Chapter 148

“Everyone get up!”

Li Mu asked the kneeling people to get up and looked at the middle-aged man in the lead, his eyes swept over his legs and feet with cracked skin like turtle shells, and his hands whose joints were so thick that they were deformed.

“Are you a craftsman? What are you chasing after me?”

The man raised his head and shouted: “Da Sima, I am indeed a craftsman! The Xianbei people want to use the Dahe River to divert water to pour water into the plains! When I escaped, the water level of the Dahe River was several meters higher than the depressions on both sides, like a hanging river. The only hope now is the Dahe River. Sima comes to the rescue! If the big Sima refuses to help, once the breach breaks, the dozens of counties and counties connected by the river will all turn into the ocean, and no one will be spared! This is the place where the Jianhe connects the Luohe. , once the river overflows, I am afraid that it will not be spared!”

The man’s voice was trembling, his face was covered with mud and water, and his original face was almost unrecognizable, except for a pair of red eyes, which were full of fear, anxiety and incomparable hope.

His voice fell, and all the villagers who came after him after he inquired about the route of Li Mu army’s travel route followed and begged.

Once the Yellow River is stopped, it will collapse like the sky and the earth. What’s more, it has been raining heavily for several days, and the floods are so ferocious. Who does not know the people who have lived along the Yellow River for generations?

In the sound of pleading, the old man from Xu Village wiped away his tears and said, “Da Sima, this old man is the head of Xu Village. He is old and sick, and has been in bed the other day. It was also yesterday that Da Sima and his group passed by the village entrance. I was rejected for shelter from the rain. It’s strange that the villagers have no eyes! After gaining a few points, I thought that the emperor of the Xianbei people would really treat us as human beings. My villagers were ignorant and offended Da Sima.

He took the villagers behind him who were too embarrassed to look up and kept kowtowing in the muddy water.

Li Mu hurriedly dismounted and helped the old man up with his own hands.

The old man burst into tears and refused to get up, and said again: “Before half a year, the old man was still a child. I still remember that year, when the river burst and collapsed, and dozens of counties and counties were flooded into the ocean overnight. All of his family members died in the flood. After the flood receded, the river changed its course, and after many years, it stabilized. Now if this man’s words were serious, the black-hearted Emperor Xianbei would divert water to pour water, and he encountered such heavy rains for days and days. , I am afraid that the water will be better than the water disaster before the half-jiazi. Natural disasters and man-made disasters, all of us will be cut off from our lives!”

The old man burst into tears.

Li Mu asked his men to lift the old man from the ground, and said to the craftsman, “You come with me.”

The craftsman hurriedly got up from the ground and caught up.

Li Mu led the people into a military tent by the roadside and said, “What is the situation, you can tell from the beginning!”

The craftsman is very grateful. The five-year-old and three-thick man, before he could speak, choked up at first, with red eyes, and told the passage one by one.

Three years ago, not long after Murong took Luoyang, he dispatched civilians to build water conservancy in various places. One of them is located at Shangjinkou.

Shangjinkou is located in the lower reaches of Luoshui that passes through Luoyang. It is also the intersection of several nearby rivers and Luoshui. It is also located at a bend of the Yellow River, and the water and water are connected. In the flood season, it often happens that the water from the Yellow River floods the Luo River, rises above the river bank, and floods the fields and villages on both sides of the river. The people suffered for a long time. However, due to its small scale and the fact that the former Northern Xia court did not care about it at all, day after day, it could only go on like this.

The craftsman’s surname was Wang Xingwu, a native of Shangjin. His father and grandfather were craftsmen. He was intelligent since he was a child, and had a lot of experience in water conservancy. Knowing that his hometown was suffering from floods, he surveyed the terrain, drew blueprints, and submitted proposals to the Beixia government at that time. But the Northern Xia court ignored him, and he had nothing to do. Unexpectedly, the newly arrived Beiyan Emperor was going to build a dike, and knowing his name, he invited him to preside over the construction. Wang Wu was overjoyed and rushed to the estuary with all the men of the village. He led the people and began to build the fortifications. It took more than two years to overcome many difficulties before and after, and just a few months ago, this dike, which adjusted the water level depending on the natural height of the terrain, was finally completed.

