Inspecting the Territory (3)

After thinking for a while, Victor had a slight idea to adjust the development plan, but he was not in Wood Fort Town at the moment, but on the way to inspect it, so he could only put it aside for the time being.

He asked, "Where are the Zarack people?"

Zarack is the deputy director of the Agricultural Department in charge of water facilities, and Victor's plan is closely related to him.

Sam was taken aback for a moment, then immediately replied, "Zarack should be on the river between Number Four Supply Station and Supply Station Number Three right now, dredging the river with the engineering team."

..."

After getting the answer he wanted, Victor didn't waste any time and immediately led his entourage toward the location Sam had indicated.

They weren't far from there, and Victor needed to find Zarack immediately.

When Victor finally arrived in Zarack, he was immediately captivated by the spectacular scene before him—the banks of the wide river were lined with densely packed construction teams, with workers busily operating various tools, doing their utmost to widen and deepen the river.

Meanwhile, many small boats were shuttling back and forth on the river, working closely together to systematically clear the mountains of debris that had accumulated at the bottom of the river.

Witnessing such a bustling scene of labor, Victor finally felt a huge weight lifted from his heart. Clearly, everything happening here was just as Sam had said; he hadn't lied to him.

However, Victor did not expect that his sudden appearance would attract great attention from the members of the on-site construction team.

It turns out that a significant portion of these hardworking workers are long-time residents of the Two Rivers Territory region, who have been quietly working and contributing to the construction team ever since the region began to be developed.

Victor, as the lord, was someone they were very familiar with.

Therefore, almost all the workers present recognized Victor's distinguished status at a glance, and without hesitation, they put down the tools they were holding and swarmed over to catch a glimpse of the lord who was so respected and loved by everyone.

The unusual behavior of the construction workers naturally caught the attention of the management, who realized that if the problem was not resolved in time, it would seriously affect the progress of the entire project.

After all, the current construction tasks are very urgent and arduous, and every minute and every second is a precious resource.

Now, these workers have suddenly stopped working without warning, which undoubtedly brings huge risks and challenges to the project.

However, when they learned that the person who had attracted the workers' attention was Victor, all the managers pushed through the crowd and came to Victor's side.

Upon seeing Victor, Zarack quickly bowed and asked, "Marquis Excellency, how did you come here?"

Victor looked at Zarack and asked bluntly, "How's the work going here? When will it be finished?"

"To date, most of the repair work has been successfully completed, with only the last 20-kilometer section of the river remaining unfinished. However, it is expected to be completed in the next two weeks."

The soil along this section of the river is relatively loose, making the excavation work much easier; moreover, the silt dredged from the river is a high-quality fertilizer resource, which will greatly benefit subsequent land reclamation plans.

The most critical and important task at present is to remove the various obstacles at the bottom of the river.

Fortunately, the river, named the Lime River, has a relatively small number of reefs in its riverbed, so clearing these obstacles does not require too much manpower and effort.

After speaking, Zarack pointed to the small boat in the middle of the river that was clearing debris from the riverbed and explained to Victor, "Sir, please look over there—we specially installed the small crane from the dock onto the boat!"

In this way, heavy objects that are submerged in water can be lifted more quickly, conveniently, and with less physical effort!

The specific operation is also simple: the engineering team only needs to send a small number of people into the water, and then use ropes to securely tie the heavy objects!

After hearing this introduction, Victor nodded in satisfaction, indicating his approval and agreement.

After all, Zarack is undoubtedly one of the top water conservancy experts in the city's jurisdiction!

With a massive engineering team of thousands of people as backup, dredging such a narrow river, only ten meters wide, was a piece of cake for him!

"However, Zarack, you are familiar with the water conditions of the Great Fish River and are a water conservancy expert from the Agricultural Department. You should know that dredging the river is only a temporary solution, not a permanent one!"

When asked by Victor, Zarack immediately smiled wryly, "As expected of the lord, I know about this matter. I also mentioned it in the report I sent to the Government Affairs Office."

But we're at a crucial stage of development right now, and if we don't do it this way, it will definitely affect this year's development and immigration work. So after discussing it with Sam and Manager Powell, we decided to do it this way!

"You know that by the end of May, the Great Fish River will inevitably experience a period of raging flooding."

