"The role of forests and vegetation is very important. Forests and vegetation can lock water. When there are floods, they can store water, greatly reducing the impact of floods. When there are droughts, they can also release water, reducing the impact of floods."
Effects of Drought.”
"Simply put, it is a mediator that reduces the impact of droughts and floods."
"Once the forest and vegetation are destroyed, it means that this mediation function is lost. During floods, the water will be more violent, and the embankments will easily burst and the farmland will be submerged."
"When there is a drought, it becomes more severe because there are no vegetation and forests."
Liu Jin continued to speak, which was a bit confusing.
However, Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jian and others listened with great interest, and seemed to think about this issue based on the knowledge in their own minds.
"I have been to Shaanxi, and I have indeed seen heavy rains here in Shaanxi. As the young master said, under the heavy rains, the loess was covered with thousands of ravines, and all the soil was washed away."
Liu Jian is from Henan in the north. He has been to Shaanxi before and witnessed it with his own eyes, so he also spoke.
"The same heavy rain will hardly have any impact in the south, because there are many forests and vast vegetation in the south. No matter how heavy the rain is, it will not cause any floods. Even if there are floods, its impact can be minimized.
, naturally there won’t be any problems.”
After listening, Liu Jin nodded and continued: "This north has a long history and a large population. Whether it is daily life, building houses, building cities, wars in the past dynasties, etc., they have caused huge damage to forests and vegetation.
, of course the biggest thing is that all dynasties have encouraged reclamation of wasteland and turning mountains into fields."
"During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Guanzhong area was still the center. Until the Tang Dynasty, it was still the center. But now, the environment in the Guanzhong area has completely deteriorated, and it has gradually lost its advantage as a central area."
"The big reason for this is that the environment has been damaged and the population is constantly migrating south, to places with better environments."
After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and asked: "Don't these trees grow naturally? They should be endlessly cut down."
"How should we put this question? It takes a hundred years to grow people and ten years to grow trees. Trees, like people, require a growth process and time."
"It may take decades or even hundreds of years for a tree to grow, but it only takes half an hour to cut it down."
Liu Jin thought for a while and said, "Maybe you still can't understand it, let me think about it."
"Yes, let's take the area where the capital is located. When our dynasty was established, the mountains and forests around the capital were very lush, and there were many kinds of towering trees. Before the capital was moved, the mountains and forests around the capital were very lush.
The mountains are covered with lush trees.”
"But since the capital was moved here, the capital has become more populous, and now there are millions of people. For these millions of people, the amount of firewood they need to use every day is very huge, and they need to burn down mountains."
"Now, after more than 100 years, the tall trees in the mountains around the capital have long been cut down, and the remaining small trees are also declining at a terrifying rate. I guess it is not
It will take too long, and in more than 100 years, there will be no trees left to cut around the capital."
Liu Jin thought about everything he saw when he came to the capital. The environment in this era was still very good. Although the Beijing area in later generations worked hard to plant trees and build three-north protective forests, it was still not what it is now.
Environment, so let’s take things around the capital area as an example.
"This is indeed the case. I am in the charcoal business and I understand this very well."
When Qian Youcai, who had been silent until now, heard this, he immediately spoke and everyone looked over.
"I have been doing this charcoal business for more than 20 years. I inherited this business from my father. I remember when I was a child, when my father ran this charcoal store, the goods could be purchased near Yanjing.
, all kinds of good charcoal are available.”
"But when I got it, all the high-quality wood in the Yanjing area had been cut down. Now all the good charcoal needs to be purchased from Shanxi. Only offal charcoal can be purchased in the Yanjing area."
"The burning of charcoal consumes a lot of wood. When I went to purchase the goods, I saw that green hills were cut down to make charcoal."
"As Mr. Liu said, if the Yanjing area continues like this, it won't take even a hundred years. I estimate that in a few decades or so, all the trees in the mountains and rivers of the Yanjing area will be cut down."
Qian Youcai was a little nervous, thought for a while and said.
"Is there such a thing?"
Emperor Hongzhi, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang, Liu Jian and others immediately frowned when they heard this. They lived here every day, but they didn't notice this at all.
At first I didn’t quite believe Liu Jin’s words, but now that Qian Youcai has come forward to testify, it seems that these words are no longer false. Go back and check the information yourself, and have someone investigate to find out whether their words are true.
Fake.
"You can catch a glimpse of a leopard through a tube. This is true in the Yanjing area. The entire north has gone through a long history of development, so naturally it will not be spared."
"In addition, there are many plains in the north. The terrain is open and there are no forests or vegetation. Everything has been turned into farmland. During floods, the floods are more severe, and during droughts, the vast area stretches out."
"The population in the northern region is huge. Once a disaster occurs, huge problems will immediately arise. If disaster relief is not provided in time or is not effective enough, there will immediately be refugees and wars."
"The southern region is much better in comparison, much better. The southern region was developed late, and the damage to forest vegetation and so on is not serious. In addition, there are many mountains, rivers, lakes, relatively smaller population, and much lower density. It is very vulnerable to natural disasters.
The resistance must be strong, even if there are floods, droughts, etc., the impact will be limited, and problems have rarely occurred since ancient times."
Liu Jin looked at the others and continued.
"In fact, in the final analysis, this is the relationship between man and nature. We have asked for forests from nature, turned them into fields, and fed more people. Nature will give all this back to us. In the end, it is the people who bear all this.
We ourselves."
After listening to Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang and others, they all fell silent and thought carefully about what Liu Jin had just said. What Liu Jin said today was also the first time they heard it.
There is such an explanation for the rise and fall of dynasties.