The next day, more than 20 leading figures in Wu County were invited to board the fortune boat of the government, although it was the invitation of the lord of the government to swim the river, but everyone knew that this was to explore the waterway after the opening of the port in the future.

When choosing the port city, because you can't choose the coastal port, so you must open in an inland city with a suitable distance, safety and convenience can be taken care of, after some research, Shen Mo chose Suzhou, in addition to its developed industry and commerce, people's concepts are relatively trendy, there is a very important reason, is this Wusong River.

Wusongjiang was 20 miles wide in the Tang Dynasty and 2 miles wide at the beginning of the country, so it should have the conditions to undertake the transportation artery. It has a total length of nearly 300 miles, originates from Taihu Lake, crosses the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, flows through Wujiang, Suzhou City, Wuxian, Kunshan, Jiading, and then enters Qingpu County, Songjiang Prefecture, flows into the Yangtze River near Baidu Bridge in Shanghai County, and finally flows out of the East China Sea from Taicang Prefecture. Through this golden waterway, in addition to direct access to overseas, it can also connect the rich Jiangnan region with developed provinces such as Fujian, Zhejiang, Lujin and Jin.

These situations are all silently compared with the map and the chronicles, little by little, just on paper, flawless, the rest is this field trip, if the problem is not big, you can announce to everyone the schedule of the opening of the port.

So in the morning breeze, our future city ship lifted the lord, carrying half of the head of Suzhou City, and boarded the five-story Dafu ship for this exploration...... This is also the largest ship that can be found at one time, and in order to achieve the test effect, a basket of stones on the opposite side of several layers below, with the words of an experienced old shipwright, has reached the draft of an ordinary sea ship.

Everyone set off from the canal wharf, first used the morning of silent hospitality in the cabin, and waited until the sun rose, the ship had already left Suzhou, everyone also came to the top platform under the greeting of Gui Youguang, sat down at the table full of fruit snacks, while tasting fragrant tea, while watching the scenery, but saw that the river water is clear, peach blossom red, cauliflower yellow, weeping willow green, light breeze warm, sunny, a good spring in the south of the Yangtze River...... Everyone has to admit that although the garden where they live is a collection of mountains and rivers and ingenious workmanship, it is still much inferior to this real natural scenery.

For a while, all the gentlemen were relaxed, talking, chanting poems, and really regarded this trip as an outing.

But Shen Mo's mood was not so good, because as soon as he came out of Suzhou City, he found that Wu Songjiang was not as wide as recorded in the book...... At best, it is only four or five miles wide, and the water depth is also very average, and you can clearly feel that the big ship is indeed a little difficult to drive on the surface.

However, it was still acceptable, so he did not show his concern on his face, but it was not long before he could no longer sit still, stood up and walked to the side, leaning on the railing and looking out.

As soon as they saw Lord Fuzun like this, the laughter and laughter naturally stopped abruptly, and everyone also got up, surrounded them, and looked forward with a silent gaze, only to see that the river was much narrower than when they left the city!

Then the sailors below came up and asked, "My lord, the waterway is so clogged up that we must throw away the stones from the ship, or we will not be able to travel." ”

Shen nodded depressedly and agreed to the request.

Baskets of stones were thrown from the boat into the river, reducing the weight of the big ship, and then slowly moving forward; But before he had gone twenty miles, the sailor came up again to ask for instructions, and he had to continue to lose weight.

In this way, some were thrown and some were thrown, and at last in the afternoon, there was no way to move forward—the surface of the river was reduced to only twenty zhang wide, and although the depth was unknown, it was no longer able to hold up such a large ship!

Shen Mo clutched the railing with both hands, his face became as white as paper, and his eyes seemed to be looking at the river, but in fact he had lost focus...... There was only one voice in my heart, and I couldn't moan: 'It shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be! ’

The book says that the width of Taihu Lake is 36,000 hectares, and the way into the sea is unique. Jiaqiao Road of the Northern Song Dynasty: 'Wusong Ancient River, the old road is deep and wide, and it can be rivaled by Qianpu'. The local chronicles record that the estuary of the river was as wide as 20 miles in the Tang Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty was nine miles wide, and the narrowest place at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty was two miles wide!

