Chapter 128 Liu Ji: Just a Little Language Skill
The rain was pouring down and there was no sign of it stopping.
Wei Shengxue stood in the rain with an umbrella, and saw only a foggy ground with no end in sight.
"System, how long will it take for the rain to stop?"
The current rainfall will continue for another 2 hours and 13 minutes, then gradually decrease and turn into light rain after 34 hours.
The levees in Wushang County are about to collapse.
'What? Where is that?'
Weishengxue was unfamiliar with this place name and did not have the impression that it was any important city.
[A few hundred miles from here, there is a resettlement site for mountain dwellers, located in the Kuaiji County Basin.]
basin.
As soon as he heard about the terrain, Wei Shengxue had an idea in his mind.
Low-lying areas such as basins and valleys have always been severely affected by floods.
Wei Shengxue directly jumped over the walls and landed outside the meeting hall in the outer courtyard. He walked in three or two steps. At this time, Liu Ji was leading people to discuss post-disaster reconstruction matters.
Skipping disaster relief and focusing on post-disaster preparedness may sound cruel, but this is the prevailing approach in the Qin Empire. Natural disasters are invincible; that's simply ingrained in their minds. All humans can do is minimize the impact of a natural disaster.
"Liu Ji, give me the information about Wushang County." Wei Shengxue made the request as soon as she entered.
"Master!" Liu Ji looked up when he heard the words, and immediately stood up and saluted when he saw her.
"Greetings, Immortal Master." The others bowed.
Wei Shengxue really didn't have time to waste on such unnecessary formalities. She waved her hand in return and said directly, "The dam in Wushang County is about to collapse."
"Has the levee been reinforced there?"
The dam in Wushang County?
Everyone in the hall looked at each other.
Wushang County is a place for resettling mountain people and is located in a basin surrounded by mountains. Their only requirement for the place is that they don't cause trouble.
The rest...
If the Guanzhong area is the Qin Dynasty's biological son and the lands of the six kingdoms are its adopted sons, then places like Wushang County are the orphans built by the orphanage under its control. As long as they have food to eat and don't starve to death, it is enough. More investment is impossible. Even if there are resources, they will only be a little bit that slips through the fingers.
The construction of Kuaiji County is in full swing now, and we don’t even have enough manpower, so how can we transfer them to build Wushang County?
Liu Ji coughed lightly and whispered, "We've approved more than a dozen truckloads of cement for them. I've sent a message to the Wushang County Magistrate, asking him to build well."
The things were given and the order was issued, but I don’t know what happened next.
Weishengxue glanced at him. This obvious inaction and blame-shifting was something she didn't expect to see again after leaving the interstellar space for so many years.
She rubbed her brows and didn't care about it anymore. After all, this was the territory of the Qin Dynasty, and she was just a temporary stayer trying to gain merit, so she couldn't care less.
"Has the road in been repaired?"
"Yes, the road has definitely been built." Finally mentioning something that had been done successfully, Liu Ji quickly replied, "Building roads is something that the entire country is doing well on, and Kuaiji County will certainly not lag behind."
“It’s just that the roads into the mountains are difficult and winding, so you have to take a lot of detours to get there and back.”
Wei Shengxue asked worriedly, "Is it according to the prescribed standards?"
Liu Ji nodded: "I will personally monitor it. They dare not cut corners on such matters."
This dedication is in stark contrast to the letting go just now. The difference between caring and not caring is so huge.
"The heavy rain will continue for more than an hour and will not stop until about two days later. The levees in Wushang County will not last through today."
Luo Qing tried to dig out the location of the Wushang County levee from his memory, but after a while he couldn't remember. He stood up and pulled out the records from the wall to check. After a moment, his gaze froze as he flipped through the documents, and his face paled inch by inch.
"The Wushang County dam is just upstream from us. If it breaks..."
Luo Qing's drawn-out voice sounded slowly, adding a bit of gloom to the already depressing meeting hall.
"What do you mean by 'just upstream of us'? What do you mean by upstream of us? Upstream of us is clearly..." The person who spoke paused in vain. He remembered that the largest river nearby had a tributary flowing into it.
