In the Ming Dynasty, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which ran through the north and south, had to rely on the Yellow River for water transportation, so the situation in the lower reaches of the Yellow River determined whether the canal was smooth or not and whether the grain could reach the capital. However, the sediment-laden characteristics of the Yellow River determine the occurrence of multiple floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. In order to ensure the smooth flow of the canal, human intervention in the flow path of the Yellow River changed the characteristics of the downward flow of the Yellow River, which led to its wanton flooding in the Huanghuai Plain, almost without disaster, and brought profound disasters to people living in this land. Reasons for the aggravation of the Yellow River flood in the Ming Dynasty First of all, the "above-ground river" in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the early Ming Dynasty has been formed, and it is inevitable to change its course. Since Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, moved to Beijing, the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River have become one of the supply areas for Beijing's construction. Forests have been cut down in large quantities, and natural vegetation has been seriously damaged. In order to prevent Mongolian aristocrats from going south, seven of the nine towns in Ming Dynasty (namely, Fu Xuan Town, Datong Town, Piantouguan Town, Yansui Town, Ningxia Town, Guyuan Town and Gan Town) were located in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. Excessive reclamation has caused more serious soil erosion, further increased the sediment concentration of the Yellow River, and led to the rapid formation of the "overground river" in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The destruction of natural ecological environment is one of the man-made factors for the flood and diversion of the Yellow River. Secondly, in order to ensure the smooth water transportation, the Ming Dynasty built double dikes on the north bank of the Yellow River, which made the Yellow River flow southward and led to the flood of the Yellow River water in the Huanghuai Plain. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River decided to go north, which led to the diversion of the river from north to south, which not only affected the smooth flow of canals in Zhangqiu, Shandong Province, but also affected the smooth flow of water transport in Xuzhou. In order to relieve the threat of the Yellow River flood to the Zhangqiu section and even the Xuzhou section of the Canal, from the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty (1403- 1424), the levee was overhauled from Mengxian county on the north bank of the Yellow River in Henan Province along the Yellow River eastward to Kaifeng. Since then, levees have been built on both sides of the Yellow River. Among them, hundreds of miles of Taihang levees were built on the north bank of the Yellow River, and new levees were built in the south of Taihang levees and Jinglongkou on the north bank of the Yellow River. This river "returns to Yanglan and Kaocheng, diversions to Dehua, Xuzhou and Suqian, and enters the canal in the south, where it will be the Huaihe River, which will pour into the sea in the east and return to the old road in the south". The southbound Yellow River has returned to Jia Lu's old road, so the Zhangqiu section of the canal is not in danger of bursting, and the Xuzhou section of the canal is temporarily safe. However, man-made embankment blocks the northward flow of the Yellow River, which violates the downward flow of water. Coupled with the natural property of the Yellow River with high sediment concentration and serious soil erosion in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, all the sediment in the downstream is deposited in the old Jia Luhe trough, and the riverbed is rapidly silted, forcing the Yellow River to burst its banks and flood, especially in Xuzhou, which not only affects the smooth flow of canals south of Jining. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River diverted and flooded more seriously. For example, in the fifth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1526), the Yellow River also "northeast to Miaodaokou in Peixian County, cut off the canal, and injected the cock crow into Taikou and into Zhaoyang Lake. Wen and Si Shui flow eastward, and the river leaving the bridge flows northward, silting for dozens of miles. The river does not serve first, so it is moved to avoid it. " During the Wanli period, the Yellow River must have flooded and moved southward, and the flood affected the north and south of Huaihe River. For example, in August of the fifth year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1577), the Yellow River burst between Suqian in Cui Zhen and Taoyuan in Nanzhi. "How bad the banks of the Yellow River are, the Yellow River is silted up, and the Huaihe River is forced to migrate southward by the river", resulting in "high, expensive, prosperous, salt, mountains, clear and peach" in the north and south of the Huaihe River. It was not until the seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1579) that the Ming government began to use Pan Jixun to control the Yellow River, which temporarily reversed the chaotic situation of the river course "rolling north and south and alternating east and west" since Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, but it still failed to control the situation that the Yellow River flooded the Huanghuai Plain. Finally, the flood of the Yellow River caused by the war cannot be ignored. The most typical example is the breach of the Yellow River in Kaifeng in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1642). 