Sure enough, it is better to believe in a book than to have no book, and Shen Mo couldn't have imagined that the only way to vent the huge Taihu Lake was so narrow and almost a ravine!!

"What's going to be done now?" Everyone also looked at each other, although they were born and grew up in Si, but they also knew everything about the vicinity of Suzhou City, and they were blinded when they were a little downstream, and some people asked: "Where is this?" ”

"Within Kunshan County." A desolate voice rang out, drawing everyone's eyes to it. At first glance, it is Suzhou that pushes officials to return to the light.

I saw him holding the railing with both hands, and said with tears in his eyes: "My lord, when you asked me where I was from, I said it was Jiading." In fact, Jiading is just the residence of my whole family, this is my hometown, my place of growth. ”

"Huh, huh?" Shen Mo smiled and asked, "Why don't you live in Kunshan?" In fact, he was a little unhappy with Gui Youguang's abrupt interjection, but with the harmonious relationship between the two, he still had to support him when he should support him.

Then he listened to Youguang Dao: "In the twenty-first year of Jiajing, Taihu Lake was flooded, the entire Kunshan was flooded, the plague was rampant after the disaster, ten rooms and nine empty, and I couldn't stay any longer, so I had to leave my hometown and take refuge in Jiading." Over the years, every year there has been a flood peak, and Kunshan has been in danger every year, and the Han family has to stay in Jiading. ”

Shen Mo asked everyone: "Are other counties like this?" ”

Everyone nodded gloomily and said: "The width of Taihu Lake is 36,000 hectares, the way into the sea, the only way, every rainy season, the lake rises, cathartic down, including Suzhou City, most of the prefectures and counties are flooded, almost every year, Kunshan is low-lying, it is a serious disaster, so there is a 'flower Kunshan' said. ”

Looking at the narrow surface of the river, Shen Mo asked softly, "Does this have anything to do with the narrowing of the river?" ”

"It's the reason for Wu Songjiang!" Gui Youguang said in a deep voice: "Northeast of Suzhou, surrounded by rivers and seas, and Taihu Lake in the middle. Taihu Lake is huge, Wu is humble, and the way into the sea is unique to Wusong all the way. However, the water of Taihu Lake also carries a large amount of silt, which is gradually deposited downstream. Moreover, the lake fields are often occupied by the people, and compete with the water for the benefit of size! He pointed to the rice fields north of the river and said: "My lord, please see, hundreds of zhang of farmland, in fact, are all the original river channels, so around the river to make fields, the end of the river has been silted into flat land, and the waterway is thin pipe, once the flood comes, how can it be vented in time?" Is there any reason not to overflow? ”

Shen Mo nodded with a serious face, and did not answer, this situation was too unexpected, and it directly made the speech he prepared stillborn.

The people on the ship came with great hope, but they encountered this situation, and they did not know what to say.

In the end, Lu Ding said slowly: "In fact, at the beginning of the country, it was the method of 'breaking into Liu' and opening the Fanjiabang waterway to find another way out of the drainage. In the past 100 years, the Wusong River has been dredged many times, but the repeated dredging and silting have had little effect, and after all, it cannot change the situation of shrinking Yuyi. This is really a subtle reminder to Shen Mo that no one can solve the problem of the Taihu Lake flood, and if you get entangled in it, you will miss the right thing. In the end, the old gentleman said: "And the rainy season is coming soon, and now it's too late to rectify Wusong." ”

Everyone also chimed in: "My lord, in fact, every time there is a flood, we have to suffer a lot of losses!" Who doesn't want to solve the flood? But no one can solve it...... Taihu Lake nourishes Suzhou and turns us into a rich water town in the south of the Yangtze River; And repeatedly flooded, so that we will not become rich and rival the country, this is the 'way of heaven, more than loss and make up for the short', it is the destiny of heaven, we all admit it! ”

Shen Mo nodded slowly, and said to Gui Youguang: "Do you have a solution?" ”

Gui Youguang nodded and said, "Yes!" It can be both big and small. The great ruler took the sea as a beggar, completely dredged the Wusong River, and went to the siltation of the rivers and lakes, so that it was enough to receive the water of the branch rivers, restore the old appearance of the Tang and Song dynasties, and guide the water of the rivers and lakes to inject into the sea, which can be done once and for all! ”

Shen Mo raised his hand to stop his tirade and said, "Tell me how much silver it will cost first, right?" "He worked in the cabinet, and he had the impression that water control was like a pile of gold.

