Seeing that the wedding was approaching, Huang E became more and more shameless and ran to Wang Yuan's house every day, and his parents could not stop him.
Wang Quan and Wang Jiang were from Guizhou, so they didn’t care much about etiquette. On the contrary, the more they looked at their future daughter-in-law, the more they liked them. The main reason is that this daughter-in-law is so well-behaved. Holding the cakes she made by herself, she said “Abba” to the left and “Ama” to the right.
Treat yourself as an outsider, and you are actually very filial and virtuous.
"Mom, sister-in-law, nephew and little sister are not here. This is the gift I prepared for them." Huang E brought a bunch of things and picked out a gold lock and said, "I heard that sister-in-law is pregnant, so I asked someone to
Got a longevity lock."
"It's beautiful, it's really beautiful." Ms. Wang Jiang smiled from ear to ear.
Wang Quan sat beside him without saying a word, just having fun. He was extremely satisfied with his daughter-in-law and said that she was worthy of being an official lady. She was more considerate than ordinary women in doing things. She even thought about the child in the belly of the eldest daughter-in-law.
.
Mrs. Wang Jiang took Huang E's hand, stuffed a pair of jade bracelets over her, and said affectionately: "Mei Huang family, I originally wanted to give you this bracelet after you get married. But you, a girl, are too annoying."
, Grandma really can’t bear it, so I’ll give it to you now. These bracelets are not expensive, I hope you won’t dislike them.”
Huang E smiled so hard that his eyes turned into crescents, he held the bracelet and said, "As long as it is given by grandma, even if it is a stone, I will definitely treat it as a treasure."
"This girl is so good at talking." Mrs. Wang Jiang was extremely happy.
As for the eldest brother Wang Meng, he spends these days in the stable taking care of Ah Hei's three-month-old son.
Wang Yuan bought two mares for Ah Hei to be his wife. One of them has given birth to a pony, and the other is pregnant. Wang Meng has been obsessed with horse riding since he became a local official, and he did not come to the capital this time.
He knows how to enjoy himself. He spends the whole day tending to a few horses and rides around for a walk when he has nothing to do.
Gwutang.
Wang Yuan received the notice from the servant and immediately went out to greet the guests.
There were two guests, both over sixty years old. One was named Xia Ang, who is currently the left minister of the Ministry of Industry; the other was named Li Xing, an eunuch from the Hongzhi Dynasty.
"Mr. Mao Qi, Mr. Li, I have taken the liberty to invite you. I am really disturbing you." Wang Yuan bowed his hands in salute.
Xia Ang returned the courtesy with a smile and said: "Scholar Wang wants to control the Yellow River, which is a major matter for the country. I know very little about the management of the Yellow River, so I have to bring Mr. Li here today."
Li Xing quickly said: "I am a retired eunuch, and I dare not be treated with such honorifics by the two of you."
Before retiring, the eunuch Li Xing helped supervise numerous construction projects. This man was very capable in business and very capable of corruption. He was impeached by the official a few years ago, and Li Xing actually paid for his life with 400,000 taels of silver!
Wang Yuan took the two men out of their study and took out a lot of information and said: "Since I was appointed, I have read the historical materials on river control in this dynasty, and I have some questions that I need to ask these two gentlemen for advice."
Xia Ang said: "I have never managed the Yellow River, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to help."
Li Xing smiled and said: "Scholar Wang, the key to river management in this dynasty is only four words, which is 'sparing in the south and blocking in the north'!"
"Is it related to water transportation?" Wang Yuan asked.
Li Xing nodded and said: "Exactly. To put it bluntly, once the Yellow River bursts, it doesn't matter how many people are drowned. The most important thing is not to affect water transportation!"
Wang Yuan sighed: "I understand."
Li Xing also reminded: "Although Academician Wang is unparalleled in bravery, he must pay great attention to safety when regulating rivers. Be careful in Henan, there are people in Shandong who do unbearable things!"
