Gao Pragmatic sighed and said: "Because of Dayu's achievements in water control, his method of channeling was regarded as a guideline by later generations. The basic method of river control in all dynasties was to drain floods and water, but he did not pay any attention to sedimentation and siltation. However, when Wang Mang was in power in the past, he summoned his ministers in the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty to seek opinions on river control and discuss ways to control the water. At that time, Zhang Rong, the great Sima Shi, once proposed: "The nature of water will be lower, and the disease will be scraped away and become empty and slightly deeper." The water in the river is heavy and turbid, and the name is one stone of water and six buckets of mud. Nowadays, in the western counties and even the capital eastward, people use water from rivers and Weishan rivers to irrigate their fields. Spring and summer are dry and there is little water, so the river is slow and silted up. Slightly shallow. When there is heavy rain and heavy water, it will overflow. However, the country has several embankments to block it, which is slightly higher than the flat land. It is still like building a wall to live in the water. You can each obey his nature and no longer irrigate, then all the rivers will flow and the waterways will flow naturally. There is no harm in overflowing the judgment.' Looking back now, it seems to be similar to what Pan Gong said."
The opinion of Zhang Rong mentioned by Gao Jingshi is that the reason why the downstream is silted is due to the opening of canals for irrigation in the upstream, which reduces the water in the river and slows down the flow rate. If we build several embankments high to contain the water, and then stop irrigation upstream, we can make "hundreds of rivers flow, and the waterways will benefit themselves without the harm of overflow". This idea is almost the same as Pan Jixun's idea, and it can be regarded as the earliest proposer of the theory of using water to attack sand. Unfortunately, Wang Mang's new dynasty was a short-lived dynasty, so Zhang Rong's theory did not have time to be put into practice. After Zhang Rong and until Pan Jixun in the Ming Dynasty, this theory never attracted anyone's attention.
Gao Gong was greatly surprised. He stretched out his finger and nodded at Gao Pingshi, saying: "You boy, although the book you read is a bit miscellaneous, it seems that it is not useless. Even I have not learned about this matter. You come and remind me." Then he paused for a moment and said resolutely: "I think although no one has ever practiced this method, the principle is not wrong... It's just that Weng Rushen is doing a pretty good job at the moment, and he is also a famous official in river management after all. If there is no reason, it is difficult to replace him."
Gao Gong said, then slowly frowned.
Gao Pragmatic acted as a dog-headed military advisor again and offered advice: "Mr. Weng, are you responsible for any projects at the moment?"
"Of course there is." Gao Gong said: "He is Mr. He, and he must have projects on hand at any time. The more important projects in his hands right now include Honggou, Jingshan, and the dredging of the Huaihe River, etc."
Gao Pragmatic laughed: "How long will it take to complete these projects?"
"I heard it will be soon. He made predictions in the memorial last time. It will probably be completed by the middle of this year. It will only take three or four months." Gao Gong is well versed in government affairs. After reading these memorials, He has almost a photographic memory, so when asked by Gao Yizhi pragmatically, he can answer immediately.
Gao pragmatic laughed: "Isn't that easy to handle?" He blinked his eyes: "Weng Dali has been managing the river for several years. He has worked hard and achieved great results. He is promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry in Beijing."
Gao Gong was startled, then burst out laughing, then pointed at him and cursed with a smile: "You boy, who are you? Are you going to be a minister of the Ministry of Industry just by saying nothing? This is not an official from Nanjing, but an official from Beijing. department!"
Gao Pragmatic was infected by Gao Gong's attitude and couldn't help but get carried away. He said triumphantly: "Of course I am not the elder now, but it will be a matter of time!"
Hearing the words, Gao Gong paused, his speech slowed down, and he mused: "It's a good thing that you have such ambitions, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If you want to rule the world and publish books all over the world one day, start now." You must study hard. If you don’t serve in the Imperial Academy, how can you get into the cabinet?”
Gao pragmatic quickly gathered his thoughts and said with cupped hands: "The lesson taught by the third uncle is right, my nephew must remember it." But attitude is attitude. After all, he was already in his early thirties before time travel, and he really didn't need to listen to Gao Gong's countless emphasis on being named on the gold list. With this matter in mind, he immediately changed the topic: "But even if the strategy to control the river is implemented, my nephew still believes that sea transportation cannot be abandoned."
