The Yellow River runs from the bottom of Taohua Valley to the mouth of the sea. The river channel is wide and the water flow is gentle. Shipping has always been developed.
Only the section of Sanmenxia starting from Tongguan has a huge difference in height, complex terrain, and numerous rocks, which has a great impact on navigation.
If this section of the river can be dredged, then Guanzhong can be connected with water channels from the outside world.
As long as there are shipping channels, food transportation can greatly reduce consumption.
You must know that the Guanzhong area has been managed for thousands of years during the Han and Tang Dynasties, and its water conservancy facilities are very complete.
It can even be connected to the Tao River through the Wei River, and finally merged into the upper reaches of the Yellow River. In this way, food can even be transported to Lanzhou in one go.
On the Lanzhou side, the Zhuanglang River extends to the Hexi Corridor, reaching Gulangsuo as far as possible, and the distance in between is only over a hundred miles.
As long as the population on both sides of the Zhuanglang River is relocated and the river flow is ensured, there will be no problem in running small boats.
Zuo Mengeng has already discovered that the runoff of various rivers in this era is much greater than that in later generations.
It must be overpopulation and large amounts of water that have caused the river to shrink.
Now as long as we pay attention to protection, it is not that difficult to restore the original water network in the northwest.
The biggest problem facing the center is how to dredge the Sanmenxia section of the Yellow River.
Zuo Mengeng looked at Xue Fengzuo.
“Can the Ministry of Water Resources come up with a charter?”
Xue Fengzuo had a bitter smile on his face.
"Now all our energy has been put into the Yellow River reconstruction project, but we really have no time to spare, and we don't have more resources to take care of other things."
After hearing these words, everyone sighed and felt that opening the northwest grain road would be delayed.
Zuo Mengeng looked at the other person with his usual expression.
"Minister Feng, how about I teach you this project?"
In an instant, everyone's eyes were focused on Feng Benyu.
Many of them suddenly realized why Feng Benyu appeared in this meeting.
Under the spotlight of everyone, Feng Benyu was very calm.
"With the strength of our engineering department, it is completely possible, but I am afraid it will delay the frontline military operations."
Feng Benyu is the director of the engineering department of the military. The soldiers and horses under his command are responsible for building roads through mountains and building bridges across rivers.
Just because the Ministry of Engineering is affiliated to the military, people unconsciously ignored it when discussing people's livelihood projects.
It was only then that everyone discovered that there was actually such a powerful force that could be used.
Regarding his concerns, Liu Yiyuan gave an explanation.
"The headquarters has decided to postpone the northwest strategic cluster operation and will not enter the Western Region in the next three to five years. During this period, if you can open up the Sanmenxia River, you will be indispensable."
When he heard that the military operation had been stopped, Feng Benyu breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's no problem, just leave it to us."
Hou Xun is not worried.
"What are you going to do?"
Feng Benyu said matter-of-factly: "Since the Sanmenxia section is full of reefs, just like the Three Gorges, it is the fastest way to blast directly with explosives."
In fact, cleaning up the Yellow River channel and connecting Guanzhong with the Central Plains had already been carried out as early as the Tang Dynasty.
At that time, the population in Guanzhong was overpopulated and could no longer bear it. Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi and Wu Zetian, once thought of a way.
At first, they mobilized a large number of manpower to dredge the Yellow River and improve the ability of outsiders to transport food to Guanzhong.
It's a pity that with the technology at the time, it was a waste of money and ultimately failed.
In desperation, Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian had to move their capital to Luoyang.
Things are different now. The empire's military industrial technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. Especially in the research and development of explosives, it has already broken through the limitations of black powder.
And the application of explosives in the engineering field has long been popular.
In fact, the Ministry of Water Resources could have done this kind of thing originally, but now it has been hindered by the larger Yellow River reconstruction project.
The same goes for handing it over to the engineering department.
Zuo Mengeng was very cautious.
"Even if all the reefs in the river are blown up, it will not be easy for the entire project to be unblocked. Subsequent maintenance and cleanup will require continuous investment. Why not set up a river engineering group specifically to maintain the Yellow River dredging project? What do you think?
"
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, no one knew about the support of the engineering corps, railway corps, and construction corps for national construction.
It can even be said that in the field of major engineering projects, the power displayed by these military units is even better.
Zuo Mengeng has no reason not to learn from it.
Feng Benyu and Guang Jiwu naturally had nothing to say about this.
This is a good opportunity to expand the strength of the engineering department, and they are certainly happy to see it happen.
Not only that, Guangji Wu also came up with more things.
"Thirty-seven thousand soldiers will retire this year. How to resettle them after they return to their local areas is also a big problem. It is better to transfer them to the Engineering and Construction Corps and still implement militarized management, which can effectively share the pressure on the government."
Although the National Defense Force is expanding day by day and has more and more troops, people will age. Therefore, soldiers who reach a certain age will inevitably face the issue of retirement.
Although their salaries in the army are very considerable, and they are considered rich when they return to their hometowns, there is always a layer between the army and their hometowns, and many veterans report that it is difficult to adapt after returning home.
Furthermore, when so many veterans return, they will inevitably seize local resources, thus causing conflicts.
Guang Jiwu's proposal can be regarded as giving veterans a brand new way out.
Veterans are just not suitable for the battlefield, but their qualities are far superior to ordinary people. Especially in terms of order and prohibition, and the efficiency of unity and cooperation, there is no doubt.
Gathering these people together to form a construction corps will obviously have great potential.
Zuo Mengeng's thinking also developed.
"Not only can engineering construction groups be formed, but environmental projects in the northwest can also be handed over to them. For example, in Zhenfanwei, after the local people are relocated, a construction corps can be dispatched to be responsible for greening construction and environmental maintenance."
The population near Wuwei is really quite large.
The biggest difference between ordinary people and soldiers is that their impact on the environment is completely different.
People living in the local area not only want to eat and clothe themselves, but also want to eat well, live well, and live a better life. Therefore, they work hard and put great pressure on the environment.
It's different from soldiers.
They are stationed locally under the orders of the state. Their living costs are entirely allocated by the state and will not cause any loss to local resources.
Only in this way can the environmental restoration of the Shiyang River Basin be accelerated.
Chen Zhi also realized the benefits of doing so.
"These are veterans, and there is no doubt about their combat effectiveness. After they are deployed in the northwest, they can build and suppress bandits at the same time. I believe it will not take long before peace can be restored in the northwest."
