Chapter 182: 189. Qi Steaming Yunmeng Marsh

189. Qi Steaming Yunmeng Marsh

Beside the Zhumu Pavilion.

In the fine rain.

It was clearly a scene of old acquaintances meeting and comforting each other.

But as soon as the little white-haired girl's words were asked.

The scene fell into a silence as if by tacit agreement.

Yan Liulang noticed that several gazes in front of him were all cast towards him.

Miss Weilai, the little sister of the Su family whose name is not passed on, the bun-faced little maid...

Besides that, there was another gaze, coming from behind that Miss Weilai.

It was a girl with a clear and pitiful appearance.

When Yan Liulang sent the maids and servants of Meilin Studio over yesterday, he had a deep impression.

It seemed to be the cook of Meilin Studio. He heard Miss Weilai mention it, and the Magistrate seemed to like the dishes she cooked.

This clear cook had been quietly following Miss Weilai's side.

At this moment, the gaze cast by those eyes like mountain streams made Yan Liulang look twice more.

It seems that the Magistrate is very good to the slaves in his house, even the cook is so concerned and worried about the Magistrate's safety.

Yan Liulang hesitated for a moment and said ambiguously:

"The Magistrate, the Magistrate is handling urgent official business. He entrusted me to take you up the mountain to rest in Donglin Temple for two days. Don't go back to Meilin Studio first, it's dangerous under the mountain now."

"What official business is Tanlang handling? It's dangerous under the mountain, so is Tanlang on the mountain? Why isn't Catcher Yan by Tanlang's side."

Ye Weilai raised her little face, her cheeks full of rainwater.

The fingers under her sleeves were twisted together.

The night before last, after Liu Ashan came to Meilin to report the abnormal water level, Tanlang rushed out of the house regardless of his own safety and hadn't returned for two days.

Ye Weilai and Xiuniang thought he was on Mount Dagu, but the two girls searched up and down for a day, still not seeing anyone.

At the moment, there were chaotic refugees everywhere on the mountain, the gray sky, and the damp rain that continued endlessly, a haze naturally surged into their hearts.

"There is... there is brother Ashan, Miss Weilai, no need to worry."

Yan Liulang comforted and changed the subject:

"How are you living in Donglin Temple, Miss Weilai? That guest room happens to be the room where Aqing's family lived when they first came, they are familiar... By the way, is there anything missing? I'll go tell Assistant Magistrate Diao..."

"Is Ouyang Lianghan at Digong Sluice now?"

The little sister of the Su family with purple gauze on her face suddenly opened her mouth and interrupted the blue-clothed catcher's words.

Yan Liulang: "..."

The atmosphere on the field suddenly froze.

Everyone's eyes changed. Yan Liulang lowered his head silently and tightened his grip on the knife handle subconsciously.

In order to appease the people, they could use white lies, but how to hide it from the Magistrate's family.

Su Dala, who had been listening, frowned and said:

"What is Lianghan brother doing at Digong Sluice? Didn't the county government say that everyone going up the mountain is just to avoid risks? Is the problem with Digong Sluice not big? Could it be..."

He swallowed and said worriedly: "If the situation is so critical, Lianghan brother ran over, wouldn't it be dangerous?"

Su Guoer's chin under the purple gauze was sharp, and her voice came, breaking the point:

"The situation is critical. The rain downstream doesn't count for anything. Whether it rains or not doesn't affect the water level. The Yangtze River is behind us, and the water discharges quickly.

"But the torrential rain of hundreds of miles in Yunmeng Marsh upstream is the real highlight. Butterfly Creek is so narrow and winding, how to discharge the flood is the problem.

"The propaganda of the county government is just to appease the people. Brother, don't be naive."

Su Dala couldn't help but open his mouth: "Sister, Lianghan brother..."

Su Guoer didn't look at her brother, glanced at the beacon tower beside Yan Liulang, nodded to the latter, and said in a crisp voice:

"Your Magistrate's arrangement is not wrong, and the layout is also very reasonable.

"Yunmeng Marsh rising water, either block it or dredge it.

"Digong Sluice is the way of blocking, Zhe Yi Canal is the way of dredging.

