The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 233 Water Conservancy Project Construction Arrangements
The winter of the 43rd year in Xianning arrived, and several teams that had gone out for exploration returned one after another.

The exploration results around Sanjiangze, the middle and lower reaches and the Huaihe River, and the Three Gorges area were sent to Zhu Jianxuan one after another.

Wang Lai also submitted a comprehensive management plan for the Huanghuai region that he had written.

On December 5, Zhu Jianxuan convened Wang Lai and other relevant personnel in Wenhua Hall to discuss these major water conservancy projects.

Zhu Jianxuan flipped through the data in his hand and first looked at Zhao Kai, who was in charge of the exploration of Sanjiangze and surrounding areas:

"Is the plan proposed by Wang Lai to store water in Sanjiangze to form a lake and even divert the Heilongjiang River into the Bohai Sea feasible in terms of engineering?"

Zhao Kai immediately stood up and briefly reported and confirmed the situation on the spot:

"Teacher, I think it is feasible in theory.

"Based on our data on the runoff of the Heilongjiang River during the flood season this year, we roughly estimate that the total runoff of the Heilongjiang River basin for the whole year is between 30 and 40 million cubic meters.

“We will have to wait until next year’s flood season for accurate data for the whole year, and multi-year average data will not be available for another few years.

"According to the altitude data of Sanjiangze and the surrounding mountains, the minimum dam is 125 meters high, and combined with artificial digging of the canal, the water of the Heilongjiang River can flow south into the Bohai Sea.

“It is estimated that it will take eighteen to twenty-four years to complete the impoundment.

“If we build a 140-meter dam, we don’t need to dig a canal, we just need to dredge the water channel to make the Heilongjiang River flow south.

“It is estimated that it will take 24 to 32 years to complete the impoundment.

“If they are planning to build, they should start blasting the hillside as soon as possible, block the Heilongjiang River’s channel into the sea, and start storing water as soon as possible.

"The dam can be subsequently raised and reinforced."

Zhu Jianxuan nodded slightly:
"Well done. Sit down first. Wang Lai, tell me about your Huanghuai governance plan. How did you put it together with the Sanjiangze Lake project?"

Wang Lai immediately stood up and said:

"Yes, teacher. I thought that the only way to solve this problem is to build the Sanjiangze Lake and divert water from the Heilongjiang River into the Yellow River.

"Combined with building dams and filling fields in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River, replacing firewood and charcoal with coal, planting trees and grass and banning goats, the siltation problem in the lower reaches of the Yellow River can be completely solved.

“The biggest problem with the Yellow River is that there is little water and much sand.

“Diverting water from the Heilongjiang River into the Yellow River can increase the water volume, bring more silt into the sea, and reduce silt deposition.

"The Yellow River's sediment mainly comes from the Loess Plateau in the middle reaches. Planting trees and grass in the area can reduce the amount of sediment that mixes into the Yellow River.

“Using coal instead of firewood charcoal in Shaanxi and Shaanxi can prevent local residents from destroying forests and grasslands. The two places happen to have rich coal resources.

"Free-range goats will eat grass roots, killing the grasslands. Goat grazing should be banned on both sides of the Yellow River.

“Building dams and silting fields can prevent large chunks of soil from collapsing and falling into the river.

"With this solution to cure the siltation in the Yellow River, the Yellow River can directly follow the old course of the Grand Canal and flow into the sea from Tianjin."

Wang Lai gave a general introduction to his grand vision.

Zhu Jianxuan also looked through Wang Lai's plan again. He was somewhat surprised and couldn't help frowning.

This guy put the Huanghuai governance and Sanjiangze Lake projects together, and listed Sanjiangze Lake as a key part of the Huanghuai governance plan.

The vision of completely eradicating the silt in the Yellow River is irresistible, but the project is simply too large.

This project will take at least twenty years, and most likely more than thirty years.

Zhu Jianxuan did not comment immediately:
"Wang Lai, please sit down first. Li Baozhu, how is the situation in the Three Gorges?"

Li Baozhu was Wang Lai's partner. When exploring the Yellow River, he proposed building the Three Gorges Project to divert river water into the Yellow River to flush out sand.

Zhu Jianxuan arranged personnel to conduct the survey and gave the data to Li Baozhu.

Li Baozhu reported with some trepidation:

"Teacher, students believe that building a dam at the Three Gorges Dam can store water for power generation, flood control and irrigation, and it is very useful, but the engineering difficulty is also very high.

