Wearing walking boots and wearing a raincoat, Yu Chenglong looked up at the gloomy weather, with ripples in his heart.
As early as the early years of Shaowu, the provincial examination was tried in Shanxi. After many years of failure, he soon passed the examination and became the county magistrate.
Jinshi are officials, and their official term is three years, and they can be promoted in about two years. However, he stayed for three full years, and finally received an excellent rating.
After that, he was promoted to the county magistrate of Fuguo in the provincial capital, and then to the government promotion official and general judge. In the year before last, he was finally promoted to the capital, working in the Ministry of Industry as a Yuanwailang.
Although his official position was in the Ministry of Industry, except for a few orders at the beginning, most of his subsequent assignments were in the Huainan area.
At the end of last year, because many polders were built in Huainan, which attracted the attention of the Ministry of Industry, he was promoted to the rank of doctor, the fifth rank.
It took him seven years to go from the seventh level to the current fifth level.
"Lang Guan, are you still going out today?"
When he got off the tower, two officers were holding mules, wearing raincoats and carrying waist knives. Although it looked breezy, their trousers and sleeves were stuck with mud, making him look very miserable.
There is no way, the servants in the Water Department of the Ministry of Works are all doing hard work.
"It's okay in Pizhou, let's go back to Gaoyou and have a look."
Yu Chenglong shook his head, with a trace of contemplation on his slightly withered face. He decisively mounted his mule and headed south slowly under the guidance of the guards.
Originally, it was safest to take a boat, but at this time of year, the Yellow River was overflowing and the canals were crowded, so it was better to travel quickly.
In this regard, Yu Chenglong has no complaints about the hard work.
The two officers' mouths were bitter and they wanted to say a few words, but now they could only give up.
Rushing on a rainy day, legs covered with yellow mud, this errand does not look like something that an official could do?
After running around for a long time, the three of them arrived at a roadside tea shop.
There were three or five wooden tables, a wooden shed made of straw, and a simple stable. The cover fluttered in the wind. Even though it was covered with yellow mud, the merchant didn't care.
The mules were placed in the stables and served with several bales of hay, which they did not dislike.
The two guards asked, "Lang Guan, what are you going to eat today?"
"Same as before." Yu Chenglong shook his head and said casually.
The older officer sighed and casually ordered: "Give this official a plate of vegetarian dishes, a plate of scrambled eggs, and a pot of tea."
"The same goes for both of us."
Although the three of them were traveling together, the officials were very different and the dining tables must be separated.
"By the way, let's add some juice to the mule!" Yu Chenglong thought of something, took out a silver dollar from his arms, and stuffed it into the arms of the two of them:
"You two have worked hard with me today, so I'll give you one more bottle of wine!"
"Pizhou's rice wine is very good."
The two of them were moved and glanced at Yu Chenglong, and couldn't help but admire him more and more.
Food and accommodation like theirs are only free at the inn, and the rest are at your own expense.
Seeing the sky's frequent trips, even Yu Chenglong felt that he was in a pinch, let alone the servants like them.
Yu Chenglong carefully ate the eggs with chopsticks, holding the steamed bun in his hand, feeling quite emotional in his heart.
Who could have known that hundreds of years ago, before the Yellow River was diverted, the Huaibei region was more rice-rich? Now it has turned into cereals and wheat.
The young waiter was attracting customers, while his wife was wearing an apron and cooking. The old man was holding his grandson, his face wrinkled, staring at the rain in the distance in a daze.
The child blinked his big eyes, ran to the table and stared at the eggs, hugging the old black table legs and not letting go.
Yu Chenglong smiled knowingly, picked up an egg with his chopsticks, and put it directly to his mouth.
The little guy looked back at his father, while the young boss shook his head.
Yu Chenglong put the egg directly into his mouth without any explanation, and then said with a smile: "I think this little guy is smart."
The boss smiled and said, "The customer is kind-hearted, and it's a coincidence that we met him."
"Eggs are not a rare thing——" Yu Chenglong micro-
Shaking his head slightly: "You raise a lot of ducks near Pizhou. They don't have many eggs, but there should be a lot of duck eggs!"
At this time, the old man came over to hug his grandson and sat down on the creaking bench:
"Duck eggs are not as fragrant as chicken eggs!"
The diversion of the Yellow River to the south not only changed the two sides of the Huaihe River from a land of plenty to a world of wheat, but also caused the disappearance of many crisscrossing ditches and lakes.
A large amount of saline-alkali land prevailed, and reed marshes were everywhere, making Huai salt a specialty. Soon the ducks adapted to the reed marshes, and salted duck eggs became a specialty.
Gaoyou salted duck eggs are very famous, but I dare to ask which state or county in Huaibei has duck eggs that are not delicious?
If you eat too much duck eggs, eggs become the most fragrant thing.