"That branch is... the one in Wushang County?" He looked at others as if seeking confirmation.
Weishengxue: ...?
No, you guys have been officials here for so many years, and yet we still have typhoons every year. Don’t you even know this?!
When she first said it, they were indifferent and she thought no one cared. It turned out that no one knew the consequences.
Once again I was speechless.
Wei Shengxue and the others tacitly ignored the awkward silence and turned to discuss how to support Wushang County.
The most important point,
"How much supplies can be mobilized now to close the dam?"
County Magistrate Luo Qing answered immediately.
"We also need the county lieutenant to send troops to cooperate."
When it comes to organizational and operational capabilities, it still comes down to the army.
The county lieutenant was reluctant to mobilize the troops. "There are only a few thousand soldiers stationed here. If we mobilize all of them, I'm afraid we won't be able to suppress the people below."
Liu Ji immediately shut his mouth when he was about to persuade her.
Many of the troops in the county were recruited locally and haven't been properly trained yet. If the most obedient ones are transferred away, there's no guarantee that the remaining ones won't cause trouble. What's needed now is to solve problems, not create new ones.
Wei Shengxue said, "As many as we can mobilize, we'll recruit the rest as laborers."
Liu Ji pulled her aside and whispered, "If it's just to guard the local dike, many people would be willing to go. But now we have to go to Wushang County. No one there treats us as our own. I'm afraid no one will be willing to go."
This is not a simple task of handing over some soil and holding an umbrella. Reinforcing the embankment on rainy days involves risking one's life.
Wei Shengxue didn't understand. "If the upstream dam breaks, the downstream will inevitably be affected."
"That was after the dam broke," Luo Qing said, knowing his subordinates' thoughts better. "Besides, this year's grain has already been stored. Even if it really gets flooded, the worst that can happen is that we can just run to the mountains to avoid the water."
"According to the pattern of previous years, the water will recede in half a month at most."
There is no need to rush to save this half month unless it endangers your own survival.
Wei Shengxue was silent.
Liu Ji was also silent.
That makes a lot of sense, I feel convinced.
Wei Shengxue shook her head lightly and jumped out of his language cage.
"Have you ever considered that the floodwaters from the broken dam will carry away the most fertile topsoil in the farmland?"
She met the suddenly widened eyes of several people and said, "Now that Kuaiji County has built a dam, if the largest one is washed away... we won't be able to save all the houses and the pearls in the base."
Food is not the only property. Living conditions have improved in the past two years, and many families have built new houses.
A good house may require a farmer’s savings of more than ten years or even two generations. Can everyone be willing to afford it?
That makes sense.
But there's still a problem...
"The mountain roads in Wushang County are winding, and it normally takes several days to get there. Now it's raining heavily, and with all the baggage, if we're not careful we'll fall off the cliff, and lose everything."
Transportation issues have always been a major issue that cannot be ignored.
But this problem is not a problem for Weishengxue.
"Leave it to me."
Liu Ji's first reaction was, "Can the teleportation array be used to send people?"
"No, not even the grass with its roots can be transmitted." Wei Shengxue felt a headache when he thought about the teleportation array that he had been trying to improve for a long time but could not improve.
"I'll take care of it anyway, don't worry about the transportation."
"Okay, I'll immediately order the gathering of men." Liu Ji nodded in agreement and then asked her, "I might need to borrow some of your reputation."
Weishengxue agreed.
…
“The dam is about to break!”
"The government is hiring people to reinforce the dam!"
When hearing the news, no one doubted its authenticity.
Having lived in Kuaiji County for generations, they encountered the wrath of the sea god every summer. Sometimes the wind and rain were light, sometimes heavy. They knew clearly from the oral traditions of their elders what level of rain would not cause any harm and what level of water would flood farmland and houses.
"Fortunately, there are immortals, otherwise we wouldn't even have the chance to hide in the mountains." The people who were running up the mountain with their families, carrying their bags, kept thanking them, while leading the cows and sheep without stopping.
