Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1247 The dam breaks
A side hall of the Qianqing Palace.

Grand Secretary Hong Chengchou, along with Grand Secretary Yang Sichang and Minister of Works Wang Mingxuan, were reporting the news of the Yellow River breach to Emperor Zhu Shenzhui.

The Yellow River is the mother river of Chinese civilization, nurturing its birth, but it has also brought countless disasters over the past thousands of years.

Especially during the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River changed course and flowed into the Huai River and then into the sea. The Jianghuai region was constantly affected by the Yellow River's course change and flooding. Almost every few decades, the Yellow River would breach its banks. This situation became more and more frequent in the late Wanli period. In particular, during the Tianqi period, due to the uprisings and bandits in the northwest, the river works could not be guaranteed, which led to the Yellow River breaching its banks many times.

In the original history, there was another major breach of the dike in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, but this time it was not a natural disaster but a man-made one. Because Li Zicheng was besieging Kaifeng and could not capture it after a long siege, he deliberately breached the dike, letting the raging Yellow River flow directly into Kaifeng, thus finally capturing Kaifeng and occupying the Central Plains.

Although Li Zicheng was unable to do so because of Zhu Shenzhui, and Li Zicheng had already died and his remains were now buried somewhere unknown, the breach of the dikes in Kaifeng did not occur, and the entire city of Kaifeng remained perfectly fine.

Even so, the Yellow River still breaches its banks. Just a few days ago, a major breach occurred in the section from Sizhou to Xuyi. The Yellow River flooded several prefectures and submerged large areas of houses and farmland in the affected areas. Even Gaoyou was affected, and the losses were extremely heavy.

"Your Majesty, the main reason for this breach is that the Zhouqiao Sluice and Zhaijiaba were washed away by the river, causing a major disaster. The cabinet has just received reports from the local areas. Preliminary statistics show that the three prefectures and seven counties in the area east of Fengyang Prefecture, south of Huai'an Prefecture, and north of Yangzhou Prefecture were the most severely affected." Yang Sichang's voice echoed in the side hall as he reported the specific situation to the emperor. Zhu Shenzhui casually flipped through the local reports that Yang Sichang had brought. The reports were about the Yellow River breach and requested the court to allocate funds for the aftermath and to provide relief to the affected areas.

"I ordered the repair of the river works when I was regent, and after I ascended the throne, I also issued an edict to allocate funds to local areas to reinforce the river defenses in order to prevent the Yellow River from breaching. Why is the situation so serious this time?" Zhu Shenzhui looked up at Hong Chengchou and Yang Sichang, and then his gaze swept over Wang Mingxuan, the Minister of Works, who was sitting at the lower end of the table.

Wang Mingxuan felt bitter. As the Minister of Works, he was not entirely to blame for this matter. After all, the river works were the responsibility of the Ministry of Works, and he was the head of the Ministry. Now, such a major incident had occurred.

Rising to his feet and bowing to the emperor, Wang Mingxuan said, "As the Minister of Works, I have failed Your Majesty's trust, resulting in the Yellow River breaching its banks. I beg for forgiveness..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and said, "This is not about punishing you. You have certainly made mistakes, but I want to know the real reason for this breach. Over the years, the court has allocated a lot of silver for the management of the Yellow River, hasn't it? This silver was spent on the river channel, so in theory, this shouldn't have happened. But this time, the breach occurred at Zhouqiao Sluice and Zhaijiaba. Why is that? I am truly puzzled. Can you enlighten me, my dear minister?"

Wang Mingxuan's face flushed red, and he was speechless for a moment. As the Minister of Works, he certainly knew how much the imperial court had spent on the Yellow River over the years, and besides, the emperor's question was not without merit. Zhouqiao Sluice and Zhaijia Dam were the most important river engineering projects in the area from Sizhou to Xuyi, but this time the breach happened right here, and the impact and extent of the disaster were unprecedented in decades.

This breach of the dike caused nearly a third of the northern part of Southern Zhili to be flooded, with three prefectures and seven counties suffering severe damage. Countless houses and farmlands were destroyed, and the number of people affected was incalculable.

Wang Mingxuan was a veteran official during the Wanli reign, and had a good reputation during his decades of service. He served as a county magistrate, an imperial censor, an inspector in Guangdong, and the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Minister of Works. Whether serving in local government or in the capital, Wang Mingxuan accomplished many practical things and was a rare and distinguished official. It was for this reason that Zhu Shenzhui valued his reputation and ability and specially summoned Wang Mingxuan, who had resigned and returned to his hometown, back to the capital and appointed him as Minister of Works.

It can be said that Wang Mingxuan was one of the very few officials in the late Ming Dynasty who could get things done, and he had been working diligently and conscientiously as Minister of Works for the past few years, earning widespread praise. If Wang Mingxuan hadn't been so old, Zhu Shenzhui would have put him in the cabinet as a Grand Secretary during the previous cabinet reshuffle, originally intending to keep him for another two years. Who knew that at this critical moment, the Yellow River would breach its banks?

Wang Mingxuan was an upright and diligent official, but he never expected that the Yellow River's breach would put him in this predicament. Upon hearing the emperor's words, Wang Mingxuan was filled with shame and immediately knelt before the emperor, requesting to resign and to be held accountable according to the law.

