The road ahead was not easy; they encountered flooded areas several times during their journey. After two hours, the terrain gradually rose, and the road became much easier to travel.
The constable told Zhao Xian that they would arrive in Xunyang County in another hour.
A light rain was still falling, but it didn't affect their journey much. Finally, an hour later, they arrived in Xunyang County.
We set off from Xunzhou early in the morning, and by the time we arrived in Xunyang County it was already afternoon, and we were starving.
They went to the restaurant, ordered food, and took care of their hunger first.
The meal was quickly finished, and the group rested for a while. After discussing it, they decided to go to the reservoir first, inspect it, and then return to the county town to go to the county government office.
The county town is two hours away from Xunshan Reservoir, and as long as you don't waste time, you can return before dark.
The group immediately set off for the reservoir. In less than an hour, they discovered a village ahead. The village was quite large, with at least a hundred households.
The constables told them that they could see Xunshan Reservoir once they passed through the village.
Upon hearing that their destination was just ahead, the group quickened their pace.
The terrain gradually rises, and the village appears to be built on a slope, though the slope is not very steep.
As they approached the village entrance, the group sensed something was wrong. They noticed water flowing out of the village entrance, and it seemed to be getting bigger and bigger.
The group, unaware of what was happening, prepared to enter the village to investigate.
Gradually, they heard noises coming from the village, as if many people were arguing and fighting fiercely.
Something big must have happened in the village. The group continued forward and soon entered the village.
In the middle of the village, several hundred people, adults and children, were gathered together; it seemed as if the entire village had come together.
Only then did everyone realize that several people in the crowd were arguing fiercely, and everyone around them was watching them without anyone stepping forward to mediate.
Upon seeing Zhao Xian and his group arrive, the group stopped arguing and turned to look in their direction.
Zhao Xian's entourage included men and women, attendants, guards, and several yamen runners. The men who had been arguing earlier rushed towards them as if they were saviors.
This situation left everyone somewhat bewildered; what exactly was going on?
Seeing the group approach, Zhao Xian spoke:
"What's wrong with you all? What happened?"
"You must be from the government. You've come at the perfect time. Our village is about to face a great calamity, and we're arguing fiercely about which way to escape. Please help us make a decision quickly, or it will be too late, and we'll all die here."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian was greatly surprised and quickly said:
“We are government officials. Tell us what happened in your village.”
"My lord, have you heard the rumbling sound in the mountains, and the increasingly large flow of water on the ground?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian immediately took note. Needless to say, there was a rumbling sound in the distance, as if thousands of horses were galloping.
"That's exactly what happened. What exactly happened? What's going on?"
"What you may not know is that the heavy rains of the past few days have caused flash floods, and a large amount of floodwater has poured into the reservoir."
Currently, the floodwaters are rising rapidly, and the floodwaters in the reservoir have begun to overflow the dam and flow towards the village.
The floodwaters in the mountain stream are growing larger and larger, flowing into the reservoir. The reservoir dam is already overburdened and is collapsing little by little. The reservoir dam is a rock structure, which is sturdy, but once the foundation loosens, it will collapse instantly.
The dam collapsed, and a massive flood rushed into the village, drowning everyone in the village.
The villagers have now all gathered together, preparing to evacuate. They are arguing about which direction to flee in, with most believing that the floodwaters came from the mountains and that they should flee downhill to get away from the flood.
Some people believe that fleeing uphill is safer because, although the floodwaters come from the mountains, the higher you go, the less likely you are to encounter them.
The situation is critical. There is not much time left. If a choice is not made now, everyone will be swept away by the flood and die without a burial place once the dam collapses.
Please help us make a decision, sir; it will really be too late if we wait any longer.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian gasped in shock. How could such a thing have happened? Now, he and the other villagers were facing a life-or-death decision.
"Everyone, get up the mountain immediately and run to higher ground. That's the only way to survive. If you run downhill, you'll surely die."
At the crucial moment, Zhao Xian made his choice.
"Fellow villagers, did you hear that? The adults all say that the only way to escape is to go up the mountain. What are you waiting for? Run!"
At this point, the villagers were still hesitant. Most of them believed that they should evacuate downwards to avoid the disaster, so they did not react immediately.
Seeing this, Zhao Xian spoke again:
"I am Zhao Xian from Shuixian Village. Back then, the foreign army of 100,000 attacked Shuixian Village, while Shuixian Village only had a few thousand people. This small force was no match for the foreign army."
So the soldiers and civilians of Shuixian Village built a dam in the valley to block the mountain flood. A few days later, the barbarian soldiers came to Shuixian Village, so we opened the dam and released the floodwaters in the valley to drown the barbarian soldiers.
You cannot imagine the power of the flood. After the flash flood, forty to fifty thousand barbarian soldiers drowned. After that, the soldiers pressed on and wiped out the invading enemy.
The situation in your village is extremely dire. If you choose to run downstream, even if you run as fast as you can, you won't be able to escape the floodwaters once the dam collapses. The only way now is to hurry up the mountain; there might still be a glimmer of hope there.
Zhao Xian's words surprised the villagers. It turned out that the person in front of them was Zhao Xian from Shuixian Village, and he was the Marquis of Zhengyang.
The story of how the few thousand soldiers and civilians of Shuixian Village defeated 100,000 enemy troops has been widely told by storytellers, and even the children in the village can tell a story about it.
The Marquis of Zhengyang, who commanded that battle, actually came to their village.
"Fellow villagers, this is the Marquis of Zhengyang of our Great Northern Dynasty. He has been sent by Heaven to save us. What are you waiting for? Hurry up the mountain. Once the dam collapses, it will be too late to evacuate," someone shouted.
At this point, people no longer hesitated, and hundreds of villagers began to go up the mountain to escape the flood.
The people in this village are quite united. Some of the young and middle-aged men carried the elderly and children on their backs, while the women helped each other, and they began to quickly climb the mountain.
The weather changed suddenly; it was fine a moment ago, but suddenly it started raining heavily, and the water flowing under people's feet was getting bigger and bigger, which was obviously floodwater overflowing from the reservoir.
The dam was right in front of them; if it collapsed now, they would have no chance of survival.
All we can do now is climb the mountain as fast as we can; only by moving forward can we find a glimmer of hope.
The villagers knew very well that they were fighting against death, and whether they could escape this calamity depended on this very moment.
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