Wang Yuan was speechless.
When he was ordered to regulate the Yellow River, he had to beware of local people revolting and killing people. This happened once during the Hongzhi Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty's Yellow River management plan was very unscientific. Regardless of the actual terrain direction, regardless of the conditions in the middle and upper reaches, they only built dams on the lower reaches of the river and dug the river to divert the river. Even if someone made correct suggestions, they were not accepted by the court because they were too costly.
adopted.
Li Xing pointed to the map and said: "Although the western and central parts of Henan are flooded from time to time, there is no need to pay too much attention to it. The real key to river control lies in eastern Henan and western Shandong. Every time the Yellow River bursts, it will cause water transportation
Interrupt. Build embankments to the north of the river for defense, dig the river to the south to divert it, and force the Yellow River to flow from the Huai River into the sea!"
This is the reason why the people want to kill the officials who control the river. The thoughtless blocking of the north and the dredging of the south will inevitably lead to flooding on the south bank of the Yellow River. The people on the south bank are forced to fight desperately.
Wang Yuan didn't know much about the situation of the Yellow River and asked: "Why does the course of the Yellow River always move north? In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi and the third year of Zhengde, the north bank of the Yellow River burst twice, and the river course also moved north. In the fourth year of Zhengde, the north bank of the Yellow River burst.
The breach will cause the river to move directly northward for 120 miles!"
Li Xing explained in detail: "Because there is too much sediment in the Yellow River. Since Taizong moved the capital to Beijing, water transportation has become the key to river management. Every time, it is diverted on the south bank to discharge floods. The terrain in eastern Henan and western Shandong is already flat, and the water flow of the Yellow River is not fast.
, each time it diverts to the south, causing more and more sediment to settle on the south bank, and the terrain of the south bank is naturally higher than that of the north bank."
"I understand." Wang Yuan had a headache.
In order to stabilize water transportation, the Ming Dynasty's plan to regulate the Yellow River was simply drinking poison to quench thirst.
The whole process goes like this: the terrain on the south bank is higher, and once the flood rages, the north bank will inevitably burst, and the river will move north. In order to preserve the water transportation, embankments were built on the north bank and diverted on the south bank, making it difficult for the river to move. After sedimentation,
Down below, the terrain on the south bank is getting higher and higher, and the embankments on the north bank are getting higher and higher. The Yellow River is rolling back and forth like this, often rolling for hundreds of miles!
Wang Yuan murmured to himself: "It won't work if we continue like this. If we blindly block the north and drain the south, the rivers and dams will continue to rise. If a flood occurs again in a hundred years, the land of thousands of miles in eastern Henan and western Shandong will become a marsh country."
Li Xing spread his hands and said: "Then what can be done? If Academician Wang wants to solve the problem once and for all, he must start to control the river from western and central Henan. But in this case, the amount of the project will be too large, and the imperial court will not have that much money. Besides,
, it will inevitably delay water transportation, and there are tens of millions of people in Beijing waiting for food!"
Wang Yuan had some concerns in his mind.
If you want to truly control the Yellow River, you must meet two prerequisites: first, open a maritime water transport channel to reduce Beijing's dependence on the Grand Canal; second, improve the financial situation of the imperial court, otherwise you will not be able to persuade the emperor and the Ministry of Revenue to spend money.
So difficult!
Wang Yuan took on a hot potato this time, and could only continue to play the trick of "blocking the north and opening up the south" to temporarily solve the current predicament. The people on the north bank of the Yellow River will praise him, while the people on the south bank of the Yellow River will hate him, because "
The essence of "blocking the north and dredging the south" is to divert the flood from the north bank to the south bank to overflow!
It is necessary to conduct on-site inspections and formulate appropriate plans to minimize damage to the south bank.
Oh, I have a headache.
I don’t want to think about it anymore, I’ll just get married first. The river management thing is too bad.