King of Song

Chapter 433

The Liuta River plan was undoubtedly a failure. The Song Dynasty lost a lot of manpower and material resources because of this. Even the workers who built the embankment had no time to evacuate, and a breach occurred, and many people drowned as a result.

Since then, the Yellow River has still ravaged the land of Hebei, and as time goes by, the river course has also undergone some changes.In the place east of Daming Mansion, the Yellow River divides into two branches, and continues northward, following the route of the first diversion of the Yellow River, passing through the Yu River into the Jie River, and entering the sea at the junction of Song and Liao.

Because the North Stream of the Yellow River had a huge impact on the defense of many ponds in the Liao Kingdom, there was always a saying in the Song Dynasty that the North Stream was blocked.It's just that since Li Zhongchang and others failed to manage the Yellow River, no one dared to mention river management for a long time.After all, the lesson of Liutahe is still vivid in his mind. If he is not sure, how dare he risk the wealth and lives of the Song Dynasty and many people.

The section where the tributaries of the Yellow River pass through Weizhou is called the Ergu River, which is 130 feet wide. The Yellow River descends [-] miles from the Ergu River to the junction of Wei, En, De, and Bo states, which is called the Four Jieshou.In the fifth year of Jiayou's reign, Han Zhi, the transfer envoy of the capital of Hebei, proposed to send [-] young adults to dredge the Ergu River every year, diverting the water from the Ergu River into the Jin and Chi rivers.

If the excavation of the Ergu River is successful, the Yellow River can pass through the Wei and Enzhous to flow eastward to the De and Cangzhous and enter the sea. Therefore, the water flow of the Yellow River can be divided into two streams and enter the sea, thus preventing the danger of channel blockage in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. As well as the disaster caused by the poor drainage of the Yellow River water, it can also alleviate the flood caused by the Yellow River breach.

Afterwards, Han Zhi submitted his "Four Worlds First Ergu River Map" to the central government. According to his suggestion, the imperial court enlisted [-] soldiers and completed the excavation of Ergu River one month later.At this point, the water of the Yellow River splits into two and enters the sea.

However, the situation that the Yellow River still flows north has not decreased, so there have been voices in the Song court to block the north flow and completely let the river flow east.After all, this is for the sake of national defense. Without those ponds and the Yellow River, Bianjing, the capital of the Song Dynasty, would be directly exposed to the iron hooves of the Liao people. Therefore, this problem must be resolved as soon as possible without delay.

It's just that the plan to block the northern flow failed to be completed until the current emperor Zhao Xu succeeded to the throne. In the first year of Xining, the river was decided in Enzhou, and the land of Hebei suffered another disaster.At that time, the envoys of the Liao Kingdom died in Bianjing, so that the Khitan cavalry was ready to move, which put great pressure on the Song Dynasty.

After learning from the pain, Emperor Zhao Xu felt that the flood in the Yellow River must be resolved as soon as possible.Wang Anshi, the new prime minister, also expressed his support for this, so he immediately increased investment to control the Yellow River.The solution is naturally to block the north flow, so that the river flows east into the sea.In the second year of Xining, the dam was finally built to cut off the Yellow River's northern flow and allow the Yellow River to flow eastward.The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty breathed a sigh of relief, and the flood in the Yellow River seemed to have finally been resolved.

But only in the past two years, the Yellow River has become more and more silted up, and there are still many dangerous situations on the embankment.It’s okay if there is no flood, but if there is a flood, it’s really hard to say whether there will be another breach and diversion.

It's a pity that the sky doesn't follow people's wishes. The overall climate in the Northern Song Dynasty was colder than that in later generations, so there was more rainfall in the Yellow River Basin.This is also an important reason why the Yellow River floods often occur.

In the four years of Xining, there has been drought since late spring, and there has been no rain, so that the crops on both sides of the Yellow River have been greatly affected, showing a trend of reduced production or even no harvest.This is not a big deal. The money and grain of the Great Song Dynasty have always relied on the southeast. As long as the Jiangnan and Jianghuai harvests are abundant, and then come through the North Canal, the problem can be easily solved.

Therefore, the officials and ministers did not take the drought to heart, they were worried about the flood.It is very common for there to be severe floods after severe droughts, so I ordered Si Tianjian to observe carefully.Although Jianzheng An Chongning is not good at solar terms and weather observations, he still does his best and gathers many good people to make joint observations. The conclusion is that there will be rain in autumn, and the rain may be too heavy.

This kind of memorial requires skill, and An Chongning also knew that neither the officials nor the civil and military of the Manchu Dynasty wanted such a result, but he still wanted to report like this.This is the real plan for a rainy day. First of all, if there is a possibility of heavy rain, the imperial court will inevitably take strict precautions. If a flood does occur, it can be dealt with in time to reduce losses.If there had been no flood, the court would have breathed a sigh of relief and rejoiced.Even if it is a false report, the officials will not blame it much, after all, no loss has been caused.

But if it is reported that there is no rain in the autumn, but it will be rainy and rainy then, it will be too much to eat and walk away.When something happened, all ministers in the imperial court must blame each other, and someone must come forward to take responsibility, and Si Tianjian may be the scapegoat.So it's natural and safe to do so.

As soon as the observation results came out, everyone from the emperor Zhao Xu to the civil and military officials was very nervous.In addition to preparing for possible disasters, there is also a faint hope in my heart, it is best not to rain...

