In the depth of winter, the Yellow River is desolate and cold, with slow flow, low water level, and almost no flow. Looking down from a high position, one can feel the thickness of the river bed.
Floods are always frequent in the middle and lower reaches of the river, and Huazhou is one of the most frequent areas. Donglin Dike is a dike in the Huazhou River section. It is not large in scale, but it is an important part of the Huazhou river defense system.
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Over the past two decades, with the support of Emperor Liu, the imperial court has invested generously in various water conservancy projects. It can be found from the files of the Financial Secretary that starting from the second year of Qianyou, the imperial court carried out water conservancy-related projects nationwide.
The investment amounted to more than 50 million yuan, which is definitely not a small amount.
The Huang, Huai, and Bian rivers in the north are the most important. In terms of dredging, canalization, soil consolidation, and embankment construction, special policies and indicator assessments have been formulated.
But even so, it only reduces the possibility of some floods, and it is not a permanent solution. Take the Yellow River as an example. For almost five years, every year the state capitals along the coast have reported that there is no problem within the territory and the water conditions are good. However, in fact,
It can't be completely calm either.
It's just because frequent and serious flood disasters like those in the early Qianyu period have indeed been controlled, but small disasters continue all year round. As for the so-called Heqing Haiyan, there are only no major disasters, or
It was the local government's ability to effectively control the impact of the disaster and the losses were not large. Therefore, in the past few years, the imperial court has received many petitions for merit.
But this autumn is different. In the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Hua, Bo, and Qi rivers burst out, and floods surged southward, invading more than ten states and counties on the south bank, destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, and killing more than 100 people. This is the imperial court's response to the Central Plains floods.
The veins and river channels have been systematically and comprehensively sorted out, otherwise this yellow flood area will continue to expand.
As the flood in the Yellow River has had the most widespread impact and devastation in the past ten years, the imperial court naturally paid special attention to it. Fighting disasters and rescuing people was its duty, and the accountability for the aftermath was also followed without mercy. More than 20 prefectures
Relevant government and county officials, as well as the Ministry of Industry and embankment officials were punished, and in serious cases, they were even punished with death or exile.
After October, the Ministry of Revenue once again allocated funds and recruited people to rebuild or strengthen the embankments in Yanhe Prefecture and County. This was also the largest project of the imperial court in the entire ninth year of Kaibao.
When Prince Liu Yang left Beijing for a patrol this time, he heard reports from below that most of the river defense projects in various places had been completed, and many people had returned home. So he thought about it and led several ministers and officials to the east along the river.
Due to geographical and transportation reasons, the third stop of the inspection, after Zhengzhou, was Huazhou. The original itinerary was to inspect the Liuhe Embankment in Huazhou, which is the largest embankment in the country and is also a reservoir. It has solid water and soil, and the embankment
Strong, it is a major representative of the imperial water conservancy projects in the Qianyou era. Over the years, it has been both a tourist destination and a project to benefit the people. Even in the previous flood, the embankments were not washed away, and they still stood firmly by the river, guarding the hometown.
Liu Yang naturally had an impression of Liuhe. When he was still young, he accompanied Emperor Liu on a tour here and played there. Therefore, Liu Yang was also happy to return to the old place and browse it.
If we just inspect Liuhe Embankment, it will naturally have a happy ending, and we will not find any problems or faults at all. When facing inspections from superiors, what local officials fear most is that leaders will not follow common sense, make temporary decisions, and make temporary preparations. .
Liu Yang was the same. He didn't stay at Liuhe Dike for too long. Instead, he directly ordered people to lead the way and inspected other sections of the embankment. Finally, he arrived at Donglin Dike. Things just like this, got out of control and moved towards Huazhou officials. We are willing to face the direction of development.
The north wind whistled, raging on the Donglin embankment. The sparse trees around the embankment seemed to be infinitely desolate. There were many guards standing on the embankment, and a group of accompanying officials and Huazhou officials guarded the prince. They all had serious expressions, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward. , somewhat depressed.
Everyone watched helplessly as dozens of river workers struggled to take out some stone bars and sandbags and arrange them scatteredly in a row. The stone bars were very brittle and could be broken without much effort. Among the sandbags, More mud and dirt.
