Six hundred years ago, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty with Nanjing as its capital. In order to realize the water transport from Zhejiang to Nanjing, it was decided to build a canal. At that time, cargo ships from Hangzhou could sail into Taihu Lake and then sail from Taihu Lake to Gaochun Gucheng Lake via Xu He. Gucheng Lake is connected with Shijiu Lake, and then passes through Shijiu Lake to the north, which is the Honglan Port of Lishui, only fifteen miles away from the Qinhuai River outside. So as long as a fifteen-mile-long canal is dug between Waiqinhuai and Honglan Port, the waterway from Hangzhou to Nanjing can be opened. Let the cargo ship from Hangzhou drive all the way to the Confucius Temple in Nanjing.
It's only fifteen miles, and it seems effortless. Zhu Yuanzhang gave this project to his trusted confidant minister: Chongshan Xin. Duke Li followed Zhu Yuanzhang with Xu Da and others in his early years and made great contributions in the war. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), he presided over the construction of the Ming Tombs, a great man with both prestige and understanding of engineering.
Duke Li is in Lishui. He observed the terrain, visited the surrounding areas and began to study the canal route. There is a big mountain between Honglan Port and Waiqinhuai. To the east of the mountain is a flat and vast land with 10,000 mu of fertile land. The canal was dug, of course, to connect with a flat place. No one is crazy enough to have a problem with mountains. But just before Li Gong decided to start construction, the local squire came to the door. Yan Taigong heard that Chongshan Hou came to dig a canal, so he couldn't eat or sleep, because the ten thousand acres of fertile land here were all his property. If the canal passed through here, he would lose everything!
It stands to reason that Duke Li, as a founding father, would never take a rural local tyrant seriously. But you never know. Somehow, Taigong Yan really made Li Gong listen. Some documents say that the squire Yan bribed Duke Li with a large sum of money, and some books say that the squire Yan not only bribed with a large sum of money, but also dedicated his beautiful daughter to the Duke and climbed up with him in-laws. Anyway, the devil has influence. Finally, Duke Li decided that the canal should go directly through the huge hills, instead of invading the squire's ten thousand acres of fertile land!
In ancient times, it was extremely difficult to chop down Shi Quan by manpower, but Li Gong didn't care. He has powerful imperial power behind him. In order to build the Ming Tombs, he mined stones from Tangshan and Qinglong Mountain and transported huge stones to Zijin Mountain. There are countless murders under every stone. Cutting down mountains and digging rivers, in Qi Huangong's view, is not a matter at all.
So, he recruited tens of thousands of migrant workers and cut rocks here day and night. In ancient times, there were no excavators and explosives, so he chiseled mountains and stones, using the ancient method of "burning water": first, he chiseled cracks in the rocks with iron brazing. Then jute is embedded in the joint, and tung oil is poured to ignite and burn. When the rock is red, pour cold water on it, crack the rock by using the principle of thermal expansion and cold contraction, and then pry it open and carry it out. The so-called "burning hemp and refining stones, breaking into rivers" refers to this. Because it is a river with boulders in some places, drilling directly under the boulders forms an extremely steep "Natural Bridge".
Because of repeated burning. The huge cliffs on both sides of the canal were burned to rouge red. Therefore, this mountain was named Rouge Gang. The canal that runs through this mountain is called Rouge River.
Two years later, the huge rouge mountain was split in half, and the rouge river was finally dredged: ten of the fifteen-mile rivers were cut by mountains and stones. Tens of thousands of migrant workers are exhausted in the river because of the huge engineering quantity and tight construction period.
There is no airtight wall in the world. After worshipping the mountain, the canal was diverted by bribery, and the project was arduous, killing and injuring ten thousand people. Zhu Yuanzhang soon learned that what Zhu Yuanzhang hated most was the corruption of officials, even the founding heroes. Thus, in the second year after the completion of the Rouge River, Chongshan Hou was sentenced to death.
When we sit on a cruise ship on the Rouge River and enjoy the wonders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, we can't help but feel sad when we look back at history. This clear water, Chu Hongshan stone has experienced many vicissitudes, including many ancestors' experiences and lessons!
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