The room goes through the late Ming Dynasty, and the back door leads to North America at the beginni

Dongchang Mansion governs Liaocheng.

This is where the Tu River and the Grand Canal meet.

Not far to the north is the upper reaches of the Majia River (also known as the old Yellow River), which intersects with the Grand Canal. Going south into Yanzhou Prefecture, the Daqing River and the Grand Canal intersect at Shouzhang Zhangqiu Town.

It can be said that Liaocheng is one of the main water and land transportation routes between the north and the south in North China.

The Yi army also used this place as a distribution and transshipment center for military supplies for the Northern Expedition.

Liu Sheng led his troops to the south and stationed his Majesty here.

Most of the accompanying officials also handle official business here, making it convenient for Liu Sheng to understand the work and assign work in a timely manner.

Wang Gongbi, the governor of Dalei Shandong, and Zeng Ying, the inspector of Shandong, who had just arrived from Nanjing the day before yesterday, were also here.

After they were awarded official positions by Liu Sheng, they spent several days settling down with their families and resting in Nanjing, so they came late.

Now they want to show off in Liaocheng to let Liu Sheng understand their thoughts on how to govern Shandong next, and then leave.

The provincial government of Shandong is temporarily located in Jinan, where Wang Gongbi will go to establish a new governor's office.

As for the inspectors, they need to inspect and visit various state capitals to monitor whether officials in various places have acted illegally and neglected their duties, and to understand the progress and work status of the local inspection bureaus.

At the same time, Zhang Guowei, who served as governor of river affairs and minister of the Ministry of Industry, also came to Liaocheng.

One is to share with Liu Sheng his ideas on regulating the Huanghuai waters; the other is that some rivers in Shandong are also part of the Huanghuai waters, and he needs to conduct on-site inspections.

That afternoon, Liu Shengzheng and Zhang Guowei discussed the feasibility of "changing the course of the Yellow River and using the Daqing River to enter the sea", as well as the gains and losses after success. Wang Gongbi, Zeng Ying and others were summoned to listen as they had nothing to do.

Zhang Guowei frowned when Liu Sheng proposed this idea, and said: "Your Majesty, in fact, since the early Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River diverted the Huaihe River and flowed into the sea. For hundreds of years, many rivers in eastern Henan, Jiangbei, and southern Shandong were in ruins, and floods occurred frequently. , countless fertile fields are buried by sand, and everyone who controls floods is aware of the dangers.

However, since the Yuan Dynasty unified the north and the south, and until the Ming Dynasty, those who controlled the water not only failed to restore the old route of the Yellow and Huaihe Rivers, they even intentionally drove the Yellow River to merge with the Huaisi, or used the Huaihe, Guo, and Ying rivers to help the Yellow River contain water and attack sand. Your Majesty, does your Majesty know why? "

Although Liu Sheng did not understand water conservancy, he was well-informed, and he had indeed collected and read a lot of relevant information since he came up with the idea of ​​diverting the Yellow River to the Daqing River to flow into the sea.

Hearing Zhang Guowei's question, he looked at the water system maps of Henan, Shandong, and Huainan provinces hanging on one side, and finally focused on the eye-catching Grand Canal that ran through the north and south.

He said in a deep voice: "Is it to protect the Grand Canal?"

"Your Majesty is so smart just to protect your luck." Zhang Guowei also looked at the water system map with a complicated expression and sighed: "As far as I know, although there are records of the Yellow River invading the Huaihe River as early as the Pre-Han Dynasty, after that There have been no such records for thousands of years.

Until the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, due to serious siltation of the riverbed in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, it broke out to the south many times and flooded everywhere, and began to continuously encroach on the Huaihe River waters.

Especially in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Du Chong, who stayed in Tokyo, ordered the digging of the Yellow River embankments to prevent the Jin soldiers from invading southward, causing the Yellow River to overflow and flow from the Si River into the Huaihe River.

Decades later, the Yellow River burst its banks at Yangwu, entered Sishui from Xuzhou, poured into the Huaihe River, and entered the sea through the Huaihe River.

Since then, the Yellow River has been divided into two. One flows from the old path of the Yellow River in the north, which is now the Majia River, and the other flows from the Huai River to the sea.

During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the capital of the Yuan and Ming dynasties was Beijing, which relied heavily on shipping on the Grand Canal. In order to prevent the Yellow River from overflowing and damaging the Grand Canal, they deliberately diverted it southward and discharged floodwater into the Huaihe River, even if it destroyed countless fertile fields and residential buildings in the Huaihe River. .

Jia Lu at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and Pan Ji at the beginning of Wanli Dynasty tamed the Huang Dynasty, which seemed to be quite effective, but in fact they all focused on "protecting luck".

As for Liu Daxia's control of the Yellow River during the Hongzhi period, he even built the Taihang Embankment on the north bank of the Yellow River, which was more than a thousand miles long, specifically to prevent the Yellow River from flowing north and forcing it to move south.

Therefore, after Jia Lu, Liu Daxia, and Pan Jixun, floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River not only remained the same, but even became more frequent.

Take Pan Jixun's control of the Yellow River as an example. In the more than 20 years after he built the Gaojia Weir (i.e., the Hongze Lake Embankment) to force the Huaihe River to attack the sand of the Yellow River, the lower reaches actually breached eighteen times, almost every year! "

Zhang Guowei had previously served as Prime Minister of River Affairs and Governor of Water Transport in the Ming Dynasty. He had a real understanding of the environment and people's living conditions in the lower reaches of the Huanghuai River (which could also be understood as ecology). He knew how miserable these places were due to the Huanghuai floods. At this time, he couldn't help but smile. Red, can't help myself.

