New Shun 1730

I was thinking about whether I should continue to add a few "loyal words" to let the emperor settle down on Huang Huai's thoughts.

However, after the emperor looked at the flowing water in silence for a while, he turned to the water conservancy official who dared to speak just now and said: "If I abandon water transportation and use sea transportation, there is no need to consider the ancestral tombs of the previous dynasty or the siltation of water transportation to control the water. , is there any way you can really make the two Huai rivers prosperous during the restoration of the Tang Dynasty? "

"There are no jokes before you. It concerns millions of people at this time, so you have to think about it carefully before talking!"

The official immediately took a step forward, knelt on the ground, took out an atlas from his sleeve, and held it up with both hands.

The attendant beside the emperor quickly picked up the album and handed it to the emperor.

The emperor took it but didn't look at it. He weighed the thickness and weight of the album, nodded and said: "Since there is an album, it seems that it has been done carefully. Can you tell me, is it possible to do it?"

The water conservancy official said seriously: "Your Majesty, the biggest problem in water control since the Ming Dynasty is that the purpose is unclear. Worrying about the ancestral mausoleum and water transportation, water control does not prioritize people's livelihood."

"Everything must have a purpose, and only then can you judge whether it was done well or not."

"I think that if the purpose is to protect the ancestral mausoleum and water transportation, then the Ming Dynasty people can be said to be first-class in water management."

"But if people's livelihood is the purpose of water control in the previous dynasty... it's hard to say."

"Nowadays, the government of Xingguo is focused on building up the navy and seizing the Southeast Asia. There is no need to consider water transportation. We can transport it by sea. In this dynasty, water control can be used for the purpose of people's livelihood."

This sounds like there is no problem. Always look at the purpose first, and only then can you evaluate whether it is done well or not.

People call it lizard painting. After Kaka painted the snake, he added four claws. This clearly shows that the painting is very good.

But the purpose is to draw a snake, and after Kaka has finished drawing, he adds four claws, which is obviously not a good drawing.

But the problem is that throughout the dynasties, when seeking to honor the sages, they cannot avoid Dayu. What was Dayu's purpose in controlling floods? At least it was neither to protect the ancestral mausoleum nor to protect the canal transportation.

Furthermore, from the perspective of Confucian ideology, does the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven, and the Celestial Empire also have the people’s livelihood as their goal?

It is almost universally accepted that you should draw a snake instead of a lizard.

Is water control that does not take people's livelihood as the primary purpose good? Or is it not cured well?

This water conservancy official was talking about the former dynasty, but in fact, everything he said was Dashun.

There is no ancestral mausoleum in Dashun, but what was the purpose of water control before Dashun? Is people's livelihood first?

Who here doesn’t know?

It's just hard to say that this dynasty is the same, there is not much difference. As far as flood control is concerned, the biggest difference is that the Li family's ancestral tomb is in Shaanxi, so we use the previous dynasty as an excuse.

Just talk about the level of siltation in Hongze Lake and the Yellow River. Do these local officials and water conservancy officials have no idea? How capable are you of raising the water level of Hongze Lake? How can you compare with the Yellow River, which can rush out a large area of ​​land?

Getting higher and higher, just to wash away the sediment from the Yellow River and prevent siltation from clogging the canal. That day, the dam collapsed due to the blast. From Huai'an to Yangzhou and Jiangdu, wasn't it all a piece of land?

The emperor didn't know that everything this official mentioned about the previous dynasty, but everything he said was about Dashun, and he had to keep his mind straight. Otherwise, it would be difficult to say what he said today.

"What you said is true. If the people's livelihood is the primary purpose of water control, how should the water be controlled?"

The water conservancy official said: "I came to Huanghuai a few years ago and visited and measured everywhere. I really can't look forward to Yu the Great, and dare not say that the Yellow River can be controlled once and for all."

"But if we can't control the Yellow River, can we also control the Huaihe River?"

"Now that the Hongze Lake is high, the water in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River flows slowly. Once it rains heavily, problems downstream will also cause floods in the upper reaches."

"Your Majesty, if there is a river with a bottomless abyss in front, the water flow in the back will naturally be fast. But if there is a lake in front of it that is almost as high as the upper reaches, the water flow will be slower. Once it rains, all the water will be accumulated in the upper reaches. They couldn’t stay, so floods occurred all over Anhui.”

Although the truth is not just that, it theoretically involves a lot of physical principles, but if you don't know the principles, you may not know the concrete manifestations of some principles.

Once this truth was explained, the emperor understood it relatively easily and nodded: "I see. Anhui has experienced frequent floods in recent years. Is it actually related to the Hongze Lake downstream?"

"You are saying that the lake is getting higher and higher, and it is difficult for the water upstream to go down. So when it rains heavily, the embankment will easily break, right?"

The official kowtowed and said, "I dare not say that this is the whole reason, but the relationship is indeed not small. The Yellow River itself is silted up, and the river course will increase every year; and once the Yellow River floods, how can it be compared to the artificially raised Hongze Lake? When the water is poured into the lake, the silt at the bottom of the lake will increase, and the lake will become higher. "

"If the water flow is not smooth, disasters will easily occur upstream."

"As for the downstream Hongze Lake... I'll be honest. From the day the previous dynasty chose water transportation and the day it chose to store the Huaihe River and wash it to prevent siltation, the disaster in the two Huaihe River areas has been hanging over our heads. But in the end, in the end, No one can say which day this disaster will strike.”

"The sediment accumulates, so the Gaojia Weir must be built; the Gaojia Weir must be built, and the water level rises; the water level rises, but it cannot rise enough for the Yellow River to discharge water, and the water flows back, and the sediment accumulates again; then the Gaojia Weir must be built... and the cycle goes on and on. One day, nothing can be done."

