With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

the other side.

Aiqi was teaching Li Zhan how to use an excavator. The villagers would then bag the excavated soil, which would save a lot of manpower from digging.

Nangong Wu then took Li Ke onto a bulldozer and pushed out a flat area for pouring erosion-resistant blocks.

The ground by the river was too soft for dump trucks, so Nangong Xiao had the villagers use donkey carts and horse-drawn carts to haul sand from the river for use in concrete.

Since it's only used for riverbed diversion, the quality requirements don't need to be too high.

Because there weren't enough stones, Nangong Wu used explosives to blast up a nearby hill.

Nearly seven hundred people worked like this for several days, throwing bags, bamboo cages, and large stones from both sides of the river into the center of the river, gradually building a dike to block the flow, but the river became even more turbulent.

In the past few days, Nangong Wu has made many large concrete tetrahedrons using reinforced concrete, and also made some wire mesh cages, etc.

Afterwards, they pre-cast a lining in the deep water section to prevent collapse.

As the riverbanks on both sides advanced, when they covered half of the river surface, the sandbags and bamboo cages that were thrown in became less effective, as they were washed away by the river as soon as they were thrown in.

Nangong Wu told them to stop temporarily and prepare to deploy large-volume steel gabions and concrete tetrahedrons.

They have now built a stone road that cars can drive on, making it easier to use cranes to transport steel gabions and concrete tetrahedrons to barges.

Before closing the river channel, Nangong Wu took out several hundred snakeskin bags and had the villagers fill them with sand and haul them to the riverbank.

Once the dragon's mouth closes, water will spray out from the gap, and it must be quickly plugged with earthen bags.

Because of the rapid water flow, Nangong Wu decided to first pour in the concrete tetrahedron.

The concrete tetrahedrons were large, some weighing up to a hundred tons. She and Eileen personally controlled the boat, allowing Nangong Xiao and Li Zhan to steer the barge closer to the dragon's mouth.

As each concrete tetrahedron was precisely thrown in, the opening of the dam narrowed, and the water flow became increasingly rapid. Fortunately, the concrete tetrahedrons were heavy, so the water could not wash them away.

Persistence pays off; the dragon's mouth was finally blocked, and the water level below the blocked mouth visibly dropped.

Nangong Wu then lowered a ten-meter-long steel gabion filled with stones and placed it in front of the concrete tetrahedrons, which reduced the amount of water leaking out.

The river was successfully blocked, but water is still leaking out from the cracks.

The villagers all sprang into action, bringing over the filled earthen bags. Those who could swim went into the water and threw the bags into the side where the river had been blocked.

After eight days of hard work, they successfully blocked the river and built a river embankment eight meters wide.

But Nangong Wu knew that this river embankment was only temporarily blocking the water flow. If the Mao'er River were to rise again during the next rainy season, it could be washed away at any time.

"Your Highness, we have finally succeeded." Su Siyan looked at the dam and felt that all the hard work of the past few days had been worthwhile.

"This is only temporary. We'll need to build a stronger dike before the rainy season arrives next year," Nangong Wu shook her head.

"That's not difficult. We can just have someone bring more stones to widen the gap!" Su Siyan said.

"We'll talk about this next year," Nangong Wu said, then walked toward the main tent.

The villagers who had finished work gradually returned to the area. Some sat on the ground to rest, while others washed the tools they had brought by the water.

Nangong Wu led Su Siyan back to the main camp. With a thought, she took out several large boxes from her spatial storage, each containing silver ingots weighing between five and ten taels.

After the villagers learned that Nangong Wu was Princess Runing, no one asked them for money for the past eight days. Now that work is over, it's time to give the villagers their money.

"Take the boxes out and have them line up to collect their money," Nangong Wu instructed.

"Yes!" Li Ke responded, walked over, and shouted to the villagers:

"They're handing out money! Everyone's lining up now."

Upon hearing this, everyone stood up.

The middle-aged man strode over. "Princess Runing, we have already discussed it. We don't need any money."

"The princess said this is the money you deserve, and besides, your family is almost out of food, so please don't be polite," Su Siyan said.

Upon hearing his words, the villagers all lowered their heads.

After more than a month of heavy rain, their village, which was located on higher ground, was not flooded, but the crops in the fields were all drowned. If the imperial court did not take any action, they would have to take their families out to beg next year, or they would all starve to death at home.

Su Siyan opened the box, revealing neatly arranged silver ingots, and called out, "The princess said that everyone who comes to help will receive ten taels of silver, including those who bring donkey carts and horse-drawn carriages."

"Your Highness, Your Highness the Princess, please accept this humble subject's bow!"

The middle-aged man knelt down first, chanting, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

The villagers behind them also knelt down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" three times.

Nangong Xiao glanced at his younger sister and smiled, "Little sister, you've done another good deed for the people. I'm proud to have a sister like you."

"Brother, just say a few polite words for me!" Nangong Wu pushed him out.

She never expected gratitude from others when she did things, nor did she like being constantly worshipped.

"Alright, go inside and rest! I'll handle this." Nangong Xiao shook his head and went to distribute silver to the villagers.

Nangong Wu turned around and went back into the tent to wait.

She took out a map and saw that the water of the Mao'er River was temporarily blocked. After the water downstream dried up, a dam would have to be built downstream with reinforced concrete, and the dam structure would have to be planned, with permanent outlets such as spillways and flood discharge tunnels set up.

This diversion channel was originally intended to supply water to the moat of Runan City, but it also served the water needs of the local residents, so it could not be completely blocked off.

The villagers received the silver and left, expressing their deepest gratitude.

Some families, including fathers and sons, four or five people, came together. With the help of a horse-drawn carriage, each family received several dozen taels of silver, which was a huge sum of money for them.

**********

A few days after the water of the Mao'er River was blocked, the floodwaters around Runan City receded quickly, and the water in the moat returned to its original level.

People from the mountain came down to catch fish in the puddles, not only to eat the fish but also to have some fun.

In the office, Nangong Wu, Nangong Xiao, Nangong Hong, Cao Bin, and Zhou Du and Duan Chengye, the garrison commanders from the border, discussed the future development of Runan City.

"The climate here is like spring all year round. After the water recedes, we can plant some winter vegetables in the fields. Let's not let the people on the mountain be idle. Planting something can help them be self-sufficient," Duan Chengye suggested.

The soldiers in their barracks all grew their own vegetables to eat.

"Many people in the city have never grown this before. Do you think they would know how to grow it?" Nangong Xiao wondered.

"If they don't know how, they'll learn." Zhou Du sneered. "Give them the seeds; if they plant them, they'll have vegetables to eat; if they don't, they won't have anything to eat."

"I think it's a good idea," Nangong Wu agreed. "Runan City needs to be redeveloped, which will take at least a year. Let's first cultivate a vegetable garden, and once the road is open to the outside, we can set up a stall and do some small business."