New Shun 1730

Enough money?

Hearing these four words, Liu Yu felt a little amused.

What does "enough money" mean?

It has been five hundred years since the iron-blooded Song Dynasty tore open the Yellow River embankment and caused the Yellow River to flow into the Huai River.

During these five hundred years, the entire Huai River region was completely ruined. From the richest place in the country during the Han and Tang Dynasties, the place where military strategists must fight for, and the center of finance and taxation, it has become the key area for maintaining stability in Dashun, the place where gangs are born, the first place for rebellion, and the magical place where power is taken, landlords avoid names, and strange religions emerge in an endless stream.

The Yellow River is silted up.

From the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty to the present, the 500 years of siltation of the Yellow River, coupled with the reasons of protecting the Grand Canal, protecting the capital, and protecting the rule of the north and the south, the Yellow River from the southwest of Shandong to the south of the Huanghuai Basin has been in an extreme crisis.

Not counting the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, from Zhu Yuanzhang's establishment of the Ming Dynasty to the present moment of Dashun, the Yellow River has burst 73 times in the Huanghuai area.

On average, it almost comes every three or four years.

The emperor wanted to abolish the canal, and he didn't have to consider the dilemma of "protecting the Yellow River or the canal", but the question was, could the problem of the breach every three or four years be solved?

It couldn't be solved.

The breach and the Yellow River flooding were inevitably accompanied by salinization. Unlike normal water marshes, this sudden flood, accompanied by the water turning into steam, deposited a large amount of salinization, causing serious land degradation in the Huanghuai region.

Coupled with the impact of a large amount of Yellow River silt, the "upper middle soil" of the Kyushu era has degenerated into the current lower soil. The land is salinized, the loam is yellowed, it doesn't seep water in rainy days, you can't pull out your shoes after stepping on it, and it doesn't retain water in dry days. The soil is as hard as stone...

The emperor said that he wanted to govern and it would cost money. How much money would it cost to govern?

When Liu Yu and Kang Budai discussed this matter, Kang Budai's idea was "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen."

That means, don't care about anything and wait for the Yellow River to burst. It was not me who pulled up the Yellow River embankment, no matter how many people died or how many disasters were suffered, I felt at ease, and I was a gentleman who stayed away from the kitchen.

Now the waterway of the Yellow River has become higher and higher, and the frequency of breaches has become higher and higher.

One day, the Yellow River will change its course, no longer take the southern route to the Huai River, but will go through Shandong and enter the sea from Shandong.

Because there is Mount Tai in Shandong, the whole Shandong will not become a swamp.

What was pitted was only the rich places at that time: Dongping, Pingyin, Heze, Yuncheng and other places. That is, the triangle area where the Yellow River changed its course to the north and south.

Shandong has been suffering from drought and water shortage in recent years, and it has not even started in recent years. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Shandong was a disaster where thousands of miles of barren land were cannibalistic.

And the Yellow River and Huai River Basin, because it is located in a higher precipitation area, is more prone to floods and waterlogging disasters.

Therefore, if there is a natural disaster that causes the Yellow River to burst from the north and flow through Shandong...

A burst of the Yellow River will kill at least 70,000 to 80,000 people directly, and there will be millions of people who will die indirectly or become homeless.

Kang Budai considered that if the Yellow River bursts, the canal will silt up, and the water volume will be insufficient, then the conditions for sea transportation will be more mature.

In addition, the Yellow River is now flowing along the south line, and the accumulation is getting higher and higher. Sooner or later, something big will happen.

Now Dashun's water control ability has been greatly improved compared to before.

At this time, water control is not like in later generations, relying on sacks, woven bags, and mechanical vehicles to reinforce the river embankment with large stones.

At this time, water control requires bamboo and wood as supports, mixed with soil to control water.

Since the Ming Dynasty, in order to control water and because of severe land degradation, the government began to promote the planting of sorghum in the Yellow River flood area.

Mainly to use sorghum stalks as materials for building river embankments.

