New Shun 1730

The emperor had prepared a way out in advance.

If the disease really cannot be cured, it would not be that the emperor did not care about the people of Huanghuai but instead cared about 30 million taels of silver, but that the plan was not thorough enough and might not be implemented.

A group of officials also heard it, and thought that whether this matter could be accomplished was another matter.

After the emperor found the way out, he told everyone to disperse.

He took only his attendants and strolled along the river bank, surrounded by armed guards, controlling the roads everywhere.

Liu Yu returned to his residence. This time, the princes and ministers who were specially appointed by the emperor to accompany him brought their families to see the scenery of Jiangnan together.

Tian Zhenyi was at the queen's place at this time. These women had to go to the queen's place to serve every day. It was estimated that it was not time yet, so she should not have returned yet.

As soon as he returned to his residence, the attendants around him came.

"Duke, His Majesty wants you to go over there, walk along the riverbank together, and look at the Yellow and Huai Rivers. He also asked you to bring paper and pen for accounts. As for what accounts, His Majesty never told me, but once I tell you, you will understand."

Liu Yu thought it was about money, so he replied, "I see. Your Majesty only summoned me?"

"Your Majesty also summoned Lord Liao. It's about the Huai River. The carriage is at the door, so you should prepare the accounts quickly and go over now."

"Yes."

Took out a box, handed it over, and someone else carried it.

All the way to the riverbank, the emperor was still staring at the water in a daze, and the water conservancy official Liao Hanhui stood a few feet behind him, not saying anything.

When Liu Yu arrived, the emperor did not immediately mention the Huai River, but sighed at the river.

"The previous Emperor Wuzong once traveled to the south of the Yangtze River. It is said that he fell into the water here and contracted a serious illness. He died after returning to Beijing."

"When Emperor Wuzong met with the Portuguese delegation, he left the interpreter Huo Zhe Ya San by his side. The Zhengde Emperor was the first emperor to understand the Latin language."

"At that time, the Portuguese had already entered Southeast Asia. It is said that Huo Zhe Ya San also saw Portuguese firearms in Malacca. Do you think that Emperor Zhengde knew that Western firearms were sharp?"

"I think that since Emperor Zhengde personally led the expedition, he must know about military affairs. Huo Zhe Ya San was able to be protected by him, so he should have said more about military affairs in order to please him."

"At that time, according to historical records, there was a patrol official who said: The Portuguese firearms were so fierce that no weapon had ever surpassed them since ancient times. It should be known, right?"

It has been more than 200 years since the Zhengde period. The past has become history. Emperor Zhengde probably fell into the water near here?

Liu Yu also looked at the river water. After hearing the emperor's question, he said, "Let alone the past, how can people guess what is going on now? If you want to praise Emperor Zhengde, you can say that he learned Portuguese for the sake of Nanyang and firearms. However, he fell into the water and got sick, so he didn't do it. It was a good thing for him."

"After all, if he didn't do it, it would make people imagine endlessly, and most of them would think about what would happen if he was alive and did it."

"When Emperor Taizong met with Tian Bing of the Jixian Society at Luoxiao Mountain, he said: The most precious thing for a person is life. This life belongs to everyone, but only once. You must hurry up and do what you need to do, because an inexplicable disease or an unexpected tragedy will interrupt your life. So a hundred years is too long, so you have to seize the day."

Although this is part of some "weird" words said by Emperor Taizong, if you really want to make trouble for Liu Yu, this can be defined as "cursing the emperor."

However, the emperor did not want to punish Liu Yu at this time. What he heard was naturally Liu Yu's advice to him, "Don't dilly-dally, take advantage of your prime, and do more things."

The emperor just smiled, looked at the surging river, and also recited a poem, only one or two sentences.

"Summer melts, rivers overflow, people may become fish and turtles. Who has ever commented on the merits and demerits of the ages?"

"In the past, Qin Wang Xianzhong died, Emperor Taizong and Lingzu went to Sichuan, saw the majestic snow-capped mountains, and wrote this poem. Today, standing at Qingjiangpu, seeing the Yellow River and Huai River, I understand the true meaning. People may become fish and turtles. Who has ever commented on the merits and demerits of the ages?"

This is also one of the few poems copied by Li Guo, but this poem has been modified. The only sentence left in the whole article that can be taken out is this one.

Compared with the original work, the modified part, just from the intention, is also quite clever.

In the first half of the poem, there is no sentence like "Three million jade dragons flew up, causing Zhou Tian to be chilled", but it has turned into some sentences of praise.

The idea is very easy to understand.

The sentence before the snow mountain refers to the Ming Dynasty: People may become fish and turtles is a praise.

It refers to the expulsion of Tartars and peace in the past, how heroic and righteous it was? When the great uprising broke out at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it melted in the summer, and even the people became fish and turtles.

The former is merit, and the latter is sin.

Who will comment on the merits and demerits of the Ming Dynasty from birth to death?

It's just that although the idea is appropriate, the writing is really bad compared to the original sentence of "Three million jade dragons", so now only this sentence recited by the emperor is widely circulated.

Although the writing is poor and not easy to spread, this idea is still appropriate when used on Dashun.

In the past, it was also expulsion of Tartars, peace in the world, and uprising soldiers, how heroic and righteous it was?

Who knows if it will also melt in the summer in the future, and people will become fish and turtles?

The current reality is even closer to fish and turtles.

The Yellow River has risen so much, and the water level of Hongze Lake has risen so high that people in northern and southern Jiangsu have made up a jingle, saying that if the dam collapses one day, Yangzhou will no longer be visible.

But controlling water is not that simple.

