Li Shoutian didn't even have ti to put on his short jacket and hurriedly ran out of the house.
His wife, carrying the short jacket and a hoe, shouted, "Put your jacket on first."
How could Li Shoutian care about so much? He grabbed the hoe and ran outside.
While running, he instructed: "Hurry up and pack up, go take good care of the children. If a big flood really cos, it will be too late."
It had already started drizzling outside. Li Shoutian wiped his face haphazardly and began shouting to his neighbors on the left and right.
"Hurry up, hurry up, build cofferdams and protect the fields!"
The villagers were called out. Except for won with infants in swaddling clothes, elderly people too old to walk, and toddlers just learning to speak.
Everyone else, even those who were only eight or nine years old, were called out.
Each one grabbed a carrying pole, hoe, iron shovel, or bamboo basket, and rushed towards the direction of the fields.
Li Shoutian stopped the yan runner riding the horse and asked, "My Lord, is there no mistake about this? Did the upstream really burst?"
"Bullshit, how could such a major event be fake?" The yan runner glared at him: "Not only did the upstream of the Songliu River burst, but several other rivers are the sa. When this big flood rushes down, even if your Pinecone Village is further away, you won't be able to escape. Hurry up and make preparations!"
"If the fields are flooded, let's see what you'll use to pay the grain tax during the autumn harvest!"
After saying that, the yan runner slapped the horse's rump hard and galloped away.
Li Shoutian's face was ugly, and he secretly cursed "what a waste"!
Didn't they say the imperial court allocated a large sum of silver to build and reinforce river dams in many places? How could they still burst?
Could it be that so great lord ate too much and didn't even want his life anymore?
Running forward not far, arriving in front of Chu Xun's courtyard, Li Shoutian said to Zhang Anxiu, who had just co out of the house: "Anxiu, quickly call Ah Xun to go to the fields!"
Zhang Anxiu already knew what happened and hurriedly said: "My brother has already gone. I ca just to find Brother Xun, but he's not here. I don't know if he's already gone."
Li Shoutian said: "Then don't just stand there, grab your things and follow !"
When a flood occurs, the whole village, old and young, must join the battle. One more person ans one more bit of strength.
There was a severe drought a few years ago. They had finally lived a few good years, and now they encountered a waterlogging disaster these past two years.
This year, the upstream dam even burst causing a flood. Li Shoutian was so angry he was cursing mothers in his heart.
A group of people arrived at the fields. Li Shoutian scattered them and began digging soil to build cofferdams along the direction the flood might co from.
At this ti, a rumbling muffled sound ca from afar.
Li Shoutian's expression changed. The flood is coming already?
So fast!
He hurriedly shouted: "Quick! Quickly block the direction of the Songliu River, block it higher!"
Bamboo baskets and gunny sacks, filled with soil, were piled up layer upon layer.
But the village only had these people, and the matter ca so urgently, how could it be so easy to get it done.
In the crowd, Zhang Anxiu saw Chu Xun.
Chu Xun was responsible for shoveling soil, while Zhang Sanchun carried the fully loaded bamboo baskets or gunny sacks over.
She hurriedly ran over. Arriving in front of him, she asked: "Brother Xun, how did you get here so fast? Ah, your face looks so pale, are you sick?"
Chu Xun naturally wouldn't say that he had already been busy all night and was so tired he had almost no strength left.
He could only casually brush it off: "I woke up a bit early and wanted to co see the crops. I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence."
Zhang Anxiu didn't doubt him and sighed: "It's only been a few good years, truly unlucky."
Chu Xun didn't make a sound, only burying his head in work.
He had already done his best where he should.
The rest was entirely up to the Heavens.
At this ti, on the bank of the Songliu River, a sedan chair was carried over.
The cloth curtain was lifted, and County Magistrate Zhang Zhizhong, wearing a seventh-grade official robe, sporting a mustache, and about fifty years old, bent down and walked out.
"Have the villages along the river been notified?" Zhang Zhizhong asked.
The County Office Registrar who was questioned didn't answer this question, but said urgently and with a trace of joy: "My Lord, please quickly follow !"
Seeing that he was not only unpanicked but also had a joyful expression, Zhang Zhizhong imdiately scolded unhappily: "This ti the upstream dam burst, and the peak will pass through our county. As the Registrar, how dare you be so negligent!"
The Registrar knew he misunderstood, but it was hard to explain, so he only said: "My Lord, follow , you will understand once you see it."
