What is the role of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal?

After the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was completed, it connected the political center and economic center of the whole country with its unique communication function, and connected the production areas of different river basins. On this basis, the rulers of the feudal dynasty established a water transport system with a history of thousands of years, which transported materials from all over the country to the capital and maintained the life of the dynasty. ?

In the process of water transportation around the canal, the relevant links of grain allocation, collection, transportation, escort, unloading, storage and storage are constantly updated and developed according to local conditions in the actual process, which makes the grain transportation system develop and change several times. Every change is developed by summing up experience and lessons in practice and seeking truth from facts to solve problems.

For example, Pei Yaoqing, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, changed the "direct grain transportation method" to the "segmented grain transportation method", that is, the water in the tank is generally used for grain transportation, the shallow water is used for storage, and the granary is located along the canal. In this way, the tanker does not stagnate, and there is no loss of grain, which greatly improves the grain transportation capacity.

In the late Tang Dynasty, based on the "sectional transportation method", the "transshipment method" was created, which changed the people's movement into official transportation, changed the bulk transportation into standard sacks, and organized ships. Transportation is systematic and organized.

Establish a grain transportation reward system, take salt profit as commission, and solve the problem of grain transportation funds. These innovations have effectively promoted the development of grain transportation. In Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, according to the actual situation of the canal, the methods of water transportation were constantly innovated to better play the role of the canal.

Extended data:

I. Watershed

The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal flows from north to south through Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and runs through five major water systems in China-Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River, Qiantang River and a series of lakes. From the North China Plain to the Yangtze River Delta, the terrain is flat, rivers and lakes crisscross, and fertile fields are thousands of miles away. Since ancient times, it has been the main producing area of grain, cotton, oil, sericulture and hemp in China.

Dense population, high degree of agricultural intensification and great production potential. Since modern times, the railway and highway networks of Beijing-Tianjin, Jinpu, Shanghai-Nanjing and Shanghai-Hangzhou have been built one after another, which are closely connected with the canal. Along the line, industries have sprung up and towns are dense, which is the place where the economic essence of China gathers.

Second, the significance

In the social field, with the improvement of the system and the expansion of the scale, grain transportation gradually broke through its early pattern of taking political functions as the main body, and played an increasingly extensive social function, becoming an important means to maintain the stability of the dynasty and balance the society.

Especially in the middle and late period of ancient society, the rulers skillfully and frequently used grain transportation to carry out social checks and balances and control, and eliminated social unstable factors such as heavy taxes, disasters and price fluctuations. Its outstanding social function has two aspects: one is cultivation, and the other is famine relief. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, river fire has developed into a perfect system, which is mainly used to adjust the imbalance of income, supply and grain market price caused by abundance and sorrow in various regions.

Among them, the river fire in Song Dynasty was completely carried out through grain transportation. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, we paid attention to the application of grain in leveling cultivated land and achieved outstanding results.

Different from the Tang and Song Dynasties, the average harvest in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was mainly to alleviate the impact of factors such as reduced grain production and disasters on the market, which was entirely based on regulating the market and stabilizing prices. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, there have been many successful cases of using food to relieve famine. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, it has become a common move of the imperial court.

Baidu encyclopedia-Beijing-Hangzhou grand canal