Volume 84 Treatises 60: Rivers and Canals 2

黃河下

The Yellow River (Continued)

萬曆元年，河決房村，築堤□子頭至秦溝口。明年，給事中鄭嶽言：「運道自茶城至淮安五百餘里，自嘉靖四十四年河水大發，淮口出水之際，海沙漸淤，今且高與山等。自淮而上，河流不迅，泥水愈淤。於是邳州淺，房村決，呂、梁二洪平，茶城倒流，皆坐此也。今不治海口之沙，乃日築徐、沛間堤岸，桃、宿而下，聽其所之。民之為魚，未有已時也。」因獻宋李公義、王令圖浚川爬法。命河臣勘奏，從其所言。而是年秋，淮、河並溢。明年八月河決碭山及邵家口、曹家莊、韓登家口而北，淮亦決高家堰而東，徐、邳、淮南北漂沒千里。自此桃、清上下河道淤塞，漕艘梗阻者數年，淮、揚多水患矣。總河都御史傅希摯改築碭山月堤，暫留三口為泄水之路。其冬，並塞之。

In Wanli 1, the Yellow River broke through at Fangcun; dikes were then raised from Yaozitou to Qingoukou. The following year, Supervising Secretary Zheng Yue memorialized: "The grain route from Chacheng to Huai'an runs more than five hundred li. Ever since the great flood of Jiajing 44, sand from the sea has piled up where the Huai empties into the ocean until it now rises level with the hills. Above the Huai junction the current slackened, and silt-laden water accumulated ever faster. That is why the reach at Pizhou shoaled, Fangcun broke, the Lu and Liang shoals flattened out, and the current at Chacheng reversed—all consequences of this siltation. Instead of clearing sand at the estuary, officials keep raising dikes between Xu and Pei and, from Taoyuan and Suxian downstream, simply let the river wander where it pleases. The common people will never cease to be drowned like fish in a net." He then submitted the river-dredging and rake-scoop methods devised by Li Gongyi and Wang Ling of the Song. The throne ordered the river commissioners to survey the site and report back, and their recommendations were adopted. Yet that same autumn both the Huai and the Yellow River burst their banks together. The next year, in the eighth month, the Yellow River broke northward at Dangshan, Shaojiakou, Caojiazhuang, and Handengjiakou, while the Huai burst eastward through the Gaojia Weir; for a thousand li around Xu, Pi, and the Huai region, fields and settlements were washed away. From then on the waterways above and below Taoyuan and Qinghe choked with silt; grain transport was obstructed for years, and the Huai-Yang region suffered repeated floods. Grand Coordinator for Rivers Fu Xizhi rebuilt the crescent dike at Dangshan, leaving three temporary outlets to release floodwater. That winter all three outlets were sealed shut.

四年二月，督漕侍郎吳桂芒言：「淮、揚洪潦奔沖，蓋緣海賓汊港久堙，入海止雲梯一徑，致海擁橫沙，河流泛溢，而鹽、安、高、寶不可收拾。國家轉運，惟知急漕，而不暇急漕，而不暇急民，故朝廷設官，亦主治河，而不知治海。請設水利僉事一員，專疏海道，審度地利，如草灣及老黃河皆可趨海，何必專事雲梯哉？」帝優詔報可。

In the second month of year 4, Vice Minister of Grain Transport Wu Guifang memorialized: "The violent floods in the Huai-Yang region stem from the long-blocked estuary channels along the coast: only the Yunti Pass offers a path to the sea. The sea has piled sand across the mouth, the river spills over, and the districts of Yan, An, Gao, and Bao are beyond control. In running the grain tribute the state knows only to rush the barges along, with no time to address the rivers and no time to relieve the people. The court appoints officials chiefly to manage the Yellow River, yet pays no heed to the sea outlet. I ask that an Assistant Commissioner for Water Works be appointed to open sea routes, survey the terrain, and recognize that both Caowan and the Old Yellow River can reach the sea. Why fixate on Yunti alone?" The emperor issued a gracious edict approving the proposal.

桂芳復言：「黃水抵清河與淮合流，經清江浦外河，東至草灣，又折而西南，過淮安、新城外河，轉入安東縣前，直下雲梯關入海。近年關口多壅，河流日淺，惟草灣地低下，黃河沖決，駸駸欲奪安東入海，以縣治所關，屢決屢塞。去歲，草灣迤東自決一口，宜於決口之西開挑新口，以迎埽灣之溜，而於金城至五港岸築堤束水。語云：「救一路哭，不當復計一家哭。」今淮、揚、鳳、泗、邳、徐不啻一路矣。安東自眾流匯圍，只文廟、縣署僅存椽瓦，其勢垂陷，不如委之，以拯全淮。」帝不欲棄安東，而命開草灣如所請。八月，工竣，長萬一千一百餘丈，塞決口二十二，役夫四萬四千。帝以海口開浚，水患漸平，賚桂芳等有差。

Guifang added: "Yellow River water reaches Qinghe, merges with the Huai, runs through the outer channel at Qingjiangpu east to Caowan, then bends southwest past the outer channels of Huai'an and Xincheng, turns before Andong County, and pours straight through Yunti Pass into the sea. In recent years the pass has repeatedly choked and the channel grows shallower. Caowan sits lower than the surrounding land, and the Yellow River keeps breaking through, pressing to cut off Andong and reach the sea. Because the county seat stands in the way, each breach has been plugged again and again. Last year Caowan broke open on its own to the east. We should cut a new outlet west of the breach to catch the current from Saowan, and build dikes from Jincheng to the Wugang shore to channel the water. As the saying goes, "When an entire road is in mourning, one cannot stop to weigh the grief of a single household." Today the regions of Huai, Yang, Feng, Si, Pi, and Xu are suffering on far more than one road. Andong is already ringed by converging currents; only the Confucian temple and county offices still have roof timbers standing, and the town is about to sink. Better to yield the county than fail to save the entire Huai basin." The emperor refused to abandon Andong, but ordered Caowan opened as Guifang had proposed. In the eighth month the project was finished—more than 11,100 zhang of channel, twenty-two breaches sealed, and 44,000 laborers mobilized. Because the estuary had been opened and floods were subsiding, the emperor granted Guifang and his colleagues graded rewards.

未幾，河決韋家樓，又決沛縣縷水堤，豐、曹二縣長堤，豐、沛、徐州、睢甯、金鄉、魚臺、單、曹田廬漂溺無算，河流齧宿遷城。帝從桂芳請，遷縣治、築土城避之。於是御史陳世寶請復老黃河故道，言：「河自桃源三義鎮歷清河縣北，至大河口會淮入海。運道自淮安天妃廟亂淮而下，十里至大河口，從三義鎮出口向桃源大河而去，凡七十餘里，是為老黃河。至嘉靖初，三義鎮口淤，而黃河改趨清河縣南與淮會，自此運道不由大河口而徑由清河北上矣。近者，崔鎮屢決，河勢漸趨故道。若仍開三義鎮口引河入清河北，或令出大河口與淮流合，或從清河西別開一河，引淮出河上游，則運道無恐，而淮、泗之水不為黃流所漲。」部覆允行。

Soon afterward the river broke at Weijialou, then burst the Lüshui dike in Pei County and the long dikes of Feng and Cao. Across Feng, Pei, Xuzhou, Suining, Jinxiang, Yutai, Shan, and Cao, countless farms and homes were inundated, and the current began eating away at Suqian city. At Guifang's urging the emperor relocated the county seat and built an earthen fortification to escape the flood. Censor Chen Shibao then petitioned to restore the Old Yellow River's former channel, stating: "The river once ran from Sanyizhen in Taoyuan north of Qinghe County to Dahekou, where it met the Huai and reached the sea. The grain route ran from the Tianfei Temple in Huai'an down the Huai for ten li to Dahekou, then left through Sanyizhen toward Taoyuan's main channel—a stretch of more than seventy li known as the Old Yellow River. By the early Jiajing period the mouth at Sanyizhen had silted shut and the Yellow River swung south of Qinghe to join the Huai. Thereafter the grain route bypassed Dahekou and ran straight north along the Qinghe. Recently Cuizhen has broken repeatedly, and the river is gradually shifting back toward its old course. If we reopen Sanyizhen to bring the river north of Qinghe, or send it out at Dahekou to merge with the Huai, or cut a new channel west of Qinghe to draw the Huai above the junction, the grain route would be secure and the Huai and Si would no longer be swelled by Yellow River water." The ministry approved the plan for implementation.

