The new snow has just stopped, the clouds have not yet fallen, and the Yongding River in the west of Beijing is still frozen. Under the ice, you can actually see the water surging, reflecting the changes in the clouds in the sky. The scenery of the North is so beautiful.
A horse team of about forty people escorted a luxurious carriage all the way north along the Yongding River. Most of these people were strong and strong, carrying steel knives with wild goose feathers on their waists, and carrying wooden bows on their backs. Even the horses on their hips were quite strong.
When I see the divine horse, I will show off to him. I am afraid that even ordinary officers and soldiers will not be able to match him.
In the carriage, a young man dressed in navy blue with fine gold embroidered cloud patterns on his shoulders opened the curtains and looked at the frozen river with a worried look on his face. He didn't know what he was thinking.
"Young Master, please don't go along the river any longer." A tough man in his thirties came to the carriage on horseback, pointed at the three-way road ahead, and advised: "Logically speaking, the one on the far right is
The best way to go is the official road, which turns towards Changping due north, but although this road is good, it is not smooth. We are going to Cherry Spring, which is the direction of Shibatan in the west of Beijing. The best way is to Huailaima.
The one in the middle of the post... But if you have to walk all the way along the Yongding River, you can only take the trail on the left. This trail is not an official road, it is a post road. It is mostly used by idlers and tourists who go to Shibatan for spring outings.
We just left. It’s snowing now and the mountains are closed. It’s very difficult to walk, especially in a carriage. You and the two little girls may have to get out of the car and ride horses.”
The young man in the car, dressed in a smart suit, is none other than Gao Pragmatic.
He was still frowning at this moment, and did not answer the man's words. Instead, he asked: "Zhang Jin, I heard that when my uncle entered the Hanlin Academy as an editor in the 34th year of Jiajing, you guarded him in the capital? Then?
It’s been almost fifteen years now, right?”
The man named Zhang Jin didn't pay attention to Gao Pragmatic's unkind question. He cupped his fists and said, "Young Master Biao has a good memory."
Gao pragmatic pointed to the Yongding River and asked: "What can you tell me about the Yongding River?"
Zhang Jin was slightly startled and said hesitantly: "You are stupid, I don't know what kind of situation you want to know, Master Biao?"
"You can talk about hydrology, history, etc." Gao Pragmatic sighed and added: "I originally planned to rely on the Yongding River to transport supplies back and forth between the capital and other courtyards, but today it seems that it seems a bit taken for granted.
Well... you have been in the capital for many years, and the Cherry Spring Villa is my uncle's place for outings and leisure activities. You must have accompanied my uncle on this road, so I would like to hear your views on the Yongding River water transport.
.”
"If the Sanggan River is to be transported by water, it may be okay in spring and autumn, but it will be a bit difficult in winter and summer." Zhang Jin said, and found that he had reached a fork in the road. He still wanted to persuade Gao Jingshi not to take the spring trail on the left.
, so he simply asked the convoy to stop temporarily.
Gao pragmatic didn't blame him when he saw it, and still sat in the car waiting for his reply.
Zhang Jin stopped the convoy and made a few casual arrangements. Everyone took out some equipment that was immediately available for use. Those who swept the snow swept the snow, and those who set up stakes started to set up three tents.
Zhang Jin himself began to answer Gao's pragmatic question: "Actually, the name Yongding River is only occasionally used by officials. Folks generally call it Sanggan River, Wuding River, Xiaoyang River or Hun River."
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "I know the Sanggan River and the Wuding River, and I can guess the reason for the Little Yellow River, but why is it still called the Hun River? Isn't the Hun River in Liaodong?"
Zhang Jin said: "Actually, the reason why it is called the Little Yellow River is the same as that of the Hun River. After the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the water of the Sanggan River - er, the Yongding River carried sand and soil, and the water damage gradually increased. Especially in the spring and summer, the river water became turbid.
, which is comparable to the Yellow River, so the people have these two common names."
"Water damage?" Gao Pragmatic's heart moved.
Gao pragmatically was a southerner before he crossed over. At that time, the floods in the south were relatively more serious than in the north, especially in the years at the turn of the century. He had to fight against floods for many years. Later, not long after he joined the work, he became the secretary of the county party committee leader. Due to the Three Gorges Dam
Although the flood situation has improved a lot, he still participated in flood fighting and rescue operations for several consecutive years.
At that time, the city where he was located, the municipal party committee, and the municipal government took the lead, and the main leaders were divided into areas of responsibility. The county where he was located was no exception. It was also the county party committee, and the main leaders of the county government were divided into areas of responsibility. If something went wrong, the leader in charge of the area would be removed from office. He
The first secretary of the county party committee also followed the secretary to patrol the embankment every day. During the peak period of the flood, he often did not go down the embankment for two or three days without sleeping. Not to mention that the old secretary in his fifties almost confessed to the embankment twice.
He even fainted on the embankment once and was dragged down for rescue. After waking up, he didn't dare to waste a minute. He pushed the nurse away, pulled out the infusion tube and rushed to the embankment immediately - he had never experienced that.
It may be difficult for people who are in such natural disasters to imagine the mentality of these people: If you want to say that they are afraid of being dismissed, of course they have this mentality, but on the other hand, they really don’t dare to get into trouble because the responsibility is too heavy.
