Chapter 520: Discussing the River

The purchasing power of copper coins in the Han Dynasty was not the same as that of the Song Dynasty today. Tens of billions at that time was equivalent to tens of billions today.

Just listen to Su Song say again: "But since then, the Yellow River has entered a period of peace and stability that lasts for a thousand years. Although the Yellow River bursts are still inevitable and disasters are still frequent, there have been no large-scale diversions. Until... now .”

He handed the notes he summarized to Su You: "In the first year of Jingyou's reign in the Song Dynasty, the Yellow River burst at the Henglong River in Chanzhou. The river has since left the ancient road during Wang Jing's river governance period and broke out a new river channel. This is the Henglong River Road."

"Fourteen years later, in June of the eighth year of the Qingli calendar, the Yellow River burst at Shanghuxun in Chanzhou. From then on, it left the Henglong River and passed through Damingfu, En, Ji, Shen, Ying, Yongjingjun and other prefectures, prefectures, and armies. Until Qianning's army captured the Yu River and entered the sea. This is today's Beiliu."

Chen Zhaoming's expression began to look heavy: "In the eighth year of Qingli, Jia Chang, who was out to control Hebei Province as prime minister at that time, reported to the central government and asked the central government to order the Jingdong Prefecture Army to build up the old embankment of the Yellow River, block Henglong, Shanghu and Hukou, and cut off the northward flow. Divert water to the east and restore the old course of the Yellow River. From then on, the struggle to control the river was divided into two factions, the northern faction and the eastern faction, namely the Huihe faction."

"Jia Gong wanted to flow back for three reasons: First, the Yellow River flowed north to the eighth year of Qingli, and its river course had become seriously silted up again, especially in the area above the sea mouth, so that it could no longer be dredged. Instead of investing huge amounts of manpower and financial resources, there was nothing more It is better to restore the Yellow River's old eastward flow than to make a fuss about the northern flow of hope."

Su Song said: "Secondly, from the perspective of defense against the Khitan and Liao Kingdoms, it is obvious that the Beiliu has greatly damaged Hebei's defense."

Chen Zhaoming nodded: "The Yuhe River runs through Junzhou, Hebei, and reaches Tokyo. To control all roads in Hebei, this waterway is the top priority."

"The large-scale transportation of grain, troops, money, salt, leather goods, cloth and other materials to and from Hebei mainly relies on the Yuhe River. The Yellow River takes over the Yuhe River channel and flows into the sea, which leads to the waste of water transportation and the increase in the labor of transshipment, while the frontline materials It’s becoming more and more scarce.”

Su Song said: "Not only that, the Song Dynasty set up a large number of ponds and canals from the east of Baozhou to the sea. These ponds could be used to grow rice, and they could also block the path of the Liao army's cavalry going south. In this way, there was no military power to the west of Baozhou. Worry, the Song Dynasty only needs to guard Taihang."

"However, the north flow brought a large amount of silt and filled up most of the pond, causing the swamp to turn into land. From then on, the defense holes in the north of Bianjing were opened and became useless."

Su Xiaomei said: "The third reason is that because the Yellow River has lost its original course, Cangzhou, Dizhou, Binzhou, and Qizhou, which were previously developed agricultural areas, will inevitably suffer from drought, resulting in reduced land production and a loss of eighty-nine out of ten tax revenues."

Su You frowned, and Chen Zhaoming continued: "At that time, this discussion was discussed, and there were many discussions in the court. The result was not final. In July of the second year of Huangyou, the Yellow River burst again at Guogu, Guantao County, Daming Prefecture, and in the first month of the fourth year , the Guogu breach was finally blocked, but the water potential of the Yellow River was bound to rise, so it would have to be breached again in the short term, which aroused a major discussion between the DPRK and the Central Committee on the northward flow and the return flow."

"Among the group discussions, Li Zhongchang, the director of the Qifengjing River Canal Bureau, advocated: first open the Liuta River to divert the water of the Yellow River, and then divert the Yellow River back to its original route in Shandong."

Su You knew this very well. This was the famous Liuta River backflow project during the Jiayou period.

At that time, Li Zhongchang's plan to regulate the river was strongly opposed by Hebei's transportation envoy Zhou Hang and the famous minister Ouyang Xiu.

Ouyang Xiu repeatedly argued that Li Zhongchang was talking nonsense for two main reasons.

