Huaishui, the Huai River of later generations, the ancient people did not know why the natural river was usually called water, and the artificial river was called a ditch or canal, and it was rarely called a river, which was discovered by Hong Tao when he checked the historical hydrological data of the capital water supervisor.

The ancient Chinese believed that there were four most important water systems in the Central Plains, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huaishui River, and the Jishui, so there were five mountains and four desecrations, which shows the importance of the Huaishui.

In later generations, the Huai River was more strange, and after arriving at Hongze Lake, it was divided into three forks, one of which entered the Yangtze River through Gaoyou Lake, and the other two entered the Yellow Sea from the east bank of Hongze Lake.

But in the Song Dynasty, Huaishui was a river that flowed into the Yellow Sea alone, and it had nothing to do with the Yangtze River, but it was a little entangled with the Yellow River. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yellow River angrily robbed the river channel of the little brother Huaishui into the sea, which is known as the Huai River into the sea, and it was hundreds of years to rob it.

There is a cloud ladder pass in Xiangshui County, Jiangsu, which was built in the Tang Dynasty. It is the first customs office in the history of China, and it is also the mouth of the Huaishui Sea. On the map of later generations, Yunti Pass is at least a hundred miles away from the sea, is it because the Tang Dynasty people have a strange habit of building customs?

No, that's what the Yellow River is doing. Over the past few hundred years, the Yellow River has carried a large amount of sediment into the sea, forcibly pushing the coastline more than 100 miles eastward. In later generations, the villages, towns, and ports were actually sea water in ancient times, and the power of nature should not be underestimated.

Now Hong Tao's fleet has turned from Xuyi to Huaishui, and the scenery has taken a 180-degree turn in a blink of an eye. The Tongji Canal is not too wide, more than ten zhang, but the embankment is neatly planted with willow trees, and driving on the river surface is like walking in a boulevard.

Huaishui is several times to more than ten times wider than the Tongji Canal, and the water flow is more rapid, but the focus is not on these, but on its banks. There are not many places that can be called embankments, and even if there are, they are washed away by the current, and there are no traces of artificial carving unless you look carefully.

It is not yet the rainy season, just a few months ago the river ice opened the river embankment, and if the rainy season comes, the people on both sides of the river will have to live in anxiety, God knows when the flood will come in, and there is no chance to run.

Even if they knew that the flood would come sooner or later, most of the people on both sides of the river would not be able to escape. Their homes are here, their land is here, and their social connections are here. As the saying goes, when people leave their hometowns, they are homeless people who have no land, no house, and no livelihood when they go to a strange place.

Most people would rather be drowned in their hometowns than live a life of displacement. And they are also willing to believe that the imperial court will not watch and ignore it, and will always send officials to save them from the dire situation.

The imperial court did not forget that every year the most dangerous river embankment was repaired, for which a lot of money and grain was spent, but the effect was not good. There are subjective problems such as the lack of ability of the officials in charge of the work, the misappropriation of funds, and the objective reasons why the technical means cannot be met.

"Are they really my Great Song people?" Seeing the blind, unclothed, and skinny victims on the shore, the eldest princess was a little confused.

It was the first time she went out of Beijing, and she had never seen the scene outside Kaifeng City, and everything she knew about the Great Song Dynasty came from hearing about it, and most of it was still from hearing from officials and emperors, and it was difficult to immediately understand that this kind of seeing was believing, which was too different from her cognition.

"Help Mrs. go back to the cabin, and one day, you will follow." How to explain it? Hong Tao didn't know either, this contrast could only be slowly adapted.

Fortunately, she didn't follow her to Huangzhou at the beginning, where the people's lives are even more miserable than here. Not only did they have to deal with starvation, they also had to deal with a climate that could freeze people to death.

Fortunately, Lian'er, Green Lotus, Ziju and Zhou Ri are used to seeing these scenes, and they can comfort the eldest princess with them, so as not to be blind.

"Tell the fleet to come to the north shore and prepare some cans." Turning into the Huaishui less than five miles of road, a large area of low shacks appeared on a high ground on the shore, and some people squatted by the water's edge and couldn't see what they were fishing.

You don't need to ask Hong Tao to guess that these people are afraid that they are all victims of the flood, and even if the flood waters recedes, they will not be able to return home for the time being, and they will have to wait for the mud on the ground to dry up.

Homes and fields are flooded, and it is impossible for the imperial court to provide relief so quickly and so widely, and what to eat during this time is a big problem. The flood cannot be solved fundamentally, but it can be alleviated as much as possible. Sometimes a steamed bun or a canned food may be able to save a family.

