I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 825: Anyang Flying over the Pacific Ocean

On the morning of August 20, six clipper ships, Anyang, Yuci, Yuanling, Zhijiang, Huoqiu and Baishui, set sail one after another, heading slowly eastward towards the rising sun.

Young people such as Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong were on the deck watching the sunrise, enjoying the sea breeze, singing praises to the waves, and talking to the seabirds. Those with literary talent immediately recited a poem, while those with painting skills painted a picture of thousands of miles of calm waves.

Until the evening, this group of young people, who had been having fun all day like huskies, reluctantly returned to the cabin to have dinner after enjoying the sunset, and then returned to their respective cabins to rest.

Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong lived in a room with double beds, which was as narrow as a sleeper compartment on a train.

Wang Shisong began to feel seasick and lay on the bed groaning.

Hu Yinglin picked up a notebook and pen and began to write his diary on the small desk beside the bed.

"At 8:06 a.m. on August 20th, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, the Anyang, on which we were aboard, weighed anchor and set sail. The sea we are sailing in today is called the Inland Sea of ​​the Capital, and on the maps drawn by the Geographical Society and the Surveying and Mapping Bureau, it is called the Bohai Sea.

The Bohai Sea was calm and there were frequent ships coming and going. In the afternoon, Wang Zhongshu started to feel seasick, but I didn't react at all. It seems that my body is better than his!
In the middle of the night, the ship followed the lighthouse and sailed through the strait between Liaodong and Shandong and entered the Yellow Sea area.

Note: I fell asleep in the middle of the night, so I recorded it after I woke up in the morning and heard the sailor say it.
The Yellow Sea was previously considered part of the East China Sea, and later was considered part of the North Sea.

In the third year of Wanli's reign, the Geographical Society and the Surveying and Mapping Bureau officially recognized that this sea area was called the Yellow Sea, extending south to the mouth of the Yangtze River and to the east to the East China Sea.

The north reaches Tsushima, and the north is called the North Sea."

"On August 21, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, it was sunny, and the clipper ship Anyang continued to sail in the Yellow Sea.

The Anyang is worthy of being called a clipper ship. With the word "fly" in its name, it is really fast on the sea. We are the only one who surpasses other ships and have never been surpassed by other ships.

The Yellow Sea is worthy of its name. The water is turbid and compared with the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea that I have seen before, it is indeed slightly yellowish.

It’s both sea, so why is the Yellow Sea yellow?
When we were having lunch together at noon, someone raised this question at the table.

Someone answered that the Yellow River flows into the Yellow Sea, so the Yellow Sea turns yellow. This answer seems to make sense, but it also seems unreasonable.

But Lord Mingquan mentioned something about the Yellow River.

Hu Yinglin put down his pen, shook his slightly sore wrist, rested for a while, and continued to bend over and write.

"Mingquan said that at the Imperial Court Meeting in May, the Right Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Yinchuan (Pan Jixun), proposed a draft. He believed that after nearly ten years of field surveys and hydrological statistics, the project of dividing the Yellow River and returning it to the north could be started.

Mr. Mingquan introduced that Mr. Yinchuan's draft was based on the old course of the Yellow River in the Western Han, Tang and Song dynasties, and three river channels were excavated, flowing into the Bohai Sea at Lijin, Zhanhua in Shandong, and Yanshan in Hebei.

After the river channel was successfully built, the Yellow River was diverted northward in Heyin and Yangwu upstream of Kaifeng and in Lanyang County downstream.

After hearing Mr. Mingquan's talk about the draft, everyone was shocked and found it unbelievable.

Lord Mingquan relayed several benefits proposed by Lord Yinchuan at the court meeting, one of which was to stop the Yellow River from taking the Huai River away from flowing into the sea and return the Huai River's estuary to it.

The Huaihe River suffers disasters nine times out of ten years. The fundamental reason is that the Yellow River diverts its water into the sea, and silt accumulates at the estuary, blocking the lower reaches of the Huaihe River. When the rainy season comes, the Huaihe River rises sharply, and the turbulent river water cannot flow into the sea smoothly, so the middle and lower reaches become a swamp.

The Jianghuai region, which was once prosperous during the Han and Tang dynasties, has been devastated year after year and has fallen into decline ever since.

The Yellow River flows north into the sea. Without this source of trouble, the court can calmly control the Huai River and turn the Yangtze and Huai Rivers into a land of fish and rice again.

