The third emperor of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 887 Flood diversion project cannot be divided into floods

After listening to the dangerous situation described by Yang Qinfang, the emperors and officials of the Sui Dynasty looked gloomy and heavy.
The section of the Yellow River below Taohuapu in Xingyang is different from any part of the upper reaches. Above Taohuapu is not a suspended river. Even if an embankment breaks somewhere, it will at most just erase a certain county and delete tens of thousands of household registrations, with a population of 10,000+.But below Taohuapu is the Xuanhe River. Simply put, it is the starting point for the Yellow River to become a suspended river on the ground.

This is also the reason why the ancients positioned it as the dividing point of the middle and lower reaches. Due to the special geographical location of Taohuapu, its flow and water level are important basis for flood control and governance of the Yellow River. To a certain extent, Taohuapu is a barometer of the Yellow River. .

Taohuapu may not be very famous, but it still has a famous name in later generations, that is Huayuankou.

The unavoidable man-made disaster at Huayuankou caused the surging Yellow River to roll up huge waves and flow to the southeast. The entire affected area included Yan, Henan, Xu and other states, causing the south to silt up the river, flood the fields, overflow the lake, Roads were interrupted, sand dunes were everywhere, and the surface was so abrupt that it was impossible to cultivate it, causing long-term damage to local agriculture.

The water of the Yellow River brought huge silt to the Huai River Basin, silting the main stream and many tributaries of the Huai River.During the flood season, the water of the Yellow River that flows southward from the crevasse takes over the Huaihe River and flows into the Yangtze River, bringing floods to the Jianghuai River area for years.

That was still in the 20th century. If it were placed in the Sui Dynasty, the consequences of the embankment breaking would be even more serious than that disaster.Isn't the catastrophe that Daye has submerged more than 30 counties in seven years is the best proof?
Since ancient times, water and fire have been merciless. In the face of such natural disasters, no matter how powerful the dynasty is, it is helpless. Even a disaster can often cause a series of bad reactions. Once the locust plague, or drought, or plague reappears, there must be rumors It is not impossible for the prosperity of the market to lead to the collapse of the dynasty...

Yang Gongren, Yang Tong, who was silent, said: "My lord, the disaster is like a military situation, and there is no need to delay. Do you want the artificial lake in Dongping County to prepare for flood diversion?"

Yang Tong hesitated, and after thinking for a while, he shook his head: "In my opinion, this lake can't be used to divert floods for the time being."

Yang Gongren asked in puzzlement, "Why can't we tell?"

Yang Tong said slowly: "The purpose of the Dongping Artificial Lake is indeed to divert floods. There are many problems. First, the middle embankment and the south embankment have not been completed. If water is released rashly, the three long embankments, the lake embankment, the lake bottom, and the bridge piers will all be destroyed. If it is destroyed, the entire artificial lake will become a permanent lake. Not only will it not be able to divert the flood in the future, but it will also become a traffic obstacle on the ground. The lake is connected into one piece. Usually, the water of Juye Ze is surging into the yellow. Under the momentum of the lake, it is impossible to block the breach of the embankment. When the Yellow River floods, the water of the Yellow River will push the water of Juye Ze. Rolling southward, the amount of sediment will fill up Juye sooner or later, and then further silt the southern river, making the eastern area between the Yellow River and the Huai River a swamp country from time to time. Therefore, we must not lose our eyes by the benefits in front of us."

Hearing this, the minister who held the same meaning as Yang Gongren immediately began to think quickly, and when everyone smoothed out Yang Tong's words, everyone broke out in a cold sweat.

"It's my minister's short-sightedness!" Yang Gongren was sweating. If the sand from the Yellow River flowed south every year, in less than ten years, the Eastern Central Plains would become a desert full of sand dunes.

"It's okay, let's just pretend that this flood diversion lake doesn't exist." Yang Tong said.

"That's what you say..." Yang Gongren sighed, "It's just that the Yellow River's section from Jinshan to Taohuapu, as well as the main and tributary rivers such as Weishui, Jingshui, and Fenshui, have surged. In the next few days, the water will become more and more powerful. The bigger the river is, the lower the embankment is already quite dangerous according to this momentum. If the flood is diverted, there is no guarantee for the new lake, and it will cause irreparable consequences; if the flood is not diverted, if the embankment below is lost, the loss will be immeasurable. We can't just watch, can we?"

"Of course we can't remain indifferent. In the past three days, I have drafted a plan and decided to set up an emergency rescue department with ten departments."

As early as when the rainstorm came, Yang Tong considered whether the artificial lake could divert the flood, and it turned out that it could, but not this year, because he had already mentioned the reason.