桂芳言：「淮水向經清河會黃河趨海。自去秋河決崔鎮，清江正河淤澱，淮口梗塞。於是淮弱河強，不能奪草灣入海之途，而全淮南徙，橫灌山陽、高、寶間，向來湖水不逾五尺，堤僅七尺，今堤加丈二，而水更過之。宜急護湖堤以殺水勢。」部議以為必淮有所歸，而後堤可保，請令桂芳等熟計。報可。

Guifang reported: "Huai water used to pass through Qinghe, join the Yellow River, and reach the sea. Since the breach at Cuizhen last autumn, the main channel at Qingjiang has silted up and the Huai mouth is choked. The Huai grew weak while the Yellow River grew strong, unable to hold Caowan's route to the sea. The entire Huai shifted south and poured across Shanyang, Gao, and Bao. Lake levels once stayed below five chi and dikes stood only seven chi high; though dikes have now been raised by twelve chi, the water still overtops them. Lake dikes must be reinforced at once to check the flood." The ministry held that the Huai must have an outlet before the dikes can hold, and asked Guifang and his colleagues to plan accordingly. The request was approved.

開河、護堤二說未定，而河復決崔鎮，宿、沛、清、桃兩岸多壞，黃河日淤墊，淮水為河所迫，徙而南，時五年八月也。希摯議塞決口，束水歸漕。桂芳欲沖刷成河，以為老黃河入海之路。帝令急塞決口，而俟水勢稍定，乃從桂芳言。時給事中湯聘尹議導淮入江以避黃，會桂芳言：「黃水向老黃河故道而去，下奔如駛，淮遂乘虛湧入清口故道，淮、揚水勢漸消。」部議行勘，以河、淮既合，乃寢其議。

Before the rival plans to open a channel or strengthen dikes could be settled, the river broke again at Cuizhen. Both banks from Su and Pei to Qing and Tao were badly damaged; the Yellow River rose with silt day by day, and the Huai, forced aside, shifted south. This occurred in the eighth month of year 5. Xizhi urged sealing the breach and channeling the water back into the grain route. Guifang wanted to scour open a channel to restore the Old Yellow River's route to the sea. The emperor ordered the breach sealed at once, and once the flood had subsided somewhat, adopted Guifang's plan. Supervising Secretary Tang Pinyin had proposed diverting the Huai into the Yangtze to escape the Yellow River. Guifang reported at the same time: "Yellow River water is racing down the Old Yellow River's former course; the Huai has rushed into the old channel at Qingkou, and flooding in the Huai-Yang region is easing." The ministry ordered a survey, but because the Yellow River and Huai had already merged, Tang's proposal was dropped.

管理南河工部郎中施天麟言：

Shi Tianlin, Director in the Ministry of Works in charge of southern river works, memorialized:

「淮、泗之水不下清口而下山陽，從黃浦口入海。浦口不能盡泄，浸淫高、寶邵伯諸湖，而湖堤盡沒，則以淮、泗本不入湖，而今入湖故也。淮、泗之入湖者，又緣清口向未淤塞，而今淤塞故也。清口之淤塞者，又緣黃河淤塞日高，淮水不得不讓河而南徙也。蓋淮水並力敵黃，勝負或亦相半，自高家堰廢壞，而清口內通濟橋、硃家等口淮水內灌，於是淮、泗之力分，而黃河得以全力制其敝，此清口所以獨淤於今歲也。下流既淤，則上流不得不決。

"The Huai and Si ought to run below Qingkou through Shanyang and reach the sea at Huangpukou. Huangpukou cannot release it all, so the water spreads into the Gao, Bao, and Shaobo lakes and overtops their dikes—because Huai and Si water never used to enter those lakes, but now it does. The reason Huai and Si water now backs into the lakes is that Qingkou, once open, has silted shut. Qingkou choked because the Yellow River silts higher each day, forcing the Huai to give way and shift south. Combined, Huai water could once contend evenly with the Yellow River, but after the Gaojia Weir collapsed, the Huai poured inland through Tongji Bridge, Zhujia, and other openings at Qingkou. The Huai and Si were split in force, and the Yellow River brought its full weight against them—that is why Qingkou alone silted up this year. When the lower course silts up, the upper course must break out.

每歲糧艘以四五月畢運，而堤以六七月壞。水發之時不能為力，水落之後方圖堵塞。甫及春初，運事又迫，僅完堤工，於河身無與。河身不挑則來年益高。上流之決，必及於徐、呂，而不止於邳、遷；下流之涸，將盡乎邳、遷，而不止於清、桃。須不惜一年糧運，不惜數萬帑藏，開挑正河，寬限責成，乃為一勞永逸。

Every year the grain fleet finishes in the fourth and fifth months, yet the dikes fail in the sixth and seventh. When floods peak nothing effective can be done; repairs begin only after the water drops. Barely has early spring arrived when the grain season presses again; workers finish the dikes but leave the riverbed untouched. Without dredging the channel, the riverbed will rise even higher the following year. Breaches upstream will reach Xu and Lü, not stop at Pi and Suqian alone; and drying downstream will spread through Pi and Suqian, not halt at Qing and Tao alone. We must be willing to sacrifice one year's grain transport and spend tens of thousands from the treasury to dredge the main channel, with a generous deadline for completion—that alone would bring lasting relief.

至高家堰、硃家等口，宜及時築塞，使淮、泗並力足以敵黃，則淮水之故道可復，高、寶之大患可減。若興、鹽海口堙塞，亦宜大加疏浚。而湖堤多建減水大閘，堤下多開支河。要未有不先黃河而可以治淮，亦未有不疏通淮水而可以固堤者也。」事下河漕諸臣會議。

The Gaojia Weir, Zhujia, and similar openings should be sealed promptly so the Huai and Si together can stand against the Yellow River; then the Huai's old course can be restored and the worst floods in Gao and Bao eased. If the estuaries at Xing and Yan are choked, they too require major dredging. Lake dikes should be fitted with major flood-release gates, and branch channels opened below them. In short, the Huai cannot be managed without first controlling the Yellow River, nor can dikes hold without freeing the Huai's course." The memorial was sent to the river and grain transport officials for joint deliberation.

淮之出清口也，以黃水由老黃河奔注，而老黃河久淤，未幾復塞，淮水仍漲溢。給事中劉鉉請亟開通海口，而簡大臣會同河漕諸臣往治。乃命桂芳為工部尚書兼理河漕，而裁總河都御史官。桂芳甫受命而卒。

The Huai had been exiting at Qingkou while Yellow River water poured in through the Old Yellow River, but that channel had long been silted and soon blocked again, and Huai water continued to rise and spill over. Supervising Secretary Liu Xuan urged that the estuary be opened at once and that a senior minister be dispatched with the river and grain transport officials to oversee the work. Guifang was appointed Minister of Works with concurrent authority over river and grain transport, and the separate Grand Coordinator for Rivers post was abolished. Guifang died soon after taking up the appointment.

