Getting the court to make up its mind to abandon water transportation and getting the court to give up the canal are completely different things. The function of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is not only to protect water transportation, but it also has another role that cannot be ignored - shortening the spatial distance between the north and the south.
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When the canal was completely unnavigable, the time it took for merchants and travelers to travel by land between the two places was suddenly extended from the original ten days to a month. Such inefficiency would definitely affect the imperial court's management of the entire Jiangnan, a tax-rich area, and also affect the north and south.
circulation of goods.
Therefore, Pan Jixun’s so-called abandonment of water transportation only means abandonment of grain transportation. In other words, if canals are not used to transport grain, then there is no need to keep the three-thousand-mile canal open at all times - which will greatly reduce the difficulty of managing the Yellow River.
Initially, in order to meet Zhu Yijun's "three guarantees" requirements of protecting water transportation, protecting ancestral mausoleums, and protecting people's livelihood, Pan Jixun's first version of the river management report put forward very limited methods for river control to the court.
Weir dams store water to attack sand, but they dare not expand Weishan Lake to affect people's livelihood and transportation, so all the work done is tinkering and tinkering, similar to Zhu Heng's methods.
Even from the perspective of Zhu Yijun, a semi-layman, this version of the plan cannot solve the problem of intensive flooding of the Yellow River and Huaihe River.
During the Wanli period, the Yellow River had been fixed along the Xinzheng-Xuzhou-Huai'an line for hundreds of years. It was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty that it broke through again and returned northward at Tongwaxiang, Henan, ending the history of the Yellow-Huaihe confluence.
In the 18th year of Yongle reign, Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal became the lifeblood. The 500-mile-long transport channel from Xuzhou to Qingkou in the Grand Canal must be supported by the water of the Yellow River to remain open.
The Yellow River runs rampant in the Huaihe River and southwestern Shandong, causing numerous diversions and seriously affecting water transportation.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's water control idea during this period was to "block the south and dredge the north, and suppress the southward flow of the river to protect water transportation." The Huaihe River and its tributaries were used as constraints by long embankments as the downstream channels of the Yellow River floods. The Hongzhi Emperor and the Jiajing Emperor built the Huaihe River and its tributaries respectively.
Jindi and Nandi are products under the guidance of this kind of thinking.
The direct consequence of this kind of thinking and approach is that the sediment of the Yellow River is deposited into the lower reaches of the Huaihe River, causing the originally deep and wide Huaihe River to be deposited into an above-ground river. The Huaihe River system suffered great damage. The Huaihe River, which could not compete with the Yellow River, found another way to flush the river.
Entering the Yangtze River, the water flow in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River increases, which also brings huge flood control pressure to the Susong area.
What's ridiculous is that as long as the court can maintain water transportation, the suffering of the people in the Huaihe and Huaihe areas is not considered by the Ming Dynasty court at all. In the 14th year of Yongle, the Yellow River burst in Kaifeng, flooding fourteen prefectures and counties, and flowing into the Huaihe River from the Wohe River.
Endangering destiny, the imperial court at that time actually let it go and let the Yellow River flow for more than 40 years.
Subsequently, during the Zhengtong, Jingtai, Hongzhi, and Jiajing years, there were several major floods in the Huang and Huaihe rivers. The imperial court's thinking remained unchanged, and it still focused on protecting luck and ignored the livelihood of the people in the Huanghuai land.
At that time, southeastern Henan and northwest Anhui were almost transformed into water towns such as Zeguo, Fengyang, Sizhou, Huai'an and other places. They were constantly suffering from disasters, and the imperial court ignored the wailing of victims and refused to rescue them.
A section of Fengyang Flower Drum that was widely circulated in later generations expresses the heart-wrenching pain the Ming Dynasty brought to the people: "Speak of Fengyang and say Fengyang. Fengyang was originally a good place. Since Emperor Zhu came out, there have been many people in the past ten years."
Nine years of famine. Large families sell mules and horses, while small families sell sons and sons..."
This lyrics was written by the Ming Dynasty. The original text of the first sentence is: "I live in Luzhou and Fengyang..." Teresa Teng of later generations also composed the popular song "Fengyang Flower Drum" based on this folk song.
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As Pan Jixun's investigation deepened, and Zhu Yijun's policy of abandoning water transportation gradually took shape in his mind, Pan Jixun abandoned the idea of "blocking the south and dredging the north" to manage the river, and put forward a complete plan for future generations to make it famous: raising the height
We will widen Gaojiayan, store water from Hongze Lake, and use the water from Hongze Lake to implement the "water-reinforcement and sand-attack" project to deepen the silted waterways of the Yellow River and increase the downstream flow, thereby reducing the flooding of the two rivers.
