When Liu Xiuren arrived at the county seat, the water gate had been closed, several officials and a group of people were busy isolating the waterway, and there were many people on the city wall, who were building squatter sheds with bamboo and wood.

After getting off the boat, entering the city from the south gate in the rain, I saw that earth, masonry and stone were piled up next to the city gate, the atmosphere in the city was a little tense, every household was lit with lights, sorting out and packing up the grain and soft things, dismantling the door panels and other wood to make simple rafts, and there were people carrying materials to some two- and three-story buildings......

When I came to the county office, Xu Tianyi and other prisoners were no longer gone, the cage was being dismantled into wood, and the guards stationed at the door were no longer officials, but guards in armor.

After checking his identity, Liu Xiuren could only bring two entourages inside, and when he entered the brightly lit public hall, he found that it was arranged like a military festival hall, and the hall was full of seats, and there were many people, including officials from Wujiang County, commanders of the garrison, and gentry living in the county seat.

Zhao Mengqi was at the head of the hall and was saying, "Since the flood is unavoidable, instead of waiting for the flood to ravage, it is better to actively deal with it, I hope that everyone can work as one, do what they can, and lead the people through this disaster with one heart and one mind, maybe many measures will cause you to lose, but you should take a long-term view, the so-called skin does not have hair will be attached, the people are the basis for everyone to enjoy wealth and prosperity, and the contributions you have made, Lone will also see in your eyes and keep it in your heart, and you will definitely not be disadvantaged in the future, of course." If some people have to do something selfish, they can also try the sword in their own hands, the advantage is not good!"

This temptation and coercion, whether the people in the hall wanted it or not, all echoed it.

Among them, Sun Deliang shouted the loudest, "My Sun family is the only one who looks to the horse, His Royal Highness points to the east, and the small people will never go west, not to mention the loss of some land, money and grain, even if the family is bankrupt, it will not hesitate to ......

This grandson is really stinky and shameless, most of the family property is taken out to extend his son's life, and he can lose a fart! In order to please King Yan, it is really not a human being.

Many gentry slandered Sun Deliang, but the voice of the statement was also unwilling, "Your Highness rest assured, you still understand what is right and wrong, as long as Your Highness has an order, the Zhang family will not be ambiguous."

"Your Highness is really virtuous and benevolent, but in times of great calamity, he does not hesitate to put himself in danger, and fights with us and other small people, how dare we be selfish."

"Yes, yes, it will be a blessing to all the people of the Great Song Dynasty to have such a wise lord as His Highness, and it is a great honor for me to be guided by His Highness and contribute to the fight against disasters."

"In order to fight the disaster, the old man is duty-bound, whether it is money, food, manpower or anything, as long as my Lu family has it, as long as it is needed to fight the disaster, I will contribute it all, and I will never hesitate!"

These landlords are so enthusiastic about their wealth, but in fact, their hearts are dripping blood, and after this flood, the wealth of each family will definitely shrink significantly.

Originally, it was these gentry who were the least worried about disaster, they had enough savings to survive the disaster, and some even welcomed the disaster because they could make a fortune from it.

Now that Zhao Mengqi is here, it is their real disaster.

If ordinary officials dare to demand that they sacrifice their own interests for the sake of the overall situation, they will definitely be met with collective resistance, and not only will it be difficult for them to govern, but they will even have to run away in disgrace.

But in front of Zhao Mengqi, the prince, they are too small, and they have no capital to resist at all, and today's trial also makes the people of Wujiang realize that King Yan is by no means a soft-hearted lord, if he wants to kill, then he can really do it.

Between life and money, fools know how to choose, rather than being forced, it is better to be active, maybe you can win the favor of the future emperor, and the future benefits are more fragrant than anything else.

"Very good, from now on, Wujiang implements military management, all materials must not increase in price, nor are they allowed to be sold, if necessary, they will be distributed by the government, and all the literate children in your family will go to the county government to report and standby, and there will also be strong laborers to be dispatched and commanded by the government,......."

Zhao Mengqi issued a lot of orders, and his mouth was dry, so he stopped to take a sip of tea.

At this time, Liu Xiuren had to step forward to pay respects, "Your Highness, I don't know what to call Wei Chen."

Zhao Mengqi raised his eyes and looked at Liu Xiuren, from the case

Picked up a pamphlet and threw it over, "This is the flood control regulations, you immediately follow the requirements above, and issue a decree to the entire territory of Pingjiang Prefecture...... Eighteen hours to go, you'll have to hurry."

Liu Xiuren was a little confused, opened the booklet, and when he saw it, he was shocked, "Your Highness, how can this be made!?" If the gates are opened, most of Pingjiang Prefecture will be turned into a Ze country, and Cao Yun will also be cut off......

"Stop! Lone doesn't have time to explain to you now, you go back to the government now, read the regulations of the booklet on the way, and you can probably understand, in short, from now on, Lone's order is a military order, you understand that it must be implemented, and if you don't understand it, you have to execute, if you can't do it, you open your mouth now, and Lone will change the person who can do it!"

