The Prosperous Era of Longwan

After leaving the first assistant room, Wei Guangde returned to his own room and wrote a note directly to the Ministry of Industry, asking them to re-discuss the pros and cons of the Jiaolai Canal and the Jia Canal, and at the same time make a rough estimate of the cost of the two canals.

The only thing that is separately noted is that the Jia Canal was excavated in five years, using the slack time of farming, instead of recruiting a large number of civilian workers at once to work day and night to strive for completion in the shortest time, as was the case with other river workers in the imperial court during this period.

After the note was written, Wei Guangde handed it to Lu Bu and asked him to send someone to the Ministry of Industry and deliver it directly to Shangshu Zhu Heng.

What Wei Guangde didn't know was what impact today's casual opinions and the debate with Zhang Juzheng in the room had on the historical direction of the Ming Dynasty.

Historically, since the Hongzhi period, the Yellow River has gradually burst eastward in Guide, Cao, Dan and Feng counties. Floods have flooded the Si River in Yutai and Pei counties. The transport channels have been repeatedly blocked, and the canals in southern Shandong are no longer open. .

In the third and fourth years of Longqing, Weng Dali, then the Ministry of Industry and the Chief Censor of Hedu, reported to the court three times: to open new canals to avoid yellow flooding.

"A new canal was opened south of Liangshan Mountain to avoid the dangers of Qinguo River and Zhuohe River. The recent river dangers are not in Shandong, Henan and Fengfei, but only in Xu and Pi. Therefore, we first want to open the river far away from the mouth of the Jiahe River. The long-term strategy... is to open the Bah River to avoid floods."

Not only were Weng Dali's suggestions not adopted at the time, but he was also convicted and dismissed from office for delaying water transportation.

However, since he started, it triggered a thirty-seven-year-old "Bahe Controversy".

In April of the fifth year of Longqing's reign, the Yellow River burst again in Pizhou.

At this time, Zhu Heng, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, petitioned to open the Ba River, so the court ordered the etiquette department to send Luo Zun to investigate.

After the survey, Luo Zun said that although it was convenient to open the Ba River, the construction was really difficult, and listed the "three difficulties in opening the Ba River".

Emperor Longqing read this memorial and ordered another survey.

This time, Zonghedu Yushi Wangong came back and told Zhu Heng what he saw and heard, which made Zhu Heng change his view.

He reported that "there are three difficulties in opening the river, but it is as simple as following the instructions." He also said that the Cao River is now smooth, and the embankment between Xu and Pi is high and the water is deep, so there is no need to open another river.

This report, coupled with Wan Gong's suggestions of "six difficulties in opening the river" and "permanently abandoning the strategy of opening the river", gave the imperial court the upper hand in opposing the opening of the river, and thus the excavation of the river was stopped. Give up.

Zhu Heng once again proposed the construction of the Jia Lai Canal in front of Wei Guangde. In fact, it was more practical to build the Jia Lai Canal than the Jiaolai Canal.

At the very least, the New River will be able to be used by ships after completion, unlike the Kio Lai Canal, which can only pass ships with a shallow draft due to the water volume.

In February of the third year of Wanli, Fu Xizhi, then the censor of Hedu, went to the imperial court again and mentioned the excavation of the Ba River again.

In "Kaishu", he systematically stated that the management of the Yellow River should focus on its biggest disaster, and it must be fundamentally controlled.

Fu Xizhi refuted the theory of "three difficulties" in digging the Bahe River in his book, saying that he sent special personnel for drilling, surveying and mapping to investigate the "three difficulties" one by one, and concluded that the above problems could be solved.

Fu Xizhi's memorial on the excavation of the Ba River describes the solution in detail. It is so in-depth, precise, and sensible, and it is as if it has a commanding position. It is actually a masterpiece of water control theory. This is different from the vague and vague ideas often found in some official memorials. Dogmatism and mediocrity are in sharp contrast.

It was based on practical insights and had a strong persuasive power, which could not but be admired by the then Emperor Wanli.

