prosperous age

Looking at the vermilion brick wall in front of him, Wei Guangde followed the officials of Huai'an Prefecture and walked into the ancestral mausoleum.

The Ming Ancestral Mausoleum is a cenotaph for three generations of Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestors: his great-great-grandfather Zhu Bailiu, his great-great-grandfather Zhu Sijiu, and his grandfather Zhu Chuyi. It is also said to be the actual burial place of his grandfather.

Located in Mingling Village, Huaihe Town, Xuyi County, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, the Ming Ancestral Mausoleum is bordered by Hongze Lake to the east and the Ningsuxu Expressway to the south. It is about 10 kilometers away from Xuyi County. The total area of ​​the mausoleum area is about 73 hectares and it was first built in the 18th year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty.

After the completion of the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum, Zhu Yuanzhang issued a sacrificial order, stipulating the sacrificial procedures for the emperor, members of the imperial family, and officials.

In addition to local officials being required to regularly worship at the ancestral tombs, passing officials are also required to enter and pay their respects.

Of course, one can avoid it by taking a detour, and many officials do choose this method, taking a detour of several dozen miles to avoid going there.

Wei Guangde boarded a ship in Nanjing and traveled north to Huai'an Prefecture, where he disembarked and, together with Pan Jixun, the Governor-General of the River Transport, and the Prefect of Huai'an, went to the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum to pay homage.

It wasn't that he was deliberately trying to show off; the main purpose of this trip was to understand the biggest obstacle to flood control in the Yellow and Huai River basins—the Huangzu Mausoleum.

Starting from here to Hongze Lake and then looking at the Yellow River will give you a more direct impression.

Although the Ministry of Industry has a miniature model, it is ultimately not realistic enough.

The Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum continues the traditional Chinese imperial mausoleum construction. The main buildings of the Ming Ancestral Mausoleum include the Xuan Palace, the Offering Hall, the Dressing Hall, the Golden Gate, the Corner Gate, the Red Gate, the Lingxing Gate, the Inner Imperial Bridge, the Golden Water River, the Slaughter Hall, the Well Pavilion, the Divine Kitchen, the Divine Storehouse, the Burning Furnace, the Sacrificial Shrine, and the stone statues in front of the mausoleum.

The Ming Ancestral Mausoleum has three walls. The outermost wall is an earthen wall, which is 9 li and 30 steps long. The middle wall is a brick wall, which is 4 li and 10 steps long. The stone carvings of the spirit path, the Golden Water Bridge, the Slaughter Pavilion, etc. are all in the wall. The innermost wall is the Imperial City, which contains the Hall of Offering and the side halls.

The Ming Ancestral Mausoleum contains five main halls of the imperial city, six rooms in the east and west wings, three rooms of the golden gate, two side gates on the left and right, one rear red gate, and one incense burner.
The city consists of a brick city with four inner gates, each with three red doors, two east and west corner gates, six rooms for the former Eastern Palace's dressing room, ten rooms for the main hall, three gates on the east, west, and north, eighteen rooms for the main hall, three star gates, two east and west corner gates, an inner imperial bridge, a Jinshui River, a complete set of stone ceremonial guards, a celestial pool, a well pavilion, three kitchens for the gods, three storehouses for the gods, three wine rooms, a slaughterhouse, and three vegetarian rooms.
There is one mill, four corner shops, four outposts, and one brick bridge inside the outer city. There is one dismounting sign outside the city, and a water control embankment on the southeast side, starting from the dismounting bridge and ending at Shijiagang, with a total length of 675.5 zhang.

A sluice gate was added to the outer Jinshui River embankment, and a sacrificial office was built in the east of the city, complete with halls, gates, corridors, and study rooms, as well as a private residence for the officials.

These buildings, located outside the imperial mausoleum, served as residences for the officials responsible for guarding the mausoleum.

According to the system established by Zhu Yuanzhang, even if one were to ask a question, one could not enter the inner city and could only perform the sacrifice in the outer city. Afterwards, he went to Gaojiayan with Pan Jixun.

