Nine Rivers

Three hundred years after the founding of the Dayan dynasty, nine great rivers run through the country, serving as its lifeline. The founding emperor Jiang Tieya understood that if the nine rivers are safe, the world is safe. He granted water officials the "power to open and close," allowing them to open sluice gates during floods without seeking approval. The ancestral instruction was four words: "Decision in an instant." Three hundred years later, the key still exists, but no one dares to use it. In the summer of the 31st year of Chongde, 26-year-old Shen Du arrives at the Cang River section with an old copper key left by his father. His father was the previous water official of the Cang River, impeached and dismissed for a correct decision to open the sluice, and died in depression. Shen Du wants to heal the river. But before he can do anything, Zhao Heng, the head of the largest local family, visits him. Zhao Heng states the principle: do not disrupt the livelihoods of the riverside people. Shen Du soon understands the subtle relationship between "the livelihoods of the riverside people" and "Zhao's three thousand acres of farmland." He also understands why his predecessors chose silence, and why the patrol records of his colleagues each month read the same two words: normal. The Cang River is silting. The dikes are cracking. The flood season comes every year. And the one holding the copper key dares not open the sluice.