Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 219 The Case of Liutahe
The door opened quickly, and Zeng Gong, dressed in a slightly worn long gown, greeted him with a smile: "Brother Lu, please come in!"

I don't know what the others are doing; the courtyard is quite quiet.

In Zeng Gong's room, the table was piled high with books and manuscripts.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lu Beigu stated his purpose: "Brother Zigu, I have come here without asking for your help."

He took out Zhang Fangping's letter of recommendation: "This is a letter of recommendation from Zhang Fangping to Ouyang Gong. However, I am new to Tokyo and have never met Ouyang Gong before. I am afraid that it would be impolite to present this letter to him without permission, and I may not even be able to meet him. I have long heard that you, Brother Zigu, are a distinguished student of Ouyang Gong and that we have a deep friendship. I wonder if you could introduce me to him? I will visit him when Ouyang Gong is free."

“Brother Lu’s consideration is thorough and indeed correct.”

Zeng Gong did not refuse and readily agreed: "Recently, Lord Ouyang has been working tirelessly day and night to revise the New Book of Tang. His official duties are also quite demanding, so he rarely has any free time during the day. However, at 7:15 PM tonight, the Qingsong Society will be holding a gathering on the third floor of Qingfeng Tower. Many talented young people will be attending. You can enter with your Jade Bamboo Zen Beads."

That would be a chance to see the heroes of the world.

Lu Beigu asked, "Where is Qingfeng Tower located?"

Zeng Gong countered, "Has my brother gone to the Ministry of Rites' examination hall to submit his family petition and appeal?"

"We've gone there," Lu Beigu confirmed. "Is it the place south of East Street?"

"Yes, continue west along East Street from there, pass West Street, cross the Cai River at 'New Bridge' and head north. This main store is located on the street outside Zhuque Gate, between the Cai River and the inner city moat. It's built along the river and shouldn't be hard to find. If you really can't find it, just ask someone. The common people should all know it."

Zeng Gong laughed and said, "But Ouyang Gong is fond of humor and drinking. When he has free time and is in a good mood, he will talk a lot and drink a lot. You should be prepared to drink a lot of wine."

That's understandable, after all, it's Ouyang Xiu, the "Drunken Old Man" who wrote "The Story of the Drunken Old Man's Pavilion".

"Alright, thank you very much, Brother Zigu!"

Having resolved this matter, Lu Beigu exchanged some exam preparation tips with Zeng Gong. Seeing that the sun was getting higher, he dared not delay Song Xiang's studies, so he got up to say goodbye and leave.

He deliberately arrived at the street where the Song residence was located a little early.

Looking into the distance, the vermilion gate remained tightly closed, and the area in front of it was quiet.

Lu Beigu did not immediately go up to knock on the door, but instead found a clean stone step not far away to sit down and wait quietly.

When the clock struck midnight, Lu Beigu got up, walked to the door, and gently knocked on the door knocker.

"Tap, tap tap."

The steward of the manor had given the gatekeeper detailed instructions the night before. Upon seeing that it was Lu Beigu, the gatekeeper dared not neglect him and invited him in directly.

"Thank you for your trouble." Lu Beigu nodded in thanks.

The study's doors were wide open, and Song Xiang, who had woken up from his afternoon nap, stood by the window, watching the fish with his hands behind his back.

Upon hearing the voice, Song Xiang turned around and saw that Lu Beigu was calm and composed, clearly not rushing over at the last minute. He nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Student Lu Beigu greets teacher!" Lu Beigu bowed deeply in greeting.

Song Xiang nodded and said, "Sit down."

On the desk, the Four Treasures of the Study are all laid out.

Instead of yesterday's exam paper, a government gazette was issued.

The Shuowen Jiezi (a Chinese dictionary) defines "邸" (dǐ) as "a residence belonging to the state." During the Tang Dynasty, regional military governors (Jiedushi) all had residences in the capital. However, in the twelfth year of the Dali era of Emperor Daizong of Tang, these residences were uniformly renamed Jinzouyuan (进奏院), and their heads were called Jinzouguan (进奏官). These officials represented the regional military governors in submitting memorials, issuing documents, and handling other diplomatic matters. Jinzouguan also had an important daily task: to promptly report events occurring in the court to the regional military governors. This information was transmitted to the local areas in written form, called "Jinzouyuan Zhuang" (进奏院状) or "Dili Zhuangbao" (邸吏状报).

The Song Dynasty inherited the Tang system and also established the Jinzouyuan (a type of information dissemination agency). However, the Jinzouyuan was not a local agency that sent people to the central government. Instead, it was an information dissemination agency specially managed by the central government. As recorded in the "Collected Drafts of the Song Dynasty's Administrative Regulations," "The Song Dynasty established the Jinzouyuan in the capital, and each prefecture and county also had its own Jinzou officials. All the orders and appointments that the court had issued and determined were sent to all directions. This was called the Dibao (official gazette)."

The official gazette of the Song Dynasty was not published regularly; it was issued approximately once every one to five days. Thanks to advancements in printing technology, the printing speed was quite fast.

