"" Volume 4: The Struggle for the Emperor] Chapter 15 Looking at the River
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The heavy rain had just stopped at this time, and there was still water accumulated between the roof tiles, and some dry wormwood was still wet.
However, the burning bamboo basket contained something unknown, forming streams of burning fire, which attracted the beams under the tiles at a terrifying speed.
The roof of this cell soon turned into a large burning lantern, and the bright and blazing fire covered up the brilliance of the rising sun in the sky.
One after another, exclamations rang out in the quiet streets.
The person in charge of the prison now is Lu Mingyi.
Although the appointment of the interim Dianshi has not been official yet, the original Dianshi Qian Gangsheng has been kicked out by Lin Xi.
When he smelled the smoke of fireworks, Lu Mingyi had already rushed out of the guard room. As soon as he saw the flames on the cell clearly, the rough man's face turned pale, knowing that the cell could no longer be saved.
Nowadays, most of the people from the arrest house and the prison guard are guarding the river dam. There are only three people including him in the prison.
Normally, these three people are enough, because the prisoners are locked in iron cells, and some serious criminals are also shackled. If there are important criminals who are escorted for long distances, they will be interrogated from above and the garrison will be added.
Escorts and prison guards usually only serve to guard and accommodate the prisoners' food and daily life. In addition, there are not many prisoners in such town-level prisons, which is the Yingoufang case.
Only more than 20 people involved in the case were detained at one time. Otherwise, the total number of criminals detained on weekdays would be less than 20.
At this moment, the fire on the roof of the cell was extremely fierce. Even if there were thirty people here, let alone the three of them, it would be very difficult to save the cell.
The second one to rush out was Xiao Chuan.
This was an old guard in his fifties. He was usually responsible for feeding the prisoners. Now when the second one rushed out and saw the fire on the cell, the old guard was frightened.
.
"Taozi! Take out all the keys!"
At this time, Lu Mingyi, whose face turned pale, let out a loud cry.
As he shouted, a guard who was younger than him also ran out.
The young guard was still a little sleepy, but when he saw the firelight on the cell, he was immediately frightened and fell asleep. The large ring of keys in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.
"I'll release the prisoners inside first. Don't run around now. Keep an eye on the prisoners so they don't run away!"
Lu Mingyi leaned over and picked up the key that fell on the ground, then ran towards the cell.
He has not seen any big scenes. Normally, he would be so panicked when encountering such a change. But at this moment, there is only one thought in his mind, that is, Master Xiaolin handed over the cell here to him, so he will
He is responsible for this. And he also knows very well in his heart that even if these prisoners have committed a capital crime, they must have the final decision of the Criminal Division in writing before they can be executed on schedule. As long as one is burned to death, Mr. Xiaolin will have to bear this
responsibility.
"Fire!"
"Quickly put out the fire!"
At this moment, shouts for putting out the fire also rang out.
Many women and children carrying buckets and washbasins poured in from the quiet streets.
The thinking of the people in the small town is also very simple. When they see a fire, the first thing that everyone thinks of is to put out the fire. They don't think about whose jurisdiction this is. But when they get closer, many people think of this.
After the area under the jurisdiction of "Master Xiaolin", the voice of putting out the fire became louder.
"It's the cell in charge of Mr. Xiaolin!"
"Hurry and help Mr. Xiaolin put out the fire!"
After such a sound was made, some tall and trembling old men appeared in the streets leading here, carrying vessels filled with water.
There is no shortage of water for firefighting at the prison.
In the open space between several cells, there are six rain-bearing copper tanks for fire-fighting. Due to the heavy rain for days, the water in these large copper tanks was extremely full.
There were quite a few people who rushed to the prison at the first time. Several long queues immediately formed, pouring water on the burning cell. However, most of the middle-aged men and sergeants in the town had already rushed to Jiangba.
Most of the women and children could not even pour water on the burning roof of the cell. In just a moment, not only was the fire on the roof of this cell not contained, but the flames spread to the two adjacent cells.
