Chapter 301

"A flood?"

Tables and chairs collided, and several people in the hall stood up with a swoosh, turning to see Fan Xing walking through the corridor in a hurry.

"I'll go open the door!"

Yan Chongwen, who was closer to the door, kicked the ground with his toes, his figure passed through the courtyard, drifted past the shadow wall, and lifted the door bolt.

Li Libo, who was knocking on the iron ring, felt his hand empty, looked up, and saw a stranger's face under the edge of the bamboo hat, immediately becoming vigilant and stepping back.

"Who are you!"

"I…"

Yan Chongwen was about to explain, but Liang Qu took a step forward: "Come in and talk!"

Li Libo didn't hesitate, braved the rain to pass through the hanging flower gate, ran into the hall in a hurry, didn't even have time to take off his coir raincoat, and explained while panting.

"The River-Dredging Office received a flood report saying that the levee in Huazhu County broke last night, causing a flood; the whole county was half-submerged, and several counties nearby were also affected."

"Lord Ran is preparing troops in the government office, directing the team to go to disaster relief; they told us to hurry up and call you over!"

"Did the levee in Huazhu County really break?"

Yan Qingshan's expression was impatient, and the three people beside him were no better.

The four were from Huazhu County and were harmed by the Ghost Mother Sect, forced to leave their hometowns and take their families out to make a living, but many familiar elders and fellow villagers had limited mobility and remained in the county!

Li Libo looked at Liang Qu.

"My River-Dredging Chiefs and Overseers, no need to worry."

Li Libo nodded vigorously when he heard this: "It's such a big deal; I heard it three times and confirmed it repeatedly before running here without stopping; it must be Huazhu County!"

The four breathed rapidly, and the blood color on their faces faded.

Liang Qu asked: "Has there never been a flood in Huazhu County before?"

Yan Qingshan hurriedly cupped his hands: "Lord, you don't know; there is a tributary of the Jianghuai River in Huazhu County, called the Heishuihe."

"The Heishuihe is a straight flow for nearly thirty miles before reaching Huazhu County; the further down the water flows, the more turbulent it becomes, but it happens to have a big snake mouth at Huazhu County."

"Sixty years ago, there was a long lake northeast of Huazhu County that could contain the torrents of the Heishuihe, but after sixty years, the water system between the long lake and the Heishuihe has been cut off and is no longer connected!"

"Since then, Huazhu County has had floods every summer and autumn, without exception!"

"It wasn't until more than forty years ago that a County Magistrate Qiu came to our place; Magistrate Qiu obtained funds and appropriations from the imperial court, and with concerted efforts, built a Qiu Gong Levee at the big snake mouth."

"Since then, the number of floods in Huazhu County has decreased a lot, but once the levee breaks, the situation is much more serious than in other counties!"

Not to mention the entire Huaiyin Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of the prefectures near the Jianghuai Great Marsh, which county can escape flooding? It's just that the water disaster caused by the Jianghuai River is far less "fierce" than the Yellow Sand River above, so the impression is not deep.

There is always a small flood every three or five years, and a big flood every eight or ten years.

But Huazhu County's terrain is special.

In other counties, it's a small flood; here, it's a big flood.

In other counties, it's a big flood; here, it's a natural disaster.

Yan Qingshan's younger brother, Yan Chongwen, added: "This year, the Ghost Mother Sect has made people panic; most of the young people and martial artists in Huazhu County have fled to other places to develop, and most of those left in the county are elderly people with limited mobility; letting them encounter such a big flood, I'm afraid…"

A human ghost realm!

First the Ghost Mother Sect, then another levee break!

Huazhu County was originally a strong county, ranking in the upper reaches of Huaiyin Prefecture.

After these two encounters, I'm afraid there are no figures worth mentioning, and now it is not even as good as Fengbu County.

"It's hard to leave one's hometown, so our four brothers were a bit impatient; Lord, please don't blame us!"

Yan Qingshan knelt on one knee, and the three people behind him prostrated themselves together.

Li Libo clicked his tongue.

If I'm not mistaken, they are all martial artists.

Looking up at Liang Qu again.

Incredible, truly incredible.

