Under the premise that productivity cannot soar, the ancients' method of cleaning up rivers basically relied on river water flushing and manpower digging.

When it comes to digging with manpower, not just iron hoes, but even wooden tools may not be available to everyone, so you can imagine how inefficient it is.

So Shi Zhongkui quickly thought of ships.

The 50 large boats were divided into ten groups, and they sailed every half an hour, dragging the iron plow, which was enlarged dozens of times and had only a 40-centimeter-long blunt-tipped iron nail, all the way down the current.

It easily stirs up a large amount of silt from the river and slowly collects it at the bend of the river.

According to Liu Yuer and Chang Baiyu's field inspections these days, in addition to the rivers in the capital, there are a total of 17 bends with relatively large angles in the rivers in the entire Gyeonggi Province.

While Shi Zhongkui ordered the big boat to stir up the sediment, he also ordered people to dig a sand-dividing channel at the bend.

According to the principle that sediment will inevitably be deposited on the back side of a curve, with a sand-dividing channel, the sediment will be deposited in the sand-dividing channel on its own.

This method of cleaning is not only the least expensive, but also very fast. Fifty large boats traveling back and forth can easily stir up a large amount of sediment from the bottom of the river.

The only trouble is that a large amount of silt will still flow along the river and rush into the river in the capital.

However, every section of the river in the capital has gates to store water and raise the water level to allow ships to pass through.

The future Three Gorges Dam will actually take advantage of this principle to allow ships to smoothly pass through the upper and lower sections of the river with huge height differences.

Since water can be stored and gates can be closed, the silt rushing in will be more conducive to desilting.

After the upper reaches of the river were cleaned several times, as soon as the sluice gates in the capital were closed, thousands of people jumped with dustpans and shovels to descend the silt-filled river section, clearing out a large amount of silt in a morning.

When the water level of the previous section of the sluice reaches the warning line, the dredgers leave and then use the water flow to wash away the remaining silt to the next section easily.

And in order to prevent sediment from rushing into the lower reaches of the river, Shi Zhongkui simply used the moat as a sand storage tank for accumulating sediment.

Repeatedly, the cleaning work of the inner rivers in the capital was actually the fastest.

Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that no one jumped out to cause trouble.

At the same time, because Shi Zhongkui had 26,000 shi of grain in his hand, he not only ate three delicious meals a day, but even tacitly allowed three thousand field soldiers to summon a family member to kill him.

These people were responsible for boiling water for cooking and carrying soil. Although they were paid two meals a day, four steamed buns larger than their fists each time were enough to satisfy them.

The most important thing is that Shi Zhongkui personally controls the food and grass, so no one dares to commit corruption.

It can be said that every time the imperial court does something, at least half of it is swallowed up by the top and bottom.

With the participation of a large number of manpower, all rivers upstream and within the capital were cleaned up before mid-June.

After a heavy rain, no water overflowed the river embankments in the capital, which instantly earned Shi Zhongkui unanimous praise from the court and the people.

Next, cut off the water flow of the moat and rely on 3,000 manpower to dig by hand. It would be easiest to clean the moat.

But it's not like no one jumped out to cause trouble for him.

After all, according to his method, although the efficiency is indeed good, it also means that a large sum of money will be spent to clear it within five or ten years.

But this time there was no need for Shi Zhongkui to stand up and plead his case. There were many officials who had received benefits to support him.

The most favorable excuse is that the court has to send an important minister every year to dredge the river before the rainy season in May.

This in itself is a considerable expense, and with labor levies being called upon every year, the people are already miserable.

What’s even more frustrating is that money has been spent and manpower has been spent, but the results are surprisingly poor.

In addition to corruption at the top and bottom, the most important thing is that people are too busy to do things.

They even regard cleaning up rivers as a fixed opportunity to make money.

And Shi Zhongkui gave an order, and all the officials in the camp were executed using military law for fear that he would catch him making mistakes.

Working is called a positive thing.

Therefore, after Shi Zhongkui selectively handed over his account books to the Ministry of Industry, Yan Guan who wanted to trouble him could only shut up.

And after this matter spread among the people, basically all the people and gentry inside and outside the capital supported him.

The most important thing is that the six ministers and even several ministers in the cabinet spontaneously sided with Shi Zhongkui this time in order to avoid being appointed as the capital's river ambassador in the future.

Not only was the storm of Shi Zhongkui's impeachment easily suppressed, but people in the court had already started discussing how to claim credit for him.

It was only after Tongfu came to the door that Shi Zhongkui realized that someone was planning to go downstream of the capital river and had not yet started dredging it.

Use the method of promotion to remove yourself in order to gain some credit.

