"Zhiyuan, if you want cotton cloth or cotton yarn, Lao Zhang, I have plenty, but this matter..."

"Zhi Weng, this matter really needs you, the president of the Huaihe Bureau, to come forward, otherwise it's really hard to change someone else."

Seeing Li Zicheng mentioning the president of the Water Management Bureau, Zhang Jian was stunned. How could it be related to this? Last year, he called on the government to set up the Water Management Bureau and appointed him as the president. In the past year, he continued to use

Due to his personal social prestige, he has repeatedly proposed plans for diversion of the Huaihe River, called on the government to allocate funds for diversion of the Huaihe River, and established the Jianghuai Water Conservancy Survey Bureau to measure the true height, water level, and flow of the Huaihe River system in Jiangsu, Anhui and other provinces to prepare for the diversion of the Huaihe River.

But what does this Huaihe Bureau have to do with Lianyungang’s transportation capacity? Zhang Jian’s surprise was unexpected by Li Zicheng.

"Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal"

Chapter 202 The Heart of Two People (please vote for me!)

"Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal"

When he uttered these five words, Li Zicheng smiled and looked at Zhang Jizhi, who was standing there with a look of surprise on his face.

In fact, from the beginning, after choosing Maanshan Iron Mine and Lujiang Iron Mine as the main sources of iron ore for Lianyungang Iron and Steel Company, I began to think about how to solve the transportation problem of millions of tons of iron ore a year. Now the railway transportation capacity is limited, and the same

The transshipment capacity of the terminal is also very limited. Unless you build a special ore transport terminal for the steel plant, these 7 million tons of iron ore will occupy most of the unloading capacity of the Lianyungang terminal.

Even with the increase in the production capacity of Lianyungang Iron and Steel Company, the transportation of the railway from Lieshan to Lianyungang will be restricted. The transportation of almost 6 million tons of coal a year will occupy the railway transportation capacity. There are many such problems, and even the fresh water of Lianyungang

It may become a big problem in the future.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the fundamental solution to this series of problems.

"Zhiyuan, you mean to let the iron ore go through the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal waterway instead of the sea route, and then from Xuzhou..."

After only half of what he said, Zhang Jian opened his mouth and stopped talking. He understood what Li Zicheng meant.

"Zhiweng, since the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal was built in the Sui Dynasty, it has always been an important water transportation route in the past dynasties, playing a major role in the economic and cultural exchanges between the north and the south. Since the opening of the country's gate half a century ago, maritime transportation has risen, and recently with the Tianjin-Puzhou Railway

After it was opened to traffic, the role of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal has gradually diminished. Now there are only some small wooden sailing boats sailing in the canal. It can be said that the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal has now fallen into depression, which will inevitably lead to its abandonment. However, this grand canal was left to us by our ancestors.

A great wealth, if used properly, this is a golden waterway that is not inferior to the Yangtze River."

Golden waterway, no one knows the value of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in later generations better than Li Zicheng. Convenient waterway transportation is the flow of wealth. For inland areas, whether it is highway or railway, it is far less convenient than waterway. In

In China a hundred years later, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is a golden waterway second only to the Yangtze River in China. Although it is limited by narrow locks and long ports, its transport capacity still reaches hundreds of millions of tons.

In this era, if the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is properly utilized, the northern Jiangsu section alone is far beyond what one or several railways can match. Not only is its transportation potential of nearly 200 million tons a year, but most importantly, its

Cheap shipping costs and virtually no skills required to sail the boat.

"But the Beijing-Hangzhou Universiade has nothing to do with the Huaihua Bureau..."

When Zhang Jian said this, Li Zicheng laughed loudly.

"Weng Zhi, what if we use transportation to support the Huai River?"

Almost as soon as he entered the office, Zhang Jian asked Li Zicheng anxiously,

"Come on, Zhiyuan, hurry up and tell me your plan."

No wonder Zhang Jian is so eager. For him, his hometown is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River Delta. It is connected to the siltation plain of the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers in the north. It has long been threatened by floods, seawater intrusion and typhoons. The ideal of governing the Huaihe River and the river has been ingrained in his heart since he was a child.

Gen, when he was 35 years old, he went to Sun Yun Jinmu, the prefect of Kaifeng. It happened that the Yellow River in Zhengzhou burst its banks and rushed into the Huaihe River. Later, after the Yellow River moved north, the Huaihe River system was damaged, the channel into the sea was blocked, and the rise of the Yellow River was abandoned.

