Song Gexing

Chapter 37 Prepare for a rainy day and give suggestions

"Doctor Xu Yuan of Guozi? He seems to have some impression..."

Zhao Fang, who is still confined in the palace, now can only read Di Di and newspapers to kill time in addition to studying and practicing martial arts every day.

That day I saw a piece of news in the Di newspaper, saying that Fan Zhongyan recommended Xu Yuan, a doctor of Guozi, to handle water transportation matters, and I couldn't help but think about it.

It is now May of the third year of the Qingli calendar. With the implementation of the practice of farming by rationing, spring plowing has been completed. However, there were too many bad debts left over from last year. This year, there is no food in Bianjing.

This made the imperial court extremely anxious. It was not that the Song Dynasty was out of food, but that water transportation had become worse and worse in recent years, and rice from the south was stranded.

This time, Fan Zhongyan recommended water transportation to Premier Xu Yuan in response to this matter.

Originally this was normal, but as Zhao Fang looked at it, he suddenly remembered something, that is, the Yellow River floods. It seems that there will be a major diversion event in the next few years.

"Let me think about it... It seems that in the eighth year of Qingli, a dike burst in the Shanghuxun area of ​​Chanzhou... Yes, that's it, I remembered it."

Floods in the Yellow River are actually common. The Song Dynasty attached great importance to preventing the Yellow River from bursting its banks, because the capital was right on the edge of the Yellow River, but it still occurred once every two or three years on average.

Although no major disaster occurred, this time in the eighth year of Qingli was a time of endless trouble.

The burst of the embankment this time was actually not that big, but it caused the Yellow River to change its course and divide into two streams to flow into the sea. The north stream flows to Damingfu and enters the sea from Tianjin.

One stream of the eastward flow was in Shandong and merged into Liangshan and the sea. This kicked off the frequent diversion of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, which dealt a heavy blow to the finances of the Northern Song Dynasty.

"No, we must prepare for a rainy day."

Zhao Fang, who wanted to understand, jumped up, causing Han Xue who was waiting beside him to say in surprise: "What's wrong with your Majesty?"

"It's okay, I'll go to Chongzheng Hall to talk to dad about something."

"Go to Chongzheng Hall! Didn't the king forget that the ban has been lifted?"

Zhao Fang, who had just moved his short legs, froze when asked, and then gritted his teeth and said: "We can't wait for this matter. The worst is, I will be punished again when I come back."

With that said, he walked towards Chongzheng Hall with great energy, and the little beauty behind him looked at his back with eyes full of stars.

Stepping into the Chongzheng Hall, Zhao Zhen asked in surprise: "Didn't I say that you can only lift the ban after Bao Qing takes office? Why are you here?"

Zhao Fang pursed his lips, slandering Hei Laobao for being slow, he hadn't arrived in Bianjing for so long, and he didn't understand how long it would take him to travel to Henan when he was far away in Guangdong.

After saluting Zhao Zhen, he looked at the ministers present and said, "I'm not here for fun. Please don't misunderstand me."

Everyone laughed when he said this, and Fan Zhongyan asked: "Your Majesty, is there something urgent? Then let's talk about it."

"Lao Fan is not kind, he is coaxing the children to play."

Thinking silently in his heart, he said: "I just read the Di newspaper. Fan Xianggong recommended Prime Minister Xu Zichun for water transportation. When I thought about water transportation, I suddenly thought of some ideas for regulating the Yellow River, so I hurriedly came here to communicate with you and take a look. Is it feasible."

"Controlling the Yellow River! This is a big deal. Tell us about it."

After hearing this, everyone became less reserved. Although they were still talking about other things at the moment, there was nothing more important than regulating the Yellow River.

This mother river of the Chinese nation has nourished and nurtured a splendid civilization for thousands of years, but it has also brought serious disasters to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

I don’t know how much manpower and material resources have been spent on water control in the past dynasties, but they still had to leave it to fate, causing headaches to the kings and ministers and suffering to the people.Seeing everyone's glaring eyes, Zhao Fang solemnly said eight words: "Bush water to wash away the sand, divert the sand to sink!"

Everyone was startled. It was easy to understand how to use water to flush sand. It had been used before, but diverting water to sink sand was something that had never been heard of before.

Zhao Fang did not hesitate and began to explain what diversion and sedimentation meant, which meant digging channels to divert the rivers where the water flow was gentle, digging deep sandwells in the channels, and cleaning up the sediment regularly.

This method was used by later generations to manage the Yellow River. Although it still treats the symptoms rather than the root cause, it is at least effective and the effect is very obvious.

"good idea!"

The people present were all heroes of the moment. After hearing the introduction, they naturally quickly judged whether it was useful or not. Several people applauded and applauded.

But after Wang Yaochen finished his call, he frowned again and said, "It will cost a lot of money and food to dig canals! Where will the money come from?"

Zhao Fang immediately responded: "Aren't you worried about redundant troops? You want to lay off some of the soldiers to dig canals, and leave some people to clean up the sand after the project is completed."

"Okay! This is a wonderful plan by King Wei!"

Wang Yaochen suddenly became excited. This not only solved the manpower problem, but also solved the problem of money and food. It also diverted some of the redundant troops. It was a stroke of genius.

The sergeant was originally paid for the army, so this was not an additional expense, and at this time the army of the Song Dynasty had reached 120 million.

This is a full six times more than during the Song Taizu era. Although it is inevitable to expand the army as the dynasty expands its territory, this expansion is too much.

"Since this can deal with the redundant soldiers, then King Wei simply thinks about how to deal with the remaining redundant soldiers."

Zhao Fang was feeling very proud of being praised, but Fan Zhongyan's words brought him back to reality. He suddenly had a bitter look on his face and rolled his eyes: "I'm only seven years old! Fan Xianggong is seven years old."

Of course he has thought about how to deal with redundant troops, but this requires great courage and unity, otherwise it is just empty talk.

Wouldn't it be a trick to say it now? Fan Zhongyan replied with a smile: "Although the king is young, he is very knowledgeable. He works as a farmer and controls the Yellow River. These two items are not something ordinary people can think of. Let's do one more. It’s not impossible to make a plan!”

"You are a bad person!"

Zhao Fang complained and glanced at his father.

Zhao Zhen saw it and said excitedly: "Brother, do you really have a way? Then tell me quickly!"

Zhao Fang stared at him and saw that he was uneasy before he said: "If you want to change the national policy of the ancestors, do you dare?"

Zhao Zhen hesitated for a moment, but Han Qi urged: "Let's talk about it first. If it's feasible, we can then tell whether we can change it."

Everyone agreed upon hearing this, and even Zhao Zhen calmed down and nodded in agreement.

Zhao Fang looked at them, nodded and said: "Whenever there is a natural disaster in our government, we recruit refugees into the army. This is a bad policy. It will only increase the number of the army, but not the quality. Do you think this is true?"

"Yes, this matter is indeed a bad government, but if it is not so, how can the victims be resettled? There was no rebellion by the victims in the Song Dynasty. It was precisely because of this bad government that they did not dare to change it even though it was a bad government."

Prime Minister Zhang Dexiang spoke. He had to speak when it came to national policy, but when he looked at Zhao Fang, he had no intention of questioning and was very gentle.

Zhao Fang said with a "hehe" smile: "I think your thinking is rigid. Why can't the resettlement of the victims be recruited into the army? Isn't it best to provide relief through work?"

(End of this chapter)