Zhang Zhizhong snorted: "I'd like to see what you're going to do. If it's useless, don't bla this official for punishing you!"
The so-called punishnt naturally ant pushing the other party forward to be a scapegoat.
The Registrar cursed in his heart, but still had to put on an apologetic smile on his face.
Leading Zhang Zhizhong to the bank, he pointed ahead and said: "My Lord, please look."
Zhang Zhizhong looked up and was imdiately stunned.
He saw a flood discharge channel, about a zhang wide and a zhang deep, extending sideways along the bank of the Songliu River.
Looking further away, there were several more identical flood discharge channels, each extending towards different locations.
Zhang Zhizhong was stunned for a few seconds, then asked: "When was this dug?"
The Registrar shook his head: "I don't know when, it seems to have appeared suddenly overnight. Perhaps Heaven took pity and couldn't bear to see our county suffer a disaster."
Zhang Zhizhong asked again: "Have you found out where the flood discharge channels lead to?"
"They are all wastelands!" the Registrar said.
Zhang Zhizhong suddenly felt relieved in his heart, and a bit of the sa joy couldn't help but appear on his face.
Although the four flood discharge channels might not be able to completely block all the floodwaters, they would definitely have a great effect.
No matter how they appeared or who did it, this was a trendously fortunate event.
"Quick! Have people dig through the flood discharge channels and connect them with the Songliu River!" Zhang Zhizhong ordered.
The Registrar said: "I have already sent people to do it."
While speaking, the nearby villagers had already been called over.
These farrs, carrying iron shovels and hoes, were all stunned when they saw the four wide and deep flood discharge channels.
They had lived here for generations, but had never heard of such a thing.
Such wide, deep, and long flood discharge channels were absolutely not sothing human power could achieve.
The farrs, who were previously apprehensive and worried about their villages and fields being flooded, now cheered and danced.
Soone shouted: "Could it be that a Water God has appeared in the Songliu River to protect our lives and property?"
Just as Chu Xun had previously said to the two large pythons, there were indeed many strange people in this world.
Although rare in the mortal world, they were occasionally heard of.
Hearing these words, many farrs directly knelt down and kowtowed: "Thank you, Lord Water God, for your protection!"
"After this matter passes, our village will definitely offer tributes and incense!"
As the saying goes, there are deities three feet above one's head. Everyone's awe for immortals and deities outweighed their yearning.
The yan runners responsible for supervising their work all looked at each other in dismay, and rarely did not scold them.
Instead, they waited until the villagers had knelt and kowtowed several tis before speaking up to remind them: "If you don't work now, when the flood cos, it will be too late!"
Hearing these words, the villagers hurriedly got up from the ground, slid down the slope of the flood discharge channels, and began digging soil towards the direction of the Songliu River.
Chu Xun had left a small section that was not completely broken through. The villagers only needed to dig open the soil at the base and climb up before the heavy pressure of the river water broke through the soil barrier.
This matter was not difficult for them, and it didn't take long to get it mostly done.
At this ti, the rumbling muffled sound from upstream grew louder.
The flow speed of the river water obviously increased, and there were more tree branches and debris flowing down with the current.
The yan runners were also afraid of accidents and hurriedly shouted: "Quickly leave! The flood is coming!"
The villagers couldn't care about anything else and hurriedly grabbed their farm tools, evacuating in a flurry.
Just as they left on their front feet, the flood had already overflowed to the bank.
Waves stacked layer upon layer, beating the trees by the river until they swayed.
The flood discharge channels, which had already been nearly dug through, had a thin layer of soil barrier that couldn't withstand this impact at all.
Boom—
The turbulent river water sward in along the flood discharge channels, rushing towards the preset directions.
Beside the flood discharge channels, the villagers watched the river water being diverted. Although fierce, it was much tar than imagined.
They couldn't help but kneel down again, loudly shouting for the protection of the Water God of Songliu.
County Magistrate Zhang Zhizhong, who was already far away from the riverbank, heard these shouts that were even louder than the flood. He couldn't help but stroke the beard on his chin and look at the Registrar beside him.
"Could it be that there really is a Water God of Songliu existing in our county?"
The Registrar wasn't sure either and could only say: "After this humble official returns, I will flip through the previous county gazetteers. Perhaps there will be so records."
Otherwise, where did these four flood discharge channels, which saved who knows how many families, co from?
[End of Chapter]
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