It was the fourteenth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of Yuanfeng, the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

During the Song Dynasty, most officials and people were preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

North, Damingfu, Hebei Province.

Zhang Dun stood on the embankment and looked at the Yellow River under the heavy rain, roaring and rolling northward.

Countless civilians have been mobilized and gathered like ants under the embankment.

Under the control and guidance of the Forbidden Army and the Xiang Army, each sack was filled with earth and rocks, and then piled under the embankment.

The pulleys of the 'gantry crane' that had just been rushed to work made a rattling sound when the workers pulled them.

Then dozens of bags of sand and gravel were hoisted onto the embankment.

In just one day, there were already tens of thousands of sacks filled with sand and gravel on this stretch of the river.

"The method secretly taught by His Majesty is really useful..." Beside him, Professor Miao looked at the Imperial Army and the Xiang Army, making arrangements in an orderly manner, and controlling the civilians' participation in flood control.

Segmentation area divides the river section into different areas.

Every time a stage of work is completed, wages and rewards will be cashed in immediately.

Just like now, after 10,000 sacks were sent to the dam in this section of the river today.

The relevant officials cashed in the wages they were due on the spot - one hundred and twenty cash per day for the civilian husband.

The Forbidden Army and the Xiang Army also cashed in their rewards.

Because they only supervise, guide and direct, they only get half the salary.

But don't worry, His Majesty ingeniously invented rewards in the form of river safety money, emergency money, etc.

Although they are not many, they cannot bear the number of names.

Five coins here, ten coins there. At the end of the day, as long as nothing happens to the river, you can get more than thirty coins.

In addition, the first person who discovers the danger and issues an early warning will be rewarded 50,000 yuan!

So, every night, the work of patrolling the river became a favorite.

The Imperial Guards broke their heads and fought for it.

This was unimaginable in the past—everyone pushed the river patrol if they could, and just went through the motions if it didn't work.

In the 10th year of Xining, the dike burst in Cao Village because the river patrols did not detect the danger in time, causing the pipe to surge... and because the river officials did not respond quickly enough and did not block it.

So the entire embankment collapsed in the flood...

The rolling flood rushed directly to Si River and then rushed into the Huaihe River...

It's different now.

The mere reward of fifty guans mobilized the imperial army's enthusiasm for patrolling the river.

Last night, in this section of the river alone, a dozen lucky people received rewards.

It adds up to a reward of several hundred guan.

However, this embankment and the Daming Mansion where hundreds of thousands of people have lived for generations have been preserved.

No matter how you calculate it, this money is extremely cost-effective!

"Sheng Zuo...Sheng Zuo..."

Suddenly, a horse came galloping on the river embankment in the distance.

There was an order flag on his back that symbolized emergency: "Song Zhaoxuan ordered me to come to call for help..."

"Pipe surge occurred in the Xiaozhangkou River section..."

"We are short of manpower, please mobilize the Imperial Guard cavalry immediately for reinforcements!"

Zhang Dun listened and took a deep breath.

"Xiao Zhangkou?" He recalled yesterday's inspection and thought quickly: "But the dam before Xiao Wukou?"

The visitor nodded: "Exactly!"

Zhang Dun immediately told Miao: "Commander Miao, the millions of people in Hebei Province all depend on him!"

Professor Miao naturally knew that the situation was urgent, so he immediately nodded and said: "The general will get the order at the end!"

It doesn't matter if the small mouth breaks the embankment, but it is afraid of linking the small Wukou.

Once Xiaowukou breaks its dike...

The entire North Yellow River Road may be diverted again!

Just like Xining did in the ten years of sweeping the entire Hebei East Road...

Just thinking about it makes both of them feel numb.

…

North of Daming Mansion, one hundred and fifty miles away.

Countless sacks were thrown down by soldiers and civilians.

But it was washed away by floods in an instant, and it was impossible to stably plug the gap.

Fortunately, Song Yongchen was already prepared.

So, soon, a dozen sacks were tightly tied together with ropes, and the outside was tightly surrounded by bamboo strips and iron wires. The behemoth weighing two thousand kilograms was hoisted up by the gantry.

Then, under the operation of craftsmen, it is lifted to the top of the pipe outlet.

Immediately afterwards, the craftsman loosened the hook rope.

Two thousand kilograms of earth and rocks fell into the gap in the pipe.

This time it sank steadily into the water!

Song Yongchen was overjoyed when he saw this and immediately shouted: "Quick! Quick! Throw down the sack..."

The surrounding soldiers and civilians immediately ordered the sacks to be thrown into the rolling river one by one. Some were washed away, but some remained.

An hour later, the crisis was resolved.

Song Yongchen had collapsed to the ground.

The soldiers and civilians on the embankment also slumped down.

Are you finally...safe...?

Song Yongchen didn't know, but he remembered that this was the third pipe blocked today.

This embankment has not been well maintained for two or three years.

There are loopholes everywhere!

It’s because everyone sent enough sacks to build a gantry crane that can lift one thousand kilograms or even two thousand kilograms.

The small mouth has already burst!

Song Yongchen managed to stand up and looked towards the river embankment.

The sandbags prepared in the past two days are almost complete.

There are now only a few hundred of the more than 15,000 sacks left.

If piping happens again...

The consequences could be disastrous!

But……

Song Yongchen looked at the exhausted soldiers and civilians on the embankment and under the embankment.

He knows that these people have reached their limit!

They have been fighting hard from this morning until now, and they haven't even gotten in water or rice.

More than a hundred people jumped into the floodwaters and blocked the flow with their own bodies because they lost their footing or saw the swell expanding.

There must be reinforcements!

But the people nearby have been drafted.

Even the elderly and children went to dig and fill the soil.

"Now, we can only hope that Miao Zhi's imperial cavalry can arrive in time before the next wave of war..." Song Yongchen prayed in his heart.

…

Miao Shu rode his horse in front, and behind him, more than 8,000 cavalrymen, all without armor and carrying only a large number of sacks, ropes, and iron wires, formed several cavalry columns outside the river embankment.

The war horse gallops, competing with the flood in speed!

The morale of the soldiers was high, and everyone took the lead bravely.

There is no fear or shrinkage like during the autumn floods in the past.

Professor Miao knows, why is this?
To be continued...