Inside the Ganlu Palace.
Just when Li Zexuan was bored out of his mind and wanted to find a place to sit down and rest, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the palace.
Li Zexuan's face turned solemn, and he hurriedly "stood" in the hall.
"Haha! You must be impatient from waiting, right? "
Sure enough, the person who came was Li Er. Old Li walked into the hall with a majestic gait. When he walked to Li Zexuan's side, he said with a smile that was not a smile.
Although Li Zexuan also had this thought in his heart, he was not stupid enough to say it out loud. Hearing this, he hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty must have something important to tell me by summoning me to the palace. I'm in high spirits right now, ready to listen to the imperial lecture. How can I be impatient?"
"Haha! You brat! "
Li Er used his finger to point at Li Zexuan and snappily smiled. Then, he walked towards the seat of honor.
At this moment, a servant reported, "Your Majesty, Minister Zhao, Minister Fang, Minister Du, Minister Xiao, and Minister Yan are waiting outside the palace!"
"Let them in!"
Li Er sat on the couch and said in a deep voice.
After a while, a few important officials of the Empire walked in. Seeing Li Zexuan in the palace, Zhangsun Wuji and the rest were surprised.
After a round of greetings, Li Er nodded at Zhao Song. The latter took out five small booklets and gave one to each of the five officials. Li Er then said,
"Dear officials, this is the memorial that Li Zexuan presented yesterday. I've asked someone to copy it. Please take a look. After you've finished reading, I'll ask you questions!"
"Yes!"
The five ministers agreed one after another, and then they all glanced at Li Zexuan imperceptibly. They were probably thinking in their hearts, 'Sure enough, wherever Li Zexuan is, there will be right and wrong!'
When everyone lowered their heads and saw the first few sentences of Li Zexuan's memorial, they all felt that it was absurd. If it wasn't for the occasion, they would probably laugh out loud like Li Er at the beginning last night. But soon, their faces became serious.
Time passed bit by bit, and the hall was completely silent. Li Zexuan crossed his arms and stood silently in the hall, secretly guessing what kind of difficult questions these old officials would ask him in a while.
"Hmm? Have you finished reading? Dear officials, do you have any objections to the Marquis of Yong 'an's memorial? "
About 15 minutes later, Li Er's voice sounded in the palace.
The five officials first looked at each other, then Fang Xuanling stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this old official has a few questions to ask the Marquis of Yong 'an.
Li Er waved his hand and said, "Everyone, there's no need to be so restrained. If you have any questions for the Marquis of Yong 'an, feel free to ask.
"Your Majesty's!"
All the officials cupped their hands and said.
Fang Xuanling looked at Li Zexuan and asked, "Marquis of Yong 'an, you said that the water of the Yellow River was clear before the Qin and Han Dynasties. Do you have any evidence?"
Li Zexuan stepped forward and said, "Of course I have evidence! Over the past few days, I've been reading through the history books of previous dynasties with the teachers of the Academy. We've found that the records of Heqing started in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. This means that before the Eastern Han Dynasty, Heqing phenomenon was relatively common and not unusual. That's why no one recorded it! Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the amount of sand in the Yellow River increased and it became more muddy. Therefore, "Clear River" became an auspicious sign for the country and was written in history! "
Fang Xuanling pondered for a moment and nodded slightly, "Marquis of Yong 'an said in the memorial that if the Yellow River is left unchecked, the Eight Rivers of Chang' an will become muddy in less than 20 years?"
Li Zexuan said, "Regarding this point, I believe that even if this junior doesn't say it, Minister Fang should be clearer than me, right? What was the water quality like around Chang 'an in the previous dynasty? What is it like now? You all should have your own ideas! "
He had only been here for a year and naturally did not know about the situation in the previous Sui Dynasty. But Li Gang knew! According to Li Gang, the water quality around Chang 'an was indeed not as good as in the previous dynasty!
Fang Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji and the others looked at each other and finally sighed. Obviously, they had acquiesced to this fact.
Li Zexuan said again, "The quality of the water quality is related to the lives of millions of people inside and outside Chang 'an. Last year, there was a cholera in Chang' an. Although it had nothing to do with the sand in the river, it was still caused by the pollution of the water quality! The land we are in now is soft. When there is a strong wind, yellow sand will fill the air. When there is a heavy rain, the yellow sand will flow into the river. In the long run, the amount of sand in the Yellow River will be higher and higher. No one can bear the consequences! "
Everyone's expression changed. After all, the cholera in Chang 'an last year was still vivid in their minds!
Fang Xuanling paused and asked after a while, "Marquis Yong 'an, you said that the increased amount of sand in the Yellow River will easily cause the downstream river bed to be too high. When there is a heavy rain, the Yellow River will burst its banks. Is that true?"
Li Zexuan smiled and said, "Of course! Minister Yan is good at engineering. He should know this better than me! If Minister Fang does not believe me, you can ask Minister Yan! "
Without waiting for Fang Xuanling to ask, Yan Lide nodded and said, "That's right! If the sand in the Yellow River is allowed to accumulate, the sand will be deposited downstream where the flow is slower and the river bed will be too high. After a long time, it will not be a problem for the river bed to be raised by ten feet! If there is a continuous rainstorm, the Yellow River will definitely burst its banks! At that time, thousands of people will suffer! "
In fact, Yan Lide's prediction was still optimistic. In modern times, the Yellow River's water level was more than 70 meters higher than the sea level of Kaifeng City. It was a veritable floating river!
Xiao Chuo asked in a low voice, "Marquis Yong 'an, you mean that if the imperial court does not adopt your plan, the flood in the lower reaches of the Yellow River will become more and more serious?"
Li Zexuan nodded and said,
"In the past few days, Mr. Li Gang and I have read the records of the counties in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It is well documented that in the 800 years from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were only 20 floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. That is to say, on average, there is a flood every 41 years.
In the 400 years from the Three Kingdoms to the Sui Dynasty, there were 23 floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. On average, there is a flood every 17 years! If we do not take action now, the Yellow River will burst its banks more and more frequently in the future. It will even burst every three years! At that time, the amount of money the imperial court spends on managing the flood and saving the people will far exceed the amount of money spent on planting trees! "
Using data to speak, using facts to speak, this was what Li Zexuan, an engineering genius, was best at and also what he liked to do the most. After these words were spoken, the faces of everyone in the hall all became serious.
Li Zexuan's next words were even more shocking. "Before my master died, not only did he predict this year's locust plague, he also predicted that nine years later, the Yellow River will burst its banks again. At that time, Luoyang City will be flooded and the people will be plunged into misery and suffering!"
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