六年夏，潘季馴代。時給事中李淶請多浚海口，以導眾水之歸。給事中王道成則請塞崔鎮決口，築桃、宿長堤，修理高家堰，開復老黃河。並下河臣議。季馴與督漕侍郎江一麟相度水勢，言：

In the summer of year 6, Pan Jixun succeeded him. Supervising Secretary Li Lai petitioned for extensive dredging of the estuary to channel all the waters to the sea. Supervising Secretary Wang Daocheng proposed sealing the breach at Cuizhen, building long dikes at Tao and Su, repairing the Gaojia Weir, and restoring the Old Yellow River. Both proposals were referred to the river commissioners for review. Jixun and Vice Minister of Grain Transport Jiang Yilin surveyed the water conditions and reported:

「海口自雲梯關四套以下，闊七八里至十餘里，深三四丈。欲別議開鑿，必須深闊相類，方可注放，工力甚難。且未至海口，乾地猶可施工，其將入海之地，潮汐往來，與舊口等耳。舊口皆系積沙，人力雖不可浚，水力自能沖刷，海無可浚之理。惟當導河歸海，則以水治水，即浚海之策也。河亦非可以人力導，惟當繕治堤防，俾無旁決，則水由地中，沙隨水去，即導河之策也。

"From Yunti Pass downstream through the four channel sets, the estuary spans seven or eight li to more than ten li wide and runs three or four zhang deep. Any new cut would have to match that depth and width before it could carry the flow—an almost impossible task. Before the estuary, work can still proceed on dry ground; but at the sea itself the tides surge back and forth, making any new mouth no different from the old one. The old mouths are packed with sand that human labor cannot remove, but the current itself can scour them away—the sea cannot be dredged by hand. The answer is to guide the river back to the sea—using water to master water is itself the way to clear the estuary. Nor can the river be steered by human force alone; repair the dikes to prevent side breaches, let water run in its bed and sand wash away with it—that is how to guide the river.

頻年以來，日以繕堤為事，顧卑薄而不能支，迫近而不能容，雜以浮沙而不能久。是以河決崔鎮，水多北潰，為無堤也。淮決高家堰、黃浦口，水多東潰，堤弗固也。不咎制之未備，而咎築堤為下策，豈通論哉！上流既旁潰，又岐下流而分之，其趨雲梯入海口者，譬猶強弩之末耳。水勢益分則力益弱，安能導積沙以注海？

For years the daily work has been dike repair—yet the dikes are too low and thin to bear the strain, too close to the channel to hold the water, and built with loose sand so they cannot endure. That is why when the river broke at Cuizhen, water poured north—for lack of dikes. When the Huai broke through the Gaojia Weir and Huangpukou, water poured eastward—the dikes were not strong enough. To fault dike-building as a poor strategy rather than the failure to build them properly—is that sound reasoning? With the upper course already spilling sideways and the lower course split into branches, what reaches Yunti and the sea is like the spent bolt of a crossbow. The more the current is divided, the weaker it grows—how can it scour sand and reach the sea?

故今日浚海急務，必先塞決以導河，尤當固堤以杜決，而欲堤之不決，必真土而勿雜浮沙，高厚而勿惜鉅費，讓遠而勿與爭地，則堤乃可固也。沿河堤固，而崔鎮口塞，則黃不旁決而沖漕力專。高家堰築，硃家口塞，則淮不旁決而會黃力專。淮、黃既合，自有控海之勢。又懼其分而力弱也，必暫塞清江浦河，而嚴司啟閉以防其內奔。姑置草灣河，而專復雲梯以還其故道。仍接築淮安新城長堤，以防其末流。使黃、淮力全，涓滴悉趨於海，則力強且專，下流之積沙自去，海不浚而辟，河不挑而深，所謂固堤即以導河，導河即以浚海也。」

Today's urgent work is to seal breaches to guide the river and, above all, strengthen dikes to prevent new breaks. Dikes will hold only if built of solid earth without loose sand, raised high and thick at whatever cost, and set far back from the channel rather than hugging the bank—then they can endure. With solid dikes along the river and Cuizhen sealed, the Yellow River will not spill sideways and its scouring force will concentrate on the grain channel. With the Gaojia Weir rebuilt and Zhujiakou sealed, the Huai will not spill sideways and its force will concentrate on joining the Yellow River. Once the Huai and Yellow River merge, they will naturally command the estuary. Fearing that division would weaken them, the Qingjiangpu channel must be temporarily blocked, with strict control of sluice gates to prevent water from rushing inland. For now leave the Caowan channel aside and focus on restoring Yunti to its former course. Continue the long dike at Huai'an Xincheng to contain the lower reach. If the Yellow River and Huai unite their full force and every drop races to the sea, the current will be strong and focused, sand in the lower reach will wash away on its own, the estuary will clear without dredging and the channel deepen without excavation—solidifying dikes guides the river, and guiding the river clears the sea."

又言：「黃水入徐，曆邳、宿、桃、清，至清口會淮而東入海。淮水自洛及鳳，曆盱、泗，至清口會河而東入海。此兩河故道也。元漕江南粟，則由揚州直北廟灣入海，未嘗溯淮。陳瑄始堤管家諸湖，通淮為運道。慮淮水漲溢，則築高家堰堤以捍之，起武家墩，經大、小澗至阜寧湖，而淮不東侵。又慮黃河漲溢，則堤新城北以捍之，起清江浦，沿缽池山、柳浦灣迤東，而黃不南侵。

He added: "Yellow River water enters Xu, runs through Pi, Su, Tao, and Qing, joins the Huai at Qingkou, and turns east to the sea. Huai water from the Luo and Feng regions passes through Xu and Si, meets the Yellow River at Qingkou, and runs east to the sea. These are the two rivers' original courses. Under the Yuan, Jiangnan grain tribute went straight north from Yangzhou through Miaowan to the sea, never entering the Huai. Chen Xuan first diked the Guanjia lakes and linked the Huai as the grain route. To hold back rising Huai water, he built the Gaojia Weir from Wujiadun through the Great and Small Streams to Funing Lake, keeping the Huai from spreading east. Fearing Yellow River floods as well, he raised dikes north of Xincheng from Qingjiangpu east along Bochi Mountain and Liupu Bay to keep the Yellow from pushing south.

其後，堤岸漸傾，水從高堰決入，淮郡遂同魚鱉。而當事者未考其故，謂海口壅閉，宜亟穿支渠。詎知草灣一開，西橋以上正河遂至淤阻。夫新河闊二十餘丈，深僅丈許，較故道僅三十之一，豈能受全河之水？下流既壅，上流自潰，此崔鎮諸口所由決也。今新河復塞，故河漸已通流，雖深闊未及原河十一，而兩河全下，沙隨水刷，欲其全復河身不難也。河身既復，闊者七八里，狹亦不下三四百丈，滔滔東下，何水不容？匪惟不必別鑿他所，即草灣亦可置勿浚矣。

Later the dikes gave way, water burst through the high weir, and the Huai region was submerged like a fishpond. Officials never traced the cause; they blamed a choked estuary and called for urgent cutting of branch channels. They did not foresee that opening Caowan would silt up and choke the main channel above Xiqiao. The new channel spans more than twenty zhang but is only about one zhang deep—one thirtieth of the old bed—how could it carry the whole river? When the lower course chokes, the upper course must break—that is why Cuizhen and the other breaches opened. Now the new channel has silted shut again and the old river is gradually reopening; though it is not yet a tenth of the original depth and width, with both streams running full and sand washing away, restoring the channel is not hard. Restored, the channel runs seven or eight li wide in places and no less than three or four hundred zhang even at its narrowest; flowing east in full force, what flood could it not carry? There is no need to cut new channels elsewhere; even Caowan can be left alone.

