noffsinger Chapter 1358 Dark River
Chapter 1358 Dark River
Gao Cheng couldn't understand why Shen Zheng wanted this pig-nosed dog.
"She likes dogs?" He followed Shao Weishan down from the platform, step by step. "Is she going to keep them as pets or something? Weishan, you can't give them to her!"
She's just a little girl, what does she know about raising dogs?
If this pig-nose dog were to fall into her hands, it would be a complete waste!
"We absolutely mustn't give it to her!" Gao Cheng added again.
Shao Weishan remained noncommittal and looked up at the sky.
Dark clouds surged across the sky, as if a storm was brewing.
“General Gao, the weather is not right.” As he walked, the armor plates on Shao Weishan’s body clanged together. “It has been raining a lot in Linjiang recently. As the garrison commander, you should not stay in Fuzhou for long.”
Gao Cheng followed his gaze, sighed, and shook his head: "Linjiang is like this every year. Don't worry, my men are watching. Nothing will happen."
Shao Weishan frowned: "This cannot be a reason for you to leave."
“Hey, I’m saying—” Gao Cheng’s eyes showed displeasure, “Why are you always so rigid? Fine, fine, give me two pig-nose dogs, and I’ll leave right now, any size is fine, I’m not picky!”
"No." Shao Weishan refused him again.
He was furious and kicked a handful of yellow earth in the field. "Then I'm not leaving. I'll go back to Linjiang whenever you give in."
"General Gao!" Shao Weishan's emotions were unusually turbulent. "As the commander of the Linjiang garrison, the safety of the prefecture rests on your shoulders. How can you disregard your soldiers and the people along the river just because of a few military dogs?!"
Gao Cheng was taken aback by his shout.
"...I didn't mean to abandon the people." After a moment of stunned silence, Gao Cheng felt increasingly aggrieved. "Wei Shan, we've known each other for many years and have a life-or-death bond. Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"
So why is he being so persistent today?
It's all for the sake of the troops stationed in Linjiang and the people!
These pig-nosed dogs have strong teeth and excellent hearing, which is among the best of all dogs. Linjiang is mountainous and densely forested, and the garrison's patrol mission is arduous, so they are in dire need of such good helpers.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have the audacity to stay here and refuse to leave!
"Alright then." He shoveled up another patch of yellow earth. "I won't make things difficult for you anymore. I'm going back to Linjiang now!"
Watching his somewhat forlorn figure, Shao Weishan sighed inwardly and finally called out, "General Gao."
Gao Cheng continued walking without turning his head and asked, "What are you doing?"
Shao Weishan picked up the letter in his hand, glanced at it, and asked, "Do you want a dog or binoculars?"
Gao Cheng abruptly stopped and turned around: "What do you mean?"
telescope?
Is she the treasure he's been longing for?
"A telescope made by Lord Shen." Shao Weishan handed over the letter. "Tong'an County wants to trade the telescope for my puppies, one for two."
Gao Cheng's hand, which was about to take the letter, froze in mid-air. "One telescope... in exchange for two dogs?"
Big dogs can have puppies, but big telescopes can't have little telescopes!
After clarifying the matter, Gao Cheng looked anxious and, without even reading the letter, urged, "Then you've hit the jackpot! Hurry up and reply to her, lest she change her mind!"
Shao Weishan slowly put the letter back.
“It’s a dog, but we’ll trade it for two pairs of binoculars,” he said. “Lord Shen’s offer is very fair.”
Gao Cheng was dumbfounded.
"Shen Zheng...a sucker?"
At this moment, he only regretted that he didn't know how to raise dogs like Shao Weishan.
After a moment of stunned silence, he suddenly remembered what Shao Weishan had just said: "Weishan, you... are you willing to sell me the telescope?"
Shao Weishan slowly shook his head: "It's not selling, it's giving. For the Linjiang border, the binoculars are far more useful than military dogs. This time, I want to select five puppies to send to Tong'an County first, and after we get the binoculars, I'll give you... four."
"Four?!" Gao Cheng exclaimed in surprise.
This gift is far more significant than two dogs!
What did he say again?
Shao Weishan was Gao Cheng's brother who had risked his life for him!
"Then it's settled!" As if afraid that Shao Weishan would change his mind, he turned and left: "I have to leave before the rain starts, and I need to get as little wet as possible. Weishan, you're busy, no need to see me off!"
Shao Weishan still escorted him to the camp gate.
"Boom—"
Dark clouds surged across the sky, and rumbling thunder pounded on people's hearts.
The rain is about to fall.
"Ta-da-ta-da-"
Suddenly, a rapid sound of hooves came from outside the camp. Gao Cheng, who had not yet mounted his horse, turned his head to look at the sound while holding the reins.
"General!"
The man on horseback was actually one of his scouts!
"General, General, something has happened!"
The scout was soaked to the bone, blood seeping from his forehead, and his face was as pale as paper.
Before his warhorse reached the camp, he leaped down and landed heavily beside Gao Cheng's feet.
Gao Cheng's heart sank to the bottom: "What happened?!"
He crouched down, his large hand gripping the scout's shoulder tightly: "Speak!"
The scout, panting, reached out and grabbed the hem of his robe, his voice filled with despair: "General, the Jiangbei mine is flooded..."
"what?!"
Gao Cheng felt a buzzing in his head, as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer.
The Jiangbei coal mine was a royal coal mine, and its operation was crucial to the capital. Managing the coal mine was a major responsibility of the garrison stationed along the river.
"Explain yourself!" His fingertips almost dug into the scout's shoulder bone. "The Jiangbei mine tunnels are wide; even if water were poured from the sky, it wouldn't flood! What exactly happened?"
"Cough—cough cough—"
The scout, his spittle stained with blood, reported: "General, the mine has been dug deeper recently, and with the heavy rains in the manor, water has been accumulating at the bottom of the mine since the day before yesterday. But... almost everyone thinks it's just rainwater and doesn't pay much attention. Only one old miner said he heard the sound of water at the bottom of the mine and that digging any further would lead to an underground river. He has been trying to dissuade everyone from leaving the mine and not digging any deeper, but the mine owner insists on continuing..."
Gao Cheng's hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
He heard himself ask in a hoarse voice, "Have they dug the underground river?"
how come?
How could there be an underground river around the Jiangbei mine?
"The old miners risked their lives to stop us, and the other miners dared not dig any further..." the scout's voice was weak. "But it was too late... At dawn today, the underground river broke through the retaining wall and poured into the Fulin Well..."
Upon hearing this, Gao Cheng trembled violently and nearly collapsed to the ground.
Shao Weishan immediately reached out to support him and pressed the scout for answers: "There are three mines in the Jiangbei Coal Mine, right? One is Fulin, the second is Xizhi, and the third is Kangle. When the Fulin mine was flooded by the underground river, were there any miners inside? What is the current situation of the Xizhi and Kangle mines?"
"Xizhi Well and Fulin Well are connected and were flooded almost at the same time, but fortunately there was no one in the well. However, at that time, there were still nearly a hundred miners in Kangle Well..." The scout's eyelids drooped slightly, obviously he was about to collapse, and his voice became softer and softer: "A moment after Fulin Well and Xizhi Well were flooded, Kangle Well began to seep water. The miners fled the well, but... the small tunnel outside the cave collapsed, and more than a dozen miners were still trapped inside and could not escape from the well."
Shao Weishan's eyes suddenly darkened.
A mine shaft is a room carved out by miners on the side of the mine tunnel to store tools, food, ore, and other items.
The outdoor mine tunnel collapsed, trapping people inside, but the water from the underground river could still seep into the room through the cracks in the rocks.