First, it cost 16.45 million in salary and 5.83 million in civilian labor to block the Shanghu breach. But now Li Zhongchang opened the Liuta River, guaranteeing that he would only need 3 million in salary and 10,000 in civilian labor, which is the same. How can the financial and material resources required vary so much across river sections?

Second, the Yellow River is more than 200 paces wide, and the Liuta Canal is only more than 40 paces. If the Liuta River is diverted, the river channel will definitely not be able to accommodate the flow of the main Yellow River.

In order to return to the river, tens of thousands of people along the Liuta River lost their homes and land, but at most three-tenths of the water of the Yellow River could be diverted.

If the flood season comes and the water from the Yellow River pours upward from the Liuta River, the people of the five states of Qi, Bo, De, and Di along the Liuta River will all become food for fish and turtles!

However, in the end, due to political, economic and military considerations, the radical Eastern School ideas were adopted. The main culprits were Fu Bi and his predecessors who were very good to Soviet oil.

In April of the first year of Jiayou's reign, the mouth of the Shanghu Beiliu River was finally blocked, and the Yellow River water was diverted into the Liuta River.

The result was just as Ouyang Xiu had predicted, the river was too narrow and the river flowed backwards, causing a breach that night, drowning militiamen and workers, and floating away countless supplies.

Chen Zhaoming said: "In the fifth year of Jiayou's reign, the Yellow River broke through the sixth river in Weizhou and broke out a new channel. This new river was called Ergu River."

"Nowadays, the River Affairs Bureau of the Central Government has divided into two factions. Li Lizhi, the Superintendent of Water Resources, promoted the canal to Wang Ya, who believed that the eastward flow of the Yellow River was simply unrealistic and that the northward flow should be maintained."

"Song Changyan, the Prime Minister of the Capital Water Supervisor, and Cheng Fang, the internal servant of the Tuntian Du Supervisor, raised objections and advocated opening the Ergu River and using this new river to guide the river to flow eastward."

Su You was angry and stood up: "Both sides are full of nonsense! Are their claims supported by data?"

"As a river engineer, I have conducted extensive research on the water flow velocity, sediment content, sediment deposition rate, river channel height, waterline height during dry and flood periods, the amount of water that can be accommodated in various areas of the Yellow River, the daily flow rate of new river channels, and the water capacity after the completion of the project. How many years does a flood occur? Wait, wait, etc., has there been any careful survey and calculation?"

"Is there a comprehensive measurement of the conditions of each tributary of the Yellow River? Is there an accurate budget for the project? For example, how was the previous construction volume of the Liuta River calculated? Was it built according to the standard of once in many years? Why did Ouyang Is the price difference between the company and the river company so huge?"

"What is the actual situation of the Yellow River? All the people in the hall only see the benefits of backflow, and the work of the River and Drainage Department is too rough. But no one has ever done serious research, survey, or calculation, and has never proven whether the backflow is feasible or not!"

"After decades of endless disputes and repeated failures, no one has thought of an accurate measurement. It is simply a ridiculous thing in the world!"

"Since we, Shu University of Science and Technology, are involved, the first thing to do is respect the facts."

"I will write to Your Majesty tonight that in this river affairs inspection, everything will be based on actual measured data! No matter whether it flows east or north, any suggestions made by the river affairs department that cannot be supported by data will be condemned as fallacies!"

"All suggestions must be based on actual measurements; you can tell me what data you need from me."

"Any plan, no matter how big or small, must be determined to be feasible before it can be implemented."

"The budget department was established in the Zhou plan, and a professional team will be used to calculate the cost, manpower, and materials of large projects. It must be accurate to a maximum of ten words!"

"List all the expenses for me one by one. Don't be afraid of the tediousness. The new accounting method is just for them to solve the tediousness!"

"Don't give me two visits to build a mountain tomb that costs 300,000 and 500,000 guan. It only increases the burden on the local area, but it is not timely to implement the project and it is a serious waste of time!"

Su You was really angry, very angry. The Song Dynasty's administrative management, military management, and judicial management could be said to be very complete and rigorous, even to the point where they were stacked on top of each other, and the system hindered efficiency.

But only when it comes to finances, they are extremely careless.

Nowadays, local governments basically have two accounts, one for reporting to the court and one for local use.

Officials have played a hand in it, resulting in a serious disconnect between central statistics and local reality. If the local government cannot provide it when needed, as is the case in Hebei now, big trouble will happen.

There will be no relief for thousands of miles, and in the end someone will lead the hungry people to rise up. In real history, the Xixia problem decades later turned into an unfinished project because of the Fangla Uprising.
Chapter completed!