The Bookish Scholar of the Red Mansion

The students in the academy probably woke up some people. When lightning flashed across the sky, students with good eyesight could see the residents of the house opposite climbing onto the roof with their wives and children.

Seeing that what they did was of some use, the students shouted even more energetically. He even took out bowls, basins and other objects from his classmates' dormitories and kept banging them.

Chen Heng really didn’t have much energy because of the previous struggles. Seeing that there were masters taking care of the scene, he simply sat against the wall and began to relax. Sitting on both sides of him were Xue Biao, Qian Dayou, and Jiang Yuanbai, all of whom looked wet and embarrassed.

But the joy of surviving the disaster still cheered up their mood. Everyone looked relaxed and could still exchange their views on the heavy rain in a low voice.

The rain seems to have weakened a bit. I think they can already see things in the distance. Jiang Yuanbai paid close attention to the movements of the students and made this judgment when he heard their cheers just now.

Everyone agreed with his judgment, but they couldn't let go of their worries. Qian Dayou said worriedly: It's better to stop. It rains heavily for a while, then it rains continuously...hey.

At the end of the sentence, he himself sighed first. Chen Heng had just borrowed some dry clothes from his classmates on the second floor. If he didn't change into the wet clothes, he was afraid that his small body would not be able to withstand the spring freeze.

There are big gentlemen all around, so there is no need to avoid any privacy. Take off your clothes and wipe yourself down a little. Chen Heng put on dry clothes and said with a smile: It's going to rain, and my mother wants to get married, just let it be.

At this juncture, it is useless to think about anything else. If it doesn't stop raining and continues to rain like this for several days and nights, don't even think about government agencies providing disaster relief. Everyone stick two wooden boards on their bodies and dive into the water to escape.

When Xue Biao heard this, he suddenly felt that his friend was really interesting. Before the natural disaster, everyone was having fun, but Chen Heng was the most worried. Now that natural disasters are coming and everyone is worried, he is the most open-minded.

Xue Biao told others about his discovery, which immediately resonated with Jiang Yuanbai. The latter immediately clapped his hands and said: This is probably what physiognomy says about capable people having visions.

Don't leave. After changing his clothes, Chen Heng felt his body temperature rise slightly. He hurriedly moved closer to the brothers, huddled together with everyone to keep warm, You still praise me as Yushu Linfeng, and I look better than Pan An, which makes me happier.

Brother Heng, don't lie to yourself. Jiang Yuanbai said with a bluff, then smiled to himself, Among us, Brother Tadou is definitely the number one, and I barely ranked second. The rest. You and Da have your own share of the position.

Chen Heng deliberately laughed a few times, but Jiang Yuanbai was so proud that he only regarded the other's laughter as jealousy. A few people changed the topic before talking about their family members outside the city.

Let’s talk about Yangzhou’s terrain. The highest terrain in the city slows down from the west and north of the city to the southeast, and the waterway also flows in this direction.

Among them, Xue Biao's house is in the best area in the center of the city, and its condition should be the second best. The best thing is that he has a rich family. When his father was building the Gongyuan in the west of the city, he had already spent money to buy a house.

Knowing that Qian Dayou planned to take the college examination this year, he moved there early. I hope to be closer to Emperor Wenchang and benefit my stupid son. This stupid move brought great luck to the Qian family tonight.

Unless the flood floods half of Yangzhou, their old Qian family may be in some danger. Jiang Yuanbai's family also lived with the Qian family and took advantage of the situation to get an advantage.

The most dangerous one was naturally Chen Heng's house, but the house Chen Heng bought at that time was close to the east wall of the city. There is a moat outside. In order to ensure the flow of the moat, the Yangzhou government office also deliberately raised the foundation at that point.

Based on this calculation, the real danger is those of them trapped in the academy. When the four of them talked to this point, they were thankful that their family was fine, and they also smiled bitterly at their own situation.

Don't be afraid, I have good water skills. If you really want to die, you can lie on my back and I will take you to swim there. Jiang Yuanbai patted his chest. He was very wild since he was a child and often splashed in the river in the countryside. His water skills were very good. .

I can't swim. Qian Dayou raised his hands with a grimace. He was the fattest. When he was a child, his family had a lot of control and he didn't have the opportunity to go to the river to play.

