Chapter 1781, Construction of the Jingjiang Embankment
"The Yangtze River is thousands of miles long, dangerous in Jingjiang, and has nine winding ileums. It really deserves its reputation!"
On the top of a mountain near the Jingjiang River section, Zhong Fan used a telescope to carefully observe the topography, topography, and trend of the entire river section, and he sighed.
After the Yangtze River left the outlet of the Three Gorges, the terrain gap suddenly became larger. At the same time, the terrain in the Jingjiang River section suddenly became open and flat. The flow speed of the Yangtze River here suddenly became faster and became extremely turbulent.
Due to the flat and open terrain, a complete river channel was formed.
From time to time, the river course here is constantly changing and changing. After a flood, it may change to another river course.
In the Yangtze River Basin, every rainy season, the rainwater in the upper reaches surges down, and energy is accumulated in the small opening of the Three Gorges. The huge gap pours down, carrying huge energy, and it is extremely easy to cause flooding in the Jingjiang area.
disaster.
There are floods and disasters almost every year, so that although the area around the Jingjiang River is fertile and wild, there are very few people because they simply don’t dare to live here. Once a flood disaster comes, even their lives will be lost, and the farmers who plant it will also lose their lives.
to be destroyed.
"Mr. Zhong, this section of the Jingjiang River is the most dangerous place in the Yangtze River. Not only our side of the Jingjiang River will be affected, but Hanyang downstream will also be affected."
“It’s extremely difficult to govern here!”
Next to Zhong Fan, Zhang Sian, the envoy to Huguang, shook his head as he spoke.
As the chief envoy of Huguang, he is well aware of the dangers of the Jingjiang River section. Floods occur almost every year, and it is rare to say that it can be cleaned up every year.
Check the local chronicles of Jingzhou and you will find that almost all the records there are related to the flood disaster in the Jingjiang River section.
"It's very difficult!"
"But if it can be managed well, the large area of land around here can become thousands of miles of fertile land. And after the Yangtze River is dredged, large ships and large ships can go directly to Jingzhou in the future. It will be much more convenient to go out in the future."
Zhong Fan nodded and then pointed to the vast wilderness at the foot of the mountain. Because the Jingjiang River section often breaks its banks, a large area of land around it is barren and has become a water town in Zeguo. You can see a large number of birds living in it. As for the villages,
They are all located in higher-lying areas, and they simply don’t dare to build houses in lower-lying areas.
"What Mr. Zhong said is reasonable. If the Jingjiang River section can be managed well, the surrounding area can indeed become a land of plenty, and it will definitely not belong to the south of the Yangtze River."
When Zhang Si'an heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. Looking at the land in front of him, if it became fertile and wild, the population that could be supported here would be at least several million.
"If we build a dyke here on the Jingjiang River to protect the Jingbei Plain to the north, we can create at least several million acres of more fertile farmland here."
Zhong Fan opened the map, took out a pen and drew a line on the map. This line started from Zaolin area and went down to Jianli area, with a total length of more than 300 miles.
"Sir, is this project too big?"
"Although there are a large number of levees here that have been built by predecessors, and with the help of mountains and other factors, the length of the levee we want to build is still hundreds of miles long. The amount of work is really too large. Even if we cover the entire Huguang area,
Even if people are mobilized here, I'm afraid it won't be repairable in one or two years."
Zhang Sian looked at the map carefully and said quickly.
In fact, there has been a tradition of building embankments on the Jingjiang River since ancient times. Embankments have been built here in all dynasties. The first time was during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Hengwen, the governor of Jingzhou, ordered the construction of a golden embankment along Jiangling City.
In the Tang Dynasty, a large section of the embankment above Shashi began to be built. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the back embankment was gradually built downstream. By the Yuan Dynasty, it gradually formed a larger scale.
In the Ming Dynasty, there has always been a tradition of building levees for flood control, and this has always been built in Huguang, so Zhang Sian is very familiar with this. Zhong Fan just drew a line, and he knew that the amount of work was very large.
, it definitely cannot be repaired in one or two years.
Among them, there is also the most difficult one, the Haoxue Town Diversion Port, which has a huge amount of work and is also very difficult.
"The amount of the project is huge, but it is also a major event that will benefit the present and future generations."
"Nowadays, our country, the Ming Dynasty, is at its peak, prosperous and strong, with no internal or external troubles. The national treasury is full. The emperor is a sage king for the ages, and all the princes in the court are capable ministers in governing the world."
"If we don't seize the opportunity and time to build the levee now, I'm afraid it will be difficult to have a better opportunity than now."