1642, Li Zicheng peasant army and Ming government army fought fiercely in Kaifeng. In September, the two sides decided to open the Yellow River levee with water instead of soldiers. There are two gaps: "One is Zhujiazhai, which is two miles wide and lives in the lower reaches of the river. The water surface is wide and the water potential is slow; One is Majiakou, which is more than a mile wide and lives in the upper reaches of the river. The current is fierce and unfathomable. They are 30 miles apart, just outside the embankment. They will take a big bite and go straight to the city, and the old road of the river will dry up to the ground. " Officials and people in Kaifeng have suffered unprecedented disasters. According to Li Guang _, who participated in guarding the city, on September 16, "the south gate was broken first, and the north gate was opened. At night, Caomen and Dongmen disappeared one after another, and the sound of running water rang like ten thousand bells all night. " /kloc-at dawn on 0/7, "the river in the city overflowed, and the bells and drums stopped on the second floor, the roofs of various palaces, the top of Suoguo Temple, and the Palace Museum in Zhoufu". At the same time, White, who participated in guarding the city, also said, "At midnight, the water depth is tens of feet, and the floating body is like a fish." "Lift up your eyes, Wang Yang, and look up and touch the waves. The only ones left are the Bell and Drum Tower, the Zhoufu Palace Museum, the County King Rockery and Yanqing Temple. Big cities have only half ears, and the roofs of palaces, yamen, private houses and tall buildings are slightly exposed. " In the Ming Dynasty, the tall brick walls of Zhounei City in Kaifeng turned into a cloud of smoke because of the accumulation of silt outside the city, because the accumulated water in the city formed many lakes. For example, after Zhou was flooded, Long Ting Pit, Xufu Pit, Pit and Mafu Pit appeared in the original site. The destruction brought by this river is unprecedented, so that Kaifeng city is still in ruins decades after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. Measures to deal with the flood of the Yellow River in Ming Dynasty: firstly, dredging the river to divert water, building flood levees and digging ditches. For example, in the fifth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1492), the river decided to seal the ball at Jinglongkou and Huanglinggang. The following year, Emperor Liu Daxia of the Imperial City "deepened the Sun Jia Ferry, opened a new river channel for more than 70 miles, diverted water south, and entered the Huaihe River from Zhongmou to Yingzhou in the east. He also dug a muddy river in the four houses southeast of Xiangfu, from Chenliu to Guide, and sprinkled it in two ways. One is from Confucius Temple to Suqian Xiaohekou, and the other is from Bozhou Vortex River to meet Huaihe River. South of Huangling Gangnan, Jialu Old River dug forty miles, leaving Xuzhou from Cao County and entering the Huaihe River. " Lu Kuixun, a Qing Dynasty man, said, "The giants of the Ming Dynasty were nothing more than Liu Daxia dredging the old Jia Luhe and Sun Jia Ferry. They opened a new river, from Chenying to Huaihe River, from Zhongmou and Fugou to Suqian East to Huaihe River, and from Liu Chen to Guide, and divided into two factions to meet the Huaihe River. " It can be seen that this project is huge. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, he decided to open a judge village in Kaifeng, and Zhang Yongming invited him to "arrest his fellow villagers when they fell into the water in autumn and when farmers had gaps in winter and spring, so that they could retreat to a firm place and build embankments quickly". The theory of "ditch river" was first put forward by Zhou Yong, the prime minister of Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty, in the book "Governing the River". He first discussed the relationship between river regulation and reclamation, which was mutually restricted and promoted, and this theory was well practiced in Huanghuai Plain. Zhongmou county, near the Yellow River, is low-lying. At the age of 20, she was as poor as a church mouse. In the 23rd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1595), Chen Youxue, a magistrate of a county, dug a river ditch in 196 to divert water to osawa. Chen Youxue built Wujiatang levee 16 road to prevent the river from flooding. Secondly, turn harm into benefit and find a way to survive from saline-alkali land. People in Huanghuai Plain actively improve saline-alkali land and develop saline-alkali land industry to make a living. According to historical records, salt ponds are everywhere in the southeast of Lingguan Temple near Chengbei Gate Street in Kaifeng. On the south side of the street, the residents near Zhouxiaoqiang "cooked salt in many industries", and there were "salt ponds everywhere" near Xihuamen. Even a salt temple was built in the Jin Dynasty to worship Ge