The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 223 Spain's Decision and the Exploration Team's Discovery

Just like in history, the new Queen Maria of Spain basically controlled the political decisions of Spain because of her strength and the fact that her husband, the king, had no opinions on his own and was easily influenced.

At the same time, the Spanish did not have much interest in the California region and the surrounding deserts, nor in the Great Plains west of the Mississippi River.

The Spaniards in this world are even less capable than in the same period of history in exploring and developing the California region.

Because in the original history, the Spaniards controlled the Philippines, and the sailing ships traveling between America and Asia had to pass through the California region every time.

By bringing some missionaries and exiles with you, you can continue to explore the interior of California.

But now the Philippines has been taken back by the Ming Dynasty, and areas such as Seattle in northwestern North America are occupied by the Qing Dynasty, so Spanish sailing ships are very cautious when sailing in these places.

Historically, during this period, Spain had more than twenty colonies in California, but now there are less than ten.

Moreover, at this time, these European colonies were basically left to fend for themselves, and the royal family did not even consider what taxes could be obtained from these places.

This vast plain area west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains is called Louisiana and was originally a colony developed by the French.

Before the end of the Seven Years' War, the French knew that they were about to be defeated and that these colonies would inevitably be ceded to Britain.

So France transferred this land to Spain in advance before discussing the peace treaty with Britain.

In the original history, during the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon forced Spain to return the land to France.

Finally, because Napoleon was short of money for the war, he sold the land to the United States again.

The Americans spent $1500 million at the time, which averaged out to $7 per square kilometer.

Therefore, for the European monarchs at that time, this piece of land was just an "item" that could be taken out of the warehouse and traded.

In fact, if you just consider the price, if it can be exchanged for the construction cost of the Panama Canal and a Ming-style royal palace, it will definitely be a big profit.

In the end, the King of Spain and the Prime Minister had no choice but to accept the Queen's idea.

Therefore, the Spanish Prime Minister and Godoy were once again arranged to negotiate with Duan Yucai, the representative of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the main representative of this negotiation became Godoy.

The two sides met again in the conference room of the royal palace, and Godoy directly stated that Spain accepted the deal.

California and Louisiana were exchanged for Nicaragua, the construction of the Panama Canal, and a Ming-style palace.

Duan Yucai saw that Spain was so happy, so he was even less anxious to continue:
“These ideas are just my own ideas, and our Emperor has not authorized me to discuss the deal for the canal and palace construction.

“At the same time, I also solemnly stated that all manpower for engineering construction needs to be provided by Spain, and Daming only provides technical and management support.

“So the only agreement we can sign directly right now is Nicaragua exchanging land from California to west of the Rocky Mountains.

"Regarding other transactions, you can arrange a delegation to go with me to Ming Dynasty to discuss."

Duan Yucai was not very familiar with the details of engineering construction, but he knew that the biggest engineering expense in that era was labor costs.

Based on the minimum cost of three silver dollars per month for Ming Dynasty workers, if 300,000 people were recruited to dig the canal, the annual wages would be more than 10 million silver dollars.

The Ming Dynasty used free laborers on the Suez Canal, so it could increase the number of laborers to 300,000 so unscrupulously.

The construction period of the Panama Canal is definitely longer than that of the Suez Canal.

The local climate is the most unbearable tropical rainforest, and a large number of workers will definitely die on the construction site.

If the Ming Dynasty recruited 300,000 workers to work in Panama for five to eight years, the wages and pensions alone would be over 100 million.

Duan Yucai felt that apart from New Spain, the entire North American continent was not worth that much money.

If the Spanish were allowed to find a way to get the workers, the cost of construction would plummet and would be more acceptable.

The Spanish Prime Minister frowned when he heard this request, but Godoy agreed directly:

"We understand that this arrangement is acceptable to us, so let's start processing the paperwork."

Duan Yucai certainly would not refuse, and he immediately cooperated with Godoy to complete the formalities and drafted a simple territory exchange agreement.

The King of Spain signed and approved the agreement directly, and then arranged for Godoy and the Spanish Prime Minister, Count Blanca, to serve as representatives to accompany Duan Yucai to the Ming Dynasty to discuss another deal.

Duan Yucai didn't expect that the mission would be completed so quickly. He could return to his homeland immediately and was in a very good mood.

On the other side, in the Ming Dynasty mainland, the capital Shuntian Prefecture.

Shortly after Duan Yucai left Beijing, Wang Lai's Huanghuai management and exploration team was also organized.