Secondly, central and southern Hebei, as well as western and northern Shandong, were once prosperous areas. However, since the Yellow River changed its course in the late Northern Song Dynasty and flowed into the sea through the Huai River, it has suffered from severe water shortages, and the fields have gradually become dry and salinized, becoming barren and dilapidated.

The Yellow River is diverted back to these areas, and the fields are not picky about water, and they can also accept water containing silt.

After Mingquan Gong finished speaking, everyone was shocked and still couldn't believe it. There was a lot of controversy.

The biggest controversy is that the Yellow River is unruly and violent and difficult to tame.

The early Song Dynasty tried many times to control the Yellow River, using human power to fight against God's will, trying to divert the Yellow River into the designated river channel, but all ended in failure, causing great disasters and ruining the country's destiny.

After listening to everyone's discussions, Lord Mingquan said that everyone's opinions were similar to the opposing opinions in the court meeting.

The idea of ​​diverting the Yellow River northward was proposed by Yinchuan Gong as early as the Longqing period, but there was great controversy between the government and the public. Even the Ministry of Works and the Dushui Temple, which was responsible for river engineering and water management, could not reach a consensus.

Hu Yinglin found that the ink had dried up and the pen was out of ink.

He took out a cubic ceramic bottle from the cabinet, unscrewed the wooden cork on it, unscrewed the tortoise-shell body of the fountain pen, and exposed the ink sac.

In the past, fountain pen ink cartridges were made of animal rubber. Since the emergence of rubber latex products, they have been replaced with latex ink cartridges, which are more convenient to use.

Squeeze it a few times to allow the ink sac to absorb all the ink, then wipe it clean carefully with straw paper, screw on the pen body and pen cap, plug the ink bottle, and put it back in place.

After drinking two sips of water, Hu Yinglin picked up the pen, unscrewed the cap, and continued to write in his diary.

"Mr. Mingquan and the others had said almost the same thing, and then they repeated what Mr. Yinchuan had said.

Lord Yinchuan said in front of all the ministers in the court that what the former Song Dynasty could not do did not mean that the Ming Dynasty could not do it.

Wang Jinggong's reform failed, but Zhang Xiang did.

Song Shenzong's dream of making the country strong and the people rich was not realized, but my emperor is realizing it with the Ming Dynasty.

These three sentences make my blood boil.

Mr. Mingquan continued to relay Mr. Yinchuan's words, saying that in recent years the two Mr. Xu had carried out a series of soil and water management projects in Gansu, Ningxia and northern Shaanxi, including returning farmland to forests, returning pasture to grassland, diverting water to control sand, and planting trees to consolidate the soil, which had achieved considerable results.

Now we have started to carry out governance in the Jinghe, Weihe, Luoshui and Yanshui river basins.

According to monitoring data from the hydrological stations in Shanzhou, Heyin and Lanyang, Henan, the sediment content of the Yellow River has been gradually decreasing since the second year of the Wanli reign, and it is expected that within the next twenty years, the Yellow River will become clear.

After everyone heard what Mingquan said, they couldn't help but think of this sentence.

Mingquan Gong continued to relay Yinchuan Gong's words, saying that the sand control in the upper reaches of the Yellow River has gradually achieved results, and the middle and lower reaches should also carry out corresponding control actions. Turn the Yellow River from a harmful river into the true mother river of the Central Plains. At the same time, the Huaihe River and the Grand Canal will no longer be harmed by it.

If you can control one river and benefit three rivers, and dig three canals and benefit a thousand miles, why not do it? "

Hu Yinglin wrote faster and faster, and his emotions became more and more excited.

"According to custom, the court officials presented this controversial draft to the emperor for his judgment.

After thinking about it all night, the emperor said at the court meeting the next morning that we must have awe of nature, but that does not mean we should just accept what nature does.

If humans didn't have this kind of spirit, we would still be savages in caves.
We must transform nature within the permitted conditions and create a better living environment for ourselves.

Nature is gentle and kind, so we should respect it and let nature take its course.

Nature is violent and ferocious, so we tame it and transform nature.

We do not want to be the masters of nature, nor can we be its masters. We only ask for people and nature to coexist in harmony.

"When Heaven sets its will, it will triumph over man; when man sets his will, he will triumph over Heaven; therefore, when wolves are numerous, they will eat man; and when men are numerous, they will eat wolves."

As long as we have firm beliefs and unite as one, we will naturally be able to overcome all difficulties!
After the emperor made these generous remarks, he immediately decided to approve the Yellow River Diversion Project and include it in the list of major national projects for the next three years.

