Chapter 3375 Chapter 3377 [Prevention of Floods]
Xiang Nan inspected the Yangtze River embankment and saw that the embankment was well repaired.
Even during the floods every year, floods still often break down the levees, causing farmland on both sides of the river to be flooded, houses destroyed, and people displaced and miserable.
“If this dam still can’t stop the flood, then continue to strengthen it.” Xiang Nan reminded, “Now I have installed radio stations in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and also installed radio stations in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
If there is a flood, the upstream will notify the downstream in time. When the time comes, you local officials must evacuate the people downstream and try to avoid casualties and material losses. "
Before, there were hundreds of miles between the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Even if there was news of the arrival of the flood peak, horseback riding could not catch up to control the lower reaches. Therefore, once a flood peak occurs, the upstream can only be anxious. If the downstream cannot receive news, it will naturally be difficult to organize the evacuation of the people.
As a result, people downstream often suffer losses, with injuries and deaths to humans and animals, destroyed houses, and life savings destroyed.
And if the upstream and downstream can be ventilated in time during the flood season, and people can evacuate in time and take their livestock, chickens, ducks, money, etc. to higher places, then considerable losses can be avoided.
Just like in modern times, evacuating people before the peak of the flood is still one of the most effective measures to prevent floods.
When the local officials heard this, they nodded immediately.
If the upstream informs the downstream in time when the flood peak occurs, a lot of losses can indeed be avoided. At least the casualties and property losses can be reduced to a higher level.
In addition, after the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge, even if there is a disaster, food can be transported in time, so the Yangtze River floods are no longer a devastating disaster for the victims.
…
After staying in Hankou for two days, Xiang Nan and others still stayed in the inn.
Afterwards, everyone took the train and continued their journey across the Yangtze River Bridge. A long way away, you can see the upper bridge. There is an endless stream of merchants and pedestrians coming and going. People are crowded next to each other. It is almost impossible to get through. It is really lively.
A large number of goods from the south and the north are transported back and forth through this bridge, which is much faster than shipping.
As for the Yangtze River Bridge, all the ministers were also in awe of it.
Like the Yellow River, during the dry season, people still build floating bridges on the river, which can barely pass cars and people. Therefore, building a bridge across the Yellow River, although very powerful, is not unthinkable.
But the flow of water in the Yangtze River is much faster than that of the Yellow River. According to statistics, the annual water flow of the Yangtze River exceeds 960 billion cubic meters, while the annual water flow of the Yellow River is only 58 billion cubic meters, a difference of nearly 20 times.
Therefore, building a bridge over the Yangtze River is simply unimaginable, and is more than ten times more difficult than building a bridge over the Yellow River. But it is precisely because of this that the completion of the Yangtze River Bridge illustrates Xiang Nan's power.
Let all their ministers admire him.
…
After setting off from Hankou, everyone then arrived in Yuzhang, and then boarded the Tengwang Pavilion, one of the four highest floors in the world.
In fact, the current Tengwang Pavilion is very different from the Tengwang Pavilion that Wang Bo saw in the Tang Dynasty.
The reason is that Tengwang Pavilion often encountered fires and was rebuilt nearly twenty times in history. During the Kangxi period alone, Tengwang Pavilion was destroyed by fire five times. But because Tengwang Pavilion is so famous, every time it is burned down, someone is willing to renovate it.
The current Tengwang Pavilion was built in the first year of Qianlong by the governor and governor at that time. Although more than thirty years have passed, the building still stands majestically.
Standing upstairs and looking down, it is really touching to think about the demeanor of the ancients thousands of years ago.
After staying in Yuzhang for a day, everyone took the car again and passed through the porcelain capital to Huangshan. It is worth mentioning that after the train was introduced, the porcelain trade in the porcelain capital quadrupled.
In the past, porcelain from the porcelain capital had to be shipped to the north by land and then by water; to be shipped to the south, it could only be shipped by land, which not only took a long time but also cost a lot.
Now that the railway is connected, the transportation cost has been greatly reduced, and it can directly connect the north and the south, and can even be transported directly to Inner Mongolia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Western Europe, Southern Europe, the Middle East, Tianfang and other places.
Those places can be said to be very fond of domestic porcelain, and as a result, the bosses of the porcelain capital have made a fortune.
The scenery of Huangshan Mountain is also excellent. It has been said since ancient times that when returning from the Five Mountains, one should not look at the mountains; upon returning from Mount Huangshan, one should not look at the mountains. Xiang Nan took the concubines, elder brothers, ministers, etc. to have a good tour of Huangshan.
After visiting Huangshan, we got on the bus and headed to Suzhou and Hangzhou.
After arriving in Suzhou and Hangzhou, Xiang Nan first went to inspect the seawall.
The so-called seawall refers to a **** built along the coast with stones or strips of stone to form a steep wall to block tides and waves. It is also called a steep-wall seawall.
Since the Qiantang River floods every year, seawater pours into the land, causing considerable damage.
Qiantang has been the capital of the Yue Kingdom since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and was very prosperous.
When the Grand Canal was built in the Sui Dynasty, Suzhou and Hangzhou were located at the transportation hub. It was known as "the throat of Wu and Yue, with powerful rivers and seas, water connecting flowers and plants, and land controlling mountains and barrens." Therefore, the local economy developed rapidly.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the tax revenue of Suzhou and Hangzhou accounted for 4% of the national tax revenue. A Tang poem praised this place and said: "There are 20 miles of parallel beams and 30,000 houses." It is extremely rich and prosperous.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, Suzhou and Hangzhou became countries for a time, so they became even more prosperous. In the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Suzhou and Hangzhou's status was still extremely high.
So in order to prevent this large economic city from being damaged by sea waves, seawalls have been built in all dynasties. Among them, the seawall built during the Qianlong period is the most solid and reliable.
Because the dams are all made of reinforced concrete, they are condensed into one and weigh up to 10,000 kilograms. No matter how strong the tide is, it can never be broken down again.
…
“Very good, well done.” After inspecting the seawall, Xiang Nan smiled and said to the local officials.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. It's all about the Emperor's divine martial arts and his arbitrary actions. The ministers are just following the Emperor's instructions and doing their best for the Emperor." The local official said humbly.
Xiang Nan laughed when he heard this.
"Your Majesty, these are the treasures presented by the local salt merchants. Please preview them." Seeing that Xiang Nan was very interested, the local official added quickly.
Immediately, I saw salt merchants approaching with treasures in their hands. There are colorful corals four to five feet high, bead curtains made of thousands of pearls, and exquisite ornaments made of gold... in short, they are all priceless treasures.
When Xiang Nan heard this, he straightened his face and scolded in a cold voice, "Take them all back, I don't want them to give gifts. I also made a decree when I came here. The ministers had to build palaces, and there was no need to increase taxes or give gifts. Don’t offer beautiful women, don’t recruit civilian husbands... Do you regard my imperial edict as a piece of paper?"
"I don't dare. This is the voluntary filial piety of the salt merchants, and it is purely loyal." Upon hearing this, the local official immediately knelt down and apologized.
All the salt merchants also knelt down and said they did not dare.
"Hmph, if you are fair-minded and actively pay taxes when doing business, I will not embarrass you if you don't give gifts." Xiang Nan curled his lips and said, "But if you are cheating and evading taxes, even if you give me a gift, I will definitely not spare you the courtesy and take it down."
“Yes!” The salt merchants did not dare to be nagging and quickly took the gifts back.
(End of this chapter)