"What is this......" Gui Youguang said: "I'm afraid it will cost millions of taels......"

"A few million taels?" Lu Ding, who was on the side, said with a smile: "If the imperial court has this money, will it still be necessary to let Fuzun open the port and trade with Xiyi?" ”

"Wu Songjiang will be governed sooner or later." Shen Mo also nodded and said: "But now the war in the imperial court is tight, and it is the time to use money, and it is obviously inappropriate for us to go on a big project," said with a smile and comforted Gui Youguang: "In a few years, the war is over, we have money, and we will definitely do a big job......" Looking at the overcrowded river, Shen Mo knew that the rain was scarce now, and there was nothing to do, it is conceivable that if this problem is not solved, when it rains continuously in summer, the river will rise sharply and flood, don't think about opening a port, and fight the flood and disaster relief with the power of a government!

As soon as he thought of this, he found that he should no longer contradict Gui Youguang's opinion, but should attach great importance to it, so he asked, "Tell me about your Xiaozhi, right?" At the very least, we have to deal with the most difficult period of these years. ”

Gui Youguang knew that the former was not good, and the reason why he had to say it was just to cover the latter, so he said: "If you are forced by the situation, let it be small, then it is better to build a waterproof embankment......

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar, and everyone laughed and said: "Zhenchuan is wrong, the river is silted up to this point, even if it is to be rectified, it should be dredged and dredged, and the embankment should be repaired. ”

Shen Mo also looked at Gui Youguang inquiringly, but he said confidently: "The water of the lake and river contains sediment, because this section of the water is slow, it is gradually deposited and silted, so that the river narrows. Dredging is certainly one option, but the cost is too high and it is too late. Said with his hands parallel and said: "It is the dry season, the water flow is gentle, the amount of water is less than three percent of the wet season, adults can imagine, if we build a dam in the low-lying part of Kunshan, the water flow is restricted, artificially caused a rapid, it is bound to be able to wash away the silted sediment, after a rainy season, the siltation here will be greatly slowed down, this is to benefit oneself with the power of heaven and earth." ”

Everyone was amazed that it was indeed an ingenious idea, and asked, "How much does this cost?" ”

"It doesn't cost a lot of money." Gui Youguang finally moved everyone, and couldn't help but rejoice: "Your Excellency and everyone, please see, the east and west sides of the strait are actually very high. The east bank is high, and it is not afraid of floods, but it is afraid that there will be no rain for months and it will not be able to be watered. On the contrary, the West Bank is too low, and it is most troubled by flooding the Golden Mountain, so the people on the east and west sides of the river are working together to build the West Bank...... On the one hand, you can dredge the river, and on the other hand, you can take the old bank attached to the mud, and build it and increase the breadth! In the summer and autumn rainy season, the water level rises, and the people on both sides of the river are combined to dredge the tributary river on the east bank and store water for the month without rain! As he spoke, he clasped his hands together and said, "This financial resource is not in vain, and drought and flood are prepared!" ”

"Good!" Lu Ding was the first to praise and said: "What a wonderful method!" The crowd was also elated when they heard this, and felt that there was no more appropriate way, and they said, "In this way, the river has been deepened and widened, and the troubles of the adults are gone." ”

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he smiled silently and said, "Let's discuss it, if it's feasible, let's do it." ”

Gui Youguang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When the ship returned to Suzhou City, it was already dusk, and everyone said goodbye to Lord Beppu, boarded the sedan car waiting at the wharf, and went home.

His gaze withdrew from the distant crowd, and when he looked at Gui Youguang again, it became extremely stern.

