20 miles north of Huai'an City, on the Yellow River channel construction site.
Teams of laborers were either carrying burdens or pushing carts, going back and forth. Some servants with whips in their hands were patrolling around. When they saw anyone who was lazy and slippery, they stepped forward to scold them, but the weapons in their hands
The whip is raised more often than lowered.
Among the crowd, there are also some officials wearing black veils. They walk in a hurry, stopping from time to time and pointing at something. At this time, the followers around them will rush to find the corresponding supervisor.
Convey instructions from officials.
Whether they were laborers or officials, their clothes were stained with mud, showing the hardship of the project.
In the middle of the construction site, there is the Yellow River. However, at this time, the river has been cut off in the middle, and the river channel more than ten feet long has disappeared. Four trenches nearly one foot wide and one foot deep have been dug in the ground.
From west to east, it runs vertically with the Yellow River. The bottom and sides of the trench are as smooth as a knife. A dozen officials-looking people are standing in the trench at this time, visiting the project with great interest.
construction results.
These four trenches are the culverts proposed by Su Hao to Pan Jixun for the Huaihe River to cross the Yellow River. Due to limitations in construction technology, the craftsmen were unable to dig out these four culverts by tunneling under the Yellow River, but they created a culvert that would later be called
The construction technology of "deep excavation and shallow burial method" solves this problem.
The so-called digging deep and burying shallowly actually means digging a long pit two feet deep, then capping it at a height of one foot, and then filling it with soil. After the filling is completed, it is equivalent to digging out under the soil layer.
The effect of a tunnel.
When Su Hao led the survey camp to fight the Japanese pirates, Ma Yu and others were not idle for a day. They carefully completed the site selection of the tunnel, and then prepared all the construction materials and equipment. They waited until the cold weather
When the Yellow River froze and completely stopped flowing due to freezing, Ma Yu commanded his servants to dig out the river channel and dig out four long trenches perpendicular to the river channel on the original river bed, and poured reinforced concrete at the bottom of the trench.
and side walls.
After a few days, the concrete has fully solidified. At this time, Ma Yu was accompanying Pan Jixun and others to inspect the effect of the concrete construction.
"It's really as hard as a rock!" Pan Jixun used the small hammer handed to him by his entourage to randomly hit a few places on the wall of the trench. He then stepped forward with his reading glasses to look at the marks carefully and nodded with satisfaction.
Said to everyone.
Ma Yu replied humbly: "Don't worry, Governor Pan. The formula of this concrete was repeatedly tested by Xiaguan, Jiang Suozheng, and Deputy Tan. It can withstand the blow of a twenty-kilogram hammer. In addition, this concrete formula
There is a steel bar every inch or so in the concrete, which can disperse the force of hitting one place to other places, which ensures that if a place receives an unexpected heavy blow, it will not crack and collapse."
"Well, adding steel bars to the stone is indeed a good idea. How did you come up with the idea?" Pan Jixun said.
Ma Yudao: "This method was created by Chief Su. When Xiaguan was building a reservoir in Fengcheng, he tried it and the effect was very good. By the way, now the entire Huai'an Prefecture is being re-cleared, and one is being built every five miles.
Permanent boundary markers to prevent the loss of boundary markers due to flood erosion in the future. These boundary markers are made of reinforced concrete buried in the ground, and dozens of strong men cannot move them away."
"Not doing your job properly!"
Ma Yu originally wanted to praise Su Hao, but after hearing this, Pan Jixun showed disdain on his face and gave him a negative comment. Ma Yu quickly shut up, not knowing which words made Lao Pan feel unhappy.
.
"A river chief went to help the Huai'an Prefecture to clean up what he was doing. He is really a dog trying to meddle in other people's business." Pan Jixun still muttered dissatisfiedly.
"Actually, Chief Su's clearing of the father-in-law in Huai'an Prefecture is not without benefit for river management." Follower Xiong Enzheng explained, "It is said that Huai'an Prefecture has cleared tens of thousands of acres of unreported land, and Prefect Han has agreed that we can build the Huaihe River.
The land acquired for the channel into the sea will all be compensated by the Huai'an Prefecture using official land, and there is no need to pay a tael of silver from the river. This should be regarded as Master Su's contribution to the Qing Dynasty."
Pan Jixun's face felt a little warm. In fact, his dissatisfaction with Su Hao came from his admiration for this person. He always felt that someone with Su Hao's ability should give more ideas to the river project.
, instead of running errands for Han Wen all day long. Well, even if Han Wen has a beautiful daughter who wants to betrothed to Su Hao, as the rumors say, Su Hao shouldn't abandon his official career for personal reasons, right?
"Ma Yu, when can the capping of the culvert start?" Pan Jixun turned to Ma Yu and asked.
"We can start tomorrow." Ma Yu replied.
"How to cap it? Have you made a plan?" Pan Jixun asked again.
Ma Yu pointed to the top of his head and said: "We have already planned it. We will build a wooden frame on the top and install the top plate. Then we will lay steel bars on the top plate and then pour concrete. It will take about 10 days to wait for the concrete to dry.
Once it is installed, the roof can be removed, and then soil can be piled on the concrete to restore the Yellow River channel."
"Can this concrete roof support the river above?" Pan Jixun asked.
Ma Yudao: "We have already tried this. The steel bars used to make the roof are two fingers thick and can fully bear the weight of the soil above."
