Chapter 35 The main problems of the river

"Sand." Zhou Mengchen said: "It is the main problem of the Yellow River and the most important problem."

After talking with Wang Ting a few times, Zhou Mengchen had a preliminary understanding of the problem of the Yellow River. He pointed to these measuring cylinders and said, "This is the turbid current found near Beijing. After sedimentation, it contains up to two or three layers of sand. But Wang Ting said that the Yellow River water can reach 60% sand in summer, and at most, it can reach 80% sand."

"Eighty percent of sand?" Xu Wei said in surprise: "Where is this river? It is clearly quicksand."

Zhou Mengchen said: "It's not wrong to say this. The problem with the Yellow River is the problem of sand. How can the Yellow River not contain so much sand, and the Yellow River will not be so difficult. It is precisely because the Yellow River has so much sand content that even if we spend countless silver and dig the best river for the Yellow River, it will take less than a few years to break the gap."

"The bigger problem is that we cannot make the Yellow River sand-free."

The problem of sand content in the Yellow River is actually a problem of soil erosion in the upper reaches. This problem is too big. Even in modern times, it cannot completely reduce the sand content of the Yellow River, let alone this era.

If the problem of sand content in the Yellow River cannot be solved, it can only solve the problem of silt in the Yellow River.

If the problem of silt in the Yellow River is not solved, no matter what kind of river channel, it will become a hanging river on the ground within a few years. At that time, it will be a problem that will break down sooner or later.

But how to solve the problem of silt and sediment silt?

Xu Wei said: "I looked up some ancient books and saw some utensils for sand-shaking. It is still used on the river. Adults are proficient in machinery. Can they improve it?"

Zhou Mengchen actually knew this kind of special operations ship.

It looks strange, a large iron claw is hung on a boat. Put the iron claws on the river. The ship pulls the iron claws and drags it slowly, which raises the sand deposited below and lets the river water rush downstream.

It's just that the efficiency is too slow. And the motivation is also insufficient.

Zhou Mengchen said, "Let me give it a try. First write a letter to say hello to all places. When you arrive in Xuzhou, you will be offered a reward. If you can create a steam sandboat and use it, you can get a silver reward of 10,000 taels."

Zhou Mengchen was very happy about this.

Xu Wei has been with Zhou Mengchen for a long time, and many views between the two influence each other. This kind of thing was originally the first time Zhou Mengchen proposed a tool for improvement. However, Xu Wei brought up this matter.

This shows that many people in the Ming Dynasty have accepted the use of scientific improvement tools to solve problems.

"We also need to see if we can create a sand-drilling boat." Xu Wei said: "If we can clean the bottom of the river every year, we will not have too much silt."

Zhou Mengchen shook his head and said, "It is not the root cause for treatment, and it is not even the symptoms. The Yellow River comes out of Beimang Mountain, which is more than a thousand miles away. How many ships and how long does it take to clean the river? And how much mud and sand does the Yellow River carry every year?"

Zhou Mengchen doesn’t have to count, he just knows that the water is dropping.

"Dandral control still depends on water power." Zhou Mengchen said.

What he thought of was naturally bound water to attack sand. However, now that he thought about it carefully, Zhou Mengchen felt that although bound water to attack sand, it still could not solve the problem of sediment deposition of the Yellow River, because the amount of sediment in the Yellow River was too large. How much sediment can be captured by the method of bound water to attack sand?

Which of these two quantities is bigger and who is smaller?

Zhou Mengchen had no data in his hands, but based on his intuition alone, Zhou Mengchen felt that the amount of silt and sand carried by the Yellow River was much larger than the amount of silt and sand taken away by the bound water attack, so the Yellow River had already accumulated silt. And the method of silt and sand attacking is just a method to treat the symptoms?

Zhou Mengchen didn't even know how severe the symptoms were treated.

He said to himself: "When you arrive in Xuzhou, you must experiment well. See how effective it can be for water and sand attack?"

Zhou Mengchen said: "Control sand control is not a one-day achievement, so let it go for the time being. Let's talk about the situation in Xuzhou. Should we divide or combine it?"