At that time, the river will rush down like a wild horse, its momentum overwhelming and unstoppable.

This powerful current will not only cause the water level of the Great Fish River to rise sharply, but will also trigger a domino effect, causing the water level of the connected Lime River to rise as well.

In this way, the river channels you painstakingly cleaned and dredged will probably become a garbage dump again, filled with all kinds of debris flowing in from the Great Fish River!

Sigh... We might be able to manage this year, but if things continue like this, the Lime River will probably need a large-scale cleanup and dredging operation by the beginning of next year!

Upon hearing this, Victor silently looked at Mr. Zarack, who had a helpless expression on his face, and understood that the other man was also at a loss.

"Here's an idea, albeit a rough one. You can take some people and work on it. Since we're going to do it, let's make it as good as possible and finish it the first time so we don't have to worry about rework!"

After saying that, Victor led Zarack to the riverbank and had his guards fetch a map.

Meanwhile, the construction workers who had gathered around were also pulled away by the foreman, so Victor had a wide view and could see a river bend in the distance.

In Zarack's eyes, Victor first opened a map, then drew a few marks on it with charcoal, and pointed to a river bend in the distance, saying, "Zarack, look at that river bend! You should have been there before!"

"Sir, that river bend is a rare backwater in the river channel. It's very large, deep, and has underwater currents. I've led a team to investigate it before, and the river channel there doesn't need to be cleared or dredged!"

Victor nodded. Zarack had done a very detailed job, which made things much easier!

Victor then handed the map to Zarack: "My plan is simple: build simple dams in these places. We don't need a dam to block the river; just a diversion dam that can separate the wide river into two sides will suffice!"

The diversion dam doesn't need to be too high, nor does it need to completely block the river. If the water level inside the dam is higher than a certain level, the water inside the dam can automatically drain into the river channel, and the water in the river channel can do the same!

"Sluice gates are built on both sides of the dam. If the water level in the river between the two dams drops, the gates can be opened to raise the water level and facilitate navigation. The water inside the dam can also be used for irrigation without causing too much impact on the river."

Zarack saw the points Victor had drawn on the map, and after thinking about Victor's words for a moment, he was overjoyed!

"Your Excellency is wise! How could I not have thought of that!"

Zarack understood that Victor's plan was indeed more complex and labor-intensive than simple river dredging, but it would definitely improve the navigation efficiency of the Lime River considerably.

These dams, combined with the irrigation canals built for land reclamation, make land reclamation easier, truly achieving two goals at once.

Victor then spent a considerable amount of time discussing the matter with Zarack, and by incorporating Zarack's experience, the plan was further refined.

Finally, Zarack said with a beaming smile, "In this way, the problem of the Lime River can be easily solved! However, the workload is quite large, and I'm afraid we'll need to mobilize a new batch of laborers. I wonder if this will have any impact on land reclamation and resettlement!"

At this point, Zarack couldn't help but steal a guilty glance at Sam beside him.

It's important to know that the reclamation project was entirely orchestrated by Sam, which shows how much importance he placed on it. Previously, he and Powell had gone to great lengths to persuade Sam to believe that dredging the river would not interfere with the reclamation work, which is why they are leading the engineering team here today.

However, Lord Victor assigned the engineering team an additional workload and even requested more manpower.

Undoubtedly, these additional personnel can only be drawn from settlements already engaged in reclamation work. This will inevitably have a significant impact on the already strained reclamation efforts!

Victor then spoke with a serious expression, "As far as I know, there is a saying that goes, 'Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood.' In other words, if we want to manage the river and build dams, it will inevitably have some impact on this year's reclamation project."

However, in the long run, this initiative will bring enormous benefits. Once the dam is completed, a great deal of valuable time and energy will be saved in subsequent years to complete other tasks or projects.

Therefore, even if the reclamation progress may be slightly delayed this year, with proper planning and arrangements, we believe there will be ample time to make up for the losses in the coming years."

Hearing Victor's analysis, Sam knew perfectly well that he couldn't object.

So he nodded reluctantly, indicating that he was willing to accept the proposal and decided to act in accordance with the method suggested by Lord Victor —to appropriately reduce the area of land to be reclaimed this year and reserve it for the next two years to make up for it.