Xiangye

Chapter 255 River Defense List

"Master forgot, the student is from Hancheng. He grew up by the Yellow River since he was a child. He saw a lot of floods, so he came up with this method. This Huang and Huai are the big troubles of my dynasty. The student has nothing to do in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites. , I was so calm and thoughtful, so I wrote this article. These are all the students who are thinking about it below, and I don’t know if it’s feasible, so I came here to ask my teacher for advice." Hearing Xu Youzhen’s question, Gao Wen hurriedly answered.

In fact, this article was not written by him, after all, it was plagiarized by later generations.

That's right, what Gao Wen copied was "A List of River Defenses" written by the Prime Minister of the Jiajing Year of the Ming Dynasty, the Censor of Hedaodu, the Prince Taibao, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Pan Jixun.

Pan Jixun was a famous master of water conservancy in ancient China. He presided over the management of the Yellow River and canals four times for 27 years.In the long-term practice of river control, he absorbed the achievements of his predecessors, comprehensively summed up the rich experience in the practice of river control in Chinese history, and invented the method of beaming water to flush sand, which profoundly influenced the thinking and practice of future generations in controlling the Yellow River. made a significant contribution to the cause of river control
The book "River Defense Overview" is a culmination of his life experience in river control. He wrote it with reference to the river defense books written by dozens of governors and governors for decades in the Jiajing Dynasty.

This book is divided into 200 volumes. Volume 41 is the emperor's seal book and the illustration of the Yellow River, which reflects the historical background of the river management at that time, the general situation and overall layout of the project of the Yellow, Huai, and Yun rivers; ", concentratedly expounding Pan Jixun's idea of ​​controlling rivers with rivers and controlling sand with water; volume three, "The Essentials of River Prevention", comprehensively pointed out the key parts, main problems and measures to be taken of the Yellow River, Huaihe River, and canals; volume four, " "Matters for Maintenance", which systematically stipulates the construction technology of dikes, gates, dams and other projects and the strict system of dike repairs and defenses; Volume [-] "Heyuan River Final Examination" is a collection and analysis of predecessors' research on the source of the Yellow River and the history of the Yellow River. Compilation is an important material for studying the evolution of river courses; Volume [-] collects some discussions about river control in the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties; Volume [-] to Volume [-] are [-] selected from Pan Jixun's more than [-] memorials on river control. The original record of solving some major problems in the process of river governance he presided over four times, which summarizes the basic process and main experience of his river governance, and is also a detailed annotation of various viewpoints put forward in "River Discussion"; Volume [-] Volume [-] is the writings, memorials, memoirs, and inscriptions of the ancients and contemporaries cited by Pan Jixun to clarify his own views and refute the views of the opposition.

Many of these techniques are still used in modern society, especially the method of beaming water and attacking sand.Every few years, the state will use this method to dredge the Yellow River. Back then, Gao Wen even watched it live on TV.

He is a history enthusiast, and after watching that live broadcast, he suddenly became interested in how the ancients governed the Yellow River.I downloaded several water conservancy books written by Pan Jixun from the Internet and read them through.

This reading was really an eye-opener, and I admired it so much that I was overwhelmed.

This time he wants to persuade Xu Youzhen to snatch the job of Shi Pu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to manage the Sanggan River. Just talking in plain language may not be able to convince old man Xu——you are a layman who speaks layman's words, and the old man will not listen to you. !
Therefore, Gao Wen simply copied the book from memory.

He was not careful when he was studying, and he couldn't remember many places clearly.He could only write in his own words based on the general meaning, and there were naturally many mistakes and omissions in it. To be honest, he was also a little apprehensive.

Of course, due to time constraints, it was impossible for Gao Wen to finish copying this book with hundreds of thousands of words in a short period of time.I only picked the most essence of it, the second volume, Beam Water Attacking Sand Method, and after a whole afternoon of tinkering, I came up with more than 1 words.

"I forgot." Xu Youzhen immediately felt relieved when she heard Gao Wen's words, and applauded, "Before you used this method, this old man really didn't listen to people's words. It's really unprecedented, and there will be no one in the future. Stop it, just use this method alone." , is enough to leave your name in the history books. Wonderful, wonderful, why didn't the old man think of this before!"

