Gao pragmatic frowned and said: "Floods and natural disasters are unpredictable, but I heard that the head of the river, Weng Gong, asked to open the river before the emperor?" I don't know what the third uncle and the princes of the court think about this method? ”

Hezong Weng Gong refers to the current Prime Minister River Weng Dali.

Gao Gong nodded, and said: "There is such a thing, Weng Rushen has twelve pictures on the table, which depicts the tragic situation of the flooded area of the great river, and the great mourning of the Holy Lord, and ordered the cabinet and the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry and other public offices. ”

"Is the reason for Gong Weng to ask for the opening of the river is valid?" Gao asked pragmatically.

Gao Gong said in a deep voice: "Weng Rushen said: The river should be governed according to its general trend, and it should be considered for its eternal plan. Seeing Xu, Pi area, the river body is silted, the trouble of change is decided, not in this autumn, then in the coming year, fortunately it is decided under Xu and Lu, if it is decided on Xiao, Dang, then the sluice river is interrupted, and the two floods are dried up. Fortunately, it is still possible to decide on the south bank; If it is decided on the north shore, it will not go to Zhang Qiu, and it will be abundant and abundant...... Today, the Zihe River is the water, so the nature of the strong water is from me, although it is difficult for Shen Yu to achieve the bottom results! However, the creation of the Lu River, the Yellow River outside the degree, is Yongtuer...... From northwest to southeast, it is more than 500 miles long, nearly 80 miles longer than the Yellow River. The rivers, canals, lakes and ponds are eight or nine out of ten, the source of the living water, the veins are through, and the reason why this day is also rich. …… If you fight for ten years to control the river to become the river, the river is completed, the Yellow River has no worries, the tea city has no worries about filling the siltation, the two floods have no worries about the hardships and dangers, the ships have no worries about drifting damage, the branch of Yangshan can not be opened, the sluice seat of the mountain can not be built, the Hongfu of Xukou can be saved, and the embankment of the family bridge can be dropped. Today's expenses are not paid, and all the provinces of other days still have a surplus. ”

Gao pragmatic thought for a while: "Sounds reasonable? ”

Gao Gong shook his head and sighed: "The truth is reasonable, but you also have to pay attention to it, Weng Rushen said that he would fight for ten years to control the river to open the river." In other words, he estimates that the cost of opening the river will be at least 10 times the current annual cost for river control. The imperial court treasury is in distress, where did you get such a large amount of money? Also, don't you think that when he says ten times, he really thinks that it is just ten times, the old man has been an official in the court for decades, and he still doesn't know these methods? At the moment, it is said that it is ten times, and when the imperial court really decides to start construction, it will not be long before they will say that this ten times only refers to the cost of labor, and the rest is the personnel rations, wages, redemption of land along the river, etc., and Zero Zero can always report dozens of items to you, all in all, in a word, at least another ten times! Hey, as the head of the river, he only needs to think of a way to control the river, and no one can say that he is a vegetarian meal. However, when we are in charge of the matter, can we listen to him say this, and put all the treasury of the world into this matter? What's more, it's not enough to throw it all in at the moment! ”

Oh, it's been a long time, but it's still out of lack of money.

Gao pragmatically smiled bitterly: "Then what should I do?" The flooding of the Yellow River always has to find a way to solve it, even if it can't be cured for a while, at least it must be alleviated year by year, otherwise there will be a 'huge loss' at every turn, and the imperial court will not be able to afford to lose. Moreover, every time there is a flood, the people along the river are killed and injured, and they are displaced, if the imperial court is still unable to find a way, then ...... It is also a blow to the prestige of the imperial court and the hearts of the people. ”

The high-arched beard was windless, and raised his eyebrows and said: "I don't want to do it, the real court doesn't have this power for the time being!" As he spoke, he couldn't sit still, stood up and paced, and said: "Before, I decided to open the sea to Yuegang, and now the imperial court can have nearly 20,000 taels of silver a year, accounting for 30% of Fujian's tax silver. According to the old man's original intention, the imperial court could have opened a few more ports, but the opponents up and down were huge, and they all talked about things with some foolish reasons, thinking that the old man didn't know? But at present, the affairs of the court are complicated, and the old man is difficult to deal with them for a while, so he can only come one by one, and he has to have a sequence. ”

