Chapter 146 The Yellow River changes its course

Zhu Qizhen paced slowly. At this moment, he no longer cared about political principles.

Yes, in many cases, not making direct decisions but indirectly controlling government affairs, in many cases, allowed Zhu Qizhen to establish himself in an invincible position in politics.

But there are some things that are superfluous.

For many major decisions, Zhu Qizhen has to make decisions immediately because there is not so much time to go through the process.

Such as now.

Zhu Qizhen suddenly stopped and said: "Since it is so difficult for the Yellow River to restore its old course, how about letting the Yellow River take a new course?"

"Your Majesty is wise." Cao Nai came out and said: "The water nature is poor. After the Yellow River leaves Guangwu Mountain, it has become a river hanging above the ground. The bottom of the Yellow River is higher than the Kaifeng Iron Tower. The highest point in Kaifeng is no other place.

, which is the embankment of the Yellow River. In this way, when the Yellow River floods, the people block it, and get twice the result with half the effort. Why? Do it against the will of heaven."

"Your Majesty has a wonderful strategy to restrain water and attack sand. The embankment of the Yellow River should have been built. Why not build a new embankment? The water will be more conducive to the water. The Yellow River bursts, but it is thought that this new river channel is the lowest place nearby. Then.

Coupled with the method of constricting water and attacking sand, it can be a cause that will last forever."

After listening to Cao Nai's words, Zhu Qizhen slowly came back to his senses.

Cao Nai's approval of this method was due to his always-held political attitude, which was that internal affairs were greater than foreign enemies. Cao Nai knew one thing very well, that is, the court's manpower and material resources were limited.

Since Zhu Qizhen chose to build the Yellow River, he naturally had to give up the battle with Wasi. In this way, it was a great victory for Cao Nai. Moreover, if Ma Yu were around, he would definitely oppose such a plan. The reason is simple.

Ma Yu is from Shandong.

Every minister in the imperial court has the obligation to fight for the interests of his hometown, otherwise he cannot be an official for a lifetime. Even if he can be an official for a lifetime, it will be uncomfortable to have his backbone pinched by his hometown people.

In this opportunity, Shandong will suffer the greatest loss of profits.

I'm sorry that there is such a river in that province. It is enough to keep everyone from the governor to the people of the province awake.

But for Cao Nai, he didn't need to think too much about Shandong Shilin's thoughts.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Zhou Chen."

Zhou Chen immediately said: "I am here."

Zhu Qizhen said: "You immediately reorganize the treasury and prepare to find a way to squeeze out a sum of money. Prepare to build the river."

Zhou Chen's face looked a little ugly, but at this time, Zhou Chen was determined not to talk back to Zhu Qizhen, but Zhou Chen knew very well that Ming Dynasty's current finances were not very healthy.

Because last year's drought reduced and allocated silver taels, there were more than 10 million taels and several million taels in total. You must know that these are all extra expenditures. It does not mean that except for major disasters, the court does not need money for normal operations.

If we look at last year's financial results alone, let alone a surplus, there was a deficit.

It seems that the imperial court has some savings. If there are no Wazis looking at it eagerly, there will definitely be no problem in using the money and grain to build a new Yellow River embankment.

But there are thorns, and a lot of silver has been transferred to the inner treasury, which is included in the military expenditure, but it has not been used yet.

Therefore, Zhou Chen's job is very difficult.

Zhou Chen tried his best to find ways to make money for Zhu Qizhen, but no matter how he made money, he couldn't seem to exceed the speed at which the court spent money, which made Zhou Chen very helpless.

Zhu Qizhen also knew this, and he planned to stay and talk to Zhou Chen for a while.

Zhu Qizhen said, "Ruan An."

Ruan An immediately saluted and said, "I am here."

Zhu Qizhen said: "I have ordered you to be the flood control ambassador. Go south immediately to explore all the mountains and rivers from the entrance of Baliu Village to the Yellow River entering the sea, and work with Wang Yonghe to give me a plan."

"It can stabilize in the shortest time."

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, since the Yellow River has entered the sea." Ruan An said, "There should be no major incident for a while."

Ruan An's words seemed to comfort Zhu Qizhen

But it made Zhu Qizhen feel even more uncomfortable.

What Ruan An said is the truth. The Yellow River has burst and rushed thousands of miles, drowning countless people. At the beginning of the new river course, I think for a while, the Yellow River will no longer drown villages and towns.

