prosperous age

"My opinion on the canal is this. Either build the Jia Canal or build a sea route. The Jiaolai Canal is definitely not feasible."

Wei Guangde made his attitude clear directly and did not want to compromise.

I was almost sold by Zhang Juzheng. If I don't be tougher now, I don't know how Zhang Juzheng will handle him in the future.

Thinking about what he and Feng Bao had done, Wei Guangde couldn't help but feel angry.

Pretending that I don’t know, it’s so uncomfortable to hold it in.

Hearing what Wei Guangde said, Zhang Juzheng also became angry and loudly accused him: "The imperial court does not have the financial resources to dig the Jia Canal now, which will only waste people and money.

How much people will be recruited to dig the Canal? With so many people gathered in one place, and what you mentioned before about reforming the money laws, I have to suspect that you have ulterior motives. "

"I have ulterior motives, and I have evil intentions."

Upon hearing Zhang Juzheng's accusation, Wei Guangde immediately asked.

"You insist on restoring maritime transportation, and then you introduce the money reform law and the construction of the canal. They are all imitating the old things of the Yuan Dynasty, and you have ulterior motives."

Zhang Juzheng said immediately.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde's heart suddenly sank.

If it were Wei Guangde of later generations, he would naturally not know the meaning of Zhang Juzheng's words.

But by the Ming Dynasty, he had also studied for many years and knew a lot of history.

Zhang Juzheng's words seem to be true. Wei Guangde is really suspected of being a remnant of the former Yuan Dynasty, because his ruling thoughts have a shadow of those of the Yuan Dynasty rulers at that time.

The Yuan Dynasty regime began with the announcement of the "Edict on the Founding of the Nation" by Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. Taking the meaning of "Great Qianyuan" in the "Book of Changes", the official founding of the country was named Dayuan. After the death of Kublai Khan, emperors changed frequently. Although Guo Zuo was only Ninety-eight years, but there were eleven emperors, of which Kublai Khan himself accounted for twenty-four.

Although the Yuan Dynasty's regime was short-lived, it also experienced the process of successive dynasties turning from prosperity to decline.

In the middle and late Yuan Dynasty, due to the struggle for imperial power, the power of the ruling class of the Yuan Dynasty was weakened. There was also corruption and bribery among the ruling class. The aristocrats and landlords of the Yuan Dynasty annexed a large number of land, and the majority of farmers lost their land.

When the people's lives were extremely difficult, in order to maintain the interests of the ruling group and ensure uncontrolled luxury spending, high taxes were levied on the people. However, even so, the Yuan Dynasty still faced financial difficulties.

In order to solve the dilemma, Tuotuo, the prime minister of the Yuan Dynasty at that time, carried out reforms, and what was changed was precisely the money law.

In terms of the social crisis at that time, the economic and financial crisis was indeed a serious concern of the Yuan Dynasty. After the restoration, in order to bring the dying Yuan Dynasty back to life, the intensification of class conflicts and ethnic conflicts, as well as official corruption and administrative dysfunction were ignored. issues, directly dealing with economic and fiscal issues.

In the 10th year of the Zhizheng period, the Minister of Civil Affairs, He Zhedu, and the Governor of Zuosi, Wu Qi, proposed to change the banknote law. The main plan was to print a new type of banknotes. The Zhizheng copper coins were based on the payment of banknotes as the mother and the copper coins as the sons. The banknotes can be exchanged for thousands of copper coins.

At the same time, the original Zhongtong banknotes, Zhiyuan banknotes, and copper coins of all dynasties can still be used universally.

The banknote law of the Yuan Dynasty basically implemented a silver standard system, and there was a relatively stable exchange ratio between banknotes and silver. Therefore, although there were many disadvantages of excessive printing and issuance in the past, it did not break away from the basic monetary laws and was still socially acceptable. Within the scope of tolerance, the money method is still feasible.

The suggestion of He Zhedu and others is to abolish the silver standard and use banknotes as a symbol of value as the basis, so that the issuance of banknotes loses the value basis and constraints. In addition, several forms of currency are circulated at the same time. The final result This led to the collapse of the entire dynasty's monetary system.

