A total of 47 people were beheaded this time, including 32 officials, 9 businessmen, and 6 non-official and non-business civilians. These 6 people were all accomplices involved in the case, such as Du Xingxue from Shanghai, and those who personally silenced them.
There are also some who are absconding without knowing their whereabouts.
There were even more exiles, a total of 122 officials and 17 merchants were exiled. Including their families, the total number of exiles was more than 1,600, of which more than 800 were exiled from Tibet and Heilongjiang each.
The so-called moles in the investigation were found to be two.
One is a doctor in the Customs Department of the Ministry of Finance. Since the Ministry of Finance assisted in the investigation, this guy received the news very early and quietly informed the local government to make preparations. The other is a low-level anti-corruption officer. His brother works in the Ningbo Shipping Department.
, also conveying messages secretly.
House searches and fines are still in progress.
Especially for fines, the imperial court ordered maritime merchants from all over the country to pay in full before February next year. If they do not accept the fine after the deadline, the government will take action and forcibly auction their fixed assets.
The coastal areas are wailing, and there are many people who have problems with capital turnover. It is estimated that 10% to 20% of maritime merchants are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Those private banks were extremely excited. Hui merchants, Gan merchants, Western merchants, Hu merchants, and Sichuan merchants were transporting boxes of silver to the port. Not enough cash to pay the fine? We have money in hand, and the loan interest rate is also higher than usual.
The price is only a few cents higher. You merchants can just use cargo ships and shops as collateral.
What's more, they directly acquire or invest in shares, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to participate in maritime trade.
Take the Longyou Merchant Gang in western Zhejiang, for example. They mostly do business in inland and remote areas. Occasionally, some people go out to sea, not for shipping, but to open stores overseas or buy local specialties overseas. Now it’s great, the opportunity has arrived
, if you don’t have enough money, you can raise funds from multiple sources, and you must open up the sea route of the Longyou Merchant Gang.
The semi-monopoly of maritime trade by wealthy coastal merchants was torn apart by the imperial court because of this corruption and tax evasion case.
Many wealthy businessmen from the Mainland dug out all the money hidden in their cellars!
Zhao Han did not continue to pay attention to the coast, because the Yellow River diversion project, which has lasted for more than ten years, will be completed by this winter.
Zhang Guowei specially sent a capable subordinate back to explain his entire project to the emperor.
This man's name is Zhai Maohua, the director of the Water Resources Department of the Ministry of Industry.
He pointed to the map and said: "The dividing line of the Grand Canal is at Nanwang in the north of Jining. The terrain here is the highest and it is the ridge between the north and the south. In the early Ming Dynasty, the water was controlled and the Wen River was diverted to Nanwang, which caused the river to flow north and south. It flowed south to
Xuzhou and Pizhou account for four-tenths of the water volume, and six-tenths of the water flows north to Linqing. Gates are set up along the way to store and discharge floods, and to transport ships. Twenty miles of canals are also dug at Guanjia Lake in the west of Huai'an City.
, to clear Jiangpu, guide the lake water into the Huaihe River, and build four gates to release it."
Zhao Han seemed to understand, but he didn't seem to understand.
Zhai Maohua continued: "This time Zhang Shangshu controlled the Yellow River and used the method used in Huai'an in the early Ming Dynasty to solve the problem of shipping in the Grand Canal. All the residents in Anshan and Liangshan areas had to relocate, because as soon as the water from the Yellow River came, Anshan Lake
The area of Anshan Lake may be expanded several times. Six gates are set up in sections in the north and south of Anshan Lake. The Yellow River does not flow directly into Anshan Lake, but a twenty-mile canal is dug to connect it with Anshan Lake. When the Yellow River floods, it can flow
Entering Anshan Lake to release floods. When the Yellow River is dry, water is released from six gates to ensure the smooth flow of the canal."
Zhao Han understood this time that Anshan Lake was specially used for flood discharge, and its function was the same as Hongze Lake when the Huai River was diverted into the sea. The current Anshan Town and Liangshanji will be submerged to the bottom of the lake in the future. In the long run, Anshan Lake will be flooded.