The side effect is that a large amount of sorghum has become the raw material for brewing, making sorghum wine the representative of white wine. Generally speaking, sorghum wine is definitely more "noble" than corn wine, sweet potato wine and the like.

Dashun's ability to control water is slightly stronger than that of the previous dynasty, which is also due to the large amount of sorghum stalks and corn stalks.

Without considering the flooding of the imperial tombs and ancestral tombs, and with a large amount of sorghum stalks and corn stalks as materials for reinforcing the river embankment, the Yellow River still bursts continuously, even more seriously than the previous dynasty.

The ability to repair river embankments is getting stronger and stronger, and the frequency of accidents is increasing. This can only mean one thing: it has been holding back, and sooner or later something big will happen.

In the current situation, there is a Yellow River flood every three or five days, and it is still the death of tens of thousands of people.

Liu Yu certainly would not be stupid enough to think about such a weird idea as digging a Yellow River waterway and actively bursting the embankment. With the engineering capabilities of the world at this time, such a feat could not be accomplished. Moreover, after the Yellow River came out of the Taihang Mountains, the entire lower reaches of the Yellow River were actually the waterways of the Yellow River. People could go wherever they wanted. How could human power at that time restrain them?

But if we weigh all the pros and cons, Liu Yu felt that it might be better for the Yellow River to break through from the north and go to Shandong.

However, this was not something he could control.

The emperor was probably unlikely to have such anti-human ideas as actively tearing up the Yellow River embankment. Although he was just a feudal emperor, he was at least a human being.

Therefore, under this premise, the emperor's "lack of money" was worth considering.

How much money was lacking?

Is it the money needed to solve the problem of abolition of the canal and conversion to sea transport so that the millions of canal workers would not cause trouble?

Or is it the money needed to thoroughly manage the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins?

These two are not at the same order of magnitude at all.

With the current national strength of Dashun, which is at the peak of its rising period, it is still capable of solving the problems of the canal and northern Jiangsu.

Although the solution may not be perfect, judging from the emperor's goal of not wanting the Huanghuai region to become a cancer of the empire, it should still be possible.

Liu Yu is actually eager to solve the Huanghuai problem.

Because, in his mind, the birthplace of Dashun's light industry was placed in southern Jiangsu - at this time, Songjiang Prefecture and Shanghai were also considered southern Jiangsu.

If we say that the Gyeonggi region and Liaodong region used "military" as a reason to let the court fund the establishment of some government-owned enterprises.

Then, the southern Jiangsu region must rely more on private capital.

The steam engine has already come out, and even light industry still needs coal and iron as its foundation. As for the southern Jiangsu area, relatively speaking, the coal and iron that are the most recent and easiest to obtain are in northern Jiangsu.

At the same time, steam engines first appeared in coal mines, and their initial need was to pump water.

In the Zaozhuang area, there were coal mines in the Song Dynasty. In later stories, the railway guerrillas also operated near Zaozhuang.

There is no coal mining there now. The reason is that after the Song Dynasty, the Yellow River changed its course and flooded a lot, causing the coal seams to be soaked in water.

In this way, the steam engine could be used only for pumping water and could quickly become popular.

In the long run, if the Huanghuai region can be thoroughly managed, even if it is maintained in a basically stable state, it will be conducive to the start of the light industry in southern Jiangsu.

He was not interested in the fact that northern Jiangsu was in chaos and caused a large number of people to flee south and north to beg and become cheap laborers.

Because the current labor force in Dashun is cheap enough, and the labor cost in southern Jiangsu is not high, the rate at which small farmers go bankrupt and enter the city to work is now much higher than the number of people that can be absorbed by the industrial and commercial development in southern Jiangsu.

It is almost inevitable that Dashun cannot completely manage the Huanghuai region.

Then, if we can ensure that when we control the Yellow River, we don't need to consider the canal problem. If we control the Yellow River well, at least floods will not be as frequent as now, which is indeed an improvement.