The exploration team was divided into two groups, the core members of each group were Zhu Jianxuan’s two disciples and sixty-two apprentices.

Cao Zhendong arranged a division to cooperate with the exploration operation. Usually, a regiment would follow the exploration team directly, responsible for close protection and assisting in the exploration.

A brigade is stationed and patrolling in a city near the group's activity area, guarding the area where the exploration team is located and ensuring the security of the surrounding area.

When the exploration team needs more manpower, the brigade will dispatch more people to help.

Finally, there was only one regiment left, which was responsible for connecting the two groups with the rear, and for going to various places to request resources and transport data.

Of the two groups, the upstream group is responsible for Kaifeng and above areas, investigating the conditions in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River and along its tributaries in Shaanxi, Shanxi and other places.

The downstream group is responsible for the conditions of the Yellow River mainstream below Kaifeng, in Henan and Nanzhili areas, the mainstream and middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River, and lakes such as Hongze Lake and Gaoyou Lake.

Wang Lai led the team himself to be responsible for the downstream, and dispersed the accompanying group on both sides of the Yellow River.

He and another disciple each led half of the apprentices to command these soldiers on both sides of the Yellow River, using equipment to detect and record detailed altitude data and record the conditions of the river embankments on both sides.

After recording the conditions of the main stream of the Yellow River, the teams from both sides met at Qingjiangpu and came to the Hongze Lake embankment together.

At the place where Hongze Lake flows into the Yellow River, Wang Lai was in particularly high spirits:

"The work of Hongze Lake is about to end. When the water of Hongze Lake is drained in the future, there will be three million acres of fertile land here!"

Li Baozhu, who was partnered with Wang Lai, couldn't help but say:
"Brother Wang, this is hard to say. Even if the Yellow River changes its course in the future, Hongze Lake can still be used for irrigation. For the sake of the fields downstream of the Huai River..."

Wang Lai said with certainty:

"No need for that. In the future, the upper reaches of the Huai River will be irrigated by the Huai River, and the lower reaches can be irrigated by Sanjiang Lake."

Li Baozhu was speechless:

"Brother Wang, you mentioned Sanjianghu again. That's in the far northeast, thousands of kilometers away."

Wang Lai said as a matter of course:

"Just bring it over along the Yanshan Mountains, Taihang Mountains, and the Grand Canal."

Li Baozhu knew Wang Lai's idea, but he still felt a little bit unbelievable:

"Store water in the northeast to form a lake, then build a levee to divert it to Henan. Brother, are you sure this project can be done?

"Teacher, you actually have a lot of doubts about this project idea, right?"

Wang Lai immediately explained to his brothers enthusiastically:

"The teacher did have doubts at the time, and anyone would have had doubts.

“Because when I was in Shuntian Prefecture, I didn’t think too thoroughly and didn’t realize the greatest impact of this project.

"Now looking at Hongze Lake and Mr. Pan Jixun's design, I know this will definitely work.

“The teacher said that we don’t have to build the Sanjiangze Lake, but we must control the Yellow River.

"Now I find that building the Sanjianghu Reservoir and diverting the Heishui River southward can cure the stubborn problem of silt deposition in the Yellow River."

Li Baozhu is also a smart man. When he heard Wang Lai mention Pan Jixun and Nisha, he immediately understood:

"You mean, we can use the water from the Heilongjiang River to wash away the sand from the Yellow River?"

Wang Lai clapped his hands vigorously:
“Yes, the biggest problem of the Yellow River is that there is little water and much sand.

“With less water, there is insufficient downward cutting force, and a large amount of silt from upstream is deposited in the river channel, causing the river channel to become higher and higher.

“If there is more water, then the silt won’t be a big problem.

"Mr. Pan's idea of ​​using water to flush sand is a good one, but unfortunately we can only use water from the Huaihe River and Hongze Lake.

"There will certainly be no major problems in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

“But we all know that the most serious sedimentation in the Yellow River is where the river leaves the Wei River Valley and rapidly descends to the plain.

“That is the area from Luoyang to Kaifeng.

“This is exactly what we are experiencing now.

"The current situation of the embankments at the lowest reaches of the Yellow River is not particularly bad and they can continue to be used for a long time." However, the embankment in Kaifeng is already too large, and the cost of further construction is getting higher and higher. In the future, the embankment will definitely collapse in this area.

"Only by diverting the water from the Heilongjiang River to the vicinity of Luoyang and directly merging the water from the Heilongjiang River with the water from the Yellow River can the problem of water sources for sand flushing be completely solved.