Hong. Salt ponds are mainly concentrated in the northwest slope of Long Ting, and "residents mostly make salt". Kaifeng saline-alkali land is located in the saline-alkali land around the city, especially in the northwest, followed by the southwest corner and southeast corner, accounting for 15% of the city's area. There are about 800 salt households in the city with an annual output of 60,000 stones. In addition to meeting the consumption of Kaifeng City, it is also exported to Xuzhou and other places, and even sold to Zhili (now Hebei), Shanxi and Jiangsu. Thirdly, people in Huanghuai Plain timely adjust crop varieties, plant wheat, peanuts, cotton and other crops suitable for sandy land and saline-alkali land, and develop agricultural production. The reason why wheat is planted on a large scale in Henan is that it is rainy in summer and autumn, which is prone to floods in the Yellow River. Once flooded, autumn grain often disappears, resulting in grain shortage and affecting the national economy and people's livelihood. The sowing period of winter wheat is generally from late September to early June of 10, and the harvest period is in the middle of June of the following year. Planting winter wheat can basically avoid the flood of the Yellow River and ensure the harvest by using the growing season in late autumn and early spring. At the same time, planting wheat can also make up for crop failure or flood damage in autumn and ensure food production. In addition, crops with strong adaptability, such as cotton, sweet potatoes and weeds, have been planted in the Huanghuai Plain. Finally, ask the river god for help. In the Ming Dynasty, the belief in "God" related to river engineering flourished. During the period of construction, completion and An Lan, there was a strong worship of gods. This can be seen as a helpless move by the officials and the people at that time, and it is also a positive attitude and behavior of exchanging worship for the An Lan of the Yellow River under the background of the times when the belief in ghosts and gods is pervasive. For example, in the thirty-second year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1553), OuYangDe said, "The Yellow River used to be called Shenhe. Because of its deposition or certainty, there is a sudden appearance of God. At the age of 20, ministers will be sent to sacrifice and pray for the silence of the gods. In this masterpiece, it is especially necessary to learn from it. I feel sincere blessing, I can use several gods to work its spirit, and people can show their strength. " It can be seen that the belief in river gods was an important reason for its prosperity at that time. River god is not a single god as people think. Many people who have contributed to river regulation are deified and become the carrier of this belief. For example, Zhang Nai, a native of Licheng, Shandong Province, who was in charge of Henan at the beginning of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, said: "The Yellow River flooded, the governor made meritorious deeds, and the people set up shrines." During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Heng made a contribution to river regulation, and residents along the river built shrines to offer sacrifices. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Pan Jixun "sought to repair and rebuild the temple". The flood of the Yellow River in Ming Dynasty was the result of the interaction of natural factors and human factors. The purpose of harnessing the Yellow River in the Ming Dynasty was to harness the Yellow River and protect the water tank, which violated the law of "water flows downwards". People intervened in the flow path of the Yellow River and built double dikes on the north bank of the Yellow River, forcing the Yellow River to flow into the Huaihe River through Laojialu Road, which increased the drainage flow at the Huaihe River estuary. The high sediment concentration of the Yellow River leads to a large amount of sediment deposition in the estuary and poor drainage, which leads to the backward flow of the river and further aggravates the frequent flooding of the Yellow River. Although there was only one flood of the Yellow River caused by the peasant war in the late Ming Dynasty, its influence was very far-reaching. In the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River flooded the Huanghuai Plain where it flowed. Every time a flood comes, houses collapse, crops are flooded, livestock are drowned, people who have no time to escape from the flood are swallowed up by Hong Tao, soil desertification and salinization are intensified, and river works derived from the Yellow River flood waste people and money. In addition, the flood also destroyed water conservancy facilities, silted up rivers, and blocked water transport, and so on. It can be said that the flood of the Yellow River in Ming Dynasty brought a heavy disaster to the production and life of the people in the whole Huanghuai Plain. Facing the worsening living environment, people in Huanghuai Plain take active and effective measures to fight against nature and change the unfavorable living environment, which creates conditions for the sustainable development of Huanghuai Plain and provides historical reference for us to explore the impact of natural environment changes on people's livelihood. Source: Yellow River flood in Ming Dynasty and its countermeasures