Chapter 105: Rebuilding mountains and rivers? Wonders ruining the country?

Fengyang.

"This is the current Yellow River. This is the Yellow River before Du Chong dug the Ligu River. As long as the Yellow River is still taking over the Huaihe River, we must face the long-term decline of Henan.

The Yellow River bursts again and again, leaving people in the hinterland of the Central Plains in dire straits.

The impact of floods and the coverage of sedimentation after the water receded made the entire plain, the richest in the Northern Song Dynasty, impoverished. The Yellow River water flowing into the Huaihe River caused flooding along the Huaihe River, and the sedimentation also accumulated in Hongze Lake.

, also caused the lake bottom to gradually rise and pose a serious threat to Huainan, so that Huaiyang had to rely on dikes for protection.

It can be said that Henan, Shandong, and the Huaihe River are all deeply affected by the Yellow River.

The solution is actually very simple.

Taking advantage of the fact that Hebei is now sparsely populated, we might as well find a way to guide the river water back to its northward flow.

Once and for all.”

Yang Feng promoted his big project in front of the map hanging on the wall.

Of course, it is purely a PPT project.

The purpose is actually very simple. While Zhu Yunxi is young and easy to inspire, find some ambitious goals for him, let his blood surge, and make him full of imagination about the future...

Fooling!

It’s just deception!

Through deception, he became a Chinese teacher in Zhu Yunxi's mind.

As for whether it is feasible...

In fact, it is not a pure idea.

Because from the perspective of profit, the north flow of the Yellow River is the most reasonable. The south flow has destroyed too much, and it can be said that it does no good at all. After all, the Yellow River has always flowed north since ancient times. Although there is more than one old route for the north flow, the north flow is

The general trend has not changed. The south flow is only caused by man-made things. After Du Chong dug the Yellow River, the north and the south entered into a confrontation for more than a hundred years, and no one took care of it. By the Yuan Dynasty, the capital was in the north, so it was of course impossible to redirect it back to the north.

Besides, the original ideal of the Mongols was to turn all Han lands into grasslands.

In the later period, river management was only for water transportation.

But for Ming Dynasty, it was most uninteresting for the Yellow River to flow south.

Beiliu is the right one.

Once the Yellow River resumes its northward flow, the prosperity of Western Shandong and Henan is restored, the problem of imperial tombs is solved, the flooding problem of the Huaihe River is alleviated, and the siltation problem at the outlet of Hongze Lake disappears. Irrigation main canals can even be dug, so that Huai'an, Xuzhou and other places

Prosperity is also restored.

The only problem is that the diversion process will cause havoc to the people of the new river.

but……

There's no one there now!

To restore the Yellow River in the Northern Song Dynasty is to let the Yellow River flow diagonally from Zhengzhou to Tianjin to the north. It mainly flows through Weihui Prefecture, Daming Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture. Now the combined population of these three prefectures is only a few hundred thousand. It is enough to relocate in advance.

At present, the administrative capacity of the Ming Dynasty is fully capable of completing the immigration of this area, and this diversion will definitely have to go through the Wei River. Before the diversion, we can build dikes on both sides of the Wei River in advance and make arrangements. Although it will cost some money

The cost is much higher than having to face a breach in Henan every less than two years in the future. In the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River breached twice every three years. In the later period, it burst every year. Hundreds of thousands of people were drowned at a time.

Do not care.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, all of Xuzhou was gone.

Moreover, the Yellow River is destined to flow north. Instead of waiting for the next copper-tiled carriage, it is better to divert it artificially.

You must know that if you drown in a bare copper-tiled cabin and later die from famine, it will cost tens of millions of people.

In this way, taking advantage of the current small population in the north, it is definitely more cost-effective to work hard to carry out a major project than to continue to struggle with the Yellow River for future generations.

Of course, water transportation was cut off.

Because the northern section of the Wei River is now a canal.

Once the northward flow of the Yellow River is restored, the water transport system of the Northern Song Dynasty must be rebuilt, that is, connecting the Luo River and opening Shimen to enter the Yellow River system. However, the water transport system is already cut off and is still silted up in western Shandong.

So there is no such problem.

Moreover, the maintenance cost of Beiliu river channel is extremely low.

Because the entire downstream section can be completely ignored and breached at will. This is why the Yellow River was not really entangled in the Tang and Song Dynasties until the Han Dynasty. However, the Ming and Qing Dynasties regarded river management as a top priority, requiring huge sums of money every year.

