Last September, severe floods occurred in Luzhou, Fengyang, Huai'an, and Yangzhou. According to statistics from Yousi, there were millions of victims, and the court spent more than five million taels of silver on disaster relief alone.
This year, when Zhu Yijun arrived, there were floods in this area, including Kaifeng, Nanyang, Henan, and Suzhou, Wuxi and Chang.
It can be said that floods occur frequently in the entire Jianghuai region, as well as nearby places. The Yellow River in this area floods almost every year, and droughts occur in river basins that do not flood.
This is certainly related to the Little Glacier climate, but it is also related to the forcible diversion of the Yellow River from the Huaihe River to the sea.
Because the original normal flow direction of the Yellow River should be from North China to the sea.
Only after the Yellow River flooded during the Yuan Dynasty, it was changed to flow from the Huai River to the sea. Since then, especially after the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, the status quo has been artificially maintained in order to ensure sufficient water transportation.
However, the natural flow direction of the Yellow River is from North China to the sea. Therefore, it will often change its course due to climate reasons. Like a dragon waving its tail, it often swings to the north. A swing will cause large-scale flooding, so that this Floods occur frequently in the area.
Historically, after the Yellow River was diverted back, the frequency of breaches and diversions was indeed greatly reduced, and the frequency and severity of floods in the entire Yellow River basin were also greatly reduced.
Floods in the Yellow River have always been a headache in the history of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, floods in the Yellow River were also a headache in other dynasties. However, during the Ming Dynasty, water transportation became particularly serious, with flooding almost once a year. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty Many flood control officials in the country realized that this was related to forcing the Yellow River to seize the Huaihe River and flow into the sea.
What's more, the Han people have a philosophical thought of following nature.
Therefore, in the court, ministers represented by Pan Jixun and Liang Menglong actually advocated allowing the Yellow River to return to its original course.
Just letting the Yellow River return to its old course involves the impact on water transportation and the impact on the farmland and villages occupied by the new river channel when the new river channel is dug.
"Pan Qing, I remember that you mentioned in the previous chapter that if we want to completely solve the river flood problem, we still have to let the river go out to sea from the north. However, if we change this way, water transportation will be damaged and the cost will be huge, so we have to wait for the opportunity. Now is the opportunity. Is it mature?"
Zhu Yijun also asked about the arrival of the new Minister of Household Affairs, Pan Jixun, because of the drenching autumn rain outside.
Pan Jixun replied: "Your Majesty, I believe that it is basically mature. Firstly, the imperial court is now rich in financial resources; secondly, it is at a time when officials are advancing and people are retreating, and there is no shortage of civilian husbands; thirdly, it is your majesty who has made a major change in the current affairs of the country. hour."
"I think so too."
Zhu Yijun said and looked at the other ministers: "I wonder what you ministers think?"
At this time, Wang Xijue cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, if you want to change the river back to its old course, you must first change water transportation to land transportation or sea transportation. The cabinet has discussed that although there are horse-drawn trains for land transportation now, by then we can To transport a large amount of goods at once, we just have to continue to build larger projects and completely connect the train routes built in various places into a large route across the north and south!"
"It is best that all such large routes should be railways instead of wooden roads. This will make them more durable. After all, a large amount of cargo is carried between the north and the south."
"It's just that iron is more valuable than wood. If the court wants to build such a long railway, it must recruit more soldiers to protect the railway and prevent theft. Not only must there be soldiers, but more officials must be added to supervise the railway. To prevent soldiers from stealing from others."
"This will undoubtedly increase the court's expenditure."
"The same goes for shipping. We need to have a dedicated fleet, build new ports, and provide supplies and shelter for new ships from time to time. Even so, there is no guarantee that the sea will still be damaged by sudden monster winds. The boat capsized and people died.”
"In any case, it is still very risky to transport a large amount of military rations that border towns rely on and white grains that Beijing needs by sea to the capital every year. After all, once there is a strong wind, the foundation of the entire country will be lost. , and it is indeed difficult to prevent bandits at sea, and ordinary losses will definitely be greater than those of land transportation and water transportation."
"In short, whether it is land transportation or sea transportation, it is very expensive."
After Wang Xijue said this, he bowed to Zhu Yijun:
"Your Majesty, I think that with such a huge expense, it is better to move the capital, change the northern capital to Beiping, and let the royal family and the ministry officials return to the southern capital!"
"Your Majesty, it is naturally inappropriate to move the capital!"
"The north is already extremely cold and suffers from droughts and locust plagues. Unlike the south where the weather is mild and the water system is developed, it is cheaper to live and farm. Once the emperor is not in the north, the north will completely lose the value of the imperial power in the north."
"If this happens, people in the north will definitely want to move south more and more, especially the rich and powerful. Then the north will inevitably become more empty, and the world will be in chaos because of this."
"And if we don't want the world to be in chaos in the future, the imperial court will definitely withdraw its overseas military and military guards, and then abandon the land, turn Huanghuai, Jingxiang and Huanghuai into frontiers, and then perish in the north."
"Gai Yin, except for the emperor, no one can rest assured that the nine-sided troops and horses will be controlled by others. After all, once the nine-sided troops and horses are not controlled by the emperor in Peiping, their commander will directly choose to go south to seize this beautiful world. He will not hesitate to support the vassal king as his king."