"It may be three to five feet above the ground, which can be controlled; but if this continues, the day will come when it is ten feet, twenty feet, or thirty feet above the ground."

"If you don't talk about the future, let's talk about how many people in southern Jiangsu will be able to survive once the embankment of Hongze Lake collapses?"

"My Dashun dynasty will last for thousands of years. We should not learn from our past mistakes. We only think that the embankment will not collapse in two or three hundred years, so there is no need to worry. Your Majesty is wise and wise. Our dynasty will last for thousands of years. We should plan for hundreds or thousands of years."

Li Gan smiled secretly in his heart, thinking that Duke Xingguo was full of wisdom and tricks. The last time he talked about worldly affairs, he felt the sorrow of the universe. He had nothing to do and had no energy anymore. How can there be anything that lasts forever?

If it is really for eternity, how can I cultivate it?

If there is a 400-year national destiny of the Yanhan Dynasty, I hope it will be enough. How dare you think about the eight hundred years of the Great Zhou Dynasty?

If the fate of the country is lost, I still remember the achievements of Taizu of this dynasty, Juntian Yibing, Taizong of our country, who protected the world and drove out the Tatars, and I controlled the Huaihe River and restored the Nanyang and Western Regions to Annan County and Korea in the future. There are stories like the "Prophecy of the Golden Sword" that set Wuhou on fire. The achievements of Xi and Bo can be passed down through the ages.

But now it is like the Sword of Damocles in that Western story. Who knows that something big will happen one day? It's fine on weekdays and can be treated, but if something like this happens when I'm going to conquer Annan, Burma, and counties in Korea, how can I make it happen?

And if I control the Huaihe River today, even if the dynasty changes, sacrifices will be made to me. Just like Yu Xia in the Yin Dynasty, wouldn't they sacrifice sacrifices to Dayu? Like the Western Qin Dynasty in the Han Dynasty, should Li Bing be worshiped?

Thinking of this, Li Gan said: "As you said, how should the Huaihe River be controlled? Listening to what you said, it seems that the Hongze Lake should be destroyed?"

The water conservancy official hurriedly said: "I dare not have such an idea. But if your Majesty uses sea transportation instead of canals in the future, then there is no need to consider storing the Huaihe River for flushing the Yellow River. This Hongze Lake has nothing to do with the canal, but only with the Huaihe River. "

"I have been surveying for several years, and all my ideas have been put into the atlas."

"I, my ministers, dare to ask for great control of the Huaihe River."

"Let half of the water from the Huaihe River flow into the sea and another fifth into the river."

"Build a river channel from Hongze Lake to the east to divert the water from Hongze Lake eastward into the sea. Since the Yellow River has seized the way from the Huaihe River to the sea, it will no longer follow the old path and cannot do so unless Hongze Lake is continuously raised."

"In this case, another waterway can be built. Firstly, it can release water, and secondly, it can also irrigate millions of farmland, turning dry land into irrigated fields, and northern Jiangsu can once again become a grain and rice warehouse."

"This is a five-point plan to enter the sea."

"The so-called five-minute entry into the river is based on the old wisdom of the predecessors. From Xuyi, we dig a river channel and make it straight to Gaoyou Lake. This allows the Huaihe River water to enter the river without all entering Hongze Lake. Add gates and adjust it in real time."

"This ancient river has existed since ancient times. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were excavations. However, there was a chaos during the half-way excavation and could not be completed. In the 29th year of Jiajing in the previous dynasty, in order to protect the ancestral mausoleum, they also prepared to excavate, but they also failed to complete the excavation. Halfway through, give up.”

"The manpower and wealth of this dynasty cannot be compared to the previous dynasty. If your Majesty really wants to solve this matter once and for all, you can do it!"

"In this way, given time, Hongze Lake will gradually disappear. How can it last long if the Huaihe River water cannot enter it?"

"When the water level of Hongze Lake drops, the water flow in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River will no longer be blocked, and the floods in the upper reaches will be greatly reduced."

"If there is a heavy rain and the Yellow River surges, the Yellow River can also be used to pour into Hongze Lake to store floods and share the danger of the river embankment."

Just saying this, the officials immediately let out a buzz. How big a project is this?

Li Gan also felt a little unspeakable in his heart, thinking: It's not very auspicious.

Digging the canal, conquering the four directions, building new schools, adding new ministries, to change it to something similar, it is opening the canal, conquering Goguryeo, opening the imperial examination, changing the official system... It's ridiculous, this looks familiar.

He quickly shook all these unwarranted associations from his mind and asked, "How much does it cost to do this?"

The official was silent for a moment and said slowly: "If we employ the method of recruiting people to work, instead of recruiting people to work like the Qin Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty, it is calculated as two taels of silver per person a month. In the first year, we need to rush to the winter." When the water is dry, it will take shape and be repaired later.”

"So, based on the earthwork that each person carries every day, 10 million taels of silver are needed in the first year. In the future, 3 million taels will be needed every year. It may take four years to achieve success. If you continue to maintain it in the future, you won't need that much every year. . But in the early stage, ironware, utensils, stones, grain, etc. will also need to be converted into money. Therefore, a total of 13 million taels of silver, rice and utensils will be needed in the next four years."

"The total amount is 25 million taels...and according to the usual practice, we have to consider corruption and embezzlement. The total is 30 million taels, which is not worthy of a civil uprising."

This amount of money is approximately the total fiscal revenue of the Dashun government for one year. On average, it's exactly one Liao rate per year, exactly five years... Pinghuai.

As soon as he finished speaking, some ministers ignored the etiquette before the emperor and exclaimed: "30 million taels? Let's ask the household government, can it collect so much money in a year? Salaries across the country have been suspended, and military pay has not been paid at all. Can’t save the famine at all?”