Chapter 74: Torrential Rain
No one had anticipated that this summer thunderstorm would trigger landslides in several villages outside Pingzhou, causing severe casualties among the villagers.
When the news reached Wen Yu, she had just finished her ablutions and was handling official documents at her desk before bed as usual. Upon hearing the urgent report, she immediately issued orders, dispatching several battalions to rescue the civilians.
Wave after wave of soldiers trudged through the courtyard's accumulated rainwater as they departed the government office, while another wave hurriedly arrived through the downpour. The rain poured onto the brick-paved courtyard, creating ripples in the accumulated water that never ceased to form.
This was destined to be a sleepless night.
Wen Yu changed her clothes and summoned Li Yao, Li Xun, and others to discuss flood control and disaster relief measures.
Li Yao, his sparse white hair damp, entered leaning on his cane and immediately declared: "Send people immediately to inspect the river embankments! The counties downstream from Pingzhou have just completed spring planting. If the rising waters of the Shao River breach the embankments, hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile farmland will be submerged, leaving us with no harvest come autumn! At that point, not only will we be unable to collect military provisions, but we'll need to purchase grain to relieve the common people!"
His words still hung in the air when a military messenger splashed through the courtyard water in haste, anxiously reporting: "Urgent report—sections of the river embankment near Majiazhuang on the west bank of the Shao River have been breached!"
Everyone in the room was shocked.
Wen Yu maintained her composure and ordered: "Quickly relay orders to Fan Yuan, commanding him to lead the East Third Battalion, West First Battalion, and West Second Battalion to plug the breach in the embankment."
Having served in the court for many years and participated in flood control efforts, Li Xun knew that once a breach occurred, given the rapid deterioration of river embankments, it was nearly impossible to stop the floodwaters. He said gravely: "I'm afraid it's too late. By the time General Fan arrives with his troops, the entire embalement section will likely have collapsed. Rather than having soldiers sacrifice their lives in vain against the torrent, we should inspect other sections of the embankment and wait for the storm to cease and the floodwaters to recede before repairing this breach!"
Another advisor exclaimed in astonishment: "So we're just abandoning the thousands of people and farmland in Zhaozhuang and Wangzhuang near Majiazhuang, and the Zheng County and Xin'an County further downstream?"
In the candlelight, Li Xun's temples appeared streaked with gray. He responded: "It's not that we're abandoning them, but that we cannot save them! Wind, frost, rain, snow, earthquakes, and floods—these are all acts of nature. How can man contend with heaven?"
The advisors fell silent, looking to Wen Yu for her decision.
When facing turbulent power struggles, Wen Yu could calmly unravel complexities and find a path to survival within the intricate web of competing forces. But against such natural disasters, her options were truly limited.
Allowing the breached floodwaters to submerge nearby villages was not a solution. Sending soldiers to plug an unpluggable breach at the risk of being swept away by the torrent was likewise not a solution.
In those brief moments, countless considerations weighed on Wen Yu's mind. Leaning on the table, she declared: "Have Fan Yuan lead his troops there. If they can plug the breach, do so. If not, dig channels toward the barren hills downstream to divert part of the floodwaters. Also, quickly send rescuers to the Majiazhuang area and evacuate villagers near Zhaozhuang and Wangzhuang as soon as possible."
She then looked up at the advisors in the room: "If we cannot save the farmland, we must save as many villagers' lives as possible."
The advisors bowed in acknowledgment.
The messenger hurried through the rain to the military camp.
Another messenger rushed to the government office, shouting from outside the courtyard: "Report—the West Second Battalion has temporarily plugged the breach in the embankment near Majiazhuang on the west bank of the Shao River! They request troop reinforcements!"Wen Yu abruptly looked up.
After a moment of astonishment, the advisors also showed expressions of joy.
"If the breach is blocked, then the downstream villages and farmlands can all be saved!"
"West Second Camp? Isn't the commanding officer there Captain Xiao!"
Wen Yu said to the messenger from West Second Camp: "Reinforcements have been dispatched. Send word to Xiao Li, telling him to secure the breach tightly before the reinforcements arrive!"
Having received the order, the messenger hurried back through the rain.
Li Xun volunteered to Wen Yu: "Your Highness, when I served in Taiyuan, I managed the great flood in the seventh year of Shaojing. I am willing to go assist General Fan and Captain Xiao."
