Xu Di's vanguard was able to arrive so quickly thanks to the fast boats of the Cao Gang, who also took a great risk to sail the boats to Miaozhou.
Although the Miao River's waterway is not very complex, it is navigable during droughts and unsuitable for navigation during floods. This time, Ma Pingting personally found several experienced boatmen who carefully navigated the river, taking great risks, before finally managing to reach Miaozhou.
Xu Bai and A Jin hurriedly ran towards the city gate. The water at the city gate had receded considerably, but the river that passed through Miaozhou City was still surging. The water rushing out of the Miao River flowed down the old riverbed that passed through the Yun family's lotus garden. There was a gap in the old riverbed, and the water flowed directly into the river after coming out of this gap.
When Xu Bai arrived, there were two more small boats at the city gate. Wu Muyue was talking to an elderly boatman. When he saw Xu Bai coming, Chen Yuyuan quickly pulled him to stand next to Wu Muyue.
Then the boatman said to Wu Muyue, "I hope you know, sir, that we were able to come all the way from Miaohe River because of the boats that our boatmen used to operate. They were modified by Master Xu. Otherwise, with such high water, how could we have had the strength to row the boat all the way here?"
Wu Muyue nodded. At this moment, he didn't have time to ask how the ship had been modified. What Wu Muyue wanted to know most right now was when Xu Di would arrive.
The boatman took out a letter from his pocket and presented it to Wu Muyue with both hands, saying, "This was sent to me by Lord Xu. After Lord Xu's messenger gave the letter to me, he asked us to take the messenger he sent over here. We were afraid of delaying Lord Xu's business, so we didn't dare to stop along the way. We traveled for a day and a night before finally arriving in Miaozhou."
Wu Muyue nodded to the old boatman, took the letter, opened it, and read it carefully. He couldn't help but nod again.
Zheng Boyuan stood beside Wu Muyue and watched as Wu Muyue handed him the letter. After reading it, he couldn't help but look pleased and said to Wu Muyue, "Uncle, I'll go and arrange the place right away."
Wu Muyue nodded and said, "Try to arrange people in the alleys as much as possible, especially the Feng family next door. Talk to Lord Feng about these things. I think Lord Feng is an upright and reliable person. He will definitely be able to help you at this time."
Zheng Boyuan agreed and led the people who had come from the Miao River by small boat to head home.
Xu Bai hadn't seen the contents of the letter, so he grabbed Wu Muyue's hand and asked, "Uncle, what did my elder brother say in his letter?"
Wu Muyue said with a smile, "Your elder brother sent some people over to help first. He brought some supplies needed here by land and should arrive in Miaozhou in another day or two."
Xu Bai was delighted to hear that Xu Di was coming, but then he thought about how Miaozhou City was surrounded by floods and he didn't know if the road to Miaozhou was still passable. He sighed and said to Wu Muyue, "I wonder if the road is still passable. With such a big flood, I wonder if the bridges and roads that came here are still there."
Wu Muyue said with a smile, "You're quite something to be able to think of these things now."
Xu Bai sneered inwardly, but said with a grin, "These past few years following you, Uncle, haven't been for nothing. With such a huge flood, a section of the city wall was washed away. How many houses along the river in the city collapsed? When we came from Jiangnan, we encountered several stone bridges on the way."
Wu Muyue naturally knew that the water level in Miaozhou was too high this time, and he didn't know how many bridges would still be standing. Fortunately, it seemed that other places had not suffered such disasters, so he guessed that it would be more troublesome to cross the Miao River.
Zheng Boyuan waded back through the water and arrived at the government office. He saw one of Chu Huaigui's clerks coming out of the office. Zheng Boyuan hadn't seen Chu Huaigui since yesterday evening and wondered what Chu Huaigui would do after the failed sneak attack last night.
Zheng Boyuan called out to the clerk surnamed Chu. He had heard that this clerk was related to Chu Huaigui, but not from the main branch. He had been a classmate of Chu Huaigui in the past. After Chu Huaigui became an official, he took him with him to work as a money and grain clerk.
Seeing the scrutinizing look on Chu's face, Zheng Boyuan smiled and said, "Master Chu, last night in the middle of the night, a group of thieves sneaked into our house. Fortunately, my family was united, and my wife's great-uncle brought several guards with him, and together they caught the thieves. I was planning to talk to Lord Chu about this today, but I have some other matters to attend to. I would be grateful if you could convey my concern to Lord Chu: Miaozhou City is already in dire straits, and if a few more groups of thieves come, how can the people of the city possibly cope?"
After listening to Zheng Boyuan finish speaking, Master Chu asked, "Everyone says that Lord Zheng is a good official who works for the benefit of the people. So, according to Lord Zheng's wishes, what should be done?"
Zheng Boyuan laughed twice and said, "That's easy. We can just check the population in the city again. Master Chu, go back and talk to Lord Chu and see what he thinks. Anyway, the water outside the city has been receding slowly these past two days. Many places in our city were destroyed by the flood. It would be good to take this opportunity to re-register the population and houses in the city."
Master Chu smiled and nodded, agreeing to the matter. Zheng Boyuan then walked towards his own door. Even after walking quite a distance, he could still feel Master Chu's gaze still fixed on him. He couldn't help but sneer inwardly. The entire army that came last night was wiped out, and even those who escaped were seriously injured. If they wanted to make a comeback, that would depend on Chu Huaigui's abilities.
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