Late Han Zhao Tang

In the first month of the fourth year of Shenwu's reign in 202 AD.

With the official issuance of the edict on the liberation of slaves, a vigorous movement to liberate slaves began in the central plains. Yi and Jing provinces, being adjacent to the front lines, prioritized seizing control of the Yangtze River waterway. Generals Gao Shun and Hao Zhao each had their own plans, preparing to launch a military campaign in March according to the Privy Council's decree.

After celebrating the Lunar New Year, Zhang Yu turned his attention to the Grand Canal in Hebei.

"Your Majesty, after several years of construction, the canals in Hebei have gradually been completed. Dong Youzhou opened a canal that flows from Hutuo into the Lishui River, called the Pingyou Canal; it also receives water from the Hutuo River in Quanzhou County, called the Quanzhou Canal; and it opened the Baoqiu River to the east into the Ru River, called the Xingtang Canal. Therefore, in the few years since Dong Youzhou took office, he has carried out major repairs on the three canals, which are connected with the Baigou Canal in Tianjin."

Du Ji pointed to the Hebei water conservancy map and introduced the current situation of the Hebei Canal to Zhang Yu.

"Yinzhou repaired the Zhangshui River to Baigou Canal, diverting the Zhangshui River into Baigou. The governor of Yinzhou, Sima Lang, named it 'Licao Canal'. Now the water in Baigou has risen greatly, and large ships can pass through. Since the end of last year, the money and grain of Weijun have been diverted from the Zhangshui River into Baigou, transported upstream by boat to Fangtou, and then into the Yellow River to be transported to Chang'an."

"Two canals were built in Haizhou. One connects the Zhang River to the Hutuo River, passing through Baimadi, and is called the Baima Canal. The other, from the Hutuo River to the Li River, originates from Lukou City and is called the Lukou Canal. Now, the two canals in Haizhou have been completed one after the other. The Baima Canal has been open to water transport for half a year, and the Lukou Canal was opened in early winter last year."

"Therefore, the waterways in the three prefectures of Hebei are now unobstructed. Boats can travel north from Yanshan, south to Hedong, east to Bohai, and west to Taihang. For example, if one departs from Fangtou in the morning and arrives at Yecheng in the evening, the journey of more than a thousand li can take four days by boat to reach Yuyang."

After becoming king, Zhang Yu, whose focus was on the Central Plains and Sichuan, ordered the three prefectures of Hebei to build a canal by dredging the Baigou Canal, which connects the north and south, so that the three prefectures of Hebei could be integrated by waterway, thus saving the cost of transporting money and grain.

Under the leadership of Dong Zhao, and with the cooperation of Shen Tu Bei and Sima Lang, the Hebei Canal, centered on the Baiqu Canal, was completed. Dong Zhao was responsible for dredging the waterways of Youzhou, Sima Lang for connecting the Zhang River with the Baiqu Canal, and Shen Tu Bei for dredging the Zhang River with the Hutuo River, and the Hutuo River with the Pi River.
With the completion of the Licao Canal, Baima Canal, and Lukou Canal, Hebei, Guanzhong, and Henan are now connected by seven major rivers, including the Wei River, Yellow River, Baiqu Canal, Honggou Canal, and Ji River. Beyond the crucial functions of grain transport and troop deployment, once the world is at peace, commerce and trade will flourish thanks to these unobstructed waterways.

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said with satisfaction, "Yin and Hai provinces have the largest populations, the most cultivated land, and abundant mulberry and jujube trees, making them the foundation of the nation. Since the Han Dynasty, Hebei has been a prosperous region. For example, Emperor Shizu (Yuan Shao) established his rule over the country by controlling Hebei, and Yuan Shao was able to dominate the Central Plains by controlling two provinces."

"When our Tang Dynasty established its capital in Guanzhong, if the water conservancy in Hebei was not in place, the transportation of money, grain and taxes would be difficult. Therefore, the capital region was the key to controlling Hebei."

Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Hebei's trend of becoming an economic center has been unstoppable. Therefore, during times of chaos, Ye City became the capital of various dynasties. Today, the world is relatively peaceful. Although the population of Bing, Si, and Yong provinces is greater than that of the three provinces of Hebei, it is not because the three provinces of Hebei themselves have a small population, but rather it is the result of population migration during times of chaos.

For example, Dong Zhuo relocated people from Henan to Guanzhong, and Zhang Yu took advantage of this to recruit people from Hebei to Bingzhou, which led to the unique phenomenon that the population of Guanzhong is greater than that of Hebei. However, if Bingzhou were to be included in Hebei, the population of Guanzhong would be less than that of Hebei.

Therefore, as time goes by, Hebei is destined to become more prosperous than Guanzhong. Against this backdrop, the imminent construction of the Hebei Canal becomes crucial to Zhang Tang's ability to better govern Hebei.

"The canals in Hebei are well-connected, and water from each prefecture flows into the Baigou Canal. The names of these canals are numerous and complicated. Why don't you give them names, Your Majesty?" Guo Tu said with a smile.

"Please bestow a name upon me, Your Majesty!" Du Ji said tactfully.

Zhang Yu, intrigued, said, “Goods from Hebei are transported via the canal, and merchants and officials traveling to and from the Central Plains are facilitated by this canal. We should name it the ‘Huitong Canal’ and order the counties along the route to set up canal guards to maintain it year after year without fail!”