This idea of river management was originally implemented in the late Manchu Dynasty. However, in the Ming Dynasty, there was a knot that was difficult to untie-the heightening of Gaojiayan, the expansion and deepening of Hongze Lake, and the arrival of the flood season of the Huang and Huaihe Rivers would threaten
The ancestral mausoleum is safe. Therefore, "confining water to attack sand" was still a half-baked project until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and flooding of the Huanghuai River was still frequent.
Zhu Yijun, Zhang Juzheng and other cabinet ministers discussed it over and over again, and asked the empress dowagers Chen and Li for instructions. In the end, they could not make up their minds to move the ancestral mausoleum. If we really want to do this now, the political resistance is too great, and it will not even shake the foundation of the country.
Too much.
But if the ancestral mausoleum is not moved, the effect of "confining water to attack sand" will be greatly reduced. The Ming Dynasty will always linger under the threat of these two rivers, and a large amount of resources will be invested in disaster relief and leakage repairing in a vicious cycle - this is another
What Zhu Yijun couldn't tolerate.
Moreover, because of Pan Jixun's more in-depth research in this time and space, the second version of the report also proposed the shortcomings of the strategy of "confining water to attack sand". Since the root problem of the "Huanghuai Confluence" has not been resolved, and "Huang Qiang"
Due to the factor "Huai is weak, yellow is high and Huai is low", during the flood season, the Huaihe River channel cannot fully accommodate the floods released, which will cause backwater to flow back into Hongze Lake and block the clear water outlet of Hongze Lake.
If things go on like this, on the one hand, it will affect the effect of "confining water to attack sand"; on the other hand, when the water flow slows down, a hanging river will form below Xuzhou.
After Pan Jixun's second plan was rejected by the emperor, he finally became ambitious again, and this time it was so ambitious that he actually wanted to use a series of dam projects and excavation of new rivers to restore the Yellow River and Huaihe River's access to the sea alone!
The specific idea is to first intercept the inflow channels of the Yellow River into Hongze Lake and the original Huaihe River, and use a series of dams and old river channels to force the Yellow River to go northward into the sea. Then use Hongze Lake as a hub to put the Huaihe River water into the old river channel, and
Cut off the connection between the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River.
This grand project will use the newly opened and the previous rivers to alternately use two rivers to completely solve the siltation problem of the Yellow River. The construction plan is as follows:
First, a new river channel will be opened to divert the Yellow River that takes away the Huaihe River to the north. At the same time, Gaojiayan will be raised and widened to store the Huaihe River, and then it will exit the lake from the southwest of Hongze Lake and use the old channel of the Yellow River to enter the sea and flush out the old channel.
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After part of the old river channel is brushed out, the channel from the Huaihe River to the Yangtze River will be cut off, all the water from the Huaihe River will be directed into Hongze Lake, the Qingshui mouth in the southwest of Hongze Lake will be widened, and the intensity of river brushing will be increased.
When the new channel of the Yellow River gradually silts up in 20 to 30 years, the Yellow River gates will be closed, new dams will be built, and the Yellow River will be directed into Hongze Lake and into the Huaihe River (old Yellow River) that has been flushed; at the same time, the northeastern part of Hongze Lake will be reopened
Some large sluices or dams may be broken directly, and the newly built dams will be used to divert the Huaihe water entering Hongze Lake into the "New Yellow River" to flush out the silted New Yellow River.
In this way, the two rivers are alternately used, one is clear and the other is turbid. On the one hand, it solves the problem of flood backflow during the flood season after the Yellow-Huaihe River merges and the sedimentation problem at the clear mouth of Hongze Lake; on the other hand, the two rivers are alternately used to make the Yellow River silt up.
The eternal problem has been fundamentally solved. Finally, because Hongze Lake has two outlets, the pressure on the ancestral mausoleum will be greatly relieved.
The only shortcoming of this plan is that when the Yellow River flows into Hongze Lake, it will cause siltation in Hongze Lake and hub failure. However, Pan Jixun judged that because the position of the Huaihe River is low, when the river course is changed again, the sediment accumulated in Hongze Lake will
Most of the land will be washed away and will not become a major problem - for a century, a part of the land outside Hongze Lake can be left undeveloped and used as a backup flood discharge area; the dredging and desilting project of Hongze Lake can also be carried out during the dry season.
, expand storage capacity.
