The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde publicly threatened to stir up the matter, which was a last resort.

Wei Guangde is definitely not willing to spend money.

He would definitely not be willing to pay for state affairs himself.

But under the silver bullet offensive, once someone takes the lead in taking the lead, those officials who have received the benefits will inevitably have to express their opinions.

If it develops to this extent, the overall situation is basically decided.

Even if Wei Guangde mobilized relations, it would be useless to report the many benefits of sea transportation.

After all, the concept is here. At this time, most people are not afraid of rivers but the sea.

If the other party handled the matter in this way, of course it would be unreasonable. In any case, their behavior was considered as bribing court officials.

Therefore, Wei Guangde naturally chose to use this method to end his opponent's attack.

After letting the Beijing officials make money, they brought it out to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to silence them.

No matter what they think in their hearts, whether they support or oppose it, at this point, as long as they stand up to support the suspension of shipping, they can be considered to have accepted bribes from certain people.

As long as this matter spreads, Wei Guangde believes that all officials who have received money will have reasons to reject this matter.

As for not doing the work after receiving the money, they are not righteous little elders, so there is no reason why they will pay back the money if they can't do the work.

Besides, with so many officials involved, do they dare to ask for it?

As for what Wei Guangde did, didn't he break some unspoken rules in the DPRK, and didn't he worry about being hated by others?

Even if Wei Guangde does nothing, the people below will still look at the area under his butt with fiery eyes.

It is mediocre not to be envied by others. As long as you hold your position firmly, you will naturally have nothing to fear.

Speaking of business matters, Zhang Juzheng just gave Wei Guangde a meaningful look and did not continue the topic.

Zhang Juzheng understood that Wei Guangde did not intend to give in, and he might have thought about the matter carefully. However, when Wei Guangde was planning a counterattack against the water transport interest group, Zhang Juzheng actually made preparations, that is, to bring up the Jiaolai Canal issue again.

The shipwreck on Fushan Island in Jimo County, Shandong Province also reminded Zhang Juzheng that maritime transport is indeed dangerous. It is not like water transport, which is an open route section by section, or in other words, water transport is a batch of waterways. Even if there is an accident, it means that a group of watercrafts have problems, but after all, they are only a minority.

If the fleet encounters storms and waves when traveling by sea, one fleet may be reimbursed.

Therefore, when he was thinking about the safety of the grain supply, he came up with the plan that Gao Gong had originally proposed but was rejected by Gao Gong, which was to dig the Jiaolai Canal.

It can be said that in the Ming Dynasty, because of the Yellow River, the ministers in the DPRK and the Central Government have been trained to become experts in water conservancy.

Because of the continuous dam breaches during the Longqing period, the grain supply was interrupted and caused shock in the capital. At this time, the cabinet spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to solve this problem.

Although Wang Zongmu's shipping method is good, it is not the most reliable after all.

There are no weather satellites in this era, so it is naturally impossible to monitor the vast sea, and there is no way to prevent extreme weather such as typhoons.

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng naturally wanted stability first, and he was more at ease by river transport than by the ever-changing sea transport.

Therefore, although he was not firmly opposed to shipping grain by sea, he only regarded it as a last resort.

At the same time, he was also worried about Wei Guangde's face. He had read some of Wei Guangde's letters to Emperor Longqing, including support for Shandong's proposal to transport grain by sea.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng realized from his support of Yuegang that Wei Guangde was a minister who supported Kaihai, but he just did not stand up publicly.

He didn't want to get into trouble with Wei Guangde and start a fight in the cabinet over the annual 120,000 shi of grain.

However, Zhang Juzheng never gave up his plan to use canals as the main way to transport grain. What's more, in the later period of Gao Gong's rule, he still supported grain transportation by sea.

As a result, Zhang Juzheng has actually been looking for other waterways that can not only solve the flood problem of the Yellow River but also transport grain in the inland river.

"Does Shan Lian know about the Jiaolai Canal discussion?"

Zhang Juzheng suddenly raised another topic and asked Wei Guangde.

"Kio Lai Canal?"

Wei Guangde nodded when he heard this. Although he was a little surprised, he didn't say much, but wanted to see what Zhang Juzheng meant.

“Judging from the loss of the Fushan Island tanker, the danger of sea shipping is still too great.

This time, fortunately, we only lost seven canoes. What can we do next?

I asked people who know about shipping, and they also said that although April and July are suitable for shipping, the sea is really unpredictable, and if it encounters it, the ship will be destroyed and everyone will die.

From this, I think it is better to reduce sea trips as much as possible. "

Zhang Juzheng continued.

“So you want to build the Jiaolai Canal?”

Wei Guangde was surprised and said: "But I remember that the imperial court sent people to inspect it before, and they all said that it was extremely difficult to excavate and the cost was not small. It would cost more than one million taels of silver.

