What exactly does it mean to transport four rivers by water? thank you

In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were four rivers in Kaifengfu, Tokyo: Bianhe River, Caihe River (Huimin), Jinshui River and Guangji River (Zhang Wu), which flowed through the urban area to communicate with local water transport, and were collectively called the four major water transport canals.

Bianhe is the Sui Tongji Canal, which was renamed Guangji Canal in the Tang Dynasty, commonly known as Bianhe. Xibiankou starts from Yin He County, Mengzhou (now northeast of Xingyang, Henan Province, so the site has collapsed into the river), leading the Yellow River to flow eastward, passing through Zhengzhou and Zhongmu, and is divided into two branches in the west of Tokyo, which are merged by Xuanze and Lize sluice, and then divided into two branches in the southeast by Jintong and Shangshan sluice. To the south, it also passes through Xiangyi (now Sui County, Henan Province), Ningling (now southeast of Ningling, Henan Province), Song Cheng (now Shangqiu, Henan Province), Xiayi (now Xiayi, Henan Province), Suzhou Yongcheng (now Su County, Anhui Province), Lingbi (now Si County, Anhui Province), Qingyang Town (now Sihong, Jiangsu Province), and southeast to Xuyi County, Sizhou (now in Hongze). The total length is about 600 kilometers. After the late Tang dynasty, the river was blocked and the water transportation was impassable. During Zhou Xiande's years after the Five Dynasties, he dredged and built dikes many times, and opened ships from the border to the Huaihe River. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the southeast had become the richest area in China, and the Bianhe River was the main traffic line for the Northern Song government to seize the wealth of Jianghuai.

Caihe River was formerly known as the Gorge in the Warring States Period and the Wolf Soup Canal in the Western Han Dynasty. Known as Caishui in Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was the main waterway between north and south, and was abandoned in the late Tang Dynasty. After the Five Dynasties, Zhou Xiande led Bianshui into Cai and dredged it, also known as Minhe River. In the first year of Stegosaurus in Song Taizu (960), a river was dug from Jingshi to Tongxu Town (now Tongxu County), and a bucket gate was set up to save water. The following year, a canal was dug from Xinzheng River (now Shuanghe River) to the northeast, flowing through Weishi West and Zhongmou East, and entered the city at Guangli Watergate in the south wall of Tokyo, which was called Minhe River in history. After entering the city, it connects Caihe River in the east, flows southward, leaves the city from Puji Watergate, flows southward through Tongxu, Fugou, Taikang, Wanqiu (now Huaiyang, Henan) and other places, and flows westward into Shui Ying to Xiangcheng (now Shenqiu, Henan). In the second year of Chunhua, Song Taizong (99 1), a canal was dug for 20 miles in Changge County, connecting the upper reaches of Weihe River with the southern Fei River (now Fei River), which was also used as a part of the water source of Minjiang River. Prior to this, the lower reaches of Yan and Fei rivers were discharged into Caihe River through Yanling and Fugou counties. As a result, the water volume of Cai He River has increased greatly, and "ships come and ships go, and merchants make profits when they arrive". The southwest of Kaifeng in the early Song Dynasty was called Minjiang River. In the sixth year of Kaibao (973), Minhe River was changed to Huimin River and Caihe River in the southeast. Later, because Huimin River and Caihe River are actually two sections of the same river, they are sometimes called Huimin River, including Caihe River.

Zhangwuhe River was dug on the basis of Nanji Ancient Road during the Xiande period in the late Five Dynasties. The river flows from the west of Kaifeng to the northeast of Bianshui, passes through Dongming (now northeast of Lankao, Henan Province) and Dingtao (now northwest of Dingtao, Shandong Province), reaches Jeju and Cai Zhen, 60 miles northwest of Juye, and flows out of Liangshanbo along the North Qinghe River (that is, the Gujishui River), "to clear the water and muddy the water". In February of the following year, Song dredged the river from Kaifengfu, the capital city, and connected the eastern waterway through Cao (now northwest of Heze, Shandong Province), Ji (now south of Juye, Shandong Province) and Yun (now Dongping, Shandong Province). In March of the same year, because Zhang Wu took the Bianhe River as the source, sediment was deposited, which was unfavorable for sailing. Therefore, a canal was dug from Xingyang County to divert water from Beijing and the Sol River to the east. Every hundred miles, it is named Jinshui River, which crosses the Bianhe River in the west of Kaifeng. Doumen is set to introduce the moat, and it flows into Zhangwu River from Xianfeng Watergate in the west wall of the outer city. Zhang Wuhe entered the city from Yongshun Watergate in the north of Tokyo Outer City and left the city from Li Shan Watergate in the east. In the sixth year of Kaibao, Zhangwuhe was renamed Guangji River.