If it can't be cured, and it leads to the tragedy of Sanyi Huihe, it seems that it is better not to treat it. The emperor was worried that in the future he would be on par with those of Zhao and Song in terms of reputation. He was thinking of the Han, Wu and Tang sects. If he were to be on par with those of them, he might really be able to rise from the grave.

Liao Hanhui's theory of water control sounds feasible, and it definitely adheres to Yu Sheng's principle of "blocking is worse than sparing".

During the Song Dynasty, Li Chui wrote "The Book of Guiding River Shapes", adhering to the same principle - the reason why the Yellow River bursts now is mainly because the downstream river channel is not smooth to the sea. Since one river channel is not smooth, then simply dig a new one for the Yellow River in one go. Five or six rivers go out to sea, which can reduce the pressure on the old rivers going out to sea, and can also be used as water conservancy facilities and military facilities.

There seems to be no problem with the logic, and it definitely has nothing to do with Sanyi's return to the river.

Because at first glance, this theory is just to change the Tao. Otherwise, why dig so many estuaries into the sea?

In the end, Sanyi returned to the river because the Yellow River channel had burst, so he planned to control the Yellow River.

Sanyi's return to the river is actually somewhat similar to the Huanghuai plan that Kang Busao said made Liu Yu "a gentleman stay away from the kitchen". Taking advantage of the natural disaster when the Yellow River bursts, we can change the direction of the Yellow River. When the mouth is blocked, human interference will occur. We can go to Shandong instead of Jiangsu.

Liao Hanhui's plan to connect the Huaihe River is more similar to Li Chui's "Guohe Xingshengshu".

It is believed that the water of the Huaihe River is held in Hongze Lake. It is better to dig out the entrance to the sea and make the Huaihe River unobstructed. This way, the upper and middle reaches will not burst when floods occur, and water conservancy facilities can be used for irrigation.

Li Chui's ideas had a great influence at that time, but they were ultimately shelved.

To sum up the reasons, there are only two words.

No money.

Can't afford it.

Is Dashun rich?

If we only look at the taxes within the Celestial Empire, Dashun actually has no money.

One billion acres of land, plus salt tax and the like, only amounts to 30 million taels a year, which is really pitiful.

But Dashun's tax potential has been almost fully exploited. The imperial court collects 30 million taels a year. If you add up the distribution of labor and other services below, I dare not say how much it is, but there must be 120 million taels.

Landlords are not middlemen, this is class thinking.

Even if this class mentality is eliminated, subordinate local officials, who are middlemen in a pure sense of statecraft, have eaten up Dashun's tax potential.

Thirty million taels may seem like a lot, but in fact, if converted into physical taxes and accounting for the inflation due to the influx of silver, it is actually about the same as the Zhu Yuanzhang era at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, it was still a military household system at that time, and the Liang family in Dashun was considered a higher-level military household. However, the 200,000 field line soldiers and a fleet that was the largest in Asia were in the hands of the imperial court, which was also a huge expenditure.

That is to say, the expansion of overseas trade in these years has allowed the emperor to have a few coins in his hands, and only then can he dare to think about making troubles.

But the emperor's mood at this time was also quite contradictory and complicated.

He read two poems in his mouth, thinking about the merits and demerits of Qianqiu, who can comment.

The merits and demerits of this thousand years should also be viewed from two aspects.

Li Gan said himself that he was not an ostrich.

Since he is not an ostrich, Liao Hanhui made it clear: No matter what happens now, everything will continue as usual, and one day we may no longer meet in Gaoyou and Yangzhou.

It used to be possible to say, Gee, I don’t know.

Now that I have made it clear, if I don’t know, I am an ostrich.

If something happens to you as an ostrich in the future, how will future generations comment?

Going forward, Dashun was indeed incapable before. It was not until Li Gan went to fight the Rakshasa people that he began to recuperate, plow the courtyard and clean holes, immigrate to Liaodong, and stabilize the situation. Only then did he prove that these years of recuperation had slowed down.

Looking forward, in all dynasties, the time period when people are most capable of doing great things is around the century since the founding of the country.

Everything before has not completely decayed, and all the subsequent contradictions have not yet fully erupted. After a hundred years, it is hard to say whether Dashun will be in chaos.

Li Gan himself is an extremely conceited person. He feels that he is more powerful than his son. If he cannot do something, his son will definitely not be able to do it in the future.

It would be best for me to imitate Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty when he conquered Goguryeo and resolve all possible crises and disasters before his son came to power. He could not expect his son to be as good as Li Zhi.

Well, we can’t pretend to be ostriches now. If we don’t manage the Huaihe River, one day in the future, Hongze Lake will collapse and Huanghuai will be completely destroyed. How will future generations judge him?

This is the point.

Another one is, even if we have to do it, can it be done well?

After spending a lot of money, the Huaihe River was built, and half of it reached the sea and the other half reached the river.

As a result, after the repairs were completed, there was a heavy rain and it was worse than before the repairs...

How will future generations evaluate him in the future?

When the time comes to put him next to those of Zhao Song, Li Gan is really unwilling to do so.

Even a little more ruthless.

Take things like going to Yangzhou, building canals, reforming the official system, setting up new schools, and fighting in all directions.

What about Yang Guang, who insinuates that he is just lucky enough to have caught up with the age of firearms and maritime trade?

"A thousand years of meritorious service, a thousand years of meritorious service..."

The emperor looked at the river and muttered to himself.

After a long time, he suddenly asked a question that scared Liao Hanhui and the attendants around him half to death.

"The Duke of Zhou is afraid of the day of rumors, but Wang Mang is humble and does not usurp the day..."

"If I die now, how will I be evaluated in the future?"

Only Liu Yu secretly thought, well, a good political animal is not a good person, and he has suffered from the serious disease of "being a human being" again.