After Wanli saw it, he ordered the Ministry of Industry to give the matter to the Marquis Yu Zhao, and together with Fu Xizhi and Liu Guangguo, the patrol censor, jointly proposed a clear and specific proposal in return.

The battle to excavate the Bahe River seemed to have moved Emperor Wanli's heart and could become a reality.

However, after an on-site inspection, Hou Yuzhao raised some practical issues and believed that Liangcheng Fushi should be excavated first, a rich and abundant embankment should be built in advance, and then discussions could be slowly started on the excavation of the Ba River.

The Ministry of Industry in charge of this matter said in the report the same as Hou Yuzhao, "It will take a few years to open the river, and it is urgent to control the river."

Emperor Wanli was very unhappy after hearing this.

He blamed Hou Yuzhao and others for obstructing this matter, expressed doubts about his survey report, said that it was very different from Fu Xizhi's report, and accused them of being "people who cannot be relied upon to achieve great things."

But in fact, they still allowed their idea of ​​​​"regulating the Yellow River first and then opening the river", which made the discussion of opening the river come to nothing again.

At this point, the issue of "opening the Bahe River" has become a hot potato that the court cannot afford to take up and let go of. The courtiers are even more cautious about talking about it and dare not touch this topic again.

This situation lasted until the 21st year of Wanli, when the Yellow River burst through Pei County and Xuzhou again, and water transportation was blocked again.

At that time, Shu Yinglong was appointed as the Chief River Secretary. In order to vent the issue of water accumulation in Weishan Lake and Yutai and other counties, he proposed to open a canal in Hanzhuang, from Hanzhuang to the east, to divert the lake water through Penghe River.

Although the excavation of the Hanzhuang Branch Canal has not solved the problem of the canal avoiding yellow silt, it has opened the curtain on the excavation of the Ba River in a great sense.

Later, during the floods of the Yellow River in the 25th and 28th years of Wanli, the Yellow River broke through Huangquan in Xuzhou. The river course moved southward, and the river sections below Xuzhou and Luliang almost stopped flowing.

By this time, the excavation of the Jia Canal had changed from consideration to necessity, and the ministers of the DPRK and China began to support this proposal.

Under the leadership of Liu Dongxing, the river channel was widened and deepened based on the original Hanzhuang branch canal excavated by Shu Yinglong.

Liu Dongxing overcame various difficulties and finally opened the Bahe River in the 29th year of Wanli.

They also opened a river forty-five miles north of Hanzhuang to the east of the lake in order to haul ships and avoid the risks of sailing in the lake.

Although the Yahe River has been initially opened, it is not yet open to traffic and can only be used by small boats: "The river is still shallow, with water ranging from two to three feet. The grain ships in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huguang are heavy and difficult to navigate."

In the 31st year of Wanli, Li Hualong, who was then the Minister of General River, once again proposed to open the Yahe River for transportation, and published "Please open the Yahe River to dredge the old roads" in the first month of the following year, in which he proposed the "Six Good Things" of opening the Yahe River. , "Two No Doubts" theory, which more comprehensively explained the necessity and benefits of opening up transportation and avoiding Huang. It was specific and realistic, and won the approval of Emperor Wanli.

The imperial edict ordered that we immediately concentrate our efforts to start construction and make long-term plans for the water transportation plan.

Li Hualong followed the old traces, starting from Lijiakou in the south of Xia Town, eastward through Zhongkou, gradually turning southeast to Xishan Mountain, turning eastward at Hanzhuang, turning southeast through Taierzhuang, and ending at the mouth of Zhihe River in Pi County, where it entered the Yellow River. The total length is 260 miles, collectively known as The Jia River was opened to navigation in May of the 32nd year of Wanli.

At this point, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal that would be seen in later generations was completely determined. Until the founding of New China, the canal still maintained its current course and never changed.

In fact, the opening of the Jia Canal basically solved the obstacles to water transportation caused by flooding in the Yellow River. According to the evaluation of Jin Pu, a river management expert and river governor in the Qing Dynasty: "There are many achievements in river management in the Ming Dynasty. There is no better way to avoid the Yellow River." The danger is also the benefit of the spring lake."

