Chapter 3 Section 2 The Central Plains Water Transport Hub Gap

The period from 475 BC to 221 BC was the Warring States Period in Chinese history.At the beginning of the Warring States period, Wei State was the first to carry out reforms. During the reign of Wei Wenhou (445-396 BC), with the assistance of Li Kui [kuikui], Wu Qi, Ximen Bao and others, he carried out economic and political reforms, and his military power was once prosperous. Very momentary.In the middle of the Warring States period, King Wei Hui was still ambitious and tried to dominate the Central Plains.In order to achieve this goal, in the ninth year of King Wei Hui (361 BC), the capital was moved from Anyi (northwest of Xia County, Shanxi) to Daliang (now Kaifeng, Henan).Then, with Daliang as the center, water conservancy was greatly promoted between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, forming a historically famous water transportation hub in the gulf.

Honggou is a water transportation hub connecting the two major river systems of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River.The project was completed after two large-scale constructions.It started construction in 360 BC, the second year after the capital was moved to Daliang.The main project at that time was to divert the Yellow River water from the branch of the Yellow River to the south, inject it into Putianze (silted up) west of Daliang, and then divert water from Putianze to Daliang.At that time, Putianze was a large lake with a circumference of 300 miles. It could not only be used as a water tank for the planned boundary channel to adjust the water volume of the boundary, but also allow a large amount of sediment in the water to settle here to reduce the burden on the downstream channel. Blockage.

More than 20 years later, that is, the 31st year of King Wei Hui (339 BC), the State of Wei expanded it on a large scale, extending the original ditch to the east, passing through the north gate of Liangliang to the east of the city, and then extending it to the east of the city. Turning southward, it is now in the northeast of Shenqiu, Henan, where it meets Yingshui, an important tributary of the Huaihe River.This artificial river is known as the chasm in history.When the gap went south from Daliang, it communicated with another batch of tributaries of the Huaihe River along the way, such as Danshui (upper Bianhe River), Suishui (silted up), (氵岁)[huohuo]shui (now Huishui) and so on.

In the territory of Wei State, there are few navigable rivers. The Yellow River is sandy, and only some river sections can be used by boats. Li, inland waterway shipping is not well developed.After the chasm was dug, abundant water from the Yellow River was attracted. Not only the chasm itself became a shipping hub, but also Danshui, Suishui, (Jisui)shui, Yingshui, etc. were also supplemented with water, and the waterway was relatively smooth. Great development.In the seventh year of King Xiang of Wei (312 BC), the State of Yue expressed friendship to the State of Wei and presented a batch of supplies needed by the State of Wei, including 5 million arrow shafts and 300 ships.The gift of arrows and the gift of ships respectively reflect that the Wei State had an increasing demand for these materials in terms of war and shipping at that time.The Honggou water system not only improved the water transportation of Wei State, but also promoted the development of Wei State's agriculture because these waterways could also irrigate farmland.In his book "Heshan Ji", Mr. Shi Nianhai believed that Honggou and Danshui, Suishui, (Jisui)shui, Yingshui and other basins were one of the most important grain-producing areas in my country in the late Warring States period.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the piercing of the Hangou and Heshui canals, there have been waterways between the Jiang and Huaihe Rivers and the He and Ji, and the water transportation between the north and the south has been improved.However, for the Central Plains where the economy, politics, and culture are relatively developed, the location of this waterway is somewhat easterly after all, and it is too far away to communicate with various places in the south.And because it was the only waterway between the north and the south at that time, it could not meet the needs of navigation.After the gap was dug, the Central Plains could go directly to the Huaihe River through the gap itself and the waters of Dan, Sui, Yusui, Ying, etc., and the water transportation with Wu, Chu and other places in the south was far more convenient than before.With the penetration of the gap, the water transportation between the Central Plains and other places has also been improved.It can follow the waters of Ji and Dan, and connect Wei, Song, Qi, and Lu in the east; it can also use the Yellow River to connect Zhao and Yan in the north, and connect Han and Qin in the west.

Before the chasm was dug, a number of cities had already formed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Huai River Basin.Most of them are political capitals, such as Luoyi (the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, now Luoyang, Henan), Daliang (the capital of Wei), Yangzhai (the capital of Han, now Yu County, Henan), Diqiu (the capital of Wei, now Puyang, Henan) Southwest), etc.There were few commercial cities. Tao in the Song Dynasty (northwest of Dingtao, Shandong Province today) developed into a commercial center of "the meeting of the world" because it was located at the intersection of Heshui and Jishui and had convenient transportation.After the formation of Honggou water conservancy system, the business of the above-mentioned capitals prospered rapidly due to the development of shipping and agriculture between the river and the Huaihe River.For example, Diqiu was so prosperous that it could be compared with the pottery of the "meeting of the world", and it was also called "Wei Tao".Luoyang and Yangzhai also became very active commercial cities in the late Warring States period. The famous big businessmen Bai Gui and Lu Buwei at that time were from the above two places respectively.Because of the gap that could be exploited, Luoyang merchants also "Jia Qilu in the east and Liangchu in the south." In addition, in the gap canal network, a number of new cities have sprung up, such as Pengcheng (now Jiangsu) at the junction of Danshui and Surabaya. Xuzhou City, Province), Suiyang on the edge of the Sui River, Shouchun where the Yingshui River enters the Huai River, etc.

The gap was called Langdang Canal in the Han Dynasty, and the Cai River in the Wei and Jin Dynasties was also a part of the gap, and it played an important role in history for a long time.