Do you know that it starts with Meng Tong?

Even if it is a major river defense issue related to the country, there will be no exceptions in this regard.

Wei Chen had already understood this.

Therefore, emergency measures such as restricting water and attacking sand are more practical, which can at least protect the people on both sides of the river from river disasters for decades.

Chapter 225 Pilot Project

On top of the tall and strong embankment, Wei Chen and the other three stood quietly, looking at the Yellow River not far away. The sound of the roaring waves of the river was endless.

Zhao Ceying turned around and looked around, but saw that the embankment was high and the city was low. The Mi County town behind her seemed to be in a well, and she couldn't help but feel deeply worried.

Fortunately, Wei Chen proposed a good strategy for regulating the river. As long as this strategy is implemented, the people of Mi County will no longer have to worry about the Yellow River in the future.

Zhao Ceying immediately offered his hand to Wei Chen and said, "Since the teacher has this river management strategy that will benefit the country and the people, why not write a letter to dedicate this strategy to the imperial court and promote it throughout the world?"

Wei Chen smiled and shook his head. Zhao Ceying still thought of things too simply. How could it be so easy to be the first to eat crabs?

Even under normal circumstances, once the renovation of the embankments along the Yellow River is carried out on a large scale, it will be possible to mobilize all the efforts of the country and mobilize materials and labor from the prefectures and counties along the river.

In order to achieve the effect of concentrating water and attacking sand, one more inner embankment must be built than before, which will only cost more.

And because the inner embankment was built close to the river, it is easily damaged during the flood season. It needs to be repaired every year, which is a big expense.

According to the experience of Pan Jixun, the first expert in river control who proposed constricting water and attacking sand, it took an average of 1000 taels of silver to build a mile of embankment. This shows how expensive river engineering is.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, Wei Chen initiated the strategy of confining water to attack the sand, and there was no precedent to follow. Even if Wei Chen made a lot of noise, no one except Wei Chen knew whether it could be implemented.

Even as the emperor, Zhao Zhen couldn't just slap his head and let Wei Chen do it.

This kind of important matter related to the national economy and people's livelihood must be brought to the court, discussed and discussed, studied and studied. During this period, there will be no shortage of conflicts and fights.

At the moment when the battle for the right to inherit the throne is intensifying in Bianjing City, if Wei Chen submits the proposal to seize water and attack the sand at this time, it will inevitably trigger a big discussion that will shock the entire court.

What was originally a pure river construction matter will most likely become a victim of the struggle between the Yongwang and Yanwang parties, and Wei Chen, who submitted a letter to offer advice, will inevitably be involved in the vortex of fighting for the heir.

This far deviated from Wei Chen's original intention of leaving Bianjing and taking up his post in Yuzhou.

In fact, Wei Chen never thought from the beginning that he could implement the strategy of confining water and attacking sand to the entire Zhou Dynasty in the last two years of Zhao Zhen's reign.

More haste less speed.

Wei Chen would be satisfied if he could repair the thirty miles of river embankments in Yuzhou during his term of office.

Of course, Wei Chen also had an idea that was not humane to outsiders, and that was to present Yuzhou's river defense reconstruction as a pilot project in front of Zhao Zongquan and his son.

It is precisely because of this that Wei Chen specially brought Zhao Ceying to the Yellow River embankment today.

Let him see with his own eyes the effect of concentrating water to attack sand, and then sincerely agree with this river control strategy, which is more effective than Wei Chen trying to talk about it [-] times.

In this way, many unnecessary setbacks can be avoided when water beams are used to attack sand on a large scale in the future.

After inspecting the Yellow River for half a day, Wei Chen led Zhao Ceying and Gu Tingye on horseback back to Mi County.

Although the main reason for coming to Mi County this time was for river construction, Wei Chen still wanted to take a look around the Mi County government office, county school, and nursing home.

It is also his responsibility as the governor of the state.

After walking around, it was getting dark. Sun Zhuo, the magistrate of Mi County, showed his kindness as a landlord and held a banquet in the county government office to entertain Wei Chen and his party.

After having had enough wine and food, Wei Chen withdrew, leaving Sun Zhuo alone to talk.

