Chapter 30                  The lion opened his mouth

As soon as Zhou Mengchen's condition came out, Xu Jie was silent.

Zhou Mengchen put forward this condition, on the one hand, it was certainly a difficult situation for Xu Jie, but on the other hand, it was also a real problem.

In the Ming Dynasty, floods were frequent, and in just over 200 years, the Yellow River broke more than 500 times. There were natural disasters and humans. The Yellow River had its own water conditions and the sand content was too large. It was easy to have problems. This is true. The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were overdeveloped, and people asked for fields from the Yellow River, which squeezed the space of the Yellow River. A large number of lakes in the lower reaches of the Yellow River were gone. It made the Yellow River more prone to breaking. This was a natural disaster.

But in Zhou Mengchen's view, the biggest man-made disaster was the Ming Dynasty's policy of governing rivers.

Because the canal is related to the safety of Beijing. Therefore, the safety of the canal is completely above the Yellow River. The Yellow River alone is very difficult to control. This is a world-class difficulty. Even in modern times, the problem of the Yellow River is not a small problem. Not to mention that at that time.

It can be said that if the Yellow River can be managed well by simply controlling it?

This is a big problem. But there is an additional problem to add to this problem. That is the canal.

The canal passes through the Yellow River. It even borrows a section of the Yellow River channel.

In order to maintain the traffic of the canal, all water conservancy measures on both sides of the canal must be tilted towards the canal, and the same is true for the management of the Yellow River. It does not come according to the nature of the Yellow River. This is the first problem.

In addition, the floods of the Yellow River affected the problems of the Huai River, causing the rise of Hongze Lake and threatened the safety of the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty. As a result, the Ming Dynasty's water control strategy became even more distorted.

It was difficult to control rivers, but now that so many political factors have been added, most policies are not trying to manage the Yellow River well. As a result, the problem of the Yellow River is naturally getting bigger and bigger and harder to solve.

Zhou Mengchen can let go of the issue of the ancestral tomb first. After all, this problem cannot be avoided. He can only make some concessions when governing the river.

However, the policy of river control cannot be ambiguous.

We must never return as before, and maintain our luck first. Such a policy is like a fight with someone with his hands and feet tied up. How can we win?

And this is also related to Zhou Mengchen's other policy, that is, the maritime transportation policy.

Zhou Mengchen had previously implemented sea transportation, asking Jiajing to each of them to transport grains in 50 pieces. The canal transport was divided into equal parts with sea transportation. Now, the canal transport was almost completely abolished. It was also a good thing to reduce the burden on the people of the Ming Dynasty.

It was Xu Jie's turn to frown.

Xu Jie said in his heart: "Will Zhou Mengchen let me retreat when I see the difficulties?"

Don’t look at Zhou Mengchen’s requirements, but in fact, it is very difficult, because this is after Chengzu and after the canal is opened, once the policy changes, in short, it will be abolished canal.

The canal is related to the wealth and life of many people and the interests of many people. If Xu Jie made a choice, he would never make such a risky decision.

This is not Xu Jie's style.

So Xu Jie suspected that Zhou Mengchen was simply offering a price all over the place.

Xu Jie said, "Mr. Zhou, there are some things that have passed."

Zhou Mengchen said: "Sir, if you just block the gap, repair it temporarily, and wait for a few years to break the gap. There are many people who can do such a thing. Why do you have to let me do it? Is it possible for the Prime Minister to break the Yellow River in the future and make a comeback?"

Xu Jie laughed and said, "Feixiong is too worried. He is too worried."

Zhou Mengchen also smiled and said, "I'm thinking too much, I think too much."

Since Zhou Mengchen suffered from Xu Jie's loss, when facing Xu Jie, every word Xu Jie said was analyzed using more than a dozen aspects. He thought too much. Zhou Mengchen felt that he didn't think much at all.

Xu Jie was silent for a while and said, "Your Majesty will naturally have the privilege of your Majesty when you go out this time. Everything about water control will be entrusted to you. I will add a Governor of the Grain. As long as the grain can arrive in Beijing on time, the court will not investigate many details."

"What do you dare?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "No."

In the end, Zhou Mengchen took the responsibility.

