Changes of Jining Canal

In the sixth year of Jiajing (1527), the Yellow River burst in Xuzhou and Peixian. The Yellow River crossed the canal and rushed into Zhaoyang Lake, silting up more than 30 miles around the temple crossing of the canal. In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), the Yellow River burst again in Cao (county) and Pei (county), and the flood silted up the river again, which seriously damaged the grain transportation of the Ming capital. So, from the 45th year of Jiajing to the 1st year of Qin Long (1566 ~ 1567), a new waterway was built, starting from Nanyang in the north, passing through Zhazha and Xiazhen, crossing Liu Zhuang and Majiaqiao in the west and reaching Liucheng in the south, with a total length of 14 1. The river moved from the depression in the west of the lake to the highland in the east of the lake, which solved the problem of siltation in the Yellow River. A large number of cargo ships entered the new canal northward. Turn the originally desolate village into a port pier and become lively. In the face of the scene of "Cao turned ten thousand ships to pay tribute and return agriculture and mulberry", many people wrote poems to praise the achievements of canal management. There is a poem praising: "If you dig it out, you will become a savage by Shen Yu's hand." Even Emperor Mu Zong happily wrote four happy poems for his ministers. Zhu Heng, the hero of water control, went to Beijing and was named Prince Taibao.

In the thirty-first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1603), the Yellow River burst from Sujiazhuang, Shan County, and the river rushed into Zhaoyang Lake, passing through Lijiakou, flowing south, leaving Zhenkou to block the waterway. The imperial court appreciated this suggestion very much, and made it "quickly collect Ding Fu's excavation". It was completed in August in the thirty-second year of Wanli. This river flows from Xia Dong to the southeast, passes through Xiwan, Pengkouzha and Lushan, leaves Han Zhuang, flows to Taierzhuang, and joins the Yellow River at the straight mouth of Pizhou. This river can avoid the siltation of the Yellow River between Xuzhou tea cities and ensure the smooth water transport between north and south. Jin Fu, a Qing Dynasty man, called this diversion the greatest achievement of river management in Ming Dynasty.