故為今計，惟修復陳瑄故跡，高築南北兩堤，以斷兩河之內灌，則淮、揚昏墊可免。塞黃浦口，築寶應堤，浚東關等淺，修五閘，復五壩，則淮南運道無虞。堅塞桃源以下崔鎮口諸決，則全河可歸故道。黃、淮既無旁決，並驅入海，則沙隨水刷，海口自復，而桃、清淺阻，又不足言。此以水治水之法也。若夫爬撈之說，僅可行諸閘河，前入屢試無功，徒費工料。」

The present remedy is to restore Chen Xuan's old works, raise high dikes on both banks, and stop inward flooding from both rivers—only then can the Huai-Yang lowlands be saved from inundation. Seal Huangpukou, build the Baoying dike, dredge shoals such as Dongguan, repair the five sluices, and restore the five dams, and the grain route south of the Huai will be safe. Seal the breaches at Cuizhen and elsewhere below Taoyuan, and the entire river can return to its old bed. Once the Yellow and Huai no longer spill sideways but drive together to the sea, sand will wash away with the current, the estuary will reopen itself, and the shoals at Tao and Qing will hardly matter. This is the principle of using water to master water. The rake-and-scoop method works only on canal sluices; predecessors tried it repeatedly without success, wasting labor and materials."

於是條上六議：曰塞決口以挽正河，曰築堤防以杜潰決，曰復閘壩以防外河，曰創滾水壩以固堤岸，曰止浚海工程以省糜費，曰寢開老黃河之議以仍利涉。帝悉從其請。

He then submitted six proposals: seal breaches to restore the main channel; build dikes to stop collapses; restore sluice dams against the outer river; create overflow dams to strengthen banks; halt estuary dredging to save expense; and drop the plan to reopen the Old Yellow River so crossings remain easy. The emperor approved all his proposals.

七年十月，兩河工成，賚季馴、一麟銀幣，而遣給事中尹瑾勘實。八年春進季馴太子太保工部尚書，廕一子。一麟等遷擢有差。是役也，築高家堰堤六十餘里，歸仁集堤四十餘里，柳浦灣堤東西七十餘里，塞崔鎮等決口百三十，築徐、睢、邳、宿、桃、清兩岸遙堤五萬六千餘丈，碭、豐大壩各一道，徐、沛、豐、碭縷堤百四十餘里，建崔鎮、徐升、季泰、三義減水石壩四座，遷通濟閘於甘羅城南，淮、揚間堤壩無不修築，費帑金五十六萬有奇。其秋擢季馴南京兵部尚書。季馴又請復新集至小浮橋故道，給事中王道成、河南巡撫周鑒等不可而止。自桂芳、季馴時罷總河不設，其後但以督漕兼理河道。高堰初築，清口方暢，流連數年，河道無大患。

In the tenth month of year 7, work on both rivers was finished; Jixun and Yilin received silver and silk rewards, and Supervising Secretary Yin Jin was sent to verify the results. In the spring of year 8 Jixun was promoted to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Minister of Works, and one son received hereditary privilege. Yilin and others received graded promotions. The project built more than sixty li of Gaojia Weir dike, forty li at Guirenji, seventy li at Liupu Bay, sealed 130 breaches at Cuizhen and elsewhere, raised 56,000-plus zhang of distant dikes on both banks from Xu, Sui, Pi, Su, Tao, and Qing, one major dam each at Dang and Feng, 140 li of thread dikes at Xu, Pei, Feng, and Dang, four stone overflow dams at Cuizhen, Xusheng, Jitai, and Sanyi, moved the Tongji Sluice south of Ganluo city, repaired every dike and dam between Huai and Yang, and cost more than 560,000 taels. That autumn Jixun was promoted to Nanjing Minister of War. Jixun again asked to restore the old channel from Xinjii to Xiaofuqiao, but Supervising Secretary Wang Daocheng, Henan Grand Coordinator Zhou Jian, and others blocked it. Since Guifang and Jixun's time the Grand Coordinator for Rivers was abolished; thereafter only the grain transport commissioner also handled river works. When the high weir was first built and Qingkou still ran clear, the channel remained trouble-free for several years.

至十五年，封丘、偃師、東明、長垣屢被沖決。大學士申時行言：「河所決地在三省，守臣畫地分修，易推委。河道未大壞，不必設都御史，宜遣風力老成給事中一人行河。」乃命工科都給事中常居敬往。居敬請修築大社集東至白茅集長堤百里。從之。

By year 15, Fengqiu, Yanshi, Dongming, and Changyuan had been breached repeatedly. Grand Secretary Shen Shixing argued: "The breaches lie in three provinces; when local officials repair only their own jurisdictions, responsibility is easily shirked. The channel is not yet badly broken; rather than appoint a censor-in-chief, send one seasoned supervising secretary to inspect the river." Director of Works Supervising Secretary Chang Jujing was dispatched. Jujing proposed a hundred-li long dike from east of Dasheji to Baimaoji. The proposal was approved.

初，黃河由徐州小浮橋入運，其河深且近洪，能刷洪以深河，利於運道。後漸徙沛縣飛雲橋及徐州大、小溜溝。至嘉靖末，決邵家口，出秦溝，由濁河口入運，河淺，迫茶城，茶城歲淤，運道數害。萬曆五年冬，河復南趨，出小浮橋故道，未幾復堙。潘季馴之塞崔鎮也，厚築堤岸，束水歸漕。嗣後水發，河臣輒加堤，而河身日高矣。於是督漕僉都御史楊一魁欲復黃河故道，請自歸德以下丁家道口浚至石將軍廟，令河仍自小浮橋出。又言：「善治水者，以疏不以障。年來堤上加堤，水高淩空，不啻過顙。濱河城郭，決水可灌。宜測河身深淺，隨處挑浚，而於黃河分流故道，設減水石門以泄暴漲。」給事中王士性則請復老黃河故道。大略言：

At first the Yellow River entered the grain route at Xiaofuqiao in Xuzhou; that channel was deep and close to the Hong shoals, scouring them and deepening the bed—a boon to transport. Later it shifted to Feiyun Bridge in Pei County and the Great and Small Liugou at Xuzhou. By late Jiajing it broke at Shaojiakou, ran out through Qingoukou, and entered the grain route via Zhuohekou; the channel shoaled, pressed on Chacheng, which silted every year, and transport suffered repeatedly. In the winter of Wanli 5 the river turned south again through the old Xiaofuqiao bed, but soon silted shut once more. When Pan Jixun sealed Cuizhen, he built heavy dikes to confine the water back into the grain route. Afterward, whenever floods rose, river officials piled the dikes higher, and the riverbed rose day by day. Vice Censor-in-Chief for grain transport Yang Yikui then sought to restore the Yellow River's old course, proposing dredging from Dingjiakou below Guide to Shijiangjun Temple so the river would again exit at Xiaofuqiao. He also wrote: "Good water management relies on dredging, not on blocking. In recent years dikes have been piled atop dikes until the water looms overhead, higher than a man's brow. Any breach can pour water into cities along the bank. Measure the channel depth and dredge wherever needed; along the Yellow River's old diversion beds, install stone flood gates to release sudden surges." Supervising Secretary Wang Shixing, meanwhile, petitioned to restore the Old Yellow River. In outline he argued:

「自徐而下，河身日高，而為堤以束之，堤與徐州城等。束益急，流益迅，委全力於淮而淮不任。故昔之黃、淮合，今黃強而淮益縮，不復合矣。黃強而一啟天妃、通濟諸閘，則灌運河如建瓴。高、寶一梗，江南之運坐廢。淮縮則退而侵泗。為祖陵計，不得不建石堤護之。堤增河益高，根本大可虞也。河至清河凡四折而後入海。淮安、高、寶、鹽、興數百萬生靈之命託之一丸泥，決則盡成魚暇矣。

"Below Xu the riverbed rises daily, yet dikes confine it until they stand level with Xuzhou city. The tighter the confinement, the swifter the current; all force is thrown on the Huai, which cannot bear it. Where the Yellow and Huai once joined, the Yellow has grown strong and the Huai ever more constricted—they no longer merge. With the Yellow running strong, opening the Tianfei, Tongji, and other sluices floods the canal like water tipped from a high eave. Block Gao and Bao once, and Jiangnan transport stops cold. Constricted, the Huai backs up and invades the Si. To protect the ancestral tombs, stone dikes had to be built. As dikes rise, the river rises with them—the root of the danger is grave. From Qinghe the river bends four times before reaching the sea. Millions in Huai'an, Gao, Bao, Yan, and Xing rest their lives on a pellet of mud; one breach and all become fish in a net.

紛紛之議，有欲增堤泗州者，有欲開顏家、灌口、永濟三河，南甃高家堰、北築滾水壩者。總不如復河故道，為一勞永逸之計也。河故道由三義鎮達葉家沖與淮合，在清河縣北別有濟運河，在縣南蓋支河耳。河強奪支河，直趨縣南，而自棄北流之道，然河形固在也。自桃源至瓦子灘凡九十里，ＡＨ下不耕，無室廬填墓之礙，雖開河費鉅，而故道一復，為利無窮。」

Amid competing proposals, some wanted higher dikes at Sizhou, some wanted the Yanjia, Guankou, and Yongji rivers opened, some wanted Gaojia Weir faced with stone to the south and overflow dams built to the north. None of these match restoring the old riverbed as a lasting remedy. The old course ran from Sanyizhen to Yejiachong to join the Huai; north of Qinghe stood a separate grain canal, while south of the county was only a branch channel. The river seized the branch channel and rushed south of the county, abandoning its north-flowing bed—yet the old channel still survives. From Taoyuan to Wazitan is ninety li of low, uncultivated ground, free of houses, tombs, or other obstacles. Though the expense would be great, restoring the old course would bring endless benefit."

議皆未定。居敬及御史喬璧星皆請復專設總理大臣。乃命潘季馴為右都御史總督河道。

No proposal was finally adopted. Jujing and Censor Qiao Bixing both asked that a dedicated river commissioner be reinstated. Pan Jixun was appointed Right Censor-in-Chief with overall charge of the river works.

時帝從居敬言，罷老黃河議，而季馴抵官，言：「親集故道，故老言『銅幫鐵底』，當開，但歲儉費繁，未能遽行。」又言：「黃水濁而強，汶、泗清且弱，交會茶城。伏秋黃水發，則倒灌人漕，沙停而淤，勢所必至。然黃水一落，漕即從之，沙隨水去，不浚自通，縱有淺阻，不過旬日。往時建古洪、內華二閘，黃漲則閉閘以遏濁流，黃退則啟閘以縱泉水。近者居敬復增建鎮口閘，去河愈近，則吐納愈易。但當嚴閘禁如清江浦三閘之法，則河渠永賴矣。」帝方委季馴，即從其言，罷故道之議。未幾，水患益甚。

The emperor had already shelved the Old Yellow River plan on Jujing's advice. On taking office Jixun reported: "I inspected the old bed myself; elders call it 'copper banks and an iron bottom' and say it should be opened—but famine makes costs heavy, and it cannot be done at once." He added: "Yellow water is muddy and strong, Wen and Si water clear and weak; they meet at Chacheng. When the Yellow rises in the flood season, it backflows into the grain route; sand settles and silts up—inevitably so. Yet once the Yellow falls, the grain route follows; sand washes away without dredging—even shoals clear within ten days. Formerly the Guhong and Neihua sluices were built: when the Yellow rose, the gates closed to block muddy flow; when it fell, they opened to release clear spring water. Recently Jujing added the Zhenkou Sluice; placed closer to the river, it regulates flow more easily. Enforce sluice control as strictly as at Qingjiangpu's three gates, and the river and canal will be secure for good." The emperor, having just entrusted Jixun, accepted his view and dropped the old-course plan. Before long floods grew worse still.

十七年六月，黃水暴漲，決獸醫口月堤，漫李景高口新堤，沖入夏鎮內河，壞田廬，沒人民無算。十月，決口塞。十八年，大溢，徐州水積城中者逾年。眾議遷城改河。季馴浚魁山支河以通之，起蘇伯湖至小河口，積水乃消。十九年九月，泗州大水，州治淹三尺，居民沉溺十九，浸及祖陵。而山陽復河決，江都、邵伯又因湖水下注，田廬浸傷。工部尚書曾同亨上其事，議者紛起。乃命工科給事中張貞觀往泗州勘視水勢，而從給事中楊其休言，放季馴歸，用舒應龍為工部尚書總督河道。

In the sixth month of year 17 the Yellow surged violently, broke the crescent dike at Shouyikou, overtopped the new dike at Lijinggaokou, poured into Xiazhen's inner river, destroyed fields and homes, and drowned countless people. In the tenth month the breach was sealed. In year 18 a great flood left water standing in Xuzhou city for more than a year. Many proposed relocating the city and changing the river's course. Jixun dredged the Kuishan branch from Subo Lake to Xiaohekou to drain the flood, and the standing water finally receded. In the ninth month of year 19 Sizhou flooded; water in the prefectural seat stood three chi deep, nine tenths of residents were drowned, and the flood reached the ancestral tombs. Meanwhile Shanyang broke again, and in Jiangdu and Shaobo lake water poured down and damaged fields and homes. Minister of Works Zeng Tongheng reported the disaster, and debate erupted on all sides. Supervising Secretary of Works Zhang Zhenguan was sent to inspect Sizhou; on Supervising Secretary Yang Qixiu's advice, Jixun was dismissed and Shu Yinglong appointed Minister of Works with overall charge of river works.

二十年三月，季馴將去，條上辨惑者六事，力言河不兩行，新河不當開，支渠不當浚。又著書曰河防一覽，大旨在築堤障河，束水歸漕；築堰障淮，逼淮注黃。以清刷濁，沙隨水去。合則流急，急則蕩滌而河深；分則流緩，緩則停滯而沙積。上流既急，則海口自辟而無待於開。其治堤之法，有縷堤以束其流，有遙堤以寬其勢，有滾水壩以泄其怒。法甚詳，言甚辯。然當是時，水勢橫潰，徐、泗、淮、揚間無歲不受患，祖陵被水。季馴謂當自消，已而不驗。於是季馴言詘，而分黃導淮之議由此起矣。

In the third month of year 20, as Jixun prepared to leave, he submitted six clarifications, insisting that the river cannot run in two courses, new channels should not be opened, and branch channels should not be dredged. He also wrote Overview of River Defense, arguing chiefly for dikes to block the river and confine water to the grain route; weirs to block the Huai and force it into the Yellow; use clear water to scour muddy water so sand washes away with the current. United, the current runs swift; swift, it scours and the channel deepens; divided, it slackens; slack, it stagnates and sand piles up. When the upper reach runs swift, the estuary opens itself without dredging. His dike methods included thread dikes to confine flow, distant dikes to widen its force, and overflow dams to release surges. The methods were detailed and the argument eloquent. Yet at that time water burst everywhere; between Xu, Si, Huai, and Yang no year passed without disaster, and the ancestral tombs were flooded. Jixun said the flood would subside on its own, but it did not. Jixun's argument failed, and from this arose the proposal to split the Yellow and guide the Huai.