After a pause, he continued: "A weaving method (note: that is, a whipping method. After doing it for so many years, it has some effect, but as soon as it has an effect, some people are in a good mood, and even Uncle Da tried to ask me the last time if I want to promote it throughout the country. I think he is also busy and chaotic, how can this method be promoted across the country casually? For example, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are rich, and the people's taxes and grains are converted into silver money and handed over, and naturally they are up and down, but such as Shaanxi and Gansu, they are originally barren and poor. You would be so kind to those people that you said you would change them for you? The geese will definitely pluck their feathers, and when the time comes, I am afraid that the people there will have to sell their sons and daughters, alas...... It's not easy for the imperial court to do something, and many things can't be left undone, but they can't be missed. My generation holds the center, and every move must be thought twice in order to be perfect, otherwise Wang Jinggong's old affairs will not be far away. ”

Gao Pragmatic didn't want to deviate from the topic, and quietly led the conversation back: "Since Weng Gong's law is quite difficult for the imperial court to descend at the moment, does the imperial court have any other methods?" ”

"Yes." Gao Gong stretched out a finger: "There is a person surnamed Pan, named Ji Tame, the word Shiliang, and the number Yinchuan, do you know?" ”

Gao Shishi's heart moved, and he nodded: "I have heard of it, I heard that this prince was also the president of He, and Ding Wei resigned a few years ago. ”

"Yes, when Jiajing was forty-five years old, he connected and dredged the old river in Liucheng, the first emperor Shizong added him as the right deputy capital of the imperial history, and he was trying to use it greatly, who expected that his family would change, and he would go to work with Ding worry, not long after, and the first emperor died, and now he succeeded to the throne, this person was forgotten by the imperial court."

Gao pragmatic smiled: "But didn't the third uncle forget? ”

Gao Gong shook his head: "I'm not afraid of your jokes, I also thought of him because I was also in charge of the Ministry of Officials and looked through the cases." Soon after the old man's resurgence, he wrote to him to inquire about the method of controlling the river, and his reply arrived not long ago, and he did propose a new method that had never been seen before...... It's just that no one has used this method for thousands of years, and the old man doesn't know whether to believe him or not? ”

Gao Shishi's heart suddenly tightened: It's coming!

Pan Jitao wants to open big! This Yushen II's trick "Bunching Water and Rushing Sand" is coming?

Gao Shishi took a deep breath and asked in as calm a tone as possible, "How is it unprecedented?" ”

Gao Gong recalled slightly, and replied: "He said in his reply to the old man: According to the water from last year's Haikou to the Yellow River, the water cannot go down, and the sand is lying on the ground. The river in the area of Xu Pi is getting shallower, and it is no longer what it used to be. As soon as the water overflows, it overflows the embankment. It is a decision to restore Suining. Even if Pizhou only reverts to its old ways, can An make the Xu and Lu Zhihe rivers go to the end? For today's plan, when from Xu to Pi, from Pi to Huai, check the two cliff embankments, such as the law is high and thick. Beyond the two cliffs, a remote embankment is still built to prevent accidents. A few waters traveled from the ground, and the silt and sand went with it. In the past few years, the depth and breadth have remained as before, and the changes of the rush are also self-avoiding. It can be seen that the siltation of the Yellow River is mostly due to the thin embankment, and the water breaks from it, so the downstream flows from the bottom, and the river body suddenly rises. Visit the south of Erhong, the embankment is very thin, I am afraid that the water will occur in May, and the water will be decided from the side, then the shallow silt of the white ocean will pass, and the trouble south of the Erhong will follow. ”

Gao Shishi had already prepared, and immediately spoke: "Although this law is new, some people actually proposed it in ancient times, but it has not been implemented. ”

"Oh?" Gao Gong's face was full of surprise: "Who has ever had this discussion?" Where do you know? ”