Neither can I. Xue Biao spread his hands helplessly. His situation was similar to Qian Da's. He has been cared for by his servants and grandma since he was a child. How could the servants of the Xue family let the young master go to the river to have fun.

The three of them looked at Chen Heng together, who also smiled bitterly and said, Neither can I.

Although he lives in the village, there is a pond nearby. However, Chen Heng studied early, and since he is an adult at heart, he does not want to follow the mud monkeys in the village. Naturally, I haven't learned how to get into the water.

Jiang Yuanbai was dumbfounded. After thinking for a long time, he made a gesture to get up, and said very excitedly: I will go to their house and break down some boards for you. You can just hold them and splash in the water.

How could Xue Biao allow him to make such a shameful move? The situation was not at such a critical stage, so he hurriedly stopped this kid with Qian Dayou.

At this time, Xu Jinhou, who was busy expressing condolences and caring for the students, was walking beside them. Seeing the four of them talking and laughing, the expressions on their faces also relaxed.

Heng'er, thanks to you this time. Xu Jinhou already knew Chen Heng's previous actions. He didn't dare to imagine how bad the situation would be without this alert child.

Master, this is all what I should do. Chen Heng declined repeatedly, with no intention of taking credit for it.

There are some things that students don't take to heart, but he, the master, has to remember them. Xu Jinhou nodded, keeping Chen Heng's righteous deed in mind. He comforted the other three people and saw that their emotions were relatively stable, then he went to the next student.

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Lin Ruhai hadn't had a good night's sleep since the night it rained. He ordered the government officials to be divided into two groups and pay attention to the situation in the city day and night. After spending a restless day and night, he took a nap on the government office table and was told by the officer who rushed back to the government office that the flood had entered the city.

It's just that the rain this time was too heavy, so the policeman only had enough time to report back. The river water pouring in from the ferry has begun to swallow up the surrounding buildings.

Lin Ruhai, who woke up in a hurry, couldn't care less. All the officers in the government were forced to go out in the rain and go door to door to wake up the people in the city and ask them to take hedging measures. He took the other officials who stayed behind and went outside to inspect the disaster.

By the time Lin Ruhai led the people to the center of the city, the rising water level had already reached their ankles. Going forward, no one knows the risks involved. Zhizhou and other officials who came with Lin Ruhai tried to dissuade the magistrate from going any further.

Sir, you must not put yourself in danger! Zhizhou Zhang Shangxian held on to Lin Ruhai's official robe, Yangzhou City requires you to take charge of the overall situation. No matter how worried you are about the people inside, you must also think about the other people in the city.

Lin Ruhai knew what the other party said was reasonable, so he had no choice but to set up camp nearby. While personally watching the changes in water levels, he arranged for people to handle disaster relief matters.

Although this heavy rain came quickly and violently. But Lin Ruhai was not one to sit still and wait for death. Long before the heavy rain came, he had people count the number of boatmen in the city.

These people, who travel between the city and Baobao Lake on weekdays, are extremely familiar with the distribution of waterways in the city, and are best suited to rescue people. Lin Ruhai took out the list he had prepared earlier and directly selected some boatmen who lived nearby. After calling them over, he promised them on the spot that as long as they rescued one commoner inside, the government would reward them with twenty taels of silver.

Among the boatmen who heard the big reward, some were bold and delighted, while others were timid. This is human nature, and Lin Ruhai would not blame the latter. I only hope that the former’s safe return will give them more courage to take risks.

It was raining heavily, and there wasn't much that could be done, but everything that happened was very fatal. After Lin Ruhai arranged the things inside, he immediately asked people to go around from the west of the city and rushed to the Huaihe River and Wuhu to observe the water levels.

The rivers near Yangzhou were renovated by tens of thousands of refugees as early as when Wei Yinghong was the prefect. Such a heavy rain came so suddenly. It has been raining for so long, and only one place in front of us has been affected by the disaster. The previous hard work has been considered to be in vain.

It's just that compared to the rain in the sky, the river on the ground is more scary. Along the Huaihe River and Hongze Lake, there is the Yellow River that everyone in the world is very familiar with.