Speaking of this, his eyes were full of scorching light and ecstasy.

Yes, the methods of flood control in ancient China are nothing more than dredging and blocking.The so-called dredging means that when the water potential is too large, a diversion channel is dug on the embankment to divert the flood to other places; as for blocking, it is even simpler.It is nothing more than using good materials to heighten and strengthen the embankment, so that the water will flood the soil.

Whether it is dredging or dredging, it is fine for other rivers, but it is not very useful for the Yellow River.

The reason is simple. The Yellow River carried a large amount of sediment washed from the Loess Plateau, and the sediment content was extremely high, reaching [-]% at its worst.When descending from the Loess Plateau to the North China Plain, the flow of the Yellow River slowed down because of the gentle terrain, so that a large amount of sediment was deposited, and the river bed was gradually raised, and even the dams were washed away.No way, people continue to increase the height of the embankment.After hundreds of thousands of years, the riverbed of the Yellow River is higher than the ground, becoming an aboveground river.

And because the terrain of the North China Plain is flat and open, if the dams are dug to discharge the flood, it will get out of control and cause a major flood.If you use the blocking formula, as the river bed rises year by year, the embankment will be built higher and higher. When it is a head, it will be washed away one day.

The so-called, whether it is dredging or blocking, it is a temporary solution after all, and the problem still exists.

If we can think of a way to wash away the sediment deposited on the bottom of the Yellow River, it will be a real cure.

Xu Youzhen: "Erzhi, you have not written in detail in this article, and tell the old man about the method of attacking sand with a beam of water."

"Yes, teacher." Gao Wen cleared his throat, and said in detail based on what he knew: "The so-called method of confining water to attack sand is to first build dams in the upper and lower reaches of the big river to store water. The sluice discharges the flood, stirs up the sediment at the bottom of the river with the power of the water, and washes it into the sea... The yellow current is the most turbid, counted by buckets, sand ranks sixth, and if it reaches Fuqiu, water ranks second. Two liters of water contains eight buckets of sand, if it slides very quickly, it will stagnate...the water will slow down, the sand will stop when the speed slows down, and the river will be full if the sand stops, and the water of any size will have a sandy surface, only to see its height. If the hydration is strong, the momentum will be fierce, if the momentum is strong, the sand will wash, and if the sand washes, the river will be deep. The bottom of the river will be found in the depths of the water. Build embankments to restrain the water, and use the water to attack the sand. If the water does not overflow on both sides, then it will be It brushes straight to the bottom of the river. There is a certain principle, an inevitable trend, and the reason why this union is stronger than division..."

Xu Youzhen has always been interested in water conservancy, and she has done a lot of homework and collected a lot of information on weekdays.When Gao Wen was explaining, he sometimes closed his eyes and meditated, sometimes stood up and ordered his staff to fetch books and maps for comparison.

And ask your own questions and ideas from time to time.

Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, Gao Wen was speaking dryly, and there was a rumble in his stomach, but he was hungry.

Xu Youzhen waved her hand with a smile, signaling Gao Wen to stop for a while, and then said to an aide, "Go to the kitchen to cancel the night."

Then he said to Gao Wen: "Er Zhi, the old man has not yet enjoyed himself to the fullest, you will stay with me tonight."

There is a curfew in Beijing at night. If Gao Wen goes home now, he will inevitably be interrogated by government servants, soldiers and even Jin Yiwei along the way. He is also afraid of trouble, so he nodded: "It is better to obey orders than to be respectful."

Xu Youzhen: "Come on, continue talking."

After talking for a while, Gao Wen and Xu Youzhen stopped when the midnight snack was brought.

Xu Youzhen appeared to be in a good mood, and gave Gao Wen a piece of food with chopsticks: "Erzhi, I know that you are aggrieved as an official in the Ministry of Rites. If you really want to leave, I will not stop you. With your talent, you will be delayed there." It’s a pity that the old man is in the same situation as you now, and he can’t help if he wants to. If he really wants to leave, the old man will not stop him. That’s right, the imperial examination is the right way. Instead of wasting time in the Ministry of Rites, it’s better to study at home for two years The book came really well.”

(End of this chapter)