"Blocking is naturally not as good as dredging, but the second phase of the Zhe Yi Canal is only half repaired. Forcing it to open is easy to give up halfway, and before completion, its flood discharge effect is also to be discussed.

"At the moment, we can only pin our hopes on Digong Sluice. Ouyang Lianghan naturally has to go there to support.

"It's just that blocking is not as good as dredging. Even if Digong Sluice is newly built, it has a maximum limit. How high the water level of Yunmeng Marsh can block, and how long this last heavy rain of the plum rain season will last, everything is unknown.

"Catcher Yan, no need to feel guilty. Since he told you to stay, you and the Assistant Magistrate do what you should do in the rear, not adding chaos is the greatest help."

Su Guoer's calm analysis made the atmosphere on the field a little less solidified.

This little sister of the Su family nodded slightly to the Digong Sluice direction upstream, turned around, and took the bun-faced little maid to leave first.

Before walking out of the Zhumu Pavilion, facing away from the crowd, Su Guoer sighed softly:

"To have Ouyang Lianghan, it is indeed the fortune of the people of Longcheng."

"Miss, wait for the maid." Caishou ran forward to hold the umbrella.

The master and servant returned to Donglin Temple on the mountain.

Su Dala hesitated, stayed in place, and went up to discuss with Yan Liulang about the Su Fu raising a sum for the refuge camp.

Leaving the Zhumu Pavilion with Su Guoer and Caishou were Ye Weilai and Xiuniang.

The two girls followed behind with their heads down, absent-minded.

Like the maids of Meilin Studio, the Su family was also settled in Donglin Temple on the mountain, and the benefits of donating large amounts of incense money in the past were slightly reflected.

Su Guoer looked back, slowed down, walked side by side with Ye Weilai, looked ahead, and comforted her a few words between her lips.

Although Su Guoer was not very good at comforting people, you could tell from Ye Weilai's forced smile and her absent-minded walking.

The little white-haired girl's petite, slender body was mostly exposed to the umbrella, the shoulder of her narrow-fitting light pink skirt was wet, and a few strands of silver-white wet hair stuck to her pale cheeks that still had some baby fat, adding a few touches of pitifulness, and a sense of loss and helplessness like losing the backbone of life.

Under the same umbrella.

Su Guoer looked sideways at this rare and exotic white-haired girl.

Does Ouyang Lianghan like this?

With thoughtful eyes at the bottom of her eyes, Su Guoer suddenly reached out and gently picked up Ye Weilai's silver-white long hair with two fingers to look at it.

Ye Weilai's little face was stunned, and she took half a step back with a little vigilance.

Su Guoer's pretty face under the veil smiled.

At the very back, Xiuniang didn't care about the small movements in front, she frequently looked back at Digong Sluice, and at a certain moment reached out and grabbed Ye Weilai's sleeve...

On the mountain road, the little sister of the Su family walking at the very front had a slightly distracted face under the veil.

There were many thoughts.

This unexpected and reasonable flood crisis delayed the arrangements such as the birth ceremony prepared by the Su Fu for her, and she didn't know when the crisis would be lifted.

Su Guoer frowned slightly and couldn't help looking back at the Digong Sluice direction.

But immediately after, her expression froze.

"Eh, where are Miss Weilai? And that cook, where did they go? They were just following behind..."

Caishou, who was holding the umbrella, looked around curiously and muttered.

I saw that the mountain road behind the master and servant was empty.

Yunmeng Marsh not only has water.

There is also fog.

Only five days of torrential rain not only made the water level of Yunmeng Marsh rise, but also made the water vapor rise on the nine hundred miles of Yunmeng Marsh, with vast smoke and waves, as far as the eye could see.

If you block out the sound of the rain washing the whole world, the scene in front of Ouyang Rong is indeed the magnificent fairyland of "Qi steaming Yunmeng Marsh, waves shaking Yueyang City" by a famous literati in the Great Zhou Dynasty. It's a pity that what is deeply "shaken" by this Yunmeng beauty at the moment is the Digong Sluice dam, which holds all the hopes of the six Battalion Commander of officials and people in Longcheng County.