"Oh?" Gao Gong now really didn't dare to underestimate his young nephew. Hearing this, he immediately asked: "What's the reason?"
Gao pragmatically said: "You said just now, Uncle San, that for just one month of port, nearly 20,000 taels of silver have been paid in taxes in a year. And you have to pay attention that Yuegang has only recently opened, and the number of ships entering and exiting is very limited. , the imperial court’s system is actually too strict, and according to my nephew’s judgment, the tax money it can collect in the future should be much more than it is now.”
Gao Gong asked thoughtfully: "You mean... Tianjin's Dagu Port will also be opened like the Moon Port?"
"If possible, that is of course the best." Gao pragmatic replied immediately.
Gao Gong shook his head: "I'm afraid this matter is still difficult to handle. There are too many people in the court who are opposed to it, and I am currently a heavenly official. I am working hard to solve the problem of overstaffing of court officials, and at the same time, I have to sort out the border troops... ...Qi Yuanjing had previously asked the imperial court to transfer all the armies from the nine sides to Jizhou in turn for him to train them one by one. The cabinet has discussed this matter many times, but it still can't be done, and I feel very sorry for it."
Gao Pragmatic knew about the issue of border army training. At first, Tan Lun, a famous minister who had contributed to the suppression of Japanese pirates, proposed to let Qi Jiguang train soldiers of the Ji Liao generation. Later, the training was quite effective. Qi Jiguang then made a suggestion to let all the nine border troops train. The army went to Jizhou for rotation training.
If this suggestion is seen by future generations, it will certainly be great - who is Qi Jiguang? That was the Ming Military God who looked back on his life before he died and could say, "In the past thirty years, I have fought more than a hundred battles on land and water in the north and south without losing a single defeat."
A general who has achieved brilliant results in one battle can be called a famous general, and there are quite a few such generals in China's thousands of years of history; but a general who has been fighting for decades can be called a famous general. Fighting from south to north, from water to land, but there is no record of "a small loss". They are all victories, and almost all of them are big victories at a very slight cost... If this kind of person doesn't Even if he is considered a military god, what kind of person deserves to be called a military god?
But Gao Jingshi knew that now was not the time to discuss Qi Jiguang. After all, the road had to be walked step by step and things had to be done one by one. Moreover, Qi Jiguang's backstage in the court was actually Zhang Juzheng, so Gao Jingshi had to slowly plan for Qi Jiguang's appointment. , push slowly.
He changed the topic back: "Uncle San, Tianjin doesn't need to be as open as Yuegang. We can find a better excuse: for example, opening up Tianjin as a port for grain transshipment and arms transportation."
This is the step-by-step idea. It will be used to transport grain and armaments first to avoid being opposed by too many courtiers. When the port is built and expanded, and everything is ready in the future, Tianjin can directly open the port with just one word.
But Gao Gong was a little puzzled: "I understand the grain transport, what does this arms transport mean?"
Gao Pragmatic explained: "In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing, Dalaisun Khan of the Chahar tribe was afraid of being annexed by Anda, so he led one hundred thousand troops to move south and moved their herds to the southeastern half of the Greater Khingan Mountains. Since then, Jiliao pressure As the army grew bigger, the armaments and grain it needed were increasing day by day. Originally, these materials had to go to Liaoning through Shanhaiguan and Jinzhou to reach Liaoyang. Originally, the cost of land transportation was already huge, but it happened to be a detour. It's a waste of money and food. If Tianjin Port is well utilized, the imperial materials can be transported from Tianjin Port to Liangfangkou (Note: Yingkou in later generations.), and then transferred from sea ships to river ships, up the Sancha River and Taizi River, directly to Liaoyang! Not only can we save countless supplies and food, but we can also avoid being beaten by the Mongolian Tatars accidentally."
After hearing this, Gao Gong not only began to ponder, but after a while he said: "This matter is of great importance, I need to think about it carefully." Then the topic changed: "By the way, I have discussed the 'playmate' matter in secret with the Holy One. Your Majesty may start to do it soon, so if you have any plans, you must hurry up."
Gao pragmatic smiled slightly: "That's easy to handle... My nephew will leave Beijing tomorrow and go to my villa for an on-site inspection first."