The fat merchant with a smile on his face has now reached a high place in the town. He is watching the fireworks above the prison become more intense from a distance. He wipes his hands on his sleeves as usual.
He murmured with satisfaction: "This fire is so beautiful."
Lu Mingyi led five prisoners and ran out of the cell whose roof was about to be burned through.
Bursts of thick smoke choked him and he coughed violently. One of his arms might have been hit by a burning fallen wood, which caused blisters. However, he did not stop at all and continued to run towards another burning cell.
Got in.
From the sounds outside and the smoke coming in from the roof, the prisoners in this cell already knew what was happening.
When Lu Mingyi ran into the cell along the narrow passage, all the prisoners inside were already banging on the iron cells desperately and shouting in panic.
However, in a dank cell inside, a burly, shackled prisoner with a beard did not scream. He looked at the increasingly bright fire on the roof, and watched as sparse flames began to fall.
He was choking on the smoke and coughing slightly, but he stared closely at Lu Mingyi, who had just ran in. His eyes were fixed on the ring of keys in Lu Mingyi's hand and the knife hanging on his waist.
.
Because of the big fire in the cell next to it, the temperature of the cell here became very high, so the fire spread faster. Lu Mingyi's eyes were swollen and painful from the smoke, and they were full of tears, so he couldn't see clearly.
The sinister look in a prisoner's eyes.
Just when he opened the door of the prison cell where the prisoner was held, the prisoner inside kicked him hard in the chest.
Lu Mingyi fell back and fell heavily to the ground. The prisoner had shackles on his feet and could not take a big step out. However, he jumped forward and rushed towards Lu Mingyi's body. The shackles on his hands moved toward the road.
Ming Yi was hit on the head.
Seeing that Lu Mingyi had no time to dodge, in the thick smoke, a foot stretched out and kicked the prisoner on the waist.
This kick looked very ordinary, but it contained great power. Half of the prisoner's body immediately lost consciousness. He was kicked so hard that he turned over in the air and landed heavily on the ground.
A sick man with yellow face covering his mouth and nose with a wet handkerchief helped Lu Mingyi up.
The sick man who ran into the burning cell at some unknown time was Mr. Zhang. At this moment, his complexion was sallower than before, and his health was worse.
From the smoke behind him, another skinny woman suddenly ran out.
This woman was none other than Lu Fengniang, who was brought to the fish market by Lin Xi last time and had just been released from prison.
The back of her hand was still wrapped with gauze, but she didn't even go to get the key in Lu Mingyi's hand. She just took a piece of wire and ran straight ahead, opening the door of the innermost iron cell.
…
On the river dam in Donggang Town.
Amid a burst of cheers, Jiang Xiaoyi used her last strength to lay the last stake that the 90-year-old man Chen Yangzhi said must be repaired.
After striking the last blow, his trembling hands could no longer hold the heavy hammer, and he sat down in the mud without the style of a practitioner, and the sledgehammer in his hand was thrown directly in front of him.
A large amount of muddy water was splashed out by the sledgehammer he dropped, and some of it just happened to splash into his open and gasping mouth.
"Bah! Bah! Bah!..."
Jiang Xiaoyi couldn't help but spit, causing a burst of laughter from the surrounding people.
Jiang Xiaoyi herself laughed sheepishly.
He raised his head and saw the woman with scars on her face looking at him, smiling, and wiping the mud on her face.
But when she looked into his eyes, the woman's eyes dimmed again, and she silently turned around and walked towards the place where porridge was cooked under the embankment.
Jiang Xiaoyi's smile froze, and he stood up involuntarily. Without thinking too much, he wanted to ask the woman why she was so unhappy. But at this moment, he saw a rider coming quickly from Donggang Town.
Fang Fang ran over.
This was an order sergeant sent by the town governor's office. After asking a few questions at the dam, the order sergeant quickly walked up to him and began to speak quickly.
