"Oh? Are you already thinking about building a Yangtze River Bridge so soon?"
"As the Institute often says, we need to take a long-term view. Although building a Yangtze River Bridge is undoubtedly extremely difficult at the moment, it will be an indispensable project in the future."
Everyone was talking at once.
Jia Changchao sighed, "What a pity! Our Ministry of Works has also sent people to the Yangtze River to survey it. At least with our current capabilities, I'm afraid it will be difficult to build on the Yangtze River."
"Yes, there's really no comparison between the Yellow River Bridge and the Yangtze River Bridge. Ours was built in a narrow spot, and the total length is only over 300 zhang. But if it were a Yangtze River Bridge, I'm afraid it would be at least 700 to 800 zhang long."
Yan Shu took over the conversation and said, "The most important thing is that big rivers have dry seasons. In winter and spring, when the water level is at its lowest, you can even wade across. Building bridge piers is not difficult. But if it were the Yangtze River, even in the dry season throughout history, it would be difficult..."
He said this while shaking his head.
Although the Yellow River is the mother river, its water flow is indeed far behind that of the Yangtze River.
The annual water flow is seventeen times that of the Yellow River. During the flood season, the gap can expand to more than thirty times. The Yangtze River is equivalent to seventeen Yellow Rivers.
This makes it not difficult to build a bridge across the Yellow River. Even in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there are historical records that ancient people built bridges across the Yellow River. Later, during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, an iron chain bridge was also built.
However, there has never been any record of a true bridge being built on the Yangtze River. There are only records of floating bridges being built at the narrowestuary during seasons when the water flow is slow.
For example, Fan Ruoshui, a Song Dynasty man, participated in the design of the Caishiji Floating Bridge in the early Northern Song Dynasty, which became the first bridge across the Yangtze River in history.
However, a floating bridge is just a bridge connected by small boats. The mouth of Caishiji River is the highest point of the Yangtze River, and the water flow is gentle, so it is far from solid. A year later, during the flood season, it was instantly washed away.
Therefore, compared with a real river-crossing bridge with piers, the floating bridge itself does not have much significance.
If we now want to abandon the floating bridge and build a long-lasting bridge, the Yangtze River will be a huge problem and the ultimate test for the entire Song Dynasty bridge project.
If building a bridge over the Yellow River is considered an elite monster, then the Yangtze River Bridge is the ultimate boss.
This will become a long-term research topic for the Constitutional Yuan in the future.
"As for the Yangtze River Bridge, we can only discuss it later. For now, we should focus on the current situation. We don't need to rush the construction of the Yellow River Bridge. We can complete it in five or ten years."
Zhao Jun tapped the table gently and said, "But the safety, quality, and overall design of the bridge must be guaranteed. It must not collapse after construction. In the future, for large-scale projects like this, and projects that affect people's livelihoods, the person in charge must be identified. If there is a problem, everyone from the official in charge of the project to any irresponsible worker will be held accountable, even if it means the prime minister."
His eyes turned to Jia Changchao.
Jia Changchao's heart trembled, and he nodded, saying, "I'll go to the bridge site in a few days to check on the construction progress. I will convey the director's intention to everyone on the construction team."
"Well, that's fine. We can also observe whether the Yellow River has flooded during this year's flood season and see the results of our river repairs in recent years."
Zhao Jun said: "If there are any problems, we must check for omissions and fill them."
"Please rest assured, Dean."
Jia Changchao responded. He was the one who led the Yellow River project. After more than ten years of water conservancy construction, the three requirements originally proposed by Zhao Jun had basically been completed.
That is, projects such as diversion, dredging, and embankment repair have solved the siltation problem in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.
Although the water-flushing method cannot completely wash away the silt accumulated in the old course, and is currently only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution, once the greening of the upper reaches is completed and the soil in the lower reaches is stabilized, I believe that in a few decades, the Yellow River will be completely calm.
Everyone was discussing the Yellow River issue when an official came in, holding a document from the Imperial Court. He walked up to Zhao Jun and said, "Minister, urgent news from the northwest."
"oh?"
Zhao Jun took the document and immediately glanced at it.
Everyone looked at him and saw that his expression went from being frowned at first to relaxing after a while, but he couldn't say he was very happy at all, and still looked quite heavy.
"What's wrong, Hanlong?"
Yan Shu asked in surprise, "What happened in the northwest again?"
"Something happened to the messenger we sent out."
Zhao Jun said: "I actually thought that they would be in danger, but I think the probability is small. As long as the King of Gaochang is rational..."
He shook his head and said, "Now it seems that this King of Gaochang is probably brainless, or like Qu Wentai, he was forced by external forces to make such a decision."
"I heard that a few years ago, in order to win over Gaochang and try to get Gaochang to join forces with Xixia to attack the Song Dynasty, the Liao people married a woman from the royal family to them."
Fan Zhongyan thought for a moment and said, "Could there be some trick to this?"
"You mean the Liao people are inciting?"
Cai Qi was surprised.
“I just think it’s a very strong possibility.”
"That's strange."
Song Shou wondered, "The Liao people should know the gap between Gaochang and the Song Dynasty. Why are they inciting the Gaochang people to oppose us?"
"Not surprising."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "China has many ancient sayings, but we also have many new proverbs in our later generations. For example, there is a saying that goes, 'It is better for me to die than for my friend to die.'"
"I would rather die than let my friend die?"
"Yes, the Liao Kingdom is currently struggling to take care of itself. We are peaceful and prosperous here, but they are eyeing us covetously. If they don't find a way to give us something to do and stir up some trouble in the northwest, what if they suddenly send troops while they are suppressing an internal rebellion?"
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