However, being an official is not easy. Not only do they have to handle various official duties, but they also have to communicate with relevant departments, write all kinds of summary reports and approvals... In short, the waters here are very deep, completely different from what ordinary people think on the surface.
Zheng Quchi patted the thin shoulder of the county magistrate: "County magistrate, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood. If you overdo it and collapse, wouldn't that delay things? Last night, Captain Wu successfully rescued the trapped people. There's nothing urgent now. So, I suggest you go back and take a nap for an hour or two. I'll come back and discuss something with you later."
The magistrate ultimately followed her advice, because even though his mind wanted to stay awake a little longer, sleepiness wouldn't allow it, and his body still had to slump down.
Zheng Quchi called on the people from Hualin Garden and Nanlin Garden to go out on patrol. Since the water supervisor and the chief river patrol officer had not yet arrived, and she was anxious, she decided to take people to climb up to see the current situation in the upper and middle reaches.
As the rain stopped, the rising water level gradually receded, but the exact extent of the rise was unclear. However, from a high vantage point, one could see that the mountain walls were noticeably damp and dark in color.
"That's the Jingjiang River, which has suffered severe breaches due to continuous torrential rains," someone lamented.
As Zheng Quchi walked and observed, he said, "Jiang Yuan, take a pen and write down the key points."
This was Jiang Yuan's first time participating in this kind of work mode, and he immediately became very enthusiastic: "Yes."
"After the flood recedes, we will immediately urge the water management bureau to set up water level markers. The water level markers are divided into 'left water level markers' and 'right water level markers.' The left water level markers record the highest water level in history, while the right water level markers record the highest water level in each ten-day period and each month of the year. In this way, the situation can be clearly seen at a glance."
This method is feasible.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Jiang Yuan quickly wrote it down: "Yes, Lord Zheng, I've got it all in mind."
Zheng Quchi and his group walked up the mountainside to the west, facing the surging river that resembled a yellow dragon. The water rushed down without any buffer, its momentum astonishing.
"As far as I know, spring is one of the seasons with the most frequent floods. Throughout the flood season, state officials and river officials must stay at their posts and report floods at any time. But why has no one reported this matter to the imperial court?"
When Zheng Quchi arrived, she had already inquired about the matter. The water conservancy officials all claimed that the incident came suddenly and violently, giving them no time to react. Perhaps this was just an excuse, but she had not seen any official in charge of the matter give a statement about the situation. At present, no state or river officials have come to inspect the situation.
Someone from Hualin Garden said, "I've heard this too. It's said that during the flood season, everyone is shirking their responsibilities regarding river management. No one wants to be the river embankment inspector who bears this burden anymore. Many river embankment inspectors have been killed in the past, but if someone is killed just because something happens, who would dare to do that? I'm afraid the county magistrate won't have a good outcome this time either."
Zheng Quchi understood. It was clear that the people above were simply failing in their duties, resorting to killing a few officials to solve problems whenever trouble arose.
She took a deep breath and said angrily, "This is not one person's responsibility, but a responsibility shared by all parties. Remember this: officials of all prefectures and counties along the river must take turns guarding the river, participate in and direct river affairs during the flood season, and report water conditions and emergencies at any time."
With her involved, the problem can no longer be solved so simply and crudely. It's better to solve the problem than to investigate it. If everyone handled things like this, no one would dare to get involved in this mess. They would all avoid it, causing the disaster to be delayed and resulting in significant losses and casualties.
Jiang Yuan lowered his head and quickly put pen to paper again.
“People from Nanlin Garden are coming over,” Zheng Quchi said, frowning.
The people from Nanlin Garden had been feeling suffocated by Zheng Quchi's oppressive aura the whole way, so when she called out to them, they didn't dare to delay and quickly went forward.
"How did you decide on the location for the Cangling Dam?" She asked a question that sent chills down my spine as soon as she opened her mouth.
The group from Nanlin Garden pushed and shoved each other, until finally one person, seeing Zheng Quchi's face growing increasingly dark, stepped forward with a mournful expression and said, "It's like this... At the time, we discussed it with the water conservancy officials and canal officials from the Water Bureau..."
Blah blah blah, in short, they talked a lot, but the main point and summary is that they determined the location based on other people's accounts and research. These people provided the data and requirements, while the people from Nanjing Forestry University provided the technology and solutions.
So the Cangling Dam was designed using such imprecise methods and approaches?
No wonder she felt there were major flaws in its design when she saw it.
A weir is a hydraulic structure used to control the water level of a river. Its design should take into account water flow, water level control, and structure. However, after personally inspecting the site, she found that this was far from achieving the goal of water management. They had thought of everything too simply and naively.
“Look at this now, look for yourselves. If it were just to meet the requirements for irrigation and drainage, it might be possible, but it is clearly not enough now. Building a Cangling Dam alone is simply not enough to solve the problem of flooding.”
The people of Nanlin Garden had witnessed the terrifying power of the real Cangling flood, and of course they understood how ridiculous their design was.
They lowered their heads and remained silent as Zheng Quchi berated them.
Zheng Quchi already had a premonition that the future of flood control would not be solved in one or two years; it would be a long-term, large-scale project.
"Alright, let's go back first and wait for the water supervisor, the canal official, and the water conservancy official to arrive before we discuss countermeasures together," she said.
They left the camp at dawn and returned in the afternoon. When they arrived back at the refuge camp, Zheng Quchi saw a bustling scene.
No one knows where the magistrate of the county got so many tools from. Young and middle-aged laborers took off their shirts to set up scaffolds and sheds, saw and polish wood. Teams carrying wood back and forth shouted encouraging slogans. Women came forward to hand water and wipe sweat, and children carried stools and small items... Everyone was doing their best to do what they could.
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