Thinking of this, Liu Yu did not ask the emperor to what extent he was prepared to solve the problem of the Huanghuai Canal, but first talked about the "money" issue.

"Your Majesty, the systems of the Celestial Dynasty and those of the Western Barbarians are very different. Confucius said: When three people are walking together, there must be one who is my teacher. Han Changli said that Confucius studied under Lao Dan and Chang Hong, and they are not inferior to them. Some methods of the Western Barbarians, It’s not like you can’t learn.”

"If you choose the good ones and follow them, it is not just a simple industrial and commercial matter. There are still many laws and regulations that need to be tried and implemented."

"The ancients said that if you are not in your position, you will not be able to govern."

"Since I have been an official, I have been taught by His Majesty many times and I know the principles."

"Your Majesty sends ministers to promote industry and commerce, so ministers should not interfere with other civil and military affairs. At least they should not interfere with local affairs."

"But if the minister is a local governor, he will have too many things to take care of, and he will not be able to focus on industrial and commercial affairs... The ancients also said that if the name is not correct, the words will not be smooth. If the words are not smooth, the politics will not be clear. Your Majesty, in what capacity do you think I should take charge of the affairs assigned by Your Majesty?"

"Secondly, although Su, Song and other places are rich and have prosperous industry and commerce, these two or three places are not enough. Among them, rice, grain, cotton, indigo, etc., the only thing produced here is rice mill. If It would be inconvenient for me to leave the town with my honor and honor."

"Thirdly, although the properties, family businesses, companies, etc. of many merchants are in Matsue Prefecture, their businesses are distributed in various places. There are those who cultivate and catch fish in Ezo; there are those who hunt whales and boil oil in the Whale Sea; If the reclamation and mining developers in Nanyang are limited to one area, it will be inconvenient to negotiate. "

The emperor waited for a while and saw that Liu Yu had just said these three points for the time being. He couldn't help but smile and said: "How could I not have thought of what Aiqing said?"

"Now that the great achievements in Nanyang have been accomplished, it is time for you to become a duke based on your military merits. With the dignity of a duke, if you go out of the town, how can you just control it? Besides, I am also afraid of the place where your beloved goes out, for fear of causing a big mess. , the gentry is fierce.”

"Furthermore, trade, industry and commerce are closely related to Nanyang, the West, and the East. If the Dutch succeed in the future and take over the Western trading company, there will be military and political affairs during the period, and someone will be needed to connect the court and merchants. "

"Therefore, my intention is to establish an industrial and commercial bureau to coordinate and govern emerging industrial and commercial affairs, as well as to manage affairs such as the Academy of Sciences and new learning."

"It's just that this industrial and commercial bureau is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. Since Aiqing said that if the name is not correct, the words will not be correct, so I will give you a correct name."

The emperor spoke very generously, giving Liu Yu the right to govern emerging things.

In fact, the other half of the meaning of this sentence is to say that in the future, you should be a consultant on military matters and stop touching military power.

If I have anything to do, I can ask you, and of course you can also submit a letter to report, but when it comes to military matters, you are not justified.

Moreover, it seems that there are no wars such as the Tang conquest of the Turks, the Han conquest of Dawan, and the Sui conquest of Goguryeo, where famous generals and strong commanders must lead the army.

However, the emperor did not answer a question asked by Liu Yu: What should he do when his own policies conflict with local policies?

The emperor's intention is also very clear. He will not give Liu Yu a legitimate power in this power, or give the new Industrial and Commercial Bureau a legitimate power. This is just a department that recruits industry and commerce and coordinates industry and commerce with local governments. It is not the Imperial Industrial Planning Committee of Dashun...

Instead, I will show my personal favor and the honor of the Southern Tour to all officials, so as to resolve the possible conflicts between Liu Yu and local officials. Local officials are generally not so ignorant as to argue with you, but this is not due to your formal power, but due to my favor.

Once I lose my favor in the future, the local government can easily abolish all the reforms. For unprecedented things, it is better to end the politics with the death of the person. If it is useful, then don't let the person die.