On May 20th, the heavy rain in Gyeonggi Province continued to fall.
The Yellow River outside Tokyo is roaring, the Bianhe River passing through the city is surging, and the water in Jinmingchi in the west of the city is rising step by step. It may destroy the lake embankment at any time and pour into Bianliang...
Such a dangerous scene made all the men and horses who were ordered to guard the two rivers and one lake must be alert and guard at all times. The officials of the Ministry of Works who were proficient in water conservancy were rushing around day and night to deal with the dangers. In the river section, correct decisions were made in time to turn the tide. Even if they were tired, exhausted, and exhausted, no one flinched.
At noon, Xu Jue, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was soaked to the skin and half covered with mud, came to the bank of Jinming Pool again, followed by two thousand soldiers and horses. After looking at the water surface that was almost level with the lake embankment, and the men and women who were always walking in front of the embankment, he frowned deeply again, and then he let go of his throat and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Jinjie, where is Jinjie?" ?”
After calling for many times, I saw a person coming quickly from a short distance away. It was Jin Jie, a doctor from the Ministry of Works, the water conservancy official responsible for the safety here. At this time, he looked really embarrassed. His official uniform and hat had been thrown away. He was wearing short clothes worn by ordinary people. He was barefoot, his face was pale and swollen, his eyes were sunken and clothed. It was full of bloodshot eyes, which was the result of many days of fighting in the water without any rest.
Because of extreme fatigue, his hands and feet were a little weak. When he came to Xu Jue, he tripped over something and almost fell into the water. Fortunately, there were subordinates nearby who helped him in time, allowing him to stabilize his body. Then he clasped his fists in a hoarse voice and said, "I have seen Xu Shangshu. I wonder what Shangshu's orders are?"
"How are the things I asked you to do?" At this time, Xu Jue didn't bother to say polite words to him, and asked directly: "Qionglin Garden in the west, and the dozens of villages in that area Have all the people been dismissed?"
"No... no..." Jin Jie suddenly said with bitterness on his face: "The people in Qionglinyuan have almost left, but the people in other villages refused to move. Instead, they threatened the people we sent, if we dare If they dig a lake and flood their village, their master will definitely sue the court, leaving us with no food to eat. The low-ranking officials are so soft-spoken that they really can't persuade the nobles."
Even though he was prepared, after hearing such an answer, Xu Jue still had a look of irritation on his face. After breathing heavily for a few times, he said: "Didn't you make it clear to them? What if you didn't?" If we divert the lake water to them, the whole of Tokyo and Bianliang will suffer."
"They are not willing to listen to the explanation of their humble position. Moreover, they even said that it is our Ministry of Industry's responsibility to guard Jinmingchi, so what does it have to do with them!"
"This is really unreasonable!" Xu Jue suddenly trembled with anger and didn't know what to say.
In fact, he had already found out that the dozens of Zhuangzi in the Qionglin Garden area in the west were indeed the property of prominent nobles in the court. They were not something he could easily offend, let alone forcefully submerge them. Their property—even if time is allowed to allow them to move away as much property and people as possible.
These nobles include not only royal children who have been here for hundreds of years, but also many civil servants with high status or power. The Song Dynasty was indeed the most tolerant to civil servants since ancient times.
In this era, not only did officials receive extremely high salaries, but they also always received rewards during the New Year and festivals. If they had occasional merit, those officials who had passed the imperial examinations on the right path could also be allocated a well-paid village near the capital as a supplement. Although these Zhuangzi will be taken back by the court after he is removed from office, as long as he is still in the officialdom, this Zhuangzi will become the private property of that official and receive a lot of benefits.
It can be said that these Zhuangzi are not only a lot of real benefits for the officials, but also a symbol of status. How can they be easily flooded by people from the Ministry of Industry? As for the possible floods in the capital, what does it have to do with them
Seeing that Xu Jue was so angry and speechless for a long time, a burly officer who had been standing behind him spoke: "Xu Shangshu, since these guys are so ungrateful, you don't have to give them any more time." What a waste of face, leave this job to our brothers." This person is none other than Fan Qi. He is now in charge of the security of the capital and has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under his command. However, this time he was assisted by Sun Tu on his orders. department to deal with floods.
Not only the two thousand soldiers and horses at present, but also the soldiers and horses patrolling the dam of the Yellow River Bianhe and Jinmingchi are all under his command, so Fan Qi is also the general who pays the most attention to floods.
"General Fan, I'm just worried that if I use force, it will cause greater trouble. Why don't I go meet with them again, explain to them, and persuade them to move out as soon as possible. Judging from the water flow and heavy rain, Tomorrow, the Jinming Lake will burst its banks, so the flood must be diverted before dark today!" Xu Jue put forward his own opinion after pondering for a while.