The mountain lake will become like Hongze Lake.
Zhao Han asked: "The Yellow River brings a lot of sediment, will it silt up Anshan Lake and Quhe River in the future?"
"Definitely," Zhai Maohua explained, "This is inevitable. The Yellow River was regulated in the early Ming Dynasty and lasted for about 150 years. Qingjiangpu and Hongze Lake were so silted up that the water depth in some places is now less than two feet. Zhang Shangshu's
The method is the same, it will silt out in about a hundred or two hundred years. The more severe the siltation, the larger the area of Anshan Lake and the shallower the water of Anshan Lake."
There is really nothing we can do about it, the mother river has long been ruined.
Twenty-five years after Jiajing, what did the lower reaches of the Yellow River look like?
It can no longer flow directly into the Huaihe River. Instead, it seizes the channel of the Si River, passes through the Si River, and then flows into the Huaihe River. The section of the Yellow River from Dangshan to Xuzhou is often unable to flow through. You need to go through the Zhuo River in the north, and the Qingou enters the canal, causing the canal there.
It was also blocked. In the late Ming Dynasty, water transportation could only go along the Central Canal line.
Fortunately, the section of the Huaihe River from Hongze Lake to the sea can still be managed. It is not like in history, where it flowed for another two to three hundred years, making it impossible for the Huaihe River to enter the sea, so it had to take advantage of the Yangtze River to enter the sea.
Zhai Maohua continued: "In the new Yellow River, the dams need to be built year by year. There is also the abandoned Yellow River, the river network is extremely complex, and it may also flood in the future. Both sides of the two Yellow Rivers must continue to be dredged, embanked, and trees planted. Next
In ten years, it may cost tens of millions of taels of silver."
"Don't talk about ten million taels of silver, even thirty million or fifty million should be paid." Zhao Han sighed.
…
The water dries up in winter.
Upstream of Kao City, tens of thousands of people were busy.
There was no corvee in the new Datong Dynasty, but Zhang Guowei had no money to pay wages. In the prefectures and counties along the Yellow River that governed the Yellow River, as long as there were more than two males in the family, one person had to come to help.
For a family that has someone to manage the river, one person works, ten acres of land is tax-free, and food and accommodation are provided.
Counting the exempted agricultural taxes, Zhang Guowei definitely spent more than several million taels of silver.
Zhang Guowei stands on the embankment. He is 62 years old. He has been working hard for more than ten years and his health has become increasingly poor.
Now, I can finally take a break.
There are several dikes in Huanglinggang, all of which were built by the Ming Dynasty. Today, they are being dug one by one by workers.
There is no earth-shattering scene. During the dry season, the Yellow River is too shallow to flow northward on its own. Workers have to dig all the way across and dig out a lower channel to divert the water.
This continued for more than ten days, and the dry and shallow Yellow River finally flowed north.
The workers braved the severe cold to build a dike on the original river channel. They first carried soil further upstream and built a simple dike to block the water. Then they removed the accumulated water behind the simple dike and began to build the first retaining dam.
It is necessary to dig several feet down to the bottom of the yellow sand, and then pour and compact the Sanhe soil.
Although cement has been invented, it is not qualified for building embankments. At critical times, the old method still works. After being built, this kind of three-component soil is as strong as iron and stone.
The first dam is several miles long.
Then there are the second, third, and fourth check dams. In the future, the rising water in the Yellow River will be slowed down by several check dams layer by layer, and will be completely blocked at the last dam.
Behind the dam, there will be the abandoned Yellow River. Don't even think about sailing, and farming is too difficult, so it can only be used for agricultural irrigation. It also needs flood control, because other rivers are flowing into it, and the embankment will burst if you are not careful.
It only depends on whether the lower reaches of the Huaihe River can be rescued. After all, in this time and space, the Yellow River has flowed less for two to three hundred years, and sedimentation is not that serious.
Looking at the dam that was gradually taking shape, Yue Xinmin couldn't help but sigh: "The sword that has hung in Sizhou for hundreds of years will finally be lifted, and the people of Sizhou can sleep well in peace of mind."
