Chapter 171: Beaming Water to Attack Sand

No wonder Yang Shiqi wasn't excited.

When Yang Shiqi heard what Ruan An said, the first thing he thought of was not the Lugou River, or even the management of the Hebei water system, but the Yellow River.

The Lugou River is not stable, and some people even nickname it Wuding River.

Later, during the Kangxi period, Yu Chenglong controlled the water and it became the Yongding River.

However, the floods in the Lugou River and the floods in the Yellow River were dwarfed by the floods.

When the Lugou River floods, it only inundates a few counties. But when the Yellow River floods, it directly wants to swallow up Kaifeng Prefecture. Just a few prefectures and counties, most of Henan, and even southern Zhili will be affected by the disaster.

There are more than tens of millions of living people.

This is the most important thing.

Yang Shiqi said: "How can you guarantee it?"

Ruan An said: "If the chief assistant doesn't believe it, you can try it on the spot."

Ruan An then pointed to the two desktops and said: "This place can be compared to the Marco Polo River."

Yang Shiqi was the first to sit still, stood up, and walked a few steps to the table.

The table is very big, about the size of two ping-pong tables, with sediment accumulated on it, one side is high and the other is low, the upper reaches are steep and the lower reaches are gentle.

It's just that things are different downstream.

The downstream one only has an ordinary river channel, while the other river channel is very complicated.

There is one layer on the outside and one in the middle, which makes the river channel very sharp and narrow.

Ruan An gave the order and immediately ordered the guards on the side to shake the waterwheel.

After a while, the water came up from the bucket below, and rushed to the high place. Then the water and the sediment came down together, flowed below, and rushed into the river with the sediment.

The water flow slows down, and there is a thin layer of sediment in the river.

This is just the beginning.

It seems that over time, the river bed was raised.

It's also natural.

Otherwise it's different.

The water flow is restricted to a narrow river channel, and the water flows faster and faster. The sediment is either taken away, or it overflows outside the river embankment and inside the outermost river embankment.

However, the main river channel is not affected.

After Yang Shiqi looked at it, he directly said to the guard below: "Pour the whole bucket of water."

After hearing this, the guard couldn't help but glance at Zhu Qizhen.

Zhu Qizhen nodded, and the guard immediately poured a bucket of water on it. Then the guard fetched water from outside and carried out the water flowing from the table.

For a time, two obvious water lines were formed on the ground of Wenhua Hall.

But the civil and military officials were silent, leaving only the sound of water, splashing water, running water, and catching water.

The water flow suddenly became very fast.

In this way, the difference between the two types of rivers is even more obvious.

The faster the water flow, the faster the restrained flow, and the stronger the cutting force, and even form a deep ditch. But other river channels have already burst their banks.

Because too much sediment was brought down from above, the river bed has long been raised.

"Stop," Ruan An saw this and said, "Master Chief Assistant, there is no need to continue this."

Yang Shiqi said: "Although it seems to be very useful in a small area, it may not work when magnified to thousands of miles."

"Master Yang, what you said is wrong." Ruan An was a little irritated, and for a moment he forgot that the other party was a well-known chief minister. For technical experts, he hated the nonsense of laymen.

"The principle of all things is that water is the nature of the world, without exception. How can it be used here but not there?" Ruan An said angrily.

"Are you sure?" Yang Shiqi asked.

"OK." Ruan An said.

Yang Shiqi turned around and saluted Zhu Qizhen, ignoring the water stains on the ground, and said: "My minister Yang Shiqi congratulates the world. If the method of confining water to attack sand can be used, the Yellow River will not be flooded for thousands of miles. This is the world's best."

The greatest auspiciousness.”

Yang Shiqi congratulated him, and the ministers below imitated Yang Shiqi's example and said, "I am waiting to congratulate Your Majesty on this auspicious occasion."

Zhu Qizhen stood up quickly and said: "Sir, why are you doing this? This matter has not been successful yet. It will not be too late to congratulate you after it is successful."

Zhu Qizhen helped Yang Shiqi up and said, "What about the management of Lugou River?"

Yang Shiqi said: "Use this method of beaming water to attack sand. Although the nature of water is the same all over the world, it may not be the same everywhere. Moreover, this method has such a miraculous effect in a small area, so you must give it a try."