Gui Youguang was quite self-aware, knelt on the ground, and said: "Humble and arrogant, please punish your lord!" ”

"Why didn't you consult with me beforehand?" Shen said coldly.

"I'm afraid that the adults won't agree." Gui Youguang said: "This is the only way to make a decision." If he had said it earlier, Shen Mo would definitely try to avoid this waterway, for example, changing the port to Taicang Prefecture, where the Liujiang River flows into the sea, which is also a better choice, but in that case, Suzhou City will lose this golden opportunity for development, and the Wusong River will not have a chance to dredge.

Gui Youguang didn't want to be a sinner in Suzhou, so he couldn't let Lord Fuzun know the true situation of Wu Songjiang earlier, and he had to wait until today, when Shen Mo had invited half of the big households in Suzhou City out, and he couldn't change his ways, so that he had to agree.

"How is this different from coercing your own officer?" Shen Mo said coldly, he has been holding back this fire for a long time, and he can hold it ...... Less angry.

Gui Youguang took off the black veil, rested on the ground, and said calmly: "Humble position is at the disposal of the adult!" ”

Shen Mo squatted down, looked at Gui Youguang, and said with a smile: "You feel like you're putting me together, it's cool, isn't it?" ”

"It's not pleasant." Gui Youguang whispered: "Thanks to the trust of the adults, the lower officials have a sense of guilt, and they should be loyal and loyal; I can't help but think that my hometown and my land are still in dire straits, so I can't help but dare to commit a ......"

"What a good person," Shen Mo patted him on the shoulder and said jokingly: "If I take off the black yarn of your 'blue sky', won't I become a 'black sky'?" ”

"My subordinates don't dare," Gui Youguang said: "I am to blame, and I deserve it." ”

Shen Mo stood up, and with a foot hook motion, he picked up the black yarn that returned to the light in his hand, and said lightly while patting the soil on it: "Do you know, where is the most annoying place for Qingliu officials?" ”

Gui Youguang shook his head.

"It's just putting forward opinions and not doing facts!" Shen Mo still said in a calm tone: "So no matter what the result is, they are all correct and honorable. He glanced at him and said, "Do you think so too?" ”

Gui Youguang hurriedly shook his head like a rattle and said: "The humble position is not so shameless. ”

"Then don't even think about picking a child!" Shen Mo put the black yarn on his head upright, and said in a deep voice: "Clean up the things you have done by yourself, and you will be limited to seven days to come up with a detailed plan and submit it!" ”

"Your Excellency......" Gui Youguang's eyes overflowed with tears and said, "You...... I ......"

"What, don't want to?" Shen Mo asked with a squint.

"Willing, willing," Gui Youguang hurriedly shook his spirits and said, "You are really a benevolent and righteous gentleman!" ”

"Benevolence and righteousness!" Shen Mo glared at him and said: "It's the credit of the two of us for doing a good job, everyone is promoted and made a fortune together; If you don't do it well, you can carry this black pot! ”

Gui Youguang knew that the lord was just talking angry, and if the river worker was such a big thing, if he got out of the basket, it would be impossible for the prefect to escape. The reason why Shen Mo said this was just to vent his anger and put pressure on him by the way.

"It's not that my subordinates boast about it, I have been inspecting Wusongjiang for more than ten years," Gui Youguang said with a smile: "Visiting Hegong and consulting historical books, I can still come up with effective methods for the governance of Wusongjiang." After speaking, he hesitated a little and said: "But if I really want to command so many people and manage such a big project, I don't have the ability." ”

"Well, you just need to be the chief engineer," Shen Mo nodded and said: "I have another candidate to really lead people to work," he said, squeezing his eyes: "Definitely the best contractor in the past!" ”

"Who?"

"Hai Jui." Shen Mo slapped his hands and said: "After talking to you yesterday, I was thinking about what he was most suitable for, and finally found that he was definitely the best person to manage the project." Said Rushu Jiazhen: "He is very honest and does not want to make profits; energetic, not afraid of hardship; Charge ahead, enjoy the back, such a person manages the project, I rest assured, comfortable, and at ease. ”

(To be continued)