Chapter 934 930 [Du Shuisi is a gold swallowing beast]
Chapter 934 930 [Dushui Si is the gold-swallowing beast]
Qianqing Palace.
Xu Ying and Zhang Guowei, who returned to Beijing together, were invited by the emperor to have dinner and drinks.
The monarchs and ministers sat down to chat, and after a few words, Zhang Guowei said: "The diversion of the Yellow River is just the beginning. In the next twenty or thirty years, the water networks of Shandong and Jiangsu will need to be continuously managed. Henan cannot relax its vigilance and ignore the Yellow River. The breach has occurred again. Please ask Your Majesty to appoint a river management admiral for the three provinces to oversee the construction of rivers in the three provinces."
Zhao Han asked: "Do you have anyone to recommend?"
Zhang Guowei said: "Zhu Zhixi, a foreign minister in the Department of Water Resources of the Ministry of Industry, is honest and selfless, and is proficient in water conservancy. He can be of great use. There is also a young man named Yue Xinmin who can also be trained. With these two people, we can be guaranteed to be fifty years of flood control.”
Zhu Zhixi was a native of Yiwu, Zhejiang. His father, Zhu Sanfeng, was born in poverty. He went north to seek refuge with relatives and became rich doing business in Beijing. At the time of the chaos in the late Ming Dynasty, business in Beijing was bleak. Zhu Sanfeng lost all his money and returned to Yiwu with his family to buy land for farming. His mother also spun yarn. Weaving subsidizes household expenses.
Then there was a severe drought in Zhejiang, and life became more and more difficult day by day. His mother sold gold and silver jewelry to support her son's education. When the Datong army arrived in Zhejiang, Zhu Zhixi had already passed the scholar examination.
Now that Zhang Guowei has returned to Beijing, Zhu Zhixi is fully responsible for the finishing work of the Yellow River Project.
Historically, Zhu Zhixi managed rivers in the Manchu Qing Dynasty for more than ten years, serving as Minister of War (a dutiful post) and governor of rivers. He was upright and selfless, worked hard, and died of exhaustion in his post of river management. Moreover, he also sympathized with the river workers and constantly fought for money and food for them. subsidy.
Later, Zhu Zhixi was made a river god by Yongzheng, and he was worshiped as the Dragon King, and the people called him "King Zhu". He was also posthumously made a marquis by Qianlong, and enjoyed the Spring and Autumn Festival sacrifices across the country. Qianlong successively gave him seven immortal titles. During the Guangxu period, the imperial court also A special temple was built for worship in Yiwu, and Emperor Guangxu personally inscribed a plaque.
Zhao Han nodded and said: "Yes, these two people should be reused."
How outrageous was Jiangsu in the early Qing Dynasty? From 1647 to 1697, in the entire fifty years, there were only nine years without floods and droughts. And among these nine years, there were only three years without floods.
From the entry of the Manchus to the Revolution of 1911, the Qing Dynasty lasted for 268 years. Among these 268 years, there were 165 years of concurrent floods and droughts in Jiangsu. There were no years with concurrent floods and droughts, and there were also independent droughts or floods. Anyway, as long as the Yellow River does not change its course, Jiangsu will Natural disasters will never stop.
The New Dynasty of Datong was early in regulating water conservancy in Jiangsu, but the Yellow River had not been diverted before, and could only be repaired here and there. The Huaisi River Basin flooded every year, and other parts of the country suffered from frequent droughts. To basically solve the problem, thousands of dollars would have to be spent. Ten thousand taels of silver can be spent to control the river for decades.
The same is true in Shandong and Henan. Although the Yellow River diversion project has been completed, funds will continue to be invested every year in the future.
Zhao Han and the ministers took this very seriously. Although cabinet officials complained about spending too much money every year, they only talked about cutting spending on education, military, and immigration. No one had ever used their brains to fund river control.
Even when the Yuan Dynasty was in financial difficulty, it still knew how to collect corvees to regulate the Yellow River - of course, the main reason was that most of the capital (Beijing) had no food to eat, floods submerged water transport channels, and sea lanes were harmed by Fang Guozhen. Even though they knew that regulating the Yellow River would cause catastrophe In the uprising, the Yuan court had to bite the bullet and officials who expressed concern were dismissed.
