King of Song

Chapter 437 The Yellow River Can't Be Saved?
The struggle for the throne is doomed to life and death. When Lin Zhao made this decision, he knew that there would be such a risk.

But Cao Shi has a heart of compassion, and she still has feelings for Zhao Xu, which makes her wavering even after she decides to help Lin Zhao.Or rather, he somewhat cared about Zhao Xu and the others.

But the matter is of great importance, and the heart is wavering, and there will be changes sooner or later, Lin Zhao does not hope that.Therefore, a strong dose of medicine must be given to stimulate Cao Shi and make her make up her mind.

Regarding the deaths of the three elder brothers, Di Qing did investigate, and Zhao Yunrang was suspected, but it was not certain, at least there was no evidence.However, it is true that Concubine Lin was murdered, so the Cao family will probably believe it.

No matter what happened, the three children who died would call her Niang Niang, and she regarded her as her own bastard.Emperor Renzong has no children, will she feel better?You must know that in ancient times, the childlessness in the palace could be used as a reason for abolishing the empress, and her status was also precarious back then.She is definitely not alone, behind the rise and fall of the entire Cao family.

Those three children were killed like this, can she let it go?What made her even more painful was that the murderer turned out to be Zhao Zongshi, who was raised by herself, and his father. The only remaining mother-child relationship was also destroyed, and it disappeared instantly.

Cao didn't even want to be an accomplice, after all, Zhao Zongshi was taken into the palace to be raised by her, and she facilitated everything.As a result, Zhao Yunrang had unreasonable thoughts, so that the sons of Renzong suffered hardships and their descendants withered.Mrs. Cao is a kind person, she vaguely felt that she was an accomplice, or was being used by others, so she naturally felt uncomfortable.

What Lin Zhao said naturally aroused her a little, and she knew how to choose.Anyway, Zhao Xu and Gao Taotao were not as serious as Lin Zhao's whole son.

The reason why I visited my mother was to gain her understanding and support.It is really important to be of the orthodox royal blood, so that the name can be justified, and it is possible to compete with Zhao Xu.

Of course, this competition must not be so smooth, and it is destined to be bloody.Perhaps, as Lin Zhao said, it will be a situation of endless death.

Zhao Xu will never be merciful to himself, and he doesn't need to be merciful. If he wants to achieve great things, he will definitely not be kind to a woman.

On the way back, Lin Zhao glanced back at the Chui Gong Hall in the distance, showing a sneer.Zhao Xu is an opponent, and he will definitely be put to death in the future, but right now he must be used to strengthen himself.

Looking at her husband's expression, Chai Minyan was full of doubts.The Empress Dowager Miao is very healthy and seems to have no disease.As for the quarrel with Zhao Fukang, it didn't seem to be that serious. After a few words of persuasion, Miao took her to gossip about family affairs, and the purpose seemed to be to delay time.

Who is the delay for?The answer is self-evident.

When he returned to the main hall, Chai Minyan also vaguely felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere, but he couldn't put it into words carefully, it was purely a woman's intuition.She thought that Zhao Fukang seemed to have sent himself away on purpose and left him alone in Lin Zhao. What's the relationship between this?
Chai Minyan suddenly thought that when Husband was wronged and went to the execution ground, the Empress Dowager, Princess Dachang, and even uncle Cao Guo worked so hard to rescue him.Outsiders thought it was her fault, but Chai Minyan knew it best.From this point of view, there seems to be some special connection between Fu Lang and the Queen Mother, or the Cao family.

Chai Minyan wanted to ask, but he hesitated when he opened his mouth. If he could, Fulang would tell him.Since he didn't say it, it makes sense.

Lin Zhao also noticed Chai Minyan's reaction, and it's not surprising that Lan Xinhuizhi, a clever wife, saw some clues.It's just that it's not a good time right now, and it would be inconvenient to tell her. Lin Zhao is very sorry for this.

"Minyan, it's not convenient to tell you some things at the moment, so..."

"Husband, don't be embarrassed, what should be asked and what should not be asked, be quick and eloquent."

"Okay, don't tell the third person what happened today, you will understand some things one day."

Sure enough, something happened, and it mattered a lot.Chai Minyan is a sensible person, so he naturally understands the seriousness.

Lin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, and Daye took another small step forward, and then he needed to continue plotting.

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Zhao Xu in the Chuigong Hall sneezed suddenly, as if he had caught a cold.He stared blankly at the gloomy sky outside and the pattering rain, and shook his head slightly.

It's only July, and even though it's already autumn, it's definitely not so cold under normal circumstances, but now this situation is all thanks to the rain.

It has been raining almost continuously for a month, and if it rains only in one place, it will be fine.However, according to the report he received, it was raining on Shaanxi Road, East Road, Hebei Road, and Jingdong Road. These places are the main roads through which the Yellow River flows.The main tributaries of Weishui, Fenshui and Luoshui have greatly increased their water volume, and when they converge in the main stream of the Yellow River, the turbid waves are emptied, and the flood peak is formed.

