Last year, after the floods, the farmers were able to survive the year with weeds, leaves, and rotten grain, and the farmers watched with amazement as the millet was about to ripen.

There was no heavy rain in June, no heavy rain in July, and the harvest would be possible in half a month, so why was it cloudy?

At this time, the peasants were still lucky.

Although the weather is overcast, it is possible that the rainstorm will end in a few days, and it will soon clear up, and there may not be a delay in the harvest.

But Li Bing knew that the flood would come was already a fact, and there was no luck.

Later generations will know that all the water veins are one and the same. Heavy rain falls in the upper reaches, and flood peaks will pass in the downstream even on sunny days.

The most difficult thing to control water at this moment is that people can't sort out all the water veins of a river, so they can only treat headaches and head and foot pain. It was only after the unification of the whole of China that the Central Dynasty could send people to explore the waters and record the upper and lower tributaries of the rivers on a map.

In ancient times, every map of the water contained countless money, time, sweat, and even human life. Because those water maps are all made by feet in the inaccessible barren mountains and mountains, and it takes years, more than ten years, or even generations to step on.

During the Warring States period, the upper and lower reaches of a river could belong to different countries. In "Spring and Autumn", it is described that the two countries did not succeed because of their different interests in building dams, and as a result, they were all flooded when they encountered floods.

And the Warring States countries are eager to tear down the other party's dikes, and it is impossible to talk about overall water control.

Fortunately, the Chengdu Plain, the grain-producing land that Li Bing needs to protect, is not deeply affected by the floods of the main stream of the Yangtze River, so there is no need to look at the face of Chu State.

The Chengdu Plain belongs to the Mintuo River system in the Yangtze River Basin, and the devastating floods it encounters mainly come from the Minjiang River, Tuojiang River, Dadu River and Qingyi River. These tributaries happened to be within the control of Shu County, which gave Li Bing the conditions to control the water.

It's too early to control the waters. When Li Bing first arrived, the county guard who had already left Shu County and returned to Qin Land had already done his best to appease the Shu people and teach them to farm, and of course he could not be counted on to explore the waters. Li Bing should have been at the stage where the second monk was confused at this moment.

Over the past few thousand years, the hydrological situation in Sichuan has changed dramatically, but fortunately, the conclusion that the devastating floods in the Chengdu Plain mainly came from the Mintuo River system is still correct.

Therefore, Zhu Xiang suggested that Li Bing send people to observe the rainfall at the confluence of the upstream tributaries of several major rivers.

More than 10 days ago, the observation station successively informed Chengdu that there were heavy rains in the tributaries of several rivers, and in some places it had even continued to rain for seven or eight days, causing flash floods.

While there was no rain in the Chengdu Plain, the water of several rivers surrounding Chengdu had risen steadily. Once heavy rains begin to fall in Chengdu, the water may overflow the embankment in a short period of time.

The most important city in Shu County is Chengdu. Chengdu has long been a big city. After the Qin State placed Shu County, the county guard was in Chengdu.

Zhang Yi, Sima Cuo and others imitated Xianyang City to expand and rebuild Chengdu City, and Haoqiang of Shu County and almost all the officials sent by Qin State lived in Chengdu City.

Li Bing's greatest wish is to keep the embankment from being destroyed, and at the very least, he must keep the city of Chengdu.

After Li Mu came to Shu County, with the support and cooperation of Li Bing, he quickly took over the entire territory of Shu County. Some Qin generals who didn't want to listen to Li Mu, the "Zhao people", lent Wang Ling to Li Mu, and Li Mu mercilessly beheaded them all, not listening to the words of "I am a member of the XX family" at all.

Shu County is closed, as long as Li Mu and Li Bing have no gap with each other, and the military regime is united, they can almost cover the sky with one hand.

In addition to the conscription of the people, the army has also undertaken the heavy responsibility of conscription since ancient times. In addition to guarding against the immobility of the army of the Chu State, Li Mu pulled almost all the soldiers he could use to the embankment that needed to be defended and set up camp.

They have long since begun to reinforce the raised levees, and the logs and sandbags to fill the levees have been prepared.

Zhu Xiang deliberately put the soldiers recruited from Shu County in the most important position, and took the trouble to inform them that guarding the embankment now was guarding their homeland. Once this levee is flooded, this year's Shu County will once again reduce grain production, and their families will starve to death.

While evacuating the elderly, children, and sick along the route, Zhu Xiang publicized to the people along the route, asking them to also help build the embankment.

Some officials were puzzled: "Changping Jun, isn't it good as long as you levy and issue conscription?" ”

Zhu Xiang's words concealed coldness: "Only mention the levy and conscription, they will not die for the embankment." ”

Even if someone knows Ying Xiaozheng's identity, but Ying Xiaozheng is young, Zhu Xiang is the person with the highest status who can speak in Shu County. Although he did not hold a specific position, Li Mu and Li Bing, the military and political leaders of Shu County, were willing to listen to him, and other officials were naturally very cooperative.

