Regardless of the flood in 1998 or the flood in 2020, Tangyuan, having been through such experiences, had once helped others as a cook and also contributed as a philanthropist by donating various relief materials. She had even supported as a doctor, so even without being at the scene to witness the floodwaters passing through, she could very clearly imagine how hard it was for the common people.
Since ancient times, Hua Country had been a nation plagued by disasters, whether floods, fires, snow disasters, or earthquakes. Storms were hardly new; what hadn’t they endured over the course of five thousand years?
Thus, when they arrived at the disaster-stricken area after much hardship, she personally realized that this place was far behind in adopting protective measures against floods.
Firstly, she didn’t see any protective dikes.
In later generations, almost every place with a river or a lake would have protective dams for fear that once the flood came, it would inundate villages and cause immeasurable losses. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel•fire.net
However, within the territory of Nanling Country, despite the prevalent mountains and forests, mere rainfall would lead to dammed lakes and landslides, which were reportedly not uncommon. Yet in such circumstances, no remedial measures had been taken. Whether it was due to inaction by those in charge or because they hadn’t thought of these possibilities, she didn’t know. But since she had followed Rong Heng here, she definitely wouldn’t just stand by and watch.
The flood had already occurred; discussing strategies such as converting farmland to forests, building dikes, afforestation, or riverbed remediation with them now clearly wouldn’t help.
Just like in later times, common folk and soldiers alike participated in flood control efforts. However, later generations had woven bags, plastic bags, lifeboats, speedboats, and life jackets; what did the ancient people have? They went into battle unarmed, so the number of casualties was especially high, making flood resistance much harder than in later times.
If they used sacks, they could indeed create them, but just gathering the raw materials needed for these bags posed a huge problem.
Thus, the locals had to improvised with materials available on hand, whether bamboo rafts, stones, soybeans, sand, clay, or wood; whatever was useful was put to use.
Typically, the most dangerous areas were adjacent to rivers, lakes, and seas. When heavy rain fell upstream, the river water surged, water pressure suddenly increased, dikes leaked severely, and fine sand was carried away with the water, forming cavities and concentrated gushing, known as piping, which was the most dangerous. How many people had used their own bodies to block the opening of pipe leaks, their lessons of blood and tears still not enough?
As long as the rain continued, dangers were everywhere; what could we do then?
1. Use items to block water that might surge into doorways, and stop water from entering various buildings;
2. Use some items to block pipe leaks;
3. Use something to raise the height of dikes.
The first two were easy to understand; the locals had already employed these methods by the time they arrived. But for the last one, although they used sandbags or mud-filled sacks, there was a scientific method to stacking the sandbags. If they were not stacked properly, it might all be for nothing.
Hence, what she could do in the meantime was to come up with strategies for Rong Heng within the constraints that they faced. She advised on how to stack sandbags, how to handle pipe leaks, focus on pipe leaks, and what to do for post-flood reconstruction, sanitation and epidemic prevention, and future protective measures. For this, she not only drew diagrams but also wrote a detailed report to show Rong Heng that she had once again done something significant for him.
Seeing the details she listed, Rong Heng’s admiration for her could no longer be described in words, for it was too detailed. Not only had she meticulously planned for the aftermath of the disaster, from transporting water with waterwheels previously to now managing flood control, he gradually understood that what he had picked up was not a deposed Empress, but a treasure.