Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 57, Man and Nature

"Forests and vegetation play a very important role. Forests and vegetation can lock water. When there is a flood, it can store water, which greatly reduces the impact of floods. When there is a drought, it can also release water. effects of the drought."

"In simple terms, it is a mediator to make the impact of drought and flood smaller."

"Once the forest and vegetation are destroyed, it means that this mediation function will be lost. During the flood, the flood will be more severe, and it will easily break the embankment and submerge the farmland."

"When there is a drought, because there is no vegetation and no forest, it will become more severe."

Liu Jin continued to speak, but his words were a bit messy.

However, Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jian and others listened with great interest, and seemed to think about this issue in combination with the knowledge in their minds.

"I have been to Shaanxi, and I have indeed seen the scene of heavy rain in Shaanxi. As the young master said, under the heavy rain, the loess is full of gullies, and the soil is completely washed away."

Liu Jian is from Henan in the north. He has been to Shaanxi before and witnessed it with his own eyes, so he also spoke.

"The same heavy rain, in the southern region, it is difficult to cause any impact, because the southern region has many forests and vast vegetation, no matter how heavy the rain is, it will not cause any floods. Even if there is a flood, its impact can be minimized , of course there will be no problem."

Liu Jin nodded after listening, and then continued: "The north has a long history and a large population. Whether it is daily life, building houses, building cities, wars in the past dynasties, etc., it has caused huge damage to forests and vegetation. , Of course, the biggest thing is that all dynasties have encouraged reclamation and turning mountains into fields."

"During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Guanzhong area was still the center, and it was still the center until the Tang Dynasty. But now, the environment in the Guanzhong area is completely bad, and it has gradually lost the advantage of the center."

"A big reason for this is that the environment has been destroyed, and the population is constantly migrating south to places with better environments."

Hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi thought for a while and asked: "Isn't this tree growing naturally? It should never be cut down."

"How should we address this question? It takes a hundred years to grow people and ten years to grow trees. Like people, trees need a process and time to grow."

"It may take decades or even hundreds of years for a embracing tree to grow, but it only takes half an hour to cut it down."

Liu Jin thought for a while and said, "Maybe you still can't understand, let me think about it."

"Yes, let's talk about the area where the capital is located. When our dynasty was established, the mountains and forests around the capital were very lush, and there were many kinds of towering trees. Before the capital was moved, the surrounding area of ​​the capital The mountains are full of trees."

"But since the capital was moved here, the capital has a large population, and now it has a population of one million. With these millions of people, the firewood that needs to be used every day is very huge, and mountains need to be burned."

"Up to now, after more than 100 years, the tall trees in the mountains around the capital have been cut down, and the remaining small trees are also declining at a terrible speed. I don't think so. It will take too long, and in another 100 years, there will be no wood to cut around the capital."

Liu Jin thought of everything he saw when he came to the capital. The environment of this era is still very good. Although the Beijing area of ​​later generations has worked hard to plant trees and build the Three North Shelter Forest, it is still not as good as it is today. Environment, so let’s take things around the capital area as an example.

"This is indeed the case. I am in the charcoal business, and I have a deep understanding of this."

When Qian Youcai, who had been silent all this time, heard this, he immediately opened his mouth to speak, and everyone looked over.

"I have been in this charcoal business for more than 20 years. This business was also taken over from my father. I remember when I was young, when my father ran this charcoal shop, the purchases could be made in the vicinity of Yanjing. , all kinds of good charcoal are available."

"But by the time I got it, the high-quality wood in the Yanjing area had already been cut down. Now all good charcoal needs to be purchased from Shanxi. Only offal charcoal can be purchased in the Yanjing area."

"The burning of this charcoal consumes a lot of wood. When I went to buy, I saw that green hills were cut down and used to burn charcoal."

"As Mr. Liu said, if the Yanjing area continues like this, it will not take a hundred years. I estimate that in a few decades or so, all the trees in the mountains and rivers of the Yanjing area will be cut down."

Qian Youcai was a little nervous, thought for a while and said.

"There is such a thing?"

Emperor Hongzhi, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang, Liu Jian and others immediately frowned when they heard this. They lived here every day, but they didn't notice this at all.

I didn't quite believe Liu Jin's words at first, but now that Qian Youcai has come out to testify, it seems that this statement is not false. Go back and check the information, let someone investigate, and you can know whether their words are true or not. fake.

"If you can see the leopard in the tube, you can get a glimpse. If the Yanjing area is like this, the whole north has gone through a long history of development, and naturally it will not be spared."

"In addition, there are many plains in the northern region. The terrain is open and there is no forest or vegetation cover. Everything has been turned into farmland. When there is a flood, the flood is more severe, and when there is a drought, it is a vast area."

"The northern region has a large population. Once a disaster occurs, there will be huge problems immediately. If the disaster relief is not timely or the disaster relief is not effective, there will be refugees everywhere, and the flames of war will be everywhere."

"Compared to the southern region, it is much better, much better. The southern region was developed late, and the destruction of forest vegetation and so on is not serious. In addition, there are many mountains and lakes, and the population is relatively smaller, and the density is much smaller. Natural disasters Even if there are any floods, droughts and the like, the impact is limited, and there have been few problems since ancient times."

Liu Jin looked at the others and continued.

"In fact, in the final analysis, this is the relationship between man and nature. We have taken forests from nature, turned them into fields, and fed more people. Nature will give back all this to us. In the end, it is the We are ourselves."

After listening, Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang and others were all silent, thinking carefully about what Liu Jin said just now. It was the first time they had heard what Liu Jin said today. There is such an explanation for the rise and fall of dynasties.

　A bit long-winded,··~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)