“There has never been such a large-scale dam construction plan in the world. Students suggested that we first find similar small-scale rivers and build similar dams to accumulate experience.

"It is also very difficult to divert water from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River, especially on a large scale. After the Yangtze River leaves the Three Gorges, the terrain in the north is too rugged. "Students believe that the plan to divert water to the Yellow River should give priority to the Heilongjiang River, as most of the areas along the route are plains. "

Zhu Jianxuan was quite familiar with the Three Gorges. It was a topic he often heard during his teenage years in his previous life, and he often saw related discussions on the Internet.

Zhu Jianxuan actually knew several typical options for the height of the Three Gorges Dam.

In the past, the maximum water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir was 175 meters, which was a very conservative plan. The reservoir had a water storage capacity of 393 billion cubic meters.

At that time, there was also a more radical plan to raise the water level by 235 meters and increase the water storage capacity to 1260 billion cubic meters, which would greatly enhance the water storage, flood control and power generation capabilities.

At the same time, the river water still remains in the canyon where the Yangtze River is located and will not flood the plains on a large scale.

If the water level exceeds 235 meters, it will start to overflow.

The biggest difficulty of the Three Gorges Project is resettlement. In the past, half of the project investment was spent on resettlement.

The current Ming Dynasty has a huge advantage compared to the previous life. It not only has enough land to be reclaimed, but also can easily and cheaply accommodate immigrants.

The key point is that Chongqing was still a vassal state at that time, and the Duke of Yu who was conferred in Chongqing was about to lead immigrants to Africa for development.

We can take this opportunity to relocate the residents in the river valley.

However, the current level of engineering technology in the Ming Dynasty is limited. Not to mention a dam with a water level of 235 meters, don’t even think about building a dam with a water level of 175 meters in the short term.

Zhu Jianxuan thought about the future arrangements and said:

“The idea is good. We can make plans based on this idea, select a suitable place for exploration, and then make a detailed plan.

“Detailed exploration of the Yangtze River Three Gorges area needs to continue.

"At the same time, we order the Chongqing government office that is about to be established not to allow anyone to live in the riverside valleys that will be vacated after Duke Yu leads his immigrants away."

Li Baozhu bowed and agreed:

"Students obey."

After Zhu Jianxuan finished speaking, he was silent for a while, took into account the current situation, and made a series of foresighted arrangements:

“In the Sanjiangze Lake Project…the diversion of the Heilongjiang River can begin as soon as possible, and water storage can begin as soon as possible.

“Whether it is to store water for the future Sanjiangze Lake, or simply to silt up the fields in Sanjiangze, or to form a lake surface division and control area in Sanjiangze.

"The three lakes should at least form lakes of sufficient area and depth.

"This will not affect whether the water from Sanjiang Lake will flow completely south in the future, nor will it affect the project of diverting water into Beijing or the Yellow River.

"A Sanjiang Company was established to be responsible for the Sanjiangze damming and water diversion project.

“While damming the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, we began detailed exploration and planning of water diversion routes.

"Order Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces to promote the construction of dams and silt fields, plant trees and grass, ban goats, and replace firewood with coal on the Loess Plateau.

"It depends on the specific conditions of the place. In most places on the Loess Plateau, the precipitation and soil are not suitable for trees, so we should try to grow grass as the main crop.

"Wang Lai, wait until the survey of the water diversion route is completed before making a detailed plan for the overall water diversion and diversion of the Yellow River."

Zhu Jianxuan's logic is simple. It takes too long to store water in Sanjiangze, and the storage of water in Sanjiangze is not tied to diverting water into the Yellow River, so they can be started separately as soon as possible.

The management of the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River and the adjustment of the river channel in the lower reaches of the Yellow River do not need to be linked together, and should be started separately as soon as possible.

As for the diversion of the Yellow River and its introduction into Beijing, there is no need to rush.

The former may take several decades, and the latter at least twenty years, so planning and construction can be started slowly.

From the perspective of the new century, burning too much coal will certainly affect the environment, but burning firewood is even more damaging to the environment.

There is no natural gas and electricity now, so using coal instead of firewood is a very advanced direction.

The amount of coal consumed by ordinary residents in their daily lives is not on the same order of magnitude as the amount of coal used by factories.

Only by promoting the use of coal among the people so that they no longer need to go up the mountain to chop wood and cut grass for firewood can the mountains be truly restored to greenness.

(End of this chapter)