Chapter 93 Disaster Relief Begins
The Beijing-Guangzhou line was the first railway line to be built. The biggest reason why it was built against the Taihang Mountains was water conservancy, to avoid floods. Is this why? Under normal circumstances, flat land should not have more reclaimable land and be more prosperous. However, in Hebei, for a long time, the real prosperity was in the prefectures and counties close to the Taihang Mountains.
This is all for one reason, and that is water conservancy issues.
The lack of water conservancy in Hebei has made areas on the plains prone to flooding, making them unsuitable for development. Although there is less flat land near the Taihang Mountains, due to the terrain, there is no accumulation of water and it is more developed.
But that's the long-term plan.
Now I am just thinking about it.
But when He Xi returned home, before he could fall asleep, Yao Guangxiao came to see him.
"Why did the Yellow River burst?" He Xi was shocked.
Yao Guangxiao said: "It's not just a matter of the Yellow River bursting. The water of the Yellow River has burst into the Wei River when it comes out of Yangwu. From this point onwards, Hebei and Shandong will be harmed, and even ------"
"Even Tianjin is a problem," He Xi said.
Are you just afraid of something coming? Yangwu is on the north bank of the Yellow River. The north and south banks of the Yellow River burst, and the floods have different destinations. If there is a breach on the south bank, the flood will flow into the Huaihe River. This is the so-called seizing the Huaihe River. There are many rivers between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, but they are only a few hundred miles apart. Although it is unfair to the local people, sometimes there is nothing that can be done.
Sometimes people artificially think that the flooding on the south bank is controllable.
But when the north bank bursts, the floods are hard to say. Generally, they rush into Shandong and stay in Shandong. For example, the so-called Shuibo Liangshan is actually caused by the detention of Yellow River floods. If it is not detained enough, it will rush into the Daqing River and into the sea.
The Daqing River is basically the current course of the Yellow River.
In addition, the Duowei River channel, the so-called Weihe River channel, is actually the North Canal. The Wei River channel was actually one of the Yellow River channels a long time ago. No, it can be said that most of the main east-flowing river channels in the entire Huanghai-Huaihe impact plain were once flowed by the Yellow River.
Now the floods of the Yellow River flow into the sea through the Wei River, and as mentioned above, it is no longer enough for the Haihe section of Tianjin to take over the nine rivers in Hebei. Now that there is the Yellow River, the problem is even more serious.
Although it is said that flooding will endanger the city of Beijing, it is probably not going to happen.
At least, this trend has not yet begun to be seen. Even if it really happened, there were many ways to protect the capital, but He Xi didn't want to do that. That is to find a way to release the flood. If the flood is released elsewhere, it will be impossible for the Tianjin flood to flow back.
It's just that this will do too much harm to the people.
He Xi wouldn't want to use it unless it was absolutely necessary.
But that time has not yet come, and He Xi is not only worried about the city of Beijing.
He Xi looked out the window at the heavy rain, which seemed to be leaking from the sky. He Xi said: "The whole of Hebei is in danger."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Sir, you must prepare early for the construction of Beijing City."
He Xi was silent for a moment and said, "I understand."
In Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, the people always come first. With today's weather, we have already received reports on water conditions in many places in Hebei, so we know that Hebei is going to suffer this time. But He Xi never expected that the restless Yellow River would also join in the fun.
The scale of the floods in Hebei this time will be very large.
Immediate relief is needed.
All of Hebei's manpower and material resources are here in Beijing. The fastest way to provide disaster relief is to use the materials here. However, as a result, the construction projects in Beijing City will be suspended for a while. Originally, He Xi was worried about whether the project could be completed as scheduled because of the rain. Not to mention it now.
He Xi also knew very well about the matter of disaster relief. There was no need to delay. If there was a slight delay, who knows how many lives would be lost. But when it comes to the construction of Beijing City, He Xi also has his own plans.
He Xi secretly murmured in her heart: "Can we do a work-for-relief program?"
It's easy to say it, but not easy to actually do it.
What is work? Now there is only the Beijing City Project. First, we need to open up transportation between Beijing and other places and bring disaster victims from all over the country to Beijing. This is a huge expense. Not to mention other costs, and more manpower needed to organize.
However, He Xi really wanted to try it.
Because Beijing is short of people.
There is a shortage of people, not only now, but also in the future.
You know, the city of Beijing built by He Xi was not a military city, but an industrial city. It requires a sufficient working population. But now, even including the local population and the outsiders, there are only more than 300,000 people.
That’s a lot to say.
Historically, after the city of Beijing was built, it was said to have a population of one million, but in fact it was because there were a large number of Beijing guards and their families in it. Today, this population includes the local people in Beijing, as well as those who participated in Zunhua and Beijing city construction work.
Although most of these people are now involved in the large-scale construction project of Beijing City, He Xi does not see any problem with Beijing City consuming these industrial people in the future.
He Xi thought about it and thought to herself: "Maybe, this is an opportunity."
Opportunity is an opportunity, but how to use this opportunity is a problem.
------
Yao Guangxiao came here just to report the news, but two or three days later, the edict from Nanjing arrived. It was the envoy who went to sea in a heavy rain and came from Tianjin.
The order brought by Zhu Yuanzhang ordered He Xi to immediately take charge of disaster relief in Hebei, and everything must be focused on disaster relief. Other things can be suspended.
After receiving the imperial edict, Duke Shen also expressed his stance to He Xi, saying: "Master He, as long as you give an order, I will absolutely obey it."
He Xi said: "With the words of Shen Guogong, I feel relieved. Now there is one of the most difficult tasks that needs Shen Guogong to do. It is related to the success or failure of this disaster relief."
Duke Shen said, "Please speak."
He Xi said: "That is dredging the Tianjin river."
After hearing this, Duke Shen couldn't help but frown and said, "It's not that I'm delaying, but it's this matter that I really don't know how to do."
Dredging of rivers is usually done during the dry season. Now there is a vast ocean. From the surface of the water, you can't see where the river is. How to dredge? Are you going to send people to dig? impossible.
He Xi also knew that there were many difficulties in this. But the problem is that the Tianjin river channel is not only a problem for Tianjin, but also a problem for the entire Hebei.
What is the scariest thing about floods? The floods surged and flooded the villages, but if it was only flooded for a day or two, the problem would not be too big. It would just be a loss of crop yields, but they could be replanted immediately and find ways to save some.
The biggest problem is that after the rain stops, the floods still linger for several months, which is what really kills people. Needless to say, flooding the fields will not only destroy the crops, but also affect the next cultivation, let alone replanting.
There is water everywhere. Given the living and sanitary conditions of this era, a great plague is brewing.
Many people were not drowned by the floods, but were killed by a series of secondary disasters caused by the floods that continued to recede.
Now that the flood has come, everything is over. Going to disaster relief now is just to recover some losses. But the best way to recover losses is to let the flood pass as soon as possible. Let the earth return to peace as soon as possible.
Therefore, if the water accumulated in Tianjin is discharged one day earlier, there will be less loss.
This is He Xijue's top priority.
He Xi also knew that there were many difficulties involved, which was why he had to ask Duke Shen to do it, because it required the army to carry out the task, and ordinary people simply could not carry out this task.
He Xi said: "Ge Tiangong."
Ge Tiangong's face was full of excitement and he said: "The grassroots are here."
He Xi said: "Shen Guogong, this is my disciple, the most proficient in machinery. You are going to Tianjin now. Just listen to his instructions for the specific details."
Duke Shen didn't believe it and said, "You------"
Ge Tiangong said: "Please rest assured, Duke, I will definitely not let you down. If not, please chop off my head to thank the world."
