Chapter 18 Section 6 Dredging of other transport channels

The Taihu Lake Basin was the main grain-producing area in the Ming Dynasty, and the "national tax" accounted for more than 1/6 of the country's total, so the task of foreign transportation was heavy.Due to the abundance of water, the condition of the channel here is basically good.However, in order to further improve the transportation capacity, the Ming Dynasty also repeatedly started the construction of shipping projects here.In addition to the improvement of the Zhenjiang-Changzhou section of the Jiangnan River waterway on a slightly higher terrain, the main thing is to transform Mengdu.Mengdu is located in the northwest of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, connecting the Jiangnan Canal in the southwest and the Yangtze River in the northeast. It was built by Meng Jian of the Tang Dynasty to renovate the old waterway, and was used to irrigate the fields and drain the flood in the Taihu Lake Basin.During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, 100,000 civilians were recruited to expand it, making it also an important grain transportation channel leading to the Yangtze River in the north.In addition, in the sixth year of Xuande (1431 A.D.), another branch line into the river was opened for the Jiangnan Canal through the Deshengxin River in the east of Mengdu.

In the Grand Canal, a section of the channel between Linqing and Tianjin was transformed from the Wei River.The Wei River itself is insufficient in water, which is mainly supplemented by Zhang water.However, the amount of water in Zhangshui varies greatly, and the river course often changes.In order not to cause the Weihe River to lack water due to the diversion of the Zhangshui River, and to prevent the Weihe River from collapsing due to the flooding of the Zhangshui River, many projects were built on the Weihe River in the Ming Dynasty.In addition to the Zhangzhou diversion project, a number of water reduction rivers were also dug, such as the Sinvsi River in Enxian County, Shandong (merged into Pingyuan County), the Jiedi River in Cangzhou, Hebei, and the Xingji River in Qingxian County.These reduction rivers allow the excess water in the Wei River to be discharged into the sea in a controlled manner to ensure that the canal will not be destroyed by floods.The Qing Dynasty also attached great importance to the maintenance of these rivers.

Thanks to the unremitting efforts of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has developed greatly compared with when it was first built in the Yuan Dynasty.Among them, only the Tonghui River (called Datong River in the Ming and Qing Dynasties) is another case, and it has shrunk.In the Yuan Dynasty, the Tonghui River mainly used the springs in the Western Mountains as its water source. Although it was not abundant, it could still maintain most of the shipping to Tongzhou.After the Ming Dynasty, due to the drying up of Baifu Springs and the sharp increase in water consumption of the Royal Gardens, the water volume of the canal was seriously insufficient.In the meantime, although people have repeatedly rectified it, such as the repair of dams along the river in the Ming Dynasty to minimize water loss; and the opening of Kunming Lake in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty to increase water storage, there was no obvious improvement.Canal grain ships can only reach Tongzhou, and only small boats can barely reach Datong Bridge after passing through the dam.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is more than 1,790 kilometers long, making it the longest canal in China and abroad.The natural conditions along the line are complex, the terrain is uneven, the water source is abundant and dry, and floods and sand disasters are frequent.People used projects and methods such as developing water sources, setting up water tanks, building dams, separating river transport, cutting and reducing rivers, etc., making this longest canal enduring for six centuries.This is the crystallization of the wisdom, wisdom and tenacious struggle of thousands of people, and it is the pride of the nation and the country.

During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the unification of the country continued to strengthen, which was closely related to the Grand Canal's promotion of political, economic, and cultural connections between the north and the south.The Grand Canal promoted the development of economy and culture. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, my country's agriculture, industry, and commerce were very prosperous, especially the canal area.At that time, more than 30 cities sprang up across the country, most of which were distributed along the canal.The germination of capitalism in our country was also born here.

At the end of the 19th century, the Grand Canal was severely damaged due to the northern relocation of the Yellow River; and due to the rise of modern means of transportation such as trains and sea ships, and the formation of new north-south traffic arteries such as railways and sea transportation, the Grand Canal gradually withdrew from the stage of history.However, with the progress of the east route project of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Grand Canal will be rejuvenated again.