"Old man, how are you doing?"
Yu Chenglong ate the yellow and black steamed buns, and his throat hurt. He couldn't help but tear them into pieces and put them in a bowl to make a paste. He ate them with the vegetables between his chopsticks.
"Life is just like that, just make do with it!" The old man glanced at his raincoat, not caring about his official background.
He is quite old and the government will not arrest him.
"But there will be no more war after all, the world will be at peace..."
The old man muttered, and then a glimmer of light appeared on his face.
At this time, the boss who stopped working also came over and said: "Actually, war is not all bad. My father earned my fortune back then..."
Yu Chenglong was stunned and looked at the old man.
The old man showed a hint of pride: "When the slaves went south, the imperial court organized everyone to retreat, so I took his mother and him to Fengyang, and I helped out in the army. After all, I was in charge of the food."
"I was busy pulling boats from the canal and working as a tracker to move grain for two or three months. The slaves were driven away and I was half exhausted."
"However, maybe I won. The court also gave me a tael of silver. I used the money to build a shed and sell tea near the official road. Although there are not as many people as the canal, I still have enough to eat and drink."
Yu Chenglong admired the old man's wisdom and ability. It was pretty good to be able to survive in troubled times and build a small business.
"The price of grain in Pizhou is not high and has not changed much. A bucket of grain costs about sixty cents..."
"Salt is quite cheap, only twenty cents per pound..."
Finally, when he asked about the river work, the old man fell silent.
He muttered a few words before finally speaking: "This Xuzhou Mansion was destroyed by river workers——"
Yu Chenglong was silent.
is not that right?
Almost every spring and summer floods, all the prefectures in Huaibei have to recruit river workers to build embankments. Occasionally, when there is danger, all the old women and children have to work, and they have to collect money.
What's more, when the materials are not enough, people's homes will have to be demolished.
Because of this Yellow River, Huaibei and Jiangnan are in the same province, but they are two different worlds.
The key is that behind the frequent river construction, there may not be peace, but there may be a flood, with people and property lost, families destroyed.
Who doesn't hate it?
After a meal, the three of them continued on their way.
Yu Chenglong felt quite depressed at this time.
When we were in Huainan, the people were mostly happy to sort out the ditches and build polders, but they didn't resist the river construction very much.
In Huaibei, everyone is as afraid of river engineering as a tiger.
If you were not born in Huaibei, who wouldn’t want to move?
When they arrived at Huai'an Prefecture and Shanyang County, what shocked them the most was the roaring Yellow River.
Everywhere you look is turbid yellow.
The narrow Huaihe River channel has now become the territory of the Yellow River, running unbridled and heading east into the sea.
And what about the Huaihe River water? We can only reluctantly go to the downstream river mouths, most of which are opposite Hongze Lake.
Hongze Lake has become a suspended lake on the ground.
The height of its embankment reaches an astonishing six feet. It is extremely eye-catching from a distance, and the pressure coming towards you is daunting.
Gaojiayan, the man-made embankment of Hongze Lake, is reinforced and raised almost every once in a while, becoming the entire
the most important place in the north.
And you must know that Hongze Lake has been continuously expanding its area for hundreds of years, and it has become endless and difficult to measure.
The Huaihe River, which has no entrance to the sea, is constantly pouring in water, causing its area to continue to expand.
Gao Jiayan used the narrow channel entrance. Once the water volume of Hongze Lake increases sharply and exceeds its burden, it will tilt out and the Yellow River will burst its embankment.
By then, the Huaihe River and the Yellow River will flood together. This is not the result of 1+1.
Even to a certain limit, many people speculate that the Yellow River and the Yangtze River will even merge into the sea.
"Fortunately, the canal is no longer responsible for water transportation. The imperial court can do its best to regulate the Yellow and Huaihe rivers without any worries."
Yu Chenglong showed a smile.
Officials from the Ministry of Industry, including Yu Chenglong, are now gathered in Shanyang County, Huai'an, waiting for the arrival of the Minister of Industry.
In addition, thousands of construction engineers gathered outside Huai'an Mansion at this time, attracting the attention of many people.
"Mr. Yu, how is Pizhou?"
As soon as he entered the Caoyun Yamen, Yu Chenglong received greetings from his colleagues.
With the end of water transportation and the establishment of governors of Anhui and Jiangsu, the governor of water transportation had to be withdrawn, and the yamen became the headquarters of the Ministry of Industry.
"Although the governor of Jiangsu and the chief envoy have gone, there should be nothing wrong."
Yu Chenglong shook his head and said: "At most, Pizhou City is flooded. The Jiangsu vassal treasury has plenty of money, so don't worry."
The doctors and foreign doctors nearby nodded in agreement.
Soon, there were several doctors, Yuanwailang, and more than a dozen chiefs standing in the hall. After all, low-level subordinates could not enter at all.