Just when Wang Wu and others were encouraged by it, and when the nearby people were also grateful to Murong, the emperor of Beiyan, the nightmare happened.

It has been raining heavily recently. Since seven or eight days ago, the water level of Luoshui has gradually risen slowly, and the village has accumulated water. Uneasy, Wang Wu took a group of craftsmen and wanted to go to the **** to check the situation, but unexpectedly found that the **** was occupied by an army.

That’s all, what surprised him the most was the operation of the dike.

It was the high water season of the Yellow River, and with the heavy rains for several days, the flood should have been released to ensure the smooth passage of the river’s water through the fold, but he never imagined that the dikes and weirs were closed. Not only did it not help to discharge the flood, but instead, a dam was forcibly added to block the water potential on the river.

During the upstream rains and floods, the water of the Yellow River came in a torrent. It was blocked by the dam and forced to turn around and was forced to pour into the Luoshui River. The Luoshui River came down with the upstream flood. It is constantly rising, impacting the river on both sides.

Once the river bank is torn open, it will collapse for thousands of miles in an instant. When the river floods back, Luoyang and other counties will bear the brunt of the terrible things that will happen. Wang Wu knows all too well.

He was shocked and stopped, but was beaten and driven away by the Xianbei soldiers. Among the fellow villagers, several people were beaten badly and vomited blood. They were forced to return. They were both frightened and puzzled. Yumin’s dike, why do soldiers do such a thing now. It wasn’t until late at night that a small officer in charge of the river with whom he communicated secretly searched for him. He said that he was about to run away, and told him to flee with his family as soon as possible. Only then did he know that it turned out that Murong, the emperor of Beiyan, was on his way. , actually had the idea of ​​flooding Luoyang.

Immediately, news spread that the reason why he made such a plan was to stop the northern expedition army of Li Mu of the Southern Dynasty.

The water level continues to rise. As soon as the news spread ten, ten and one hundred, and soon, all the people in the nearby ten miles and eight townships knew about it.

Once the river collapses, Luoyang and other counties will be engulfed by the monstrous flood, but this place will be razed to the ground immediately.

How can people who have lived on this land for generations be willing to abandon their homes like this? Many rushed to argue with the Xianbei soldiers, and the theory turned into a killing.

Several of Wang Wu’s relatives were killed at that time.

The news spread like the plague. The helpless people can only pack up their belongings with tears and flee to any nearby high mountain that can accommodate their temporary stay.

Seeing that the **** that he had built with countless hard work turned out to be the culprit in destroying his home, Wang Wu was extremely distressed and in despair, he thought of Li, a Southern Dynasty man who had been rumored to hit Luoyang a few days ago. Mu, holding the last glimmer of hope, rushed over desperately, hoping that his army could reach Shangjin as soon as possible, and open the **** before it burst to release the flood.

Li Mu’s expression became extremely solemn. After pondering for a moment, he asked him, “In your estimation, how long can Shangjinkou last?”

Wang Wudao: “Fortunately, when the **** was built, after I requested it many times, the dam was also strengthened. But the water pressure was so strong that the estuary was in danger. From what I saw that day, if the **** is not opened as soon as possible, it will be necessary within seven or eight days at the latest. Collapse. Once it collapses, the flood waters…”

With a look of fear in his eyes, he wept bitterly, knelt down again, and kept kowtowing and begging to Li Mu.

…

Murong Wei stood on a hilltop at Shangjinkou, staring at the turbulent estuary, his figure did not move for a long time.

Beneath the estuary, hundreds of thousands of people and ten thousand hectares of fertile land will soon be buried in the place of Li Mu, a man from the Southern Dynasty, along with the water from the sky that was poured into the breach.

A long time ago, he had promised a woman that he would not slaughter the city for revenge when he captured Luoyang in the future.

He did.

Now if they want to blame, they should blame it.

It was the man from the Southern Dynasty named Li Mu who killed them.

“Your Majesty, this place is dangerous, please evacuate quickly and return to a safe place.”

His close associate, a Xianbei general named Yao Gui, persuaded him by the side, and seeing that he did not respond, he followed his line of sight and looked at the location of Luoyang in the distance, hesitating: “Since Your Majesty has such an arrangement, why not keep it a secret? Go ahead? I heard that the craftsman surnamed Wang escaped, so he should have gone to Li Mu for help. If the flood waters backflow, it will certainly stop his army and give our army a chance to regroup, but the news is hidden from him to prevent him from escaping. , wouldn’t it be better to drown his army then?”

