The craftsmen were busy, some transporting stones, some building stone walls, all with specialized tools and skills. Others were polishing the stones to make them more refined. The stones had undergone several processing steps in the county town, but to fully meet the standards for building a sturdy bridge and to ensure a perfect fit, some stones still needed to be polished further.
Zhao Lizheng comes to the construction site every day. He treats the foreman well, so he is very dedicated and conscientious. However, as the head of the village, he also has to fulfill his responsibilities.
"Uncle Zhao."
A crisp sound rang out beside him, and Zhao Lizheng turned his gaze from the project to Qiao Lian'er.
"Lian'er, come and see what's going on," Zhao Lizheng said with a smile.
This bridge spans both banks, is grand in scale and exquisite in design, with large openings for water passage and smaller openings for flood diversion and pressure relief, demonstrating excellent design.
At first, he had craftsmen build a model of this bridge, which was more than two meters wide. Then he used a large amount of water to impact it, and the bridge remained unmoved, reducing the force of the water flow on the downstream.
It's just a bridge, so it can't guarantee 100% flood prevention, but if it can mitigate 50-60%, it can save 60-70% of the rice on both banks.
For the villagers who suffer from floods year after year, that's enough.
And those paddy fields that were not severely affected by the floods could even be completely harvested thanks to the protection provided by this bridge.
The bridge designed by Qiao Lian'er is something that can be explained away.
“Uncle Zhao, let’s talk over here,” Qiao Lian’er said.
Seeing her serious expression, Zhao Lizheng realized that although the girl was young, she had more ideas than many adults, and they were all effective.
He followed her to a secluded place.
"you say."
Qiao Lian'er: "Actually, Uncle Zhao also knows that if we want to prevent floods from the root, it is not realistic to rely on just one bridge."
Zhao Lizheng originally wanted to say a few words of comfort, but when he met those clear, bright black eyes, he knew that Qiao Lian'er had not come to hear any nice words from him.
"Sigh, yes, but—"
Qiao Lian'er expressed her concerns: "If we want to build a dam, then we need to widen the river channel. If we want to build a reservoir, we also need to build a reservoir that can hold a large amount of floodwater, which requires a wider river channel. This great river is narrow in some places, and there are no suitable sections. Flood control often requires a combination of reservoirs and dams. To do this, it will cost a huge amount of money and manpower, material resources and financial resources. I don't know how long it will take to complete."
"So what I thought of at the time was to build a bridge over a relatively wide river, which was the least expensive, the shortest time, and the most effective method possible."
"However, bridges mainly serve as buffers, and their role in flood diversion and discharge is not very significant, because the total amount of water flow will not change. We need to find other solutions."
“Lian’er, I originally thought that it would be enough to save about 60 or 70% of the crops. After this buffer, some of them might even be completely saved.”
"This result means your plan was effective. I will never let your mother return to the Song family, so you can rest assured."
Qiao Lian'er shook her head: "Uncle Zhao, it's not all for my mother. I hope everyone can preserve as much grain as possible, since we look forward to this much harvest from the fields all year round."
"I don't want you to go to the government office again, Uncle Zhao, and ask those landlords and gentry for relief money."
At the beginning, Zhao Lizheng begged and pleaded with everyone to raise the money. It was very hard work, and he lost a lot of weight. He probably wouldn't want to go through that experience again.
“You silly girl, it’s not that I’m unwilling, but it’s really hard to get money out of other people. Once you’ve taken it, you have to wait at least a few years before you can go back. If you go now, I’m afraid they’ll have to close their doors to customers.” Zhao Lizheng said, laughing heartily.
Then his face became more serious: "Since you've said that, you must have another idea. Tell me about it."
He would be very willing to do anything to preserve the food supply, overcoming all difficulties and hardships.
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