On November 26, the southernmost part of Yanzhou Prefecture, Huangqikou.

The canal in the eastern section of the mountain, which was delayed due to a lack of food due to the locust plague, was finally completed in late November.

The wide dam mouth is paved with green bricks on the basis of stones, and the layers are cemented together, and the outer side is pasted with a thick layer of stone and cement concrete, and the gray and cyan walls of all colors are particularly strong and beautiful.

On this day, the figures on both sides of the Huangqikou Canal were longing, and Hong Qiming, the director of the Shandong Qing Officials Division of the Household Department, was standing at the front of a group of people in a big red official uniform, and several rows of Qing Officials and Officials were neat and tidy behind him, as if they were waiting for something.

"It's coming! Here it comes! A moment later, Dan saw a group of cavalry from the north rushing towards him, waving up puffs of dust, and a sharp-eyed man shouted loudly.

Liu Hong gradually covered his face with dust and squinted on his war horse, it was the time of great drought, and he didn't know how much soil he had eaten along the way.

He received an invitation from Yanzhou Mansion Hong Qiming last night, and he didn't want to come, after all, a dam is just open, and there is nothing to see from afar.

But he couldn't stand the sincere invitation of a few lower-level officials, plus the hundreds of thousands of people who repaired the canal asked for their lives, he still came.

"Xiaguan Hong Qiming has seen the prince!" Liu Hong gradually got off the horse, patting the dust on his body, and Hong Qiming, who was in his forties, almost trotted to come to the salute.

"Lord Hong, how is the dam?" Liu Hong gradually walked towards the mouth of the dam with more than a dozen guards, and a row of officials automatically got out of the way.

"Back to the prince, the canal starts from the mouth of the Huangqiao, all the way to the north to the north of Tai'an Prefecture, Jinan Prefecture, a total length of 300 miles, along the way there are 18 reservoirs, which can benefit the east and west of Shandong, most of the southern half of the county.

This canal from south to north, all are lowly walking to measure and supervise, brick and tile are not daring to cheat, now everything is ready, just wait for the prince to order, the dam is opened, for the benefit of all people. ”

Although Hong Qiming's words are suspected of asking for credit, I have to say that the dam is beautiful, he is a native of Shandong, and it is incumbent on him to make some contributions to the township in the year of the disaster.

Walking to the mouth of the dam, the rumbling sound of the Yellow River was like heavy thunder, overshadowing everyone's voice.

"The dam is well repaired!" The bottom of the canal is flat and smooth, and there is no need for the river channel that later generations will squeeze out with machines, and Liu Hongjian does not hesitate to praise it.

"What did the prince say? The lower officials didn't hear clearly! The sound of the Yellow River rushing was so loud that Hong Qiming didn't hear it clearly for a while.

"I said that the dam was repaired well, and when the king goes back, he will truthfully report to the saint and ask for a reward for Lord Hong!" Liu Hong gradually saw Hong Qiming pricking up his ears and listening carefully, only to feel that this engineering man was a little cute.

"Oh, Xiaguan has eaten." Hong Qiming replied honestly.

Poof-Liu Hongjian just drank a sip of water and squirted it directly.

"What are the people up there doing together?" Liu Hongjian pointed to the place where the people gathered below the mouth of the dam and asked.

"Lord Wang, the lower officials can't say it, you better go and see for yourself." Hong Qiming was silent.

Liu Hong gradually saw that Hong Qiming was still selling Guanzi, and he was amused but became interested.

Thousands of people gathered under the dam mouth, two teams of guards walked to the front to open the way, the people consciously got out of the way, Liu Hong gradually smiled and interacted with the dirty people.

Walking to the center of the crowd, but seeing a huge red cloth covering a bluestone foundation, Liu Hongjian was about to ask what it was, but three or two people couldn't wait to tear off the red cloth.

What catches your eye is a bluestone statue about one zhang high, this person is dressed in a python suit, wearing a crown, looking at the mouth of the dam with blazing eyes, and there is a word cloud on the foundation under his feet:

Liu Hongchuan, the king of Anguo County in the Ming Dynasty, built the Huangqikou Dam on the day of the first month of the first month of Chongzhen Yiyou, the yellow water is turbulent, the blessing is thousands of miles, and the merit covers a thousand autumns.

The pen is 160,000 people in Yanzhou, Shandong.

"The prince repairs the canal to help the people benefit Shandong, and the grass people wish the prince a thousand generations and enjoy wealth forever!" I don't know who was the first to kneel down and shout.

"The prince repairs the canal to help the people benefit Shandong, and I wish the prince a thousand generations and eternal prosperity!" Thousands of people around him fell to their knees like waves, their voices high-pitched, and they actually overshadowed the rumbling yellow water.

In the year of the catastrophe, fortunately, Liu Hongjian vigorously supported the relief of millions of people with the grain stored by the landlords in the province, which is well known in Shandong.

This canal was not easy to repair, and hundreds of thousands of people were able to survive between the digging of the canal thanks to the food supplied by Liu Hongji.

