Chapter 93: The Bond Between the Army and the People

From their faces and bearing, they were all venerable elders of high standing, and the crowd’s expressions showed that they trusted them as well.

Chen Mu smiled with relief. This was exactly the kind of good official he wanted, the kind Great Xia needed, the kind the people longed for with all their hearts.

After this adjustment, the residents at the scene happily received the supplies, and the whole process went smoothly and in harmony. After each person collected their allotment, they would come up to Chen Mu to offer thanks, and Chen Mu would return the gesture with a steady smile.

In the space of just one hour, several thousand sets had been distributed.

Chen Mu then checked the disaster situation in the county with the trusted magistrate, Lu Qiang, and Lu Qiang answered every question without hesitation.

Finally, Chen Mu ordered a group of men to go downstream and relay the instructions to the disaster areas, distributing supplies house by house by village. There was no need for registration, and if there were not enough hands, volunteers could be recruited to help with the distribution.

The rest of the flood fighters were split into two teams: one part was assigned to deliver supplies to the villages, while the other part went with Chen Mu to the flood site.

When they arrived, Chen Mu discovered that the person organizing the repair of the embankment was actually a township chief, and not a single person from the county seat had come. He truly was a magistrate who had brought ruin upon the realm.

Chen Mu glanced at the situation. The original embankment was gone, the river had spread into wide sheets, and the township chief was leading people to build dikes from both sides, trying to encircle the floodwaters.

Chen Mu kept shaking his head. “Trying to block it is not as good as guiding it away. Your method will not work. The flood is too large; even if you seal it in, it will burst through again.”

The township chief slapped his thigh. “Your Highness is right! We already tried to seal it once, and it broke through again after only a few days. But if we do not block it here, what else can we do?”

Chen Mu asked, “How long did you hold it after sealing it last time?”

The township chief said, “It has been raining these past days. We stayed here day and night, repairing it constantly, and still only managed five days. Otherwise, we could not have held even a single day.”

Chen Mu thought for a moment. “Very well. First we will reinforce this place, then we will find a place to divert the water.”

At his command, more than two thousand flood fighters picked up their tools and joined the villagers in building the embankment.

The local villagers were already exhausted, while these flood fighters were all young, sturdy men brimming with energy, so the work was done mostly by them.

Seeing this, Chen Mu said, “Folks, please rest over there for a while. Just send a few people to guide the flood fighters in their work.”

The township chief was shocked. “Your Highness, how can we let these soldiers do all the labor? This is our own work. It is already more than enough that the soldiers have come to help. This…”

Chen Mu smiled and cut him off. “All right, all right. These are flood fighters I brought here precisely to do the work.”

“And this is not only your work. It is the work of every person in Great Xia. As soldiers of Great Xia, it is only right that they labor for the people of Great Xia.”

“Well then, what do you all say?” Chen Mu asked, looking toward the soldiers at the end.

The soldiers were all spirited and answered at once:

“Right! Your Highness is right!”

“Exactly! We came here to fight the flood!”

“That was made clear at the selection! We all volunteered!”

Seeing those friendly faces, the township chief and the villagers were deeply moved.

“Thank you, flood fighters!”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

With smiles bright through their tears, the villagers stepped aside, and the township chief led more than a dozen people in directing the flood fighters’ work.

The flood fighters drove piles, carried sandbags, and hauled ropes, working quickly and skillfully. Before long, the two sides of the embankment were nearly joined.

But by then the current had become extremely violent, and sandbags were being swept away from time to time.

The township chief was sweating profusely, but there was nothing to be done.

At that moment, Chen Mu said, “Prepare ropes. Form a human wall!”

The soldiers, hearing the order, immediately began preparing. It was not until they were nearly ready that the township chief realized what they intended to do.

“Your Highness, absolutely not! The fighters will be swept away by the flood!”

Chen Mu shook his head firmly. “If we do not close this gap, who knows how many people downstream will suffer disaster. Besides, the flood fighters all have ropes tied around their waists. This danger is worth taking.”

Since the Crown Prince had spoken so, the township chief did not dare say more. He turned to look at the determined faces of the flood fighters, and some of his anxiety eased.

After tying on their ropes, the flood fighters slowly made their way into the water.

As the saying goes, even a strong ox can stand waist-deep in three feet of water. The water here was already nearly two feet deep, and the men struggled with every step.

Chen Mu gave another order: the soldiers at both ends of the human wall were to fasten their ropes a second time, then have their comrades on the embankment pull them forward.

This made things much easier, and they soon reached their assigned positions in the water.

The flood fighters behind them hurried to drive piles and lined up to throw sandbags into the river. After a while, the embankment was finally closed.

The villagers burst into excited cheers, praising the flood fighters and Crown Prince Chen Mu again and again.

But the matter did not end there. This was only the first step. Next, Chen Mu led his men around the area to find suitable places to divert the flood, and then they began digging drainage channels.

After seven days of grueling effort, all the drainage channels had been dug. Chen Mu ordered the embankment opened gradually, and the floodwaters were released.

The surging river flowed eastward into more than a dozen low-lying basins. Before long, those places would become new fertile fields, ready for the planting of northeastern rice.

With the upstream crisis resolved, the pressure downstream eased considerably. Though the continuing heavy rains could still cause breaches below, the situation was now within manageable bounds.

Chen Mu left five thousand flood fighters behind to obey the dispatches of Magistrate Lu Qiang, handle the distribution of supplies, and rush to repair any new breaches if further disasters struck.

He also compiled the flood-fighting experience here into written instructions and sent them by swift horse for the counties downstream to read and circulate.

Then Chen Mu, leading twenty-five thousand flood fighters, set out once more.

As before, Chen Mu took five thousand flood fighters ahead of the main force and rode quickly by carriage toward the next region.

Traveling east along the river brought them into the northern part of the Southern Frontier region.

Chen Mu had thought that, with his guidance and methods, flood relief here would be handled even better than in the Central Plains, but he was mistaken.

When Chen Mu arrived at the county office, he found it deserted, the rooms in utter disarray, as though they had been ransacked several times over.

After some thought, Chen Mu ordered the troops to head toward a township upstream.

Once there, he finally found the official leading the people in flood control, and again it was a township chief.

As for the county magistrate, he had fled the moment the flood began.

Chen Mu said angrily, “Officials from these great families are truly useless. The moment something happens, they care only about their own lives and property.”

“Relay my order: the magistrate of South Leaf County abandoned his post in the face of danger and is guilty of betraying the realm. He is to be wanted nationwide. The remaining officials and county officers are accomplices and are to be taken to the imperial capital for trial.”

Soldiers went to carry out the order, and Chen Mu once again turned his gaze to the embankment.