What's more, even if the chief assistant succeeds in digging, who knows what trouble those people will cause. "

Wei Guangde also meant what he said.

He supports transporting grain by sea, but some people are trying to stop it.

If Zhang Juzheng were to dig out the Jiaolai Canal, he would probably face opposition from those same people.

They don't consider the safety of their crops, they only consider their own interests.

Zhang Juzheng was a little stunned when he heard Wei Guangde's words, then he stroked his beard and said with a smile: "It turns out that the canal problem is too big, and we will eventually have to deal with them. As long as you and I are of the same mind, we are not afraid of them."

At this point, Zhang Juzheng actually expressed his intention that he would not take the lead in opposing this matter, so that Wei Guangde could feel at ease.

After all, they are cabinet ministers, and what they have to consider is not petty profits. What they consider more is the stability of the world.

However, the meaning behind Zhang Juzheng's words made Wei Guangde frown.

He understood what Zhang Juzheng meant. He just couldn't find a suitable waterway, so the shipping route had to be preserved, but he didn't support it.

Wei Guangde did not feel complacent because of this. In fact, the prosperity of maritime shipping in later generations benefited from the development of navigation technology, especially the change from wooden to iron ships, coupled with the development of meteorology, which made the sea no longer dangerous.

After lowering his head and thinking for a while, Wei Guangde raised his head and said to Zhang Juzheng: "I understand this matter, but regardless of whether there is a new river channel connecting the canal, I think the sea route should still be retained, and there should be water ships entering and leaving every year."

Wei Guangde did not dare to insist on changing all grain transportation by sea for the time being. Zhang Juzheng's concerns were actually the thoughts of most officials.

They don't care whether water transportation or sea transportation is more economical. They only care about what they think is that water transportation is always safer than sea transportation.

Wei Guangde couldn't argue with them, because there was no basis in this era to prove that they were wrong.

In fact, they were right. If it weren't for the worms in water transportation in this era, water transportation, apart from being more expensive, would be safer than sea transportation.

In fact, the Cao soldiers of this era, like other guard posts, had a large number of people who fled, and these military households who fled anonymously became the Cao soldiers who lost their money in transporting grain to their chief officers.

Well, the result is that the ship and the grain carried on the ship have become ship damage reports to the household department. This is also an important reason for the heavy losses in water transportation in the Ming Dynasty.

"I support retaining shipping lanes, but it can only maintain the existing 120,000 shi of grain and cannot increase it."

Zhang Juzheng also made his limits clear.

After receiving Zhang Juzheng's guarantee, Wei Guangde felt completely relieved.

With his endorsement as the second and first assistant, no matter how hard the Water Transport Group moves, their plans will never be realized.

"I think we should let the Ministry of Industry consider the matter of the Jiao Lai Canal."

After talking about shipping, Wei Guangde continued the previous topic and talked about Zhang Juzheng's intention to dig a new river channel.

Zhang Juzheng nodded, "I'll think about this again. He Qing, come down and think about this carefully."

This year's grain shipment should be able to arrive safely. The cabinet finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then casually talked about some other things. The most important thing was the confrontation between Ji Zhen and the Ulliang Hadoyan tribe.

"Qi Jiguang is there, I don't think the court needs to worry."

Wei Guangde smiled.

Qi Jiguang originally said that he would be able to sweep across the grasslands by training ten armies of cavalry and infantry. Now he has only trained two armies of one cavalry and one step, but in Wei Guangde's opinion, it is enough to deal with the threat of the Duoyan tribe.

After all, the three guards of Duoyan in the future are no longer as powerful as they were in the early Ming Dynasty. Their current strength is far inferior to that of the Tumote tribe.

After leaving the office, Wei Guangde returned home and arranged for someone to pass a note to Zhu Heng. He was going to visit the government tonight to learn more about the canal.

Speaking of which, the water transportation blockage began in the third year of Longqing and reached its climax in the fifth year of Longqing. In that year, the four million shi of grain could not be transported safely but the million shi.

Wei Guangde missed it perfectly at that time.

However, he was not in the court in the fifth year of Longqing, but in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, although he devoted himself to copying books, he also knew that the price of food in the capital had skyrocketed due to the cutoff of water transportation.

That is to say, Wei Guangde had a solid foundation and was not greatly affected at that time.

Zhang Juzheng's words in the cabinet today forced him to re-understand the water transport of this era.

"This is a map of the entire canal."

That night, at Zhu Heng's house, Wei Guangde saw a huge map spread out, and Zhu Heng pointed to one of the sections and introduced it to Wei Guangde and Tan Lun: "In the entire Grand Canal, the river course between Xuzhou and Huai'an is the most complicated. .