Those literati and ink-men in Chang'an and Luoyang are only obsessed with the nine hundred miles of smoke and waves of Yunmeng Marsh, and talk about the Yunmeng female cultivators who are as graceful as gods and goddesses recorded in myths and ghosts.

It's a pity that these wishes for beautiful scenery, similar to "poetry and distance" that circulate in the teahouses of the Great Zhou market, have become the nightmare of several counties in Jiangzhou.

This goddess can only be viewed from afar and cannot be played with.

Especially Longcheng County, which is passed through by Butterfly Creek and sandwiched between the north gate flood discharge outlet of Yunmeng Marsh and the rushing Yangtze River.

Bears the brunt.

The upstream Yunmeng Marsh is like the Yunmeng female cultivators in the marsh with eccentric tempers, difficult to figure out.

And every year, there is a tide, which is really like the red dragon of women every month, with a violent temper.

It made others suffer a blood mold.

You are poetry and distance, we are the misery in front of us...

On the hillside of Longbei Mountain, Ouyang Rong buried his head in hard work, silent, and didn't even have the strength to scold his mother in his heart.

He was wearing a coir raincoat and hat, his eyes were full of blood, and he stood hunched on the bamboo forest hillside.

At this time, Ouyang Rong took off his bamboo hat and threw it hard into the muddy ground at his feet.

He wiped the muddy water on his face with his palm and continued to wave his firewood knife, chopping bamboo together with Liu Ashan and other young and strong men.

Ouyang Rong felt that this bamboo hat was of no use.

It seemed to be raining from all directions.

The strong wind blowing from Yunmeng Marsh was capricious.

The rain not only fell from top to bottom, from left to right, but even the raindrops hit the ground, mixed with mud and bounced back, as if the raindrops were falling from bottom to top.

Ouyang Rong had never seen such a heavy rain in two lifetimes.

If he hadn't repeatedly confirmed with his junior sister that there were no heavenly gods in the sky, Ouyang Rong would have almost suspected whether the water of the Heavenly River in the sky had leaked down.

It rained endlessly.

Ouyang Rong and the dozens of strong men chopping bamboo in the bamboo forest were all soaked, except for their thirsty throats, there was no warm and dry place on their whole bodies.

Liu Ashan and other men had already started chopping bamboo in the rain with their bare chests.

Another burst of rain and wind hit, and the bamboo forest on this Longbei Mountain rattled.

Ouyang Rong's body swayed, he fell, and the firewood knife in his hand almost chopped his lower leg bone.

He grabbed the bamboo pole, climbed up from the muddy ground, wiped his face full of mud and water, and was about to continue.

"Master, drink a mouthful!"

Liu Ashan licked his muddy lips and handed over the only remaining clear water bag.

Ouyang Rong took the sheepskin water bag, opened it, took a fake sip, only touching his lips, and then threw it back to the wooden man, hoarsely ordering:

"Give it to the brothers to drink."

After speaking, without waiting for Liu Ashan, who was shaking the water bag with a puzzled face, to ask, Ouyang Rong stuck the firewood knife into the ground and turned to walk to the hillside not far behind.

He bent down, supported his knees with both hands, and gasped for breath.

During the short rest, his bloodshot eyes scanned the surroundings.

The rain falling on his head gathered into a stream, dripping from Ouyang Rong's temples and chin to the muddy ground at his feet.

Ouyang Rong hadn't closed his eyes for at least a day and a night of continuous work.

Except for the night he arrived at Digong Sluice upstream, he had a small nap in the cabin.

Everything around, heavy rain, he didn't even know what time it was now, busy and dark.

Ouyang Rong turned his head, shouted at the group of men, his hoarse voice barely covering the sound of the rain:

"Almost chopped, send a batch of bamboo poles back to the sluice for repair!"

Ouyang Rong picked up the bamboo hat that was shaking like a boat in the mud at his feet, pressed it on his head, turned around, and took Liu Ashan and other men, holding a full arms of bamboo poles, and returned to Digong Sluice not far down the mountain.

On the way, Ouyang Rong turned his head and looked at the colorful Min Min Fengshan opposite Longbei Mountain, which was hazy with smoke.

Over there, there were also a group of young and strong men he arranged to work hard.

But it was not chopping bamboo like their Longbei Mountain side.