“During the flood season of the Yellow River, water from the Heilongjiang River is used to dilute the Yellow River water, reduce the ratio of sediment to water, increase the flow rate of the river, and reduce the amount of sediment that settles.

"During the dry season, we continue to release water from the Heilongjiang River to wash away the sediment that has settled in the Yellow River.

"Once the Sanjiangze Reservoir and the Heilongjiang River diversion project are completed, the Yellow River will no longer be an above-ground river and will be navigable.

"We can even let the Yellow River flow directly into the sea via the Grand Canal.

"As long as the amount of water pumped into the Grand Canal is large enough, the speed at which the silt that settles down piles up the riverbed will be slower than the speed at which the river water naturally cuts down.

"Then the river course will naturally be stable in the long term."

Li Baozhu understood everything after hearing half of it. After listening to it, he muttered absentmindedly:

"This will really cure the Yellow River... Then the Sanjiang Reservoir and the Heilongjiang Water Diversion Project will have to be done..."

Wang Lai sighed again at this time:

“In fact, the Yangtze River has more water and is closer to Luoyang and Kaifeng, but the mountains and terrain in Hubei are too rugged to be suitable for building river embankments to form a super canal.

“The key is that there is no place to build large lakes, no way to store enough water, and no way to continuously release water during the dry season.

“Unless the entire Chongqing Prefecture is turned into a lake, the cost of simply relocating people would be much higher than closing off Sanjiang Lake.

"Compared to flooding Chongqing, flooding Sanjiang Lake is easier to accept."

Li Baozhu thought for a while and said:
"I think it's worth a try. The Yangtze River has a much larger volume of water than other rivers. Even during the dry season, the flow is not necessarily less than the average flow of the Heilongjiang River.

“Moreover, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the Three Gorges area are naturally suitable for building hydropower stations.

“Above the Three Gorges, the altitude of Chongqing is nearly 300 meters. Once you leave the Three Gorges and enter Hubei, the altitude drops to only a few dozen meters.

“I think we can apply to arrange for personnel to conduct an exploration to assess the feasibility of building a hydroelectric power station in the area and the feasibility of diverting river water downstream to Henan and into the Grand Canal.

“If it is feasible, the water from the Heilongjiang River does not need to be diverted to Henan. It can directly flow into the Grand Canal at Shuntian Prefecture and then into the sea at Tianjin.

“This will also provide an opportunity to build more efficient hydropower stations near the capital.”

Wang Lai also thought about it for a few seconds:

"Okay, you write the application. I won't get involved in the Three Gorges Project. As for the Yellow River and Sanjiang Lake, it will be worth it if I can accomplish it in my lifetime."

Li Baozhu reminded:

"What if the teacher is determined to flood the Chongqing area and use it to store water for supplying the Central Plains?"

Wang Lai shook his head and waved his hands:

“It’s impossible… It should be said that even if Chongqing uses water to store water to form a lake, it can only be used for power generation and flood control at most, and it cannot meet the needs of the Yellow River for sand flushing.

“We all know the way out of Sichuan. The mountains there are too rugged, and we can’t build riverbanks to guide the water like we do in the northeast.

"At most, we can divert the upper reaches of the Han River into the Central Plains, but the amount of water is much less than that of the Heilongjiang River.

“Although the Heilongjiang River is much farther than the Yangtze River, the difficulty of introducing external water to flush sand is much lower than that of the Yangtze River.

"I can sign your proposal to express my approval and support for the construction of a hydroelectric power station in the Three Gorges.

"Because the water from the Heilongjiang River is introduced into the Central Plains to flush sand, the amount that can be used for power generation is very limited, and we have to build a power station of sufficient scale."

Li Baozhu said with a little regret:
"Okay then, I'll write the proposal myself and then ask you to sign it later."

At the same time, the upstream team of the Huanghuai Management Exploration Team has also penetrated deep into the inland of Shaanxi.

The tasks of the upstream and downstream groups are different.

The downstream is mainly to survey and measure the Yellow River channel and levees, as well as the Huai River and Hongze Lake channel and levees. The main purpose is the rivers and lakes themselves.

The upstream team is responsible for analyzing the sources of the Yellow River silt and the environment around the Yellow River.

They watched the Yellow River meandering through the loess and saw large amounts of loess falling into the Yellow River channel and rushing downstream with the water.

They found that in places with trees and grass, the amount of sediment falling into the river would be relatively less.

Therefore, planting trees and grass can reduce the silt in the Yellow River. This is a truth that people in the Song Dynasty discovered, and today's exploration teams can also realize this.