It's a pity that they were disappointed. They were really hit by An Chongning's crow's words, and it was mid-June in midsummer.The hot and dry weather suddenly turned uncharacteristically, it began to rain, and it lasted for a long time...

As a result, the officials and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty began to worry. The Yellow River instantly became the number one confidant of the Song Dynasty. All eyes fell on the Yellow River embankment, lest they accidentally burst again...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lin Zhao saw the water of the Yellow River when he returned to Bianjing, and he didn't stay in Fuzhou for a long time. Because he was worried that Meng Ruoying's pregnancy, and the sudden rain, the journey might be hindered, so he left early.Zhewenxin understood this very well and did not stop it!
But Zhe Kexing asked Lin Zhao to leave after some persuasion.It just so happened that the edict from Bianjing to reward Lin Zhao arrived together, allowing Lin Zhao to return to Bianjing, so he could leave in a fair manner.

Of course, Lin Zhao still had to say hello to Han Jiang, the Xuanfu envoy of Shanxi Road.Lin Zhao specially sent someone to deliver gifts, and bid farewell to Han Jiang, Zhong Jia, Liu Changzuo and others.In order to take a shortcut, when returning, Lin Zhao and Zhewenxin took the east road.In this way, going directly to the southeast can save a lot of distance.

Before leaving, although Li Cheng and others were guarding him, Zhe Kexing didn't seem to be at ease, so he specially ordered Achang and others to accompany him.The implication is very clear, from now on Achang will be Zhe Wenxin's dowry and the guard of the Lin family.What's more special is that Zhe Kexing's youngest daughter, Zhe Meifeng, has a very close relationship with her aunt Zhe Wenxin, and even clamored to go to her aunt's house as a guest.

The three- and four-year-old girl clings on and won't let go, Zhe Kexing is also quite helpless.In the end, Lin Zhao said, "As long as brother-in-law is at ease, let's take our little niece to live in Bianjing for a while!"

"That's troublesome!" Zhe Kexing doted on this woman very much, so he naturally agreed.With a younger sister and a younger brother-in-law, the daughter will definitely not suffer.

Lin Zhao thought to himself, Uncle Gu Qi's family moved to Bianjing, Dong Ping and Yan Gu are already three or four years old, it would be better if they had more children and more playmates.At the same time, this child can be regarded as a link between himself and the Fuzhou Zhe family.

"Okay, okay, go with aunt, go with aunt!" The little girl didn't feel any reluctance to leave home, she was very happy.

Along the way, the little girl was also a pistachio, very funny.The trouble for Ruyi is that when night falls, she will cry out to sleep with her aunt.Now Lin Zhao was a little embarrassed, he had to wait for the little girl to fall asleep before kissing Fangze.

Seeing Zhewenxin taking care of the children, Lin Zhao joked, "I didn't realize that Wenxin of my family is a good wife and mother!"

"How can..."

"Meifeng, if you take care of me so well, then our own children will naturally be taken care of more properly."

"But not yet..."

"Maybe there will be one today, come, wait to sow seeds for my husband..."

Just when Lin Zhao raised his gun and jumped on his horse to start the battle, he suddenly mentioned the little girl in the room crying and shouting, "Auntie..."

Zhe Wenxin had no choice but to go to have a look, which made Lin Zhao a little embarrassed...

Pass Jinyang along the way, go south through Pingyang, and cross the river near Huazhou.As a result, at the ferry, the action quickly slowed down.

There is no other reason, the rain lasted for a long time, the water in the Yellow River soared, and the boat on the river was naturally under pressure.

"Husband, why is this river so fast, can we still cross the river?"

"I've already sent someone to investigate, it should be ok..." When Lin Zhao replied, he was already deeply worried.Judging from this situation, this year's Yellow River flooding is likely to be more serious again.Especially on cloudy and rainy days, it was raining all the way from Fuzhou to Huazhou, and their trip was delayed a lot.

And all the rainwater finally collected into the Yellow River, and the water level naturally skyrocketed. The situation is really not optimistic.Although he is currently only the Marquis of Weiyuan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, but this country has a great relationship with him, so he is naturally very worried.
Soon afterwards, Li Cheng came to report that the ship had been found.And there are the most experienced boatmen who chose a stable river section and can cross the river.Along the way, there were people from Mingyue Sect standing in front of them. They must have made proper arrangements, so Lin Zhao was naturally relieved.

"Young master, hurry up and cross the river. The boatman said that if there are two more nights, he will definitely not dare to cross the river. I'm afraid..."

"How about the time?"

"There may be a river battle!"

Lin Zhao's mood suddenly became cloudy again, and he didn't dare to delay getting on the boat to cross the river immediately.Fortunately, although the water level is high, the optional river section is not very turbulent, and the boatman's boat handling skills are also good, so it is smooth to cross.

When I abandoned the boat and stepped on the shore, I found that there were many civilians and soldiers waiting on the embankment on the south bank, as if they were guarding against the breach of the Yellow River.Not far to the east of Huazhou is Bianjing, and this section of the embankment naturally cannot allow dangerous situations...

"The loess embankment is easy to break after being soaked. It would be great if it could be stronger!" Zhe Wenxin was also deeply worried.

The little girl Zhemeifeng clapped her hands and said, "It's made of iron..."

"Silly boy, how can there be so much iron to repair the embankment?"

Lin Zhao listened to the childish words and smiled lightly, and then suddenly his expression changed.Iron cannot be used, but there are other things that can be as hard as iron!

(End of this chapter)