A real man!

"No matter, now is not the time to talk about this; hurry to the River-Dredging Office to wait for orders!"

Liang Qu took the coir raincoat and bamboo hat handed by Fan Xing, didn't talk nonsense, rode on Chishan, and led the four to the River-Dredging Office.

Li Libo also went out to notify others.

Several cups of hot tea were steaming, and the lively hall became quiet in an instant, with only the sound of heavy rain outside.

"That… should I still cook the Flying Dragon soup? I haven't slaughtered it yet."

Zhang Da Niang popped her head out from outside the wall, holding the Flying Dragon's wings in one hand and a sharp knife in the other.

She had just boiled water to scald the feathers when she heard a noise in the hall, saying something about a flood somewhere, and then the master rode away on a horse without leaving a word.

Fan Xing, the only one left in the hall, thought that dealing with floods probably wouldn't be done in a day or two, and the old monk didn't eat meat.

"Keep it."

"Cluck, cluck!"

The Flying Dragon, which had escaped death, trembled its wingtips, trying to struggle.

Zhang Da Niang raised the back of the knife and rubbed it against the chicken's neck a few times, scaring the chicken's head into trembling.

"Live for two more days!"

Torrential rain.

The surface of the marsh was covered in mist, and the reed leaves on the shore drooped.

Chishan paced and stopped, its iron hooves stepping out the muddy water under the stone slabs, surging out a few ripples along the gaps.

Liang Qu looked back from afar, and the figures of Yan Qingshan and the others were no longer visible.

Their horses were not as fast as Liang Qu's.

Unable to wait for his late subordinates, Liang Qu stepped into the government office.

The daylight was dim, several small buildings cast large shadows, the blue stone slabs on the ground were soaked with rainwater, turning into the color of blue-black tiles, and the entire courtyard was empty.

Not many people came.

The River-Dredging Office was located in the middle of the river between Pingyang County and Yixing Town; Liang Qu was close, knew the news quickly, and was considered one of the first batches to arrive.

Climbing the stairs to Seeing Ran Zhongshi's study, it was empty; going up one more floor to Xu Yuelong's study, he finally found the shadows of people.

There were more than a dozen people standing in the whole study, busy as a mess, mostly in a panic.

Seeing Ran Zhongshi's wrists didn't stop, drafting registers, issuing orders, and allocating supplies.

This flood was truly caught off guard, especially for the River-Dredging Office officials who had just arrived here.

"Has the water report been sent?"

One person looked up and answered: "Sent! Both water and land routes, all pond horses and pond boats have set off!"

"What about the early warning? Have the counties downstream been notified?"

Someone else looked up: "It's on the way."

"On the way? What do you mean on the way?! Why did we only receive news today that there was a flood?

Are the people in the Hydrology Station dead? Did no one come to warn when the warning water level was reached? Huh? Are you all mutes?"

Xu Yuelong was furious.

No one dared to respond, and at this moment, everyone acted like a tortoise.

The Qiu Gong Levee in Fengbu County broke, and there was no water level warning before, which was undoubtedly a major mistake!

Xu Yuelong knew that finding the problem was not the key at the moment, and looked up: "Liang Qu, has Liang Qu arrived!"

"Arrived!"

Liang Qu squeezed through the crowd and stood in front of Xu Yuelong.

Xu Yuelong waved his hand, and the registrar on the side handed over several thick registers and two thin books.

The registers were full of task contents, and the titles of the two books were "General Examination of Levee Construction" and "General Examination of Levee Protection."

"Read the things on the road; I know you have good water skills, so take your people to Huazhu County immediately!

First is to save people, second is to find out the disaster range, third… it's all in the register, read it yourself.

I want you to arrive at Huazhu County before midnight tomorrow, and see the Huazhu County Magistrate before morning the day after tomorrow; if there is any concealment, lying, or false reporting, I allow you to detain them first! Can you do it?"

Midnight tomorrow night?

Huazhu County is not adjacent to Pingyang County!

It takes him a day and a half to go to Fengbu County!

But at this moment, Liang Qu couldn't say no.

"Can do it!"

"Good, set off immediately!"