Once the conflict breaks out, thousands of families will be destroyed, and it will be destroyed directly in front of your eyes. This kind of huge psychological pressure, as a young cadre who was instilled in him to love his country and the people since he was a child, he was really nervous to the point of breathlessness.
Feeling. Moreover, many of the young soldiers who were fighting on the front line of flood control at that time were not even twenty years old. Gao Pragmatic was in that environment at the time, and he really felt that the work he did was nothing - at least
He didn't soak in the water for more than ten hours a day to stop the flood with his flesh and blood!
Gao pragmatic paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and asked solemnly: "Is the water damage in the Yongding River serious? To what extent?"
Zhang Jin seemed to reminisce for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said: "Young Master Biao's performance today is exactly the same as the performance of the Master ten years ago. If there is any difference, it is that the Master was already a member of the Imperial Academy at that time... I remember...
Once, I went to Cherry Spring to escape the summer heat during the holidays. On the way, I told the villain about the river defense of Yongding River. I still remember it."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Gao Pingxi said happily: "That's good, please tell me about it."
So Zhang Jin began to tell Gao Pragmatic about the Yongding river defense incident that Zhang Siwei had mentioned.
According to Zhang Siwei's verification, before the Liao Dynasty, the vegetation in the upper reaches of the Yongding River was still well preserved, and the amount of sediment in the river was small. Although the flow also had seasonal changes, the overall flow was relatively stable. In Li Daoyuan's writing, the Yongding River has a "long and solid bank"
, and even has the reputation of "Qingquan River". There are few records of floods in the historical documents of that period. The Yongding River can also carry boats, which is beneficial to navigation.
After the Jin Dynasty, with the improvement of Beijing's status and the expansion of construction scale, the forests in the upper reaches of the Yongding River were heavily cut down, and the land on both sides of the middle and lower reaches was reclaimed, causing soil erosion to gradually increase and the color of the river to turn black. "Yan people"
It is called "Hei Lu", so it is called "Lugou River". After that, the sand content of the river continued to increase, and the floods increased. By the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, there were "Hun River", "Little Yellow River" or "Wuding River"
After the Yongding River breaks out of Shijing Mountain in the southwest of Beijing, it enters a plain area with gentle slopes and loose soil. The river water "rushes and oscillates and migrates frequently", which directly threatens the safety of Beijing. Among them, the area between Shijing Mountain and Marco Polo Bridge
The river section is particularly critical. With Beijing rising to the status of a capital city and surrounding prefectures and counties becoming important areas of the Gyeongsang Province, ensuring the safety of the Yongding River has become even more important for the defense of the Gyeonggi Province.
"Barrier" and "drainage", or "blocking" and "draining", have always been two major water control strategies in Chinese history that are both antagonistic and complementary to each other since the Dayu Dynasty, and specifically for the Yongding River
Management has always been biased towards "blocking", that is, building embankments.
Large-scale embankment construction of the Yongding River began in the Jin Dynasty. During the Dading period, the Marco Polo River reached Xiantong Village (between today's Shijingshan and Marco Polo Bridge), and "the people within three hundred miles of the capital were ordered to block it." Yongding of the Yuan Dynasty
The floods of the river are becoming more and more frequent, and the number of embankment and bank stabilization projects in the section from Shijingshan to Lugou Bridge is also increasing. From the time of Shizu to the Yuan Dynasty to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, projects such as "Repairing the Stone Path (Scenery) Mountain River Embankment in the Upper Lugou" and "Hunhe River Breaking"
Records such as "sending tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians to block it" are often found in "History of the Yuan Dynasty". From this period onwards, Beijing's reliance on the Yongding River shifted from reliance to defense.
After that, the Ming Dynasty settled the world, especially after Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing. Because the threat of the Yongding River to Beijing and its surrounding areas has not weakened, the Hun River "flows downstream in the front of the Xishan Mountains, flooding crops and damaging crops, blocking diseases, and causing local emergency." Yongding
River flooding has become a major hazard in the capital area and a top priority for local officials. In view of this, the number of embankment repairs continues to increase. The length of the embankments extends from Marco Polo Bridge to both banks downstream, and the scale and grade have also been greatly improved.
In the 16th year of Hongwu, "the Sanggan River was dredged for 80 miles from Gu'an to Gaojiazhuang (now part of Bazhou), 20 miles from the West Branch River of Bazhou, and 35 miles from the South Branch River." July of the first year of Zhengtong
, Li Yong, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, "invited 1,500 craftsmen and 20,000 servants" to build the river embankments at Langwokou and other places below the Marco Polo Bridge.
, cultivate and thicken it, with a height of two feet and three feet, as wide as it, extending one hundred and sixty-five feet, and it is getting stronger in the past. After it was completed, it was named Gu'an Embankment, and twenty guardians were installed." In the 41st year of Jiajing,
"Lei Li, the Minister of Life, was ordered to build the bank of the Lugou River", "Any embankment that stretches for 1,200 feet, and is more than one foot high is surprising. If it is twice as wide, it will be much stronger than the previous ones." All of this can be reversed.
It has been proved that the safety of Beijing city has further relied on the restriction of Yongding River water by embankments.