Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 463 Three Strategies for Water Control
"Zha." Wu Tongju wiped the cold sweat off his brow, and continued: "Actually, before this, the Yellow River often flooded and even diverted its course. In the more than 2 years of historical records, there have been more than 1500 bursts and floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. There were 26 important diversions. However, after the disaster, some dynasties took proper precautions and management measures, and the disaster losses were very small, while some dynasties neglected the management of the Yellow River, and the management was not timely after the disaster, so the Yellow River Basin The loss of people, livestock, houses, etc. is extremely heavy. This is why I said that the stool is big and the urine is small."

Yang Shenxiu let go of the heart that was hanging just now, and said in his heart that Wu Tongju was panting after speaking, but luckily the emperor didn't blame him.

Guan Xuqing nodded, his expression softened: "Continue talking."

"Let's talk about the river course first. The Yellow River course that has written records generally passes through Hebei, from the present Ziya River course to the vicinity of Tianjin and enters the sea. In the fifth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, the current river course was changed; after that, it took the south of the current river course and seized the Huaihe River into the sea, and the disaster affected the Haihe River, Huaihe River, and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River about [-] miles away. Every time the breach flooded, it caused heavy losses. "

As the saying goes, when an expert stretches out his hand, he will know if it is there. Wu Tongju's words are both detailed and thorough, and one can tell that he has conducted in-depth investigation and research on the Yellow River. Guan Xuqing glanced at Yang Shenxiu with satisfaction, and listened intently to Wu Tongju's next words.

"Let me talk about the diversion of the river again. The diversion situation of the lower reaches of the Yellow River basically ended in the middle of the Jiajing period of the previous Ming Dynasty. It is recorded in ancient books that 'the old Nanliu began to be blocked', 'the whole river flows out of Xu and Pi, and seizes Si and enters Huaihe River. This is a major change in the river regime. Later, in the early years of Wanli, Pan Jixun implemented the river control policy of "building embankments to restrain water and attack sand with water", and the downstream river course was basically fixed, which is the abandoned Yellow River on the map. After that Although there was a burst overflow, the old course was restored immediately. In the early Qing Dynasty, embankments were built. There was a period of relatively smooth flow in the river channel in Henan, but the number of breaches in the river sections in Shandong and Jiangsu increased. The section from Xuzhou to Huaiyin in Jiangsu doubles as a canal, so The throat and lifeline are the most important. Pan Jixun's focus on river governance is on this section of the river, such as overhauling the banks of the banks, the grid dike, the moon dike, and the remote dike, rebuilding the Gaojia weir, raising the water level of Hongze Lake, storing clear water, etc. Engineering. The center of gravity of the former Qing River moved down from Huaiyin to the estuary. This is because after the Jin and Yuan dynasties, the Yellow River took the Huaihe River into the sea for a long time, and a large amount of sediment was discharged into the sea estuary. Therefore, after the mid-Qing Dynasty, the river below Xuzhou was the most concentrated, the river course was silted and wasteful, breaches occurred year after year, and the river was not effectively controlled, so the diversion of the Yellow River was inevitable." Wu Tongju seemed to be handy when talking about water conservancy issues, and most of the tension just now was relieved.

"Okay, let's continue." At this time, Guan Xuqing already believed that the unsightly Wu Tongju in front of him must have a good strategy to control the river. The situation of the Yellow River was not fully grasped at all, and they used the imperial court to block and prevent chaos without saying anything. As a result, a lot of money was spent, but no results were achieved.

Wu Tongju took out a map from his pocket, spread it on the table next to the gate of the hall, and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, please move forward to have a look."

Seeing Wu Tongju's thorough preparations, Guan Xuqing was naturally happy, stepped down from Danxi, came to the table, and watched intently.Yang Shenxiu also surrounded her.

"Your Majesty, please take a look. This is the map of the Yellow River system that I have spent nearly ten years traveling through the entire Yellow River Basin. Once, the Yellow River broke through Tongwaxiang, Lanyang, Henan Province. It first flooded the villages in Fengqiu and Xiangfu counties in the northwest, and then flowed eastward to the counties of Lanyi, Kaocheng, and Changyuan. After that, it was divided into three strands: one strand Out of Caozhou East Zhaowang River to Zhangqiu River; one stream passes through Changyuan County and flows to Leijiazhuang in Dongming County, where it is divided into two streams, both of which flow northeast to Zhangqiu Town; after the confluence of the three streams, they pass through the Zhangqiu Canal and pass through The Buyan River flows into the Daqing River and flows into the sea from Lijin Oysterkou.

This is the route of the lower reaches of the Yellow River. According to the current administrative division of the empire, it generally passes through Xingyang, Zhengzhou, Yuanyang, Yanjin, Fengqiu, Zhongmu, Kaifeng, Lankao, and Puyang in Henan, and Caoxian and Shanxian in Shandong. Then it goes through Dangshan and Xiaoxian in Anhui, and finally enters Fengxian, Peixian, Xuzhou, Pixian, Suining, Suqian, Siyang, Huai'an, Lianshui, Funing, Binhai in Jiangsu and then enters the Yellow Sea.But after the diversion, after the gap in Tongwaxiang, the Yellow River broke through the original channel, changed its direction to the northeast, and entered the Bohai Sea through the Daqing River in Shandong.This breach ended the 700-year history of the lower reaches of the Yellow River entering the sea from the Huaihe River, and returned to entering the sea from the Bohai Bay.If the Yellow River is not treated effectively and timely this time, according to my judgment, after that, the flood will be free on the delta alluvial fan with Tongwaxiang as the apex, north to Beijindi, south to Caoxian and Dangshan, and east to the canal. Drifting, the water potential is scattered, and the flood is uncertain.In the lower reaches of the river from Tongwaxiang to Taochengbu, breaches often occur, so it is called tofu waist. "

"Tell me about your good strategy." Guan Xuqing was already a little impatient, and he was becoming more and more confident in Wu Tongju.