Looking at the Ming Dynasty's efforts to regulate rivers and protect transportation in southern Shandong, the court ministers formed two factions in their opinions: the "borrowing the Yellow River for transportation" and the "avoiding the Yellow River transportation" groups.

The ideas of the "avoiding yellow luck" faction have become clearer from the discussions of Weng Dali, Fu Xizhi, Shu Yinglong, Liu Dongxing, Li Hualong and others.

The Zhuhuang faction was represented by Pan Jixun, Wan Gong, Chang Jujing, etc. They believed that the fundamental problem at that time was the Yellow River. As long as they concentrated their efforts to heal the Yellow River, they could not only free the people from the Yellow Disaster, but also benefit from the Yellow River.

During the Wanli period, Pan Jixun began to experiment with water-reinforcement methods to attack sand. The successful experience in regulating the Xuhuai Yellow River proved that the problem of siltation of the Yellow River can be solved without having to disperse efforts to open a new river.

In the "Bahe Discussion", the Zhuhuang faction represented by Pan Jixun opposed the opening of the Bahe River.

After the opening of the Yahe River, they believed that the excavation of the Yahe River was unsuccessful and seriously delayed the management of the Yellow River.

Although after the Yahe River was established, it was often shallow and submerged. In summer and autumn, it was hit by flash floods from the Yihe River, Wuhe River and Jinghe River, resulting in a large amount of siltation.

The new canal of the Yahe River was continuously expanded and dredged in the late Ming Dynasty, and its construction was continuously improved.

By the Qing Dynasty, the results of the excavation of the Ba River were fully accepted and used as the main channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. The old transport channel was completely abandoned.

Now, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, river politics had undergone significant changes. Under Wei Guangde's insistence, the Jia Canal avoided the debate that lasted for twenty years and directly entered the Ming court's field of vision.

That night, Zhu Heng arrived at Wei Guangde's residence. Naturally, he came to ask what the cabinet meant.

"I have thought about it. Instead of trying the Jiaolai Canal again, it is better to dig a new canal to avoid the danger of the Yellow River."

Wei Guangde explained his reasons to Zhu Heng, "In Zhang Juzheng's heart, water transportation is still far more important than sea transportation. I don't have as much say in the cabinet as he does, so I can only settle for the second best.

It would be beneficial to the court to support the excavation of the Jia Canal and keep water transportation flowing.

The start of the Jia Canal construction does not mean that the Yellow River will not be controlled. In my opinion, the Yellow River still needs to be controlled, but this time it is just water control and has nothing to do with ensuring transportation. I think the responsibility for those who control the water will be smaller. "

"Five years?"

When Zhu Heng asked, Wei Guangde gave an affirmative answer.

“The project is huge and requires stability. The first year is mainly to reconfirm the possibility of opening the river.

You said before that there are some problems that need to be solved urgently, and the Ministry of Industry will convene experts in hydraulic engineering to discuss and solve them.

When it is time to build embankments, when it is time to cut rocks, the preparation work must be completed.

The surrounding water systems must be investigated in detail, and water diversion must be planned in detail, so that the amount of water must not affect boating."

Wei Guangde explained all his considerations to Zhu Heng, and finally said: "In recent years, water transportation has been frequently interrupted due to flooding in the Yellow River. I hope that after the completion of the Jia Canal, water transportation can continue to be smooth.

It's just that when the Yellow River is crossing, it is acceptable to stay for a few days, but it is absolutely unacceptable if the navigation is interrupted because of this. "

After hearing this, Zhu Heng thought for a while and then said: "In that case, I will take the time to go there myself and lead someone to conduct an on-the-spot investigation first."

"Don't you know what's going on?"

Wei Guangde laughed when he heard this.

"Since the completion of the new canal in the 45th year of Jiajing, I have never been there. I have never seen it with my own eyes, and I dare not pat my chest and say it can be done."

Zhu Heng smiled bitterly.

He finally understood that whether the Jia Canal was feasible or not seemed to involve a private battle between Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng.

Wei Guangde did not want to lose to Zhang Juzheng, but the condition was that Jia Canal was feasible.

