In July of the fifth year of Xianning in the Jin Dynasty, heavy rains fell continuously in Ruyin, and the water level of the Ru River surged. Some low-lying areas were flooded, and there was a vast ocean.

The heavy rain has been falling for seven or eight days, with no intention of stopping. People are hiding at home and worried. Now they are worried not about whether the crops will be harvested, but about whether the heavy rain continues like this, which may affect their homes and their lives.

It can't be saved.

"Grandpa, when will this rain stop?"

It has been raining heavily for seven or eight days in a row, which is indeed a scary thing. Shu Yan looked at the heavy rain outside the window and looked very uneasy. In the past, when it rained, Shu Yan liked to listen to the sound of rain, the heavy rain and the drizzle.

, the ticking shower fell on the ground, on the earthen pots, in the puddles, the sound

The sounds are all different, but they are all very pleasant. But today is different. He always feels that the sound of rain today is very annoying, even a little scary. Shu Yan is already fourteen years old, obviously much taller than the previous two years.

Although he has a childish look on his face, his contours are getting clearer and more handsome.

"Who knows? It should stop soon." Although Dr. Shu said this, he actually had no idea at all.

The old and the young were in panic. Shu An came back from outside wearing a raincoat. He is the pillar of the family. However, this pillar did not bring comfort to the grandparents and grandchildren, but brought even worse news.

: "Not only here, I heard that the whole Yuzhou,

Even neighboring Xuzhou is experiencing heavy rains, and floods have occurred in many places. Countless houses and crops have been submerged." Shu An worried, "If this continues, the Ruhe River embankment may not be able to hold on, and neither will our place.

It will not be saved, and it will be the first to bear the brunt."

"The foundation of the Ruhe River embankment is solid. As long as the county sends more manpower to strengthen the embankment, there should be no problem if it rains for another three or two days." Dr. Shu said this and sighed, "But now, the county officials

It’s all about saving your life, so why risk your life by running onto the embankment? Besides, there are floods all over Yuzhou right now, and even if the state, county, and county want to take care of it, they really can’t take care of it.”

"Then we can only watch our homes being destroyed by floods?" Shu An was restless. He walked out of the outhouse and looked at the heavy rain on the street. Suddenly, a man wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat, holding a copper

Gong, walking in a hurry.

"Chief Xia Pavilion, Chief Xia Pavilion." Shu An saw the man clearly and greeted him hurriedly.

When Xia Chun saw Shu An greeting him, he followed Shu An into the house.

Shu An helped him take off his wet rain gear, and Dr. Shu An asked him to sit next to him.

"Xia Tingchang, it's raining so hard, why are you going?"

Xia Chun was already over fifty years old and his hair was already gray. He took off his muddy straw sandals and said, "Oh, what else can we do? Patrol the embankment! Isn't this right? Due to continuous heavy rains, many places elsewhere have been flooded.

The county has issued a notice that all places along the Ru River must be inspected strictly and any situation reported to the superiors in a timely manner. Our place is closest to the Ru River and is the most careless. No, I just came back from the river embankment."

Shu An asked hurriedly: "How is the river embankment? Can it still hold up?"

Due to running around in the wind and rain for days and worrying about the river embankment, Xia Chun's old face looked very pale, and his words were not as sharp as before: "It's in danger, it's in danger. It's better elsewhere, especially in the west of Shujiazhuang.

A dike upstream, about 100 feet

Long. The dike there is very weak and leaks have already occurred. If it continues like this, I am afraid it will not be able to withstand tomorrow. Once there is a breach, the flood will directly rush through our Shujiazhuang. By then, not only the crops on the river bank will be in danger, but Shujiazhuang as well.

The lives of fellow villagers, old and young, are also at stake."

The people present listened to what Chief Xia Ting said, and their expressions became more solemn. Although they had anticipated the danger, it was just a guess, and they were more or less lucky. Only now did they know that the danger was confirmed.

Shu Yan asked weakly from the side: "Then why don't the imperial court and our Ruyin King Sima Jun send people to strengthen the river embankment?"

Chief Xia Ting shook his head repeatedly: "Reinforce the river embankment? Haha, even if you want to prevent floods, how can you take care of it? Now the water level of the Ruhe and Huaihe rivers for hundreds of miles has exceeded the warning level. Ruyin City and Huainan City may not be protected. Small

shujiazhuang

How can you still care about it! Also, Sima Jun is no longer our King of Ruyin since last year, and the emperor named him King of Fufeng. Our new King of Ruyin is the youngest son of our current emperor, named Sima Mo

, only three years old!”

"Then we can only sit back and wait for death?" Shu Yan looked at his father and Chief Xia Ting.

Shu Anteng stood up: "You must not sit still and wait for death!"

The impression of his father on Shu Yan was that of a scholar and a farmer. But today, these resolute words and this vigorous movement made him look like a mighty and courageous hero.

Before he finished speaking, someone outside the door responded: "Yes, absolutely not!"

Everyone looked back and saw a man walking in, not wearing a raincoat but only a bamboo hat.

"Uncle Han."

It turned out that Han Ning, like Shu An, was worried about the safety of the river embankment and had been restless for the past two days. Today he couldn't sit still at home and came to see Shu An. He happened to hear President Xia Ting talking to Shu An.

Xia Tingchang looked at the two young wise men who had declined his recommendation in the past, and asked: "What do you two mean?"

"Since we can't point to the county, we will protect the river embankment ourselves!"

"Yes, Chief Xia Ting, Brother Shu is right. For the safety of the people in Shujiazhuang, young and old, we must not sit back and wait for death to protect the embankment ourselves!"

