That night, the lights in Funing Hall were brightly lit.
Zhao Xu rarely went to bed early, but accompanied by Song Yongchen, inspected the Hebei sand table that had just been made.
Song Yongchen was advising Zhao Xu on the side: "Everyone, since the mid-Tang Dynasty, the Yellow River has been continuously silting up in the Puyang section..."
"Because of the siltation of the Yellow River in the Puyang section, after the founding of our dynasty, the dangers of the Yellow River have changed from a decisive battle in the past ten or twenty years to a decisive battle in three to five years..."
Song Yongchen dutifully introduced to Zhao Xu the game with the Yellow River since the founding of the Song Dynasty.
To sum up, during the Taizu, Taizong, and Zhenmiao eras, the Yellow River was stabilized by planting trees and building a large number of embankments in Tanzhou and Huazhou.
However, since Zhenmiao, Liangyihuihe has made everything become what it is today.
Zhao Xu couldn't help but nod his head as he listened to Song Yongchen's introduction. Naturally, he knew these past events.
In his previous life, Zhang Dun had told him countless times.
He can carry it!
Staring at the sand table, the Yellow River flows from the north to the east and flows into the sea from different places.
The one that flows north still remains in modern times: Haihe River.
In order to control the Haihe River, modern industrial countries have spent decades.
As for the east stream...
After Zhao Xu came to power in his previous life, it gradually became clogged due to sedimentation. Finally, in the second year of Yuanfu, the embankment burst and the flow was completely cut off.
Thinking of the blocked east-flow river, Zhao Xu's heart felt a little clogged.
He stared at Dongliu Duan.
At present, the Yellow River is divided into two rivers. The north section has floods every day, but the east section has always been quiet.
This river flows eastward from Damingfu, passes through Tangyi, goes to Gaotang, passes through the entire Dezhou, and finally joins the sea at Shandong Peninsula.
This was originally an insurance policy for river defense in the Song Dynasty.
But...
In Zhao Xu's previous life, in the second year of Yuanfu, the river broke out at Neihuangkou and rushed north.
Ever since the east stream was cut off!
The dyke burst in the second year of Yuanfu was affected by the dyke burst in Xiaozhangkou this year.
Xiao Zhangkou burst its embankment, submerging almost half of Hebei East Road.
The number of people affected by the disaster was close to one million, and hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile farmland were swallowed up.
Countless ancestral graves and mulberry fields were swallowed up by floods, and a large yellow flood area was formed.
In addition, the embankment burst in the second year of Yuanfu, which cut off the east flow channel, flooded several states, and affected more than five million people!
Zhao Xu let out a sigh of relief and waited for Song Yongchen to introduce the entire history of river management in the Song Dynasty. He sighed with emotion: "The nature of water is downward!"
“You can’t go against the will of heaven!”
Why did river governance in the Song Dynasty fail time and time again?
They just want to defy heaven!
In the court, there have always been two different strategies for river control.
Because of these two strategies, since Renmiao, the ministers of the government and the public have been divided into the Eastern School and the Northern School.
The Eastern School dreams of returning the Yellow River to its original path before the first year of Renmiao Jingyou's reign.
Representative figures are Wen Yanbo, Wang Anshi, An Tao...
The Northern School believes that the Yellow River is in good condition now, so just do a good job in river defense. Don't bother with it, you won't win.
The Northern School is represented by Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang, Su Shi, Fan Zuyu, etc.
The two factions argued with each other and refused to compromise.
The Eastern style will always have the upper hand in special periods.
As a result, they gained the upper hand and returned to the river after two discussions.
Once the river broke through Shanghukou and rushed into the Liuta River.
Once the river broke through the Cao dike and took the Huai River into the sea.
During the two trips back to the river, the estimated death toll was over a million!
The Song Dynasty could still hold on under such circumstances. It can only be said that the zoo strategy of the Zhao officials is indeed effective!
Now, Zhao Xu is a firm believer in the Northern School!
He no longer has any undue thoughts about the Yellow River.
I only want to make repairs, maintain river embankments, plant trees and reduce sediment.
other things……
We can really only rely on the wisdom of future generations!
There must be cranes, large trucks, and all kinds of heavy equipment.
It is also necessary to build more than a dozen Xiaolangdi projects upstream.
At the same time, we have to rely on population increase, industrial development, and large amounts of water pumping to reduce the flow of the Yellow River.
