Chapter 8 Section 2 Tongji Canal connecting the Hehuai River

Chang'an was the capital at the beginning of the Sui Dynasty.In 604 A.D., Yang Guang killed his father, Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, and seized the throne. He was Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, who was famous for his arrogance and extravagance in history.He believed that the roads between Guanzhong and Shandong, Jiangnan, Hebei and other places were far away, and "soldiers are not in a hurry", so the capital should be moved eastward, so he immediately issued an edict to build the eastern capital Luoyang.Then, orders were successively issued to drill the Grand Canal centered on Dongdu, leading to Jianghuai, Hebei and other places, in order to strengthen the connection and control of these major economic zones.

The Tongji Canal was the first to be dug, which was dug in the first year of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty (605 A.D.).Tongji Canal can be divided into three sections: west, middle and east.The western section starts from Luoyang, the eastern capital, and uses Luoshui and its tributaries, Gushui, as the water source. It is expanded on the basis of the old channel Yangqu and the natural waterway Luoshui, and meets the Yellow River at Luokou.Since Guyang Canal is also called Tongji Canal, people expanded the name from the western section to the middle and eastern sections.The middle section starts from Banzhu (west of Xingyang, Henan Province) on the edge of the Yellow River, draws the water of the Yellow River as the water source, and goes east to Junyi (Kaifeng City, Henan Province).This section was originally the upper reaches of Bianqu, which was deepened and widened in the Sui Dynasty.Below Junyi, it diverges from Bianqu, runs southeast, passes through Songcheng (south of Shangqiu County, Henan Province), Yongcheng, Xiaqiu (now Sixian County, Anhui Province) and other places, and then injects Huai River into Suiyi.This is the eastern section, which is mostly expanded by natural waterways.

At that time, the reason why the old channel of the Bianhe River was no longer used and a new channel was opened below Junyi was related to the following factors.The east section of the Bianhe River is located north to east. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty visited Jiangdu in the south and transported grain from the south to the north to Beijing, which was too far away.Moreover, from the Bianhe River to the Huaihe River, one must pass through Sishui, and the waterway of Sishui is tortuous, and there are dangers of floods in Xuzhou and Lvliang. ), the boat capsizes frequently, making navigation very unsafe.This is one aspect.On the other hand, from Junyi to Suiyi, the terrain is relatively flat, and the riverbed slope is moderate; at the same time, the voyage distance is much shorter than that of Jingbian to Hangou.In addition, the economy between the Hehuai River and the Huaihe River was relatively developed at that time. In order to strengthen the connection between the Eastern Capital and this place, it was also necessary to dig a canal through this place.

The third section of Tongji Canal is nearly 2,000 miles long.It is not only a long channel, but also because the emperor's dragon boat is to sail, the dragon boat is 200 feet long, and the four-story hall is built on it, and the height is 45 feet, so it must be wide and deep.There is no record of how deep it is, and the width is stipulated as 40 steps.In the Sui Dynasty, one step was six feet, that is, the width of the canal was 240 feet, just like a big river.In addition, there are a number of auxiliary projects in Tongji Canal, such as the construction of flat royal roads in Jiaqu, so that hundreds of thousands of trackers and troops can walk; dozens of palaces are built along the way, so that the emperor and concubines can rest.The entire project was in charge of the Shangshu Youcheng Huangfuyi, and "more than one million men and women were sent to the counties of Henan and Huaibei" ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian · Sui Ji Si") to serve.Construction started in March of the first year of Daye (605 A.D.), and it was delivered in August.At that time, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty immediately boarded a dragon boat from Luokou, took his concubines, princes, and officials, and took thousands of boats [zhulu to chase Lu], and made a mighty tour of Jiangdu in the south (Figure 2).

The Tongji Canal is a huge project, and the construction time is only half a year. It can be said to be a miracle in the history of canals in China and abroad. It reflects the unparalleled creativity of our ancestors.Of course, the price they paid was also very astonishing. Due to the overwork of digging canals and building ships, according to the "Sui Shu·Yangdi Ji", "the dead in the service were fourteen and five"!That is, about 400,000 to 500,000 people gave their precious lives for this. After the Tongji Canal was dug, it and Hangou became the traffic arteries of the Yellow River, Huaihe River, and Yangtze River Basin, and boats traveling from south to north mostly used this waterway.In particular, it is more significant for the transportation of grain from the south to the north.Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty built many large granaries around Luoyang, such as Luokou Cang (also known as Xingluo Cang), Huiluo Cang, Heyang Cang, and Hanjia Cang. Huiluo two warehouses, that is, more than 26 million stones, most of them were transported from the Jianghuai area via the Tongji Canal.

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