Chapter 16 The fourth section crosses the Huaibei New River

Since the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, Du Chong decided that the Yellow River blocked the Jin soldiers from going south, and the lower reaches of the Yellow River moved southward, following the Si and Huai waterways into the sea.The north-south Grand Canal in the Yuan and Ming dynasties used the Hehuai Waterway as a transportation channel from Xuzhou Tea City to Huai'an, and it was called "Heyunhecao" or "Hehuaiyunhecao".It is about 500 miles long.The Yellow River and the Huai River are rich in water, and under normal circumstances, there is no risk of water shortage in the transportation route.However, the Yellow River is sandy and there are many floods during the flood season, which also seriously threatens shipping.People believe that the Yellow River has both great benefits and great harm to the canal. There is a saying that "the one who benefits the way of luck is greater than the Yellow River, and the one who harms the way of luck is also greater than the Yellow River".However, since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, due to the long-term southward migration of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the siltation of the riverbed has increased day by day, and frequent breaches have occurred. The development of the canal has become more harmful than beneficial.Therefore, from the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, people tried their best to change the "merged river transport" into "separate river transport". give up.

The first new river opened in Huaibei was called Xiazhen New River.In the fifth year of Jiajing (1526 A.D.), the Yellow River burst through Caoxian County and Shanxian County in the west of Luxi, destroying a section of canal west of Zhaoyang Lake.The north-south water transportation was blocked, so the Ming Dynasty decided to drill the new river.In the seventh year of Jiajing (1528 A.D.), with Sheng Yingqi as the chief censor of Hedu, nearly 100,000 men were recruited to drill.In the middle of the project, because Sheng's supervisor was too urgent, there were many complaints, and there was a severe drought. In order to prevent accidents, the work was stopped halfway, so the old road had to be repaired hastily and barely opened to navigation.In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (AD 1565), the Yellow River burst again in Fengxian and Peixian counties, Jiangsu, and the channel west of Zhaoyang Lake was even more blocked.In the second year, construction was started again, and the new river was drilled. It was presided over by Zhu Heng, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and completed in the forty-sixth year of Jiajing (AD 1567).This new river starts from Nanyang Town in the south of Nanyang Lake in the north, passes through Xiazhen (now Weishan County Government) to Liucheng (which has fallen into Weishan Lake), and is 140 miles long. It is called Xiazhen Xinhe or Nanyang Xinhe in history.The old river is located in the west of Zhaoyang Lake, which originally belonged to the southern section of Huitong, and is vulnerable to the flooding of the Yellow River.Xinhe is in the east of the lake, and there is a lake that can accommodate the water from the Yellow River, which is relatively safe (Figure 3).

Another new river opened after Xiazhen Xinhe is called Jiajia River Canal.In the third year of Longqing (1569 A.D.), the Yellow River broke through Pei County, and the transportation route north of Xuzhou was blocked, and more than 2,000 grain ships were blocked in Pizhou (where the government is located in the northwest of Suining today).The suggestion of opening the Lao River was put forward, but it was not adopted by the court.Decades later, the Yellow River burst again in southwest Shandong and northwest Jiangsu, and the flooding intensified. The Xuzhou flood and Luliang flood sections repeatedly cut off water, and the situation was very serious.Therefore, under the successive leadership of Yang Yikui, Liu Dongxing, Li Hualong and others in charge of the project, in addition to harnessing the Yellow River, a new river was dug in the east and southeast of Weishan Lake. (AD 1604), all completed.It starts from Xiazhen in the north, connects with Xinhe River in Xiazhen, along the way of Napeng River, Dongxi River and other waters, and goes south to Zhihekou (northwest of Suqian, Jiangsu Province) into the Yellow River, with a length of 260 miles.It is straighter than the old river, and there is no danger of the two floods in Xuzhou and Luliang. In addition, it is located in the southeast of Weishan Lake, and the threat of the Yellow River flood is less, so its penetration has further improved the north-south water transport.Because it uses the east and west two rivers as the main supplementary water source, it is named the river canal.

Finally, at the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, it crossed Tongji Xinhe River and Zhonghe River again.After the completion of the canal, the canal from Zhihekou to Qingjiangpu (now Qingjiang City) is about 180 miles long, and the canal is still in the same channel. The canal has not completely escaped the threat of flood and sediment from the Yellow River.Therefore, the project of separating the river transport continued, and the Tongji New River and Zhonghe River were drilled one after another.The former was dug in the third year of Tianqi in the Ming Dynasty (1623 A.D.), starting from the Zhihekou in the northwest and connecting with the Maohe Canal near the mouth of the river, and ending in Suqian in the southeast, with a length of 57 miles.The latter was built under the designation of famous river control experts Jin Fu and Chen Huangbo (bobo) in the early Qing Dynasty.The construction started in the 25th year of Kangxi (1686 A.D.), and it was basically completed two years later. Later, some supplements were made.It connects to Jixin River and goes down to Yangzhuang (in Qingjiang City).Yangzhuang is across the river from the mouth of the South River, and boats can enter the South River by crossing the Yellow River.So far, the river separation project has been completed.

The canal separation project was one of the main canal projects from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty. Its completion basically freed the canals in the Huaibei area from the interference of the Yellow River and ensured the normal navigation of the canals.