10,000 miles of water into a water, 2,000 years of embroidery into a polder.

On the Wusong River, Wu Chengen explained to Zhao Hao:

"Originally, the water flow from Taihu Lake was very fast, and there was almost no sediment accumulation in the upper reaches of the Guajingkou and Wusong rivers. However, after the excavation of the Grand Canal, Suzhou has become more and more prosperous and has developed commerce, so it has built many long bridges, long causeways and lanes in the downstream water system, which has greatly slowed down the flow rate of Taihu Lake, so that the sediment accumulation is serious, and the low-lying south bank has become a tidal flat. ”

"Hmm." Zhao Hao nodded and listened very seriously.

"Later, people turned the tidal flats into polders." Wu Chengen pointed to the river embankment

They first dug a ditch in the silt and then made two permeable retaining walls out of bamboo and wood on both sides of the ditch. In this way, the water from the soil seeps into the ditch through the bamboo fence, which is called 'the harbor'. ”

"The excavated soil was piled up on the shore of the lake, forming a river embankment, and new land appeared on the southern shore of Taihu Lake."

"This method is so good, the surrounding land is extremely fertile, there are many people in the Susong area, who can not be red? As a result, counties rushed to build polders and wantonly encroached on tidal flats. Xu Wei sneered and took over the conversation and said:

"For example, Wujiang County on the south bank, more than ten years ago, the county seat was two miles away from the lakeshore, but now it has increased to three miles. This extra mile of land is the river that has been encroached upon. ”

In fact, this Guajingkou is also called South Taihu Lake, and the lake is directly connected with Dianshan Lake and Chenghu Lake in Kunshan. After hundreds of years of siltation and erosion, there is now only such a trumpet-shaped river bay, where is there any water storage function? Xu Wei slapped the railing and said angrily:

"If I were Lin Run, the first thing I would do would be to demolish all these polders."

"Don't be too extreme." Wu Chengen smiled bitterly and said: "In fact, there are sluices in all the ports, and there are eighteen sluices in the eighteen ports in Wujiang County. At this time, as long as the sluice gate is opened, there are 18 flood outlets, and the pressure of the downstream water is naturally greatly reduced. ”

"It's just that in this way, all the thousands of hectares of polders on the south bank will be lost, and of course Wujiang County will not agree." Wu Chengen said, pointing to a group of people who patrolled in the rain on the embankment of the lake:

"That's the pond protection team in Wujiang County, which patrols day and night during the flood season, lest the stone pond they built have an accident and flood their polder."

"Stone Pond? Isn't it a mud pile? Zhao Erye interjected and asked.

"How can mud be as strong as stones?" Xu Wei laughed when he heard this: "People have long since replaced it with a hundred miles of stone pond!" ”

"Baili, such a big deal?" Second Master Zhao took a breath of cold air, could it be that a certain Wujiang magistrate also has the ability to make money like my son?

"It took decades to repair it by several magistrates." I heard Xu Wei laugh and said: "This is a good thing to ensure the safety of the whole county, and it is necessary to set up a monument of merit and enter the township ancestral hall." can still justifiably make money from it, of course, no one is willing to leave behind. ”

"They didn't flood themselves, but all the water from Taihu Lake came downstream to us." Wu Chengen sighed and said, "This is what Mencius called 'beggar-thy-neighbor'." ”

"Kunshan County just watched them beggar-thy-neighbor? Don't you care about the house? Zhao Shouzheng asked angrily.

"I don't know how many times the people have to fight over this matter every year, otherwise how could Wujiang County organize a pond protection team?" Wu Chengen smiled bitterly: "The magistrate of Kunshan also went to the government to complain, not to mention demolishing the stone pond, even begging them to open the flood gate during the flood season and not agree." ”

"People have good reasons, the stone pond is built for flood control, how can there be a reason to open the flood gate and flood themselves?" Wu Chengen spread his hands again and said: "There is another fundamental reason, when Xia Yuanji governed Taihu Lake two hundred years ago, the polders belonged to the government. With an order from above, the flood gate can be directly opened and the polder can be flooded for flood distribution. ”

But in the past two hundred years, the polders of the official family have long been divided and privately swallowed by the powerful family. How could they sacrifice their own interests for the sake of the people of other counties? ”

Zhao Hao nodded silently, there are too many polders by the lake, and they can't bear the flood discharge function of the polders themselves, so the downstream will naturally suffer from them.

"The people of Wujiang County also said that it is natural to repair the embankment to protect against the water, and Kunshan can also repair the embankment, and no one will stop it." Wu Chengen sighed lightly.

"Then why not fix it?" Zhao Shouzheng asked.

"I don't have any money." Xu Wei felt that his owner was cute. "If you can't eat enough, how can you have the money to repair the embankment? What's more, Wujiang only needs to repair a single embankment, how complicated is the situation in Kunshan? The Wusong River zigzags through the whole territory, there are two lakes hanging above the head, and there is a Loujiang River below. The terrain is low, and you still want to build an embankment? Dream on. ”

"Hey, my Kunshan is the flood discharge for the whole province, and the neighboring counties not only thank them, but also beggar-thy-neighbor and ridicule them in every way, which is really the trend of the world." Zhao Erye sighed, and couldn't help but feel sorry for the people of Kunshan.

~~

While speaking, the official ship entered Kunshan County.

The sight of the land of Gongwei fish and rice in the stone pond is gone, replaced by a yellow mud soup full of vast soup.

It was the water that overflowed from the Chenghu Lake a few miles away, and slowly flowed along the terrain to the Wusong River. To the southeast is a larger Dianshan Lake, two of which overflow with water to cover three-quarters of Kunnan.

The vast rice fields, mulberry trees, roads, and villages in front of me were all soaked in yellow water.

In the heavy rain, groups of people carried flat burdens, pushed carts, brought their families and led their ploughing cattle, and trekked in the mud along the higher ridges and ditches in the fields.

Before the flood came, they had to leave their homes and take refuge in Kunbei or neighboring counties.

In the yellow mud soup by the ditch, garbage, weeds and wood, as well as drowned small animal carcasses, floated in the yellow mud soup by the ditch.

There are also rats that use it as a refuge, scurrying around on it.

Although the villagers were accustomed to this, the atmosphere of this escape was particularly solemn.

In the fields on the edge of the ridges, the rice that had begun to tassel fell in patches in the yellow water......

You don't have to wait for the flood to reach the top, just pour it into the water and soak it for a few days, and this year's crops will be lost.

The people wanted to cry without tears, and numbly followed the people in front of them.

Only the children who sat in the barrels and shivered in the cart were so hungry that they cried.

The cry reached the official ship, and everyone felt extremely harsh.

No matter how serious the problem was before, it couldn't compare to what I saw with my own eyes, which made people feel heavy.

From this moment on, this land of many disasters and these suffering people are their unshirkable responsibility.

"Where are these people going? How to get there? Why don't you see the guidance of the official mission? Zhao Shouzheng held on to the railing with his hand and looked at the people who fled along the Wusong River with a solemn expression.

"Some of the victims went south, to Suzhou or Wujiang, but most of them still went north, and there is a wooden bridge in front of them to go to Kunbei."

Wu Chengen was familiar with geography and replied miserably: "After all, in my own county, I can still be seen as Chéng Rén, and when I leave Kunshan, I am called Huazi Wanderer...... As for the official errand, you can only know when you get the county office. ”

"Hmm." Zhao Shouzheng nodded and didn't speak again.

ps. The fourth update, ask for a monthly pass ~~~~