On the ninth day of May, in the governor's office in Kaifeng, Henan, Xiao Baoguan's eyes were filled with bloodshot eyes!
It rained heavily for two days and two nights, and he didn't sleep for two days.
It started to rain in the evening the day before yesterday. Xiao Baoguan didn't think anything of it at first. The weather forecast at the Royal Institute of Technology was just to scare people. How could it rain heavily and last for more than a month?
But in the evening the day before yesterday, the rain became heavier and heavier, and it continued all night, so he became more and more worried. That night, he didn't sleep at all, but kept staring at the heavy rain outside, and at the same time, he kept hoping that the heavy rain would stop.
stop.
At the same time, he also sent many manpower overnight to pay close attention to the flood situation, and strictly ordered local government officials at all levels to prevent and fight floods to prevent any danger.
And by yesterday morning, the heavy rain that had been falling all night finally stopped, but the rain still did not stop. However, although it was still raining lightly, he still put on his raincoat and led a large number of officials to patrol everywhere.
Especially the Yellow River outside the city!
When I inspected yesterday morning, the condition of the Yellow River was pretty good. Although it rained heavily all night last night, causing the water level to rise significantly, the Yellow River has always been a key river for prevention and control. In recent years, it has also been a key point of management, and the river embankments have been strengthened.
, so there was no danger.
However, waterlogging has occurred in many areas in Kaifeng and its suburbs. Rainwater has dropped too much. Although there are drainage channels, etc., the amount of water cannot be drained out at once, so a certain amount of waterlogging has occurred.
Although the overall situation was not serious, and there were no reports of casualties or even large areas of farmland being completely submerged, Xiao Baoguan did not dare to relax at all.
As the governor of Henan Province, he personally summoned the local middle- and low-level officials and strictly ordered them to do a good job in flood control and fight against the Yellow River, especially to quickly and urgently raise and strengthen the dykes to ensure that they must not burst.
If the water level is simply too high, causing part of the Yellow River to overflow its banks and then flow to other places, there is nothing that can be done. Although there is harm, the harm can still be controlled.
But if the dam collapses and the Yellow River bursts its banks, what will come out will not be a little overflowing water, but the entire Yellow River.
By that time, the disaster will definitely not only affect one or two counties, but will affect most of the provinces and even Wanbei and Jiangbei under its jurisdiction.
So no matter what, there can be no dike breakage!
But the Royal Institute of Technology said that this rain may last for a full month. Even if it does not rain heavily in the following period, as long as it continues to rain light to medium, the total rainfall will be
It will be very scary.
In order to prevent accidents, Xiao Baoguan will not take any chances now!
On this day, he only summoned relevant officials to prepare for an emergency meeting to discuss follow-up flood control work.
But before that, he was still going to meet some old farmers!
These old farmers were specially ordered by him to find them. They are all 60 or 70 years old and have been farmers all their lives. They are illiterate, but their rich experience is enough for them to make a preliminary judgment on this situation.
How long will it rain?
These old farmers were naturally extremely frightened when they saw the governor personally summoning them. However, Xiao Baoguan had no intention of talking nonsense with them and asked directly: "Old men, based on your experience, this
How long will it continue to rain?”
Those old men looked at me and I looked at you, but no one dared to speak first. Xiao Baoguan also knew their mood, it was just that they were too afraid to speak.
Immediately he said: "You can tell the truth and you won't be blamed in any way. If you tell the truth, you will be rewarded, ten taels of silver per person!"
This made it clear that there would be no blame, and some of the old farmers began to speak first.
The old farmer who spoke first was over seventy years old, and he was the oldest among the crowd. He looked very old, and he was leaning on a cane. He said in a cautious tone: "Sir, I have lived a lifetime.
I have only seen such heavy rain four or five times, and judging from past experience, I am afraid it will rain for ten days and a half!"
Several other old farmers also spoke one after another!
"Yeah, it rained so hard that I haven't seen it a few times in my entire life. And every time it rains like this, the scene, ugh..."
"This rain is probably heavier than the previous rains in the past few decades. It has been raining for two days. Although the rain has reduced now, but look at the sky, it is likely to rain again in three or two days.
!”
Listening to their words, Xiao Baoguan's heart was filled with chills!
I only see it a few times in my lifetime, so that means this heavy rain only happens once every ten years at least.
Oh my god, it's going to end!
In normal years, the Yellow River will burst its banks every year, but most of the time the bursts are not large-scale and vary from place to place. Therefore, although disasters occur every year, they are generally controllable, at least in the past ten years.
, the Yellow River section in Henan has burst its banks twelve times, on average, more than once a year.
