Chapter 310: Yellow River: The sword in the kind mother

Zhang Jie could not help but raise his hand to wipe away the cold sweat on his forehead that didn't actually exist:

"My two beloved ministers, I am still young; there is no need to rush into the matter of the imperial tomb."

Besides, he was already on the path to immortality; building an imperial tomb or something,

that was a complete waste of national strength; it would be of no use.

"Your Majesty is in the prime of youth and will surely reign for a thousand autumns and ten thousand years."

Wu Yong and Chen Wenyun first offered a small bit of flattery before continuing:

"However, Your Majesty, the imperial tombs of emperors throughout all dynasties have been built starting from the time of their ascension.

For Your Majesty to only be preparing to start now, you are already several months late!"

"The First Emperor's mausoleum was designed under the direction of Chancellor Li Si after he ascended the throne,

and supervised by Grand General Zhang Han, taking a total of 39 years to complete.

Your Majesty's achievements are not inferior to those of the First Emperor,

so it is only fitting that the construction time for your imperial tomb far exceeds 39 years."

During this time, they even used the example of the First Emperor spending a full 39 years building his mausoleum in an attempt to persuade Zhang Jie.

"You are overpraising me; how can I be mentioned in the same breath as the First Emperor?"

Hearing the two compare him to the First Emperor, a bitter smile could not help but appear on Zhang Jie's face.

Whether the First Emperor was a tyrant of the ages who burned books and buried scholars while obsessed with immortality,

or a wise monarch of the ages whose merits surpassed the Three Sovereigns and whose virtues exceeded the Five Emperors, let us set that aside for now;

the only thing that is certain is that his achievements are beyond doubt.

It was his great victory of ending the six kingdoms and unifying the world, along with national policies like standardizing the written script, axle lengths, and weights and measures,

that truly bound together the Chinese land, which had become a scattered pile of sand since the Zhou kings.

For the thousands of years after him, every dynasty—Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing—inherited the Qin system.

It can be said that the First Emperor shaped the image of all dynasties after Qin.

Even the China of the 21st century still has the spirit of the Great Qin flowing in its bones.

The First Emperor's self-proclaimed achievements, "Merits surpassing the Five Emperors, territory wider than the Three Kings,"

and the fact that old titles like "King" or "Son of Heaven" were no longer enough to manifest his success,

necessitating the creation of the title "Emperor" to pass down to future generations, was not just empty boasting without reason.

"Your Majesty need not be humble. Today, our Great Gan has defeated the Great Liao, and soon we will destroy Western Xia,

annex Dali, and pacify Jiaozhi and Annam; matching or even surpassing the Great Qin is just around the corner."

Seeing Zhang Jie so humble, Wu Yong offered another round of rainbow-colored flattery.

"Your Majesty, if we are not to build the imperial tomb first, then what use shall we make of these captives?"

Knowing that comparing such things was of no benefit to the current situation, Chen Wenyun asked the key question.

"Do you ministers have any ideas regarding the management of the Yellow River?"

Zhang Jie said, his expression distant as he revealed the thoughts in his heart.

"The Yellow River?"

Hearing this name, whether it was Chen Wenyun, Wu Yong,

or Qin Hui, who had only been able to act as a listener and a transparent figure in the great tent, all of them changed color.

Although the Yellow River has been called the "Mother River" by the people of the Central Plains since ancient times,

this mother was never the kind mother of "The thread in the kind mother's hand, the clothes on the traveler's body.

Sewing closely before departure, fearing a late return." Her behavior,

is better described as the sword in the kind mother's hand, slashing at the traveler's body.

For thousands of years, countless cities, farmlands, and fields have been destroyed by its bursting dikes and changing courses,

and countless people have died directly by drowning or indirectly from the Yellow River's floods.

And this situation has become even more severe since the establishment of the Great Song.

The long-term warfare from the Five Dynasties to the early Song led to the neglect of water conservancy, and coupled with the frequent man-made breaching of dikes during military operations,

the river channels and dike systems were severely destroyed, burying hidden dangers for subsequent floods.

During this period, the Yellow River breached its dikes frequently; according to historical statistics, there were more than 30 breaches,

with a major flood occurring on average every 1-2 years.

