Li Guang lived in a resettlement site relatively close to Xunzhou City. It was a small town on higher ground, and nearly 20,000 disaster victims were resettled in this tiny place.
Li Guang lay in bed, listening to the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning outside, unable to fall asleep. It was past midnight, and the heavy rain outside showed no signs of abating.
It is estimated that the river embankment has already collapsed, and the river water has flooded into Xunzhou City, making the area inside and outside Xunzhou City a vast expanse of water.
On a hill beside the Xunjiang River, there are still twenty soldiers stationed. I wonder how they are doing. I hope they are all safe and sound.
Not only did Li Guang not sleep that night, but all the officials in Xunzhou Prefecture were also unable to sleep. Prefect Jiang lay in bed, reflecting on the events of the past few days.
Five or six days ago, Li Guang arrived in Xunzhou Prefecture and began urging them to evacuate everyone in the city to avoid the risks.
At the time, all the officials in Xunzhou Prefecture found it unbelievable. They thought Li Guang was making a mountain out of a molehill. In their view, it was impossible for the river embankment to collapse and floodwaters to enter the city.
At first, the government posted notices and carried out publicity, which was entirely to appease Li Guang. After all, Li Guang was the future emperor of the Northern Dynasty, and no one dared to offend him.
However, in less than two days, they realized that the situation was not right. With continuous rainfall, the Xunjiang River was in danger. Only then did all the officials in Xunzhou Prefecture take it seriously.
Prefect Jiang knew that if Li Guang hadn't put pressure on them, supervised their evacuation of the people, and taken the lead in rushing to the front line of flood control and disaster relief, he might not have considered letting the people evacuate until the very last day.
If that's the case, it will be too late. There are so many people in the city that they can't be evacuated in time. Plus, the flood entered the city in the middle of the night, so most people will drown.
The disaster of many years ago will repeat itself, and I will become a sinner in Xunzhou.
It's unclear when, but Prefect Jiang drifted off to sleep. When he woke up, it was already daylight.
Prefect Jiang got up and went outside to check the rain situation, wanting to know exactly how much rain had fallen the night before.
When the yamen runners saw that Prefect Jiang had woken up and wanted to go out, they came to greet him.
"The prefect has woken up. Shall we go out and see him?"
"Yes, take your rain gear and come with me to check the disaster situation."
"Yes, Your Excellency." The yamen runners quickly prepared.
The raindrops lessened a bit, and the heavy rain washed the road clean. There were many people on the street, all hurrying along.
"General Li, have you risen? I shall go and pay my respects first," said Prefect Jiang.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, General Li led his soldiers to inspect the disaster situation early this morning. He also instructed us not to disturb Your Excellency and to let you sleep a little longer."
Upon hearing this, Prefect Jiang was deeply moved. He realized he had overslept, knowing that Li Guang had worked far more hard than he had.
"How is the city? Has the flood entered the city?"
"The flood entered the city last night, just as General Li predicted. The people of Xunzhou City escaped disaster thanks entirely to the Prefect and General Li," the yamen runner said.
The yamen runner's words made Prefect Jiang feel a little ashamed. If it weren't for Li Guang's high-pressure supervision, he would have made a big mistake, and there would be no merit to speak of.
As the prefect of this region, he was the backbone of everyone's life, and everyone was watching him. Especially at this time, he had to do something.
Thinking of this, Prefect Jiang immediately took several officials and yamen runners and prepared to go out to inspect the disaster situation.
At this moment, a light rain began to fall, less so than before. Prefect Jiang led his men away from the town and headed towards the city.
This area is at a higher elevation. Although the floodwaters have not yet reached here, rainwater is flowing everywhere on the ground, and many sections require wading to pass.
After walking for a while, Prefect Jiang saw large areas of farmland submerged by the flood, with some farmers soaking in the water, groping around in the floodwaters.
The field is planted with some vegetables; we'll pick them before they rot from the water.
We can't go any further; it's still two or three miles from the city center. To continue, we'll have to take a boat.
Prefect Jiang immediately sent someone to make arrangements, and soon a wooden boat arrived. The group boarded the boat and continued their journey.
At this moment, an official took out several life jackets and told everyone to put them on. He also told them that General Li had given instructions when he left in the morning that they must wear life jackets when traveling by boat to the disaster area.
A few days ago, Li Guang gave them one hundred life jackets. Prefect Jiang was overjoyed and immediately distributed them, instructing them to wear them when carrying out rescue operations.
Prefect Jiang had left behind several life jackets for emergency use, which came in handy when he led his men to the city to assess the disaster situation.
The wooden boat continued towards the city. The further it rowed, the deeper the water became. Some houses along the way were already flooded, and in some places the water was so deep that even tall trees were submerged.
Seeing this, Prefect Jiang was terrified. What a disaster this was! If Li Guang hadn't come to Xunzhou to help them fight the disaster, this place would have become a living hell.
Before long, the wooden boat arrived at Xunjiang City. Prefect Jiang ordered the boat to be rowed to the city gate. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still shaken by what he saw.
The towering city gate was mostly submerged, indicating that the water inside the city was already very deep. One can imagine how terrible it must have been when the floodwaters rushed into the city last night.
Prefect Jiang ordered the boats to enter the city. At this time, the flood was still flowing. The yamen runners rowed the boats with the bows facing the city gate and rowed hard to get the boats through quickly.
Upon entering the city, the boats sailed along the former streets, where the shops on both sides had been submerged, with only the upper floors of the two-story buildings still partially exposed.
The terrain within the city is uneven, and some low-lying areas, even those with two stories, are submerged underwater.
The boat continued on its way when suddenly a yamen runner shouted.
"Your Excellency, there is a dead body in the water."
Everyone was startled and quickly looked in the direction of the sound. Sure enough, a floating corpse was moving rapidly with the churning floodwaters, then it was swept away by a whirlpool and disappeared.
With such a massive flood, deaths were inevitable. The deceased were likely residents of the city, and their deaths in this flood are no one's fault but their own.
Navigating the city by boat is not safe either. Due to the rapid current, wooden boats are difficult to control, and if one is not careful, they can crash into the buildings on both sides and capsize.
The yamen runner who rowed the boat was quite skilled at controlling it; he used all his strength to barely keep the boat steady.
A light rain was still falling from the sky, and no one on the boat spoke, silently observing everything around them.
"A boat is coming! Help! Row the boat over here quickly!"
The sudden cry for help startled everyone, and Prefect Jiang looked up ahead.
Not far ahead, there was a two-story house. The bottom floor was flooded, and several people were waving and calling for help from a window sill on the second floor.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
