Chapter 9 Chapter 2 Why is the water of the Red River so red

One night in August 1883, Edward Samson, a columnist for a newspaper in Boston, USA, fell asleep on his desk because of his exhaustion.At 3 o'clock in the morning, in his dream, he saw many people screaming and rushing towards the sea, followed by a rolling lava.He watched in horror as ships were engulfed by big waves, and then a mountain near the sea fell into the sea at once, and the blue sea water turned into a muddy yellow lake... After Edward woke up, the dream scene was vivid in his mind, so He wrote down what he saw in his dream on paper and left it on the table.The next day, the editor of the newspaper saw the words on the paper, and didn't know the cause and effect, so he took it and printed it, and Edward's dream became a news item.What's even more strange is that within a few days, a true story came from Java Island. The time and the disaster were almost the same as what Edward had seen in his dream.

The mystery of dreams coming true has yet to be revealed by scientists.However, on another night more than a hundred years later, something similar happened again.On this day, the Commissioner of Enmao District, Yunnan, who was tired all day, went to bed early and fell asleep after get off work.A few snores accompanied by a terrible dream.In the dream he was thrown to the floor by a strong earthquake.He was covered in cold sweat, and when he woke up from his dream, he heard the phone ring on the bedside. "Commissioner, there is an emergency. The comrades from the Earthquake Office have reported that there is an emergency earthquake here!" It was the secretary who called on the phone.

"Tell the office to take measures as soon as possible..." The commissioner was about to issue an instruction when there was a loud bang, followed by blue lights flickering, and the ground suddenly lost its stability: the TV fell from the table, "ping-pong" sounded in the cupboard, The commissioner fell to the floor again... This is the Simao earthquake in Yunnan that shocked China and the world on November 6, 1988.The reason why earthquakes arouse human fear and attention is because of its suddenness and huge losses to human beings.The economic loss of the Simao earthquake amounted to one billion yuan, and the number of casualties was more than 1,000.This "number" caused the Chinese Premier to personally inspect the disaster area to express condolences, and received more than 70 million US dollars in aid from all over the world.

However, people from Yunnan said: "Earthquakes like Simao are not surprising here." The person who said this was an expert on geological disasters and an economist, which must have aroused my interest. Economists told me a number: Yunnan is a province with many mountains and rivers. The province invests 30 to 50 million yuan in the basic construction of farmland and water conservancy every year, and the disasters of landslides and ground cracks and floods and mud floods caused by the geological environment affect the whole country every year. The total economic loss caused by the province is between 100 million and 200 million. In 1986, the direct economic loss caused by the single debris flow in Lincang area alone reached 7.3 billion yuan.

The ratio of construction to loss is a huge negative number. It is no wonder that 40 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, many Dai and Wa mountain people living on the edge of the dense virgin forest are still slash-and-burn and naked.I have heard that many mainland journalists and writers regard these mountain people as "savages" and romantic "women's country" and other exciting "unique skills", and write "documentary" works that are widely disseminated.This is really a sad art wood consciousness. Yunnan, located in the subtropical zone, is the "Green Kingdom" of the Chinese nation.However, this beautiful peacock is stuck in the quagmire, and can't fully soar to shine on the world.How many leaders of the provincial party committee lost their "young heads" because of the mountain disasters and river disasters in Yunnan.

Standing on the bank of the Red River leading to the Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea, I pointed to the turbulent river water dyed like paint under my feet and asked: Why is the water of the Red River so red? Are the four major Sichuan rivers in the Dian area all the same color? The Yi scholar smiled: "I have received more than a hundred journalists and writers, and they all asked me this question, but I never really answered them once." "why? " "Because I know that they seem to want to get those touching legends like 'Ashima' and 'Five Golden Flowers' from me. But I don't. The only thing I know about the Red River is the heavy sad song of reality." He smiled wryly at me Said, "Perhaps the work I do is not likable. In some meetings in the district or county, I was invited as a guest of honor at first, but later changed to attend, and finally I didn't even say hello. Interesting, okay. As a person, I have never been used to the way of working with one newspaper and one cup of tea.”