Wei Chen got straight to the point and told Sun Zhuo about his plan to build a river project in Mi County, and also gave a general introduction to the river control idea of ​​concentrating water and attacking sand.

At the end, Wei Chen said to Sun Zhuo with a serious face: "Zhi County Sun, repairing the river is the top priority this year. Mi County is adjacent to the Yellow River, so the task is heavy. You must be mentally prepared to overcome difficulties."

】

"Your Majesty understands."

Sun Zhuo hurriedly responded.

Although Sun Zhuo had already guessed Wei Chen's thoughts when he saw Wei Chen non-stop patrolling the Yellow River during the day, Sun Zhuo was still very surprised when he heard Wei Chen vividly explain to him the principle of beaming water to attack sand.

Unexpectedly, at such a young age, the magistrate of Zhizhou knew so much about river engineering and water conservancy. Although Sun Zhuo had never heard of this Lao Shizi beaming water to attack sand, it sounded like it made sense.

Of course, even if it didn't make sense, Sun Zhuo would not disobey his immediate superior's order.

Wei Chen is the magistrate of the state and has a profound background. Sun Zhuo will do whatever he says. Anyway, if the sky falls, Wei Chen, a tall man, will hold it up.

So Sun Zhuo immediately nodded in agreement, saying that he only followed Wei Chen's lead.

Seeing Sun Zhuo acting so obedient, Wei Chen nodded with satisfaction.

The main purpose of repairing the river is within Mi County. If you want to repair the thirty-mile dike along the river, you can't do it without the cooperation of Sun Zhuo, the magistrate of Mi County. Wei Chen can't stay on the dike all the time.

After that, Wei Chen discussed with Sun Zhuo the issue of labor service. According to Wei Chen's idea, this time the people would not be forced to serve, but 3000 people would be hired in Mi County and Xinzheng.

The main time to repair the river is from late February to mid-April, two months, and the wages are one to two or seven taels of silver.

This treatment is already quite good. Tenant farmers who work for wealthy families in Yuzhou cannot earn so much money, and the government also arranges meals.

Of course, the state government's expenditures are correspondingly much higher.The money for hiring civilian labor is nothing, but the money for various materials used to build the embankment is the big one.

According to a rough estimate by Wei Chen's aide Fang Yuan, a total of about 3 taels of silver would be needed to build a [-]-mile embankment in two months.

This is already worth an entire year's tax in some states and counties.

Wei Chen now has money in his hands and is not panic-stricken, so he dares to spread the stall so big. When he first arrived in Ren Yuzhou, he was afraid that the state government would be declared bankrupt before he could even build a mile of embankment.

Of course, although the state government now has money, the money did not come from strong winds. Wei Chen knew very well how greedy these officials were. If they were not strictly supervised and held accountable, he was afraid that the 3 taels of ICBC would be lost. If we continue to allocate money, it will eventually fall on the project, and we will not get even 1 taels.

Therefore, Wei Chen mercilessly beat up Sun Zhuo in advance, saying ugly things first, so as not to find out later and make everyone's faces look bad.

When Sun Zhuo saw Wei Chen's unpretentious expression, he immediately realized how much Wei Chen cared about the river work, and couldn't help but feel a little frightened.

With Wei Chen's background, it was too easy to deal with a small county magistrate like him. If he really dared to attack Hegongyin, the end would be extremely miserable.

It's better to be cautious.

Wei Chen caught a glimpse of Sun Zhuozhan's trembling look, smiled indifferently, picked up a towel to wipe his hands, and said in a deep voice: "The first amount of money will be transferred to your account in three days, and the mobilization of county civilian services will begin tomorrow. Be sure to post notices in every township, and if the people are illiterate, arrange for someone to read them to them."

Sun Zhuo immediately stood up and left the table, bowed and said: "I would like to follow the instructions of Master Zhizhou!"

Chapter 226: Singing trumpets

In late February, after a series of intensive preparations, Yuzhou Daxing River Engineering was launched.

On February 22, the day when construction officially started, dense crowds of people lined up from the river to the bottom of the dam, with piety written on everyone's faces.

Before constructing a river, one must first sacrifice the river.

Yellow River sacrifices began in the Xia and Shang Dynasties and flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. By the Zhou Dynasty, river disasters occurred frequently, and the reverence and worship of the river god among officials and people became more and more profound.