.

After all, the obstacles blocking the Yellow River from entering the sea have been cleared.

However, the more Zhu Qizhen tasted it, the more he felt it was ironic.

If Zhu Qizhen hadn't been in contact with Ruan An for more than ten years and knew what kind of person Ruan An was, he wouldn't take it personally, but he would still feel a little uncomfortable.

"Your Majesty," Cao Nai said: "Now it seems that river management is not something that can be done temporarily, but it cannot be done urgently. However, there is one thing that is very urgent, and that is water transportation. Now that Zhang Qiu was hit by a disaster, water transportation was interrupted.

I think it may not be able to flow smoothly until the river channel is built."

"I think we should develop maritime transportation to make up for the shortage of water transportation."

After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen paused in his heart. Cao Nai's words made Zhu Qizhen think about it. From now on, will the Ming Dynasty enter a stage where sea transportation is the mainstay and water transportation is the supplement?

To be honest, Zhu Qizhen already had a deep understanding of the various impacts of this canal on the Ming Dynasty. He had no intention of abolishing the canal in one go.

Although there are many alternatives, the canal is still a very suitable means of transportation in this era. Even if the cost of maintaining the canal is high, the benefits from the canal are also great, and each river pass on the canal is rich in oil. This is the canal more

Most of the time it is for official use, not for people's movement.

If water transport becomes a supplement to sea transport in the future, then the transportation volume of four million stones will be reduced to one million stones, or even hundreds of thousands of stones, just to maintain the transportation capacity. After something happens to the sea transportation and the transportation is interrupted,

, the transportation volume of four million shi of grain per year can be restored in a short period of time. That's it.

The remaining transportation volume can be given to the private sector.

At that time, the river tariff alone may not be much worse than the customs tax.

After all, as far as the entire Ming Dynasty's economy is concerned, Ming Dynasty in this case is still obviously domestic demand-oriented, and most of the output is consumed by Ming Dynasty itself.

Of course, this is only possible after a thorough transformation of the low-level tax collectors.

Otherwise, it is hard to say how much tax can be collected.

As long as the canal's output can make up for the canal's maintenance costs, Zhu Qizhen will not want to abolish the canal. One day, the canal will become a money-losing business, and it will not be too late to abolish it.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Yes, the cabinet immediately sent an order to Wang Ying, the chief maritime officer, and asked him to prepare well. Let Jiangnan prepare food. This year, all food transported by water will be transported by sea."

"Yes." Cao Nai said.

Immediately, Zhu Qizhen gave a few more instructions about disaster relief, and sent the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to inspect the disaster situation.

This time, Weihui Prefecture in Henan Province, Daming Prefecture in Zhili Province, Dongchang Prefecture, Yanzhou Prefecture, and Jinan Prefecture in Shandong Province were all severely affected, so naturally people had to be dispatched to inspect them.

These large and small matters are enough to keep the cabinet busy for several days.

Zhu Qizhen sent the cabinet and Ruan An away, but left Zhou Chen behind.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Just now you were hesitant to speak, now you can speak."

Zhou Chen said: "Your Majesty, I am not asking for excuses. It is true that the imperial court currently does not have enough money and food. Since your Majesty took office, major events have continued, such as the expedition to Luchuan, Hebei Water Conservancy, the renovation of the nine-sided city wall, the construction of Haixi Town, and now the Yellow River has to be built.

New River Road, even if the household department has gold and silver, it cannot be spent like this."

"Furthermore, His Majesty is still determined to fight against Wa Ci, which requires money. Under such circumstances, even if I have all my hands and arms, I can't fill this bottomless pit."

Zhu Qizhen sighed and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sir. This situation is not what I want."

Zhou Chen also knew that although crying children can eat sweets, they must be measured and talk too much, which will make people annoying. Zhou Chen sighed and said, "I am willing to risk my life because of your majesty's kindness.

We must also collect enough money and food for Your Majesty, but please consider the difficulties faced by the Ministry of Revenue when making your decision."

Zhu Qizhen said: "Sir, please estimate how much silver is needed for the new Yellow River channel."

Zhou Chen said: "Your Majesty, I estimate that it is more than 1,300 miles from the breach to the sea. The river embankments need to be built on both sides, so we have to build more than 2,600 miles of river embankments. Not to mention that Your Majesty has to build a river embankment."
Chapter completed!