"Who told you to be a disaster expert, you must report all the troubles and not the good news!" I jokingly said to him. "You are right! But do you know how many disasters this Honghe area and the entire Yunnan area suffer in a year?" His eyes were full of tears, and his chest heaved unceasingly. "If you have encountered a catastrophe, you will have experienced it. The entire small hill was accompanied by mudslides that rushed for thousands of miles, rushing from the mountain to the road, to the street, and to the residential buildings where the children and mothers were sleeping. , that scene..."

His body was shaking violently. … He was 8 years old then.One day, he came home from school and took his 7-year-old sister to a garbage dump on the east side of the street to pick up scrap iron.There are three younger brothers under the garbage dump.Scrap iron can be exchanged for money, and money can be used to buy rice.It was raining, and there were only him and my little sister on the mountain-like waste dump.Both empty baskets were full.But, who would have expected that just as he and his younger sister were about to leave the rubbish dump and sell scraps on the street, they could only hear the voices of people on the west end of the street, and then there was a "rumbling" sound coming from far and near. Loud noise...

"The mountain stream is rushing down the street! Run—!" Heart-piercing shouts resounded through the mountain city accompanied by landslides and ground cracks.At that time, he didn't know what a mudslide was, and he had never seen such a terrible scene.His feet trembled with fear. "Brother, let's go home quickly! Come on!" The younger sister's words reminded him.So, they ran desperately towards the street where the mudslide swept. He was rushed to the ground by the rushing crowd. "Little sister! Little sister..." He shouted desperately, but the little sister was never seen again.Three days later, when he climbed out of the ancient cypress tree that saved his life, he couldn't find his way home. The familiar buildings and streets were all turned into ruins full of mudslides... The tragic scene in 1964 when Dongchuan County, Yunnan Province was ransacked by huge mudslides shocked China and the world.In that disaster, he lost his younger sister, his mother and three younger brothers who stayed at home.In the same county twenty years later, 121 people died that time.Among the dead were his beloved wife and a 5-year-old son who worked as a technician in the mine.

He lost seven relatives! "But you know, is this for me?" He rubbed his red eyes, "My tears have already dried up, and I want others not to suffer the same disaster as me!" "Do you want to know why the water of the Red River is so red?" He pointed to the sky, "Look at the mountain that soars into the sky, look at the mountain that should be lush and green. The water of the Red River is red because of the red color it carries There is too much soil, about one hundred kilograms of water has three or four catties of soil. Although I also know that the red water of the Red River is the result of soil, but in my opinion, the water of the Red River is not mixed with soil, but individual The blood of alive and kicking creatures!" He handed me a notebook, which recorded the number of people who died in the five rivers and one river in Yunnan due to the catastrophe——

Nu River: In 1979, 200 people died; Lancang River: In 1968, 115 people died; Jinsha River: 196 people died in 1984: Nanpanjiang: In 1971, 103 people died; Zhijiang: In 1981, 132 people died: Hong He: In 1986, 176 people died. I couldn't believe the fact. This is only the number of deaths in a certain year of the five rivers and one river in the past twenty years.I stared at this number, unable to control myself for a long time.I raised my head, and suddenly found that this quiet mountain had turned into giant pythons with red tongues sticking out, and it was human beings who fed these giant pythons.Although the mountains and ditches in Yunnan are so precipitous, they cannot withstand a mountain storm and torrents, but all those who praise this southern pearl, do not know if they have discovered that the rivers on both sides of the rivers have a drop of several thousand meters. On the mountain, there are either mines with roaring machines, or power plants with iron nets; the irrigation canals that are as beautiful as jade belts, the tall buildings and red tiles on the slopes, as well as the deforestation teams and grazing urchins all over the mountains and plains. It takes up too much space that shouldn't be occupied.Can Dashan allow others to flay his own flesh and blood without taboo forever? I finally understand: the Red River, in Yunnan, in China, why is it so red!