"In other words, if the capital is moved, the troops will be withdrawn, if the troops are withdrawn, the land will be abandoned, and if the land is abandoned, the country will be destroyed."
"As Your Majesty said, although the southern country is good, its bones will easily become weak."
"Therefore, I believe that there can be no proposal to move the capital. Some money must be spent!"
Li Chengliang expressed his opinion at this time.
Wang Xijue then followed up and said: "Your Majesty, I admit that what the Prime Minister said is an act of loyalty to the country. Once the capital is moved, there will be such drawbacks."
"but!"
“Nowadays, most of the profits in the world come from the sea, and because the benefits of maritime trade are largely controlled by the imperial court, the people along the coast have not experienced much of the benefits of access to the sea and the benefits of overseas expansion. On the contrary, because of the imperial court’s overseas expansion It has reached the point of destroying other countries and destroying other peoples, so that most of the cost of expansion has been borne by the people along the coast, so the people along the coast and even in the entire southern country have always had voices against the imperial court's expansion abroad."
"This is all because they don't get the benefits, but they have to bear the price!"
"And if the emperor moves the capital to the south, this problem can be solved!"
"Although the imperial court controls a lot of maritime profits, as long as the capital is moved, it means that even if most of the profits from maritime trade belong to the imperial court, it will also benefit the southern people more because a large amount of national money will move southward with the relocation of the capital. , and thus eliminate the voices of opposition;”
"Secondly, after the capital is moved, the coastal defense strength will also be strengthened, thereby reducing the dissatisfaction of southern citizens against overseas expansion."
"At the same time, the problem of perennial river flooding that already exists to protect water transportation will no longer exist, and there is no need to spend a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to solve this problem."
After Wang Xijue said that, he added: "As for the shortcomings mentioned by the Prime Minister, I believe that as long as they are divided and controlled, without establishing a king, and moving the clans of the world to the capital to take care of them, there will be no such problems. In the early days of the country, there was the problem of peace. The changes, to be honest, were all caused by the existence of the King of Sai and his military power."
"Your Majesty, I think what Mr. Wangge said is true. As long as the emperor does not allow the ministers in Northern Xinjiang to always hold military power and set up checks and balances such as supervisory troops, let alone keep them in one place forever, and separate military and political affairs, there is no need to worry about withdrawing the troops. The land was abandoned and even the country was destroyed.”
At this time, Shen Yiguan, the Minister of Rites, also started talking.
But Shen Li chose to support Li Chengliang at this time and said: "Your Majesty, I think what Uncle Da Zong said is not enough to make the decision to move the capital!"
"Yeah?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Shen Yiguan also squinted at Shen Li.
Shen Li said at this time: "Your Majesty is aware of this! Once the capital is moved, whether the ministers in Northern Xinjiang can divide and control it does not depend on whether the emperor knows the benefits of dividing and controlling it, but whether the emperor is willing and whether reality allows it. First of all, let’s just talk about whether the emperor is willing to do this. If there is a future emperor who is confused for a moment and wants to imitate Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty and let the sycophants of Tongan Lushan control the troops and horses of the three towns, who will stop it and who can stop it?"
"Secondly, once a powerful Northern tribe rises, and it is necessary to mobilize the military power of nine sides to fight, and the emperor must concentrate the military power in one person, who dares to ignore the external aggression and internal situation, and stop His Majesty from continuing to divide and control it? "
"Therefore, I believe that any idea that relies on the emperor's wisdom is not realistic and is subject to variables, and will repeat the disasters in history."
"Therefore, it is better to take advantage of His Majesty's sage and the prosperity of the country to solve this problem once and for all, instead of being lazy and leaving this matter to future generations to solve. On the one hand, it is unknown how wise and foolish future generations are, and on the other hand, who I don’t know what the situation will be like in the future.”
Shen Li directly stated here that the system of an autocratic monarchy makes it difficult to predict whether the personal qualities of the monarch will lead to the emergence of obviously stupid but real national policies in the future.
Pan Jixun, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, said: "Your Majesty, it is actually more difficult to solve the river problem without moving the capital than to move the capital! It is easier to move the capital, and as Mr. Shen Ge said, even if your Majesty does not need to move the capital to solve the river problem, There is no guarantee that the kings of future generations will not do it. At that time, if the kings of future generations insist on doing this, who can stop them? So nothing can be determined, and we can only do the things we do now."
"Now, you have to face the difficulties head on, instead of giving up on the difficulties easily!"
Zhu Yijun said something decisively at this time, and looking at the endless autumn rain outside, he said:
"What Shen Qing just said made me feel enlightened! That is, not only can the virtuous and foolish kings of future generations be uncertain, but the environment of future generations cannot be uncertain either. The current dynasty has no strong and powerful enemies around it. This If you don't do something difficult now, it will be even harder in the future. What's more, I am now in my prime, and all the ministers are also tough ministers."
After Zhu Yijun said this, he turned around and looked at Li Chengliang, Wang Xijue and others: "Therefore, we must not be lazy."
Wang Xijue wanted to remonstrate further, so he handed over his hand and said: "But Your Majesty, we cannot ignore the complaints of many people in the south! Even if we ignore it, what will happen in the future?"
"As your Majesty mentioned before, the wealthy people in the south have begun to marry into military families. Once the rich and noble people combine to the point of completely controlling the court in the future, I am afraid that the court will still only consider the complaints from the south and restore the old system!" (End of chapter)