The above four water transport canals were dredged and excavated in the early Song Dynasty, forming a water transport network centered on Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo. Song Shi? According to "Hequ Zhi", there are four canals, Huimin, Jinshui, Zhang Wu and Bianshui, which are divided into veins, salty and prosperous, supporting the public and private, and there is no shortage. However, the main function of Jinshui River is to supply the water source of Guangji River, and also to transport the timber from the west of Beijing into the capital, and there is no formal benefit of water transportation. The other three canals are the lifeblood of Tokyo's economy. Together with the Yellow River, which transports materials from Shaanxi provinces, they are also called the four major rivers of water transport in history.

Bianhe is the most important of the three canals. China Southeast Sixth Road (Huainan Road, East-West Jiangnan Road, Jinghu South Road, North Road and Liangzhe Road) The most prosperous department stores in Cao Liang are all transported to the capital through this canal. The so-called "Cao Liang attracts rivers and lakes and benefits the South China Sea for a long time. It is Shanze Department Store." Hundreds of thousands of troops and tens of millions of families inside and outside Kaifeng are supported in this canal. Therefore, the Song Dynasty poet Zhang said: "Bianhe is the foundation of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it must not be mentioned in the same breath as the water conservancy in the region."

Caohe River mainly transports grain provided by Chen (now Huaiyang, Henan Province), Ying (now Fuyang, Anhui Province), Xu (now Xuchang, Henan Province), Cai (now Runan, Henan Province), Guang (now Huangchuan, Henan Province) and Shou (now Fengtai, Anhui Province), but it is not limited to this area. From Kaifeng, it enters Ying along the south of Caihe River, from Ying into Huaihe River, and reaches the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. From Kaifeng to the southwest, it can be connected with Dengzhou (now Dengxian County, Henan Province) and Xiangyang House (now Xiangfan, Hubei Province) through Ying and Sha, which is another north-south waterway after Bianhe River.

Guangji River mainly transports grain and other materials provided by JD.COM Road. In the first year of Gande (963), the Heshui River east of Dingtao was diverted (roughly equivalent to the direction of Wanfu River today) and flowed eastward into Surabaya (also known as Nanqinghe River), leading to Tongjiang and Hucao Road. The economic status along Dingtao became more and more important. From the first year of Jiande (963) to the first year of Kaibao, it was promoted to the transshipment department. In the second year of Taiping Xingguo (977), Guangji was also promoted to the army, indicating that Guangji River has become a water transport hub between Kaifeng Prefecture and JD.COM Road in Tokyo.

During the treasure-opening period in the early Song Dynasty, the rice transported by Bianhe and Caihe from Jianghuai area to Tokyo, the capital, was only several hundred thousand stones a year. At the beginning of Taiping and rejuvenating the country, Zhejiang and Zhejiang joined, and the grain transportation increased to 4 million stones. In six years, the Bianhe River transported three million mangokus and one million mangokus in the Jianghuai area. Yellow River millet is 500,000 mangoku, which is 300,000 mangoku; Huimin River has a drop of four hundred thousand stones and a stone of two hundred thousand stones; Guangji river millet120000 stone. Every 5.5 million stones. In the early days of Taoism, the rice transported by Bianhe increased to 5.8 million stones. When Dazhong is lucky, it is as high as seven million mangokus. In Jingdezhen for four years (1007), six million stones were supplied to Bianhe River, six hundred thousand stones to Guangji River and six hundred thousand stones to Huimin River every year. The120000 stone transported by Guangji River is a variegated bean, which can only be used as horse feed. The 250,000 stones transported by Huimin River will be sent to grain depots in Taikang, Xianping (now Tongxu) and Weishi counties. Monochrome japonica rice and wheat transported by Bianhe River are the main sources of grain storage in Taicang.