Although Jiang Wenhe and others still don't understand his identity, they all know in their hearts that he is a practitioner and Lin Xi's friend.
"Warden caught fire?"
Jiang Xiaoyi's expression suddenly changed when he heard the words coming from the mouth of the ordering sergeant.
…
In the Governor's Mansion of Yanlai Town, He Zijing, wearing the uniform of the town governor, stood in the courtyard in front of the government office, looking up at the sky slightly.
The sky was clear, and the warm sunshine shone on him, but the cold smile on his face only became stronger.
Footsteps sounded, and Shang Yin from the military academy wearing bright copper plate armor walked in quickly.
"Sir." After bowing to He Zi, the military commander did not hide the joy on his face and said: "Jiangba is still intact. All the villagers in the villages behind Jiangba have been moved to high posts behind by Lin Xi.
.I just received news that there was a fire in the Donggang Town Prison."
"Donggang Town Prison Fire?" He Zijing took a step forward fiercely, and his voice became louder unconsciously, "What is the specific situation?"
Shang Yin bowed slightly and said: "It is said that there were no casualties and no prisoners took the opportunity to escape, but three cells were burned down. In addition, in order to strengthen the dam, he transferred many people from the arrest room and the prison room.
To the dam."
"It's really your own fault. You can't live."
He Zijing laughed loudly, "Even if he only burned down three cells, he can hardly escape the blame."
"Shang Yin, you've been tired after a long night. It's time for your people to withdraw and rest. Help me inform Master Kuang and the others to follow me to the dam."
…
Lin Xi stood on the river dam in Yanlai Town.
"The dams on our Xizi River are different from the dams in other places. Most of the dams in other places are used for water storage and irrigation, but the dams on our Xizi River are all used for land reclamation and boating."
The ninety-year-old man lying on the bamboo chair next to him was covered with a thin blanket, looking at the river water swaying beside the dam, and explained to Lin Xi in a hoarse and mutated voice: "The places where these four dams are located were originally...
The "Big Calabash Belly" is a very open shoal on the river, where a lot of sediment has been deposited. At that time, large ships passing here could easily hit the bottom and be damaged. Some of the large ships now on the river could not even move. At that time, Mr. Nasu managed the water conservancy of the river.
It is indeed amazing to see. After careful investigation, these four dams were built, and a large shoal was enclosed. The silt dug up from the river was deposited, and many fertile fields were enclosed behind the Yanlai and Donggang dams. In this way,
The rivers in these places are narrow and the water is deep. Not only is it easy to sail boats, but our towns originally didn't have much fertile farmland, but now they can really get both food and fish."
"At that time, the shoal in the Qinghe River was dug deeper, so after the Qinghe Dam was destroyed, there was no big problem in sailing boats. But now there are big boats in Jinqi Town downstream, but they have to use many trackers to drag them across. Those big boats
The company spends a lot of manpower and financial resources every year to clear the silt, but the fact is not that the cleaning is not diligent enough, but that there is no dam mouth at that place, the water is too flat, and it is too easy to form shoals, and the manpower is not as good as the silt and sand.
It’s just the deposition rate.”
"Among the four dams, the tidal flat area behind Yanlai was originally the largest, so the fertile land here and the population are larger than our Donggang Town. If this river dam is destroyed, not only will these fertile fields be lost, but the river here will also have to be restored.
As before, it is difficult for a large ship to move."
Lin Xi listened to this, nodded, took a deep breath, and asked: "Old man, judging from the situation you are looking at now, even if the weather is sunny and it stops raining, this dam is still unsafe?"
"Unless the water level of the river recedes by two meters, there is still a great danger and it will burst at any time." Chen Yangzhi nodded, and the back of his head, which had little hair, hit the bamboo chair heavily. "The weather is... it will rain tomorrow. I'm afraid.
It will take at least one or two days for the rain to stop, and it will probably take another two or three days for the water level of the river to drop. I'm afraid it will take at least four or five days."