In terms of content, the official gazette mainly published four aspects: first, the daily life of the emperor; second, the appointment, promotion, demotion, retirement, and death of officials; third, the memorials to the throne that had been reviewed; and fourth, important events in military affairs, the imperial examinations, and criminal matters.

In short, the official gazette was the most important means for Song Dynasty officials to understand the dynamics of the court. Generally speaking, the first draft of the official gazette edited by the Imperial Secretariat had to be reviewed by the Secretariat to determine whether to accept or reject the draft. Then it was sent to the two ministries, where the ministers of the two ministries jointly reviewed and approved the final version. Only then could the official gazette be distributed to various places by foot, horse, express, or water transport.

However, for some sensitive matters, after being reviewed by the Secretariat and the two governments at various levels, delays in the release of the official gazette would greatly reduce its timeliness.

Therefore, there were still many private tabloids circulating in Kaifeng, allowing commoners who were not qualified to read the official gazette to learn about current events in the Song Dynasty. Officials had also developed the habit of reading the tabloids first and then the official gazette.

"Yesterday I pointed out your shortcomings because you lacked practical experience and your writing style was not refined enough. Today I will take a recent event that shocked the court and the public as an example."

Song Xiang picked up the official gazette, turned to the section marked in red ink, and began to read it aloud.

"In April of the first year of the Jiayou era, Li Zhongchang and others blocked the northward channel of the Yellow River at Shanghukou, diverting the river water into the Liutahe flood diversion channel. However, the narrow channel could not accommodate the floodwaters, causing a breach. The flood was devastating, submerging countless fields and houses, and drowning many people and livestock. The project, which cost the court a fortune and conscripted tens of thousands of laborers, collapsed as soon as it was completed!"

The Liutahe Project? That's certainly keeping up with current events.

Although Lu Beigu was not personally involved, the incident caused quite a stir, and he had heard people talking about it on his way to Kaifeng.

This project was strongly advocated by Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi, who had recently been appointed prime ministers, and aimed to divert the Yellow River's water flow and alleviate flooding in eastern Beijing.

There were actually two options at the time.

The first proposal, submitted by Zhou Hang, the Hebei Transport Commissioner, involved dredging and reinforcing the existing river channels, requiring 16.45 million bundles of firewood and 130,000 workers, and would take five years. The second proposal, submitted by Li Zhongchang, involved blocking the Shanghukou Pass to divert the Yellow River to the Liuta River, requiring 3 million bundles of firewood and 10,000 workers, and would take one year.

Li Zhongchang was the son of Li Chui, an expert in river management. Li Chui had submitted a book titled "Guiding the River's Strategic Location," and Li Zhongchang had served in the Ministry of Works for many years and had extensive engineering experience. Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi chose to trust him.

On the one hand, from a financial perspective, the Song Dynasty was facing a severe financial crisis, and Li Zhongchang's plan was clearly more cost-effective and faster to complete, allowing for the achievement of political results within a year.

On the other hand, there was the power struggle within the imperial court. Zhou Hang, the transport commissioner of Hebei, proposed a plan to repair the Yellow River, which was actually the same plan that Jia Changchao had proposed when he was still prime minister. It was a safe and sound plan, but Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi would never use it. Otherwise, even if it succeeded, it would not be their achievement.

However, since Li Zhongchang had already messed things up, under immense pressure from both the court and the public, Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill and hold those responsible accountable.

Jia Changchao, who was dismissed from his post as prime minister and demoted to prefect of Daming Prefecture, was actually credited for repeatedly submitting memorials to warn of the potential consequences of the Liutahe River project and for implementing relevant flood control and evacuation measures in advance within the jurisdiction of Daming Prefecture.

Of course, while this disaster was caused by the selfish motives of Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi, Jia Changchao was no saint either. As a disciple of Lü Yijian, he had learned many underhanded tricks from his mentor. Sure enough, he turned around and colluded with Wu Jilong, the Right Vice Director of the Imperial Palace, and instructed two officials from the Imperial Observatory to directly slander Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi in front of Emperor Renzong, claiming that it was the country's improper digging of the Yellow River in the north that caused the emperor's health to be uneasy.

Although Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi dealt with the two officials of the Imperial Observatory afterward, they still suffered in silence. As a result, Emperor Renzong considered reappointing Jia Changchao.

After Song Xiang finished reading, he pushed the official gazette in front of Lu Beigu.

The official gazette was the latest, containing not only a summary of the disaster relief situation but also a brief description of the court's handling plan.

He ordered all prefectures and counties in Hebei Province to devote all their efforts to disaster relief; suspended all river works on the eastern dike of the Yellow River; investigated the responsibilities of the officials in charge of the project, including Li Zhongchang and Zhang Huaien; and dispatched Wu Zhongfu, the Palace Attendant Censor, and Deng Shougong, the Deputy Envoy of Literature and Art, to investigate the actual situation.

"This is no ordinary flood; it is a man-made disaster!"

Song Xiang asked, "If next year's imperial examination essay topic is on the failure of the Liuta River breach and the subsequent river management, how would you formulate your argument? How would you analyze the reasons for the failure? And how would you present a practical and feasible solution for the aftermath?"

(End of this chapter)