Gaojiayan was originally named Hongze Lake Dam. It was first recorded during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, it referred to a section of the Huai River embankment near Gaoyan Village in Huaiyin County, Jiangsu Province. It is said to have been built by Chen Deng of the Eastern Han Dynasty and is the world's earliest artificial dam more than 2,000 years ago.

In the sixth year of the Wanli reign, Pan Jixun, after careful consideration, insisted on building the Hongze Lake Dam in order to comprehensively solve the problems in the area where the Yellow River, Huai River and Grand Canal meet, despite the opposition from the Ministry of Works.

The biggest problem is the siltation of the Yellow River, and it is also a problem that the Ministry of Works has been unable to solve.

Although the water-binding sand-attacking method he proposed did not work well in the Ministry of Works' experiments, the Ministry itself could not come up with any other effective solutions.

Therefore, the Ming court first held a meeting of the Nine Ministers, and then a grand court assembly, summoning more than a hundred officials to discuss the matter before finally reluctantly accepting Pan Jixun's method.

No need. The imperial court can do nothing but continue repairing the river embankments.

The situation that followed was, of course, a repetition of the past: the river embankment was repaired only to collapse, then repaired again, and officials could only pray for divine mercy so that the embankment would not be breached.

It's been repaired; perhaps that will help.

In short, it's a desperate measure.

Because of the siltation of yellow sand raising the riverbed, the Yellow River rises, and its water level is higher than that of Hongze Lake. It is very common for the Yellow River water to flow back into the lake.

The method of dredging sand to control the river is unlikely to be effective in the long term. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for lake water to flow into the Yellow River, and it is often instead flooded by the Yellow River.

Only by artificially raising the lake's water level could the silt be barely removed. Thus, the Gaojia Weir built by Pan Jixun was continuously raised and reinforced through the efforts of generations of river officials.

Even if all the water were stored up, it would be impossible to wash away all the sediment. In fact, the diversion of water by some river workers has exacerbated the sediment deposition.

In just a few years, Gaojiayan has been continuously raised so that the water level of Hongze Lake is higher than that of the Yellow River. This is to prevent the Yellow River from backflowing and causing siltation at the bottom of the lake, which would raise the water level, and also to have the capacity to clean the Yellow River.

Hongze Lake was thus artificially created to be a suspended lake above ground, just like the Yellow River.

Instead of fundamentally solving the Yellow River flood problem, it presented the imperial court with another difficult challenge.

Hongze Lake must be protected, as the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum is located right next to it.

Given the nature of Huai'an officials, if Hongze Lake were to be in danger, they would undoubtedly breach the Hongze Lake dike and release water in the opposite direction of the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum to prevent it from being flooded.

If ordinary people die, they might be criticized, impeached, or dismissed from their posts, but if the imperial ancestral tomb is lost, it could be a matter of losing one's head.

In fact, the censors did repeatedly impeach him for this reason, but as the saying goes, the court had no other choice but to try and fail.

Perhaps it was ordained by fate that changing the course of the Yellow River was the safest solution.

At least one diversion can stabilize the situation for a considerable period of time, preventing frequent flooding.

However, this method is dangerous because the water is unpredictable and it is difficult to distinguish the fresh waterways.

Once it floods, the surrounding area will resemble a vast swamp, and countless families will be destroyed, or displaced as a result.

When later generations sing praises of the Yellow River, the mother river, it is unknown whether they still remember the disasters caused by its floods.

Later generations criticized the Ming Dynasty for mixing up the requirements of flood control, the maintenance of the Grand Canal, and the protection of the imperial tombs. This not only increased the difficulty but also, because the requirements were different, led to disordered flood control orders, which not only failed to achieve much but also seemed to have exacerbated the difficulty of flood control.

They needed to control the flood, so they raised the water level.

To ensure safe shipping, the water level needed to be lowered, so a dam was built to reduce the water flow and protect navigation.

With the imperial ancestral tombs threatened, the only option was to allow the river to gradually approach until it completely submerged Sizhou.

This kind of constantly changing approach to water management is not an improvement, but rather a worsening of the situation: it can only get worse.

