How to make a famous minister

Chapter 65

On the first day of July, the wind blows from the southeast of Jingjiang.

Fan Xuanchao stood on the high place of the county office, looking at the dark clouds, as if someone set a fire in the sky, and the torrential rain whizzed past, overwhelming Jingjiang County in an instant.

Fan Xuanchao was also drenched and came down in a hurry, Jinglou Jingchuan hurriedly wiped his hair and changed his clothes, Jingzhe Xiaoman brought new clothes and shoes, there was no ginger soup for a while, and served him hot tea.

Fan Xuanchao muttered impatiently: "Even if you get a new one now, so what, it won't get wet later."

Dressed neatly, Fan Xuanchao immediately called Wang Zhubo, "How is the situation now?"

Master Wang also just came back from the rain, and wiped the rain on his face, "The situation is fine now, but the terrain in the south of the city is low, and there may be waterlogging."

The terrain of Jingjiang County is low, and there are typhoons every year. People with a little money never choose low places to build houses, but put them on high places. The low places in the south of the city are mostly poor people or shops.

"Residents in the south of the city are unwilling to relocate, and now I don't know what to do—by the way, where is the water level in the Jingjiang River?"

"It has just rained and the water level is still normal. The drainage in the city is also considered smooth."

Fan Xuanchao nodded, Master Wang saw that he looked worried, and said: "This year's rain is indeed different from previous years. If the adults hadn't prepared in advance, we would have been caught off guard."

"Liang Er saw it all, and I don't have the ability to be a prophet." Fan Xuanchao said lightly, and ordered, "Prepare the horse, I'll go to the south of the city to have a look."

The south of the city was chaotic, and Master Wang wanted to persuade him, but seeing Fan Xuanchao's frowning expression, he sighed, put on his coir raincoat again, and rushed into the heavy rain.

Fan Xuanchao led his men to the south of the city on horseback, and found that the water here had covered the hoofs of the horses, and every household in the south of the city had their doors wide open, using various sundries to block the doors to prevent the water from flowing in, and then the whole family went to battle, a little bit. Scoop water out of the house little by little.

The south of the city was originally a low-lying place with inconvenient drainage. Now the water on the street can be described as a small river. A bamboo basket on the left and a wooden spoon on the right float on the water like this, rising and falling with the current.

Fan Xuanchao pointed to the water level that could not recede for a long time, and asked Master Wang: "Didn't the canal in the south of the city be dredged two days ago?"

Master Wang hurriedly said: "The dredging has been dredged, but there are a lot of debris in the canal in the south of the city, and there are not enough manpower, so it is only half dredged."

"What's the difference between half dredging and not dredging! It's better to wait for the flood to wash it away!"

Master Wang bowed his head in silence, not daring to answer.

Fan Xuanchao exhaled a turbid breath in his chest. In fact, he couldn't blame Mr. Wang. It was true that time was tight and tasks were heavy, and he didn't have much money to do things.He got off his horse sullenly, waded through the water and came to the door of a house where the four members of the family were so busy trying to scoop water out without touching the ground.

They blocked the door to work, and Fan Xuanchao couldn't intervene even if he wanted to help, so he looked in from the sidelines. The house was short and small, and it was very cramped. Now it was soaked in rain, and the tables, chairs, and cabinets in the whole house were soaked. In yellow water, I'm afraid it won't work.

Fan Xuanchao asked a few questions, all about the price of vegetables, why not move to a shelter, and so on.

Fan Xuanchao walked through the streets, and the situation was similar. The streets here are narrow, with many residents, miscellaneous things, and the difficulty of drainage is greatly increased.Fan Xuanchao asked: "Where is the nearest shelter to the south of the city?"

"It's Gushan Temple, and there is a Taoist temple a little further away." Master Wang replied.

"Then how many people can these two places accommodate? If the entire south of the city is soaked, can they all live there?"

Master Wang said in embarrassment: "I'm afraid...I'm afraid I can only live in seventy to eighty percent."

"Then where do you want the rest of the residents to go?" Fan Xuanchao asked him seriously, the rain that fell early this morning had soaked up to the ankles before noon, if the rain didn't stop for two or three days, they might be flooded Not half a house.

"Or... maybe we can mobilize the wealthy or find another place to build another shelter."

That night, the rain suddenly increased, and the guards by the river came to report overnight: "The water level of the Jingjiang River is almost level with the embankment!"

Fan Xuanchao broke out in a cold sweat: "Quick, quick! Evacuate the people in the south of the city—"

Before the words fell, there was a loud bang, and even the ground trembled a few times. Before Fan Xuanchao regained his senses, another person rushed to report: "My lord! My lord—it's not good—the city wall ——The southern part of the city wall has been washed away!"

Fan Xuanchao's eyes darkened and he almost fainted. Mr. Wang supported him, "Quickly, quickly, withdraw to a higher place!"

Fortunately, Fan Xuanchao saw that the rain was not good during the day, so he asked Jingzhe Xiaoman and others to get ready. Although they were afraid, they did not panic at this time, and the group hurried to the nearby shelter.

There was a large square, and many people had already gathered there. Seeing a group of people who looked like officials come to take refuge, it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Jingzhe Xiaoman and Fan Xuanchao were sitting in the carriage together, Fan Xuanchao told them to stay in the carriage, so as not to be bumped into by others, and he was about to leave.

Jing Zhe pulled him back: "Master! You are the county magistrate, Jing Zhe dare not stop you, but you must take care of yourself... Don't, don't get sick and freeze again."

Fan Xuanchao smiled at her and jumped off the carriage without saying much.

Xiaoman looked at the back of Fan Xuanchao's leaving, his expression was indistinguishable, and he said to Jing Zhe who had already started to wipe his tears: "Master is a good official, don't cry anymore."

Jing Zhe twitched, "Young master is a good official, how can you say it? I'll cry for myself, you care so much about me!"

"How's the situation in the south of the city?" Fan Xuanchao asked.

Master Wang replied: "Since the city wall collapsed, the water in the city has risen sharply, and the speed is fast. If you go forward rashly, you may be in danger. However, as far as I know, the water level in the south of the city was already knee-high before the city wall collapsed."

Fan Xuanchao's face was pale, and finally he said tremblingly: "Organize people as soon as possible...to save people, salvage, salvage the corpses. Both human and animal corpses must be fished up. Don't soak them in water for a long time. After the rain stops, burn them together to avoid spreading the plague. "

"Yes." Wang Zhubo also felt distressed in his heart, and answered in a low voice.

"Except for the south of the city, what happened to other places in the city?"

"I estimate that three or four out of ten places are flooded. I'm afraid we won't know the exact number until the morning."

Fan Xuanchao nodded, and saw that there were several layers of people on the left and right except for the guarding officials, all of whom had come to seek refuge.They are people who live near the government office, and generally have some relationship with the people in the government office.

When they saw an official envoy coming, saw Fan Xuanchao and Master Wang being surrounded, and found that even the county magistrate was taking refuge here, they immediately felt relieved—to be with the county magistrate must be the best place in Jingjiang County now. safe place!

At this time, Fan Xuanchao was soaked all over. He pushed aside the guards and stood at the forefront, "Fathers and folks, I am the magistrate of this county. Don't worry. I will be here from today until the flood recedes." , with you."