Zhao Han and Zhang Guowei discussed the matter of river management, and then started chatting with Xu Ying.
Xu Ying suggested: "This time the inspection of the Municipal Shipping Department only inspected six major ports. There are so many ports in the country that it is impossible to inspect them one by one. For the remaining ports, officials and merchants can be ordered to surrender. Officials who surrender will have their crimes reduced by three
Wait. Maritime merchants who surrender themselves will be required to pay five times the fine for tax evasion. We will then select a few ports for random inspections. If there are those who fail to surrender voluntarily, they will be severely punished after being found out."
Zhao Han thought carefully: "This is feasible. Next year, five ports will be randomly inspected, and one port will be randomly inspected every year. Regardless of the age, as long as it is found that those who have not surrendered will be punished 20 years later, they will be severely punished!"
This year, only six major ports were investigated. Some of the officials who were beheaded and exiled were still serving in the six major ports, and some had been transferred elsewhere. When they were interrogated, some of their accomplices were also revealed, involving local officials and other port merchants.
manage.
Anyway, the case is not over yet, and the trial is still ongoing.
If the inspection of all ports across the country is completed, the Supervisory Office will not be able to think about other things in the next few years. All its manpower will be devoted to the inspection of the municipal shipping department.
The only way to solve the problem, as Xu Ying said, is to reduce the crime of those who surrender and cooperate with spot checks. Those officials and maritime merchants have been frightened. As long as they are not involved in murder cases, there must be many people who are willing to surrender.
And based on these surrenders, more people who are unwilling to surrender can be identified. Over time, the efficiency of the investigation can be doubled.
Zhao Han picked up the wine pot and wanted to pour wine for the two of them himself. Xu Ying and Zhang Guowei quickly stood up and declined. Zhao Han pushed Xu Ying's hand away, filled the wine glass at will, and poured another glass for Zhang Guowei. The two quickly bowed and thanked them.
.
After clinking glasses, Zhao Han said: "The lower reaches of the Huaihe River are the river from Hongze Lake to the sea. How big of a boat can it carry now?"
Both of them were familiar with the situation. Xu Ying replied: "Don't even think about big ships. The water is shallow in winter and spring and floods in summer and autumn. There are only four or five months a year for small boats to pass without obstruction. For Huaiyan along the coast, you can either go to Haizhou (
Near Lianyungang), it can be transported to Shuoxiang Lake via the Lianhe River. To the north, you can take the Shushui River to Shandong, and to the south, continue to take the Lianhe River to Andong and enter Huaihe River. You can either load it at Clam Port and take the Yanhe River directly to the Yangtze River, or take the Jingjing River.
River transport to the Grand Canal between Huai'an and Yangzhou."
In another time and space, hundreds of years later, the Shu River had changed its course for thousands of miles. Shuoxiang Lake and surrounding lakes had all dried up. Clam Harbor, Yunyan River, Sheyang Lake and Lian River were also gone.
Zhao Han said: "The Huaihe River must be dredged. First dredge the river near Qingjiangpu, and then dredge Hongze Lake to the sea. During the dry season every year, migrant workers are recruited to dig out the sediment from the river bottom. These migrant workers are recruited from nearby cities and rural areas, and the government provides meals.
We can also reduce family taxes and give priority to recruiting unemployed people in big cities. These unemployed people can be given a small amount of wages. The rivers will be dredged every winter and the sediment will be removed little by little. It should be able to be cured in twenty or thirty years."
Places like Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Qingjiangpu will not be abandoned if water transportation is gone. Not only are the north-south waterways important, but also the Huaiyan salt must pass through them.
Dredging the Huaisi River system will not only prevent floods, but also ensure the transportation of Huaiyan salt. Digging a few more canals will connect the irrigation areas, and industry, commerce, and agriculture will also develop accordingly.