貞觀抵泗州言：「臣謁祖陵，見泗城如水上浮盂，盂中之水復滿。祖陵自神路至三橋、丹墀，無一不被水。且高堰危如累卵，又高、寶隱禍也。今欲泄淮，當以辟海口積沙為第一義。然泄淮不若殺黃，而殺黃於淮流之既合，不若殺於未合。但殺於既合者與運無妨，殺於未合者與運稍礙。別標本，究利害，必當殺於未合之先。至於廣入海之途，則自鮑家口、黃家營至魚溝、金城左右，地勢頗下，似當因而利導之。」貞觀又會應龍及總漕陳於陛等言：「淮、黃同趨者惟海，而淮之由黃達海者惟清口。自海沙開浚無期，因而河身日高；自河流倒灌無已，因而清口日塞。以致淮水上浸祖陵，漫及高、寶，而興、泰運堤亦沖決矣。今議辟清口沙，且分黃河之流於清口上流十里地，去口不遠，不至為運道梗。分於上，復合於下，則沖海之力專。合必於草灣之下，恐其復沖正河，為淮城患也。塞鮑家口、黃家營二決，恐橫沖新河，散溢無歸。兩岸俱堤，則東北清沭、海安窪下地不虞潰決。計費凡三十六萬有奇。若海口之塞，則潮汐莫窺其涯，難施畚鍤。惟淮、黃合流東下，河身滌而漸深，海口刷而漸辟，亦事理之可必者。」帝悉從其請。乃議於清口上流北岸，開腰鋪支河達於草灣。

Zhenguan reported from Sizhou: "When I visited the ancestral tombs, Sizhou city looked like a bowl floating on water, and the bowl was full again. From the spirit path to the three bridges and the red steps, nothing at the tombs was dry. The high weir stands precarious as piled eggs, and Gao and Bao hide disaster in waiting. To release the Huai, clearing accumulated estuary sand must come first. Yet releasing the Huai is less effective than weakening the Yellow; and weakening the Yellow after the two rivers join is less effective than doing so before they meet. Weakening the Yellow after the rivers join does not hinder transport; doing so before they meet slightly obstructs it. Weighing root against branch and benefit against harm, the Yellow must be weakened before the rivers meet. To widen the path to the sea, the stretch from Baojiakou and Huangjiaying to Yugou and Jincheng lies at relatively low elevation; the sensible course is to follow the land and guide the current accordingly. Zhang Zhenguan then met with Shu Yinglong, Grand Canal Commissioner Chen Yubi, and others, who argued: "The Huai and the Yellow meet the sea only together, and the Huai reaches the sea via the Yellow solely through Qingkou. With no end in sight to dredging the sand at the estuary, the river channel rose day by day; and with the river's reverse flow never ceasing, Qingkou silted up further each day. The consequence was that Huai water backed up into the imperial ancestral tombs, spread through Gaoyou and Baoying, and breached the transport dikes at Xinghua and Taizhou as well. The present plan is to dredge the sand bar at Qingkou and divert part of the Yellow River ten li upstream of the mouth—close enough not to choke the grain route. If the stream is divided above and reunited below, the force scouring toward the sea will be concentrated. The reunion must occur downstream of Caowan, lest the current swing back into the main channel and threaten Huai'an. Sealing the breaks at Baojiakou and Huangjiaying risks a sideways rush into the new channel, with water spreading everywhere and no outlet. With dikes on both banks, the low ground of Qingmiao and Hai'an to the northeast would no longer be at risk of breach. The projected expense came to a little over 360,000 taels. As for the choked estuary, the tides hide its bounds and no shovel work can be applied. Only when the Huai and Yellow join and run east together will the channel be scoured deeper and the estuary flushed open—a result that reason itself demands. The emperor approved their proposals in full. Officials then proposed cutting the Yaopu branch canal on the north bank upstream of Qingkou, running it to Caowan.

既而淮水自決張福堤。直隸巡按彭應參言：「祖陵度可無虞，且方東備倭警，宜暫停河工。」部議令河臣熟計。應龍、貞觀言：「為祖陵久遠計，支河實必不容已之工，請候明春倭警寧息舉行。」其事遂寢。

Before long the Huai burst the Zhangfu Embankment on its own. Zhili circuit censor Peng Yingcan memorialized: "The ancestral tombs appear safe for the moment, and with eastern defenses against Japanese raids still active, river works ought to be suspended temporarily. The ministry ordered the river commissioners to weigh the matter carefully. Yinglong and Zhenguan replied: "For the tombs' long-term protection, the branch canal is indispensable; we ask only that work wait until next spring, when the Japanese threat has eased. The project was dropped.

二十一年春，貞觀報命，議開歸、徐達小河口，以救徐、邳之溢；導濁河入小浮橋故道，以紓鎮口之患。下總河會官集議，未定。五月，大雨，河決單縣黃堌口，一由徐州出小浮橋，一由舊河達鎮口閘。邳城陷水中，高、寶諸湖堤決口無算。明年，湖堤盡築塞，而黃水大漲，清口沙墊，淮水不能東下，於是挾上源阜陵諸湖與山溪之水，暴浸祖陵，泗城淹沒。二十三年，又決高郵中堤及高家堰、高良澗，而水患益急矣。

In the spring of Wanli 21, Zhang Zhenguan returned from his inspection and proposed opening Xiahekou in Gui and Xu to relieve flooding in Xu and Pi; and directing the muddy river into the old Xiaofuqiao channel to ease the crisis at Zhenkou. The plan was referred to the grand canal commissioners for joint deliberation, but no decision was made. In the fifth month, torrential rains broke the river at Huangguhekou in Shanxian; one arm ran out through Xiaofuqiao at Xuzhou, the other down the old channel to the Zhenkou sluice. Pizhou city stood submerged, and the lake dikes of Gaoyou and Baoying opened in countless places. The next year the lake dikes were fully repaired, but the Yellow River rose sharply, sand piled at Qingkou, and the Huai could not run east. Carrying the upstream Funling lakes and mountain streams with it, the flood suddenly engulfed the ancestral tombs and drowned Sizhou. In Wanli 23 the middle dike at Gaoyou, Gaojia Weir, and Gaoliangjian broke again, and the water crisis grew worse.

