The deeds of the king's land

Tongchun Wang, the prototype of "Diwang", staged a legendary drama in Hetao.

Time: 2012-06-1818: 26 Source: Half of the Chinese website Author: Liu Wenzhong Click:

After Zhang returned to Beijing, he immediately reported to Zhang Jian, then Minister of Agriculture and Commerce of China Government, the achievements of water control in Hetao, and suggested that Zhang Jian invite him to Beijing as soon as possible to discuss the plan of developing the northwest and harnessing the Huaihe River. After Tongchun Wang went to Beijing to meet Zhang Jian, he talked about his many views on water control, which won Zhang Jian's appreciation and he was hired as.

Recently, the protagonist Wang Tudi in the popular TV series My Name is Wang Tudi is a real person. According to his story, his name is Tongchun Wang.

Nowadays, few people know this man's story.

More than a hundred years ago, it was this man who created a vivid and smooth legendary drama in the vast Hetao area, known as the "River God".

One. The cyclops king

Speaking of Tongchun Wang, let's talk about going west first.

"Walking to the west" began in the middle of Ming Dynasty, and its climax appeared in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and lasted for about 300 years in the late Qing Dynasty.

"Westward" has not only changed the fate of thousands of people, but also had a great impact on improving the population structure outside the Great Wall and promoting cultural and economic exchanges and development inside and outside the Great Wall.

Tongchun Wang, whose real name is Jun Chuan, was born in Shimen Village, Xingtai, Hebei Province during the Xianfeng period of Qing Dynasty 185 1. My family was poor when I was a child. When I was five years old, I suffered from smallpox and lost my sight. I was nicknamed blind money. I studied in a private school for six months when I was seven years old. At the age of nine, he went to Dengkou and Xishanzui in Hetao outside the Great Wall with his grandfather Wang Chengyuan, learned to make a living as a saddle whip, and traded with Mongols. He doesn't like to learn saddle skills, but prefers to dig ditches to water the land. 1863, his physical strength gradually increased, and he began to be employed to dig ditches for nearby residents. Two or three years later, he went to He Lin to dig ditches for others, saving water carefully and making great progress.

At the age of eighteen, he officially became a plumber and served as the head of the canal in Wandeyuan Commercial Bank. Since then, Tongchun Wang's opinions have been relatively good, and he played a leading role in excavating the old national canal.

188 1 year, because Tongchun Wang learned Mongolian, he directly dealt with Mongols, rented a Lama's land in Sanhe Temple and cultivated it himself.

In the 16th year of Guangxu, Tongchun Wang purchased the land and channels near Mugang River, and further excavated the Ji Feng Canal in the 18th year of Guangxu, which took 8 years to complete. He excavated the Shahe Canal in the 17th year of Guangxu, and hired the victims who escaped from his mouth to build it, which took four years to complete. Yi River Canal, Shahe Canal and Ji Feng Canal are the three main canals built in Tongchun Wang. At the same time, he also cooperated with others to dig two main canals, the port machine canal and the new stove fire canal.

In addition, Tongchun Wang participated in the formulation of the construction plan and directed the excavation of five major canals:

Yongji canal; Tongji canal; Changji Canal; Tabu canal; Yangjiahe canal

By the 30th year of Guangxu, in 1904, there were 5 main canals and more than 270 branch canals in Tongchun Wang, and the investment in canal opening was about1350,000 hectares, which could irrigate more than 7,000 hectares and mature more than 27,000 hectares.

After years of repair, excavation and adjustment, these channels have become the main canals in Hetao area 10 during the Republic of China.

All irrigation canals opened in Tongchun Wang do not need water or irrigation; All canals with poor water intake opened by others are unimpeded after his personal guidance or transformation. The vigorous development of Yellow River water conservancy in Houtao area has greatly promoted the vigorous development of local agriculture.

From 189 1 to 1902, Shanxi, Chayu, Hebei, Shaanxi and other places suffered from severe drought, and Wang Tongchun dispatched more than 95,000 grains of disaster relief to the provinces four times.

The total length of main canals and branch canals built in Tongchun Wang is over 4,000 kilometers, and the earthwork used cannot be calculated.

At that time, the Hetao culture outside the Great Wall was very closed. Without any scientific instruments and equipment, Tongchun Wang, who only studied in a private school for a few months, used his wisdom and summarized the unearthed methods to complete such a huge and arduous water conservancy project, which is simply incredible.

So people nicknamed Tongchun Wang "the cyclops king".

Two. Superb river survey technology

During the day, he erected a pole, hung a white bucket and inserted it everywhere. He used visual inspection to find out which is higher and which is lower, and how the water flows.

In the evening, he lit seven or eight lanterns, and his men walked in all directions. He stood at a point and looked in all directions. Then he rode a donkey with a chain. At one point, he nailed a stake as a sign, and the imprint left by the chain was used as a river.

On weekdays, when it rains, the rain runs more and more. He rides a horse everywhere, not blindly. He looks at the direction of the water, which is also called "looking at the canal". He looked for the slope with one eye and found the horizontal plane. This is a great thing.

