What I have mentioned above are all the internal and external hard troubles during the Kangxi years, but internally, since the birth of the Chinese nation, there has been a troublesome trouble - the Yellow River floods. The story of Pan Jixun's control of river troubles in the Ming Dynasty is still vivid in our minds. The Pan Gong Temple in the river control area is also as important in people's hearts as the Wuhou Temple.
In fact, the Yellow River is not a perceptual thinking entity, nor does it deliberately cause trouble to the Chinese. On the one hand, its problem is that it passes through the deserts of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, and also brings a large amount of sediment and loess through the high loess slopes; on the other hand, after arriving in Mengjin, the terrain is relatively flat, the water flow is not fast, and the sediment is deposited. As it goes down, it becomes thicker and thicker, and the river bed becomes higher and higher, so it can only be "rerouted".
Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, more and more fools among river bureaucrats have abandoned the four-character policy of "dredging, dredging, guiding, and diversion" of Dayu's flood control, but they have repeatedly tried to control rivers. Using Gun's method of controlling the water to no avail, he had to build embankments to block it. And "diversion" has become a small-scale, symbolic change.
The dams are being built higher and higher, thus isolating several "swamps" of the Yellow River. The most terrifying thing is that several water divides downstream are also blocked. Where does so much of the Yellow River water go? How can you not get "angry"?
When Kangxi succeeded to the throne, the path of the Yellow River at that time was different from that of the Yellow River on today's map. From the Shunzhi Dynasty to the early years of Kangxi, the Yellow River burst was constantly reported in the memorials of the river course. Among them, the one in April of the ninth year of Kangxi was particularly severe. Huai'an and Yangzhou counties (you must know the current (The Yellow River does not flow this way) There is not much land left that has been flooded. You must know that ancient China was a large agricultural country with developed agricultural civilization. Farmers relied on land as their main or even only income. When there was no income, tenant farmers still needed Paying taxes to the landlords can only end up as refugees fleeing for their lives. When there is nothing to eat, they can only "eat each other when the people are hungry".
Since there is a flood, let’s control it. The governor of the river at that time was named Wang Guangyu. He used methods to treat headaches and foot pains. He tried this method for seven or eight years, but to no avail. I believe that during these seven or eight years, the people were eager to eat their flesh and sleep with them. leather.
In February of the 16th year of Kangxi's reign, Wang Guangyu was dismissed and Jin Fu was appointed as the governor of the river. He was a member of the Han Army who held a yellow flag, and once served as the governor of Anhui. Originally, he had no knowledge of river management, but he was a steady and steady person. He wanted to manage the Yellow River well, and he found Chen Huang, a native of Qiantang, Zhejiang.
Jin Fu completed a lot of projects in eleven years from the sixteenth year of Kangxi's reign to the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi's reign.
First, he built architectural dams on both sides of the Yellow River east of Huaiyin, until he was only twenty miles away from the coast.
Secondly, he strengthened the dams west of Huaiyin so that the water could be more concentrated and more powerful to wash away the sediment on the river bed. In this way, with the help of the Huaihe River, the Yellow River could actually wash away the accumulated sediment and flow to the The sea never returns.
Then, he knew that the canal was related to the country's water transportation and should not be interrupted for a long time due to the problem of the Yellow River. In addition to building the canal's gate, he also spent a lot of money to open a new section of the river, called the "Middle River". ". After the completion of this project, water transportation began to flow smoothly.
Finally, in order to protect the farmland in the counties surrounding the Yellow River and prevent the floods from overflowing the Yellow River again, many "water reduction dams" were built, and several small openings were opened under the embankments to release water at convenient times. This not only protects the farmland , and can even irrigate farmland when the farmland is short of water.
The above four items are indeed great achievements. However, at this time, Yu Chenglong, the governor of Hanjunqi in Zhili, opposed him, saying that he spent too much money, said that the "Middle River" could not pass ships, and said that the "water reduction dam" would cause future problems. (This is really a presumption of guilt). In short, it means that his governance methods are unreasonable and incorrect.
In desperation, Kangxi recalled Jin Fu to Beijing, and in March of the 27th year of Kangxi's reign, he had him and Yu Chenglong wait for a face-to-face debate at the Qianqing Gate in the palace. Kangxi personally presided over their debate.
Although Jin Fu's method was right, the debate failed. The reason was not that he couldn't speak, but that Yu Chenglong had more people in Beijing who supported him than him.
Jin Fu was innocently dismissed from office, and his think tank Chen Huang also died on the way to Beijing. Kangxi appointed a man named Wang Xinming as the governor of the river. He achieved nothing and was dismissed three years later. Kangxi thought of Jin Fu again at this time. Jin Fu had no choice but to come to control the river again. He worked for a few months and then died of overwork.
Kangxi asked Yu Chenglong to try it, also to see if he was good at talking. Yu Chenglong was very smart. During the debate, he talked about a lot of wonderful methods, but when he actually went into battle, he used all Jin Fu's methods. He had an idea and did things properly, so Kangxi didn't say anything about him. In the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi, Yu Chenglong died in office.
The subsequent water control project was completed in the forty-seventh year of Kangxi. The Yellow River was very sensible and no longer harmed the people. It was not until the sixth year of Xianfeng that it bypassed the Huaihe River and the canal, changed its course, and then went to Shandong to join the sea, until it became what it is today.
