Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

After sending out the invitation letter full of encouragement, Lu Ci stopped worrying about the friends who had to pass the test before coming to Beijing, and devoted all his energy to water control.

Considering the limited energy and time, he even completed more than half of the painting duties without hesitation in submitting the memorial, and the application was temporarily put on hold.

Zhao Zhen, who was conscientiously learning how to supervise the country, gave direct instructions without even thinking about it, and approved them happily.

In Zhao Zhen's view, it was inappropriate for Daddy to send his little wife to paint.

Too much overkill.

Even if he loved Lu Ci's paintings, he would not issue such an unreasonable order.

Just for the sake of the Son of Man, it's not easy to speak.

Lu Ci, who had rarely had the opportunity to taste the good things of "someone in the court who is easy to handle" since Wang Dan's death, couldn't help laughing.

He didn't expect that he would be able to gain the glory of the students so soon.

The reason why Lu Ci was anxious was also very simple - it was spring.

The climate is getting warmer, the permafrost is thawing, and the frequency of rainwater is changing. It is the best time of the year for building dams, dredging ditches, and expanding drainage ditches.

Since the funds that Kou Zhun had won for him were abundant, Lu Ci originally thought that he would just lead the peasants to dredge the ditches and settle the problem.

But before the specific implementation, it is far from enough to just read the books related to water control that he borrowed from the pavilion and some local water control experiences provided by Wang Zeng.

So when walking around the streets and drawing everywhere, one of the things that Lu Ci did most was to ask for news from He Gong and the residents near the south of the city.

Not only the frequency, scope and impact of waterlogging, but also the situation of water withdrawal in this area.

It was only then that Lu Ci realized that water control was far from simple as he originally thought.

The more he dug deeper, the more he felt the headache of moving out of one thing and endless troubles.

Kaifeng is known as the capital of four waters, the so-called four waters are Bianhe River, Caihe River, Wuzhang River and Jinshui River.

The four waters are not completely separated, but are connected with each other.

Among them, the Bian River originated from the Yellow River, with the largest water flow and east and west water gates. It has always been the most important part of water transportation and has been extremely valued by the court.

Wuzhang River, also known as Guangji River, is drawn from the Bian River and enters through the north of the city. Therefore, the river water is turbid and silted up, and it cannot be used for drinking by residents.

Among the four waters, the best water quality is undoubtedly the Jinshui River, followed by the Huimin River, also known as the Cai River.

However, the flow of the Jinshui River is quite short. When it is divided into two streams, one stream is poured into the Wuzhang River to aid its navigation, and the other stream is drawn into the imperial city.The short section that can be used by ordinary people is only located between Jingling Palace and the old city, and it is overcrowded every day, so it can be said that the supply exceeds the demand.

And secondly, it is not easy to get water from Caihe River instead——Caihe River only winds around the south of the city, and only the residents in the south corner of the city can supply it.

Because it is extremely difficult to obtain surface river water, most Bianjing citizens dig private wells in the streets or in their backyards if possible. Poorer families or tenants need to borrow official wells or hire wells. water man.

And the merchants who enjoy the nearby Caihe River have to bear the pain caused by the flooded Caihe River every summer.Fortunately, the water flow of the Caihe River is not as high as that of the Bian and Wuzhang Rivers. Those who really suffered from the flood disaster were only a dozen or so poor families, so naturally they could not attract the attention of the government.

Lu Ci's first reaction after learning about the difficulty of getting water for the people in Beijing was to introduce the tap water system that works very well in Mizhou.

But after the on-the-spot investigation, he quickly gave up this unrealistic idea.

Different from Mizhou, which has quite ups and downs, Bianjing has a flat terrain, and there are other three rivers in the four waters running through them in all directions. And know.

In addition, there is no wild bamboo forest outside the city, so there is no convenience of using local materials. Whether it is construction or maintenance, it is a matter that consumes a lot of money and manpower.

In this way, the expenses were shared equally, and Lu Ci simply calculated the accounts, and found that the sum of expenses in ten years was more expensive than digging a private well for every ten families.

Even if he has a lot of budget, he can't waste it.

After Lu Ci abandoned this idea, he quickly thought about the idea of ​​opening a new ditch.

However, just 12 years ago, when Zhao Heng was still in charge, he had sent people to take charge of the project of building more artificial ditches in the city.

The number of existing ditches is actually quite small.

If Lu Ci wanted to further increase the number of ditches, because the construction was too close to the last time, even if Zhao Zhen wanted to, he would probably be obstructed by the officials and criticized as an unnecessary waste of time and money.

We also have to consider the reaction of the people: Bianjing is already densely populated, and every inch of land is expensive.If ditches are to be built again, more civilian land will inevitably be occupied, making the already tense situation of housing and land use even worse.

Even Zhao Heng, the emperor, once wanted to expand the palace, but he had to give up because he couldn't afford the sky-high compensation, or he didn't want to disturb the people too much. How could he realize it?

Lu Ci couldn't think of a countermeasure for a while, so he was not in a hurry. He just hired manpower to dredge the drainage ditches first, and he arrived early every day, not afraid of dirty smell, and personally supervised the work.

In the season when the grass is growing and the birds are flying, and every family is taking advantage of their leisure time to go out for spring, this gentleman, dressed in a loose bright red official robe, which complements his skin whiter than snow, his lips are vermilion, and his face is extremely handsome, is like a man. A most striking landscape.

Especially when he was walking gracefully by the side of the ditch, watching the progress of the dredging earnestly and seriously, even though his face was stern, he also had a bit of indescribable charm for no reason, and successfully aroused the hearts of the young ladies who were waiting to be married. Jump.

The idea of ​​gradually giving up because the Iceman returned with no success at the door also revived.