In the case that the artificial lake cannot divert the flood, the only way is to use manpower to heighten and reinforce the existing dams, and even make psychological preparations for breaking the dams.

Seeing the continuous heavy rain, he considered that it would only take a few days for this kind of rain to cause floods in the world, and the Yellow River might burst its embankment again.Then proceeded to draft the 'flood control and disaster relief emergency' plan.

Once a disaster occurs in a place, this department can perform its functions according to the plan, allocate troops, mobilize the people to rescue the disaster,
In later generations, thanks to the developed communications and convenient means of transportation, we will see lengthy reports of natural disasters, and various emergency measures emerge in endlessly, such as disaster prevention, post-disaster filling, post-disaster rescue, disaster victim resettlement, post-disaster reconstruction, etc. Quick and powerful, Yang Tong has seen a lot, and naturally learned a lot.

However, it was not until the Sui Dynasty that Yang Tong realized how great the harm of natural disasters was to the people living in the backward era.

Problems such as backward communication, backward transportation, backward tools, backward technology, etc. have also led to many disasters that are clearly in front of us, but we can only watch the houses collapse, the river is flooded, corpses are everywhere, and the world is miserable...

Yang Tong is used to the idea of ​​"one side is in trouble and all sides support it" in later generations, and he is even more used to the fact that every time there is a natural or man-made disaster, the army rushes to the disaster area for rescue at the first time, so he cannot accept the current passive way of bearing.

I don't even want to listen to the court officials discussing disaster relief, prevention of plague, prevention of commotion, post-disaster reconstruction...

These are not unimportant, but the total score is prioritized.

It is reasonable to send personnel out for defense and rescue first, and then other people sit down and discuss in detail. If they sit down and talk about it, wouldn't they just chase after the end?

Of course, this is also caused by poor communication capabilities and poor mobility, because in many cases, when natural disasters reach the capital, the place is almost destroyed.Therefore, after a disaster occurs, local officials are usually sent to manage it, or famous and capable officials are sent from the central government to take charge.

"Emergency rescue department linked by ten departments?" All the ministers were stunned, but they also calmed down when they thought that six departments had become ten departments, plus a news agency and a Dasui Bank.

The Great Sui Dynasty itself was a dynasty of great changes. Various systems took shape in the troubled times. After deletions and additions, there were five provinces, six departments, twelve guards, nine temples and six supervisors in the period of Emperor Wen. After that, Emperor Wu changed it again , and changed it to three provinces, six departments, twelve guards, eleven temples and six supervisors. When it came to Yang Tong, it was even more violent.

"Exactly!" Yang Tong signaled to the guards who obeyed, and distributed the printed emergency plan, "Everyone should read it, and execute it immediately if possible."

Everyone was shocked again.

Rescue and disaster relief involves all aspects and involves a wide range of aspects. It is very difficult to figure out the clues and come up with feasible strategies from the blank.Not to mention such a short time.

Even if you try your best, it may be full of loopholes. Once there are major mistakes, not only will it be useless, but will suffer from it.

Everyone is very aware of the key points, but the disaster is raging and there is no room for delay. Based on their trust in Yang Tong, everyone carefully read the "Flood Control and Disaster Relief Emergency" plan in their hands, and they are all full of emotion...

The emperor is still the emperor who can think that others dare not, and cannot think.

This seemingly frivolous and simple plan is as heavy as Mount Tai, and its words are worth thousands of dollars.

From material collection, personnel allocation, division of responsibilities, disaster inspection, management and distribution of disaster relief materials and supervision of use, emergency transfer and resettlement of victims, to organizational subsidies for post-disaster reconstruction and life assistance for victims...everything is missing.

In the end, I even published an article in the "Half Moon Talk", using public opinion to cooperate with disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, spreading the idea of ​​"one party is in trouble, all parties support" to the world, calling on the people of the world to use the people in the disaster area to lend a helping hand to Enhance the cohesion of the Sui Dynasty.

a long time!

After reading the concise and clear plan, Yang Gongren said in amazement: "If the imperial court establishes a 'Flood Control and Disaster Relief Emergency Office' with ten linkages and news, it will be an unprecedented disaster prevention and relief measure. Everything has rules to follow. There is a law to follow, which avoids chaos and disorder when things come to an end, making more and more mistakes, and unlawful officials taking the opportunity to amass money."

"Actually, it's not my first creation, it's just a summary of previous actions!"

This is not Yang Tong’s hypocritical modesty. In fact, since Dayu’s flood control, there has been a concept of disaster relief and epidemic prevention, and it has even been passed down to later generations. Although the times are constantly improving and changing, some seemingly advanced concepts have already existed. The prototype has even been pioneered by predecessors.