Only one year after this reform was carried out, banknotes were basically no longer in circulation among the people, but were replaced by coins or barter.

Before the banknote reform, the number of banknotes printed each year in the Yuan Dynasty was about one million ingots. After the banknote reform, the number increased to about two million ingots. By the fifteenth year of the Qing Dynasty, the number of banknotes printed had reached as high as six million ingots.

The uncontrolled and indiscriminate expropriation of currency brought about a series of hazards such as soaring prices, chaos in the currency system, and even the collapse of the entire monetary system of the Yuan Dynasty.

After the new banknote law was promulgated, Tuotuo asked relevant ministers to discuss the issue of the Yellow River breach.

It has been more than five years since the river embankment burst in the fifth year of the Zhizheng Period, which has had a serious impact on the entire Huanghuai region. However, it is difficult for the courtiers to reach a consensus on this issue.

Jia Lu, the water transport envoy, advocated rebuilding the embankment and returning the Yellow River to its original course, but many other courtiers held objections.

Emperor Shun ordered Cheng Zun, Minister of Industry, and Da Sinong Tulu to inspect the breach. They visited the areas affected by the breach at the beginning of the eleventh year of Zhizheng, traveling thousands of miles. They were well aware of the mood of the people along the coast and the unrest in society. After returning to the court, he urged not to build the river.

Even in the face of opposition, Tuotuo still insisted on his opinion and petitioned Emperor Shun to appoint Jia Lu as Minister of the Ministry of Industry. He also made him the chief river control envoy and the general in charge of river control matters.

In order to control the Yellow River, in April of the eleventh year of Zhengzheng, Emperor Shun ordered to open the old route of the Yellow River, and sent 150,000 civilians from the north and south of the Yellow River and 20,000 troops from Luzhou and other places to repair the breached embankments and strengthen the north bank embankments. By November, As a result, the water of the Yellow River was completely returned to its original course, and river control was successful.

It can be said that both Jialu's strategy to regulate the river and Toto's determination to regulate the river are correct. In particular, Toto's motivation to regulate the river is to benefit the country and the people, but he did not objectively analyze the people's and society's bearing capacity, making The river regulation project was carried out at the wrong time, but unfortunately it was banned by Cheng Zunyan, which directly triggered the Red Turban Army uprising led by Han Shantong.

Han Shantong was born in a family of the White Lotus Sect, a branch of Buddhism. During the reign of Emperor Shun, he became the leader of the Northern White Lotus Sect and had great appeal among the lower class people in the Huanghuai area.

At this time, Han Shantong, Liu Futong and others secretly prepared propaganda and agitation to oppose the Yuan and restore the Song Dynasty in the name of preaching.

After they got the news that the Yuan Dynasty was going to repair the Yellow River, they sent people to carve a stone man with only one eye. On it were engraved the fourteen words "Mo Dao Stone Man has one eye, and the world will rebel when this thing comes out." Buried into the embankment section that must be passed through when repairing the river.

At the same time, he also instigated believers to spread folk songs: "One eye of the stone man stirs up rebellion in the Yellow River and the world."

In late April of the 11th year of Zhizheng, migrant workers working on the river dug out the Cyclops. The news quickly spread to various places through the river workers, creating favorable conditions for the outbreak of the Great Uprising.

In May, Han Shantong, Liu Futong and others gathered 3,000 people to pray to heaven and earth in Yingshang, far away from the river, and swore an uprising. Their slogan was: "Three thousand tigers will reach the land of Youyan; the dragon will fly in ninety-five, and the sky of the Song Dynasty will be reopened." .”

They took up the banner of resisting the Yuan Dynasty and reviving the Song Dynasty, and were called the "Hong Kong Army". Since the rebels all wore red scarves on their heads, they were called the Red Scarf Army.

This also revealed the war between heroes at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and the final winner was Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

Most people in later generations thought that the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the dynasty by building the Yellow River. In fact, the construction of the Yellow River in the Yuan Dynasty was still very successful. More than 100,000 people gathered together without any major turmoil.