Xu Jie said, "Okay, I'll take another step. During your water control, you can temporarily change the canal to sea transport. When you control the water, you don't have to put the canal first. However, the Ming Dynasty canal has been built for so long, so you can't be abandoned at once, right? In the future, river control is the first, and transportation is second. How about it?"

This is very Xu Jie's style.

For the time being, what is the time being? Many things start from the time being. How long is the time being considered temporary, and how long is not the time being. You should know that when Lin'an of the Southern Song Dynasty was captured by the Yuan army, it was still called Xingzai, not the capital.

This method is naturally the specialty of the old bureaucrats.

Zhou Mengchen thought for a while, but he didn't expect Xu Jie to take all the responsibility for him. He said, "Okay."

Xu Jie said: "Feixiong also has to promise me one thing, that is, the Caoding Department, and there must be no trouble. If something happens, don't blame me for taking the blame."

Zhou Mengchen smiled faintly and said, "Please rest assured about this matter." Zhou Mengchen changed his voice and said, "The rest is the most important thing, that is money. If you have money, you can't do anything without money."

Xu Jie is also prepared for this.

Thanks to Zhou Mengchen, after he made every effort, the Ming Dynasty had more customs taxes and Datong customs tariffs, and had all kinds of commercial taxes. Even new salt taxes were added. Xu Jie cleaned up government affairs at home and took down many corrupt officials. In this way, the Ming Dynasty treasury was not full of rats. Although the successors of the Ministry of Revenue were not as good as Fang Chun for a while. However, Fang Chun survived the most crisis of the Ming Dynasty's finances, but did not enjoy the current results.

After having money, Xu Jie was also making some disguises. Why, that is, he was afraid that the emperor would spend money indiscriminately. So Xu Jie secretly paid off his debts and returned the central government's surplus to the local government. After all, Fang Dun was plundering local money back then, and he was simply using everything.

It once made many prefectures unable to expose the blame.

Of course, while giving it to the local government, a group of local officials were investigated, who were those who increased taxes without authorization.

Zhou Mengchen stretched out a finger.

Xu Jie said: "One million taels, this will make the Ministry of Revenue prepare."

Zhou Mengchen smiled slightly and said, "Sir, Chief Supervisor? Are you kidding. This is not one million taels, it is ten million taels."

Xu Jie was shocked and said, "This is simply impossible. How can I use so much money?"

Zhou Mengchen smiled slightly and said, "Sinceremony, do you think I am a greedy person? This ten million taels are generally rewarded. But in my opinion, it is only a lot. The Yellow River is more than a thousand miles below Beimang Mountain, and it needs to be reinforced everywhere. And even the river channel needs to be re-specified. The people use it, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions, and ten million taels, only a lot."

Since Zhou Mengchen wanted to build the river, he had to repair it. It was impossible to get a one-and-a-half-tight project. Although ten million taels were a little more, it was definitely not too much. In the Qing Dynasty, it was normal to make a big work, and ten million taels would be done at one time, although the money was becoming less and less valuable.

However, Zhou Mengchen also saw various shortcomings in the river channel from Liu Tianhe's questioning. In short, the river embankment of the imperial court was simply simple. If you want to repair it, you have to spend a lot of money. Not to mention, Zhou Mengchen's idea of ​​digging the new river is not ruled out.

The budget of 10 million taels is really not too much.

Xu Jie still shook his head and said, "I definitely don't have this number. Ten million taels are too much, too much."

For Xu Jie, this is simply a fantasy.

In the Ming Dynasty, the annual income of more than 20 million taels is now, and the holes in the past are filled. The remaining balance in Xu Jie's hands is only a few million taels. Even many of these million taels were copied out because of the Yan Party's confiscation of the house.

If Yan Song hadn't fallen, maybe there would be only a surplus of more than one million taels.

Zhou Mengchen opened his mouth and took the Ming Dynasty forty percent to build the river. What else did the imperial court use to support soldiers and officials? This is something that Xu Jie could never accept.

Zhou Mengchen said: "It is hard to cook without rice. We have to do things without money. We have to do things in the world. How much money can we do? If we only repair it, please ask for a good idea."
Chapter completed!