to the river god is small, but if it has no effect, the blow to everyone's confidence is immeasurable.

When the people believe that this is the will of heaven, they will no longer have the will to block the breach, and they will not be able to stop the bigger flood peak by relying on the reserve cofferdam alone.

All the previous efforts will be in vain!

"Champion Gong is a Wenqu star, and his identity in the sky will be afraid of demons and evil spirits?"

"How can any ghost dare to disturb the champion Gong, I'm afraid it's impatient."

"The champion said that if he can block the breach, he will definitely be able to block it!"

"That's right, after the champion came to Shandong to control the water, there is one thing that he can't believe?"

"Folks, work hard, Lao Tzu doesn't believe in this evil, and he can't block the decision!"

The people who were still worried before, inspired by Shen Yichen's identity as the "champion prince", rekindled their fighting spirit to block the break, and were no longer afraid of the ethereal "ghosts and gods".

However, Shen Yichen did not relax on this, he knew very well that he could not block the embankment, more because the water flow became faster, and the sandbags and stones were washed away in an instant.

If you want to solve this problem, you must use the means of breaking the boat!

"Jiang Xiancheng, go upstream and requisition a few boats to load stones and soil, and then sail to the breach and sink yourself."

Since the sandbags and stones will be washed away in an instant, Shen Yichen wants to see if the "sinking boat" can fill this "bottomless pit".

If one is not enough, then two, and if it is not enough, then three or four......

Shandong may be in short supply of other things, but there is no shortage of boats on the Yellow River, canals, and Qinghe rivers, and Shen Yichen has to smash this hole with a sinking boat!

"Xia Guan understands!"

Jiang Pei may lack creativity, but execution is not lacking at all.

Within an hour of receiving the order, he brought seven ships laden with stones and dirt, tied ropes, and pulled them by hundreds of people, like slender men, to the breach.

At the same time, dozens of men who have been begging for a living on the water all year round formed a death squad, and after tying ropes to their bodies, they jumped into the ferocious flood and chiseled through the bottom of the boat.

A fully loaded ship sank into the water, and the waves were so great that it seemed like a bottomless pit.

The second, the third, and the fifth, finally a sharp mast emerged from the breach, and the crowd resounded with loud cheers.

"It's rising, it's rising, this bottomless pit has finally been filled!"

"Sure enough, you still have to rely on the champion Gong, and no demons and ghosts dare to get close."

"The champion said that man will win the day, and you are still here with demons and ghosts."

"It's me who made a mistake, and whatever the champion says in the future will be what it is!"

The seven shipwrecks entered the water, not only filling in the big holes, but also taking this opportunity to quickly throw sandbags and stones into the water, but also completely blocking the breach of the embankment in Shawan.

Seeing that the once turbulent flood had turned into a trickle, Shen Yichen breathed a long sigh of relief, and the history of Zhang Qiuzhen did not repeat itself!

"You Xian, we succeeded!"

Chen Tao has an irrepressible ecstasy on his face, he has seen countless times in the past ten years of writing water control policies, and there has never been a precedent for blocking the Yellow River in Shandong.

It is often necessary to wait until the dry season to block and remedy, and after the crops in the people's fields have been soaked for half a year, the grains have no harvest and the people are not able to make a living.

It can be said that Shen Yichen has created the history of water control in Shandong!

"You Xian, the lower officials really realize what it means to be man-made."

Jiang Pei's face was full of emotion, after Zhang Qiuzhen's break last year, he followed the political envoy Hong Ying to block the break.

Compared with the scenes of these days, the plugging project at that time can be described as a chicken feather, even if there is no attack, it is impossible to succeed in controlling the water.

Jiang Pei once thought that the break was destined by God beyond the reach of man, but now everything has subverted his cognition.

"Don't be too happy, the flood at the highest peak has not yet come, and the entire Shawan embankment needs to be reinforced."

Shen Yichen didn't have the shock of his subordinates, after all, this kind of decision is nothing in the future generations.

He is more worried about whether the current situation of the Shawan dam will be a microcosm of the hundreds of miles of Yellow River embankment in Shandong.

"The lower officials will conduct a comprehensive inspection of the embankment to ensure that the breach of the embankment does not happen again!"

Hearing Chen Tao's words, Shen Yichen nodded and replied: "The river engineering materials transported by the Jiangnan merchants will soon be delivered to Zhangqiu Town, and there is no need to worry about the shortage of materials to strengthen the river embankment." ”

After finishing speaking, Shen Yichen felt an endless sense of exhaustion coming over him, and he had hardly closed his eyes in order to block the break in the past few days.

"Master Chen, the river embankment will be temporarily handed over to you to take care of, and the official will go down first."

"Please rest assured, the lower officials will ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Shen Yichen retreated down the embankment on this side, and in the Fengtian Hall of the imperial court on the other side, Zhu Qizhen was listening to the speeches of the political secretaries in various places about the flood.

This flood, which was earlier than in previous years, was not only the Shandong embankment that Shen Yichen broke out of the town. Henan and Hebei, and even the two lakes and Huaiyang areas in the south, have experienced large-scale flooding.

Hearing the slackening of these local officials, Zhu Qizhen's face was extremely gloomy, why did he obviously work hard, he was not a debaucherous and unscrupulous monarch, why did he continue to have natural disasters over the years?

With this kind of grievance, Zhu Qizhen interrupted the announcement of the Ministry of Industry and asked: "How about the flood in Shandong, can there be a disaster this year?" ”

Zhu Qizhen's sudden inquiry made the Ministry of Industry Shangshu stunned for a moment, and the Shandong Political Division, which had to go to the disaster in previous years, didn't seem to have said anything about the disaster this year.

"Back to Your Majesty, the Shandong Political Secretary has not yet reported the disaster, but according to the recent performance of the political envoy Hong Fantai, it seems that there has been no flood in Shandong this year."

As soon as these words came out, many of the courtiers showed incredible expressions on their faces.