Chapter 144: The Levee Has Collapsed!

Zhao Hengyi had never once thought of running away.

Aside from the reason he had given Wang Erhu—that escape was impossible—there was another vitally important factor.

Along this entire stretch of the river embankment, the people of Yushu Bay were everywhere.

Among them were skilled laborers who had spent months on infrastructure construction at the site, members of the hunting squads and security guards temporarily mobilized to the levee, and robust young men urgently drafted from various other workshops!

He knew the names of well over half of these people. Since he was the one who had led them up onto the embankment, there was simply no question of abandoning them to save his own skin!

The might of heaven and earth is vast beyond measure. The turbid river water slammed fiercely against the outermost earthen dyke. Even though the people of Yushu Bay had briefly reinforced it beforehand, that earthen wall was destroyed as if it were mere rotten wood and dry weeds!

Thirty qualified timber beams had been driven deep into the riverbed to form a wave-breaking levee. The triangular column structures built from these beams were filled with hundreds of baskets of crushed stone and sandbags, yet merely at the first frontal assault of the cresting floodwaters, several of those heavy timber beams snapped in half!

Triggering a chain reaction, the stones and sandbags vanished instantly into the churning, rolling current, while the remaining timber beams were literally ripped up by their roots, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye...

The force of the floodwaters was terrifying to this unimaginable degree!

The torrent instantly smashed into the earthen levee at the sharp bend. Offering no resistance, the dyke stood on the verge of collapse as massive chunks of earth at the bend began to disintegrate.

Block after block of earth composing the levee continuously caved in, plunging into the floodwaters and vanishing in an instant, just like grains of salt dropped into boiling water.

By this point, no one dared to stand upon the earthen dyke any longer. Yet witnessing the first section of the levee collapse with such ease filled everyone with pale-faced terror!

Like toppling dominoes, as the levee at the sharp bend caved in, dozens of meters of the adjacent, connected earthen dykes were likewise torn away by the flood!

The rapidly widening breach demonstrated a horrifying truth to everyone present: if Dangyang County had not constructed new embankments in advance, vast tracts of land would already be crushed beneath the ruthless weight of the floodwaters!

The turbid river water surged endlessly, carrying white foam as it poured into the compartments formed by sturdy reinforced concrete partition dykes!

Standing like unyielding bedrock, the partition walls that divided the river section into individual grids did not show a single crack under the violent pounding of the flood surges!

Bound like a fierce beast by the partition dykes, the floodwaters were forced to vent their terrifying energy entirely against the newly constructed concrete river embankment directly behind them. The roaring crashes were even louder than those that had just obliterated the earthen dyke, yet that crude—and perhaps somewhat unsightly—cement and concrete river embankment simply refused to budge!

Everyone stood frozen in utter astonishment!

Wang Erhu, whose boldness ordinarily surpassed that of ordinary men, suddenly felt his legs turn to jelly. He collapsed straight onto the ground before his master, his jaw hanging open as he panted desperately, completely uncaring even when mud-splattered river water splashed directly into his mouth!

Wang Erhu was far from the only one slumped limply upon the embankment. Only those who had stood at close range to face the onslaught of the flood could truly understand just how terrifying the moment of the crest's strike had been!

Even Magistrate Liu Rui, a man who usually cared deeply about his dignified image, was now ashen-faced and frozen like a wooden chicken. Had he not been supported by the auxiliary officials at his side, he likely would have rolled right down into the muddy water.

Although Zhao Hengyi's hands and feet trembled uncontrollably, he managed to keep his footing. When the peak fury of the flood's impact subsided, Zhao Hengyi, standing amidst the pouring rain, suddenly burst into loud laughter!

We held it!

The cement and concrete stone levee built by our Yushu Bay has held!

Countless people wearing bamboo rain hats and coir rain capes waited in nervous suspense for the command to rush up onto the embankment. Piled beside them were baskets and sacks of sand and gravel. The moment any trouble arose at the newly built concrete levee, these men would heave up the sandbags and charge onto the dyke, becoming Dangyang County's final, stubborn line of defense against the disaster.

These common folk had come to the embankment either because of the favorable policy of labor in lieu of taxes, because of the generous wages offered by their master, or simply because heavy rains left no work to be done back in the village.

They harbored no grand philosophies about serving the country and the people, but they understood one thing clearly: if this levee failed to hold, not only would they themselves be doomed, but the homes behind them, along with their wives, children, and aged parents, would all be utterly destroyed!

Therefore, by any means necessary, this final dyke had to be defended—even if it truly required using their own flesh and blood to plug the gaps!

Amidst the wind and rain, Zhao Hengyi—hailed by the young men of Yushu Bay as a second father—stood rigidly atop the grand embankment. With his arms thrown wide and his posture erect, he lifted his head and laughed heartily toward the ink-stained sky!

For reasons unknown, even though the high-ranking officials and wealthy squires, rarely seen on ordinary days, still stared in bloodless terror at the embankment beneath their feet, terrified that the hard concrete levee might crack at any second and collapse just like the vanished earthen dyke, those tough fellows from Yushu Bay suddenly stopped being afraid!

The master is laughing! He is laughing!

What manner of man is the master? He stands right at the very front before everyone else, standing on the riverbank where the waves constantly lash, and not only is he unafraid, but with arms spread wide, he is laughing aloud! This means the river embankment we built at Yushu Bay has successfully blocked the flood!

The common people may not have read the sages' texts, nor do they understand grand theories of statecraft and governance, but they possess their own wisdom—profoundly simple, tinged with a touch of shrewdness, yet a straightforward wisdom that often pierces directly to the truth of a matter.

Turbid waves battered the concrete stone levee, and the people standing upon it felt as though those waves, imbued with a thousand jun of force, were crashing not against the embankment, but against their very hearts!

The emotions of nearly everyone ebbed and flowed with the surging waves. Even upon seeing Zhao Hengyi's manic behavior, even upon hearing his resounding laughter, their numbed and sluggish minds were incapable of forming much reaction.

Not far away, Magistrate Liu Rui, his complexion the color of earth, gazed with a trace of terror at Zhao Hengyi, who stood with arms outspread as if wishing to embrace the violent heaven and earth. In a hoarse, murmuring whisper, the magistrate muttered: "What a madman!"

Zhao Hengyi's behavior stemmed entirely from the conviction that the levee he had led others to build was fully capable of withstanding the invasion of the flood—it was simply the natural reaction of overwhelming joy. He certainly had not shouted out any dramatic nonsense like "Let the storm rage harder!" at a moment like this.

Events proved that Zhao Hengyi's judgment was entirely correct.

Dangyang County, which rarely suffered from catastrophic floods, had a Liu River whose volume was historically modest. That recent flood peak had exceeded normal parameters; it never could have occurred had the upper-reach embankments and lakes not been breached.

Once the most terrifying crest had passed, Dangyang County was essentially safe. Merely two or three hours later, the water level on the river surface dropped at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the rampaging currents grew somewhat calmer.

The torrential downpour that had persisted for two consecutive days miraculously vanished. The fierce gales that seemed intent on tearing heaven and earth apart died down as well, presenting a bizarre meteorological phenomenon defying all understanding.

Even the thick, ink-like clouds in the sky slowly parted at some unknown moment, and golden beams of sunlight pierced through the obstruction, spilling back down upon the mortal world once again.

Cheers began to rise, growing louder and louder until they finally echoed like thunder!

The embankment was held! Dangyang County was saved!