Wen Yu said: "Granted."
In the pitch-black night, the sky seemed to have cracked open, pouring down rain as if from upturned basins.
When Li Xun and Fan Yuan rushed to the river breach site, Xiao Li was leading the soldiers of West Second Camp in driving stakes along the riverbank.
The ground was covered in muddy yellow water, with no place to step.
Xiao Li was completely drenched by the heavy rain, swinging a sledgehammer onto stakes as thick as bowls. With each strike, water droplets splashed everywhere, and the stake drove deeper into the ground.
The soldiers below carried freshly cut timber to pile along the riverbank. With those rows of stakes as barriers, the logs they stacked managed not to be immediately washed away by the floodwaters. Meanwhile, soldiers digging for earth and stones on nearby mountains carried baskets of soil and rocks to cover the timber, striving to raise the river embankment as quickly as possible.
Fan Yuan, wearing a bamboo hat, could barely keep his eyes open against the rain and called out from a distance: "Brother Xiao!"
Xiao Li glanced up, handed the hammer to a nearby soldier, and waded through knee-deep muddy water toward Fan Yuan: "Brother Fan, you've come."
Noticing Li Xun accompanying him, he nodded in greeting: "Minister Li."
Fan Yuan, using the torchlight to survey the indistinguishable blend of riverbank and riverbed in the muddy yellow expanse, asked with evident concern: "How's the situation?"
The rain was too heavy, and the flood-blocking site too noisy, forcing them to shout to be heard.
Xiao Li's soaked hair clung messily to his forehead. He turned to look at the soldiers still carrying earth and stones to fill the breach and shouted: "The breach is too wide. We've tried blocking it several times, but the floodwaters keep breaking through. This isn't working."
Li Xun, a civil official, his thin frame like a broken branch in the storm, was supported by two guards to stay upright. Even with a raincoat and bamboo hat, he was thoroughly drenched.
Seeing the men below using freshly cut trees to fill the breach, he urgently shouted: "Wood has buoyancy! How can you use timber to block water?"
Xiao Li explained: "The breach is too wide to block directly. Stones get washed away as soon as they're thrown in. We have to use stakes to hold the logs in place, block the gap, and then cover the wood with mud and gravel."
Li Xun yelled: "That won't work! When the current is strong, the wood will float up, and the breach won't hold. Have the soldiers cut more bamboo and vines to weave into long baskets. Fill them with gravel and sink the entire baskets into the breach!"
Xiao Li wiped the rain from his face: "I'll give the orders right away."
He had his men take Li Xun to a temporarily set-up rain shelter, then waded back through the mud toward the most critical part of the breach.
Fan Yuan watched his tall figure receding into the curtain of rain, then scanned the soldiers risking their lives alongside him, shaking his head with a smile: "This kid..."He turned and called out to the soldiers he had brought: "Let's go dig canals to divert the floodwaters—we can't let those lads from the Western Second Camp outdo us!"
Spurred by his words, the soldiers from his two camps worked with renewed vigor, picking up their picks and starting to dig channels and canals.
The heavy rain lasted two full days before it finally stopped. Under Li Xun's command, Xiao Li and Fan Yuan led their troops, working tirelessly day and night to reinforce the embankments and dig canals. Thanks to their efforts, the Pingzhou area managed to avoid major disaster.
However, landslides had destroyed many village homes, and these displaced victims needed to be resettled.
Wen Yu assigned Chen Wei to handle disaster relief. To prevent a widespread outbreak of the Cold epidemic among the people, she ordered part of the medicinal herbs previously delivered by the Xu family's cargo ships to be transported there, providing the victims with porridge and medicine.
Li Yao privately remarked to her, "My Lady, you went through such great efforts to obtain those medicinal herbs. Using them here... it's not exactly putting them to their best use."
After the rain cleared, water droplets dripped from the eaves into puddles in the courtyard, shattering the reflection of the gray tiles and blue sky.
Wen Yu glanced sideways at the late-blooming crabapple tree in the courtyard. The wind passing through rustled her wide sleeves as she said, "My teacher once taught me that the people's livelihood is the foundation of a nation. Using resources for the people is indeed putting them to their best use."
Li Yao looked at her: "This old man only mentioned it in passing—it was actually Yu Zijing who taught your brother that."
He raised his aged, thin hand to stroke his beard: "But it's not wrong either. As long as you understand this well enough, My Lady."