Such weather is undoubtedly testing the Yellow River, testing the bearing capacity of the embankment, and also testing the Great Song Dynasty.Once the Yellow River breaks its embankment, or if there is another diversion, it will be a huge disaster for the Song Dynasty.

When Si Tianjian came to report that there would be rain in autumn, Zhao Xu was very depressed. He wished that Si Tianjian's report was wrong, but unfortunately things backfired, and it happened to be so accurate.

The flooding of the Yellow River troubled Zhao Xu a lot. Only then did he realize that being an emperor is more difficult than he imagined, especially being a good emperor who can do something is even more difficult.

It has been four years since he took the throne, but what has he done?Although the reform led by Wang Anshi has achieved certain results, the financial revenue in the accounts is constantly increasing.However, many officials opposed it, and the response from the people did not seem to be very good.Although this is likely to be just the initial pain, it will be fine to get over it (wishful thinking).But for some reason, he found that he was a little powerless, and vaguely felt that the prospects were not so good.

For a moment, Zhao Xu was a little hesitant.The Song Dynasty seems to be beautiful and prosperous, but there are already many disadvantages inside.Except for Taizu and Taizong who worked hard to rule and expand the territory, the other generations of kings seemed to be sitting and eating.During the decades of Emperor Renzong's rule, although it was a prosperous and prosperous age, during the Taiping period, the accumulation of maladministration was the most.

Now it's in his own hands that it officially started to explode. He wants to solve it, wants to change this situation, and rejuvenates the Song Dynasty.But... alas!

But God doesn't seem to help much, the Yellow River alone is enough for him.Because of concerns about the Yellow River breach and internal political instability, even under the premise of a major victory in the Northwest War, they still compromised with Xixia.

He didn't want to be like this, but he had to be so weak, it was really distressing.It is Zhao Xu's wish to restore the country and strengthen the army, but unfortunately it has not been going very smoothly. Could it be that God deliberately made things difficult for me?

For the current plan, Zhao Xu's only hope is that the Yellow River will not have any more problems, and it is best to have a smooth transition.

But many things always fail to meet people's wishes!
On July 21, the fourth year of Xining, the Huazhou section of the Yellow River overflowed, and the embankment collapsed for a while, almost breaking through.When the news came, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were very anxious.The distance between Huazhou and Bianjing is not very far. Once the south bank of Huazhou breaks the embankment, the flood will directly affect Bianjing.

Even if the city of Bianjing can be preserved, several important canals will inevitably be greatly affected. In the case of problems on the Hebei Road, water transport is the lifeblood of the Song Dynasty, and there must be no problems at all.

Therefore, Emperor Zhao Xu issued a strict order to protect the Huazhou embankment.The Ministry of Industry mobilized tens of thousands of people for this, and even dispatched the Imperial Army to protect it. In the end, there was no danger.

But after all, it was rainy and rainy, and the water level of the Yellow River remained high, which could not be relieved.The mud embankment has been soaked for a long time, and it has become softer and more fragile, and it cannot last for a long time at all.

In the Northern Song Dynasty, the breach of the Yellow River mostly occurred on Hebei Road. After all, the terrain there is lower, and it is natural for the water to flow to the lower place.Because of the frequent breaches and the recent diversion, the embankment of the Yellow River on Hebei Road is not strong, and the maintenance cannot keep up with it, so breaches are less likely to occur.

The crisis in Huazhou has just passed three days, and the most worrying thing still happened.This year the Yellow River's embankment breach seems inevitable, and the crisis is inevitable.

On July 23, the embankment of the Yellow River near Damingfu burst.

Emperor Zhao Xu was shocked when he heard the news.In the thousands of lands in Hebei, it is better to breach anywhere than in Daming Mansion, but this is the case, which is really helpless, because the breach that happened in Daming Mansion is fundamentally different from other places.

Because the Yellow River is flowing north again, the Erguhe plan failed.

In the second year of Xining, the imperial court made great efforts to rest and reorganize the Ergu River, diverting the water of the Yellow River to the east and reducing the amount of water flowing north.In this way, the amount of sediment in many ponds in Yanbian can be reduced, which is beneficial to national defense.With the continuous dredging of the east flow, it may be considered to completely block the north flow in the future, so that the water of the Yellow River can completely flow eastward and solve the problem of flooding in the Yellow River.

But now that this kind of situation has appeared, the Erguhe plan, which has gone through a lot of hardships and cost countless financial resources, ended in failure.The Yellow River flowed north again, and the land of Hebei became a vast ocean for thousands of miles.The ponds of the frontier defense were once again affected by sediment, which once again threatened the national defense of the Song Dynasty.

This is a very proud achievement of Zhao Xu since he came to power. It is the same as winning the battle of Suizhou and grabbing land from Xixia.It was the only thing he was proud of, but it all ended in disgrace.This was a huge blow to Zhao Xu's face and confidence.

What is more important is the deep-seated influence, that is, the river control schemes of the Northern Song Dynasty all ended in failure.The Liuta River plan failed, the Ergu River also failed, and the old course of the Yellow River Henglong has been silted up for many years and it is difficult to repair. In this case, does it mean that the Yellow River in the Song Dynasty is hopeless?
(End of this chapter)