It's not that no one wanted to take the opportunity to strike up a conversation and approached Lu Ci, but before he could walk in, he was stopped by the tall Jinwu guard with a stern face, and ruthlessly invited him back.

This is also thanks to the careful little prince.

Ever since Zhao Zhen heard from the servants that Lu Ci won three yuan in a row, that the day when the list was announced, there were thousands of people in the alleys, and he was chased and intercepted by people who were about to marry, he listened to it with great interest, and secretly wrote down this point.

At the beginning, his father, Zhao Heng, was so generous that he sent over a dozen Jinwu guards to escort him all the way with a wave of his hand. Zhao Zhen was even better than blue, and sent six Jinwu guards to guard Lu Ci's safety until the water control process was completed. .

This unique favor made all the officials jealous, and they were extremely jealous - even the prime minister of the court did not get this honor just because he did some water control work in the city!

However, Kou Zhun, who has always been pushy, had no intention of being provoked by their excitement, and even frowned and reprimanded them a few words.

What happened to sending a few Jinwu guards?Didn't the officials also send it?If you are very envious, why don't you let Lu resign to control the water?

And Li Di also heard a little about Lu Ci's grand occasion that provoked dignitaries and dignitaries to fight for this son-in-law, and sent countless servants to chase him and jump into the river to catch him.

Coupled with his friendship as an official of the Eastern Palace, he also has a good sense of Lu Ci, who is outstanding in talent and can guide the prince to the good. Naturally, it is impossible to raise objections to this.

Zhao Zhen insisted on this, and Lu Ci, who originally only wanted to hire a few more healthy servants, was moved and a little bit dumbfounded, so he had to accept the kindness.

Most coincidentally, among the few Jinwu guards sent to guard him, the leader was actually an acquaintance of his.

"Pro-Xun Yi Wei Habayashiro General Qi Luo, ordered to order the five members of the Jinwu Guard..."

When Qi Luo uttered words that seemed familiar, when Qi Luo looked at Lu Ci, thousands of emotions flashed involuntarily in his eyes.

Less than three years have passed, and his position has remained unchanged. He is still General Xun Yi and Wei Yu Lin Lang, but he only wore a green official robe and had no official position. If he wanted to be honored, he could only call him "Lu Sanyuan". Resignation, but it is not what it used to be.

All the way was smooth and smooth, and he was so successful, not to mention jumping dozens of levels, he became a close minister that the prince valued very much.

Lu Ci recognized him at a glance, and said with a smile, "In the next few months, there will be General Lao Qilang again."

The word 'again' warmed Qi Luo's heart.

The reason why he remembered Lu Ci was because the crowd that came to the gentleman that day was so turbulent and terrifying that the dozens of subordinates he led had lingering fears for several days, and their clothes were messed up by scratches.

But it is very rare for Lu Ci to recognize him at a glance.

Because of the gap in official position and the admiration in his heart, Qi Luo nodded respectfully, and politely replied: "I dare not be. I also ask Lu Zuo Yude to order."

Lu Ci smiled, and said generously: "Then I won't be polite. Thank you."

He no longer made any excuses, which made Qi Luo, who doesn't like detours and only likes to go straight, feel a little more good in his heart.

So when intercepting those icemen or servants who wanted to get close to Lu Ci with evil intentions, he also worked very hard and took it seriously.

However, Lu Ci had no time to pay attention to those little ladies' secret glances, and he didn't even notice it at all.

He frowned, slightly troubled.

Although the process of dredging the ditches was proceeding in an orderly manner, the efficiency was far less than what he had imagined.

After all, in the past ten years, the government's attention has only been on the most important Bian River, and the Jinshui River with the best water quality for the imperial city, and even the Wuzhang River that plays an auxiliary role. more concerned.

However, the Cai River, which flows through a limited area and whose water quality is not high, is in an embarrassing position.

Because of this, even if the government allocates money every year, the governor of Kaifeng will send people to dredge the ditches, but due to the limited amount, there are not many civilians who can be hired. Cai He, who loves her mother but doesn't love her.

However, the difficulty of dredging lies in how far it is from the last dredging. In these ditches that have not been carefully taken care of for more than ten years and have only been allowed to flow, the bottom of these ditches is mostly accumulated with silt and river sand left over the years.

This not only makes the depth of the ditches shallower, but also makes the water storage and diversion capacity worse. It also makes the river water more susceptible to surface dust pollution, making the water quality worse and worse.

It's no easy feat to clear years of clogs.

It is impossible to excavate those deposits that have turned into hard rocks by hand alone, especially in some relatively narrow or corners, which are more solid and require special tools to remove them.

The author has something to say: Notes:

"Tokyo Menghualu" Volume [-] "River" article: "There are four rivers through the city: the south wall is called Caihe, from Chencai to the capital through the Dailou Gate in the southwest, and the Liaoyuan exits from the southeast Chenzhou Gate.  … The Bian River diverts water from Luokou in Xijing and enters the capital, and goes east to Sizhou to enter the Huaihe River, transporting grain from the southeast. From then on, everything from the southeast enters the capital, and is given to the public and private....The northeast is called Wuzhang River, which comes from Jiyun , Banyan Jingdong Road, grain and dendrobium enter the capital....Northwest is called Jinshui River,...Enter the capital from the northwest water gate, surrounded by walls, and enter the large inner garden for irrigation." According to "Song History Shihuo Zhi" The "Water Transport" article said: "Daliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, has four rivers for water transport, namely the Bian River, the Yellow River, the Huimin River (that is, the Cai River), and the Guangji River; and the Bian River has a lot of water."

The content of water quality and drainage comes from "A Preliminary Study on the Domestic Water Situation of Bianjing Urban Residents in the Northern Song Dynasty"