"Sizhou still needs to be cured, but Gaojia'an is always a scourge." Zhang Guowei said.
"If the Yellow River does not flow away, Gaojiazui will be much easier to manage," Yue Xinmin said.
Yue Xinmin, the first Jinshi of the Datong Dynasty, took the initiative to ask Ying to come and regulate the Yellow River. Just because he was from Sizhou, if the Yellow River was not regulated, Sizhou would be in trouble.
How dangerous is Sizhou?
The terrain is four meters lower than Hongze Lake!
Although Pan Jixun was the first person to regulate the river in the Ming Dynasty, he was scolded miserably by the people of Sizhou.
Gaojiazui (Hongze Lake Embankment) is 60 miles long and 1.2 feet high. It was used by Pan Jixun to store Qingshuihuang. This is equivalent to artificially raising the water level of the Huaihe River. Once the floods overflow, they will rush directly to Sizhou City.
go.
At that time, Chang Sansheng, an official in Sizhou, wrote a letter "Informing the Yamen in Beijing about the Flood Disaster." Listening to the name of this memorial, you can know how angry Chang Sansheng was. He criticized the disadvantages of building Gaojia'an one by one, and then... he was dismissed from office.
Already.
In the Qing Dynasty, high levees and dams continued to be built, and the area of Hongze Lake continued to expand. Sizhou City was also swallowed up by Hongze Lake, and hundreds of thousands of people in the city were buried in the belly of the fish.
As a Sizhou native, Yue Xinmin wanted to cry at this moment.
He knows water conservancy. If the Yellow River does not change its course, Sizhou City will be flooded sooner or later.
Zhang Guowei admired Yue Xinmin very much. He encouraged him: "You are the first scholar in the new dynasty, and you have great achievements in water control. Your future is limitless. After you control the Yellow River, I will join the cabinet. This is what your majesty promised."
The entire Huaisi water system needs to continue to be renovated. Whether it is diversion or blockage, you decide for yourself, and the Huaisi must be rehabilitated."
"Students, please remember!" Yue Xinmin bowed and prostrated.
When Zhao Han first raised his troops, Zhang Guowei was already controlling the water, and he managed the Jiangnan water network to its fullest.
Yue Xinmin is his chosen successor, and he will definitely be the mainstay in flood control in the future.
Today's Hongze Lake is not nearly as big as it was a few hundred years ago. Gaoyou Lake is not connected into one, but is scattered across five lakes and twelve lakes. These lakes are all the result of the efforts of the Ming and Qing dynasties to preserve water transportation.
Yue Xinmin suddenly said: "Your Majesty, is it possible for us to do business?"
"Yes." Zhang Guowei smiled.
Zhang Guowei's management of the Yellow River is like Cameron filming "Titanic", asking for additional budget while doing it.
Although the emperor has allocated funds many times, it still exceeds the budget by more than 800,000 taels.
There were still outstanding payments for many engineering materials, and the merchants received a bunch of IOUs. The first thing Zhang Guowei did when he returned to Beijing was to ask the emperor to settle the payments. It would not be a problem to keep defaulting on the merchants' debts.
Fortunately, the reputation of the Datong court is strong, otherwise those merchants would be willing to die for credit, and I have never heard that the court can get back its debts.
Late winter.
Zhang Guowei came to Xuzhou and saw nearly a thousand prisoners outside the city. He couldn't help but ask: "Why are there so many prisoners?"
The accompanying official gloated: "These are all wealthy people, either officials from the shipping department or big merchants from the coast. They will be taken to Xuzhou for intensive care this winter, and they will be sent to Heilongjiang in the spring of next year."
The reason why prisoners did not go directly by sea was because there was a special government office in Xuzhou.
All immigrants and convicts going to the north must be registered centrally in Xuzhou, which is equivalent to the large locust tree in the early Ming Dynasty.
After listening to the official's story, Zhang Guowei just sneered. He worked very hard to regulate the Yellow River, but these officials got a lot of money. They deserve it!