Top Scholar

Chapter 625 Yongding Water Tank
[The Yongding River was then called the Wuding River, correction.]

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the morning wind in Beijing was biting, and it still stung like needles when it hit my face.

As soon as the city gates opened, Su Lu, surrounded by his entourage and guards, rode out of the city. Accompanying him, besides Zhu Zihe and others, was Liu Daxia, who had just finished inspecting disaster relief efforts in Shandong and was returning to the capital overnight to report back.

Su Lu didn't treat Lao Liu like a human being at all, but treated him like an animal to be used. Liu Daxia had only arrived in Beijing yesterday evening and had just rested for one night when Su Lu dragged him straight to the southern foot of Shijingshan this morning.

There is a natural depression here called Daningwa, bordered by the Wuding River to the west, Shijingshan Mountain to the north, and three miles south of Lugou Bridge. It is a treasure land for water retention described in the "Water Classic" as having "land for flood control and roads for water diversion". It is precisely because of this unique terrain that the "Yongding Water Reservoir" project was developed.

The group dismounted at the edge of the depression and followed Su Lu down the barren slope. The yellow soil beneath their feet was soft and dry, crumbling and crumbling with every step.

"Sir, be careful!" Seeing Su Lu slip and slide down the slope, Song Xiaoyi and the others rushed down to help him, raising a cloud of dust.

"Cough cough, I'm fine." Su Lu waved his hand, patted his bottom and stood up. "Help the old man."

"I'm even less of a concern!" Liu Daxia said proudly. "Back in the day, I walked on the riverbank as if it were flat ground, unlike you who have no foothold..."

Before he could finish speaking, he slipped and tumbled down the slope...

"Sir!" The crowd rushed down and helped him up.

"Sigh, I can't deny I'm getting old." Liu Daxia got up, looking disheveled. To cover his embarrassment, he quickly looked up and gazed into the distance. He saw that the vast depression was clearly a triangle with two equal sides, about six li long and two li and four li wide.

In the vast depression, large swaths of cracked, parched earth were exposed, the crisscrossing fissures resembling the wrinkles on his face. Everywhere lay withered, fallen reeds and dried fish bones... the scars left by years of severe drought.

Having lived in the capital for a long time, Liu Daxia naturally knew that this depression was a natural water retention area of ​​the Wuding River.

The Wuding River, also known as the Hun River or the Little Yellow River, is so named because it is extremely prone to flooding.

Every flood season, the Wuding River overflows, and this area is always flooded, sometimes three or four times a year—flooded after the wheat harvest, then during the summer flood, and then during the autumn flood. It becomes impossible to cultivate, naturally turning into a desolate wetland.

However, three consecutive years of severe drought turned this wetland into a dry wasteland.

Liu Daxia bent down, grabbed a handful of yellow soil, brought it to his nose and sniffed it for a moment, then rubbed it between his fingers. He then said to Su Lu in a deep voice, “Scholar Su, the soil in this depression is thick and sticky, making it difficult for water to seep in. If we dig it a zhang deep and reinforce the embankment, it will become an excellent water storage area.”

As he spoke, he pointed towards the Wuding River and said, "The terrain on the west side, near the river, is slightly higher, which is perfect for building a dam. We can take soil and quarry stones on the spot, digging and building at the same time, which will save a lot of manpower for transportation. In addition, it is adapted to local conditions and is not difficult. As long as we have enough manpower, we can finish the project before the peach blossom season."

"Truly worthy of being called Lord Liu!" The officials were full of admiration upon hearing this. Liu Daxia had come to see the place in person and made a casual remark that was almost identical to the plan they had drafted over the past month or two.

This is also why Su Lu brought Liu Daxia along.

Although this old man was easily fooled and lacked a sense of the big picture, making many strategic mistakes throughout his life, he was indeed the best water conservancy expert of his time.

In the spring of the sixth year of the Hongzhi reign, the Yellow River breached its banks at Zhangqiu, causing shock throughout the court and the country. The late emperor inquired who could go to manage the situation. Wang Shu, the Minister of Personnel, and others jointly recommended Liu Daxia, and the emperor immediately promoted him to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and sent him to Zhangqiu to manage the river.

Upon assuming office, Liu Daxia personally went to the site to conduct an on-site survey, accurately formulated a plan, dredged the Jialu River, and also dredged the upstream waterways of Sunjiadu and Sifuying to reduce the water's force. Subsequently, he set off from Zuocheng, passing through Dongming and Changyuan, all the way to Xuzhou, and built a long dike that stretched for 360 li.

This effort completely eradicated the local flooding problem, leading to the renaming of Zhangqiu Town to Anping Town. Liu Daxia's reputation soared, making him the foremost water management expert in the Ming Dynasty, and he traveled to various water conservancy construction sites...

That's why Su Lu invited him over to give a final check before the 'Yongding Water Tank' project started.

~~
After surveying the terrain, the group climbed out of the depression and rested for a while. Su Lu asked Lin Wenpei, the Director of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Works who was in charge of the engineering design, to explain the plan to Liu Daxia.

Although Lin Wenpei had served in the Ministry of Works for many years and was quite knowledgeable about water conservancy, he was so nervous in front of Liu Daxia, a legendary water management expert, that his palms were sweating and he spoke very cautiously.

"Reporting to Lord Su and Lord Liu, the main dam will be built on the west side of the river, with a core of grass and soil, an outer layer of stone slabs for slope protection, and a bottom layer of wooden piles for reinforcement. After repeated surveys and calculations, we have determined that the dam will be 80 zhang long, 3 zhang 5 chi high, and 2 zhang wide at the top."