Needless to say, the temper of this river goes without saying. But it will have a relationship with Yangzhou, and we have to start with Yang Guang. At that time, Yang Guang, who wanted to travel to the south of the Yangtze River, recruited millions of people from all over the world to build a Tongji Canal between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River.

Because Yang Guang diverted water from the Yellow River into the Huaihe River, thousands of boats crossed the Tongji Canal, and concubines and officials from the harem and civil and military officials descended to the south of the Yangtze River.

That's all, but in the Southern Song Dynasty, there was another talented prime minister named Du Chong. In order to resist the invading Jin soldiers, he directly dug embankments of the Yellow River, causing the Yellow River to overflow. The Jin soldiers did not stop them and drowned 200,000 people in vain. The number of people who died indirectly from the floods was several times that number.

Not to mention the notorious Du Chong, the Yellow River changed its course due to his actions and became a knife hanging over Yangzhou City. As long as it is slightly unsatisfactory, the river water gushing out from here will directly flood northern Jiangsu through the Huaihe River and the five lakes. Yangzhou is north of the Yangtze River, so naturally it is among them.

Lin Ruhai was most worried about this place. Unfortunately, he was only the prefect of Yangzhou and could not command or coordinate other state capitals. It is even less clear whether this heavy rain only fell in one city of Yangzhou, or spread throughout Jiangnan, or extended to several provinces?

He could only use this method to take precautions in advance. As soon as the water level reaches the warning line, Lin Ruhai immediately mobilizes the entire city to evacuate. He must not sit back and watch millions of Yangzhou people in danger.

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Droughts are easy to survive, but floods put everyone at risk. The people of Yangzhou who were awakened by the government officials, regardless of whether they were poor, rich, or high status, were living in panic.

Even the wealthy salt merchants could only pray that the heavy rain would stop soon, hoping that Prefect Lin's previous efforts to regulate the river would be effective.

Li Bian was the most miserable among them. His residence was close to a low-lying area in the city, and water had already reached the threshold and poured into the room. When he was woken up by his servants, Li Bian himself was shocked.

He has just been promoted to the fifth rank of academic administration. It was the time when he was about to make great achievements in life, but why was he so unlucky? As soon as he came to Yangzhou, he encountered bad luck one after another.

Li Bian quickly packed up the sundries, took his servants and master, and hid on the second floor of his house. He had just escaped from the trap, and the thoughts surging in his heart began to trouble him again.

After all, I still regret my greed. When the Prime Minister arranged for Yangzhou to study politics, he promised that whoever takes up this position will be the next governor of Yangzhou as soon as Lin Ruhai leaves.

Li Bian was young and his official qualifications were not as good as Tian An's. When he competed with Tian An for the academic administration in Yangzhou, he had to use many favors to get the position from Tian An.

As a result, Li Bian won the title in front of him. Before he could leave the capital to take up his post, he encountered the prefect of Jinling and resigned. The court held several court discussions on this, and then Tian An, a big fool, took a huge advantage.

This is so embarrassing for Li Bianqing. Naturally, he feels tens of thousands of sighs and dissatisfaction in his heart. But the deal was already done, so Gu Zaiyong had no choice but to order the two of them to complement each other. Only then did Tian and Li both go south to take up posts, and only then did Tian An cheer for Li Bian at the dock.

The past has faded away, and now Li Bian only hopes that the heavy rain will be lighter and the flood will be lower. When the crisis comes, a landlubber like him has no place to run if he wants to, and can only live and die with Yangzhou City.

Standing at the window on the second floor of his house, Li Bian repeatedly worried about the rain outside, and couldn't help but lament in his heart: If I had known what it would be like today, it would have been better for me to have been an official in the capital and slowly polished my qualifications, rather than worrying about it in Yangzhou. , hit the wall again and again.

The servants and masters at home saw the master walking around and simply advised him to lie down and rest. Li Bian also knew that he could not change anything, so he had no choice but to take a nap on the soft couch holding the official seal.

Half asleep and half awake, he didn't know how long it had been before he suddenly heard a burst of cheers, The rain has stopped, the rain has stopped. He quickly opened his eyes and saw the gray sky outside the window, only to realize that a night had passed.

Looking at the rain again, it doesn’t look as ferocious as last night. The continuous drizzle makes people feel more at ease after all. Li Bian collapsed on the soft couch, let out a long breath, and said, God still treats me well.