"I have seen Young Sikong——" As soon as the Minister of Works arrived, everyone immediately stood up and bowed in salute.
Sun Jiang, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, is a sturdy figure, more like a military general than a civil servant.
In fact, he has a unique technical background in the Ministry of Industry and is actually very well-educated. However, with his professional talents, no one dares to speak against him even if he serves as a minister.
As a result, the entire Ministry of Industry naturally did not dare to discuss it.
"I went to the Water Transport Yamen a few days ago. I thought that the Yamen was abolished and at least some soldiers could be left to help. Who knew they were all old, weak, sick and disabled, and they didn't even number three thousand together."
Sun Jiang exclaimed angrily: "It's ridiculous. You have to know that before, there were tens of thousands of people transporting water."
"Just leave these for us? Who doesn't know that our Ministry of Industry is most in need of people——"
No one dared to answer this.
The atmosphere was dull.
Sun Jiang didn't take it seriously either. He said loudly: "Among the nine departments of the imperial court, our Ministry of Works is the most tired. All the high-ranking doctors and Yuanwailang are acting in the local area, which sounds ridiculous."
"But this is the Ministry of Industry. It has important responsibilities in the world and shoulders the emperor's mandate. It has to be done. Isn't this better than being in the capital?"
After hearing this, Yu Chenglong agreed from the bottom of his heart. He wanted to respond, but when everyone was silent, he fell silent.
Seeing this, Sun Jiang sighed in his heart.
They are all a group of old birds. In the past few years, Tiantianxia County has a heart that is harder than a stone. This cannot be fooled.
"The imperial court has long made a ten-year plan to control the Huanghuai River. It allocates millions of dollars to the Ministry of Industry every year, nearly half of which is used to control the Huanghuai River. You should feel the same way!"
"Your Majesty will not forget you. At the beginning of this year, under your Majesty's care, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will conduct a Beijing inspection on us."
Crash--
As soon as these words came to the floor, there were a lot of cold gasps.
Good guy, the Beijing inspection comes to the Ministry of Works early every six years. Is this something a human being can do?
Everyone, including Yu Chenglong, panicked.
People walk in the world with a lot of care and attention, and no one can guarantee that they are completely flawless.
"Don't worry, since it's taking care of you, Jingcha will naturally treat you in a positive light, and will ignore some small things."
Sun Jiang said seriously: "As soon as the Beijing inspection comes, you will either be promoted or transferred to another post.
Most people will definitely have a bright future. "
In an instant, the atmosphere became lively and everyone looked happy.
"So, everyone——"
Sun Jiang looked around at the crowd and said in a deep voice: "Only the local colleagues, the Ministry of Industry, the cabinet, and even the Holy Emperor are not too happy about the repairs on the Huaihe River and the construction of polders like last year."
"For the Huang and Huai rivers, it's going to happen this year."
Everyone was worried at this time.
Yu Chenglong followed the crowd and left, but was stopped by a small official on the way.
He was taken to the backyard and met Sun Jiang, Sun Shilang.
"I've seen Shao Sikong——"
Yu Chenglong was stunned for a moment and calmed down.
"Yu Chenglong, are you from Shanxi?"
"A native of Yongning, Taiyuan Prefecture, Shanxi Province."
"Shou Kui is also from Shanxi. It seems that Shanxi produces talented people!"
Sun Jiang admired, glanced at Yu Chenglong's thin face, and smiled: "Before leaving, I heard a lot of people praising you for being decisive and cautious. Although it is a reputation, I want to know whether it is worthy of the name."
"Tell me, what are your thoughts on the treatment of Huang and Huai?"
Yu Chenglong frowned, feeling a little uncomfortable with the minister's straightforwardness.
But after all, he was concerned about water control, so he bowed his hands and said, "Shao Sikong, over the past hundreds of years, the Yellow River has taken the water from Si to Huai, and it has already taken shape. It cannot be changed by human power."
"The fight against pornography is nothing more than tinkering with patches and nothing new."
"And the most important thing for the imperial court lies in the Huaihe River."
"Oh?" Sun Jiang raised his eyebrows: "You are so brave. The world values yellow and despises Huai, but you have done the opposite."
"In the previous dynasty, Pan Taibao (Pan Jixun) controlled water and sand, and it was a good strategy that was perfected."
Yu Chenglong showed no fear: "The most important thing for the imperial court now is to discharge floodwaters from Hongze Lake and provide an outlet for the Huaihe River."
"Otherwise, as the Gaojiayan dam becomes taller and taller, the consequences will become increasingly serious and will affect the stability of the Yellow River."
"By then, floods will have destroyed several provinces, and the day when tens of millions of people will be buried in the country must not be far away!"
ps: When writing about water control, I really have to look up information and think about how to control the Huanghuai area. It’s so difficult for me to say something meaningful...