However, during the disaster relief process, officials at all levels embezzled relief money and food, and very little money and food actually reached the hands of the people.

When the people saw the court's attitude, they were naturally unwilling to accept it, and their resistance was extremely strong. Driven by such emotions, many people believed that the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty had no benevolence and should be overthrown.

Incited by folk songs, some Hanshan boys gathered together to raise a rebellious flag, which led to wars and wars everywhere in the late Yuan Dynasty.

Wei Guangde also didn't realize that he put together the maritime transportation, money reform law and Xiujia Canal, which seemed to be somewhat similar to the Yuan Dynasty's governance style.

When Zhang Juzheng called him out, Wei Guangde didn't know how to answer the question.

Fortunately, Lu Tiaoyang spoke up again at this time, breaking the embarrassment in front of him. "My lord, the first assistant, I think the second assistant is just discussing the matter. Although I don't know what the reform of money law means, I believe that Mr. Wei Ge has no bad intentions and is all for the sake of the court."

After hearing Lu Tiaoyang's words, Zhang Juzheng glanced at Wei Guangde, then his face softened slightly and said: "I know Shandai is not such a person, but these things are put together, and it is inevitable that people will not think too much."

At this time, Wei Guangde knew that he had to speak, otherwise he would be tricked by Zhang Juzheng, so he said: "I did not propose the matter of building the river, it was what the chief minister thought about.

I am opposed to building rivers. I only opposed the opening of the Jiao Lai Canal proposed by the Chief Minister. Instead, I supported the Jia Canal proposed by the Ministry of Industry many years ago.

This is not the same thing as the Yellow River River Engineering in the former Yuan Dynasty. If the Chief Assistant confuses it with the other, Shandai will not accept it. "

Before Zhang Juzheng could speak, Lu Tiaoyang hurriedly interjected: "I remember there was such a motion in the early years, but it was abandoned because it cost too much money.

What Shandai said today is that the Jia Canal can solve the water transportation problem? "

Fortunately, Lu Tiaoyang is here today. He is also a pragmatist, so he hopes to bring everyone's discussion back on track.

“The Nakajia Canal starts from Pizhou and uses the nearby Dajia and Xiaojia river systems to connect to the Nanyang Xinhe River. This is the river construction completed in the first year of Longqing.

However, there were many constraints when discussing the river course at that time, so Zhu Shangshu chose a more neutral plan, which was to move the Xinhe River eastward, away from the Yellow River, so as to ensure that it would not be affected by flooding when the Yellow River overflowed.

However, the section of the Yellow River that passes through Xuzhou is ultimately a great hazard. In recent years, most breaches have occurred in this section.

When the Chief Minister came to discuss with me before and mentioned the Jiaolai Canal, I was away from the court at the time, so I didn't know the situation. I asked the Ministry of Industry about it, and then I remembered that there was such a thing. "

Wei Guangde stopped shouting now and called his chief minister directly. This shows that he is angry in his heart.

Can you not be angry when someone criticizes you more than a hundred years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty?

"Does it mean that the Ministry of Industry intends to bypass Xuzhou and build the Xinhe River?"

After hearing that Wei Guangde knew the news from the Ministry of Industry, Lu Tiaoyang hurriedly asked.

"The Ministry of Industry wants to keep the canal open, and the only way to do it is to open this new river."

Wei Guangde paused for a moment when he said this, thinking of his discussion with Zhu Heng at that time, so he went on to say: "This section of the river is about three hundred miles long, and it is really time-consuming and laborious to dig it. So when Zhu Shangshu and I discussed it at that time, we had the intention to build this river. It is scheduled to be completed in five years, instead of the previous large-scale recruitment of people, and we must seize the time to complete the project as soon as possible.

In this way, this huge expenditure can be allocated in several years, which will not put too much pressure on the imperial government's finances.

If the excavation is divided into five sections, there is no need to use the nearby people's power. Only the local people can do it. When the farmers are busy, they will be released to their homes to cultivate. The excavation will only be carried out during the slack times, and the impact on the local area will be minimal. "

"So, this proposal is feasible."