Otherwise, if there is any dispute between Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde regarding government affairs in the future, what happened today may become the reason for Zhang Juzheng to attack Wei Guangde.

That is to learn from past mistakes. You Wei Guangde opposes his opinion, but your method will not work and is no better than Zhang Juzheng's method.

So on the next day, Zhu Heng reported to the Ministry of Industry that he wanted to go to South Zhili to conduct on-site inspection of the direction of the Jia Canal.

When the memorial arrived at the cabinet, Wei Guangde quickly approved it, and then sent it to the palace to approve it.

Half a month later, Wei Guangde took another day off and went to Tongzhou Pier to pick up his wife and children.

Wei Guangde and his wife have not seen each other for a year since Wei Guangde rushed back to the capital in the sixth year of Longqing's reign.

He took the two children on the carriage back to the capital, recounting the past years along the way, and arrived at the door of his house before he knew it.

The next day when I returned to the cabinet to run errands, I received an official document from the Ministry of War.

Last time Qi Jiguang's battle report only talked about the results of the battle, but did not report the entire battle in detail, but this time the official document was more detailed. It not only told the battle, but also finally reported that Dong Hu, the leader of the Duoyan tribe, led more than 200 people in his tribe. Knock on the gate and ask for surrender, and ask the court to decide how to deal with it.

That is, in the spring of the first year of Wanli, Dong Hu personally led his nephew Chang'ang to gather almost all the family assets of the Duoyan tribe. After tens of thousands of tribesmen harassed Jizhen to no avail, when the autumn was high and the horses were fat, his younger brother Dong Changtu once again led his tribe to Raobian.

The Duoyan tribe first used the pretext of "inviting rewards" outside Xifengkou and burned, killed and looted the surrounding areas in an attempt to lure the Ming army out of the fortress.

But they obviously underestimated the combat power of the Ming army. After hearing the news, Qi Jiguang immediately sent troops and severely damaged the Duoyan outpost outside Xifengkou.

When the plan failed, Duoyan's tribe simply attacked Dongjiashan Fortress with heavy troops. This time Qi Jiguang also concentrated heavy troops and ordered the Dongjiashan defenders to take the initiative to attack. He also asked the northern Yumu Fortress defenders to attack from the rear and fight head-on with Duoyan's cavalry. A wild battle.

The Ming army first used chariots to block the Mongolian cavalry, and then bombarded them with artillery. The Duoyan cavalry was in chaos under the Ming army's artillery fire. The Ming army infantry took advantage of the situation to charge, and the cavalry flanked them, quickly disrupting the Mongolian cavalry formation.

The "draw out and fight" that the Duoyan tribe painstakingly planned soon turned into a collapse and massacre. The Ming army pursued them for more than 150 miles, not only severely damaging the enemy, but also capturing Dong Changtu, the leader of the Duoyan tribe, alive.

Dong Hu took the initiative to surrender, but was actually subdued by the fierce artillery fire of the Ming army.

You know, Qi Jiguang's victory this time was a hard-fought field battle. In the hearts of the Mongols, they were invincible in field battles.

But this time they kicked Qi Jiguang's iron block, directly used the car camp to fight head-on, and used the tactics of cavalry to chase and kill, making the Duoyan tribe know that there was no chance of winning against the Ming army.

Without the confidence to fight, naturally there is only one way to surrender.

However, perhaps because they had more dealings with Ming people, they asked for surrender and at the same time requested the restoration of tribute.

It was a battle report before, so it didn't matter whether it was sent early or late, but this time the situation was different when asking for surrender and sealing. Wei Guangde immediately went to see Zhang Juzheng with the memorial to the Ministry of War.

"What do you think of Shandai?"

Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant on duty, asked after reading the report.

"Datong has recognized it. If they refuse what they ask for, it will inevitably make the Mongolian tribes give up and fight with the imperial court to the end."

Wei Guangde smiled bitterly.

Zhang Juzheng knew that Wei Guangde's attitude was the same as his, so he nodded and said: "Then just follow Duoyan's old routine." (End of Chapter)