Wu Tongju smiled and said, "According to the disaster situation, I have three main strategies to manage the Yellow River."

"Which three strategies?"

"Your Majesty, in ancient times, people basically lived far away from the river, and the river basically flowed freely, without interfering with people, and lived in peace. With the increase of people living around the river, people began to live near the river. Embankments were built on both sides. At the beginning, people built embankments far away from the river. The width of the river was still very large, and the flood was not restrained very much. When the water rose, the water flow could basically be dispersed into the wider river. , flowing away slowly, almost never destroying the embankment. Later, people began to occupy a large amount of river beach land for farming, and built enclosures in the embankment, enclosing the embankment for reclamation, constantly changing the flow direction of the river, resulting in different widths of the river, and the river line bends again and again. Seriously obstructing the flow of floods. Your Majesty, I don’t know what to say or not to say. I think that farming needs to be developed, but there must also be an overall plan. It is precisely because the local people have changed the original situation of the river without restraint, so as not to cause floods. If there is enough way out, the embankment will be washed away by the flood, and it will bring disasters to itself. Such a flood of the Yellow River will destroy decades of agricultural development in the country, and the gain outweighs the gain.”

Guan Xuqing pondered for a while, and said to Yang Shenxiu: "What Wu Tongju said is very reasonable. Harnessing the river is not something that can be accomplished overnight. For long-term consideration, it is necessary to have an overall plan for farmland cultivation."

Yang Shenxiu said respectfully: "Cha. I will keep this in mind."

Wu Tongju said again: "So in response to this situation, I propose three strategies for river governance, and I ask the emperor to consider them. The so-called priorities are important, so I divide these three strategies into upper, middle and lower. The best strategy is not to compete with the water for land. , completely change the current passive situation, and return the river to its original appearance. Specifically, the people in the Jizhou area who are easily affected by floods and whose lives are not guaranteed are relocated out, the flood obstruction facilities in the river are removed, and the Yellow River is diverted to the west. The spacious area between the original river course and Taihang Mountain is a new river course, allowing the Yellow River to flow northward into the sea. This can reduce the water potential, accommodate more sediment, and minimize the possibility of flooding the embankment. Need for resettlement I have also considered the cost of the Yellow River, and it will be settled by the annual repair fee of the Yellow River, so as to completely eradicate the flood of the Yellow River. However, I am afraid that many villages, fields and ancestral properties will be destroyed by this method, which will cause complaints. But the minister believes that as long as the court If you are determined to do a good job of appeasing the people, and clarify the interests and long-term interests, you will definitely get the support of the vast majority of the people. With the implementation of this measure, the river will basically flow in the same way, and the production and life of the people along the river will be The level will rise steadily, and the country will grow stronger and stronger."

Guan Xuqing pondered for a while and said, "This is a relatively long-term solution."

"Your Majesty, if you feel that the best strategy is too time-consuming and labor-intensive, you can use the middle strategy. The middle strategy adopts the method of water diversion. Build as many canals as possible in the severely affected prefectures and counties, so as to divert excess water into other water systems. In order to reduce the flood flow and irrigate more land. I have drawn a reference figure on the blueprint. Please read it. The specific method is to use the terrain above Qikou to build a stone road to the northwest Dike, use the embankment and the highland at the foot of the west mountain as the main canal, then reinforce the embankment of the Yellow River between Qishui and Zhahai Pavilion, build several flood gates on the embankment, and then build some water diversion gates on the east canal embankment When encountering a flood, open the high diversion gate and divert water into other water systems through channels to allow part of the flood to flow into the sea from other water systems; when the weather is relatively dry, open the low water diversion gate to irrigate farmland through channels , improve the soil, and introduce rice to meet the needs of flood control and irrigation. In order to achieve normal operation, a lot of manpower and financial resources must be invested every year to maintain channels and facilities.”

"Go on."

"The last is the last resort. If we don't care about the long-term and just want to get rid of the flood in front of us, we have to take the worst policy. The worst policy is to stick to the current narrow river channel and strengthen the embankment. The reinforcement materials are mainly It is suitable to use stones with mortar, grass bags, etc. However, taking such measures will cost a lot of labor and financial resources every year, which will only aggravate the formation of hanging rivers, and will not change the situation of the Yellow River flooding from time to time, which will bring great harm to the people. harm. The above three strategies are just the basic ideas of river control, and the specific plan is very complicated, so I won’t go into details here. Please ask the emperor to rule.”

"Okay! Wu Tongju, you really have a skill. It seems that Yi Village has recommended a capable person for me. The three strategies have their own emphasis, and all have merits. I only ask for one thing, which is to control the river. The merits of the present age As long as it is effective for the long-term, it is all right to spend more money and manpower on writing." Guan Xuqing said firmly.

(End of this chapter)