I even heard that the River Governor's Office established in Jining Prefecture plans to use the same method to dredge some seriously silted river sections on the Grand Canal.

"Boqian, my father asked me to tell you that if you can avoid fighting with the river governor's office, it's better to avoid them as much as possible."

Shi Zhongkui understood the meaning of Yu Tongfu's words. The Governor of Hedao was a real second-rank official. He not only held a high position of power, but also a key position with great benefits.

If three years to clear the magistrate's office and one hundred thousand snowflakes of silver are compared, the governor of the river can make millions.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Sancai, the leader of the Donglin Party, had a family fortune of 4.7 million taels.

And this big shot once served as the censor of Youqiandu, where he oversaw water transportation and mining.

As to whether the family is extremely rich because of this job, that's a matter of opinion.

Shi Zhongkui understood the truth.

Moreover, Jia Lian had said before that as long as he was willing to provide Babao wine, those nobles would definitely help him clean up the river for the sake of money.

When I refused, I could still excuse myself by saying that I couldn't believe Xungui's efficiency.

But now that I have been offered a promotion but still refuse it, people will inevitably be suspicious of me.

Besides, the matter of cleaning up the river channels originally robbed some officials who had made preparations of the opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

If you don't even let others drink the soup, it would be weird if you don't hate yourself to death.

Shi Zhongkui, who wanted to understand this, had already planned to give up as soon as he was ready.

But now he wants to confirm whether the Hedao Governor's Yamen has any connection with the Shimen.

He stared at Yu Tongfu and asked, "Master or uncles, do you have any history with the governor of the river?"

"This", Yu Tongfu was immediately asked.

As for his hesitation, Shi Zhongkui no longer had to listen to it.

I cursed in my heart, no wonder there were only so many upright officials and famous ministers recorded in thick ink in history books in the past thousands of years.

It’s not that no one is smarter than them, and it’s not that no one is more capable than them. It’s just that there are too few people who can truly stick to their hearts and be the same on the outside.

Shi Zhongkui sighed, thinking that he had promised the City God to take care of the remains in the moat.

He said to Tongfu, "I will order people to clean the moat in three days. During this period, if someone can be promoted to a bachelor, then I will have to think about how to get married."

This is just a test.

Shi Zhongkui did not doubt Yu Honggao and Yu Tongfu, but when he was about to clean the moat, someone impatiently wanted to kick him away.

This made him wonder if someone had other thoughts.

Of course, if he could really get promoted, Shi Zhongkui wouldn't mind letting him go.

Besides, he had not forgotten that he had told the emperor that he would stay on the river for three to five months.

I won't say what the emperor wants to say, at least he can't take the initiative to say that he no longer wants to deal with the river.

When Yu Tongfu saw that he had compromised, he was relieved and left with a smile.

After Yu Tongfu left, Shi Zhongkui thought about it all night in the study.

When the sky got slightly brighter, I sighed secretly and summoned the golden-haired rat.

In fact, Shi Zhongkui had long understood that the master Pang Shitong, whom he had never met before, was definitely not a morally perfect person.

But this did not prevent him from molding Pang Shitong into the perfect person he wanted to suppress the negative emotions in his heart.

The method of setting a moral standard for yourself is actually stupid, but it is surprisingly useful.

But once the hope is broken, it may turn from extreme liking to extreme disgust.

Fortunately, Shi Zhongkui was sensible enough. Even though he had attracted the Golden Mouse, he had no intention of exposing all the bad things in the Household Department.

Otherwise, when faced with major cases at the Ministry of Revenue, let alone promotion, except for a few major matters, everything else would have to be on the sidelines.

Diao Dexing, the head of the Hubu Branch, and the right minister who was targeted by Shi Zhongkui were unlucky.

------

Two days later, at the court meeting, someone actually stood up and listed Shi Zhongkui's achievements in opening up wasteland, cleaning up rivers, and raising fish in rice fields, and asked for a reward from the court.

This statement immediately gained support from at least a dozen officials, big and small.

The emperor was willing to see Shi Zhongkui promoted, but he was unwilling to have a civil servant propose it.

It is impossible to be kind to Shi Zhongkui. If he is promoted too quickly, who knows whether he will change his position in the future.

Some of the nobles and military officers had a good impression of Shi Zhongkui because of the Babao Liquor and the river wharf, while others were not willing to offend him at this time.

After all, as the leader of the Six Yuan Dynasty, he is promoted faster than ordinary people, let alone having tangible achievements.

Even if a few dignitaries and military officers were dissatisfied with Shi Zhongkui, they were not willing to stand out at this time.

To avoid being resented by Shi Zhongkui and come back in the future.
To be continued...