Colorful Min Min Fengshan did not have a large bamboo forest like Longbei Mountain, but there were many sand and stones.

The men over there were filling sandbags with sand and stones, and like them, they were transported back to the sluice dam between the two mountains one after another.

The night before, Ouyang Rong had just arrived at Digong Sluice and found that the officials left behind at the water sluice were doing nothing.

Or rather, didn't know what to do at all.

Even sick and desperate.

They actually listened to the superstitious words of the old craftsman of the Ancient Yue Sword Shop left behind at the water sluice, and I don't know where they pulled a group of Long Wang Temple temple priests.

A group of messy people crowded on the high platform beside Digong Sluice, facing the surging Yunmeng Marsh, holding a sacrificial ceremony, feeding pigs, sheep, and other livestock, trying to appease the so-called anger of the Long Wang at the bottom of the water.

Ouyang Rong, in his official uniform, was so angry that he rushed up on the spot, kicked those temple priests who were pretending to be gods and ghosts to the ground and wailed, and ordered them to be forked down and work with the young and strong men under the water sluice to carry stones and transport soil, coming for a wave of labor reform.

Ouyang Rong was so angry that he laughed.

But soon he calmed down his anger, and his head hurt slightly.

In fact, he also knew that he couldn't ask too much of these officials and people guarding the sluice.

When disaster is imminent, it is good enough that these people can endure not abandoning the sluice and running away, although they are still superstitious about ghosts and gods.

But ignorance and ignorance are not obstacles to survival, but helplessness.

Later, Ouyang Rong calmed down, personally took over Digong Sluice, and began to command in an orderly manner.

Taking advantage of the fact that Digong Sluice could still barely hold on, he began to prepare important materials for saving the sluice.

Soon he made arrangements.

He first ordered the civil brave team led by Liu Ashan to act in two groups.

One group followed Ouyang Rong to collect bamboo poles here on Longbei Mountain.

One group loaded sandbags and stones over there on Colorful Min Min Fengshan.

The craftsmen from the Ancient Yue Sword Shop were left behind at the water sluice to observe and maintain.

As for the remaining six-department officials, they were sent to drive ships, and while the waterway could still pass, they went back and forth between the upper and lower reaches to transport materials to supply Digong Sluice.

In addition, they could gather the surrounding villagers and people along the way and send them to Mount Dagu downstream together...

Regarding the civil brave team as the main force for saving the sluice, in fact, they were all established when the twenty disaster relief camps in the suburbs were established. Liu Ashan established them under Ouyang Rong's suggestion, similar to militia, but changed a name to avoid touching certain Great Zhou laws that would be beheaded.

At that time, these civil brave teams were responsible for the order of work-for-relief, and later played a role in the struggle with grain merchants, the Liu family, and other forces, and together with the catcher class led by Yan Liulang, they were considered Ouyang Rong's left and right arms.

It's just that later, the post-disaster reconstruction was almost done, and the problems of grain merchants and Liu Ziwen were solved one after another. Many disaster victims left the disaster relief camp and returned to the countryside to rebuild. Most of the civil brave teams were disbanded, leaving only a small batch of elite young and strong men selected by Liu Ashan.

Now they have all been brought over.

In fact, this batch of young and strong men born and raised in Longcheng County are the ones who have the most feelings for this land of Longcheng, and they are also the most active in disaster relief and water governance. Liu Ashan is the representative.

They are the children of the elders and villagers of Longcheng County. Ouyang Rong brought them here, and naturally he is responsible for taking them back.

Ouyang Rong took a deep breath.

About an incense stick later, Ouyang Rong and the civil brave team brought the chopped and collected bamboo poles and returned to Digong Sluice one after another.

However, the scene that came into view made the young magistrate's tired face stunned.

"Why are these villagers and fellow villagers all on the sluice, and they are getting more and more crowded? Didn't I tell you to send them to Mount Dagu downstream?"

Ouyang Rong said with a headache.

The officials left behind looked at each other, lowered their heads, and didn't speak.

Woo woo woo, finally got a recommendation spot. Ahem, recommend the old book *I Have a Fairy Wife* to new book friends! If you like Xiao Rong's style, good brothers who are interested can go and take a look~

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 183 =====