Zhu Qizhen was so confused that Yang Shiqi still felt that this method was a bit unreliable. But he couldn't find anything wrong with it, but he still didn't want to use it directly on the Yellow River.

Because the Yellow River has a huge relationship, it is not of the same size as the Lugou River.

Apart from anything else, the management fees alone are not of the same level.

The cost of regulating the Lugou River is a little more than a few hundred thousand taels. Even for such a large project, more than a hundred miles of river channel must be dug. But in Yang Shiqi's mind, the estimated cost is no more than that.

But on the Yellow River, from the Mangshan section of the Yellow River down to the Mang Mountain section, the thousands of miles of dams needed to be rebuilt without tens of millions of taels, so there was no need to even think about it. For a while, the national treasury did not have the money.

After all, there are wars everywhere, disaster relief, and tax exemption.

Since Renxuan, although there have been wars, generally speaking, the imperial court has been recuperating and still has some financial resources.

But no matter how wealthy you are, it is not easy to come up with so much money in one go.

In this way, it becomes clearer what to do first and what to do later.

Zhu Qizhen felt relieved when Yang Shiqi agreed. After Yang Shiqi agreed, the following things would be much easier to handle.

Zhu Qizhen said to Ruan An: "Have you calculated how much money and food will be needed to manage the Lugou River?"

Ruan An said: "No. I have not carefully inspected the local river channel. Now this river channel is only under planning. The geology is different, and I still have to consider a detour. Therefore, the money and food cannot be determined yet."

Yang Shiqi said: "In this case, the Lugou River project will be overseen by Yu Qian, the prefect of Shuntian, and supervised by Ruan An. We will first make a plan, then submit it to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and calculate the time. Construction will start this winter and must be completed before next summer."

Yu Qian said: "I understand."

Zhu Qizhen also understood.

Due to the water conditions of the Lugou River, the water will definitely rise in summer and autumn. Therefore, your Majesty completed the project before summer. Although it is cold and freezing in winter, it is a leisure period.

More people can be mobilized.

Yang Shiqi said to Zhu Qizhen: "This expense, on behalf of Liu Hubu, promised to Your Majesty, will all be paid by the Ministry of Hubu. Isn't it Liu Hubu?"

Seeing this, Liu Zhongfu opened his mouth slightly and said to himself: "Chief Assistant, this is not what we said before." Before Yang Shiqi came, he reminded Liu Zhongfu that the inner treasury must bear part of it.

But now, he has changed his mind.

Liu Zhongfu didn't know why Yang Shiqi changed his mind, and he didn't dare to ask, so he could only say: "Yes."

Zhu Qizhen's ability to observe words and emotions has also been cultivated, and he can naturally see that Liu Zhongfu is different.

But he didn't care too much about Liu Zhongfu, because Liu Zhongfu was a member of the Empress Dowager. With the Empress Dowager ignoring government affairs, Liu Zhongfu naturally moved closer to Zhu Qizhen.

Therefore, Zhu Qizhen knew that the Ministry of Household Affairs would not be stuck with money and food, only the cabinet would be stuck.

It was not difficult to get Liu Zhongfu to agree, but there was nothing he could do if Yang Shiqi did not change his words.

At this moment, Yang Shiqi suddenly changed his tune, which is the problem.

Zhu Qizhen was actually ready to pay a sum of money.

Because although Zhu Qizhen valued money, he was not greedy for money, but he needed money and food to do big things. The purpose of saving money and food is to do things, not the other way around.

The Northern Expedition was certainly a major event, but flood control was no small matter either.

Zhu Qizhen paid the money willingly.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Okay, then please ask the Ministry of Revenue to prepare for this matter."

Liu Zhongfu said: "Yes."

The matter had come to this point, and it was time for the meeting to end. Yang Shiqi suddenly stopped and said, "Your Majesty, I have a few words. Can I talk to Your Majesty?"

When Zhu Qizhen saw this, his heart paused slightly and became a little heavy.

Yes, this matter is taboo in officialdom. Think about it and you will know, what exactly is it that requires your colleagues to avoid you and talk directly to your boss alone?

However, there is something wrong with Yang Shiqi's side of this matter.

Because Yang Shiqi's authority was already higher than that of other civil servants, if Yang Rong was here, he could still resist, but if Yang Rong returned home, he would not be able to come back for a while.

Therefore, Yang Shiqi definitely did not stay here just to make a snitch.
Chapter completed!