In early May, most of the twenty acres of winter wheat planted by Zhao Zongquan on the bank of the Yellow River had been harvested, leaving only the last three acres, waiting for him to go to the fields to harvest in person.
This has been Zhao Zongquan's old habit for more than ten years since he came to Yuzhou, and everyone in Tuanlian Mansion is also used to it.
On this day, Zhao Ceying, Shen Congxing and others all put on plain robes, brought sickles, and went to the countryside with Zhao Zongquan on horseback to harvest wheat.
The group of people left Yuzhou City, rode their horses and whipped their whips, and entered Mi County. They saw several keel waterwheels in the distance, stretching long into the canals.
Zhao Zongquan recognized this place. It was Lijiaji in Mi County, adjacent to the Yellow River. It was the only way from Yuzhou City to his twenty acres of "private land".
At this time, most families in Lijiaji had already harvested their wheat and piled it up ridge after ridge on the edge of the field.
The villagers pushed the carts back and forth, and everyone's face was filled with joy from the inside out at the harvest.
Several old farmers who were over sixty years old held heavy ears of wheat and brought them to their noses to smell them. The wrinkles on their faces unknowingly relaxed.
Zhao Zongquan was deeply moved when he saw this scene. He immediately got off his horse, led the horse to the roadside, and chatted with an old farmer enthusiastically.
The old farmer thought that Zhao Zongquan was a passing merchant, so he cupped his hands and said, "This official is very polite."
Zhao Zongquan took a bunch of copper coins from his waist, put it into the old farmer's hand, and said with a smile: "Old man, I am a businessman from other places. I see that your harvest is good this year. Why haven't you seen this before?"
The old farmer threw the money back and said with a knowing smile: "You are here to buy summer grain, right? You want to know the market situation? You told me earlier, this news is not worth a lot of money."
When Zhao Zongquan heard this, he couldn't help but laugh, but he didn't deny it.
The old farmer said with emotion: "In the past three years, there would be two disasters, and one year when things were good, we would be exploited by officials. The reason why things are so good this year is because we, the people of Yuzhou, have met good officials."
!"
"A good official?" Zhao Zongquan was slightly startled.
"Wei Qingtian! You don't even know about his old man, and you still come to Yuzhou to do business?"
The old farmer frowned, as if he was very dissatisfied that he didn't know the meaning of the three words "Wei Qingtian".
Zhao Zongquan looked embarrassed and quickly added: "I know, I know, the governor of Yuzhou!"
The old farmer's face softened a little, and he continued: "At the beginning of spring, Wei Qingtian lent us seeds and cattle, and repaired canals and water trucks for us. If it weren't for him, our Yuzhou would not be doing so well this year.
Na!"
Zhao Zongquan was the most concerned about farming and mulberry farming. He also cultivated several acres of land himself. Of course, he knew something about Wei Chen's policies. After listening to the old farmer's words, he couldn't help but nodded in agreement.
As the old farmer talked, he also came to talk about sex, and he kept talking: "Our Lijiaji is close to the Yellow River. The government builds the river every year. The first thing that comes to mind is our village. Many people in the village are afraid of being sent to the army and have fled.
After the famine, life was not good in the past, it was because of this.
This year is great. Wei Qingtian not only doesn’t pay for repairing the river, but also pays him back. After working for two months, he can get one or two taels of silver. The young people in our village are rushing to get it!
Look at this officer, I am already my age, and when the farm work at home was not busy, I went to work hard and worked for five or six days, earning more than a hundred copper coins!" p>
When the old farmer talked about making money, he was so excited that he was spitting. But after a while, his mood suddenly became a little depressed again.
"The people along the river have been hurt by the flood. When I was eight years old, my parents and three brothers and sisters were all washed away by the flood."
When Zhao Zongquan heard the old farmer's tragic experience, his eyes could not help but turn red. He held the old farmer's hand and said, "Old man, I would like to express my condolences to you."
The old farmer shook his head and suddenly smiled: "Wei Qingtian is a good official who loves the people like his own son. Since he came to Yuzhou, he has given us countless benefits. We ordinary people are grateful for his kindness.