A burst of emotion arose in the heart of Xia Tingchang. These two people no longer looked like scholars at all. They were not like farmers and scholars in Shujiazhuang, but more like fighting heroes on the battlefield. Thinking of the time when the imperial court ordered all counties to be flooded, Xia Tingzhang

The director of the pavilion wanted to recommend these two people, but these two people were not moved by fame and fortune and refused to accept the recommendation. But now, when the fellow villagers are facing danger, they have to step forward!

"Okay, you two, we are proud to have people with lofty ideals and benevolence like you in Shujiazhuang. If all the court officials are like you, the people of the world will be blessed." At this point, Chief Xia Ting became energetic. He

He stood up and put on his mud shoes, "This berm is not something that you two can do. It can't be done with less people. You two prepare first. I will go to the street to greet the young men in Shujiazhuang. Everyone.

Let’s go to the berm together!”

Chief Xia Ting put on his rain gear, picked up the gong, and went out. He knocked on the door and shouted: "Fellows, folks, the heavy rain keeps coming. The upper reaches of the river embankment will not survive until tomorrow. The lives of the young and old in Shujiazhuang are at stake."

, all the young and middle-aged men followed Shu An and Han Ning with hoes and baskets to the bank of the Ru River to protect the embankment." He walked around several villages near Shujiazhuang, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Shu An said to Dr. Shu: "Aweng, Uncle Xie, you are old and cannot withstand the wind and rain. Never go out and stay at home." Then he turned to his wife Zhou. For some reason, Shu An felt a little inexplicable.

He lingered: "Keep an eye on Yan'er." He said and turned around to get the hoe.

"Let's go together, I don't trust you to go alone."

Without saying too many words, Shu An understood his wife's decision.

Shu Yan grabbed his sleeve: "Aweng, I want to go too."

"You are still young, stay at home with your grandpa!"

Shu An picked up the hoe, while Zhou carried the basket and ran towards the river bank. Han Ning was already walking in front with the hoe. His wife Liu originally wanted to go, but Liu was frail and had two children at home.

So Mrs. Liu took Zhixin, Ruoxin and the three of them to stay at home.

Shu An and the others came to the river embankment and saw that the previously smooth and gentle water of the Ru River had become turbulent and turbid. The water flow was very fast, at least ten times the usual speed, and made a huge noise. There was a lot of sediment, broken branches, and firewood in the upper reaches.

, washed downstream along the current.

For the berm, the workload of these three people was simply a drop in the bucket. After finally digging a basket of soil, they had to put down the hoe and two people carried it to the embankment, and then came back to continue digging. Fortunately, soon, Shujiazhuang

The young and middle-aged people nearby heard the call of Chief Xia Ting, and they all brought their tools with them.

They rushed over one after another. Chief Xia Ting made a simple division of labor: there were spare stones for flood control on the edge of the river embankment. Some people moved stones to the river embankment, some people were responsible for digging soil, and some people were responsible for digging.

Use baskets to carry the good soil up the river embankment and fill the gaps between the stones.

The rain was still falling, not letting up at all, but the wind was getting stronger. Even though people were wearing raincoats and bamboo hats, their bodies were still wet from the rain, so everyone simply took off their raincoats and bamboo hats, and started working like this

Be more flexible. People are fighting for time against rising water levels.

Shu An kept his head lowered, and the hoe in his hand kept turning. As soon as a basket was carried away, another basket came. He only worked hard to dig the soil, and had no time to pay attention to which villager was carrying the basket. However,

He always felt that one pair of basket-carryers was clearly struggling more than the other pairs. Only when he took a closer look did he suddenly realize that this weak pair was his wife and son.

The combined strength of Zhou and Shu Yan was about the same as that of a strong man. Carrying a basket full of soil up the river embankment was of course laborious and the walk was wobbly. Fortunately, the woman's feet were not damaged at that time, although her strength was smaller.

, but walking is still stable.

It turned out that Shu Yan saw his parents on the river embankment. He was restless at home, so he said hello to his grandfather and came to the river embankment. Dr. Shu had not yet decided whether to let him go or not. In the blink of an eye, Shu Yan

Yan disappeared.

Everyone saw the women and children of the Shu family participating in the berm, and the crowd was excited. In the wind, in the rain, in the mud, they came up, went down, fell, and climbed up. People worked frantically as if digging for treasure. There is only danger in doing this.

And unpaid work, but any paid work will not have such motivation.

In the evening, the berm work was basically completed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone was exhausted. When people do heavy work, they often don't know they are tired at the time, but they only realize that their physical strength is exhausted when the work is completed.

Shu

An, Han Ning, Zhou and others dragged their tired bodies and climbed onto the river embankment on the slippery soil. Seeing that the turbulent floods were blocked by the solid embankment, the three of them finally felt relieved -

—The people of Shujiazhuang can be saved.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew from behind people. Han Ning instinctively ducked back, but his tired body was shaking. His feet slipped and he fell into the flood. Shu An saw that it was not good and hurriedly reached out to pull Han Ning.

Ning, he grabbed Han Ning's hand tightly. At the same time, Mrs. Zhou quickly grabbed her husband's hand and exerted all her strength.

Pulling up. The three of them tried their best, but no matter whether it was the slippery ground or the slippery mud hands, there was no point of focus, and they couldn't use their strength at all. In an instant, the three of them fell into the turbid waves.

When people reacted, the three people had already disappeared into the distance with the flood, disappearing from sight.

Shu An and others all grew up by the river. There are many people here who know how to swim. On normal days, the soothing water of the Ru River cannot stop Shu An and Han Ning. But it is different during floods, and the river water becomes turbid.
Chapter completed!