If this plan is successful, it will kill two birds with one stone and meet the emperor's requirements of protecting not only the ancestral mausoleums but also the canal and people's livelihood. Moreover, using this nationwide large-scale project and the surrounding supporting water conservancy projects will eliminate the risk of disasters all year round.
The Huaihe River Basin and the Yellow River Basin have become the land of grain and rice - the real contribution lies in the future.
At that time, Zhang Juzheng looked at the money, food and labor costs of the third report submitted by Pan Jixun. He took a sharp breath and without saying a word, he immediately sentenced the third report to death. But when Zhu Yijun saw it, he was greatly surprised.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the methods used to regulate the Yellow and Huaihe Rivers were only partially similar to Pan Jixun's third plan. The biggest difference was that the status of the Huaihe River as still a tributary of the Yangtze River was not completely changed, and the Yellow River also changed its course at that time, so the management of the two rivers was
They all belong to single-basin management. - The siltation problem of the Yellow River actually does not need to be solved in the new century, because the lower reaches of the Yellow River are basically drying up.
The follow-up effects of this plan will be very inspiring: on the one hand, it will break the water condition where the three rivers are linked and all are flooded. By using the Yellow and Huaihe rivers to enter the sea separately, it will solve the problem of the Yellow-Huaihe River conflict and the excessive water volume in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River at once.
Problem. Since then, flood control and management of the three major rivers, the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the Huaihe River, have become a single-basin problem.
Secondly, the two rivers use Hongze Lake and the surrounding series of lakes as hubs, and take turns using the strategy of "confining water to attack sand" to control the Yellow River, which will effectively control the problem of siltation hazards in the Yellow River.
Thirdly, with the two rivers flowing out, the water storage pressure of Hongze Lake is reduced, which also protects the Ming Zuling Tomb. Of course, if he wants to save it once and for all, Zhu Yijun plans to move the Zuling Tomb when the time is right in the future.
Finally, this core project, coupled with supporting related water conservancy facilities, will change the scene of turbid waves and mud and sand in the Huanghuai area that has been hit by disasters all year round, turning the entire Huaihe River Basin and Yellow River Basin into a land of plenty! Although it cannot be solved once and for all, it will at least transform the Yellow River Basin.
, the Huaihe River has burst its banks year after year and has solved more than half of the problems affecting the lower reaches of the Yangtze River - except for the large amount of work, there are no other problems.
Zhu Yijun judged that although the manpower and material resources required for this plan were extremely staggering, it was indeed possible to realize it at this time:
When New China regulated the Huaihe River, the area around the Huaihe River was already densely populated with large and small cities and could not be relocated at all. Therefore, a method was adopted to build a dam upstream and divert the water downstream. The main stream still flows into the Yangtze River.
But at this time and space, firstly, due to the perennial flooding of the Huanghuai River, large-scale settlement towns have not been formed in the Huanghuai Plain to the northern Jiangsu region. Most of the areas are swamps and fields, and the immigration pressure is not very scary.
Within the tolerance range;
The two imperial courts now have a large amount of money to start this project;
The large-scale development of the Northeast by the three will create a short window period during which population pressure will decrease. When the Northeast is matured, population pressure will increase, and immigration will become more difficult at that time.
Therefore, after Zhu Yijun fully considered Pan Jixun's third plan, he felt that the restoration of the Yellow Old Road might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the Chinese nation's perennial floods!
Besides, as a time traveler, Zhu Yijun didn’t dare to think about things that Zhang Juzheng didn’t dare to think about?
At the end of the second year of Wanli, Pan Jixun completed his inspection of various river basins across the country and went to the capital to report on his work. Under the leadership of Zhu Yijun, adhering to the principle of improving the plan while constructing, preparatory works were carried out in the third year of Wanli.
Therefore, this third plan has been kept secret. In the third year of Wanli, the whole country was busy working on it. In fact, it was the initial projects and farmland water conservancy infrastructure projects that both the second and third plans were carried out.
It was not until Pan Jixun was attacked when the river was converted into a sea that the imperial court announced part of it, mainly the heightening and widening of Gaojiayan project - less than one-tenth of the total project volume of the third plan.
Even so, the anti-shipping faction that had focused their efforts on Pan Jixun was silenced.
At the end of the third year of Wanli in this time and space, as the government and the public reached a consensus on the reform of river-cao to sea, and the Yellow River flooded again this year, the court in this time and space finally learned from the pain. Zhu Yijun first persuaded the cabinet, and then pushed the court to pass the first draft.
In the third plan, it is planned to invest 12 million taels of silver in the first phase, and gradually increase the total amount to 30 million taels. It will take 20 years to complete all the basin-wide water control projects with the new Yellow River entering the sea as the core!