Otherwise, just lie down.
The old man like the Yellow River can swing as much as he wants.
It doesn't matter even if it's placed within the Liao Kingdom.
Anyway, after the Song and Liao dynasties became Jiaozi, the Liao Kingdom would be satisfied in the next ten years.
Ten years later...
The Liao Kingdom will no longer be a threat.
Song Yongchen looked at the expressions of the officials in front of him, lowered his head, and asked: "Everyone, this time I have been ordered to go to Hebei..."
"I don't know if you have any instructions?"
Zhao Xu looked at the sand table, pointed at Daming Palace and Xiao Zhangkou, and said to Song Yongchen: "There are Han Wei and Zhang Dun in Daming Palace..."
"Zhaoxuan should focus on this!"
"If a small mouth opens its mouth, millions of people on the entire Hebei East Road will be affected by the disaster... Maybe it will be another disaster like the Hebei East Road!"
"When you arrive in Hebei, you will keep an eye on the Xiaozhangkou River section for me..."
"Yes!" Song Yongchen didn't understand why everyone cared so much about the small dike with an open mouth on the sand table.
But since everyone has made a will, he must obey it.
Zhao Xu clapped his hands, and Feng Jing, who had been waiting in the palace, came to Song Yongchen holding a gray object.
Song Yongchen looked at that thing suspiciously.
"This is something I designed..." Zhao Xu pointed at the thing: "It's a sack, made of thick hemp rope..."
"Can hold sand and stones in it!"
"I have ordered the Kaifeng Prefecture to publish a notice and publicly purchase this item in large quantities at the price of 60 sacks for one piece of silk...or the price of 20 sacks..."
"This material will be sent to various parts of Hebei in large quantities after purchase to replace the materials prepared on the embankment..."
Zhao Xu specially applied to the two palaces to use the money to seal the piles.
Of course not all of them are used as rewards.
Otherwise, why didn't he just take all the money?
This is the reason why I applied for one million pieces of silk cloth.
Increase the supply of goods in society and promote economic development.
At the same time, it is also for this time to take advantage of the opportunity of autumn flood control to set a precedent of this kind - large-scale national procurement!
Lay a solid foundation for further national procurement in the future.
At this time, Zhao Xu needs to thank Wang Anshi for his reform.
Wang Anshi's reform, the law of dismissal of errands and the system of departmental distribution.
It was replaced by the Law on Exemption from Service and the Law on Exemption from Work. Both of these laws have one thing in common - the abolition of the system of the state expropriating private labor and materials without compensation.
From then on, if the country wanted to carry out large-scale projects or purchase large quantities of materials, it had to spend real money.
For example, this time for river defense, Han Wei petitioned to hire 100,000 civilians.
In order to hire these civilian laborers, the daily wages are at least 20,000 guan!
Now, if Zhao Xu wanted to purchase sacks filled with sand and gravel, he would have to spend real money.
If it were his previous life, he would definitely be reluctant to part with it.
But now Zhao Xu knows very well that if he is reluctant to let go of his children, he will not be able to trap the wolf.
Using money to purchase materials or even purchasing materials at a premium may seem like the country is temporarily suffering a loss, but the country's credibility can be built up through this.
With this experience, the public will actively participate in large-scale purchases next time.
The vitality of the people will be naturally stimulated.
"In addition, I also asked people to design a new lifting device..."
"When Zhaoxuan arrives in Hebei, he must build it..."
"Every ten miles, build one for lifting materials..."
As Zhao Xu spoke, he gave Song Yongchen the drawings of the simple gantry crane he had drawn these days.
Song Yongchen took it, held it in his hand, and looked at it under the light...
Then, he was shocked.
Nooses, pulleys, cranes... If feasible, they can completely replace the earth-moving truck he invented in the past to build Bianjing City.
So Song Yongchen asked nervously: "I dare you to ask, who made this thing?"
Zhao Xu smiled and looked at him: "Isn't this something that was announced by Zhaoxuan?"
He is the emperor, and the emperor does not need titles such as Lu Ban.
It just so happened that Song Yongchen was an internal minister, so there would be no problem if an internal minister could serve as the contemporary Luban!
Song Yongchen swallowed his saliva and looked at everyone who was smiling but not smiling.
He knelt down quickly: "How dare I..."
"My gift, how can you not dare?"