Zhu Shenzhui sighed inwardly, feeling a pang of unease as he watched the old minister kneeling trembling before him. To be honest, Zhu Shenzhui was furious. After all, such a catastrophic event had occurred; the devastation caused by the Yellow River's breach was truly dire. Especially considering that the court had never lacked funds for river management in recent years, even when Zhu Shenzhui had just ascended the throne and the court was facing financial difficulties, it still allocated funds for Yellow River control. Zhu Shenzhui knew very well that the Yellow River problem had plagued China for over a thousand years, becoming increasingly severe after the Yellow River diverted its course to the Huai River and flowed into the sea during the Southern Song Dynasty.

The fall of the Yuan Dynasty was due not only to its own internal problems but also to the devastating floods caused by the Yellow River's breaches. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the river was repeatedly managed and its channels reinforced, leading to nearly two centuries of improved conditions. However, starting in the late Wanli period, due to issues at both the court and local levels, the river channels fell into disrepair, and problems with the Yellow River gradually increased. After the Chongzhen era, the Ming Dynasty faced a financial crisis, beset by internal and external troubles, and even the court lacked funds for war, let alone for Yellow River management. This resulted in frequent flooding and widespread disasters.

The problem is that whether Zhu Shenzhui was the regent or later officially ascended the throne, he paid far more attention to the Yellow River. The court allocated a lot of money to manage the Yellow River. Over the years, several million taels of silver have been allocated to river works. But after all the efforts, the result was such a failure. How could Zhu Shenzhui, as the emperor, not be angry?
"Your Majesty," Yang Sichang said, "as Minister of Works, Wang Mingxuan is in charge of the overall situation. Although he bears responsibility, it cannot be entirely attributed to him. After all, he cannot personally handle everything perfectly. Moreover, he has always been diligent and incorruptible in his official duties, and he is extremely loyal to the court and Your Majesty. I believe that the matter of the breached dike should be thoroughly investigated to hold the responsible persons accountable, but that is not the main point. The key now is how to treat the local people and appease them." Upon seeing this, Yang Sichang quickly rose to plead for Wang Mingxuan.

Grand Secretary Hong Chengchou also chimed in, suggesting that while Wang Mingxuan bore some responsibility, it was not the primary one. He argued that since the incident had already occurred, the key was to handle the aftermath, not to assign blame. He noted that everyone knew Wang Mingxuan's character and abilities, and that he had been diligent and conscientious in his role as Minister of Works. He suggested that perhaps there were other reasons for the Yellow River breach, and for the sake of caution, it was best to set the matter aside for now and deal with it after the investigation was completed.

Zhu Shenzhui himself knew that the key responsibility for this matter did not lie with Wang Mingxuan, but as the Minister of Works, Wang Mingxuan could not escape his leadership responsibility. However, this veteran official, Wang Mingxuan, had always had a good reputation and had worked diligently over the years, which pleased Zhu Shenzhui. Although he had made a mistake in the Yellow River matter, to be honest, Zhu Shenzhui did not want to punish him directly.

After all, once Wang Mingxuan's official position was stripped and he was dismissed from his post as Minister of Works, there would be no suitable person to take charge of the Ministry of Works. Therefore, although Zhu Shenzhui was angry about the Yellow River's breach, he did not intend to severely punish Wang Mingxuan. Now that Hong Chengchou and Yang Sichang were both speaking up for Wang Mingxuan, Zhu Shenzhui sighed inwardly and went along with it, temporarily putting the matter aside.

"Get up. You're not young anymore. Don't kneel so easily. You need to take better care of your health." As he spoke, Zhu Shenzhui nodded slightly to Yang Sichang. Yang Sichang quickly understood and helped Wang Mingxuan up from the ground and sat him down to the side.

"Yang Sichang!"

"Chen is here!"

"Regarding the Yellow River breaching its banks, the local authorities have submitted a memorial requesting the imperial court to provide disaster relief. As the Minister of Revenue, what do you think is appropriate? How much money and grain should be allocated for relief?"

Yang Sichang inwardly groaned. Although he had considered this matter beforehand, he still found it difficult to answer the emperor's question when it came down to it. Logically speaking, the court's finances had improved considerably in recent years, a world of difference compared to the Chongzhen era.

The Ming Dynasty's current fiscal revenue is far superior to that of the Chongzhen era. During the Chongzhen era, the annual fiscal revenue was only around three to four million taels of silver, and this included the so-called Liaodong tax revenue and other additional taxes. This revenue was less than half of that during Wei Zhongxian's Tianqi era.

After Zhu Shenzhui became emperor, he made sweeping adjustments to the Ming Dynasty's finances. Coupled with the rapid development of foreign trade and border trade, as well as measures to develop mining, salt, and tea, and later currency reforms such as paper money and gold and silver coins, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue began to undergo tremendous changes.

In just about ten years, the Ming Dynasty's finances improved, and fiscal revenue continued to rise. Two years ago, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue exceeded 20 million taels of silver, and now it has reached a staggering 23 million taels, surpassing the historical peak of the 30th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign. Moreover, judging from the current situation, fiscal revenue is still rising. With the improvement of finances, Yang Sichang, as the Minister of Revenue, has become much more confident in the past two years.

The problem is that with more fiscal revenue, there are also more places to spend money! In the nearly twenty years from the Tianqi era to the Chongzhen era, the Ming Dynasty suffered too many natural and man-made disasters. The northwest and the central plains were ravaged by bandits, not to mention Liaodong, where most of the Ming army's main force was stationed. If it weren't for Zhu Shenzhui's rise to power, the Ming Dynasty might have been finished by now.

(End of this chapter)