"The junction between the depression and the river is forty zhang wide. We plan to widen it to seventy zhang to increase the flow rate and retain as much water as possible," he explained, pointing to the engineering drawings.
“We checked the archives of the Water Conservancy Bureau. Historically, the highest water level of the Wuding River during the flood season was 18 feet. We have reserved a buffer height of 18 feet, firstly to prevent rare floods, and secondly to cooperate with the design of the spillway so that the water tank has enough flood storage space.”

"Yes, this design is very sound." Liu Daxia nodded, his usual sharpness and competence returning once he entered his professional field. He emphasized in a deep voice, "This place is too close to the capital. The most important thing for such a large-scale water conservancy project is to ensure its safety. There can't be any problems." "Master Liu's words are wise and experienced," Su Lu chimed in. "That's why I told them to be extremely cautious and to leave enough redundancy."

Liu Daxia nodded and continued to ask, "How should the slope be designed?"

Lin Wenpei, no longer nervous, calmly replied, "The riverside slope needs to withstand flood impact, so it should be gentle, with a slope of 12 feet for every 10 feet high; the slope near the counter has a gentler current, so it can be slightly steeper, with a slope of 8 feet for every 10 feet high. Thatch should be planted on both slopes to both stabilize the soil and prevent cracking, as well as to guide water flow and drainage..."

How should a sluice gate be designed?

"..."

~~
Liu Daxia had originally planned to show off his skills, point out a few potential problems, and offer some suggestions for improvement, so that the kid surnamed Su wouldn't think he was so important all the time...

After listening to Lin Wenpei's complete introduction of the entire project, he found that the plan was very meticulous and comprehensive in every aspect, with nothing to add or modify.

After all, this was a plan that the Water Conservancy Engineering Office had organized with various water conservancy experts from Beijing to conduct repeated surveys and discussions before finalizing. In addition, the project itself was not complicated, so it could naturally be considered quite thoroughly, and at least Liu Daxia could not find fault with it in a short time.

He glanced at Su Lu with a complicated expression. This kid obviously didn't understand water conservancy, but that was precisely what made him so scary.

In Liu Daxia's view, there's nothing to be proud of in doing one's job impeccably—it's simply one's duty. Surely no one can be so bad at their own profession?
What's truly impressive is the ability to lead a group of experts and make them do things they don't understand perfectly and flawlessly!
Such people do exist, such as Yang Yiqing, Wang Qiong, and Liu Daxia... But how old are they? How much experience have they accumulated and how many losses have they suffered?
Su Lu has accomplished this at such a young age! Moreover, water conservancy projects are extremely complex, involving many aspects such as water conditions, soil quality, design, materials, and manpower. There is no room for carelessness, and the planning difficulty far exceeds that of various military and political tasks.

But Su Lu, a complete novice, was able to design the "Yongding Water Tank Project" almost perfectly right from the start. This is enough to demonstrate that his organizational and coordination abilities, as well as his management and assessment skills, have reached a level that many so-called "capable ministers" can hardly achieve in their entire lives...

When Liu Daxia was in Shandong, he met Yang Yiqing once, and they inevitably talked about Su Lu.

When asked about his impression of Su Zhuangyuan, Su Zhuangyuan said he was a "sharp-tongued and impolite young man." Although he seemed to have a clear understanding of issues, he said that such young people are all talk and no action, and while they may be invincible in words, they are powerless in deeds!
Yang Yiqing laughed and said, "Your judgment is as good as ever!"

Liu Daxia didn't realize it at the time, but now he understands that the man surnamed Yang was laughing at him back then, and that he had misjudged him again...

Thinking of this, Liu Daxia felt his face flush, but luckily he was already covered in soot that no one would notice his embarrassment. Still, he was embarrassed and quickly tried to make conversation:

"Have we gathered enough people for the project?"

“We’ve gathered them all,” Su Lu nodded. “A total of 100,000 laborers, plus 5,000 Imperial Guards for security.”

“It is a year of famine, and the people are already struggling to make a living. Aren’t you afraid that conscripting 100,000 laborers will cause a civil unrest?” Liu Daxia asked worriedly.

Su Lu shook his head and explained with a smile, "Don't worry, sir, we haven't employed a single laborer. Half of these 100,000 laborers are disaster victims we helped last year. Now they have recovered and are grateful for the Emperor's great kindness, so they have all volunteered to work. The other half are the families of the soldiers of the three major camps. The Yongding Water Tank is mainly for their benefit, so they are all full of energy and do not need to be conscripted."

"Are all the money, food, and supplies ready?"

“Of course.” Su Lu nodded.

"When will construction begin?" Liu Daxia asked.

“We originally planned to start work after the fifteenth of the lunar month,” Su Lu said with a smile, “but both the disaster victims and the families of the soldiers volunteered to start work earlier, without having to wait until after the New Year!”

"Then let's get to work as soon as possible!" Liu Daxia said solemnly. "The Wuding River is supposed to have four flood seasons a year. But in years of severe drought, only the Peach Blossom Flood is unaffected. We can't count on the other three."

“Exactly,” Lin Wenpei agreed wholeheartedly. “The peach blossom flood season doesn’t rely on rain; it depends entirely on the spring thaw of the ice. The other three flood seasons all depend on the heavens, and last year, due to a severe drought, they were all absent.”

“Then let’s start construction on the tenth of the month!” Su Lu set the construction date and then solemnly clasped his hands in a fist and said to Liu Daxia, “Master Liu, I’m entrusting the position of supervisor to you! First, to supervise the construction progress and strictly control the quality of the project; second, I also ask that you generously guide them in ramming earth, laying stones, and building sluices, impart your valuable experience, and cultivate a highly qualified water conservancy iron army!”

Liu Daxia nodded emphatically, resolutely taking on the heavy responsibility: "Don't worry, Scholar Su, I will certainly not fail you!"

(End of this chapter)