The main breaching events include:

The breach in the first year of Jingyou (1034):

The Yellow River breached at Henglong in Puyang, leaving the old Eastern Han course it had followed for a thousand years,

flowing straight northeast, passing through Great Ming in Hebei to Binzhou before entering the sea, forming the "Henglong River Course."

The breach in the eighth year of Qingli (1848):

The Yellow River breached at Shanghu Sao (in present-day Puyang, Henan), forming a northern river course,

passing through Great Ming Prefecture, Enzhou, and Jizhou to Qianning Army (present-day Qing County, Hebei) before entering the sea; this was the third major change in the Yellow River's course.

The breach in the fifth year of Jiayou (1060): The Yellow River breached at the Sixth Sao in Wei County, Great Ming Prefecture,

rushing out into the Ergu River, passing through the old Ma Jia River course to enter the sea between Hebei and Shandong, forming the eastern river course.

The breach in the tenth year of Xining (1077): The Yellow River's northern flow breached on both the north and south sides of Chanzhou,

with the southern breach invading the Huai River basin on a large scale; historical records state it "destroyed 45 counties,

and 380,000 government offices and civilian homes, and 300,000 qing of farmland."

The breach in the fourth year of Yuanfeng (1081): The Yellow River breached at Sun Village, Da Wu,

and Xiao Wu Sao in Chanzhou, pouring into the Yu River from Chanzhou, and the Yellow River's northern flow was restored once again.

The breach in the second year of Yuanfu (1099): The Yellow River breached at Neihuang, the eastern flow was cut off, and the northern flow was restored.

The breach in the seventh year of Zhenghe (1117): The Yellow River breached at Ying and Cangzhou,

drowning over a million people and causing the most tragic Yellow River disaster of the Great Song (Northern Song) period.

For this reason, the Great Song established specialized agencies to manage the Yellow River, frequently conscripting tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of laborers to repair dikes and fight floods.

The imperial court launched three "Disputes between Eastern and Northern Flows" regarding river management strategies,

involving multiple considerations such as military defense and water transport economy, but all three man-made river restoration projects ended in failure.

"Sigh~"

Even Zhang Jie, thinking of the immense disaster the Yellow River brought to the people on this land, could not help but sigh.

The frequent breaches of the Yellow River led to damage to the water transport system in the Hebei region,

and although the Yu River transport could barely be maintained, the difficulty increased greatly.

Farmland was frequently flooded; for example, in 1028, five counties in Cangzhou had "much of the people's farmland occupied by water,

and it could not be farmed," and in 1056, "those harmed in Hebei totaled several thousand li."

Frequent dike breaches also triggered the relocation of administrative seats,

and in the Northern Song period alone, 12 prefectures and counties abandoned their cities and relocated due to Yellow River breaches.

While the Yellow River nurtured the people of the Central Plains, it also brought them endless trauma and disaster.

"Your Majesty, do you mean to let these captives repair the Yellow River?"

Understanding Zhang Jie's meaning, Chen Wenyun immediately asked, excited.

"Exactly."

Zhang Jie nodded slightly.

Since ancient times, repairing river channels has been a high-risk endeavor, and countless laborers have died or been injured for it.

Moreover, there was Emperor Yang of Sui repairing the Grand Canal, and the Great Yuan Dynasty repairing the Yellow River;

one led to the saying "Everyone says the Sui perished because of this river," and the other led to the Red Turban Army, which repaired it and sang, "Do not say the stone man has one eye,

stirring up the Yellow River to revolt against the world," and dynasties perished because of it.

But the Yellow River is right there, and it must be managed.

Although even with diligent water conservancy, this irritable mother, the Yellow River, would still not give up elbowing the people along its banks,

at least it could reduce the scale of the disaster and decrease the loss of life and property.

If nothing else, if the Yellow River were not managed, according to the normal development of history,

the Great Gan's current capital, Bianliang, would be submerged:

In 1194, the Yellow River breached, and the Eastern Capital was silted over.

This time was not the end; in less than a hundred years, it happened a second time:

In 1286, the Yellow River changed course, and Kaifeng Prefecture was silted over.

If even the capital were submerged by a Yellow River dike breach,

where would Zhang Jie, the founding monarch, put his face?

In short, this Yellow River must be managed; it cannot be left unmanaged. ===== CHAPTER 311 =====