That afternoon after the rain stopped, Wen Yu personally visited the temporary camps set up for the disaster victims.
To accommodate as many victims as possible, the soldiers had set up large communal tents using oilcloth. Those injured or infected with the Cold epidemic rested inside the tents, with women assisting physicians in caring for them, while farmers worked alongside soldiers to dig canals.
Chen Wei guided Wen Yu through the camp, reporting: "Thanks to the medicine you provided, few victims have contracted the Cold epidemic. However, many soldiers who worked in the rain these past days reinforcing embankments and digging canals have fallen ill."
Wen Yu frowned: "Didn't we have the camps take turns working on the embankments and canals?"
Chen Wei explained: "Many villagers from nearby settlements voluntarily joined in digging the canals. The Cold medicine was prioritized for the civilians, so the soldiers often went without."
Although Wen Yu had arranged for medicine to be delivered, the supplies were precious and allocated based on the numbers of soldiers and affected victims. She hadn't anticipated that villagers from other settlements would come voluntarily to protect their farmland.
She turned to Chen Wei: "You should have informed me of this situation earlier."
Chen Wei bowed his head in remorse: "I was unaware of this myself until today, when dozens of soldiers severely ill with the Cold epidemic were brought to the camp."
Wen Yu withdrew her gaze: "I will have more medicinal herbs delivered."
Since this had happened, she had no choice but to visit the front lines where the embankment reinforcement and canal digging were taking place.
As this trip wasn't planned in advance, Xiao Li and Fan Yuan hadn't received prior notice.
Tan Yi, who had temporarily taken over Xiao Li's position directing the embankment repairs, grew quite flustered upon seeing Wen Yu's arrival. Struggling through the mud, he approached her carriage. Licking his lips, he tasted mud that had splashed there earlier but dared not spit it out. Forcing a smile, he asked: "My Lady, what brings you here?"
Zhao Bai lifted the carriage curtain halfway. Sitting inside, Wen Yu asked: "Where are General Fan and Commandant Xiao?"Tan Yi did not dare to look directly at Wen Yu and answered truthfully with a cupped-hand salute, "General Fan has gone to inspect the terrain for trench digging and will likely not return for a while. Commandant Xiao has been stationed at the breach directing the soldiers these past few days without a moment's rest. Now that the rain has stopped and the floodwaters have receded somewhat, I finally managed to persuade him to take some rest."
Wen Yu glanced sideways: "Commandant Xiao returned to the Military Camp?"
Tan Yi said, "No, he's resting in a temporary tent set up here."
Thinking Wen Yu had matters to discuss with Xiao Li and Fan Yuan, he was about to send someone to summon Xiao Li when Wen Yu stopped him, saying, "Commandant Xiao has worked tirelessly for days, do not disturb him. I heard many soldiers have fallen ill due to insufficient cold medicine, and I also have some matters regarding trench and canal digging to discuss with General Fan, so I came by to check on the situation."
Tan Yi then said, "Please wait in the tent for a while, I'll send someone to inform General Fan immediately."
He personally and eagerly led Wen Yu over. The temporary encampment had only three military tents - two side tents for storing supplies and providing brief rest for officers, while the central main tent was used for meetings.
Just as they reached the main tent, another soldier hurried over anxiously, as if some urgent problem had arisen at the river embankment.
Wen Yu said, "Reinforcing the embankment takes priority. General Tan, please attend to your duties. I'll wait in the tent for General Fan's return."
Tan Yi gave Wen Yu a hurried cupped-hand salute before quickly heading toward the breach.
Zhao Bai stepped forward to lift the tent flap of the main tent for Wen Yu. Just as Wen Yu was about to enter, she paused abruptly upon seeing the person sleeping in the armchair.
Zhao Bai's eyes also shifted slightly when he saw who was inside the tent.
Xiao Li's face and hair were covered in mud as he slept with his head leaning against the chair back.
His boots and trouser legs were so caked with mud that their original forms were indistinguishable. His soaked clothes had been half-dried by body heat, with only some water stains remaining beneath the chair where droplets had fallen from his garments.
A spread-out river map lay on the table - it appeared he had been looking at the map when exhaustion overcame him.
Was this what Tan Yi meant by him returning to the tent to rest?
Wen Yu's gaze lingered on Xiao Li's weary yet still handsome sleeping face, her brow slightly furrowed.
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