In the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, no one dared to despise these gentry and wealthy families who were feared by the people like Liu Hongji, and how could the people not know the huge pressure that Liu Hongjian had borne for them.

A few days ago, I heard that Ziyang Zhang Yuanwai dared to insult Wang Shi, these people almost hollowed out all the filth around them, and painted the wall of Zhang's house in the middle of the night, and the surnamed Zhang still didn't dare to go out, for fear of being blackmailed by the surrounding people.

And this bluestone statue is the people of Yanzhou Mansion spontaneously asked for their lives, transported the boulder from Mount Tai overnight, and invited Qi Tiande, the carving master of Yanzhou Mansion, to preside.

Liu Hongji's portrait really made this group of people feel worried, but fortunately, there were a few Jingying soldiers whose ancestral home was Shandong, and they cooperated with Qi Tiande to paint all night, and finally painted a portrait that looked like seven or eight points.

Qi Tiande heard that it was a statue of the king of Anguo, but he didn't even mention the salary, and it took eight full days to complete the carving.

In ancient times, there was the statue of Li Bing of Dujiangyan, and now there is the statue of the king of Anguo County of the Huangqikou canal, it is conceivable that when the people eat the grain grown by the canal after a few generations, the legend of Liu Hongjian will be spread in Shandong.

Liu Hong gradually looked at his bluestone statue in a trance for a while, and his heart suddenly lightened, feeling that all the pressure he had endured these days had disappeared.

"Everybody get up, all get up." His eyes were sour, his hands were raised, and he motioned for the migrant workers to get up, but the sound had no effect in the tsunami.

"The prince asked you to wait, just get up quickly, don't make the prince embarrassed!" Hong Qiming was also full of relief, and shouted at Minzhuang.

Less leaning, noon came, Hong Qiming signaled that Liu Hong's gradual good day had arrived, and he could order the gate to be opened.

Liu Honggradually stood by the canal, and several rows of sturdy people at the mouth of the dam each tied an arm-thick hemp rope around their waists, and the other end of the hemp rope was tied to the 10,000-jin iron gate at the junction of the dam mouth and the Yellow River.

"Open the gates!" Liu Hong gradually rushed to the mouth of the dam and ordered hoarsely.

"One-two-one-two" Hundreds of people worked hard together, and the iron gate of 10,000 catties was opened.

Boom - Rolling yellow water gushed out from under the iron gate.

"Oh-oh-" Tens of thousands of people gathered on both sides of the canal, and they all cheered happily when they saw the yellow water flowing into the canal.

This canal, which has cost them months of blood and sweat, will surely benefit their children and grandchildren, and everyone is happy to be able to participate in the construction of this canal and survive natural disasters.

Now that the wax moon is approaching, winter wheat cannot be planted, which also means that the people will still have no grain to harvest in the next spring.

But fortunately, now sweet potatoes and potatoes have been successfully promoted in Suncheonfu, as well as Shanxi and other places, and now people everywhere are not averse to new crops.

As long as the good seeds are bred as early as possible in the coming year, and the sweet potato growth cycle is short, at least the people can suffer less than a month.

Liu Honggradually stood by the canal and watched the people cheering, and he also had a lot of thoughts.

The Yellow River originates from the Tanggula Mountains and flows into the sea in the east, and its runoff is far less than that of the Yangtze River, but if it comes to floods for thousands of years, the Yellow River has topped the list.

The reason for this is mainly a yellow character, after thousands of years of reclamation and logging in the northwest region, resulting in loose soil and serious desertification.

The Yellow River flows through the northwest and brings in a large amount of yellow sand, which is deposited on the riverbed, causing the riverbed to continue to rise, and there is a risk of bursting the embankment during heavy rainfall.

In this year, there was no sand clearing machinery in later generations, and the only way to solve this problem in all dynasties was to raise the embankment.

But it is still the same problem, the soil quality is not good, the embankment is not solid, and after so many years, the riverbed of the Yellow River has long been raised above the ground, and it has become a veritable above-ground river.

Later, once the levee bursts, the damage is even worse.

Sooner or later, the Yellow River, one day, this king will conquer you, let you water the land obediently, and make you the real mother river of the north!

Liu Hong gradually looked at the turbulent yellow water and made a vow in his heart.

With cement, reinforced concrete and so many hard-working people, the Ming Dynasty does not need machinery, it can still build a new river from west to east from west to east, which shocks the people of the world.

As long as the source of the yellow sand is blocked, he believes that everything is man-made.

Leaving Huangqikou, Hong Qiming, who has always been known for his huge cuts, hosted an unprecedented banquet for Liu Hongjian and hundreds of accompanying guards in Shanxian County.

The feast of hundreds of people can be regarded as a big deal, and Shanxian killed thirty or forty goats, so that Liu Hongjian and others from the capital could taste the real authentic Shanxian mutton soup.