First, the geographical environment of Xuzhouhong and Lulianghong in the Xuzhou section is very dangerous, especially Lulianghong, which is located 60 miles southeast of Xuzhou City. It is divided into upper and lower floods and stretches for more than seven miles. The water is fast and dangerous, and there are many strange rocks and ships in the water. When passing by, it must be pulled by local experienced trackers, otherwise the boat will be destroyed and people will die.

Second, the Yellow River has been known for its "good siltation, good migration, and good resolution" since ancient times. After the Yellow River was diverted to Xuzhou, the Yellow River was concentrated in the Xupi area.

In addition, Sizhou Ancestral Tombs and Fengyang Imperial Tombs are also nearby. To control the Yellow Emperor, we have to consider the safety of the mausoleums, so we are often constrained."

"Then where is the new canal you dug?"

Wei Guangde was a little dazzled looking at the lines of the canal, so he simply asked directly.

"Here, dig the Nanyang Canal and move the canal eastward, away from the Yellow River waterway."

Zhu Heng pointed to another section and said, "The one to the west is the old canal. It should still be able to carry limited traffic, but the siltation should be severe."

Following Zhu Heng's fingers, Wei Guangde understood the relationship between the old river and the new river. Across Nanyang Lake, the old river was on the west side of the lake and the new river was on the east side of the lake.

"But this new river only solved the problem at that time. The problem from Liucheng to Xuzhou still exists. It does not avoid the danger of the Yellow River and two floods in the Xuzhou section. Therefore, the construction of a new river still needs to be considered."

Zhu Heng continued.

"Does the Ministry of Industry have other considerations?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Aren't you planning to use sea transportation from Huai'an to Tianjin?"

Zhu Heng asked suspiciously at this time, "Does the actions of those people put a lot of pressure on you, Shandai?"

Wei Guangde shook his head, "Although shipping is smooth, it cannot solve maritime safety after all. Wind and rain are unpredictable. The shipwreck in Fukushima in Jimo County will be inevitable in the future."

Zhu Heng nodded, "This loss is indeed a bit big. Although it seems to be similar to the previous water transport ratio, don't forget that this is just a loss of one fleet.

Large-scale grain shipping, it seems now, is indeed very risky. "

"Still talking about the previous topic, is there any way to avoid Xuzhou?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Of course there is. Excavation of a new river near the canal near Xuzhou will cost a lot of money."

Zhu Heng said, "In the third year of Jiajing's reign, someone proposed to use the water channel and water volume of the Yahe River to avoid Xuzhou by boating.

but"

After Zhu Heng hesitated for a while, he told Wei Guangde the controversy.

In addition to considering the avoidance of water by the imperial mausoleums and the "protection of the canal", the Ming court always had two considerations for the canal management in the Xuzhou area: one was from political factors, focusing on the Yellow River to "control the Yellow River and protect transportation"; The first is economic factors, with the canal as the main "avoidance of yellow transportation".

After the flood in Jiajing forty-four years, Zhu Heng was responsible for digging the new river. In fact, it was "controlling the Yellow River and ensuring transportation." However, the results were also obvious. If the Xuzhou area was not avoided, the smooth flow of the canal would not be solved at all.

What Zhu Heng said just now is a method supported by the "avoiding the Yellow River's luck" faction. If you can't afford to offend, avoid it. As long as the water transportation is smooth, then when regulating the Yellow River, you only need to consider the imperial tombs to avoid water.

Zhu Heng pointed to another place on the map and said: "Roughly, we can dig a new river here in Pizhou, connect several rivers along the way, and merge into the new river in Nanyang, so that the canal can remain open.

The total length is more than 200 miles. With the people the court can gather at present, it would be impossible for 100,000 people to complete it in three to five years. "

"Compared with digging the Jiaolai Canal, which one is easier?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Kio Lai Canal?"

The surprise this time was not from Zhu Heng, but from Tan Lun on the side.

"Shan Loi, why did you bring up the Jiaolai Canal again? I've heard people say this, but after several inspections, it's not feasible."

Tan Lun continued.

"What Zili said is reasonable. Although the Jiaolai Canal uses the old river in Qianchao, it has been proved that even if it is communicated, it is impossible to pass large ships due to the amount of water, and it is simply unfeasible."

Zhu Heng was very clear about the results of the initial investigation. If not, someone as powerful as Gao Gong would definitely insist on advancing the matter.

"That being the case, Brother Shinan, please explain to me. If we want to completely solve the problem and ensure the smooth flow of the canal, is digging the Si Canal the only way?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

Zhu Heng did not have this answer, but after thinking for a long time, he looked up at Wei Guangde and said: "As long as you avoid Xuzhou, the canal will naturally be smooth."

Unlike in later generations, the Yellow River passed through Kaifeng and entered Heze and Jinan from Yingkou to the sea. At this time, it passed through Kaifeng and then entered Shangqiu and Xuzhou and entered the sea from Huai'an.