And the effect is limited. Because when the Yellow River flows north, the downstream can only breach eastward, that is, it floods towards the Bohai Bay, which is the area between the modern Yellow River and the Haihe River, and the area in the Ming Dynasty

There were not many people at all.

From the northern boundary of Shandong to the Haihe River, the entire vast land of nearly 200 kilometers from north to south and more than 100 kilometers from east to west is Yanshan County.

It's all salt-alkali flats.

Flood as you please.

Moreover, even if this river breaks to the west, it is actually a wetland water network at this time, and the entire eastern area of ​​Hejian Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty was pasture.

Bandits are rampant, water networks are densely populated, and people are sparsely populated.

Therefore, the length of the Yellow River that needs to be maintained after it flows north is almost half that of the south flow.

It can be said that apart from being shocking, this is almost the most perfect solution. It takes ten years to leave enough width on both sides of the Wei River, then build two river embankments, and then connect them to the north bank of the Yellow River, and finally solve the problem by removing the dam.

, the specific location is still in the Yangwu area. There are now one Yangwu and one Yuanwu, and the two counties are across the river. The Yuanwu burst in the 24th year of Hongwu is the current Yellow River. The Yangwu burst in the 15th year of Hongwu, so it has already

The necessary conditions for diversion are met.

"But such a huge amount of manpower and financial resources is required, especially a large number of civilians, which can be said to consume a huge amount of national power."

Zhang Xianzong said.

"Then it depends on how to operate it."

Yang Feng said with a smile.

Zhu Yunxi looked at him with obvious excitement.

Obviously the ambition in the heart of the emperor's grandson has been aroused. This is much more exciting than fighting. Artificially changing the course of the Yellow River and beautifying it can be said to be rebuilding the mountains and rivers, especially this is the original direction of the Yellow River in ancient times. Then his grandfather expelled the Tartars.

To restore China, he would directly rebuild the country.

Grand narratives always make young people excited!

“First, civilian laborers cannot be recruited, all manpower must be hired, and the wages must not be less. They must provide food, shelter, and wages, and the wages must not be less than what they can earn from farming at home in a year.

Second, all the required materials are purchased from the private sector at reasonable prices.

Third, to relocate the population, not only does the court need to pay to build houses for resettlement, provide land with cattle seeds, but also provide sufficient compensation."

Yang Feng said.

"How much does that cost?"

Zhang Xianzong said in shock.

It is said that hundreds of thousands of civil servants would have to be hired. His Majesty the Emperor even hired the government servants for free and asked him to pay for hundreds of thousands of civil servants. This is simply a fantasy.

“Isn’t money printed?

As long as we conquer Japan, obtain gold and silver mines and produce large amounts of gold and silver, money will not be a problem.

Instead we need to spend money.

At that time, how to spend money reasonably will be the problem.”

Yang Feng said.

Indeed, the most important thing at that time is not the lack of money, but how to spend the money. Based on the current situation, it is estimated that next year, the Ming Dynasty will take over the Iwami Silver Mine and Sado Island, and the silver mines in Liaodong have begun to be mined in small quantities this year.

So at most, when Zhu Yuanzhang dies, the Ming Dynasty will not be short of silver, and then the free exchange of treasure banknotes can be released. The current system is originally a temporary measure, and it is too advanced to play the national credit standard in this era.

It is destined not to last long.

His original plan for Zhu Yuanzhang was to survive the first few years and wait for large-scale mining of the Ishimi Silver Mountain and the Sado Island Gold Mountain to gradually allow free exchange.

Transfer gold and silver coins.

Free convertibility of gold and silver bimetallic.

This time period should be after Zhu Yunxi succeeded to the throne.

Zhu Yuanzhang also envisioned this, and would let his grandson loose as soon as he succeeded to the throne, in order to win over the people's support.

But after there is more gold and silver, how to convert the increased currency into economic development requires a big project. This grand project of rebuilding the country will be carried out in the form of national investment. To put it simply, Zhu Yunxi printed money and used banknotes.

Hire civilians, purchase supplies, and then allow free exchange of gold and silver coins to ensure that the treasure banknotes will not depreciate.

But the copper coin cannot be let go.

Because it is necessary to retain enough copper cannons.

The common people get wages, which increases their consumption power. The same large-scale state procurement will also lead to the rapid development of private industry and commerce...

Ming Dynasty version of Roosevelt’s New Deal.
To be continued...