In late autumn of the 31st year of Jiajing, the flood disaster in the south of the Yangtze River was still in full swing. When Taizhou Prefecture was struggling with the flood, Jingnan County kicked off the "work-for-relief" campaign. On that day, there were six projects under construction in Jingnan County at the same time, and Zhu Ping'an personally led the largest work-for-relief project - the Donghu Project.
In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the work-for-relief program, Zhu Ping'an had sent people to nearby Taiping County to exchange 60,000 taels of silver in advance, all of which were exchanged for copper coins and placed in the county government's treasury. After the construction began, carts of copper coins were pulled by horse-drawn carriages to various construction sites, which dazzled the eyes of the people and refugees and made them feel relieved, no longer worrying about not getting paid for their work.
Of course, the carriage was guarded by officers with knives, so no one was so foolish as to dare to take the carriage.
The Donghu Project Area is the key project of Zhu Ping'an's work-for-relief program.
Zhu Ping'an has consulted the county annals and found that Jingnan is an area where floods often occur. There is a small flood every three to five years and a major flood every seven to eight years. The people of Jingnan are always facing the threat of floods.
Before and after the flood, Zhu Ping'an crossed mountains and rivers, waded into rivers, calculated the riverbed gradient, and surveyed the topography of Jingnan two or three times. With the help of modern geographical experience and knowledge, he finally figured out the reason why Jingnan often suffers from floods. The main reason is the terrain. Jingnan is surrounded by mountains and faces the sea. The terrain is generally high in the west and low in the east, gradually tilting from west to east. The western mountains are continuous, with thousands of meters of peaks and ridges, the central hills are slow, and the eastern plains are wide. The rivers in Jingnan are winding and the flow direction is generally the same as the terrain, flowing from west to east into the sea. The eastern mountains have a large riverbed gradient and the water is turbulent. The flood peak is also high and large, and the water level naturally rises and falls; the hills and plains in the central and eastern parts are low-lying, and the river flow rate decreases suddenly. Whenever there is a flood season, the rapid river water and mountain torrents coming from the western half often have no time to vent, so it is easy for the river to overflow and cause floods.
After Zhu Ping'an found out the reason, he came up with the Donghu project.
Fifteen miles east of Jingnan County, next to Sanli River and Tiaoxi River, a East Lake with a circumference of more than ten kilometers was dug. Every year when the flood season arrives and the river water surges, the gates are opened to release the flood water into the East Lake to store water for flood diversion; and when the water level of Sanli River and Tiaoxi River drops during the dry season, when the water level of East Lake is higher than that of Sanli River and Tiaoxi River, the stored lake water can be returned to Sanli River and Tiaoxi River at any time. In this way, Jingnan can be protected from flood disasters for a hundred years, and the surrounding fields can also be irrigated, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
"Donghu Lake is divided into Upper Donghu Lake and Lower Donghu Lake. The planned circumference of Upper Donghu Lake is 18 miles, and the planned circumference of Lower Donghu Lake is 20 miles. The octagonal pavilion of Dongwang Township is the eastern boundary, the Babao Temple of Qingyu Village is the western boundary, the Duobao Mountain is the southern boundary, and the Lingxiao Pavilion is the northern boundary. There is no boundary between Upper Donghu Lake and Lower Donghu Lake..."
"Donghu Lake is related to Jingnan's century-long plan. During the construction process, we must pay attention to quality and not be greedy for speed..."
Before starting the construction, Zhu Ping'an called the clerks and servants who were accompanying him to his side, unfolded the construction plan and drawings, and carefully explained to them the construction plan of Donghu Lake and the precautions for work-for-relief.
"Don't worry, Your Excellency. We will live up to your expectations and dig the East Lake well." The clerks and servants all accepted the order.
In order to be accurate, Zhu Ping'an took Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others on horseback to mark the boundary of East Lake by inserting bamboo poles. The bamboo poles, which were about a hundred meters apart, served as the boundary of East Lake, which was clear at a glance.
