Bringing the Railway to Daming

"However, blindly rushing to drain water could cause the dam, which has been soaked for a long time, to collapse, unless the water level drops evenly at a rate of less than 0.45 meters per day."

"That's right, the model's predictions once again helped us forecast the future and successfully complete the entire rescue."

"But water conservancy workers are not only dealing with a single breach crisis, but also protecting more than just a large lake or a single river."

Here, the video enters its third segment – ​​Guarding the Rivers.

Then, using the South-to-North Water Diversion Project as an example, the lecture explained how later water conservancy workers used "parallel universes" to simulate various aspects of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in order to make the project operate efficiently.

"Taking the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project as an example, it starts from the Danjiangkou Reservoir in Hubei Province and allows a continuous flow of clean water to travel north, with a total length of more than 1400 kilometers."

"Such a huge span means that the central route project will run through four provinces from north to south, and through hundreds of sluice gates, to provide water to more than 20 large and medium-sized cities and more than 200 counties along the route."

"We also need to coordinate water sources along the route to provide ecological water replenishment for dozens of rivers. If the sluice gates cannot coordinate effectively, the entire canal will be unable to operate normally..."

Although this was not the first time they had learned about the "South-to-North Water Diversion Project" of later generations, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and others were still deeply moved every time they watched related video introductions.

The situation of abundant water in the south and scarce water in the north also troubled the Ming Dynasty, causing many floods and droughts. If a "South-to-North Water Diversion Project" could be implemented, as in later dynasties, floods and droughts would undoubtedly be greatly reduced, and many places would have more grain harvests.

However, judging from the video's introduction, this "South-to-North Water Diversion Project" is clearly based on many scientific and technological foundations.

Therefore, the fundamental solution to the problems of floods and droughts lies in the development of science and technology.

“In the summer of 2024, when Henan was experiencing a severe drought, people used this ‘parallel universe’ to deduce the entire process of replenishing water to Baiguishan Reservoir by using the floodgate.”

"For the Pingdingshan area, nearly four times the volume of West Lake was temporarily and urgently drained, relieving Henan's urgent need!"

"In winter, before the first cold wave arrives, people use this 'parallel universe' to predict the ice coverage area in the canal section from Beijing to Shijiazhuang, thus providing early warnings and preparing for ice blocking, ice removal, and ice melting."

"It is through the synergy of this mega-project and digital model that this man-made river can operate without interruption, day and night, throughout the four seasons."

"Of course, in this 'parallel universe,' there are not only major rivers, but also many canals and waterways like capillaries, which can truly form a complete national water network!"

The video then moves to its final segment – ​​Safeguarding the nation's water network!
This section is similar to the previous ones, except that it provides a comprehensive overview of the national water conservancy projects in later generations and how they are linked with the virtual national water network constructed by digital models.

"...In the future, the goal of Chinese water conservancy workers is to 'put' the entire Chinese water conservancy system into a 'parallel universe'."

"In this space and time, there are more than 45000 rivers, more than 2800 lakes, more than 95000 reservoirs and dams, 98 national flood storage and detention areas, 42 kilometers of dikes, and countless canals, pumping stations and irrigation areas."

"There is also a 'sky-ground-hydraulic' data network composed of hundreds of remote sensing satellites, 12.7 ground hydrological observation stations, and tens of thousands of monitoring points!"

"And the research achievements accumulated by countless water conservancy workers in various fields such as hydrology, hydrodynamics, water resources, soil erosion, sediment dynamics, water ecological environment, and water conservancy project scheduling!"

"In this space and time, we can better examine the past, analyze the present, and predict the future."

"Perhaps by then, you will find that nature's water resources have not changed, and frequent extreme weather continues to bring new challenges, but the rivers and lakes in China will remain peaceful and tranquil!"

After watching the last segment of the video, Old Zhu and the others were still stunned, completely taken aback by the series of data presented. The rivers and lakes of later generations' water conservancy projects were one thing, but there were nearly 100,000 reservoirs and dams. Even though the Ming Dynasty had been continuously building water conservancy projects in recent years, it still couldn't compare.

As for remote sensing satellites, hydrological observation stations, monitoring points, etc., there's no need to even mention them; the Ming Dynasty didn't even have the concepts.

There are also no related disciplines.

This inevitably made Zhu Biao and Zhu Lao feel a little disappointed, but Zhu Xiong Ying, being young, was more motivated to catch up with the technology of later generations.

After regaining his composure, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke first, saying, "Every time I learn about things from later generations, I feel I benefit greatly—for example, water conservancy. Although I had some understanding of it before, I didn't know there were so many intricacies involved."

"Putting everything else aside, there are so many disciplines related to water conservancy alone. Liu Kuan, why didn't you tell me these things sooner?"

Liu Kuan looked wronged and explained, "Your Majesty, I knew very little about water conservancy before, not even the basics. I only learned about it through this video."

Zhu Yuanzhang was just saying it casually and didn't really mean to blame Liu Kuan.

He then changed the subject and asked, "So, shouldn't our Great Ming University now have a department that specializes in water conservancy?"

Liu Kuan said, "Of course there is."

"That would be good." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, then changed the subject, "I remember that the Yellow River changed its course again during the Manchu Qing Dynasty, flowing into the sea via the Daqing River. In that case, could our Ming Dynasty change the Yellow River's course ahead of time, and thus completely solve the floods and saline-alkali land in Jiangbei?"

Liu Kuandao said, "In theory, it is possible, but whether it is feasible and how to do it is best to consult a professional who understands water conservancy."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Biao'er, how about we put this matter on the agenda after the government opens this year?"

"Your subject also has the same idea." Zhu Biao nodded.

Since the Yellow River diverted its course to the Huai River and flowed into the sea, the lower reaches of the Yellow and Huai Rivers have been prone to flooding, which has turned a large area of ​​land into saline-alkali land.

Although the Ming Dynasty has made improvements through a series of water conservancy projects over the years, the results have not been significant.

After learning that the Yellow River would change its course again and flow into the sea via the Daqing River in the north, Zhu Yuanzhang had been thinking about artificially changing the course of the Yellow River earlier.

Having witnessed the grand water conservancy projects of the future, and with the current strength and abundance of resources of the Ming Dynasty, it is natural to hope that this project can be implemented to see if it can significantly reduce floods in the Yellow and Huai River regions.

While Lao Zhu and Liu Kuan were discussing water conservancy matters, the others did not say anything.

After all, for others, while this video of China's flood control efforts in later generations is entertaining and contains many shocking scenes, the content itself is not really worth discussing.

People like Tang He and Lan Yu were only secretly curious about which dynasty Liu Kuan was in before he came to the Ming Dynasty, what the dynasty's name was, and how he could have undertaken so many grand projects without causing any resentment among the people, which was quite strange.

It should be noted that the frequent peasant uprisings at the end of the Yuan Dynasty were due to several factors. While the corruption of the court, the rampant bureaucracy, and natural disasters were contributing factors, another significant reason was the Yuan court's massive conscription of people to repair the Yellow River, which resulted in immense hardship for the people and widespread resentment. (End of Chapter)