The theory of division and combination is also a theoretical point of divergence in the management of rivers and the Yellow River. It is naturally Xu Youzhen who advocates water division. His success has given many fans in later generations. However, Zhou Mengchen also realized that the influence of water division of the Yellow River is too great. After all, the water of the Yellow River has too much sand content.

Block the river every minute and every second.

Jiajing used to divide six rivers and divert floods, but now, all of them are blocked and become flat ground. It is not a good idea to combine them into one. After all, the river water is harsh. Once you encounter a flood, you will burst the dam every minute and every second. The influence is so great. You can even directly break through a river channel and enter the sea.

The harm to the people will be even greater.

The plan to block water and attack sand is facing Xu Youzhen's method of dividing water and killing Hong. It is completely about going to the other side.

Xu Wei shook his head and said, "Sir, to be honest, we are a layman, and have been helping us find some clues in the old paper piles for a while. Although we have read some books, we are still a layman. The truth here is really hard to explain."

"What do you think you should do, just do it."

Zhou Mengchen was stunned and said, "You reminded me. Doing great things is the first to win people. Brother Xu, go to the Ministry of Personnel and ask Gao Gong to give me a list of people who are famous among the officials in the water management. I will take a look. By the way, remember to transfer Pan Jijun to the river yamen."

Zhou Mengchen still has an impression of Pan Jixun. Although in his opinion, although Pan Jixun has not reached the peak of his later generations, he is already a water conservancy expert.

It's not a bad idea to use.

Xu Wei said: "No problem. However, there are a few things that I want to report to the adults, which is the idea of ​​establishing a large cement workshop near Xuzhou. The Yellow River construction costs tens of millions of yuan, and the amount of cement can be used as much as possible. The best way is to build a cement workshop first to reduce costs. Please give me instructions on how to deal with this item."

Zhou Mengchen looked at Xu Wei and understood a little.

This large cement workshop will definitely have a lot of money in the future. Nothing else, even if there is no major work in the future, the Yellow River will repair the river embankment every year. This requires a lot of cement.

This is a profitable industry.

Cement technology is definitely nothing under Zhou Mengchen's disciple. The instructions Xu Wei mentioned here refer to the distribution of the interests of this large cement workshop.

If Zhou Mengchen thought, he could be included in his pocket and become part of Zhou Mengchen's property. Those who were closer to Zhou Mengchen could also get a piece of the pie.

Zhou Mengchen also knew that he was traveling thousands of miles to eat and drink, and he could not control the people around him too much. After all, who doesn’t want to be rich?

Zhou Mengchen was silent for a while and said, "As an official, I naturally need to avoid suspicion. This large cement workshop naturally needs to reduce costs. Since the best way is to hang it under the river governor's office. However, the clerk may not be able to manage such a large enterprise well. I think it's better to find a few merchants to participate in the shares and specialize in the management. If you can't do it well, you will naturally be revoked. This matter will be left to Brother Xu."

Seeing this, Xu Wei felt a little embarrassed.

In fact, Xu Wei no longer cares about whether he is money or not. Although Xu Wei's money is not much, it is enough for Xu Wei to live. Xu Wei's mother lives with Zhou Mengchen's mother in Beijing, and the two old people have a good relationship.

Xu Wei’s money may not be able to be spent. Compared to money, Xu Wei cares more about the sense of accomplishment. So money is not important. Not to mention that Zhou Mengchen’s opening of Xu Wei is also a staff member of the fixed quota.

Not everyone belongs to Xu Wei.

Zhou Mengchen's staff group already has hundreds of people. There are all kinds of people. But there is not much money. After all, Zhou Mengchen uses his own money to support his staff, but Zhou Mengchen has a little more money now, but not much more money.

Moreover, Zhou Mengchen was strictly in charge, and after several staff members discovered corruption, Zhou Mengchen would never tolerate it. According to the size of the crime, he was punished differently, and the most serious one was to be killed by a stick.

Xu Wei saw that many aides were also worried. Many aides were indeed poor. So Xu Wei mentioned this matter. Zhou Mengchen's plan also solved the problem. Some of the aides were released for business. The final management power was still in Zhou Mengchen's shogunate.
Chapter completed!