Temples dedicated to the river god can be seen everywhere along both sides of the river. The imperial court also conferred official titles on the river god and ordered local officials to offer sacrifices every year.

Yuzhou is naturally no exception.

At this moment, on the river bank thirty miles outside Mi County, an old river worker was shirtless, wearing a wicker ring on his head, holding incense and leading thousands of civilians, facing the river with the most solemn prison. Offer sacrifices to He Bo.

Wei Chen did not believe in ghosts and gods, but he always had a reverence for nature in his heart. Therefore, he did not laugh at the ignorance and ignorance of these river workers. Instead, he stood not far away and quietly watched the scene unfold before him.

After the river sacrificial ceremony was completed, Wei Chen came to the river, performed the foundation laying ceremony with the river workers, and called everyone to give lectures.

Wei Chen had experienced too many of these formalities during the scientific expedition. At that time, he was often dissatisfied with this, thinking that these were all meaningless red tape.

But looking back today, I have a completely different perspective than before.

Only by being careful at the beginning can we respect the end.

Before doing something important, a solemn sense of ritual must be created through a series of forms, so that people can take the matter seriously from the bottom of their hearts.

】

When Zhizhou Weichen shoveled a shovel of soil into the car with his own hands, cheers and applause burst out from the crowd. The river workers picked up their tools and walked onto the embankment according to the pre-arranged arrangement, flexing their arms and working hard.

At this point, the "Yuzhou River Protection Renovation Project" completed by Tianyou for seven years finally officially started with loud chants.

Wei Chen took Zhao Ceying, Gu Tingye and others as well as a group of Mi County officials to the river beach for inspection.

Looking from the vast river beach, we can see thousands of shirtless men working enthusiastically on the embankment. The sun shines on their bronzed skin, revealing a masculine beauty. The scene is spectacular. .

Not far away from Wei Chen and others, eight men were gathering together to "walk together."

The so-called me is usually a large round stone or iron cake-shaped object, weighing from dozens to more than a hundred kilograms, with several ropes tied around it.

Xingwo is a form of tamping, which is widely used in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. It is mainly used to tamp the foundation when building embankments and dams.

The principle is that everyone works together to lift the stone from the ground, rise to a certain height and then put it down. The stone's own gravity and the traction of people are used to land smoothly and compact the empty soil.

What I pay attention to in the performance is unity and cooperation. Cooperation between each other is extremely important and is the key to whether I play well, because before each performance, there is a lead singer who sings slowly and conducts, and everyone follows the call.

Wei Chen grew up in the south of the Yangtze River, and this was the first time he saw this scene of people walking along the banks of the Yellow River singing trumpets.

I saw the eight men surrounding Shi Gou each bending their backs and holding the rope tightly with both hands. Then the trumpet leader who was in charge of singing sang loudly: "A mountain high on a high mountain."

building!Three sisters compete in combing their hair! "

Everyone sang along: "Hey!"

While singing, they worked together to throw the stone up high. The stone stopped in mid-air for a moment, and then smashed it into the rammed earth, making a loud bang and shaking up a cloud of dust.

"The boss combs his hair like a dragon beard, and the second brother combs his hair like a dancing phoenix!"

"Hey!"

"The remaining mistress has nothing to comb, so she combs her hair like a lion and rolls hydrangeas!

"Hey!"

"The hydrangea rolled to the east ocean and blocked the Yellow River from flowing!"

"Hey!"

……

My chants are sometimes heroic, sometimes humorous, sometimes solemn, sometimes lively. The eight men bare their chests and backs, with protruding veins, and their shouts are loud and touching.

The sonorous and powerful work chants are accompanied by smoke and dust all over the ground, and together with the rolling water of the Yellow River, slowly float to the sky.

Every time the stone fell to the ground, Wei Chen, who stopped to watch, felt that his heart was also shaken, and he could not calm down for a long time.

A nation is rejuvenated by adversity, and a sage is inspired by Yin's worries.

The Yellow River overflowed and caused untold suffering to the people on both sides of the strait. However, the suffering did not defeat them. Instead, it forged their soul character of enjoying hardship and perseverance.