"Then give them another half day. We can't delay it any longer." Fan Qi nodded immediately and said, "I'll go with you to talk to them, so that you won't be hurt by these ungrateful guys."
"Okay, without further ado, let's go over there." The situation was urgent, Xu Jue nodded immediately, supported his tired body, and hurried towards Zhuangzi in the west. He believed that as long as three or two of them could be persuaded to move, the other families would follow suit.
But what happened later made his hope come to nothing. Xu Jue went to seven villages in a row, said a lot of good things, and presented facts and reasons. However, the other party was indifferent and refused to agree to move out. Even the steward of the last Pei family manor was even more sarcastic: "Haven't you, Xu Shangshu, always prided yourself on your knowledge of water conservancy? Now that you can't handle such a trivial matter, it's better to resign from the official position and let someone with the solution take over." .”
"You..." Xu Jue was not good at words to begin with. Being squeezed like this made him even more furious and speechless. He could only huff and puff there, without any solution.
At this time, Fan Qi finally couldn't stand it anymore and stared: "Come here, tie up everyone in this village and drag them away from here!" Since the other party refused to cooperate, he could only Use force and force.
At this point, Xu Jue looked at the sky and knew that he would never be able to give himself more time to persuade and test, so he could only remain silent.
The soldiers who had been watching annoyed for a long time immediately became energetic after receiving the order, and decisively rushed into the Pei family's village to drag people away. After a lot of excitement, a surprising scene appeared. There were only three people in the village. It was obviously an empty manor!
"What are you doing? You dare to arrest people randomly. Do we, the Song Dynasty, really have no royal laws
I'm going to the court to sue you, my master..." The man in charge still looked very arrogant at this moment, shouting loudly, which made Fan Qi even more annoyed. He immediately stepped forward, waved his hand and gave him two slaps: "Here. I shut up! "
This immediately shocked the other party. The steward shut up and his body started to tremble a little. Fan Qi took a step forward, stared at him and asked: "Tell me, where are the other people in this village? Don't try to hide it from me, saying that they have something to leave. Can there be only two or three people left if they have something to leave?" ? If you dare to tell lies again, I will tie you here later and wait for the flood to come to see if you die or not! Tell me!"
The strong murderous intention made this man suddenly lose his courage, and he immediately told the truth: "Yes... it was my master's order two days ago, asking us to move all the property and people in the village overnight, leaving only A few of us took care of the delay..."
The other party's admission made Xu Jue's expression change even more. In these days, because they were always paying attention to the water situation, it was impossible for the people near Jinming Pool to pay attention to the movement on Zhuangzi not far away. Under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, they were naturally able to evacuate this dangerous place without anyone noticing, and then only a few people were entangled with them...
It’s ridiculous that I have been holding off until today because I was afraid that it would cause many casualties! A wave of anger mixed with grievance rushed into his heart, making his mouth sweet, and he vomited a large mouthful of blood with a loud sound. Everyone around him was shocked and hurriedly stepped forward to help him.
And Fan Qi's expression was even more gloomy. He had already understood that this must not be the behavior of just one family in the Pei family. I am afraid that all Zhuangzi here have gone to Zhuangkong, leaving only two or three people to deal with the delay. As for their purpose, in addition to wanting to protect their own property, I'm afraid there is a deeper and more vicious reason. In the final analysis, they are coming for the imperial court, that is, Sun Tu and the others who are in power.
"Xu Shangshu, we will definitely investigate this matter to the end, and the Taiwei will not let them off so easily!" Fan Qi quickly came to Xu Jue and said consolingly: "You have been wronged, and the court will not let them go so easily!" Let's forget it. But the most important thing right now is to get through the current predicament first. I will lead people to capture all the remaining people here and take them away. Then, before it gets dark, we will divert the flood and alleviate the situation. The burden of Jinming Lake.”
Xu Jue calmed down a bit after vomiting blood, and he clasped his fists and said, "General Lao Fan will take care of everything. I will go to the lake and keep an eye on it. As long as you clear out everyone and send out a signal, we will open the embankment."
Next, they acted separately. When Xu Jue returned to the lake embankment, the villages to the west were already in chaos. Just as they had guessed, there were actually very few people in all the villages, and their property and even livestock had been evacuated early. They had actually left a way out for themselves.
However, this was good, as it saved Fan Qi's men and others a lot of effort. In just over an hour, they captured all the people left behind in dozens of villages, and then decisively shot a loud arrow to notify the people on Jinming Pond that they could open fire. embankment.
At the turn of Shen and You, with a burst of busyness, the dike on the west side of Jinmingchi began to slowly collapse, and then under the continuous impact of the lake water, the gap spread, and a large amount of lake water rushed forward with rumbling thunder - Qiong Linyuan and its surrounding large manor farmland suddenly became a country...