"promise!"

“With the Hebei canal completed, the canals in the Central Plains prefectures have not yet been built. Perhaps we can take advantage of the pacification of the southeast to dredge the old waterways!” Zhang Yu said.

"Now that General Wen Yuan is in Yuzhou, why not have him dredge the river to channel water into the Huai River, so that the subsequent supply of Chinese troops and provisions can flow into the Huai River?" Du Ji suggested.

"Can!"

Zhang Yu said, "The Ru and Ying rivers flow through Yuzhou and into the Huai River. The Central Plains must send troops and provisions through these two rivers, so Zhang Liao can be allowed to repair them."

Perhaps influenced by later generations' views, Zhang Yu placed great importance on convenient transportation, and thus was quite enthusiastic about the excavation and dredging of river canals. After all, canals, if not over-repaired, are beneficial to the country and its people. Moreover, canals have a little-known function: they serve as a barometer of local governance.

Canals not only serve a transportation function, but also bear the important responsibility of irrigating the fields along their banks and developing the cities along their routes. Therefore, the complexity of canal engineering can be summarized as "it is easy to talk about water conservancy without considering the waterway, but difficult to plan water conservancy while also considering the waterway".

The Northern Song Dynasty's three attempts to divert the Yellow River are a typical example of failure. From the late Tang Dynasty onwards, the Yellow River frequently became silted up. In an effort to solve the problem of the Yellow River changing course, the Northern Song hoped to divert it eastward, but due to various reasons, this ultimately led to the failure of the river management project.

However, after three failed attempts to control the river, Hebei, once a prosperous province, was transformed into a desolate and impoverished region. The Northern Song Dynasty spent almost half of its national treasury on river management, which indirectly contributed to the dynasty's demise.

Or perhaps before the Yuan Dynasty built the Grand Canal, the problem of the Yellow River breaching its banks seriously affected the local areas. However, because the Yuan Dynasty relied mainly on sea transport for supplies, it did not have much demand for the Yellow River. Therefore, the court delayed the management of the Yellow River for several years until it was forced to let Jia Lu manage the river.

At that time, public resentment was boiling over, and the Red Turban Army took advantage of the canal construction to officially launch the rebellion and gather a large number of laborers.

The reason why the Ming and Qing dynasties held onto the Grand Canal so tightly was not only due to the harassment caused by Japanese pirates in the early Ming Dynasty, but also because they valued the Grand Canal as a reflection of the quality of local governance.

As for sea freight?

Leaving aside the issue of sunk costs in transportation, the key point is that grain transported from the southeast to the capital did not need to pass through the Central Plains. Without the Grand Canal, the imperial court lacked a tool to monitor the level of local governance.

Therefore, when problems arise in canal transport, it often indicates a serious governance issue in a certain region, which can be detected and resolved by the central government as soon as possible.

Of course, Zhang Yu didn't consider so many things. He was mainly concerned with how the canal could bring prosperity to the regions along the route and facilitate the transfer of local taxes to the central government.

On the issue of the Grand Canal, Zhang Yu chatted with his men and women for a while, when suddenly he thought of the Yellow River.

"Since Wang Jing began managing the Yellow River, there has been no flooding for over a hundred years. However, the Yellow River is unpredictable, and siltation is a problem. To prevent this, we should order the people of Hedong, Hexi, and even Longyou to plant trees to reinforce the riverbanks and prevent silt from flowing into the Central Plains, thus avoiding the accumulation of silt downstream and the river level rising above the dikes, which could lead to a breach!"

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "The Xiongnu people should value both farming and animal husbandry, and should not abandon animal husbandry in favor of farming. This is the way to consolidate the silt."

During the reign of Emperor Ming of Han, the Yellow River and the Bian Canal breached their banks simultaneously, affecting the central plains. Emperor Ming appointed Wang Jing to manage the floods, a task that took half a year and cost a staggering 10 billion taels of silver to finally bring the Yellow River under control. This successful management ensured the Yellow River's stability for eight hundred years.

As for why the Yellow River breached its banks again afterward?
This is mainly related to the large-scale development of the Hetao and Longyou regions during the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty supported tens of millions of people in the Longyou, Guanzhong and Hetao regions, which severely damaged the ecology of Guanxi, greatly reduced soil fertility, and caused serious silt loss, which in turn affected the downstream Central Plains region.

Why was the period before the Tang Dynasty stable?
Besides Wang Jing's river management, the small number of Han Chinese in Guanzhong actually reduced soil erosion, preventing large amounts of silt from accumulating in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Now Zhang Yu does not know whether the Yellow River will change because of him, so whether for the sake of the current dynasty or for the sake of future generations, he must make arrangements and formulate rules for tree planting in advance.

"promise!"

Seeing His Majesty's solemn order, Du Ji responded, "If Your Majesty wishes to order the people along the river to plant trees, you must issue laws and regulations and establish severe punishments. For example, each household should plant fifty trees, and those who disobey and cut down trees without permission should be punished by the government."

"As you say, those who own ten mu of land shall plant half a mu of mulberry and hemp, and those with more than ten mu shall plant one mu. Upper-class households shall plant one hundred mulberry and hemp plants annually, and noble households shall plant three hundred. Those who violate this rule will be relocated to the border regions," Zhang Yu said. (End of Chapter)