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Lin Ruhai waited all night for this opportunity. Immediately ordered all the boatmen to take the officers in to rescue people. When the water level was at its highest last night, it had already reached his knees. Lin Ruhai really couldn't imagine the scene in the center of the flood.

When these boats arrived at Leyi Academy, they saw that all the walls of the academy had been submerged. The boatman tried shouting several times inside, which immediately attracted responses from hundreds of students.

Is there an emergency? The officer stood at the bow of the boat and asked the children about the situation. Lin Ruhai had ordered them to give priority to treating the elderly, weak, women and children, and people trapped on the roof.

The conditions of the students are pretty good, and most of them say they are fine. He just told the officers that their mountain chief was still trapped in the small building in the back house.

This was a big shot, so the guards quickly asked the boatman to go around him. It didn't take long to pick up Pei Huaizhen and his wife.

Chief of the mountain!

The students were very excited to see their teacher out of trouble. Standing in the corridor in the drizzle, Pei Huaizhen couldn't help but wave and say hello to the boat.

Kids, are you all okay?

Pei Huaizhen was also worried all night, fearing that something might happen to the students in the academy. At this moment, I saw that they were all full of energy, and I breathed a long sigh of relief.

Chief, we are just hungry, nothing else is wrong!

Xue Zheng and other masters are also with us.

Chief, I want to eat!

Okay, okay, I will order someone to bring you something to eat when I get out. Pei Huaizhen agreed immediately, and the two parties exchanged a few words in the distance.

Seeing the boat carrying the mountain leader away, the students gathered together happily and counted the boats passing in front of them. Although the water level has not dropped now, the rain has lightened up after all. Everyone feels much more relaxed and no longer as nervous as yesterday.

Many students who had worked hard all night planned to go to their classmates' dormitories to catch up on their sleep before the supplies from the government were delivered.

Chen Heng and Xue Biao were among them, and they began to take a nap in the second half of the night. Now that things are getting better, sleepiness immediately arises. The two of them chose a room with few people at random. Chen Heng lay on the bed and fell asleep for a while before being shaken awake again.

Being suddenly awakened by outsiders, Chen Heng thought the situation had changed, and immediately asked anxiously: What's wrong? Is it raining heavily again?

The student who woke him up quickly waved his hand and said with a smile on his face: No, no. Senior brother, your family is looking for you. Go out and have a look.

family? Chen Heng was startled at first, then realized that he had heard correctly. He quickly got out of bed and ran outside the house.

He guessed that his father and mother must have been so worried that they risked such a dangerous situation to come here. I just don’t know what means they used to overcome floods and rain.

Chen Heng trotted out and passed by a group of classmates who smiled inexplicably at him. I saw two familiar figures standing at the stairs in the corridor.

One of them is Xinda, and the other... turns out to be Zhen Yinglian.

How could it be her? !

Seeing that both of them had signs of being wet by the rain, Chen Heng stood still for a moment and said hurriedly: Why are you two here? Are you okay at home?

Okay, second brother, everyone at home... Xinda stood there before opening his mouth to explain. A beautiful figure rushed out from behind him, bursting into Chen Heng's arms and blooming like fireworks rushing into the night sky.

I thought something happened to you.

Zhen Yinglian cried with trembling voice. On the way from home, she was more afraid of meeting him than ever before. At this moment, seeing Chen Heng standing alive in front of him, the tense and fearful mood finally relaxed, and tears immediately fell down his face.

Before Chen Heng had time to react, the classmates around him who had been waiting to watch the excitement started making cheers and whistles. The seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy had just escaped from a catastrophe, and he could not care about the usual ethical restraints. Each one of them was even more excited than Chen Heng and kept saying to others.

Hahaha, I just bet that there will definitely be such a scene.

Those opera singers really didn't lie.

Someone saw Chen Heng's hands hanging by his sides and had no intention of hugging her back. They cheered him up and said, Brother, hug her!

The beauty ignored the danger and waded through the rain to come to see you. Senior brother, don't let me down.

Senior brother, can you do it? If not, let me come.

There's a lot going on today, I don't get home from get off work until eight o'clock. As of this writing, I haven’t even eaten dinner. So pathetic, please vote for me. Stop by for dinner.