先是，御史陳邦科言：「固堤束水未收刷沙之利，而反致沖決。法當用浚，其方有三。冬春水涸，令沿河淺夫乘時撈淺，則沙不停而去，一也。官民船往來，船尾悉系鈀犁，乘風搜滌，則沙不寧而去，二也。仿水磨、水碓之法，置為木機，乘水滾蕩，則沙不留而去，三也。至淮必不可不會黃，故高堰斷不可棄。湖溢必傷堤，故周家橋潰處斷不可開。已棄之道必淤滿，故老黃河、草灣等處斷不可。」疏下所司議。戶部郎中華存禮則請復黃河故道，並浚草灣。而是時腰鋪猶未開，工部侍郎沈節甫言：「復黃河未可輕議，至諸策皆第補偏救弊而已，宜概停罷。」乃召應龍還工部，時二十二年九月也。

Earlier, Censor Chen Bangke had argued: "Building dikes to pen the water gains no scouring benefit and only invites breaches. The correct approach is dredging, and there are three methods. First: in the low-water seasons of winter and spring, have shallow-water crews along the river dredge shoals in season so sand cannot settle. Second: on passing official and private vessels, tie rake-plows to every stern and, using wind and current, scour the bed so sand cannot linger. Third: imitate water mills and stampers by installing wooden machines driven by the current to roll and wash sand away. The Huai must ultimately meet the Yellow, so Gaojia Weir cannot be abandoned. Lake overflow inevitably harms the dikes, so the breach at Zhoujia Bridge must not be opened. Abandoned channels inevitably silt full, so the Old Yellow River, Caowan, and similar routes must not be reopened. The memorial was referred to the relevant offices for discussion. Revenue Bureau Director Hua Cunli, by contrast, urged restoring the Yellow River's old course and dredging Caowan as well. Yaopu had still not been opened. Works Vice Minister Shen Jiefu argued: "Restoring the Yellow River must not be debated lightly; besides, these schemes are only stopgaps and ought all to be halted. Yinglong was recalled to the Ministry of Works—this was in the ninth month of Wanli 22.

既而給事中吳應明言：「先因黃河遷徙無常，設遙、縷二堤束水歸漕，及水過沙停，河身日高，徐、邳以下居民盡在水底。今清口外則黃流阻遏，清口內則淤沙橫截，強河橫灌上流約百里許，淮水僅出沙上之浮流，而瀦蓄於盱、泗者遂為祖陵患矣。張貞觀所議腰鋪支河歸之草灣，或從清河南岸別開小河至駱家營、馬廠等地，出會大河，建閘啟閉，一遇運淺，即行此河，亦策之便者。」至治泗水，則有議開老子山，引淮水入江者。宜置閘以時啟閉，拆張福堤而堤清口，使河水無南向。部議下河漕諸臣會勘。直隸巡按牛應元因謁祖陵，目擊河患，繪圖以進，因上疏言：

Supervising Secretary Wu Yingming then wrote: "Because the Yellow River shifted unpredictably, distant and thread dikes were built to confine it for the grain route; as water passed and sand settled, the channel rose daily until everyone below Xu and Pi lived under water. Now the Yellow is blocked outside Qingkou and silt bars it within; the mighty river pushes upstream for roughly a hundred li, the Huai escapes only as surface flow over the sand, and water ponded at Xuyi and Sizhou threatens the ancestral tombs. Zhang Zhenguan's plan for the Yaopu branch to Caowan, or a small cut from the south bank of the Qing reach to Luojiaying and Machang to rejoin the main stream with gated sluices for use whenever the transport channel shoaled, is likewise a practical option. On managing the Si River, some proposed opening Laozishan to divert Huai water into the Yangtze. Sluice gates should regulate flow by season; the Zhangfu Embankment should be cut back and Qingkou diked so river water cannot turn south. The ministry ordered the canal and river commissioners to inspect the plan jointly. Zhili circuit censor Niu Yingyuan, after visiting the ancestral tombs and seeing the flood damage himself, submitted a map and memorialized:

「黃高淮壅，起於嘉靖末年河臣鑿徐、呂二洪巨石，而沙日停，河身日高，潰決由此起。當事者計無復之，兩岸築長堤以束，曰縷堤。縷堤復決，更於數里外築重堤以防，曰遙堤。雖歲決歲補，而莫可誰何矣。

The Yellow stands high and the Huai is choked. This began in late Jiajing, when river officials cut the giant rocks at the Xu and Lü shoals; sand piled up daily, the channel rose daily, and breaches followed. Finding no remedy, officials built long confining dikes on both banks—the thread dikes. When the thread dikes failed again, they built outer dikes several li farther out—the distant dikes. Year after year they broke and were patched, yet nothing could be done.

黃、淮交會，本自清河北二十里駱家營，折而東至大河口會淮，所稱老黃河是也。陳瑄以其迂曲，從駱家營開一支河，為見今河道，而老黃河淤矣。萬曆間，復開草灣支河，黃舍故道而趨，以致清口交會之地，二水相持，淮不勝黃，則竄入各閘口，淮安士民於各閘口築一土埂以防之。嗣後黃、淮暴漲，水退沙停，清口遂淤，今稱門限沙是也。當事者不思挑門限沙，乃傍土埂築高堰，橫亙六十里，置全淮正流之口不事，復將從旁入黃之張福口一併築堤塞之，遂倒流而為泗陵患矣。前歲，科臣貞觀議辟門限沙，裁張福堤，其所重又在支河腰鋪之開。

The Yellow and Huai originally met along the Old Yellow River twenty li north of the Qing reach at Luojiaying, turning east to Dahekou to join the Huai. Chen Xuan, finding that route too winding, cut a branch from Luojiaying—the present main channel—and the Old Yellow River silted up. In the Wanli period the Caowan branch was reopened; the Yellow left its old bed and rushed off, so at Qingkou the two rivers collided, the Huai could not overcome the Yellow, and it forced into the sluice mouths—where Huai'an officials and people built earthen barriers at each gate. Later, when the Yellow and Huai rose together and the water fell while sand remained, Qingkou silted—the bar now called Threshold Sand. Instead of dredging Threshold Sand, officials built Gaojia Weir beside the earthen barriers, a sixty-li barrier across the plain. They ignored the Huai's main outlet, then diked and sealed Zhangfukou where water entered the Yellow from the side, forcing the river back and threatening the Si tombs. The previous year, Supervising Secretary Zhenguan had proposed clearing Threshold Sand and trimming the Zhangfu Embankment, with greatest emphasis on opening the Yaopu branch.

總之，全口淤沙未盡挑辟，即腰鋪工成，淮水未能出也，況下流鮑、王諸口已決，難以施工。豈若復黃河故道，盡辟清口淤沙之為要乎？且疏上流，不若科臣應明所議，就草灣下流浚諸決口，俾由安東歸五港，或於周家橋量為疏通，而急塞黃堌口，挑蕭、碭管道，浚符離淺阻。至宿遷小河為淮水入黃正路，急宜挑辟，使有所歸。」

In short, until the mouth's sand is fully dredged, opening Yaopu will not let the Huai out—and downstream breaks at Baojia and Wangjia already make work there impossible. Would it not be better to restore the Old Yellow River and fully clear Qingkou's silt? As for upstream dredging, Supervising Secretary Yingming's plan is better: dredge the breach mouths below Caowan so water returns to Wugang through Andong, or open Zhoujia Bridge as needed, while urgently sealing Huangguhekou, clearing the Xiao and Dang channels, and dredging the Fuli shoals. The small river at Suqian—the Huai's proper route into the Yellow—must be dredged and opened at once so the water has an outlet.