Liu Sheng, Wang Gongbi and others were also quite surprised.

Especially Liu Sheng.

As a lover of novels from the late Ming Dynasty, he often saw stories about water control in novels, so he wrote about Jia Lu in the late Yuan Dynasty and Pan Jixun in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. He had long believed that these two people had made great contributions to controlling the Yellow River. of.

But they never thought that the first priority of these two people in managing the Yellow River was to "protect luck."

Since the main purpose is not to eliminate floods in the Yellow River, no matter how strong the two people are in controlling the river, they will not be able to control the Yellow River. Although this was probably not Jia Lu and Pan Jixun's original intention, it still greatly reduced Liu Sheng's favorable impression of the two.

It is indeed very important to protect the Grand Canal. After all, in ancient times when there were no railways, sea transportation and high risks, the Grand Canal was equivalent to the transportation artery connecting the north and the south.

But in order to ensure good luck, the interests of the people in eastern Henan, southern Shandong and even northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu were sacrificed, regardless of the safety of their lives and property, which was a bit difficult for Liu Sheng to accept.

Liu Sheng remembered that he had seen a video on Bizhan about "How difficult it is to manage rivers for 14 billion people."

It is said that in later generations, special flood storage and detention areas were also set up to prevent floods in the Yangtze River. But this was done on the basis of selecting a suitable location and evacuating some people to ensure that the remaining people could evacuate before the flood came.

This is fundamentally different from the so-called "river management" carried out by the three feudal dynasties of the Yuan, Ming and even the Qing dynasties in order to "protect transportation".

Liu Sheng looked at the map again and finally understood why the Jiangbei area of ​​Nanzhili in the past, which is now the Jiangbei area of ​​Huainan Province in Dawei, was so vast but had so few towns.

The Yellow and Huaihe rivers often overflow, and floods occur year after year. It cannot support many people, and there is no guarantee of life and property. How can dense markets and towns appear like other places?

Since the Northern Song Dynasty, there have been unruly people and rebels in the Huai region. There was even Zhu Yuanzhang who was a model rebel and finally succeeded in ascending to power. How could he not rebel in the poor mountains and harsh rivers and the precarious situation?

While Liu Sheng was thinking about these things, Zhang Guowei also controlled his emotions and asked in a deep voice: "I heard that your Majesty intends to move the capital to Beijing in the future. If Beijing is the capital, it will inevitably rely heavily on the Grand Canal shipping like the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

If the Yellow River flows into the East China Sea via the Daqing River, the Shandong section of the canal and even some of the Hebei canal channels will be threatened by the flooding of the Yellow River. Knowing this, does Your Majesty still want to change the course of the Yellow River? "

At the end of the conversation, Zhang Guowei stared at Liu Sheng rather rudely.

He was eager to know, in the mind of the founding emperor of Da'an, which was more important, his grand plan or the peace of the people in the land of nearly two provinces.

Liu Sheng also instantly understood Zhang Guowei's intention in asking this question.

Then he couldn't help but smile.

He wanted to say that only children make choices.

As an adult, whether it is ensuring the shipping function of the canal or ensuring the peace of the people, he wants it!

He looked at Zhang Guowei, "I not only want the Yellow River to be diverted and use the Daqing River to enter the sea, but I also want to ensure the navigation of the Grand Canal!"

Zhang Guowei didn't expect to get such an answer, and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "That will be difficult. I'm afraid it will take more than one generation, or even a minister who can do it."

Liu Sheng said: "Sir, don't be in a hurry to give up your choice. Since I dare to ask for both, I have a certain degree of confidence.

Even if Dawei takes Beijing as its capital in the future, it will not be as dependent on canal shipping as it was in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

First, Dawei will vigorously develop maritime transportation and improve the safety and efficiency of maritime transportation.

Secondly, perhaps you have heard that trains and railways will appear in Dawei in the future, with higher transportation efficiency, faster transportation speed, and greater transportation volume than rivers!

In addition, if Mr. Wang wants to control the river, he has an unparalleled advantage compared to previous generations, and that is the help of cement.

With the help of this thing, I believe that with Mr.'s talent and determination, he will be able to eliminate floods in the Huanghuai area and make the people live and work in peace and contentment! "

Liu Sheng's words are not bragging. After the New China's governance in later generations, the Yellow and Huaihe Rivers have basically no major floods, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and Huaihe River have basically turned into fertile farmland!

Liu Sheng felt that as long as Da'ei's management of the Huanghuai waters could achieve 20-30% of the achievements of later generations, it would be a great success, enough to add fuel to the future prosperity of Da'ei.

Zhang Guowei's time in Nanjing was very short, and he actually didn't hear anything about trains, railways, or cement. When he heard what Liu Sheng said, he couldn't help but be shocked.

Train, railway?

cement?

Are these new things that you have never heard of really as useful as His Majesty says?

Apart from being shocked, Zhang Guowei couldn't help but doubt.

When Liu Sheng saw Zhang Guowei's doubtful expression, he knew that he probably didn't understand trains, railways, and cement yet, so he smiled and said, "It seems that you don't understand these three things, sir. That's fine. I'll explain them in detail."

Liu Sheng took a sip of tea and was thinking about where to start when he heard a joyful shout from outside——

"Great victory!"

"Great victory in Mulberry Town!"

Soon, the guard commander Yang Kuiwu walked quickly into the hall with a battle report.

"Your Majesty, the Fifth Brigade of the Standing Army encountered more than 10,000 Qing captives in Sangyuan Town, fought fiercely with them, and won a great victory!"

He couldn't help but tell the general content of the battle report before sending it to Liu Sheng. (End of chapter)