However, the scale of each dyke breach was not large, and they were all blocked again, so it did not cause any major disasters that affected the entire province.
But this time, it was a once-in-a-decade flood!
What's more, the weather forecast report from the Royal Institute of Technology said that this rain is not only limited to the Kaifeng Prefecture area, but spreads throughout the Central Plains, including Henan, Shandong, Northern Anhui, Jiangbei and even other areas in Zhili.
Downpour.
Of course, the rain in Jiangnan Road and South Anhui Province is not so heavy. The area north of the Yangtze River has the heaviest rainfall.
This is heavy rain covering two provinces and two provinces!
What to do?
Once a large-scale disaster occurs, it is unknown how many officials will be unlucky because of it. It is normal for their career to be ruined in a mild case and to lose their heads in a serious case.
How come I am so unlucky that I am working in Henan at this time? If the embankment breaks and causes large-scale floods, it will not only affect Kaifeng Prefecture, but also most of Henan and Jiangbei Road under its jurisdiction.
If Xiao Baoguan could not handle such a large-scale flood, he might even have to be stripped of his hat!
After asking people to reward these old men with money, he walked out of the holding room and went to the side hall. There were already more than a dozen people waiting there, not just officials, but also military generals!
In the face of this sudden flood, civilian officials and generals came together for the first time. Of course, it was not that they made arbitrary decisions, but that Li Xuan clearly instructed the garrison troops in various places to actively participate in flood fighting and disaster relief.
Of course, it is still up to the troops stationed in various places to decide what to do in terms of flood relief and disaster relief. Local governments have no power to instruct the military on what to do. At most, they can only ask for cooperation.
Even in the face of floods, the separation of military and political affairs was strictly guaranteed!
However, in order to allow the local government and the garrison to better cooperate in disaster relief and tide over the difficulties, the military also sent generals to attend the meeting to discuss the relevant situation.
After everyone saw Xiao Baoguan come in, they all stood up one by one.
Xiao Baoguan was still walking, so he said directly: "You're welcome, time is running out, let's get started!"
With that said, he took two steps to his seat, and then said: "I have personally asked many local farmers just now, and they all said that this rain is likely to continue for many days, and
It’s something that has been rare in the past few decades!”
"I believe you have all seen the weather forecast report from the Royal Institute of Technology!"
"So, our task this time is quite heavy!"
After finishing his opening remarks, Xiao Baoguan looked directly at his colleagues in Kaifeng Mansion: "How is the situation of the river embankment outside the city now?"
The reason why I asked the magistrate, not the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture, is because the magistrate of Kaifeng Prefecture is still staying on the river embankment. Yesterday, he personally issued instructions that the chief officials in various places must personally take charge of flood control affairs. If you dare
Those who are negligent will be killed first and then punished!
He is the governor of Henan Province and the minister of the imperial border. In Henan Province, except for the military power and taxation power, he can manage everything else. He really holds great power.
In an emergency, he had the right to directly kill a mid-level official.
The colleague of Kaifeng Mansion immediately replied: "Master Qi, the river embankment outside the city is still stable, but Master Fang also sent back news that the water level is getting higher and higher now, and it has reached the warning line!"
"The backup second dam is already under emergency construction. Our government has urgently recruited 30,000 civilians to work day and night!"
In order to prevent the water level from being too high, causing the river to overflow the dike or cause the dike to burst, Xiao Baoguan yesterday ordered the Kaifeng Prefecture to build a second dike in areas prone to dike breach.
At this time, Major General Lin Xunyang, the commander of the Henan Provincial Garrison Command, also said: "Our army has dispatched eight thousand soldiers and they can go into battle today!"
"This general has received instructions from the Operations Department. According to the combat instructions, a total of 15,000 reserve division soldiers under our provincial headquarters will be mobilized to participate in the flood fight!"
"At the same time, the Thirteenth Army has notified that they have also received instructions from the Operations Department. According to the combat instructions, the Thirteenth Army will also dispatch its main troops to participate in the flood fight!"
"Today, a reserve division with a total of 8,000 people urgently allocated by our provincial garrison headquarters has arrived. Another reserve division with 7,000 soldiers is on the march and is expected to arrive within two days!"
"In addition, the Thirteenth Army reported that its main infantry regiment of 4,000 soldiers stationed outside Kaifeng City will soon arrive at the river embankment. Another two infantry regiments and a reserve division with a total of 11,000 soldiers are gathering from various places.
It is expected to arrive at each scheduled location within five days!”
"By then, our army will have 30,000 soldiers participating in the flood fight!"
After saying this, Lin Xunyang looked around and said in a firm voice:
"The Yellow River wants to burst its banks, unless our army is defeated!"