After a period of propaganda, Zhu Xiang recruited conscripts in a "voluntary" manner, and changed the practice of conscripts bringing their own dry rations, and levied a large amount of grain from wealthy merchants to use as rations for servants.

Zhu Xiang did not come forward in person. He sent the students of the Xianyang Academy, who could speak well, to persuade the rich merchants in various places that if the embankment could not be kept, the peasants would lose their homes and lives, and the rich would not lose their fields and industries. Now it's just about giving some food, and when they go bankrupt, it may be worse than death.

What's more, the Qin State sent Changping Jun to Shu County to guide farming, which was to prepare to build Shu County into a granary for attacking the Chu State. Even if Shu County is out of harvest, when it is time to fight Chu State, the King of Qin will still order troops, and Shu County must also provide grain, grass and weapons. Civilians have starved to death in the floods for two consecutive years, and Shu County can't collect enough taxes, so who will King Qin take?

Could it be that the powerful people of Shu would expect the King of Qin to be soft-hearted towards them, and would rather miss the fighter plane attacking the Chu State than just find an excuse to raid their home?

In fact, of course, King Qin would not have the idea of forcing Haoqiang to rebel, but it was too cruel to not be able to stand up to his reputation. As soon as the students of the Xianyang Academy were frightened, the rich people in Chengdu who thought that they had nothing to do with the flood immediately donated generously.

Although Li Bing cooperated with Zhu Xiang, he was frightened by Zhu Xiang: "You dare to arrange even the king!" ”

Zhu Xiang said: "As long as you can do good things, your lord will not care about these little things." ”

If it is not done well, then it will be settled together after the autumn. Zhu Xiang added in his heart.

Li Mu blindly believed in Zhu Xiang and didn't take Zhu Xiang's arrangement of King Qin and falsification of national events seriously.

And he also felt that King Qin would definitely not be able to hold back and fight the state of Chu again before he died, so that he could go a little happier.

After Ying Xiaozheng learned of this, he rolled on the bamboo bed with his head in his hands.

He was really seriously considering whether to force the palace to be the king of Qin at a young age of less than ten years old. Although it can't be.

Uncle, you must not kill yourself before Zheng'er becomes the king of Qin!

There are also some heroes who take the initiative to help, Zhu Xiang wrote down all these people, and will take the initiative to cooperate with them in the future.

He had ideas in his head that would benefit these people, such as bamboo paper that was about to become a tribute.

Everyone in the world knows that Changping Jun Zhu Xiang cares about the common people and has first-class farming skills. But no one knew that if he wanted to do business, he would immediately become rich.

In order to quickly promote new farming techniques, the support of local heroes in Shu County is indispensable. Zhu Xiang believes that the practice of slapping a sweet jujube must be common in all eras.

Everything is ready, and the next thing is to look at God's face.

At last the rain began to fall, and the raindrops were connected into threads, and woven into a curtain of rain, and finally the curtain became thicker and thicker, and became a curtain, enveloping the whole world in it.

The calmly rising water gradually became turbid, and the torrent was like a sharp blade under the blowing of the strong wind, constantly cutting through the embankments on both sides.

Looking at the speed of the rising water, it is clear that the rain on the upstream tributaries has not stopped.

The upstream and downstream rained at the same time, and the worst-case scenario expected by Zhu Xiang and others appeared.

Li Bing was dressed in a cloak and came to the embankment in person. He looked down at the torrent beneath his feet, his expression panicked.

Will he really be able to save this most critical levee?

The embankment that needs to be protected is not only this one under Li Bing's feet. His place is to protect the embankment of Chengdu City, and the embankment where Li Mu went is in the more upstream part, and behind it is 10,000 acres of fields that are about to be harvested.

But if this embankment can't be saved, Li Bing will send an order to the embankment where Li Mu is located, dig the embankment, and divide the flood to protect Chengdu.

If this happens, the farmers of Shu County will have to gnaw on the bark of wild grass trees for another year.

Zhu Xiang returned to Chengdu City. Li Bing and Li Mu did not allow him to go to the embankment, fearing that something would happen to him. What's more, Ying Xiaozheng only has one relative by his side.

Zhu Xiang hugged Ying Xiaozheng and looked up at the rainstorm curtain outside the door.

"Uncle, can the levee be saved?" Before it rained, Ying Xiaozheng went to the embankment.

The scale of the water surface of the embankment indicates that the river level is rising every day. Even if the water is not rough, Ying Xiaozheng has a sense of urgency that danger is approaching.

It was a sense of danger that he had never felt in his dreams.

"I don't know." Zhu Xiang said.

Ying Xiaozheng let go of Zhu Xiang's neck: "Uncle, if you want to go to the embankment, just go." My aunt will take care of me. ”

The aunt that Ying Xiaozheng said was Li Bing's wife. Li Bing brought the whole family to Shu County.

Zhu Xiang said: "It's useless for me to go." ”

Ying Xiaozheng hugged Zhu Xiang's neck again, let go again, and said, "Even if it's useless, my uncle wants to go, right?" Uncle go, I will control the city with my aunt and uncle, and there will be no panic. ”

Zhu Xiang looked down at the child in his arms.

