Lingzhi also tried its best to help the trapped people get on board.
In this way, they saved more than one hundred lives from the flood.
After drifting in the flood for a long time and being washed by rain all night, the victims were covered in water. Some of them had already suffered mental breakdown and had dull eyes, while the better ones cried loudly.
But fortunately, they survived in the end.
"My benefactor, my benefactor! Please take us ashore?" someone called Lingzhi.
Their clothes were soaked by the flood. If they didn't get ashore quickly, people would fall ill and develop high fevers.
"no problem!"
Lingzhi agreed readily. They were not far from the shore and could row there quickly.
On the other side, Xiao Qingyun was taking out all the food on the boat and distributing it to the victims.
Due to not eating for a long time, many people looked pale and weak.
Faced with this cruel scene, Xiao Qingyun and Lingzhi felt heartbroken.
As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. With everyone working together, the boat quickly reached the shore.
On the second day, at daybreak, Xiao Qingyun and Lingzhi arrived at the Wuyang government office.
The magistrate had died while helping with disaster relief, leaving only the county lieutenant, He Deshui, in charge.
He Deshui's face was filled with sorrow, and the officials in the hall and dozens of patrolling soldiers were equally listless.
The entire Wuyang government office was dead silent.
Xiao Qingyun looked around and asked in a serious tone, "The imperial court orders the Ministry of Revenue to allocate large amounts of silver every year to strengthen the embankments along the river. Can someone tell me why the embankment in Wuyang still broke?"
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
He Deshui immediately knelt down and said concisely: "Ten days ago, Qianfeng Mountain suddenly collapsed, causing the water level to rise sharply and breaking the dam..."
According to He Deshui, the dam burst may be related to the poor supervision of the construction of the river section dam, but more importantly, it is due to the collapse of Qianfeng Mountain.
Qianfeng Mountain stretches for hundreds of miles and is hundreds of feet high. It is covered with snow all year round. Although some ice and snow melt in summer and flow into the river, causing the water level to rise slightly, it does not have much impact overall.
But this time, for some unknown reason, it collapsed directly, causing a lot of disasters.
Lingzhi said, "It's early summer now, so strengthening the embankments along the river is urgent. Now that Qianfeng Mountain has collapsed, can we dig another channel to relieve the water pressure along the river?"
Xiao Qingyun nodded: "Not only do we need to dig canals, we also need to strengthen the embankment."
"Saint Maiden, Prince, the entire Wuyang Prefecture is now in the grip of floods and the disaster is severe. We must provide disaster relief immediately, otherwise the people will be filled with resentment and there may even be riots." He Deshui expressed his concerns.
Xiao Qingyun replied, "The imperial court has dispatched 20,000 elite troops to Wuyang to carry out disaster relief work. Food and supplies are also on the way and will be delivered soon."
"Great! Our Wuyang is saved!" He Deshui's face was full of excitement.
Upon hearing this, the officials from various departments and the three shifts of yamen runners were all overjoyed.
Everyone was happy for a while and then talked about the current disaster.
Lingzhi said: "Following floods can easily lead to epidemics, especially with rotting corpses, so I suggest that while we rescue people, we cremate the dead on the spot."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Lingzhi finished speaking, someone jumped out to object.
"Nonsense! How can we count the identities of the deceased if we cremate them on the spot? Besides, our Great Yan has always believed in returning to one's roots and that the dead are the greatest. How can we just cremate a body casually?"
The speaker was an old scholar. He glared at Lingzhi and asked, "You are so beautiful, but how can you be so vicious?"
Lingzhi looked at the old scholar and sneered, "You old man, it seems you haven't figured out the situation yet. Wuyang is currently almost entirely engulfed in floods, with countless casualties. If you're not concentrating on identifying the deceased, you might as well burn them on the spot to prevent the spread of the epidemic."
Xiao Qingyun also chimed in: "Huh! Elder Ye is returning to his roots? How many of our soldiers who died on the battlefield can actually return to their roots! The dead are great, but no matter how great they are, they are not as great as the lives of thousands of living people! Once an epidemic breaks out, how can the dead be counted in tens or hundreds!"
The old scholar's face turned red after being rebuked. Although he was still not convinced, he could not say anything else.
He Deshui pondered, "Although failure to verify the deceased will indeed lead to loopholes in population registration management, in the face of a major disaster, we must prioritize the overall situation. I agree with the Saint."
"I still remember the epidemic that broke out after the flood in Changping that year. Nearly 100,000 people died in the epidemic alone, and Changping City was almost deserted. This time, the entire Wuyang Prefecture has fallen, and the situation is likely to be even more tragic. We must take precautions against the epidemic in advance."
"Yes, we must curb the spread of the epidemic, otherwise there will be endless troubles."
Several more government officials came forward to agree.
Seeing that most people supported it, Lingzhi didn't say anything else.
The current priority is to rescue Wuyang and consolidate the river embankment. She and Xiao Qingyun have to go and check the disaster situation first.
The two stood on a high place and looked into the distance. The flood was vast and boundless.
The floods submerged crops, flooded mountains and flooded people's houses, bringing endless disasters to the people.
As the saying goes, water and fire are merciless.
After ten days of suffering, many relatives and children were separated from the Yin and Yang and cried every day.
The survivors were faced with the dilemma of having no food to eat and no shelter to sleep.
The entire Wuyang was shrouded in despair.
Lingzhi and Xiao Qingyun felt sad when they saw this hell on earth.
The two went to the nearby residents to inquire about the disaster.
An old man was choked with sobs and could not speak.
"Almost every household has lost someone, and many families have lost their entire family!"
"There were even many villages and courtyards that were completely wiped out. It's so tragic! So tragic! Woo woo woo..."
The old man burst into tears and couldn't continue.
Suddenly, all the other people present had tears in their eyes and were extremely sad. Most of them cried along with the old man.
Lingzhi and Xiao Qingyun also felt uncomfortable watching this.
At this time, a man in his thirties or forties suddenly said, "It's strange. In previous years, floods would always bring heavy rain for several days, but this time there was no warning at all."
"Exactly. It was sunny for half a month before Wuyang was flooded."
Everyone started talking at once.
Seeing that their words were so convincing, Lingzhi and Xiao Qingyun looked at each other and immediately asked, "Didn't they say that it was because of the collapse of Qianfeng Mountain that the water level along the river surged and broke the dam?"
"But this Qianfeng Mountain has been fine for hundreds of years. How could it collapse suddenly?" the middle-aged man hesitated.
"Yeah, is there something strange?"
"Could it be a punishment from heaven?"
“Is this God punishing us?”
"What should I do?"
The people thought it was a punishment from God. They were horrified and knelt on the ground, begging for forgiveness.
"Hey, why are you all kneeling down? Get up, get up!"
Lingzhi was startled and wanted to wake someone up.
But the people not only refused to stand up, but also knelt on the ground and kowtowed desperately.
Lingzhi was helpless. Even if there really was a punishment from heaven, it would be to destroy gods and imprison demons. What did it have to do with these poor people?
Natural disasters have been unpredictable since ancient times, but isn’t this Wuyang flood just a natural disaster?
It seems that she has to go to Qianfeng Mountain to take a look.
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