After the lake boundary was marked, the "East Lake Work-for-Relief Project" was launched vigorously. A total of more than 50,000 people participated in the East Lake Work-for-Relief project. Men and women carried earth baskets and dustpans on their shoulders, hoes and iron rakes in their hands, dug the earth and dug the lake, and built embankments with grass and mud; women and children prepared lunch in the planned kitchen area. Everything was full of hope. Because bamboo poles were used as the boundary of East Lake, the people privately called East Lake "Bamboo Pole Lake" and said "Zhu Qingtian rode his horse to circle the lake, and Jingnan County will no longer have floods."
In addition to the Donghu project, five other projects were carried out in different parts of Jingnan, including repairing city walls, rebuilding villages, etc. The six work-for-relief projects mobilized almost all of Jingnan’s 100,000 people and refugees.
After the Donghu project was on track, Zhu Ping'an took Liu Dadao and others to inspect and supervise several other work-for-relief projects.
The reconstruction project of Dongwang Township is right next to the Donghu Project and is led by Mr. Liu, the household clerk, and Mr. Zhang, the warehouse clerk. The reconstruction project of Dongwang Township is to rebuild the destroyed houses and buildings in Dongwang Township.
The first stop of Zhu Ping'an and his party's inspection was the reconstruction project of Dongwang Township.
The total number of people working at the reconstruction site in Dongwang Township is over 8,000, and it is as bustling as the Donghu project.
The project is progressing in an orderly manner, the common people and refugees are working hard, and everything is in order... Zhu Ping'an nodded with satisfaction.
"County Master, isn't 20 wen per person per day a bit too much? There are nearly 100,000 people in Jingnan County participating in the work-for-relief program, and 20 wen per person per day means that the wages alone will be 2,000 taels of silver per day, and 60,000 taels per month. This does not include the consumption of food and fodder. Even with the "donations" collected by the County Master from grain merchants, plus the surplus in our county government's warehouse, it will only be enough for one month. According to the County Master's plan, this work-for-relief program will take at least two months to complete. A good cook cannot cook without rice. After one month, my warehouse will no longer be able to take out a single copper coin. I implore the County Master to think twice, reduce the wages, and limit the number of people participating in the work-for-relief program..."
Mr. Qian, the warehouse clerk, whispered a suggestion to Zhu Ping'an while accompanying him to inspect the project.
"Your Excellency, this is an extraordinary period. We can reduce the rate by 30%." Mr. Liu, the household clerk, also seconded the suggestion.
"No." Zhu Ping'an shook his head decisively and said to them earnestly, "If you want the horse to run, you have to let it eat early. Twenty cents a day is the bottom line. It can only be increased, not reduced."
"But Your Excellency, this money..." the money clerk asked in embarrassment.
"Qian Dianli, Liu Dianli, you don't have to worry about money. First of all, we organize the elderly, children, women and children to cook big pot meals at the construction site and provide them to people. This meal is not free. The standard breakfast is 1 wen, lunch is 2 wen, and dinner is 1 wen. We also provide small stoves, and we charge extra according to the number of meat and vegetable dishes. Through meals, each person can collect about 5 wen per day. Secondly, more and more grain merchants come to Jingnan to sell grain, and we collect more and more "donations". I will send people to collect this kind of donations once a month. It is not possible not to make some contributions when making money in Jingnan. So, you don't have to worry about money. At least we can achieve a balance between income and expenditure."
Zhu Pingan said with confidence.
"Ahem, County Master, sending people to the grain store every month to 'collect donations' is not good for your reputation."
Master Liu said worriedly.
"How much is reputation worth..." Zhu Ping'an curled his lips nonchalantly, pointed at the working people and refugees, and said to Master Liu, "It is the right thing to do to ensure that the people under your rule have enough food to eat."
Zhu Ping'an, whose soul grew up under the red flag, is different from the literati of the feudal era. He is pragmatic rather than idealistic.
Upon hearing this, Master Liu, Mr. Qian, and the accompanying clerks all expressed their deep respect for Zhu Ping'an.
The county magistrate endured humiliation, did not seek fame or wealth, and was dedicated to the people. How great he is...
With the joint efforts of the whole county, Jingnan's series of work-for-relief projects are progressing smoothly, and the whole county is thriving.