Ying Xiaozheng opened his round eyes and looked at his uncle.

Zhu Xiang sighed deeply, patted Ying Xiaozheng's head, and said, "Uncle knows that you really have something supernatural, but the responsibility of guarding the city gate is too heavy, and you are still young." ”

Ying Xiaozheng said: "Although Zheng'er is small, he dares to kill." Uncle, do you dare? ”

Zhu Xiang smiled bitterly: "I don't dare to kill people myself, but I dare to order others." Don't underestimate your uncle. ”

Ying Xiaozheng doesn't believe it now. Within half a day, he believed.

As Zhu Xiang expected, there were soon riots in Chengdu.

Some people said that the embankment that Li Mu had gone to protect should be destroyed immediately, so that the city could be preserved, and the residents of the city should be incited to flock to the county guard's mansion.

Zhu Xiang and the officials who stayed in Chengdu appeared at the scene as soon as possible, and did not listen to the man's defense, and all the rioters, regardless of men, women, and children, were executed. The blood poured into the rain, like a winding river of blood.

The official read out the "Qin Law" aloud in the rain, and the Qin soldiers in their robes stood behind him, as black as dark clouds in the sky.

"It has been many years since Shu became Shu County, don't you have the consciousness that you have become a Qin person?" Zhu Xiang said indifferently, "It is the duty of the county guard to protect which embankment. The county guard has already given the order. Whoever violates the order dies. ”

Zhu Xiang ordered the property of the slain to be confiscated, the family members were driven out of Chengdu to fend for themselves, the grain and cloth were sent to the embankment, and the rest of the financial books were stored in the treasury for future rewards.

Zhu Xiang didn't care at all about punishing Haoqiang like this, whether it would attract Haoqiang's retaliation. Such a vigorous and resolute approach has given Haoqiang a new understanding of this famous man and sage who is famous for his "benevolence".

The city of Chengdu was quiet for a short time, and every family was closed.

Ying Xiaozheng sat on the threshold and waited for Zhu Xiang to come back. After Zhu Xiang went home, he washed away the bloody gas before coming to see Ying Xiaozheng.

Ying Xiaozheng asked: "Uncle is not the most reluctant to see others die, saying that everyone's life is the most precious thing. Don't you be afraid and sad when you see people die? ”

Zhu Xiang touched Ying Xiaozheng's head and said, "When my uncle was in Handan, I saw many peasants starving to death and dying of exhaustion; When I went to Changping, many Zhao people died of injuries and illnesses every day; When entering Qin and Shu, bones were often seen on the roadside. ”

Ying Xiaozheng shook his head vigorously, not being led away by Zhu Xiang: "That's not what you ordered to kill!" You can leave these things to me, or let the officials do them directly, why does my uncle have to do it himself?! ”

Zhu Xiang stroked Ying Xiaozheng's head again and was silent for a long time.

Under Ying Xiaozheng's unrelenting questioning again, Zhu Xiangcai said: "Whether I am at the scene or not, it is my order to kill people and raid my home." As the highest-ranking person in Chengdu, I can make them obey more when I go to the scene, so I won't hide behind others for the sake of hypocritical peace of mind. ”

On the embankment, Li Mu and Li Bing successively received supplies from Zhu Xiang, and also learned that Zhu Xiang deliberately relaxed the guards in the city, so that there was a riot in the city, and then killed a hundred people.

"Changping Jun is a relative of the Qin Sect, and the King of Qin loves him deeply, and his grace is unmatched. The relationship in Chengdu is complicated, there are strong and powerful, and there are also people who are backed by the great nobles of Xianyang. Only when Changping Jun personally ordered the killing and raiding of the house in front of everyone could they deter them. Because they know that they are not worth mentioning in front of Changping Jun. ”

"Unless they want to attract the Qin army to break through Shu again, they can only obey Changping Jun's orders."

When the officials guarding the embankment of the Qin State learned the news, they all knew it.

As long as Chengdu City is not chaotic, they only need to guard the embankment with peace of mind and have no worries.

The torrential rain was still pouring down, and the sky seemed to have cracked a big hole, and it was no longer rain, but the Tianhe Waterfall that leaked out.

Li Bing touched his face, and was about to say a few words of encouragement, when he heard the sound of crying behind him.

When he turned around, a servant fell to his knees in the mud, fell on the ground and wept, cursing the thief for not giving him a way to live.

Li Bing couldn't fully understand Shudi's accent, and the people next to him translated for him.

In order to save food, the old mother of the servant quietly left home one night, not knowing where she went;

The old father of the servant ate weeds day and night, and at night relied on moonlight carpentry work to subsidize the family, and died of exhaustion in the morning;

Before the husband left the house, his wife and son said that they hoped for a good harvest this year and a bite of real food, but the heavy rain and the surging flood were about to destroy everything.

He saw another levee crack, and he had a nervous breakdown.