Song Yongchen had no choice but to worship and said: "Even so, I dare not take credit. If anyone asks, I will tell you: 'It is all in the ancient books in the inner secret collection'..."
Zhao Xu gave a bitter smile and said, "Just follow Zhao Xuan's instructions..."
It is true that Song Yongchen would not dare to do such a thing.
This is the way to die!
When Song Yongchen was about to say goodbye, Zhao Xu stopped him again.
He ordered Feng Jing to hand over the precautions for river management he had written to Song Yongchen, and told him: "When you get to Hebei, open it again..."
"Then hand it over to Zhang Dun, Han Wei, Miao Shuo and others..."
"I obey the decree!"
…
The next day is Yisi Day (the eighth day of the lunar month).
Zhang Dun, Miao Professor, and Song Yongchen delivered their speeches in the Chui Gong Hall. Two days ago, the Chui Gong Hall was officially opened and resumed its function of listening to government affairs.
The two palaces naturally explain a lot of things.
Han Jiang and Lu Gongzhu gave many warnings and exhortations, hoping that Zhang Dun and others would live up to their mission.
Hebei and Hedong were one of the lifebloods of the Song Dynasty's economy.
If the embankment breaks, millions of dollars will be spent on disaster relief alone.
What's even more troublesome is that in the tenth year of Xining, the Yellow River broke through the Caocun dike and once diverted the Huai River into the sea. The sediment from the Yellow River blocked several waterways in the Huai River Basin.
That was a catastrophe that cost countless money to finally eliminate!
If we seize the Huai River again and bring it into the sea, Bianjing's annual grain supply of 8 million shi will probably be difficult to maintain.
Without the grain, millions of people in Bianjing would go hungry.
Maybe, we have to learn from the Tang Dynasty. The emperor took his ministers to Luoyang to eat...
That would be so embarrassing!
Zhang Dun and others, of course, also knew that the matter was serious.
There have been continuous heavy rains in Damingfu and Hebei, and water levels are rising rapidly.
There may be problems with the embankments at any time.
Each of them now carries the wealth and lives of hundreds of thousands of people on their shoulders.
No one dared to slack off. After His Majesty's resignation, he did not make any repairs and went directly to Hebei under the escort of the Fourth Army led by Miao Shi.
The two palaces took Zhao Xu and personally sent them out of Xuandemen.
Back in the palace, the two palaces looked at the gloomy weather outside the palace and sighed. Then they went back and went to the Buddhist niche in the dormitory to chant sutras and pray.
This is the only thing they can do.
The personnel have done their best, and the rest can only be left to fate!
Note: A dike is a tool made of branches, stones, and sand tied together to block breaches.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, dozens of embankments were built along the Huazhou, Tanzhou and Damingfu sections of the Yellow River to deal with the most dangerous situations.
But there is no egg...
Sandbags, a modern thing, are definitely better than primitive trees tied with stones. At least they should be effective at critical moments.
Note 2: In the fourth year of Xining and the tenth year of Xining, the Yellow River burst its banks twice. Especially in the tenth year of Xining, the Huangkou burst its banks, allowing part of the Yellow River water to rush into the Huaihe River. Many Huaihe River waterways were blocked by silt weirs.
Suzhou has been affected!
Su Shi cursed loudly: With your limited talent, you have accomplished impossible things, driven out innocent people, and put them in a certain place of death...
At that time, Wang Anshi had been out of office for a year, so it was self-evident who he was talking about.
Note 3: In the Northern Song Dynasty, the only method that could be used to control the Yellow River was to stabilize the east flow channel and let the north flow channel swing as it pleased.
As long as the east flow channel is not cut off, the water and sediment flowing north will be diverted.
This is also why the protagonist spends so much money.
Note 4: Bianjing cannot be self-sufficient in food and can only rely on grain from the Cao Cao.
Most of the annual water transportation quota of 8 million shi is grain.
This is the lifeline of Bianjing City!
Note 5: At this time, the Three Changes of Return to the River were only carried out twice. The last time was when the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed, the Huazhou embankment was dug, and the entire Huaihe River was GG.
PS: After the Yellow River changed its course in the Northern Song Dynasty, there have been many people who wanted the Yellow River to return to its old course, because they felt that the old course was the best and safest.
Both discussions on returning to the river had this consideration in mind.
But that's impossible.
This chapter has been completed!