"Speaking of Longshi" Lanzhou Yellow River water wheel pipe protection Qianlong Emperor Zhu Bi royal approval

The Lanzhou Yellow River water wheel pipe protects the Qianlong Emperor Zhu Bi royal approval

Newly discovered archival data show that as early as 1761, the Qianlong Emperor approved the management and maintenance plan of the Yellow River water wheel in Lanzhou. This is the earliest Management and Maintenance Program of the Yellow River Waterwheel in Lanzhou. Today, we will take a look at what are the contents of the waterwheel maintenance plan approved by Qianlong?

Lanzhou Yellow River water wheel is Lanzhou's business card. Lanzhou is also famous for its waterwheels, and is known as the capital of waterwheels. Lanzhou's Yellow River water wheel began in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and the more common view is that the Lanzhou people of the Ming Dynasty continued to lead people to transform and create the Yellow River water wheel.

In the second year of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1523), Duan Continued to pass the Examination of Zhongjinshi and served as the Imperial Historian of Yunnan Province, and the following year, he was imprisoned for impeaching Xi Shu and Gui Cai, and then demoted to Henan, and his official position was demoted to Chencheng County, because of his considerable political achievements, he was soon promoted to Zhi County, Qixian County, and then promoted to the position of HuguangBu Political Envoy, supervising the imperial tomb of Emperor Shizong's biological mother, "Xianling". During his days in Hunan, Duan Continued learned about the huge economic benefits generated by water wheels. So he carefully examined the construction principle of the barrel car, drew samples, and asked the craftsmen to understand the general production principle of the water wheel.

Around the twentieth year of Jiajing (1541), Duan resigned and returned to his hometown. While teaching and educating people, he imitated water wheels. At that time, the water wheels in the south were all made of bamboo, while there was no bamboo in Lanzhou. He learned from craftsmen that the elms and willows on the banks of the Yellow River in Lanzhou are thick in wood, can withstand blisters, and are not easy to rot. Lanzhou's Yellow River water wheel uses elm wood, willow wood as the material for making the skeleton of the water wheel, the shape resembles the ancient wheel, the diameter of the spoke is about 20 meters, the small one is more than 10 meters, the water can be lifted up to 15-18 meters, the hub of the spoke is a thick wheel shaft, and twice as many horizontal plates as the wooden bucket, and the large one can irrigate hundreds of acres of fields. Due to the enlargement of the size of the water wheel, the density of spokes has been increased, so that it can withstand the impact of the Yellow River water.

Before 1949, there were more than 350 water wheels on the banks of the Yellow River from Guide in Qinghai to Zhongwei in Ningxia. According to survey statistics, from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1891, there were 157 waterwheels along the Yellow River in Lanzhou, and during the Republic of China, Lanzhou waterwheels had a huge development, and by 1952 there were 252 waterwheels along the Yellow River in Lanzhou.

Waterwheel is related to the issue of eating, all localities are very important, according to the actual situation, in addition to the development of a strict maintenance management system, at the same time there is a strict system of water use. People adopt the principle of "carrying grain according to the ground and receiving grain and sharing water", and divide the time and amount of water used in each water canal and water wheel watering range.

According to the newly discovered archival data, as early as the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong, The Inspector of Gansu, Mingde, repaired the river wheels along the river and the maintenance and management measures for the lanzhou water wheels, and played the imperial court. The Qianlong Emperor personally gave instructions.

In the performance of Inspector Mingde in Gansu, the current situation of water wheels in Ningxia Erfu, Lanzhou, along the Yellow River, has been counted since the 23rd year of Qianlong. He said that these places have been drought for many years, and the rivers are so small that the water wheels are far away from the water, and the peasants along the rivers will repair the damaged water wheels at the time, and there are still many poor people who cannot repair them. On-site investigation, Hezhou, Gaolan, Jingyuan three prefectures, counties are really unable to repair and damage no deposit should be added to build a total of 92 wheels. These water wheels watered 2,910 acres of land, and 7,300 taels of silver were needed for repair.

Such a huge sum of money, the locals can not afford. To this end, Matilda proposed that the province borrow money from them to repair the water wheel. The method is to take the lead in borrowing from the state and county, and at the same time as a guarantee, the term is three years, and the repayment is repaid by the water wheel user. If the loan is not repaid within the time limit, the official of the borrowed prefecture and county shall make compensation. Inspector Ming asked for instructions to make this method a common law to maintain and repair the water wheel. The Qianlong Emperor gave Zhu Pen instructions on this.

It can be seen that 260 years ago, local officials in Gansu and the Qianlong Emperor paid enough attention to the use and maintenance of the Yellow River water wheel in Lanzhou. After all, the people take food as the sky, and eating is the big problem.

Pocket Lanzhou Lanzhou Morning News reporter Wang Wenyuan