"Because they are worried that the Yellow River will continue to flow northwards and directly enter the Khitan territory." Li Qiong, who had been frowning for a long time, suddenly spoke out. "The court is afraid that the Khitan will directly cross the river in their territory, and then the cavalry will go south and use the Yellow River as a food route, go upstream and sweep across the Central Plains. Therefore, they are determined to return to the river in order not to lose the natural barrier of the Yellow River..."
Zhao Jiu came to his senses completely, but immediately burst out laughing... What he realized was that this was indeed the characteristic of the Song Dynasty. In order to seek psychological comfort, they did not hesitate to change the watercourse of the Yellow River against the will of heaven, and it seemed that they had changed it more than once. I don't know how much effort they had put into it. And the funny thing was that when the Jin army really went south, the natural barrier of the Yellow River was not of any use at all.
When he thought of this, Emperor Zhao laughed and shook his head: "The Yellow River's lower reaches are more than a thousand miles long. How much money and grain would it cost to return the river? With this amount of manpower and material resources, we can take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun... But with three rivers, we should have returned twice?"
"I don't know how many times..." Li Qiong thought for a moment, but shook his head again. "I only remember that there were four disasters during the reign of Emperor Shenzong, and one major disaster during the reign of Emperor Zhezong... I heard that General Yue's family suffered a disaster during that time and lost their property and land, so they became tenants of Meihua Han."
“…”
"To be honest, there seemed to be a few times during the reign of Emperor Renzong, but they were not big. If you add them together, there should be seven or eight times, right? Even if there were no floods during the reign of Emperor Renzong, there should be at least five or six." Fu Xuan, who had been silent, took the initiative to speak. "The main reason is that once the Yellow River overflows, the people in Hebei don't know whether it rained too much or the court changed the route again. To be honest, the three routes shown on the official map are still rough. In fact, there should be five routes downstream, and there are intersections... I have been there."
Zhao Jiu was stunned, and then he came to his senses again. He was afraid that these people from Hebei were resentful about this matter, otherwise they would not be rushing to talk about it.
So, after a long while, the official calmed down and asked, "So, the Yellow River flows back and forth in these five channels, and the Yellow River floods a lot, so wouldn't the land between the three channels become a flood zone?"
"Reporting to the emperor, if I were to say, the Yellow River often floods the area. Hebei is certainly affected, but we in Henan have also suffered from this disaster. Henan is also a flood area of the Yellow River." Li Qiong and Fu Xuan were about to answer, and another person bowed to them. It was Li Bao, a scoundrel from Jingdong Road. "I heard from the old people in the village that once when the court went back to the river, it was a mess, and the Yellow River rushed all the way to the Huai River... Jingdong and the six states on the Huai River were all flooded yellow, isn't it also a flood area of the Yellow River?"
Zhao Jiu was completely speechless... Well, according to this statement, the Yellow River flooding area nowadays actually extends all the way from the Bohai Bay to the Huai River.
In fact, the official did not know that after he arrived, he was determined to fight against the Jin army and never went south to the Yangtze River. Otherwise, in another time and space, Du Chong would have used the traditional skills of the Song Dynasty in controlling the Yellow River in order to defend against the Jin cavalry and save the emperor of Yangzhou, and would have opened the southern mouth of the Yellow River again, and things would have been out of control from then on.
Of course, another man-made disaster problem is the same as the current one, that is, during the war, especially after the Yellow River became the front line of confrontation, no one had the mind or ability to repair the river, otherwise there would not be the current strange appearance of three waterways.
"Which is the main road now?" With this thought in mind, Emperor Zhao simply put aside all extra thoughts for the time being and just asked about the situation downstream according to his memory. "East Road or North Road?"
"It's the middle channel." Li Qiong pointed to the northeast. "The one that separates Damingfu and Puyang from Hebei... But it's meaningless, because as you can see on the official map, the water is flooded and no one is repairing it. The three downstream channels are all flowing with water, and they are all hanging rivers. It's just that the middle channel is deeper and wider, which is convenient for sailing... But the Jin people occupied the entire north of Dongliu, and controlled the southern bank of the downstream with the pseudo-Qi, so no matter how you look at it, Hebei is under the control of the Jin people."
"So if the Jin people really want to cross the river from the downstream, we can't stop them?" Zhao Jiu said.
"That's true, but the Jin people may not be willing to cross the river from there." Fu Xuan suddenly interrupted again. "Especially at this time."
"Why is that?"
"Good instructor, you know, I am from the Yongjing Army, I know the situation downstream..." Fu Xuan bowed slightly, and then continued. "The lower reaches of the Yellow River have been in disrepair for a long time. Although the river channel is out of control and the water is shallow, there is a lot of silt and sand in it, and there is a lack of good crossings. Therefore, if the Jin people cross the river here and there, it is not only deep or shallow, but sometimes the water is full of mud. Once the horses and men fall into it, it is a dead end... And in this situation, the Jin cavalry must cross three or four times before they can cross the river. How can it be as deep and level as the port here in Baima, where they can cross the river leisurely and comfortably? This is why the Jin people were determined to seize Daming Prefecture before, and repeatedly took boats to cross the river from the vicinity of Puyang."
Zhao Jiu nodded slightly, and then his heart was moved: "So, the Jin people have not yet moved south. It is also because of what you said in the letter. This winter is warm, although there are ice floes, but the Yellow River is vast and has never frozen?"
"I think that's exactly what happened." Li Qiong, who must be one of the 'several people', responded calmly. "The sky is showing that if the Jin army wants to cross the river, they must cross the river from here or upstream. However, the 200,000 soldiers of the imperial camp have already been closely lined up in this section of the Yellow River. How can they easily cross it?"
"In that case, doesn't it mean that God blesses the Song Dynasty this year?" Someone couldn't help but speak out with joy.
"You can say that." Li Qiong was slightly startled. Although she felt awkward, she still nodded.
However, Emperor Zhao, who continued to look back at the river, disagreed: "The dishes are ready, but the guests don't come. This may not be a good thing... If they don't come, we can't defeat them for the time being. After four or five years of fighting, I don't know when Hebei can be recovered."
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