Due to the influence of natural conditions in the Yellow River basin, there are many unfavorable factors in the navigation of the fourth waterway canal. For example, the Bianhe River takes the Yellow River as its source, so like the Yellow River, it has the characteristics of uneven water flow and high sediment concentration. In order to keep the Bianhe River open every year, the Northern Song government invested a lot of manpower and material resources. First of all, the tributaries of the Yellow River water are more likely to encounter water potential because of the swing of the main channel of the Yellow River. The river below the Bianhe River is muddy and difficult to navigate. During the Xiangfu period, it was stipulated that the riverbed would still be silted up after dredging for three to five years every year. 165438+ The above-ground river was formed in the early 20th century. In the third year of Emperor Yangdi (105 1), he decided that "it is normal to farm in the estuary." The border mouth is closed in winter and opened in spring, and the border river can only pass for more than 200 days every year. Even so, during the Xining period (1068 ~ 1077), in the area of Qiu Yong and Xiangyi to the east of Kaifeng, the bottom of the Bianhe River was more than one or two feet higher than the flat land outside the dike, overlooking the houses from the side underground, such as in a deep valley. In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), in order to solve the problem of sediment source in Bianhe River, a canal was opened for 50 miles on the Yellow River beach at the northern foot of Guangwu Mountain between Shagukou, Rencun Village, Gongxian County and Biankou, Yin He County, to draw Iraqi and Luoshui into the Biankou, block the old Biankou and avoid the turbid flow of the Yellow River. Because Luoshui is clear, the Bianhe River leading to Luoshui is called Qing Bianhe in history. In Yuan You for five years (1090), the Bianhe River was still blocked due to the shortage of water resources. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the implementation of the Bianhe levee was poor, wars were frequent, Bianjing was abandoned, the water dried up, and the outline could not be shipped. During the opposition between Song and Jin Dynasties, the Bianhe River was completely abandoned and Lingbi became Lu Dao. Hong Mai's poem "Cooked Valley" says: "The Sui Dyke looks far away with few people, and the flowing water is dry and deep." It was a true portrayal of Bianhe at that time. For hundreds of years, there was a huge river in the Central Plains, which was abandoned at this point.

Since the early Song Dynasty, the Cai He River has taken the Minjiang River as its source, and its water source is clearer than when it was introduced, with shallow siltation. This is only because all the water downstream gathers in the Cai He River. These rivers, which originated in mountainous areas, are flooded rapidly in summer and autumn flood season, and the riverbed of Cai He River can't bear it, so they are often flooded. During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the Yellow River repeatedly broke south, bringing Cai and Ying into the Huai River. During the Yuan Dynasty (1324 ~ 1327), silt was deposited at the bottom of the mining river, which was higher than the ground on both sides of the river, forming an overground river. Since then, it has been one of the decisive diversions of the Yellow River southward for a long time, and it has gradually become a flat land.

Jinshui River was introduced into the imperial city as the water source of backyard pond in Song Gande for three years. In the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1009), Kaifeng inner city was introduced for the use of Guansi dwellings, and the water supply of Guangji River was obviously reduced. During the reign of Xining, it was suggested to build caves on the banks of Bianhe River and introduce water into Xijiabu and Wuze North to supplement the water source of Guangji River, but the effect was not satisfactory. In March of the fifth year of Yuanfeng, Guangji River Transportation Company was cancelled, and all the materials supplied by JD.COM area flowed from Qinghe (ancient Surabaya) south to Huaihe River, and were transported to Tokyo by Bian Xi River. The company moved to Huaiyang Army (now Nangupi, Pixian County, Jiangsu Province) and was named Qinghe Transportation Company. In the same year, because the Jinshui River trough was built on the Bianhe River, "the ship was slotted as soon as it arrived, which hindered the navigation of the ship", so the trough was removed and the Guangji River was forced to stop water transportation. Then because of JD. COM's grain diverted from Qinghe River to Huaihe River and flowed westward, which was too far. In the first year of Yuan You, Jinshui River was rebuilt and Guangji River was able to resume grain transportation. After the Southern Song Dynasty made suggestions, the Yellow River Chang Dongming really entered Si, and the Guangji River was gradually abandoned by the sediment of the Yellow River.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the four canals of water transport were abandoned one after another, and the water transport in Kaifeng declined.