The Song Army was so capable of beating... Ali Gu recalled the time when his adoptive father was beaten by the Song Army and fled everywhere.

He knew he had to find allies.

who?

The Dangxiang people were no longer reliable, so they had no choice but to look for the Liao people behind the Uighurs.

So Ali Gu sent the Song envoy away, and immediately sent people to bypass the Uighur territory in the Western Regions and head to the Liao Kingdom.

He hoped to be canonized and supported by the Liao Kingdom.

…

Amidst the turmoil of Xixia and Qingtang, the leaves in Bianjing City have turned yellow.

The autumn wind blew in the imperial garden, and fallen leaves fell on the garden paths.

It is already the 18th month of September in the eighth year of Yuanfeng.

Zhao Xu was sitting in the pavilion, with a soft and warm fur pad under his buttocks. As for his clothes, he changed into thicker clothes that were more insulating.

Song Yongchen came to him and bowed: "Everyone, I am back!"

Zhao Xu put down the book in his hand and said to Song Yongchen: "Song Xuanzheng has worked hard all the way..."

"Don't dare!"

"Tell me, what are the results of this exploration of the east flow channel?"

Song Yongchen replied: "Your Majesty, I have been ordered to investigate the sedimentation situation in the east flow channel..."

"The areas where the east-flowing rivers are seriously silted have been roughly drawn on the map..."

Then he handed a rolled-up piece of Yuan Shu paper into his hand.

Zhao Xu asked Feng Jing to take it, took it in his hand and looked at it carefully, and then sighed: "Is the siltation of the east flow channel so serious already?"

Song Yongchen nodded: "The nature of this water is..."

Zhao Xu breathed out: "Yes, water is the nature of it!"

Then, he looked at Song Yongchen and asked: "If we hire civilians to clear the silt every winter, can it be alleviated?"

Song Yongchen shook his head: "The east stream flows through several states. If it is dredged... the project will be too big and cost too much... and if it is dredged this year, it will be silted again next year..."

Zhao Xu nodded, he also knew that this was the case, but apart from that, with today's technical conditions, he could only choose projects with a larger amount of work and more cost, and these projects were not feasible for the time being.

This is one of the reasons why Zhao Xu wanted to promote the gold rush.

Cheap young labor is in short supply at all times.

As long as the gold rush in Denglai can be like that during the Jingyou years, hundreds of thousands of young people will gather on Jingdong Road.

So, not only the labor force for mining is readily available.

Even the labor force for digging rivers and dredging is readily available.

There is no need to levy or hire people on Jingdong Road, and it will not destroy the fragile small-scale peasant economy.

It's such a waste of money.

Zhao Xu sighed a few times and said to Song Yongchen: "For the current plan, we can only clear the silt first and then think of other solutions..."

Song Yongchen bowed again and said: "Actually... there is a way..."

"Liangshan Bo..."

When Zhao Xu heard this, he knew what Song Yongchen was talking about and immediately shook his head: "It's too difficult!"

Zhao Xu knew clearly that Song Yongchen was referring to a plan proposed by Wang Anshi during the Xining period.

First seal Liangshan Park, build an embankment downstream, and then dig a canal to connect Liangshan Park to the Yellow River.

This canal is normally open to navigation and used for flood discharge during floods.

Directing the floodwater into Liangshan Lake kills two birds with one stone.

It can not only discharge floods, but also allow the Yellow River water containing sediment to naturally accumulate in Shuibo Liangshan, continuously creating fertile farmland.

This plan was proposed by Wang Anshi who was inspired by Liu Xun.

At that time, someone suggested to Wang Anshi that if all the water could be drained out of the 800 miles of swamps in Liangshan Mountain, then 800 miles of fertile farmland could be obtained.

Wang Anshi was very excited and told Liu Xun about this idea, and then asked Liu Xun: "Where can the water in Liangshan Po be accommodated?"

Liu Tong replied: "Just dig another 800-mile lake next to it!"

Wang Anshi was awakened by this sentence and stopped laughing.

But later, Wang Anshi had a sudden idea.

Since there is no place to drain the water in Liangshanbo, then I can divert the water from the Yellow River to silt it up, right?

Then, calculate the project quantities...

The ruling and opposition parties were speechless for a long time. This is the amount of work required to build a new Grand Canal!

Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had learned from the past. Who would dare to launch such a super project again?

But no one wants to be praised for saying, "Gong and Dayu are not considered to have much merit."

Zhao Xu looked at Song Yongchen and asked: "Can we divert water from several Qingshui Rivers to wash away the key siltation river sections like Luo Qingbian?"

Song Yongchen shook his head: "If this is the case, it is better to divert the Yellow River water into Liangshan..."

"And the Yellow River is no better than the Bian River. There is no river stronger than the Yellow River... You can divert the river into the Yellow River at will. During the flood season, the Yellow River water will flow backward..."

Zhao Xu was stunned, and when he thought about it carefully, it was indeed the case.

"What about using narrow river wooden banks?" Zhao Xu asked.

"This is feasible..." Song Yongchen said: "It's just that the east flow channel is not wide. If you use the narrow river, the water channel will be even narrower..."

"Once the flood season comes, I'm afraid everything will be washed away..."

Zhao Xu let out a sigh of relief.

He knew that he could only take his time.

Then he said to Song Yongchen: "I would like to use you as the capital to appoint an ambassador for the dredging of the Dongliu Road..."

"Let's clean up the river sections with the most severe siltation first...and then set up some narrow river wooden banks to stabilize the river channel...it can delay the age of one year..."

After seeing Song Yongchen off, Zhao Xu rubbed his temples.

Then he let out a slight breath.

Of course he knew that in the Ming and Qing dynasties, water beams were used to control sand and rivers.

But now, the technology is not mature and the conditions are not available.

Confining water to attack sand requires building large dams!

In addition, it is also necessary to store a large amount of water and build artificial reservoirs along the lower reaches of the Yellow River, especially in the areas where the east flow channel and the north flow channel pass.

The principle is the same as Song Yongchen's guide to Luo Qingbian and Zhahe Mu'an.

The power of the clear water itself is used to wash away the silted part of the Yellow River bed, and the power of the river channel is also used to accelerate the water flow.

However, this also treats the symptoms rather than the root cause.

Because the amount of sand coming from the upstream and midstream determines everything.

"Let's wait a moment..."

"Wait until Shen Kuo comes up with cement or something, and then slowly experiment..."

"It's still too late!" Zhao Xu murmured to himself.

The next big flood will have to wait until the second year of Yuanfu, which will be more than ten years later.

Maybe, by then, the Western Bandits have been exterminated and the upper reaches of the Yellow River are under control. Then we can plant trees to reduce sediment from the source, thus minimizing flooding downstream!

Wouldn't this be better than the current massive construction projects?

Zhao Xu remembered that in order to control the river, the Yuan Dynasty did something like "the stone man with one eye can instigate rebellion in the Yellow River".

so……

"It's more cost-effective to kill the Western thieves!"

Note: I forgot where I read about Wang Anshi’s attempt to divert the Yellow River water into Liangshan Mountain. I searched for it for a long time and couldn’t find it. I only remember that it was information I saw on the Internet several years ago, and my impression is very vague. So it is possible.

There are errors, maybe even my own memory confusion.

Let’s use it!
Chapter completed!