"Don't run, don't run! My officials are here to bring you food. See, this is the Liang King of the Imperial Court, and he is not a bandit, so he can still harm you! ”

Such a large fleet suddenly approached the shore, causing the crowd to be a little flustered, like a group of frightened meerkats, even rolling up to the high ground, and the figure in the shack could not be seen.

Wang San, as the head of the guard, took the lead in bringing special forces ashore, and when he opened his loud voice, he didn't forget to station sentries nearby to monitor this section of the riverbank.

"You're all coming to see what this is?"

Hong Tao was the first to go ashore in the second batch, and he was still holding Wang Feiyu in his arms. After coming ashore, he walked to the place where the group had just fished for something, picked up the abandoned branches and stirred them in the water, brought up a few green aquatic plants, and then greeted the wives and concubines who followed.

"It's like water plants, and there are ...... in the Daimyo's Mansion" The eldest princess naturally didn't know her, and Lian'er and the Green Lotus sisters didn't know either, and they often went to the shipyard to inspect on Mondays and Sundays, and they got something.

“…… Phew, bitter. You all have to taste it, I'm afraid they didn't fish this to clean up the river, it should be used to satisfy your stomach. ”

Hong Tao also knows this kind of aquatic weeds, as soon as the weather is hot, they will play with the growth of life, very hindering, after fishing up by the sun is particularly fishy. The taste, I didn't dare to swallow it after taking a small bite, it was bitter, fishy and astringent, and it was not clear whether it was poisonous or not.

The women, along with Wang Qi, Wang 18 and Gao Yu, also took a small bite, only Zhou Zhou was stopped, she was pregnant, and there was no need to experience this for the time being.

"How can this thing be swallowed...... "The eldest princess vomited without even chewing it.

"I'm afraid I'll be able to swallow it after a few hungry meals, let's go, let's go up and have a look." Be mentally prepared, the scene is a little miserable, and the taste may not be very good. Don't get too close, and don't touch any objects or people, just bring your eyes. Lao Qi, pass down the official's order, prohibit all contact, and disinfect your hands and soles with alcohol before getting on the boat. ”

Hong Tao didn't really go hungry, at most he didn't eat enough when he was a child. But he had heard his father talk about how he felt starving when he was young, and he was sure that he would not lie to him. Because grandma and grandpa have starved more times than their father, the feeling is basically the same.

If people are extremely hungry, their needs for taste, texture, and nutrition will plummet, and they can eat anything that can keep their stomachs from being hungry, such as grass, tree bark, and even soil.

They obviously did not intend to get a straw tank to breed aquatic weeds, but probably to use them as food. Now that he has come to this point, Hong Tao can't help but extend it to a worse aspect. It's okay to provide food and help, but you must not get infected with the epidemic, because after the great plague there will be a great plague.

This group of people is indeed a victim of the disaster, and their village is three miles north of the Huaishui, which is now completely buried in silt. According to the village chief, there are more than one person thick, and it is impossible to settle down.

Fortunately, there is this high ground to take refuge, otherwise few people in the village would have escaped the fate of being swept away by the flood. The food has long been cut off, and these dozens of people are relatively lucky, they scooped up a few dead cows from the flood, slaughtered them and dried them into dried meat for more than a month.

Unfortunately, there is not enough salt to marinate in this weather condition, and the dried meat cannot be preserved for too long, so after eating it all, you can only catch mice, pick weeds, and peel tree bark to satisfy your hunger.

"Didn't the passing boats pick you up?" Hong Tao was a little suspicious that the old man was exaggerating that even if the river was cut off for a period of time due to flooding, it would resume immediately after the flood, and at least there would be trough boats passing by, and there would never be death without help.

"The trough boat of the government is escorted by the trough boat, and the idlers will be shot if they get close...... "The old man was afraid that he didn't even think to ask for food from the trough boat, and he couldn't hide.

“…… You deserve to be starved, and you don't know how to resist until you die, and you really live a wretch. These foods can last for a few days if you save some food, and the court's relief will come soon. If you hadn't tried to rob a trough ship, it would have been more comfortable to be shot than starved to death, and if an adult died, you couldn't watch a child die! ”

The old man's answer made Hong Tao helpless, and once again realized what it means that poor people must have something to hate. But what can be done? People's minds don't progress right away, and habits that have been cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years are even more difficult to change.