At this point, Gaojiayan had already undergone an emergency heightening, and the project indeed looked massive.

However, Wei Guangde frowned as he stood at the weir.

The Ministry of Works had repeatedly demonstrated through experiments that this method was by no means a good solution, but Wei Guangde dared not say that he would be sprayed to death if he allowed the Yellow River to flood unchecked.

Perhaps the Ministry of Works actually understood that the fundamental solution to controlling the Yellow River was to find a new waterway, but they dared not say so.

Artificially excavating waterways would be a waste of national resources and might not even be effective.

Wei Guangde was unaware that during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, the Ming Dynasty's water management projects were criticized and ridiculed mercilessly.

The Qing Dynasty, which continued the Ming Dynasty's water management efforts, from Kangxi to Qianlong, all focused on the Gaojia Weir, constantly building dikes to raise the water level, and were similarly criticized.

Ultimately, it's all just playing dirty tricks.

If you put them in this era, besides continuing to cause trouble, they would be risking being condemned by everyone by saying they would let go.

"Is there no other way?"

Wei Guangde stood by the river with Pan Jixun, away from his entourage, and asked in a low voice.

Pan Jixun was very old. At this moment, he did not look at Wei Guangde, but stared blankly at the surging water.

"Lord Pan."

A soft call seemed to bring the veteran official, who had been in charge of flood control for nearly two decades, back to his senses.

Turning his gaze away, Pan Jixun looked at Wei Guangde and said, "There is no other way but to let it go."

He was well aware of the dangers of continuing down this path, but after careful consideration, he had no choice but to do so.

At least in his view, doing so should save most of the people living on both sides of the Yellow River.

As for what will happen thousands of years from now, who has time to worry about that? Let's take care of what's in front of us first.

Wei Guangde looked at Pan Jixun again, then looked back at the Hongze Lake dike. Finally, Wei Guangde sighed and said, "I wonder what this place will become in the future." "Perhaps, perhaps it will become even more magnificent, standing on this land like the Great Wall stretching for thousands of miles in the north."

Pan Jixun replied softly.

"One hundred years, two hundred years from now"

"I can't control that much."

Just as Wei Guangde was about to say something more, Pan Jixun interrupted him.

Wei Guangde lowered his head, lost in thought.

He realized that once he started doing this, he couldn't stop; he had to deceive not only the people of the world but also the emperor.

Yes, none of them dared to reveal the cruel truth.

"If the imperial court cut off the canal and focused all its efforts on protecting the Yellow River, would the effect be better?"
Should we build dams in the river, dismantle those flood-reducing dams, and let the clear water freely wash over the riverbed?

Wei Guangde looked up again and asked tentatively.

"There will be some effect, but it will be very limited. The Ministry of Works' experiments have confirmed that it will only reduce siltation, but it will definitely not reach the ideal state."

Moreover, if the canal transport were to be cut off, the whole country would be thrown into turmoil, and what would become of the people living along its banks?

Pan Jixun replied.

He was not a pedantic person. After the court vigorously opened up the sea routes, especially after the continuous increase in the sea transport of grain, he also had his own ideas, which was to simply give up on protecting the transport.

However, after much deliberation, he realized that it was extremely difficult to cure.

Without addressing the issue of siltation in the Yellow River, any talk of controlling it is just empty rhetoric.

"Then go ahead."

Wei Guangde sighed, finished speaking softly, and turned to walk towards the sedan chair in the distance.

He didn't want to stay here anymore; it was too uncomfortable.

Even though he knew that hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were being poured in every year and it would be of no use, he, Zhang Juzheng, and other officials in the court still had to tell the emperor that it was a good idea and that the project would solve the Yellow River flood problem once it was completed.

Even though he was lying through his teeth, Wei Guangde would still feel ashamed in private.

It's better to blush now than to blush in front of the emperor and be discovered.

Wei Guangde got into the sedan chair and called out to the outside, "Return to the capital."

"Set off back to Beijing."

The attendants outside shouted something to those around them, and with the sedan bearers shouting in unison, the sedan chair was lifted and headed north.