Zhao Mengqi waved his hand, and his tone was extremely stern.

Liu Xiuren is not a strong order, he has the spirit of daring to confront the powerful head-on, seeing King Yan's murderous appearance, he suddenly felt that his arms couldn't reach his thighs, so he gave in, "If His Highness insists, Weichen will not dare to disobey."

"Okay, time is life, you act now, and again, from now on, disaster relief affairs are equivalent to the military, and all officials must obey unconditionally, but if there is a mistake, military law will be engaged!"

Liu Xiuren did not dare to stay, carrying the anti-disaster regulations, and left in a hurry, and the gentry and officials who received orders also left the court one after another and acted separately.

The policy of the Great Song Dynasty was that officials did not go to the countryside, so many affairs had to rely on the squires, and most of the squires had to operate the disaster mobilization order to the people.

This will inevitably be inefficient, so Zhao Mengqi and Wu Qiancai deliberately set aside enough time before opening the gates to ensure that as many people as possible are prepared.

The vast majority of the people in the south of the Yangtze River are water-oriented, and there is no shortage of boats, and the Taihu Lake flood is not as menacing as the river flood, and there is generally enough time to escape, and this is still an artificial opening of the gate, which can control the amount of water, and is unlikely to cause casualties.

However, floods can also pose a huge threat, that is, hunger, if you are prepared, you can transfer and save food and supplies as much as possible, which can naturally reduce the pressure of survival in the disaster.

Of course, the measures issued by Zhao Mengqi are all based on the worst-case scenario, because if the rain continues, the flood will come sooner or later, and if the floodgates are well controlled, the water can be greatly slowed down, and the time for flooding the land can also be shortened.

On the ninth day of the fifth month, after two nights and one day, the preliminary flood control work in Wujiang County was roughly completed, and the time was scheduled to open the Wusongjiang gate.

Wu Songjiang, the earliest is named after Songling Town, where Wujiang County is located, here is located at the junction of Taihu Lake and Wu Songjiang, it was a Ze country at that time, only the town station is higher than the surrounding ground, like a hill, there are pines and cypresses, so it is called Songling, and later the Yuan Dynasty set Huating as Songjiang Mansion, this river was renamed Wusong River.

Zhao Mengqi came to the mouth of the river in advance and walked to the embankment of the lake, at this time the water surface seemed to be at his feet, and he was only a few feet away from the top of the embankment.

Looking at Taihu Lake, the smoke and waves are vast, it seems to be boundless, and under the rain curtain, it seems that the sky and the earth are full of water, which is suffocating.

Originally, there was a transverse embankment in front of the estuary, like a cover, to protect the estuary from the lake from rushing directly into the estuary with sediment, but at this time, in order to allow the water to flow into the Wusong River faster, a large hole was dug in the embankment.

"Your Highness, the hour is almost up, give the order." Wu Qian reminded.

Zhao Mengqi took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it, "Open the gates."

After the order was issued, the soldiers opened the front and rear gates one by one, and as the gate near the lake was lifted, the lake found a vent, and rushed in frantically, rolling downstream with the waves.

Zhao Mengqi looked at the waterline under the embankment, and until half an hour passed, he did not see the slightest trace of reduction.

As if he knew what Zhao Mengqi was thinking, Wu Qian said, "Your Highness, the water storage capacity of Lake Tai, a single outlet, will not be effective for a while, now I just hope to use the current to wash the channel of the Wu Song River, and at the same time try to drain the sediment in the lake through the river, so as not to damage the polders later, and the real water discharge, we will wait until the day after tomorrow, when all the sluices of the port are fully opened, and the intensity can be increased."

After Zhao Mengqi listened

, did not speak, just nodded silently, but did not leave the waterline.

With the opening of the sluice gate at the mouth of the Wusong River, the waters in Wujiang County have been filled with a large amount of lake water, and the water level has risen rapidly, but it has not yet overflowed the embankment.

Because of the advance warning, there was not much panic among the people, and there were no boats on the canal in this section.

On the tenth day of the fifth month, the rain became lighter, which made Zhao Mengqi breathe a sigh of relief, but Wu Qian poured cold water on him, "Your Highness, in the eyes of the old minister, this is only temporary, it won't be long before the rain will be heavy again, and even if the rain near Wujiang stops, as long as it is still raining on the west side of Taihu Lake, the situation will still not change anything."

"So, it's inevitable that the opening of the flood gates will be unavoidable?" Zhao Mengqi's face was full of regret.

After all, the amount of water is limited, and the water flow is still in the waterway, and at most it floods some low-lying places.

As soon as the port is opened, the vast majority of fertile land will inevitably be submerged, and at least most places in Wujiang will be turned into Zeguo.

If this does not slow down the water potential, then most areas of Pingjiang Province, as well as Huating downstream, will not escape flooding.

Zhao Mengqi seemed to be a little unwilling, ran to the lake embankment again, looked at it for a long time, and felt that the waterline seemed to be no different from before the gate was opened, so he could only put aside his illusions and accept reality.