"Isn't the government office recruiting people? If we all leave, who will reinforce the dam? The dam won't be able to hold up." Some people were still hesitating and wavering.
"Well, that's something those officials should worry about. We just have to take care of ourselves. Look at me. I finally saved enough money to build a house and get married, but now I have no choice but to drag my mother and wife up the mountain." Someone hissed and felt sorry for his house, but he didn't dare to stop running towards higher places.
"But my house was just covered with fairy mud. All my family's money was invested in it. If it is washed away by water, how can my son get married? Where will we live?" Someone stopped and turned to walk down the mountain.
"I'm not leaving either."
With the first one, there was a second one, and another person stood still.
"I've planted an acre of radishes, waiting to harvest them in the fall so I can store them and eat fresh vegetables even in the winter. The immortals said that children need to eat more vegetables in the winter so they can grow strong. My son and daughter are still young, and I can't let them go without vegetables!"
He cannot let his descendants go through the hardships he suffered in his childhood again.
One person, two people, three people... countless people gave up hiding and returned to the village. They then went to the registration point in groups of villages to sign up to participate in the dam reinforcement.
But when we got here, we saw many people in long robes, with delicate skin and tender flesh, and it was obvious that they were from a prestigious family.
"Did we go to the wrong place? Is this the registration point for the provincial examination?"
"No, this is the registration point for the dam reinforcement. We're here to help," a man in scholar's robes explained. "If the dam breaks, the provincial examination won't be held. And this time, the immortals will be there to protect us throughout."
Speaking of this, his eyes lit up with longing, "Being able to fight alongside the immortals and admire their celestial figures up close, I have no regrets in this life."
Someone else interrupted and shared a secret message, "And the Immortal said that everyone who participated in reinforcing the dam this time will have their names engraved on the monument of merit she personally forged!"
"This monument of merit, forged by the immortal himself, will be erected beside the dam, to be passed down through the ages!"
To leave a good reputation for eternity, isn’t this the highest pursuit of writers?
Now all you have to do is do some hard work that doesn't put your life in danger, and you'll achieve it!
"What?!"
"Brother, is what you just said true?!"
"That merit stele just now! It was cast by the immortal himself!"
"Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, ask that gentleman! The county magistrate, whom the immortal trusts the most, would never lie. The news was leaked by that gentleman!" The man who broke the news just now saw that the time was ripe and decisively pulled out the most important witness.
Liu Ji appeared on stage in neat clothes.
"Mr. County Magistrate, can we do it too?" Several common people, their trouser legs still stained with mud, looked at him eagerly.
Liu Ji flashed his signature smile, inviting everyone to join in the effort. He declared, "Thanks to the immortal, all those who participated in the dam reinforcement will have their names inscribed on the monument of merit she personally crafted. Furthermore," he emphasized, "anyone who ventures onto the dam will receive the immortal's blessing! You'll be safe!"
Wow!
At the gate of the government office, everyone who heard it was stunned by the explosive news.
I originally thought that not being forced to take them away to build the dam was good enough, but I didn’t expect there would be such a benefit!
"We have been blessed by the immortals. This is such a great thing that even smoke is coming out of our ancestors' graves! I think there will be a few scholars in our family in the future." Some people subconsciously bent down and patted the mud on their trouser legs, and stomped their feet hard to shake off the mud on the soles of their shoes.
The others woke up as if from a dream and rushed forward, "Sir, I want to sign up!"
"Sir, I am the strongest and can carry the most sacks!"
"grown ups……"
The scholars who were originally standing in the front row of the team were pushed aside by the common people who were desperately trying to squeeze forward. They jumped and kicked but couldn't get a hand in. They wanted to curse but were concerned about their status, so they could only glare at them angrily.
"First come, first served, understand?! Whether it was registration or the immortal's blessing, I was here first. How could this happen? How could you take my spot?"
The yamen runners were shouting at the top of their lungs in the wind and rain, barely maintaining order. The clerks registering under the eaves were writing with their hands so hard that they had no time to sharpen the ink as it was almost dry.
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