Jiujiang Mansion, Qingshan Town.

This place is located in the narrow part of the northern section of Poyang Lake, adjacent to Nankang Province.

With the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, the water area of Poyang Lake has been greatly reduced by the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

The fertile polders made the gentry reluctant to stop the pace of surrounding the lake, and kept asking for the lake.

However, Poyang Lake connects the Ganjiang River and the Yangtze River, and these two rivers bring a lot of fertile land to both banks, but they are also extremely unruly, often causing major floods where the two rivers converge.

However, the terrain of Qingshan Town is low, and the cost of enclosing the lake is high, so the gentry and gentry have in its upstream and downstream to create land around the lake on a large scale.

This kind of artificial intervention has made it possible for the polders of the gentry to avoid some floods, but it has caused nine floods in Qingshan Town in ten years, and the slightest flood will flood the local area.

The annual flood season is coming, and in the first year of Zhengde, a man-made disaster accompanied by natural disasters rushed to Qingshan Town.

On the embankment, it was already completely dark, and the heavy rain was still falling, and the strong winds of the previous days had exacerbated the rain this year.

The name of Dehua Zhixian is Dong Yue, and he is standing on the embankment at this moment, supervising the reinforcement of the embankment.

A bolt of lightning shot down from the middle of the sky, illuminating Dong Yue's pale face clearly.

The two officials ran over with umbrellas, and their faces covered with rain were shocked.

Dong Yue asked loudly, "What about river supervision?" ”

"I don't know...... Where to go, say to go...... I'm going to find the prefect! The official also replied loudly.

"What the hell is the water like?"

The official replied with a crying voice: "My lord, the upstream is reluctant to open the gate of the weir mouth, and the water ...... The water has to be borne by us, and we can't stop it! ”

Dong Yue shook violently, and almost collapsed on the embankment!

He angrily rebuked: "Worm, worm of the country! ”

His scolding was quickly drowned out by the sound of rain and thunder.

"My lord, you haven't stopped for a day and a night, go down the embankment!" The official persuaded him, and the meaning was obvious, that is, it could not be defended, so it was better to retreat earlier.

Dong Yue gritted his teeth and asked, "Have the people been notified to evacuate?" ”

"When I heard the news, I ran away, I was used to being flooded, and I knew that it was terrible, but I couldn't bear the rice and houses in the field!"

Dong Yue glanced up at the dark sky, pointed to the sky and scolded angrily: "Thief God! I don't believe it, I can't cure this water! ”

"Come on, recruit young people who dare to die!"

…………

The next morning, the rain stopped, but everyone's faces were extremely ugly, and the flood often rose after the rain.

In the past, heavy rains would not fall in succession during the flood season, but this year, due to strong winds, the torrential rain covered the sky for a day, and the "man-made disaster" in the upper reaches made the water potential bigger than before.

The sky was still dark and dreary, and a group of shirtless and young men stood on the embankment with Dongyue, witnessing the surging river.

There are also many people carrying sandbags and wanting to strengthen the embankment again.

Roar—a muffled sound rang out from upstream, and everyone's hearts rose to their throats.

Hong Feng is coming!

I saw that the seemingly gentle river water, after calming down, quickly showed its fangs and surged at an extremely fast speed.

A huge wave hit the embankment, followed by another.

A row of young men stood in front of the pile of sandbags, and they all looked at Dong Yue, who was standing upright.

Dong Yue beat his spirits, raised his arms and shouted: "Good boys! The fathers and elders of Qingshan Town are looking at you! Behind the embankment is our home, and when the embankment bursts, we will have to starve and sell our children and daughters again this year! Benzhi County, for the county's fathers, please! ”

After speaking, he gave a long stroke.

The young and strong people also hated the same enemy, looking at the river they hated.

Dong Yue picked up the wine bowl: "If there is an accident, your wives and children, Benzhi County will personally support them!" ”

Pound - Dong Yue drank a bowl and smashed the bowl.

The young men also drank and threw bowls one after another.

"Get off the bag!"

With an order, the two young men tied ropes around their waists, picked up sandbags and jumped towards the cracks in the embankment.

The people on the shore pulled the rope desperately, and as a sandbag was blocked, the pipe gushing dissipated, but the people couldn't pull it back in the flood.

Everyone didn't care much, and they were busy inspecting the embankment, thinking that the flood peak was only two or three quarters of an hour, and as long as they held on, they would be saved!

"Go ahead and get off the bag!"

Someone jumped down again, and these young men died! They were not only for the twenty taels of silver, but also for the homeland behind them.

Jumping down five, often only one can be pulled back,

"Not good!" A servant suddenly panicked.

Everyone followed the sound and looked, but the river was even more turbulent.

I saw a huge wave rushing by, and the place that had been blocked collapsed again.

"Quick!"

More than a dozen sandbags blocked the breach at the same time, and Dong Yue looked anxiously at the big breach.