But the residents of the Loess Plateau also need to live. They need firewood for cooking and heating, and grass to feed cattle and sheep.

So wherever there are people living, the hillsides are bare.

Now, on the entire plateau, only places where dams are built and fields are filled with water can not only keep the soil in place but also make the flowing water clearer.

The exploration team will naturally record it directly.

On the other hand, the Sanjiangze Engineering Exploration Team, jointly organized by the Ministry of Water Resources and the Northern Engineering Company, also set off for the Northeast one after another.

The Sanjiangze engineering exploration team was also divided into two groups.

The Liaodong team went north along the Liaohe Plain to measure the connecting route with the lowest overall altitude from the upper reaches of the Liaohe River to the upper reaches of the Songhua River valley.

If the water from the Three Lakes is allowed to flow naturally south into the Bohai Sea, this lowest route will be the best river route in the future.

At the same time, the elevation data of the upper reaches of the Songhua River and the surrounding river valley swamps were confirmed, and the location and height of the watershed between the Songhua River Basin and the Liaohe River Basin were confirmed.

Under the escort of a regiment of guards, the Liaodong team traveled back and forth in the swamps of the northeast for several months and finally obtained the main data they wanted before the arrival of autumn.

The swamp in the upper reaches of the Songhua River valley is very flat, with the lowest point at an altitude of about 125 meters, and the altitude of the watershed between the Songhua River and Liaohe River is about 140 meters.

That is to say, when the water surface of Sanjiangze Lake exceeds 125 meters above sea level, the swamps in the upper reaches of the Songhua River will begin to turn into lakes.

The water storage height of this lake must be more than 15 meters to allow the river water to flow naturally to the south.

However, this watershed is not a rocky mountain range, but a higher area composed of soil, and the surrounding terrain changes are very gentle.

After a simple calculation, the exploration team determined that by digging a canal with a length of about 150 kilometers, a local maximum depth of 20 meters, and an overall average depth of about 10 meters, it would be possible to prevent the Songhua River valley swamp from storing water and forming a lake.

It can also allow the water level of Sanjiangze Lake to start flowing southward when it is 125 meters, without the need to store water to 140 meters.

The main team of the Sanjiangze Engineering Exploration Team, namely the Sanjiangze Group, was escorted by the navy and took a ship to the former site of Nurgandusi.

First, we left personnel and equipment at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River and began to detect the estuary flow of the Heilongjiang River.

Most of the people took boats upstream along the main stream of the Heilongjiang River.

Measure detailed altitude data of the main stream of Heilongjiang River, the mountains on both sides of the river, Sanjiangze Plain, Xingkai Lake Plain, and the main stream of Songhua River after entering Sanjiangze.

The leaders of this exploration team, who were also Zhu Jianxuan's two disciples, also brought 62 apprentices to help them, and were accompanied and protected by a regiment of guards.

The Ming Dynasty Engineering Academy also brought them the hot air balloon that had recently been successfully tested, so that they could find the lowest point of the mountains and canyons around Sanjiangze.

Their exploration results directly determine whether the Sanjiangze Lake Project has basic feasibility.

On the way here, Zhao Kai and his group kept sighing that Wang Lai's idea was too bold, directly creating an artificial lake of more than 100,000 square kilometers.

This group of people also wandered around Sanjiangze for half a year, and the data they finally obtained was not much different from the original estimates.

The southwestern tip of Sanjiangze has the highest altitude, reaching between eighty and ninety meters.

The northeast end has the lowest altitude, and some river valley areas are less than 30 meters high.

The overall average data for the entire valley plain is around sixty meters.

The mountains surrounding Sanjiangze are indeed tall enough, and most of them are over 300 meters.

Apart from the north and south exits where the dam must be built, there are only a few places with low valleys.

The lowest is the valley where a small tributary of the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River is located, with an exit altitude of only 100 meters.

However, the entrance to this valley is very narrow, and there are high mountains on both sides of the river, so it can be closed with a relatively simple earth-rock dam.

Therefore, judging from the geographical environment alone, Wang Lai’s idea of ​​the Sanjiangze Lake is highly feasible.

If the water storage altitude does not exceed 130 meters, only three simple earth-rock dams need to be built to block all three outlet valleys.

By sealing off another valley at an altitude of about 130 meters, the water can be stored up to 155 meters.

If you do not plan to build hydroelectric power stations in these places, and do not need to use a large amount of steel bars and concrete, the construction cost of this type of dam is not high.

(End of this chapter)