Chen Ping has been waiting for Ye Lao to come back in the back office.

In the middle of the night, Ye Laocai hurriedly returned to the county office with half of his body of mud.

He still had moisture on his body, his sideburns were densely woven, and his whole person was shrouded in a gloomy and cold aura.

It turned out that Wang Xianling was concerned about the river embankment, and the group rushed there in the middle of the night to check.

Chen Ping didn't rush to ask, but poured the hot water from the small stove into the wooden basin and brought it over.

Ye Lao soaked his cold hands in hot water, and his numb joints moved.

His face did not show the slightest comfort, but was very sad.

The sound of footsteps in the county office came and went, and it seemed extremely harsh at night.

Ye Lao sighed deeply.

The severity of the situation was far greater than anyone had expected, and even worse than the worst-case scenario had been envisaged.

Ye Lao originally thought that such an important fortification as the river embankment, no matter how dilapidated it was, would not be completely useless.

But just now he personally went to the embankment and walked around, and when he saw the gravel and rotten wood and seeping water stains on the river, his heart suddenly cooled half.

The embankment, which was supposed to be a solid embankment built by ramming earth and rock, has now become a pile of rotten dirt, and there is not much sand and gravel and bamboo tendons to be seen.

Without these two materials, how can the river embankment withstand the strong impact of the flood peak?

It's like a mantis arm as a car!

Even if Ye Lao has the wisdom of the sky, he is helpless in the face of this mess for a while, and he doesn't know where to start.

Roads can also be repaired with local materials, but it is not possible to barely pass by simply ramming the soil.

However, the embankment must not be so rash, it must be woven into a large frame with bamboo tendons, and then filled with pebbles or large stones to serve as the base of the embankment.

The amount of silver required to make such a pedestal for dozens of miles is huge, and it is by no means something that a small county town can take.

Even if Wang Xian ordered to invest all the remaining money and grain in the construction of the road embankment, at most it could only strengthen the key parts.

If you really want to completely renovate the embankment of dozens of miles, you have to allocate a large amount of money from the imperial court.

Thinking of this, the wrinkles on Ye Lao's face deepened.

No matter how much knowledge he has, there is no better solution to this matter, so he can only call it out.

When Ye Lao informed Chen Ping of the current situation, Chen Ping said comfortingly.

"Teachers don't need to worry, they have priorities. The most urgent task now is not to strengthen the embankment, but to measure and excavate the flood channel. ”

"As long as you get through this difficulty, you can find a way to apply to the imperial court for construction money in the future."

Ye Lao shook his head and said, "You don't know, most of the money and grain expenses of the imperial court are precedented. It's not that the emperor and the court can use it however they want. ”

"Moreover, since the founding of the country two hundred and forty years ago, the people of the dynasty have flourished, and the more wasteland has been opened up, all of them are twice as many as when the country was founded."

"Only the imperial court taxes are decreasing year by year, and last year it was only about half of the early days of the dynasty, do you know what this means?"

This was the first time that Ye Lao mentioned the matter in the court to Chen Ping, which directly made his face stunned.

He was shocked that the financial situation of the Daiyu Dynasty was so bad.

A country's ability to collect taxes is almost equal to the ability of those in power to control all forces.

Now that he has the name of a peaceful and prosperous world, he doesn't want to be weak inside.

Chen Ping was silent for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "It seems that applying for a grant from the imperial court will not work." ”

Without the appropriation of the imperial court, no matter how famous Wang Xianling is, it will never be possible to donate the old skill of road construction again.

Donations from ordinary people are a drop in the bucket.

Most of the squires and wealthy merchants sought profits, and the cost of repairing the dikes was very high, and it was not possible to achieve it overnight, and they had no real benefit to themselves, so how could they lend a helping hand again.

If they want to make a name for themselves who are philanthropic and philanthropic, they have done it when it comes to building roads.

Chen Ping finally understood the reason why Ye Lao's face was pale.

Without enough money and food, the river embankment in Yongshun County can only be repaired and repaired, and it is impossible to rebuild it, so there will always be hidden dangers.

Even if this hidden danger does not break out today, it will harm the people at some time in the future.

"Let's do our best to think about how to discharge the flood at the moment, the affairs of the court are not for us and other people to worry about."

Ye Lao said after adjusting his thoughts.

The excavation of the flood channel was his suggestion to Wang County, but where to open the canal mouth still needs further field investigation and detailed calculations.

According to tonight's on-the-spot investigation and estimates, as long as the mouth of the canal can be opened in the most reasonable place, it is only necessary to sacrifice less than 10% of the fields in Yongshun County to survive this flood.

However, if the mouth of the canal is wrong, the flood water will deviate from direction, and it may inundate two or three percent of the fields.

Farming is not easy, and I don't know how many people can count on these two or three percent of the fields.

Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Chen Ping cheered up.

I saw Chen Ping listening to the figures reported by Ye Lao while drawing a section of the river on paper.

Although it is not accurate, in this world, such a profile is definitely a big step forward in water conservancy.

Ye Lao looked at the drawings and knew that it was not of much use at this time.

Because the most critical section, the details of the area near the flood channel, are missing.

The height of the embankment and the depth of the riverbed, as well as the difference between the height of the embankment and the surrounding depression, all had to be measured again in order to draw accurate conclusions.

No one would dare to fool around in this matter, because that would mean unbearable and tragic consequences.

Ye Lao looked at the disciple with burning eyes and said, "Okay, hurry up and rest and recuperate." Early tomorrow morning, you and I will go with the county to measure the flood discharge section on the spot! ”

"Strive to calculate the exact location of the flood outlet as soon as possible, and start construction as soon as possible, so that the people can suffer less losses!"

If it weren't for the imminent crisis, Ye Lao actually didn't want Chen Ping to participate too much in government affairs.

Sometimes the more officialdom is done, the more it goes wrong.

But now that the whole county is in danger of flooding, I can only let the disciples who are proficient in arithmetic come to help temporarily!

......

The next morning, the torrential rain continued.

The river is getting more and more ferocious, and the water level is rising wildly.

All the elderly who have experienced the flood can see that if they do not intervene, the catastrophe is just around the corner!

Wang Xian Ling tied his official robe into his belt and stood on the tattered embankment with a blue face.

He stared at the roaring river and shouted, "Two days, we have two days at most!" ”

"If the flood canal can't be dug well, the county's autumn grain output this year will be reduced by at least 30%!"

What he didn't say was that if the excavation of the flood channel failed and the flood broke the embankment, it would probably spread to the entire Yongshun county.

Thirty percent is already a conservative estimate.

This is the conclusion reached by Wang Xianling after repeatedly discussing and discussing many elderly people in the county who have experienced flood disasters.

The husband accumulates it, and the great life of the world is also!

If there is no land and corn is full, how can the people live and work in peace and contentment?

It will also take time to pile up the soil and fertilizer, if the flood is allowed to pass, the farmland will be safe?

This is the foundation of the country!

Once the grain production is reduced on a large scale, the people will have no reserves to eat, which will inevitably lead to a large number of displaced people.

When the hungry people begin to wander around, it will inevitably destroy the stability of the region.

Pulling a hair and moving the whole body will form an intractable vicious circle!