After years of repeated observation, Tongchun Wang concluded that the Hetao Plain is characterized by high southwest and low northeast.

Before choosing the location of the canal mouth, Tongchun Wang will personally observe it repeatedly along the north bank of the Yellow River. He rode his horse to the bank of the Yellow River before dawn every day, walking and watching, where it was high and where it was low, where it was suitable for crossing the canal and where it could be used as a brake. These are constantly wandering in his mind.

The unique way is that when he surveyed the canal road, he didn't look straight ahead like others, but lay on his back on the flat ground, with his head facing the water, his feet straight in the direction of water diversion, and his head looking back to determine the canal road.

During the construction, he inserted a row of incense on the line preparing to open the canal at night, and looked at the height of incense from a distance to determine the slope of the dug channel. When diverting water from a low place to a high place, increase the bend of the channel and use the principle of three bends of water flow to make the water flow to a high place.

The eight canals he opened all "greeted the water" from the southwest of the Yellow River, and then flowed to the northeast, winding, flowing to the foot of Yinshan Mountain, entering Wu Jia, then flowing into Wuliangsuhai, and then entering the Yellow River from the Xishankou in the south, with smooth drainage and irrigation.

Tongchun Wang also began to build a drainage canal more than 400 miles long along the southern foot of Wula Mountain. Excess irrigation water can be directly discharged to Wuliangsuhai and returned to the Yellow River, which is of great benefit.

Three. A hard life

However, as a feudal landlord who made a fortune by building water conservancy projects, Tongchun Wang inevitably had historical limitations.

When his power gradually developed, he recruited soldiers, often raised hundreds or even thousands of people, and exploited agricultural workers from time to time.

In order to build water conservancy projects, Tongchun Wang lived a hard life. He has been to court several times and has been in prison five times. He was imprisoned for five times because of canal opening, and his prison life was as long as 1 1 year.

The tragedy of Tongchun Wang, the legendary "River God", is that he can't get rid of the era of life. Although he has a strong influence, he is still exploited and oppressed by the Qing government.

1903, the Qing government engaged in "immigration" and forced Tongchun Wang to hand over his farmland and irrigation canals to the Qing government. In desperation, he handed over the channels he had dug for decades and the land he bought.

19 13 years, geographer Zhang inspected the northwest region. On the way, he was very excited to see such a perfect water conservancy system in Hetao area, and insisted on seeing Tongchun Wang.

Zhang listened to his more than 50 years of water control experience in Hetao area, and thought that this is a rare water conservancy talent in China.

So, after Zhang returned to Beijing, he immediately reported to Zhang Jian, then Minister of Agriculture and Commerce of China Government, the achievements in water control in Hetao, and suggested that Zhang Jian invite him to Beijing as soon as possible to discuss the plan of developing the northwest and harnessing the Huaihe River.

After meeting with General Manager Zhang Jian in Beijing, Tongchun Wang talked about his views on water conservancy, which won the appreciation of General Manager Zhang Jian and was hired as a water conservancy consultant of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. It was the investment period of harnessing Huaihe River. At that time, the Beiyang government wanted to harness the Huaihe River, so Tongchun Wang joined the Huaihe River Harnessing Committee. Because the funds for harnessing the Huaihe River are borrowed from Belgium, water conservancy engineers in Belgium and the United States advocate that the key to dredging the Huaihe River is to introduce the Huaihe River water into the Yangtze River. Therefore, Tongchun Wang's plan to introduce Huaihe River water directly into the sea was not adopted.

On his way back to Bayannaoer, Tongchun Wang was invited by General Feng Yuxiang to listen to his grand plan to develop the western region.

1925, Feng Yuxiang's troops entered the Hetao area to build roads, dredge waterways and reclaim wasteland. At this time, 74-year-old Tongchun Wang assisted General Feng Yuxiang's troops to guide and supervise the construction of water conservancy projects.

1June, 925, Tongchun Wang went home from the Yellow River water conservancy site to recuperate due to illness.

On the 28th of this month, a generation of water-saving heroes passed away.

A temple is being rebuilt 5 kilometers south of Bayannaoer Wuyuan.

This temple was built by people in Hetao area to commemorate the construction of water conservancy in that year. The name of the temple is a bit awkward: it's called the Four Temples.

According to local memories, this temple with a strange name was built by four people who built the Yellow River irrigation canal.

Tongchun Wang's deeds are recorded in The History of the Republic of China in Cambridge and The Draft of Qing History.

Bing Xin, a famous writer, visited Suiyuan and wrote an article "Er Lao Cai". Bing Xin called Tongchun Wang "the national hero of Hetao" in the article.

Eight years after the founding of New China, from 65438 to 0957, the construction of Sanshenggong Yellow River Water Control Project in Dengkou, Bayannaoer started, drawing on the rich experience of people in Tongchun Wang and Hetao in water control. This is by far the largest water conservancy project built in Hetao area and the largest dam-building project in Asia.

The distant vicissitudes of life tell the story of a thick and wonderful Hetao culture. That is, the spirit of Hetao people shines for generations.