Lu Tiaoyang was immediately moved after hearing Wei Guangde's introduction.

It can be said that in the cabinet, Wei Guangde was the only one who really supported shipping. In fact, Lu Tiaoyang and Zhang Juzheng had similar views. They were both worried about the safety of shipping on the sea and were unwilling to develop maritime affairs.

The risk is really unpredictable, so it’s better not to touch it.

In real history, although in the sixth year of Longqing, with the support of Gao Gong, the imperial court made it a permanent rule to transport 120,000 shi of grain by sea every year, but in the following year, which was the first year of Wanli, after Gao Gong was expelled, because of Fushan The damage to the island's canal boat was enough to stop the matter.

After the abolition of grain transportation by sea, Zhang Juzheng was also worried that flooding in the Yellow River would once again hinder the transportation of grain to the north, so he initiated the Jiaolai Canal proposal that Gao Gong had abandoned.

It can be seen that in the first year of Wanli in history, Zhang Juzheng, in addition to proposing the test law, most of his other actions were to reverse Gao Gong's policy strategy at the beginning. He almost abandoned Gao Gong's national policies and abandoned Gao Gong's policy. Move them all out and study again.

When Wei Guangde paid attention to Zhang Juzheng, he saw that he had lowered his head and seemed to be thinking.

Indeed, the imperial court's one-time spending of millions of taels of silver to open a new river is tantamount to fantasy, and it simply cannot afford to support such a national policy.

However, if the expenditure of several million taels of silver is completed over five years, it would amount to hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year, which seems feasible.

When Zhang Juzheng budgeted for the Jiaolai Canal, he considered that the imperial court would allocate hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and Shandong local governments would raise the remaining balance.

Although this will cause an increase in taxes for the people of Shandong for one year, after the Jiaolai Canal is completed in one year, the development of commerce will also benefit the people, and it will be a good thing for countless generations to come.

However, Wei Guangde's proposal to build a new river seems to be more beneficial.

After all, the Jiaolai Canal was tried in the Yuan Dynasty but was later abandoned. Gao Gong also sent people to conduct on-the-spot investigation, but it was not feasible.

We can see that there are indeed huge risks in the opening of the Jiaolai Canal. This is not a matter of whether the finance can afford it, but whether it can achieve the expected results, that is, using canal boats.

On the contrary, changing the canal and changing the channel in Pizhou sounds less risky.

Since Zhang Juzheng paid attention to water transportation, he naturally knew that the Xuzhou section could not be bypassed. Shipping here was extremely risky. There is a saying in the history books that "Xu and Lu Hong were the throats of rivers and canals. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, grain transportation has been avoided."

"The Ministry of Industry thinks that by digging new river channels and avoiding the Xuzhou section of the canal, water transportation can be kept smooth?"

Zhang Juzheng didn't want to catch Wei Guangde's pigtails at this time. The key is that these can be used as an excuse to criticize, but someone must believe him if he says it.

The Ming Dynasty has been established for almost 200 years, so who can believe that it is still talking about the previous dynasty.

On the other hand, Wei Guangde's idea of ​​opening the river in five years and only calling on the people along the river to use their slack to dig a new river is indeed very attractive.

“We know from Nanyang Xinhe that as long as the canal avoids the Yellow River, the waterway will not be threatened.”

Wei Guangde said very directly.

This has indeed been verified. Although the Xinhe River presided over by Zhu Heng did not fundamentally solve the problem of the Xuzhou section of the canal, the Yellow River floods have not threatened the Xinhe River in recent years. This is proof.

"Send a note to the Ministry of Works and ask them to debate the pros and cons of the Jiaolai Canal and the Ga Canal again to see which one is more suitable."

After all, Zhang Juzheng is the chief minister, and he still thinks more about national affairs.

Although some people around me suggested that the original canal course should be maintained and the people built river dams and dredged the river course to keep the canal open, there was no solution to the Yellow River floods.

If the Jia Canal can really avoid the floods of the Yellow River, it seems that it can be considered. (End of chapter)