So many sandbags, like washed yellow mud, disappeared in the flood in an instant.

Everyone's eyes dimmed!

Dong Yue sighed and roared again: "Come again!" ”

Boom - before the young man continued to jump, a section of the embankment was flooded and suddenly collapsed! The raging flow of the flood seemed to mock these people for not being able to do their best.

"Let's go!" All the people on the embankment panicked.

Dong Yue's legs were weak, all his strength was removed, and he fell straight back.

"Your Excellency!"

Several officials were busy carrying Dong Yue and fled here like crazy.

The breach grew larger and wider, and a quarter of an hour after the crowd left, the entire embankment collapsed.

The flood is like finding a catharsis, pouring into Qingshan Town, washing away all the fields and houses.

Dong Yue had tears in his eyes, sat down on a hill, and muttered: "In the big Jiangxi, is it better that Qingshan Town is completely flooded than the polders on both sides of the river?" Heaven and earth are unkind! ”

…………

Ten days later, the flood waters receded, leaving a mess and even the county city walls were soaked in the floodwaters.

Looking at the past, the entire Qingshan Town was completely flooded, and Dehua County was flooded by more than half.

The rest of the place is fine, but in the whole Qingshan Town, there is not a single intact house.

Dong Yue looked at all this in a daze, and he was a little ashamed in the face of the gathered victims.

I thought that with one heart, we would be able to fight this flood and make Qingshan Town no longer flood for ten years and nine times, but now that such a result has made Dong Yue's heart ache and anger.

If the gentry and wealthy families along the coast are willing to give up the lake to make land, how can this water flow be so turbulent?

He turned his guilt into a promise of relief, promising to bring food to the victims, help them build houses, and make sure they survived.

However, there is not enough money and food in the county, and it is unlikely that he will be able to get money and food if he reports it to the political envoy.

The only way is to find a gentleman and a wealthy businessman to pledge donations, which makes Dong Yue as disgusted as if he had eaten a fly.

It was the gentry who caused this catastrophe, but he was begging them to donate food at this moment!

"My lord, we're leaving!" An old man walked up to Dong Yue with his family.

Dong Yue was shocked and said, "Old Li, you ...... Where to go? ”

The old man sighed and said, "You can go anywhere, but you don't want to stay here!" ”

"You're running with your family? Confused! Dong Yue hurriedly persuaded: "If you abandon the land and flee, this household registration will be gone, your family will become a homeless, and your descendants will not only not be able to take the imperial examination, but they will never be able to become a good family!" ”

"Well, how can we not know? Your Excellency, you are a good officer. After all these years of living, it is the first time I have met a county official who personally went up to the embankment, but my lord, over the years, the flood has become worse and worse! If we can't stop it, we are already disheartened and just want to leave this sad place as soon as possible. ”

Dong Yue was speechless, at this time, the imperial court did not have a policy for the settlement of the homeless, and he became a homeless person if he abandoned the land and fled, not only could he not study in the imperial examination in later generations, but he did not even have the protection of the basic legal decree.

Looking at the tens of thousands of people in Qingshan Town, it seemed that they all had intentions, Dong Yue's heart was uncomfortable, he had been in trouble since he was a child, and he depended on his mother for his life, and his mother supported him by washing the pulp for him to study.

After he was admitted to the Juren, he couldn't bear to travel far to study, so he filled the vacancy of Dehua County Officials and took his mother to take office together.

His mother, who saw the suffering of the people, often advised him to be a good official, and he was determined to benefit the party.

But after doing some practical things, I realized that the world is so difficult!

"Don't go yet! Wait for the official to fight, no matter how bad it is, it can't make tens of thousands of you become homeless! ”

Dong Yue didn't say a word, and immediately asked someone to bring a donkey, and he wanted to persuade these local clans one by one.

No matter how bad it is, it is better to let these people become tenants on the spot and re-settle, even if they are slaves, than to let them become outcasts.

…………

Three days later, Dong Yue, who had a gray nose, returned to Qingshan Town with a weak heart.

The gentry were so treacherous that most of them were sick at the same time, and half said that they had gone on a long trip en masse.

So on this trip, not only did he not catch a single one, but he also lost all his face.

A small magistrate, still dare to take Qiao in front of the gentleman? Dare to take the untouchables to build a levee?

What are the untouched houses, fields, and fields? Let them come to vent the flood, that is the gentleman and the old man can afford them.

Dong Yue sighed bitterly, not knowing how to tell the people the news.

"My lord, there is a benevolent businessman who asks to see you! It is said that it has brought relief food, and it is also planned to recruit long-term workers among the homeless! ”

Just when he was at a loss, his clerk suddenly rushed over to report.

"Is that the big family?"

"It's not a local, it is said that the shopkeeper Li Da from Ningbo bought a piece of land in Hukou for the master! We are here to recruit workers. ”

"From Ningbo?" Dong Yue was a little strange, he wanted to summon this person, but after thinking about it, he went to meet him in person.

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