At the end of the banquet, Liu Hong gradually quietly left five hundred taels of silver.

This is the year of the catastrophe, Hong Qiming is a small director of the Ministry of Works, even if he has the generosity of the people, how can he bear to let these already hard-working people pay for it.

Five days later, the Jiangnan Cao boat, which had been looking forward to it day and night, finally arrived in Shandong with rice and grain, and since then, the stone in Liu Hongji's heart finally fell to the ground.

After taking the lead in sending relief grain to Yanzhou, Jinan and other places that were the most severely affected by the disaster, the nearly month-long trip to Shandong finally came to an end.

On the first day of the lunar month, Liu Hongjian and the Beijing battalion and the personal guard battalion re-boarded the big ship bound for the capital.

When the people from all over Shandong heard the news, they spontaneously came to see them off, and both sides of the canal were almost surrounded by ragged people.

Since the land of the Ming Dynasty is not enough for the people to be fed and clothed, then this king will take you to rob and grab, and use cannons and warships to seek for you.

Sailors, warships, the South Seas, land, food......

Liu Hong gradually waved his hand and recalled it in his mind.

……

However, in the past month, it is not only Shandong that is in full swing, but also the court has turned upside down.

Liu Hong gradually rushed to Shandong with the army, but the hundred officials of the court did not know, and Chongzhen bypassed the hundred officials and ordered it on his own, once again making the courtiers like a fish in the throat.

Only half a month later, the gentry in Shandong took the lead in rushing to beat the drum, pleading their grievances, and telling Liu Hongji's banditry behavior, which caused their family to run out of grain and make Shandong a miasma.

Some of the ministers were dissatisfied with Liu Hong's gradual style, and they also played a role in impeaching Liu Hong's gradual use of power to bully the people, and forcibly requisitioning the people's materials was really unjust, and ruined the prestige of the court.

Fortunately, the newly formed cabinet is still facing Chongzhen, and the concert helps Liu Hong gradually exonerate, and Chongzhen will leave all the notes of impeachment of Liu Hongjian in the middle.

He also ordered the household department to issue a few silver taels according to the IOUs that Liu Hong gradually gave to these landlords, and even some more, which temporarily ended the turmoil.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, there was news that Liu Hong's troops were in chaos in Shandong.

The courtiers and Chongzhen were shocked, but they didn't believe it much at first, after all, the Yansheng Mansion was a holy place for hundreds of officials in all dynasties, and it was the faith of scholars.

Even if Liu Hong, the king of Anguo County, is bold, he should know what the Confucian family means in Daming.

But only three or four days later, the rumors spread even more, and the angry 64th Yan Shenggong Kong Yanzhi went to the capital in person, wept bitterly in the court, and told all kinds of injustices suffered by the Confucian Mansion.

directly described Liu Hongjian as an unreasonable, vicious, and bullying bandit, and also slandered Liu Hongjian for using swords and soldiers, injuring dozens of servants in the Confucian Mansion, and even he himself was lynched by Liu Hongji.

Even the ancestral hall of the saint Kong was disturbed, and the ancestral hall was a mess by the officers and soldiers.

Although the courtiers did not know the exact news, they all believed that the descendants of the Confucian saint would not lie because of this, and the ancestral hall of the Confucian saint was also disturbed, and the nest was blown up at once when they heard the rumors.

In just two days, Chongzhen received a note to impeach Liu Hongji, which filled three large boxes, and even four people in the cabinet joined the camp of impeaching Liu Hongji.

Although Chongzhen didn't believe Kong Yanzhi's crying very much, when he thought of Liu Hongji's temperament, he also felt bottomless in his heart.

But Liu Hong gradually left Shandong and did not return, Chongzhen withstood all the pressure and decided to wait for him to come back to discuss.

Worried, Chongzhen continued to leave all the music in the middle, and then on the grounds that the dragon was sick, he simply didn't even go to the early dynasty.

What else? The order was given by himself, and Liu Hongjian had already made his plan clear when he set out on the expedition.

Now that something has happened, how can you let that kid carry it alone, alas, it's really a worry-free kid!

It was not only the courtiers who were filled with righteous indignation, but even the students of the Guozijian in the capital, the private schools, and the academies also collectively blew up.

They were not qualified to go to the palace to see Chongzhen, and they all went to the Anguo County Palace, which was surrounded and questioned, and the three hundred guards stationed in the County Palace, which were not even enough.

It's okay to let these guards kill, but they are all facing a group of meritorious and famous people, and they can't help it.

After Jin Yiwei commanded Tongzhi Liang Yang to learn about it, he directly sent a thousand households of Beizhen Fusi ruthless people to block the entrances of various streets, and anyone who looked like a scholar was not allowed to enter the alley of the county palace, so that the situation could be controlled.

Just when the imperial court was in chaos, the capital was also a miasma, Chongzhen sighed for a long time, and the people of the county palace were panicked, on the sixth day of the lunar month, Liu Hongji, the initiator of everything, finally arrived in the capital.

……