"Liu Gong proposed a grand and grand plan for the Ming Dynasty, which not only dredged the Yangtze River and promoted the development of Huguang and Jiangxi, but also built large-scale railways. Among them, there were even plans to build a railway to Tianfu."
"You must know that the road to Shu has been difficult to reach the sky since ancient times. Ordinary roads are still difficult and dangerous. Do you know how difficult it is to build a railway to Tianfu?"
"Compared with that, the Jingjiang embankment in front of us is nothing at all."
Zhong Fan smiled and said.
It's just building embankments and dredging rivers. Although the amount of work is a bit large, in terms of technical difficulty, there is no comparison with building a railway to Tianfu.
"Build a railway to Tianfu, Sichuan?"
"Here, how much money do you need to put in?"
When Zhang Sian heard this, he couldn't help but open his mouth.
It is definitely no joke that the road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the sky. The closed Sichuan Basin is surrounded by tall mountains, and the road to Sichuan is really difficult.
Now they are actually talking about building a railway into Tianfu, Sichuan. Thinking about it, I feel very crazy.
"It costs a lot of money, but the court is not short of money now."
"Liu Gong said that all parts of the Ming Dynasty should develop in a balanced manner. Sichuan is a country of abundance, with fertile land, open and flat terrain, but external transportation is extremely inconvenient."
"If the railway can be built, it will open up the network of Sichuan. Whether it is the development of Sichuan itself or the relocation of Sichuan people to other places, it will be very easy to go overseas."
"Just like Huguang and Jiangxi, they are located inland. With the development of overseas trade and overseas colonization, the development speed in recent years is somewhat slower than that of coastal areas."
"But if the Yangtze River is dredged and a large number of ports and docks are built, the development of Huguang and Jiangxi will soon catch up."
"Railways, highways, ports, and docks are all laid out for the long-term peace and stability of our country and for the balanced development of all parts of our country."
"The emperor's rain and dew must be evenly sprinkled on every piece of land and every citizen of the Ming Dynasty!"
Zhong Fan nodded and told Zhang Sian some things about the court.
Although Zhang Sian was a feudal official, he was almost the same as Zhong Fan, but one was the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry of the imperial court, and the other was the local chief envoy, so there were still differences.
Zhang Sian may work for a few more years before going to Nanjing to retire, but Zhong Fan may still become a minister or cabinet minister. Being with the emperor, the chances of promotion are much greater than in a local area.
"Liu Gong's majestic spirit and far-sightedness are really admirable."
After Zhang Si'an heard this, he also sighed in admiration.
"Yes, it's really admirable."
Zhong Fan also nodded in deep agreement. Only in this era, and personally experienced the great changes that have taken place in the Ming Dynasty over the years, can we understand Liu Jin's huge contribution to the Ming Empire.
The Ming Dynasty originally had internal and external troubles, an empty treasury, a depleted armament, and people struggling to survive. However, in less than 20 years, the Ming Dynasty has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Today's Ming Dynasty has a prosperous national power, a rich country and a strong people, strong soldiers and horses, a prosperous life for the people, and a territory of thousands of miles. All of these are inseparable from the major national policies proposed by Liu Jin.
It can be said that without Liu Jin, there would be no Ming Dynasty.
Liu Jin became the chief minister of the cabinet, and even proposed a huge infrastructure plan, building railways and highways, ports, docks, reservoirs, and dams to balance the development of various parts of the Ming Dynasty. It can be said to be a complete and comprehensive plan.
At the same time, these major things were done based on the current national conditions of the Ming Dynasty. If everything can be done well, it will be a contribution to the present and a benefit to the future.
"So, even if the project is huge, we still have to build it."
"And in fact, many brand-new construction machines have been invented here at the Beijing Mechanical College. If these construction machines are used in large quantities, it won't take long to build the Jingjiang embankment."
Zhong Fan smiled and said.
The Ministry of Industry is engaged in large-scale infrastructure construction, which naturally requires a variety of machinery, and it is also the best at using these machinery.
With the emergence of the internal combustion engine, the horsepower of the internal combustion engine is getting larger and larger, and various types of vehicles have appeared one after another. Among them are large trucks that can transport large quantities of goods, which are used to transport soil, rocks, building materials and the like very quickly and very quickly.
of convenience.
In addition, there are also construction machinery such as large forklifts and excavators newly invented by the Beijing Mechanical College, which greatly improves the efficiency of the project.
In the past, a large amount of manpower may be needed to do the project, but now a large number of these construction machinery can be used to do it. Fewer people are needed, but the efficiency has been improved a lot.