Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 865 - 588: Shares Grant You Authority!

followed the flood peak back to Hanwu and, having just completed resupply, received a new mission.

Two experts from the Ministry of Water Resources finished understanding Hanwu’s flood control and rescue work and needed to go on-site to understand the situation of the Jingjiang Section of the Yangtze River. Due to consecutive days of rain, the road on the embankment was soft and muddy, making it difficult to drive past, so they could only take a boat.

Last night, a tributary connecting to the Yangtze River in the Jingjiang Section experienced multiple instances of seepage-induced piping hazards.

It’s like a battle; when the flood can’t breach the Yangtze River embankment, it "takes a roundabout approach" to attack the tributary embankments.

If the river embankment gets breached, countless people could be displaced, rendering even the best-defended embankments useless. The leaders of the Water Resources Department received reports and needed to lead water resources experts to guide the rescue mission, requiring a boat as well.

As an expert from the Yangtze River Committee, Master Xi needed to report the situation to the Ministry of Water Resources experts and guide local flood control departments in their emergency efforts.

Three groups came together like this, all boarding 001 to head upstream. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Under normal circumstances, the experts from the Ministry of Water Resources and the leaders of the Beihu Water Resources Department would be very curious about the law enforcement vessels from Binjiang coming to Beihu.

But now is not a normal time. The leaders of the Water Resources Department had two cell phones, their ringtones interrupting each other nonstop. As soon as they boarded the boat, they were busy answering calls, almost all of which were related to rescue needs, some requiring rescue materials, certain machinery and engineering equipment, and some even requesting support from the liberation army.

The experts from the Ministry of Water Resources were also receiving calls one after another.

Not wanting to disrupt their work, Master Xi and Master Xu noticed the rain had stopped, so they simply moved to the rear deck, sat on the long bench where Zhu Baogen often sat, leaned against the bulkhead, and closed their eyes to rest.

Xiao Chen, who was responsible for the night watch as the "Land God," couldn’t sleep and, as usual, squatted on the aft deck playing with binoculars.

Getting close to that tributary, the river surface leading to it appeared endless like the sea, with the sky meeting the water.

The river water acted like an enraged beast under the influence of the wind, eager to tear a breach in the embankment. The embankment shivered, stood firm, and resisted against the surges of flood waves.

Through the binoculars, the people working on the embankment for flood rescue could be clearly seen, continuously stacking woven bags filled with soil, mixed with muddy water and sweat, onto the embankment.

One could imagine that the soil was taken from the inner side of the embankment, which they had to carry up the embankment along the steep slope before they could build a white new levee that extended as far as the eye could see.

It was really hard work, truly not easy at all.

Before coming to Beihu with Master Xi, Xiao Chen had never seen such a scene. Lowering the binoculars to look in the direction from which they came, he asked in confusion: "Master Xi, why do the embankments we saw on the way from Hanwu become less sturdy the further west we go?"

"Hanwu is a big city with a large population and many medium and large enterprises, so the embankments naturally have to be better built."

Master Xi rubbed his eyes, put on his glasses, and continued: "The Jingjiang Embankment is the most important embankment of the Yangtze River, at the national level, listed as a national project with national funds allocated for repairs. The embankment body is solid, the top is wide, the slope is tidy, and the flood control materials are abundant. The embankments of the Honghu Section and Jianli Segment are provincial-level, with insufficient investment, so they are not as solid as the Jingjiang Embankment."

"But they all belong to the Yangtze River embankment."

"Although they all belong to the Yangtze River embankment, the levels are different, and so are the treatments, leading to different repair results." Master Xi paused and sighed lightly: "No matter how you put it, it’s still about the money."

Unable to resist, Xiao Chen asked: "Do our embankments in Binjiang also have national and provincial levels?"

Master Xi shook his head: "No."

"Why not?"

"Since Binjiang is an economically developed coastal area, the state invests very little in the Yangtze River embankments across Binjiang and indeed all of Jiangnan Province; all the investments for repairs come from your provincial, municipal, and county levels."

"Master Xi, are you saying that the money for repairing the embankment given to our Jiangnan Province by the state is less than the money given to Beihu for its embankment?"

"No."

"Why?"

Before Master Xi could answer, Master Xu patted Xiao Chen on the shoulder: "Your economy is developed; you have money! Besides, what is the Yangtze River like on your side, compared to here? As you people say, it twists and turns a lot here, with many bends, which means more hazardous engineering sections. Naturally, the national investment is more in these areas."

Master Xi then said in a low voice: "Although the state has invested in the repair of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River embankment, the money put in is still just a drop in the bucket."

Seeing Xiao Chen showing some defiance, Master Xu couldn’t help but laugh: "In fact, the money the state invests here comes from your coastal areas."

"But we don’t have money; I make only three hundred twenty a month!"

"You make three hundred twenty a month, but that doesn’t mean others make that much; there are plenty of wealthy people in your area. Besides, three hundred twenty is already quite a lot; here many township cadres’ salaries aren’t higher than yours."

"Really? How can the cadres’ salaries be lower than mine?"

"Why would I lie to you? And they don’t even get it every month. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the cadres on shore later."

...

quickly entered the tributary and safely reached the riverbank where the hazard occurred.

County and township leaders had been waiting for a long time, helping to set up the gangplank for the Ministry of Water Resources experts and Water Resources Department leaders to disembark.

Under Yao Lirong’s direction, Captain Fan and Zhu Baogen used the underwater surveying equipment on 001 to assist Master Xu in inspecting the riverbed’s underwater section for any possible loopholes leading to the piping hazard.

Having stayed on the boat too long, Xiao Chen and Liu Wei disembarked to get a sense of the ground situation.

To their surprise, once ashore, they saw the embankments and their surroundings were filled with people.

Most of them were locals, and most were middle-aged or elderly.