The New China excavated the North Jiangsu main irrigation canal and the Huaihe River's seawater channel, and Zhao Han ordered the existing Huaihe River to be dredged, which is equivalent to having the functions of the North Jiangsu main irrigation canal and the Huaihe River's seawater channel.
When the Huaihe River is completely dredged, a port may be built at the estuary. At this time, Clam Harbor is too small.
Zhang Guowei said: "We have to build a large number of river engineering boats."
"Okay, let the Ministry of Finance allocate funds in the spring." Zhao Han nodded.
River work boats are equipped with many tools that can desilt the river bottom and lift up sediment. They can work even during dry periods.
Zhao Han believes that the Huaihe River can be dredged because it is very different from what it was a few hundred years ago.
Let’s put it this way, most of places like Binhai, Sheyang, Dafeng, and Xiangshui are now soaked in the sea and have not formed land at all. Those places were basically reclaimed by river sediment during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
formed by land.
Clam Port is not far from the east of Funing. It is close to the sea at this time, and it will be more than 30 kilometers away from the sea a few hundred years later. At this time, Yancheng is only 20 kilometers away from the sea, and it will be 50 kilometers away from the sea a few hundred years later!
Just like Hangzhou was a seaport in the Song Dynasty, it was far away from the sea by the Ming Dynasty. The function of river reclamation and land reclamation was very powerful.
Zhang Guowei said: "Dike embankments can be built on lakes in the key reaches of the Huaisi River. As long as it does not endanger the people, the water level can be raised artificially and clean water can be used to wash away the yellow sand. As long as the Yellow River no longer flows south, it will continue to be cleaned every year.
Yellow, the sediment will rush downstream little by little, or even into the sea. Especially in Sheyang Lake, it is not allowed to build farmland around the lake at will. When a dike is built around the lake, fields can be built outside the dike, and water is stored inside the dike to turn it yellow.
, and can also be used for flood relief.”
Although Sheyang Lake is not connected to the Huaihe River by a large river, it was still ravaged by the Yellow River. It gradually turned into a swamp area during the Ming Dynasty and basically disappeared a few hundred years later.
Now we can still rescue it by storing water to wash away the sediment from the Sheyang River and flowing it into the sea. We can also dig an artificial canal to connect it to the Huaihe River and wash away the sediment from the lower reaches of the Huaihe River over time. The same is true for Shuoxiang Lake in the north. The Huaihe River can be cleaned through Lianshui.
Downstream. This method uses the power of nature, which is more effective than Zhao Han asking migrant workers to clear the mud.
Zhang Guowei said: "If all embankments are built in Sheyang Lake and Shuoxiang Lake, it may take more than ten years and cost at least 10 million taels of silver... 20 million silver is also possible. But as long as they are completed, not only can they be stored
When the water turns yellow, it can also store water and release floods to ensure that the surrounding people are not affected by floods."
"Then do it!" Zhao Han gritted his teeth and said, the financial problem gave the ministers a headache.
Zhang Guowei became more and more excited as he talked: "After building embankments around the lake, we can then dig irrigation canals to lead to various states and counties, and set up gates to release water during the dry season. This can solve the drought problem in surrounding counties."
"After the dam is built, we will dig irrigation canals!" Zhao Han agreed again.
"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhang Guowei felt very happy. This emperor is so obedient. He will not have to worry about money in water control in the future.
Zhao Han is wiping the butt of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Huaisi water system has become a mess, and all states and counties have to spend money to clean it up. It can be saved now, but by the time of New China, it has been cleaned up and there is no way to clean it up, so we can only start a new one.
Excavating the main irrigation canal in northern Jiangsu.
Including the Yellow River Project, it will take decades and two to three hundred million taels of silver to complete this project. Moreover, it can only be managed roughly, and it will have to be maintained every year thereafter!
Money, silver, Zhao Han had to find a way to get money.
Zhao Han put down his wine glass: "Since you two have returned to Beijing, let's join the cabinet together as prime ministers."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!" Xu Ying and Zhang Guowei quickly stood up and bowed.
The new issue of "Datong Monthly" devoted a whole page to reporting in detail on the Yellow River regulation project, and Zhang Guowei's name quickly spread throughout the country.