As soon as this result came out, the weather seemed to be a bit colder again, and the atmosphere on Donglin Embankment became more tense. Several officials from Huazhou Prefecture were shivering, but they were definitely not blown by the winter wind.
Liu Yang looked calm, but his face was swollen a little red under the cold river wind. His eyes were as cold as the winter wind. He looked around and pointed at the rotten stones on the ground. With the sandbags, he said coldly: "Is this the material used to solidify embankments to prevent floods? I think it's not the stones that are rotten, it's the sandbags that are rotten, it's the dirty human hearts!"
"Your Highness, please calm down. Your Majesty will investigate this matter thoroughly and give His Highness an explanation!" Huazhou Zhizhou shivered, nervous and frightened, but still able to hold his own, and went out.
Liu Yang didn't even look at him or speak, which made people even more uneasy. Liu Xi, who was still following him, waved to Na Zhizhou, and then looked at Liu Yang: "Second brother, this embankment is not It’s already dark, the wind is blowing and cold where we were talking, so let’s talk about it later! Now that we’ve discovered this matter, I think there will be a result!”
Liu Xi, as a representative of the Ministry of Industry, went on tour with Liu Yang. Compared with Liu Yang's coldness, Liu Xi's reaction seemed more "normal", even calm, with a smile on his lips. , always unhurried.
Liu Xi, on the other hand, often has such a reaction and attitude when something happens, which makes people helpless and anxious. Listening to his words and observing his attitude, Liu Yang stretched out the cotton robe on his body and said in a stiff tone: "You are always like this. So calm and calm, it may not be that there are no officials from the Ministry of Works involved in this matter, and you, the people from the Ministry of Works, may not be without responsibility!"
"That's what the second brother said!" Liu Xi's smile faded, and he finally tightened his posture. He cupped his hands and said, "Relevant officials from the Ministry of Industry, I will check and I will definitely give you an explanation!"
After hearing what Liu Xi said, Liu Yang finally nodded, and then looked at another middle-aged minister, the newly appointed Henan transit envoy Lu Duan.
In the Han Dynasty, there were many fathers and sons, and brothers serving as officials in the same dynasty, such as the famous five Dou brothers, Wang Pu and his son, and Lu Duoxun and his son. In the past five years, the Lu brothers have also begun to become famous.
Needless to say, there is no need to say more about the elder brother Lu Yin. Anyone with certain political knowledge will understand that sooner or later he will become the prime minister. Lu Duan, as the younger brother, seems a bit mediocre in comparison, but he was born as a Jinshi and served as an official. For more than ten years, although he did not have any dazzling political achievements, he never made any mistakes. The prefectures and counties he served were clean and calm, the administration was friendly and people-friendly, and his reputation was good.
His resume is quite rich, he has been promoted from level to level, and is solid and stable. With Lu Yin's care and Emperor Liu's appreciation, he has become a high official in the party after more than ten years.
This time, he was transferred to Henan Province as the transfer envoy, went to Beijing to report on his duties, and accepted the appointment. Liu Yang called him on his eastward tour and sent him to Qizhou to take up his post. However, Lu Duan did not expect that he would be safe and sound.
will also be involved in such incidents.
I saw Liu Yang saying to Lu Duan: "Lu Qing, you have served as the magistrate of Huazhou for a short period of time. I will leave the matter of Huazhou to you for investigation. Do you have any objections?"
The prince has said this, what else can Lu Duan choose? There is no strangeness on his face, he just cupped his hands and said: "Yes! I will do my best!"
Although there were some inappropriate things, as the prince, Liu Yang was on a tour again, and he already had the power to depose local officials. He only had to make a report and complete the procedures after returning to the court.
"Come back!" He was probably really freezing. Emperor Liu looked around at the Huazhou officials again, said lightly, turned around, and just brushed his sleeves.
Liu Xi glanced flatly and kept up with his steps steadily. As for Lu Duan, his beard was trembling in the winter wind. Looking at the officials, there were many familiar figures among them, and the deep city mansion almost stopped.
"Lu Shijun, I am really unjust!" Zhizhou Huazhou obviously knew Lu Duan. Looking at the retreating figures of the prince and the king of Jin, he couldn't help but said to Lu Duan with a sad face.