"Okay!" Pan Jixun stopped asking. After this period of work, he had a full understanding of the professionalism and professionalism of Ma Yu and others, and knew that what they did was trustworthy.
"Ma Yu, if this canal can be built, you, Jiang Yida, and Tan Qi are all contributors, and I will not treat you badly. When the project is completed, I will write to the court to ask for a reward for you. I
I heard that your classmates who stayed in the capital to work for Su Hao have been given the title of Sixth Grade Supervisor by the Holy Emperor. You have done more work for the governor, how can it be lower than their title?" Pan Jixun asked Ma Yu.
Others promised.
"Thank you very much, Governor Pan." Ma Yu, Jiang Yida, Tan Qi and others hurriedly saluted, and their hearts were filled with joy.
Pan Jixun then inspected forward, and Ma Yu continued to introduce to him the design ideas of the entire yellow-piercing project.
According to the design, the Huaihe River crossing project includes a total of four culverts. The upstream is connected to the Gaojiayan Dam on Hongze Lake, and the downstream is the sea channel that Su Hao calls the "Northern Jiangsu Irrigation Canal".
In normal times, only one of the four culverts needs to be open to release water from the Huaihe River. When the water level in Hongze Lake is not high, the Gaojiayan Dam does not need to open the gate, allowing Hongze Lake to store water.
.During the dry season, by opening the sluice gate on the Gaojiayan Dam, water from Hongze Lake can enter the North Jiangsu Irrigation Main Canal through the yellow culvert, providing irrigation for millions of acres of farmland in Huai'an Prefecture.
In the rainy season, the Gaojiayan Dam can open multiple sluices at the same time, and all four culverts are also open to help the flood discharge. The passing capacity of the Northern Jiangsu Irrigation Main Canal is designed based on the peak flow rate that has not been seen in decades, so the flood can
It will be discharged smoothly into the East China Sea and will not cause harm to Huai'an Prefecture.
With the Yellow River Crossing Project, Hongze Lake no longer needs to maintain a high water level in order to be discharged into the sea. In this way, Sizhou, Fengyang and other prefectures upstream will no longer be threatened by floods, which have plagued the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River for many years.
will be greatly relieved.
Pan Jixun has been managing the river for many years, but what has been bothering him is the mutual restraint between the Yellow River, the Huai River, and the Yellow River. In the end, he had to sacrifice the Huai River in order to protect the canal and the Yellow River. The construction of the Yellow River Crossing Project solved the problem of the Huai River in one fell swoop.
The problem is that Pan Jixun only needs to balance the relationship between the Yellow River and the canal in the next step. This is much simpler than facing the problem of three rivers at the same time in the past.
In addition to these river control benefits, the construction of these four culverts across the Yellow River has another small impact, that is, the three culverts that are not usually open for water discharge can be used as pedestrian passages for people to cross the Yellow River.
The exchange of goods and personnel on both sides of the Yellow River is more convenient.
"Director Su suggested that we set up a cash checkpoint at the entrance of the culvert to collect tolls, 2 cents per trip. The money can be used to subsidize the cost of the river project." Ma Yu bit the bullet and told Su Hao's evil idea.
came out.
"Nonsense!" Pan Jixun subconsciously scolded, "Isn't this competing with the people for profit? How can I do such a thing?"
Ma Yudao: "Governor Pan, Director Su said that he has understood that now that people have to cross the Yellow River to do business on the other side, they need to pay 10 cents for the ship each time. If they pass through our canal, they have to pay 2 cents each time, which is extremely economical.
Yes, they will definitely be grateful for your grace."
"Really?" Pan Jixun thought for a while and suddenly laughed: "That's not bad. In the past, people had to spend money to cross the river. Now asking them to spend less is not competing with the people for profit.
Let's do this, Guangping, after the culvert is repaired, you can arrange for people to set up this banknote checkpoint. As for the money collected, it won't be used on the river. Just give it to the soldiers who take care of the culvert to subsidize their meals.
."
"Understood!" Xiong Enzheng responded readily.
"This Su Gaizhi has something in his head. He can see this petty profit." Pan Jixun said with a smile.
"Brother Gai has always been good at considering problems in an all-round way, unlike Xiaguan, who only understands engineering and doesn't care about the fireworks of the world." Ma Yu said with shame.
"It doesn't matter if you don't eat the fireworks of the world. If you don't know the sufferings of the people, such an official will not be a good official." Pan Jixun said. At this point, he suddenly remembered something and asked Ma Yu in a low voice: "By the way, Ma Yu,
Su Gaizhi once mentioned to the governor that the officials who were in charge of the laborers on the river in your Ministry of Works were suspected of corruption. He said that they should be released first and he would cause trouble for them in the future. Now Su Gaizhi
It’s almost half a year since he arrived in Huai’an, how does he plan to deal with this matter?”
"My official's knowledge of this matter is limited, but he seems to have already made preparations after listening to my brother Gai. He said that when he is ready, he will report it to Governor Pan." Ma Yu replied.
"Hmph, I know he has a lot of crooked intestines. Isn't he worried that the governor's mouth is not reliable and his plans will be revealed?" Pan Jixun said angrily.
Ma Yu didn't dare to answer, but just laughed in his heart. There were probably not many people in the entire Ming Dynasty who could make Pan Jixun angry. The more fierce Pan Jixun cursed, the more he valued Su Hao. People who want to scold Lao Pan a few times are not qualified yet. (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!)