After all, in modern times, these things are mostly used as textbooks, but in ancient times when humans were fighting against nature, the common sense of these things was not researched, but the experience of countless lives and blood and tears. possible.

Even the seemingly advanced and novel form of work-for-relief was not unavailable in ancient times. What really hindered disaster relief was actually the decision-making level and executive power, or the fact that the money and food that were originally sufficient had appeared artificially in the process of allocating layers of money. [-]% of the wastage that falls on the victims is due to the clear administration of officials.In addition to proposing some concepts, Yang Tong also talked about management to everyone, and used reasonable management methods to reduce the phenomenon of ink corruption on the way to disaster relief.

Kong Yingda hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, it's easy to say, but send troops, isn't it?"

The ancient army only fought wars, and so far there has been no case of going deep into the disaster area to rescue the people. Therefore, Yang Tong, the army's method of fighting floods and rescues, is somewhat incomprehensible.

Yang Tong said: "What was my Great Sui army established for? It was to defend the country, and defending the country is not limited to fighting and killing the enemy. When the people are in trouble, the army can also help. In this critical moment, A well-disciplined and mobile army is more appropriate."

Yang Tong's words caused a commotion, but more people fell into deep thought.

Many of Yang Tong's ideas are a bit ahead of his time, and every time a new idea pops up, everyone needs to digest it.

Sending troops to rescue disasters is a matter of course for Yang Tong, as long as there is a disaster, he will always be the cutest person who rushes to the front line regardless of danger.Especially in the face of natural disasters such as catastrophic floods and earthquakes, those people's soldiers on the front line are undoubtedly the most respectable people.

So Yang Tong instinctively felt that there was a disaster, and the Sui army should be the first to rush.Instead of huddling in the camp to hide from the rain
Seeing the reactions of the crowd, Yang Tong knew what the problem was, and added: "The soldiers are strong and easy to move, which can not only alleviate the disaster and reduce losses, but also make the people realize that the court loves the people like children, and they respect the court even more. Love. In addition, there is a well-disciplined army on the side. Even if someone deliberately takes advantage of natural disasters to cause trouble, they must weigh their own abilities and courage. What's more, many soldiers come from disaster areas. Can they not worry about their relatives in their hometown? Can they sit in the barracks with peace of mind Among them?"

"I have no objection!" Yang Gongren nodded solemnly, approving Yang Tong's proposal.

"I also feel that the army is very good at disaster relief. I implore the Holy Majesty to send two generals, each leading an army, with enough sacks, to guard the Yellow River embankment section by section."

Yang Shidao also said that these days he has also studied how to control the water, how to block the water when the flood overflows, and how to rush to repair the dam to block the gap when the dam bursts.Generally speaking, wooden piles are driven into the ground as the foundation, and then the dam is built with the wooden piles as the support point, and then a long bamboo cage with stones is put into it. The process is extremely dangerous and the progress is extremely slow, which is not conducive to emergency repairs.He thought of many ways, but none of them seemed ideal.Especially when encountering strong torrents, the heavy carnation cage cannot be quickly put in place, and there is a danger of being sucked if it is transported by a boat.Also because of this, he felt that the sandbag embankment method proposed was indeed convenient and practical, and theoretically speaking, it was completely feasible.

"The Fifth Army was divided into two. Xie Yingdeng led an army of 30 to take charge of the embankment of the three counties of Xingyang, Dongjun, and Dongping, and 30 civilians were transferred from Dongping to assist; Yin Hongzhi was responsible for coordinating logistics matters with the officials of the three counties! Luo Shixin He led an army of [-] to be in charge of the three counties of Jibei, Qi, and Bohai, and also brought [-] civilians to assist, and Jia Runfu was in charge of coordinating logistics matters."

Everyone smiled knowingly, thinking that Yang Tong's arrangement was perfect.

When Xie Yingdeng played for Zhai Rang and Li Mizhi, his main scope of activities was Xingyang, Dongjun, and Dongping. Is a familiar local character.

The same is true for the combination of Luo Shixin and Jia Runfu. When they were under Zhang Xutuo's command, they fought back and forth in Jibei, Qijun, and Bohai for several years.

"The last will obey."

"Wei Chen obeys."

"Other follow-up arrangements will be implemented in accordance with this plan. All departments, armies, local officials and county soldiers must follow orders unconditionally. If someone makes a mistake and causes the disaster to flood, I will only ask him!"

"Here!" All the ministers obeyed solemnly.

(End of this chapter)