"Heaven and earth are not perfect, and this is beyond human control."

Inside the swaying sedan chair, Wei Guangde murmured incessantly.

Looking at the book on the coffee table beside him, with three big characters on the blue cover—"Journey to the West"—Wei Guangde picked it up in a fit of anger and slammed it hard under the sedan chair. Azi stomped on it a few times.

The book that accompanied him from Nanjing to here is now completely useless.

Seven or eight days later, an official boat quietly moored at Zhangjiawan Wharf in Tongzhou Prefecture.

At the dock, a group of officials waited for a long time. When Wei Guangde came out of the cabin, the group of people bowed to him repeatedly on the shore.

After the boat came to a stop, Wei Guangde disembarked from the gangplank and exchanged pleasantries with them.

"I had intended to return to the capital quietly, but I have troubled you gentlemen to come and wait for me. It is truly my fault for lending money."

"Lord Wei is overly concerned; Lord Wei is busy with state affairs."

After showering him with compliments, Wei Guangde was pleased and invited everyone to get into the sedan chair and head to the capital together.

We definitely won't go to Tongzhou City; it's not far. We might as well go straight back to the capital and have a welcome-back feast.

After the banquet ended, Wei Guangde was not in a hurry to return to his residence. In the side room, Shen Shixing briefly recounted what had happened since he left the capital.

The cabinet is the place closest to the core of power; no information can be kept secret there.

Nothing major happened. Apart from the mission to Europe, the only major event was the one that happened in the palace.

Surprisingly, Wei Guangde actually knew about this.

If nothing unexpected happens, then the person in the palace's belly will be carrying the future Emperor Gwangjong, who will be the person involved in the "Red Pill Case".

"Was this matter handled by the palace?"

Wei Guangde frowned and asked, his voice not quiet.

After drinking, although I didn't drink the most, I really couldn't control my voice.

"Yes, the cabinet was not involved; it was the decision made by the two empress dowagers."

After speaking softly, Shen Shixing asked with a hint of doubt, "Does Lord Wei believe there are still oversights in this matter?"

He sensed that Wei Guangde's tone seemed a bit off, but he couldn't figure it out.

After all, it's someone else's business, and without putting yourself in their shoes, you can't think of many things.

Wei Guangde only learned of this incident from later records.

It can only be said that the palace servants were unlucky, including his eldest son who would become emperor in the future.

However, Wei Guangde was unsure whether he would ever have the chance to become that short-lived emperor again, since he had already changed a lot, especially since the emperor's wedding was postponed because of him.

However, the most crucial factor is whether Wang Xijie's womb will be able to produce a legitimate son for the emperor.

Wei Guangde shook his head. He couldn't say, but he could see through that incident that Emperor Wanli was cold-hearted by nature.

"It's good that the palace has made the decision. We are foreign officials, so it's not really appropriate for us to interfere in palace affairs."

Wei Guangde said this.

Sitting in the sedan chair on his way back to his residence, Wei Guangde was once again torn between his inner thoughts and his own.

This incident served as a reminder to him that the emperor was ruthless to his foreign ministers and no better to his own son.

We need to find an opportunity to test his personality later. If we can guide him back to his original character, that would be best; otherwise, this matter will be really difficult to handle.

The struggle for the crown prince during the Wanli reign indirectly led to the "Red Pill Case," which in turn triggered the "Palace Transfer Case." It was these events that allowed the Donglin Party to seize the opportunity to come to power, influencing the political situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty for twenty years, ultimately leading to the dynasty's demise.

The simplest way to break this deadlock is for Wang Xijie to give birth to a legitimate son of the emperor, and for him to grow up, which would completely reverse the course of history.

However, having children is truly a matter of fate, and there's no way to interfere with it.

However, Wei Guangde suddenly felt that his mind was a mess and he couldn't remember whether the one favored by Emperor Wanli was Consort Wan or Consort Zheng.

In a daze, Wei Guangde fell asleep in the sedan chair, and soon began to snore. (End of Chapter)