, blocking the main stream of the Huaihe River and the Yishusi tributaries, and making it difficult to enter the river. Every summer and autumn, floods flow across the tail end of the Huaihe River, causing endless suffering to the people downstream. Faced with such a grim reality, opening up the Huaihe River into the sea channel, especially

urgent.

That is to say, from that time on, he first published the "Proposal on dredging the Huai River into the sea" and then wrote "Please speed up the dredging of the Huai River". In the late Qing Dynasty, the Jiangsu Provincial Advisory Bureau was established, and Zhang Jian was elected as the speaker. The first policy passed by the Advisory Bureau was

The proposal was the one proposed by Zhang Jian and others to regulate the Huaihe River. The Jianghuai Water Conservancy Company was established under the Advisory Bureau and the proposal was submitted to Zhang Renjun, the governor of Liangjiang. However, the governor did not take it seriously. He did not live on both sides of the Huaihe River.

How can you think of the troubles that pass through the Huaihe River?

Last year, Yuan Shikai's government established the National Water Conservancy Bureau in Peiping, and he served as president concurrently, in charge of national water conservancy construction. Soon he issued the "Declaration of the Huaihe River Control Plan", "Outline of the Huaihe River Control Plan", etc., guiding the Huaihe River and controlling the Huai River can be said to be

It was Zhang Jian's dream, but whether it was a dream or a wish, the most important thing in managing the Huaihe River was money. Without money, nothing could be done. Before coming to Lianyungang, Zhang Jian was still discussing the loan for the project with the U.S. Ambassador to China, Ray Enshi.

.

"...the number of people living in the Huaihe River exceeds 80 million. If dredging is successful, people's livelihood problems can be solved. Historical observation shows that many disputes have arisen due to the insecurity of the people in the Huaihe River Basin..."

Pointing to the map, Li Zicheng drew a large circle along the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River, including the entire northern Anhui, southern Henan, northern Jiangsu and even parts of Shandong.

"Let's put it this way, the emperor came out of the Huai River Basin. If we don't control the water seriously, there will be either drought or waterlogging every year, and it will be impossible to consolidate any political power. Therefore, if China wants to be stable, it must control the Huai River. It can be said that controlling the Huai River is better than controlling the water.

The Yellow River is still important. To control the Yellow River, build dams and ensure that the Yellow River does not burst its banks, even if it is more than half of the river, the Huaihe River is different. If the Huaihe River does not enter the sea, tens of millions of people will have to flee every year to beg for food. This is a mess, so the Huaihe River is opened to the sea.

Waterways are particularly urgent, and it is urgent to regulate the Huaihe River.”

At this time, Zhang Jian just kept nodding his head. Li Zicheng's words were in his heart. If the Huaihe River cannot be cured, there will definitely be a big mess. However, when he said these words, Li Zicheng felt a little bit in his heart.

Selfishly, after all, he himself grew up drinking water from the Huaihe River.

"The simplest and most effective way to control the Huaihe River is to divert the Huaihe River into the sea. As long as 70% of the Huaihe River enters the sea, not to mention the full flow into the sea, the two sides of the Huaihe River will be restored to the land of plenty that they once were.

Everyone knows this truth.”

All understand

While nodding, Zhang Jian showed a bitter look on his face. Everyone understood this truth. The reason was very simple, just to find a way out for the floods in the Huaihe River. Even a hundred years ago, people understood this truth, but the problem...

“But the problem is money”

While talking, Li Zicheng excitedly took out a stack of banknotes in his wallet. These were banknotes recently issued by Huaihai Industrial Savings Bank. They were printed by an American company. Now the company has used "Huaihai banknotes" to pay employees' wages.

and circulate along the railway.

When Zhang Jian was mentioned with money, he looked troubled, and then looked at Li Zicheng expectantly. He mentioned before the blast furnace that "the Huai River is nourished by transportation", although he didn't go into details, but it really moved his heart.

"The project of diverting the Huai River to the sea is far more expensive than you and I imagine. Excavation of over 100 million yuan, or even more, will cost at least 40 to 50 million yuan. Where does this money come from? Borrowing money, who will borrow it?

There is no immediate profit to be gained from this project..."

Li Zicheng could not help but show a hint of ridicule on his face as he was trying to divert the Huai River into the sea. He had been trying to divert the Huai River into the sea for decades, but a hundred years later, he still had not succeeded. The problem was all about money. No one was willing to spend this huge sum of money at once.