Murong Ti finally turned to him with an indifferent expression: “Do you think you can keep this big thing under wraps? Besides, if his army is easily drowned by the flood, you and I won’t be so embarrassed today!”

Yao Gui had a shy look on his face, bowed his head and said, “It’s all because of the incompetence of my subordinates!”

Murong’s expression softened slightly: “Forget it, I can’t blame you alone. You don’t know Li Mu, he is different from others. Those people in the Southern Dynasties are all wine sacks and rice sacks, and the good opportunity I gave them was wasted! I just want that craftsman to go. Send him news, and this is not blocked.”

He sneered: “Isn’t he going to take back Luoyang? I’ll take Luoyang as a bet and bet a big one with him.”

Yao Gui seemed to understand but did not understand, but he also knew that Murong Tzu’s mind had always been deep, and he stopped speaking.

Murong pondered for a while, then asked, “Have you arranged the heavy troops of Kanglong Pass?”

“It has already been arranged! Even a fly will never fly over there!”

Murong nodded slightly: “I only trust General Yao! This time, please go to Kanglongguan to guard the road! As long as Li Mu can be removed, from now on, the world will be so big that I, Dayan, will be invincible!”

Yao Gui’s face showed excitement, and he knelt down: “Please, Your Majesty, give a hundred hearts! As long as he dares to come to fight the Kanglong Pass, his subordinates will tell him to go back and forth, and kill the pass!”

…

The night ink is like lacquer, and the rain is pouring.

Teams of soldiers, now fully armed, lined up neatly on the post, waiting for the ruling from Li Mu.

Outside the tent, more than a dozen generals of the Yingtian Army stood silently.

Li Mu was independent in the tent, and stood facing the spread out map of mountains and rivers in front of him. His figure remained motionless for a long time.

Never in his life had he faced such a difficult decision like tonight.

If he didn’t save him, he would immediately lead his troops back to Hongnong, and he would be safe and sound. But within a few days, it is very likely that even the place where he is now will become Wang Yangze.

If he ordered to rescue, the time was too short.

From here to Shangjin, the nearest shortcut is the Dragon Road as shown in the map.

In the past, for the Northern Expedition, he had a detailed understanding of the geography of mountains and rivers in the Central Plains.

This high dragon road is actually a crack in the thick forest plateau. The dense forest plateau is in the shape of a platform, the top is flat as the original, and it is full of lush trees, but the surrounding cliffs are steep, dozens of feet high, and birds cannot live. Flowing through, the only channel is this crack, which the locals call the Kanglong Road.

The crack has existed since ancient times, as if it was split from the sky by a giant axe thousands of years ago, and it opened in the middle of the thick forest. It is fifteen miles long, twists and turns narrow, and the cliffs on both sides stand, so narrow that it can only accommodate. Several people passed side by side, it can be said that the pills can be blocked.

If he goes to Shangjin, he has no choice but to take the Kanglong Road. Then it is required to capture the Kanglong Pass at the crossing of the Kanglong Road with the fastest speed.

Kanglongguan relies on natural dangers and is condescending. Once he sends troops to go, he cannot get through the pass quickly within a few days, and arrive in Shangjin in time. If the weir is opened to release the water before the estuary is destroyed, it is very likely that he will be rolled behind him along with his fellow soldiers. engulfed by the torrent.

Once ordered, there is no way out, he must win, and he can only win.

Otherwise, if it fails, the price will be enormous.

There was a sound of footsteps outside the tent, and someone came in.

Li Mu turned his head and saw that it was Gao Huan.

Gao Huan was soaked by the rain and stood there and said, “Brother-in-law, before I came out, my elder sister asked me to give my brother-in-law a letter from her. I forgot for a while, brother-in-law, don’t blame me.” A letter that has been soaked in the rain.

“If brother-in-law decides to take someone to attack Kanglong Pass, remember to let me go with you.”

After Gao Huan finished speaking, he placed the letter respectfully on the case, and solemnly gave Li Mu a military salute, then turned around and walked out of the tent quickly.