It's just that this project was not mentioned much in the newspaper report of the court, and we didn't pay much attention to it before. Today, when I heard what Mingquan said, my heart was suddenly agitated.

Your Majesty’s insightful remarks are truly excellent!

We must also be firm in our faith and unite as one, and we will surely be able to drive out the Spaniards, rescue the remnants of the Xia and Shang dynasties, and recover the two continents of Gen and Xun that were occupied by the Western Barbarians!"

"vomit-!"

Hu Yinglin's emotions were surging, but were suddenly interrupted by a sound of vomiting, followed by a foul and sour smell.

He turned around and saw Wang Shisong, who was lying on the bed, vomiting violently into the iron bucket beside the bed.

Hu Yinglin suppressed his nausea and walked forward to pat Wang Shisong on the back.

"Uncle Zhong, you haven't eaten anything today. Do you want me to go to the kitchen and find you something to eat?"

Wang Shisong's face turned pale, and he said weakly, "Don't talk to me about food. Everything I've eaten in the past three days is now in the bucket."

"On August 22, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, at noon today, the Anyang passed quickly from the south of Yuanjiao Island (Jeju Island). I had no mood to watch because I was finally seasick and I lay on the side of the ship vomiting and feeling dizzy.

Okay, I admit that I had symptoms of seasickness in the first two days, but I kept holding it in.

But I endured it until noon when I was playing on the deck after lunch, and the boat went through a big wave and shook violently, and I couldn't bear it any longer."

"On August 23, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, I started vomiting early in the morning. Like Uncle Zhong, I vomited everything I had eaten in the past three days into a bucket. But I still struggled to get up and go up to the deck.

Sailors all say that you get used to it after vomiting a lot."

"On August 24, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, the first thing I did when I woke up was to vomit. The room was filled with a rancid smell, and Uncle Zhong and I had gotten used to it, and we felt like the two jars of Hunan pickled vegetables that my father had sent us earlier.
In the morning, the ship anchored at Asuka Harbor on Dongyu Island in Chanzhou.

Chanzhou is Kyushu Island mentioned by the Eastern Japanese, and Tosumi Island is Tanegashima mentioned by the Eastern Japanese. It is said that this is the Chanzhou recorded in the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

Asuka Port is located in the north of Dongyu Island. It is the last supply port on our way to Songmen Port in Genzhou.

I struggled to get off the boat and go ashore with everyone. We went to the Temple of Wuji Yuanjun, the Goddess of the Nine Heavens, and paid homage to the Goddess, praying for smooth winds and waves and a safe journey.

I heard from an old sailor that the Ming Dynasty navy and sailors were divided into two factions, the southern faction was mainly from Fujian and Guangdong, and the northern faction was mainly from Wusong, Huaidong and Shandong. The southern faction worshipped Mazu, the northern faction worshipped the Queen Mother of the West.

In the past, the two factions in the north and south quarreled with each other, but later the imperial court issued an edict to confer titles on them and divided their respective territories. The Bohai Sea, the North Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Pacific Ocean worship Xuannv, while the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the South China Sea worship Mazu.

As for the Atlantic Ocean, our navy only occasionally reaches it, and we have not yet decided whether to assign it to Mazu or Xuannv for blessing."

"On August 25, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, the Anyang began to sail across the vast Pacific Ocean. Well, it should be flying. I vomited four times and struggled to the stern deck to chat with the surveyor.

The surveyor said that the measurement of longitude and latitude in the Ming Dynasty was both difficult and easy. The longitude was calculated with the central axis of the Forbidden City as zero degrees and by using a high-precision marine clock.

The latitude is determined by measuring the stars at night and the sun during the day with a latitude instrument, and then calculating the latitude based on a table and formula from the Imperial Astronomical Observatory.

It's easy to say, but for someone like me who studies liberal arts, it's simply a mystery.

Surveyors say the secret of surveying lies in clocks, latitude instruments, surveying methods and table formulas. Moreover, this surveying technique is widely used in river engineering, straight roads, railways, etc.
Well, I vomited again. I vomited five times today."

"On August 26, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, we continued to fly over the Pacific Ocean. I vomited eleven times today, or twelve times? Why haven't I gotten used to vomiting yet?"

"On August 27, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, we were still in the Pacific Ocean. I don't remember how many times I vomited today."

"On August 28, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, I am still alive, vomiting"

"On August 29, the fifth year of the Wanli reign, I vomited."

"August 30, the fifth year of the Wanli reign,

(End of this chapter)