The Treasure of the Rebellion. 1778. The Land of Urals is smoking with their mining plants. They are smelting ironstone for the entire Empire. But how can one ship it to the capital? Because of the no-road conditions the horses and carts are out of the question. For the Ural plants there is only one road – the Chusovaya River; yet it is too shallow and narrow for loaded barges. To solve the problem, the plant owners devise a unique, unrivalled method. In spring, they open dams in a row to drain water stored in numerous factory ponds. The artificially arranged tsunami turns the Chusovaya into a mad, full-flowing torrent that carries away the heavy barges. While floating, they collide, wreck on rocks, and sink. The job of a pilot is profitable and respectable, but hard to get. A mighty semi pagan sect controls the whole of the float in the novel. The main character rebels against the power of the sect thus seeking his dream job.