With the money, even if there is any project to enter the sea later, it is just a "shrink and shrink again" version. The flood in my hometown once every three years is not waterlogging. What if the flood from the Huai River flows into the sea somewhere?

meeting……

"Well, Zhiyuan, the Americans have always been very interested in regulating the Huaihe River. Moreover, the United States sent experts to inspect the Huaihe River as early as two years ago. The loan for the control of the Huaihe River has also been signed. However, the money is easy to borrow. The problem is how to repay it...

…”

Can Rui Enshi get money? Red Cross money?

This actually made Li Zicheng stunned and happy at the same time. He really didn't expect this.

"Yeah, how do you pay back the money?"

After asking the question, and without waiting for Zhang Jian to answer, Li Zicheng leaned over and pointed at the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

"So, if you want to pay back the money, you have to make a fuss about the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal,"

"Zhiyuan, come here and tell us in detail..."

Zhang Jian quickly followed and leaned over to look at the map. He even took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the table and handed it to Li Zicheng's hand. He was all flattering, even flattering and flattering. Managing Huaihe River was the biggest priority in his heart.

This is a completely unintentional move.

"The key issue is to bring the role of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal into full play,"

Li Zicheng lit the cigarette, took a puff, and then looked at the Grand Canal on the map.

"Zhiweng, you know that since the grain shipping, the Grand Canal has declined, but the river channel is still there. When Liuhe was developing the Huoqiu Iron Mine, 100-ton and 200-ton iron-hulled ships were still running on the canal.

Well, the reason why our river transportation in China is several times more expensive than sea transportation is because we use wooden sailing ships with small transportation capacity and high cost. But if we switch to motor ships, the freight is not much higher than that of sea transportation, and the risk is lower. Beautiful.

In countries such as Germany, railways and shipping are far more developed than in our country. Ten years ago, they still had to build canals, and the cost of river transportation was much lower than that of railways. The canals of countries such as Germany and the United States can accommodate large ships, but the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal can only be built for small boats of 100 tons.

If some sections of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal are widened and deepened, the bends are cut and straightened, many modern docks and locks are built along the river banks, and 500-ton or even 1,000-ton motorized steel ships are built, then the cost of river transportation will never be greater than that of sea transportation. By then, the golden waterway will be

It can happen naturally”

"Then...what does it have to do with the Huaihe River?"

Zhang Jian seemed a little confused. Is this the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal or the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal?

"It doesn't matter if two rivers are two rivers, but what if two rivers are one river?"

Li Zicheng stood up straight and looked at Zhang Jian.

"Wending and deepening the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and building new types of ship boxes and docks are a systematic project. Naturally, they cannot be handled by the local government. They need to be handled by an agency similar to the Railway Bureau. Ships traveling on the canal naturally need to collect transportation management fees.

, to load goods at the pier, you also need to pay berthing fees. Our Liuhe company alone needs to pay millions of yuan a year. Plus the income from the pier, ship licenses, etc., the northern Jiangsu section alone can collect tens of millions a year.

It’s a lot of money. If 60 yuan is used for the Huaihe River diversion project and Huaihe River management, there is no need to raise additional funds..."

Li Zicheng no longer needs to explain the rest. In fact, this problem is very simple. It is nothing more than watershed management. The economic benefits generated by the entire river basin are used to subsidize river management expenditures. More than 20 years later, the Tennessee River Basin was managed in the United States.

However, the management of the Tennessee Valley relied on electricity, followed by river transportation. But for the Grand Canal and the Huaihe River, all that was needed was transportation, and transportation alone was enough to meet the needs of regulating the Huaihe River.

In this era, the external environment was very poor and no one could do it. In later generations, the conditions were suitable, but river transportation was nothing more than a revenue generator for local governments. Who cares about the Huaihe River? Who cares about the governance of the entire river basin?

The proceeds from the shipping of the Grand Canal were used to supplement the Huaihe River and form the water network transportation of the Grand Canal and the Huaihe River Basin. Unintentionally, Li Zicheng's simple description opened a door for Zhang Jian, a door that he had never thought of.

"...the load capacity of inland river steel ships can be 500 tons or thousands of tons. They can be used as barges to tow dozens of steel ships with a load capacity of up to several thousand tons. After arriving in Xuzhou, the iron ore will be unloaded and transferred to loading.

Coal and grain are transported to various places in the south of the Yangtze River. The Huaihe River and the Grand Canal can form a complete transportation network, which can link Anhui, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and other provinces in the south of the Yangtze River."
To be continued...