The little old man believed from the bottom of his heart that Wei Qingtian would be able to build a good embankment for the people of Yuzhou that could not be broken down in a hundred years. When the embankment was built, the little old man would build a grave on the embankment, and he would do so in his next life.
Guard this embankment for Wei Qingtian!"
Looking at the old farmer's firm and determined eyes, Zhao Zongquan, Zhao Ceying and others who were accompanying them all lowered their heads in silence, unable to calm down for a long time.
……
Just when Zhao Zongquan took Zhao Ceying to the countryside to cut wheat, Wei Chen also left Yuzhou City and came to Mi County to inspect the river work.
"Hey you! Hey you!"
On the beach near the river, thousands of peasants were shouting slogans and carrying work materials.
They faced the loess, carried the earth and rocks on their backs, and moved forward little by little with their bodies bent, pulling the earth and rocks to the embankments on both sides of the ferry.
Wei Chen stood on the embankment and watched for a long time, but he saw that although the scene was busy, everything was in order, and he didn't see any chaos in the busy situation, which showed that the management was in place.
Sun Zhuo, the magistrate of Mi County who was accompanying him, saw Wei Chen's expression and felt relieved. He brought a drawing and explained it to Wei Chen:
"Master Zhizhou, please see, we are currently at a sharp bend in the river. If a flood comes and rushes straight into the embankment, the embankment will easily burst. Therefore, in accordance with your previous instructions, I will build a moon embankment on the back of the embankment.
Just in case something unexpected happens."
Wei Chen nodded slightly when he heard this.
The key to his proposed strategy of constricting water and attacking sand is to constrict the river channel, scour the river bed, and take away the sediment.
However, this is only a general theory after all. When applied in practice, it can be summarized as the "four embankments method": inner embankment, outer embankment, horizontal embankment and moon embankment.
One is the inner embankment.
This embankment did not exist before. It was built on the first line along the river and was built against the river. Its function is to "contain water" and "attack sand".
The inner embankment is built relatively low. This is because the inner embankment is close to the river channel, and the pressure on the dam body is very large.
Especially when the river water surges during the flood season, the flood must be allowed to overflow the inner embankment to prevent the inner embankment from being directly breached by the raging flood.
The second is the outer embankment.
This is the levee that has been used in the past. It is located two miles away from the river and is both tall and thick.
During the flood season when the river water surges, when the flood overflows the inner embankment, the outer embankment can effectively intercept the flood and protect the lives and property of the people on both sides.
The third is the horizontal embankment.
As the name suggests, a horizontal embankment is a dike that runs between the inner embankment and the outer embankment. There is such a horizontal embankment at regular intervals.
It can block the water potential when the flood overflows the inner embankment, preventing the flood from scouring along the outer embankment, damaging the roots of the outer embankment, and causing the danger of the outer embankment collapsing.
The inner embankment, the outer embankment, and the horizontal embankment are connected to each other, forming "mouth" shapes on the river bank, which is equivalent to a series of small reservoirs.
During the flood season, the flood that spreads through the inner embankment can be restrained to achieve the effect of water storage and flood detention.
As for the last moon embankment, it is a safety embankment built outside the outer embankment.
The water conditions of the Yellow River are complex. When building embankments along the river, there will always be many dangerous and weak embankment sections. Therefore, it is necessary to build a half-moon-shaped embankment on the back of the outer embankment of these embankment sections to consolidate the outer embankment and prevent danger. p>
What Wei Chen is building in front of him now is exactly such a moon embankment.
It has been nearly three months since the river construction was started in late February.
During this period, the inner embankment and the horizontal embankment were built from scratch and have been completely constructed, while the outer embankment only needs to be repaired, which costs nothing.
The main project is basically completed, and only a few dangerous sections of the moon embankment are still undergoing final finishing work.
It is estimated that in less than half a month, the river defense project stretching for 30 miles in Yuzhou will be completed.
Wei Chen came here to conduct preliminary inspection and acceptance of the levee.