應龍言：「張福堤已決百餘丈，清口方挑沙，而腰鋪之開尤不可廢。」工部侍郎沈思孝因言：「老黃河自三義鎮至葉家沖僅八千餘丈，河形尚存。宜亟開浚，則河分為二，一從故道抵顏家河入海，一從清口會淮，患當自弭。請遣風力科臣一人，與河漕諸臣定畫一之計。」乃命禮科給事中張企程往勘。而以水患累年，迄無成畫，遷延糜費，罷應龍職為民，常居敬、張貞觀、彭應參等皆譴責有差。御史高舉請「疏周家橋，裁張福堤，辟門限沙，建滾水石壩於周家橋、大小澗口、武家墩、綠楊溝上下，而壩外浚河築岸，使行地中。改塘埂十二閘為壩，灌閘外十二河，以辟入海之路。浚芒稻河，且多建濱江水閘，以廣入江之途。然海口日壅，則河沙日積，河身日高，而淮亦不能安流。有灌口者，視諸口頗大，而近日所決蔣家、鮑家、畀家三口直與相射，宜挑浚成河，俾由此入海。」工部主事樊兆程亦議辟海口，而言：「舊海口決不可浚，當自鮑家營至五港口挑浚成河，令從灌口入海。」俱下工部。請並委企程勘議。

Yinglong replied: "The Zhangfu Embankment has already broken for more than a hundred zhang; Qingkou is only now being dredged, and the Yaopu opening must not be abandoned. Works Vice Minister Shen Sixiao added: "The Old Yellow River from Sanyizhen to Yejiachong is barely eight thousand zhang, and its bed still survives. It should be opened and dredged immediately; the river would then divide in two—one arm down the old course to Yanjiahe and the sea, one joining the Huai at Qingkou—and the crisis should ease on its own. Dispatch one capable supervising secretary, together with the canal and river commissioners, to settle on one unified plan. Supervising Secretary Zhang Qicheng of the Secretariat section was ordered to inspect on site. Because the flood crisis had dragged on for years without a settled plan, wasting funds in delay, Yinglong was dismissed and reduced to commoner status; Chang Jujing, Zhang Zhenguan, Peng Yingcan, and others were censured in varying degrees. Censor Gao Ju proposed opening Zhoujia Bridge, trimming the Zhangfu Embankment, and clearing Threshold Sand; building stone overflow dams above and below Zhoujia Bridge, Daxiaojian Mouth, Wujiadun, and Lüyang Gou, dredging channels and building banks outside the dams so the rivers run below grade. Convert the twelve Tang'geng sluices into dams and feed the twelve rivers outside them to open routes to the sea. Dredge the Mangdao River and build more riverside sluice gates to widen the path into the Yangtze. Yet as the estuary chokes day by day, sand piles up, the channel rises, and the Huai too cannot run freely. Guankou is larger than the other mouths, and the recent breaks at Jiangjia, Baojia, and Wangjia lie directly opposite; dredge a channel there so water can reach the sea by that route. Works Director Fan Zhaocheng also urged opening the estuary, arguing: "The old estuary cannot be dredged; cut a channel from Huangjiaying to Wugangkou and send the water to sea through Guankou. Both memorials were referred to the Ministry of Works. They asked that Qicheng be assigned to inspect and evaluate all of these together.

是時，總河工部尚書楊一魁被論，乞罷，因言：「清口宜浚，黃河故道宜復，高堰不必修，石堤不必砌，減水閘壩不必用。」帝不允辭，而詔以盡心任事。御史夏之臣則言：「海口沙不可劈，草灣河不必浚，腰鋪新河四十里不必開，雲梯關不必辟，惟當急開高堰，以救祖陵。」且言：「歷年以來，高良澗土堤每遇伏秋即沖決，大澗口石堤每遇洶湧即崩潰。是高堰在，為高、寶之利小；而高堰決，則為高、寶之害大也。孰若明議而明開之，使知趨避乎？」給事中黃運泰則又言：「黃河下流未泄，而遽開高堰、周橋以泄淮水，則淮流南下，黃必乘之，高、寶間盡為沼，而運道月河必沖決矣。不如浚五港口，達灌口門，以入於海之為得也。」詔並行勘議。

At this time Grand Canal Director and Works Minister Yang Yikui, under attack in court, asked to resign, saying: "Qingkou should be dredged and the Old Yellow River restored; Gaojia Weir need not be rebuilt, stone dikes need not be faced, and overflow dams need not be used. The emperor refused his resignation and ordered him to serve wholeheartedly. Censor Xia Zhichen argued: "Estuarine sand cannot be cut through; the Caowan canal need not be dredged; the forty-li Yaopu cut need not be opened; Yuntiguan need not be cleared—only Gaojia Weir should be opened at once to save the ancestral tombs. He added: "For years the earthen dikes at Gaoliangjian have broken every flood season, and the stone dikes at Dajian Mouth collapse whenever waters surge. While Gaojia Weir holds, Gaoyou and Baoying gain little; but if it fails, the harm to Gaoyou and Baoying is great. Better to decide openly and breach openly, so people know whether to flee or stay. Supervising Secretary Huang Yuntai added: "If the lower Yellow has not yet been discharged and Gaojia Weir and Zhoujia Bridge are opened hastily to release the Huai, the Huai will turn south and the Yellow will follow—the land between Gaoyou and Baoying will become marsh, and the transport moon canal will break. It is better to dredge Wugangkou, reach Guankou Gate, and send the water to sea. An edict ordered all plans to be inspected and debated together.

企程乃上言：「前此河不為陵患，自隆慶末年高、寶、淮、揚告急，當事狃於目前，清口既淤，又築高堰以遏之，堤張福以束之，障全淮之水與黃角勝，不虞其勢不敵也。迨後甃石加築，堙塞愈堅，舉七十二溪之水匯於泗者，僅留數丈一口出之，出者什一，停者什九。河身日高，流日壅，淮日益不得出，而瀦蓄日益深，安得不倒流旁溢為泗陵患乎？今議疏淮以安陵，疏黃以導淮者，言人人殊。而謂高堰當決者，臣以為屏翰淮、揚，殆不可少。莫若於其南五十里開周家橋注草子湖，大加開浚，一由金家灣入芒稻河注之江，一由子嬰溝入廣洋湖達之海，則淮水上流半有宣洩矣。於其北十五里開武家墩，注永濟河，由窯灣閘出口直達涇河，從射陽湖入海，則淮水下流半有歸宿矣。此急救祖陵第一義也。」會是時，祖陵積水稍退，一魁以聞，帝大悅，仍諭諸臣急協議宣洩。

Qicheng then wrote: "The river had not threatened the tombs before. Since late Longqing, when Gaoyou, Baoying, Huai'an, and Yangzhou all cried emergency, officials clung to short-term fixes. After Qingkou silted, they built Gaojia Weir to hold the Huai back and diked Zhangfu to confine it, penning the whole Huai to wrestle the Yellow without seeing that it could not win. Later, as stone facing and reinforcement piled up, the choke grew tighter. All seventy-two streams gathering at Si were given only a few zhang of outlet—one part out, nine parts held back. The channel rose daily, flow choked daily, the Huai escaped less each day, and ponded water deepened—how could it not back up and spill aside to threaten the Si tombs? Today everyone who speaks of draining the Huai to protect the tombs or draining the Yellow to guide the Huai says something different. Those who say Gaojia Weir should be breached—I believe it is nearly indispensable as a shield for Huai'an and Yangzhou. Better to open Zhoujia Bridge fifty li to the south into Caozi Lake with major dredging—one route from Jinjiawan through the Mangdao River to the Yangtze, one from Ziying Gou through Guangyang Lake to the sea—so half the upper Huai would have relief. Fifteen li to the north, open Wujiadun into the Yongji River, exit through Yaowan Sluice to the Jing River and on through Sheyang Lake to the sea—so half the lower Huai would have an outlet. This is the first urgent step to save the ancestral tombs. Just then standing water at the tombs had receded slightly; Yikui reported it, the emperor was greatly pleased, and again ordered the officials to agree urgently on discharge.

於是企程、一魁共議欲分殺黃流以縱淮，別疏海口以導黃。而督漕尚書褚鈇則以江北歲祲，民不堪大役，欲先泄淮而徐議分黃。御史應元折衷其說，言：「導淮勢便而功易，分黃功大而利遠。顧河臣所請亦第六十八萬金，國家亦何靳於此？」御史陳煃嘗令寶應，慮周家橋既開，則以高郵、邵伯為壑，運道、民產、鹽場交受其害，上疏爭之，語甚激，大旨分黃為先，而淮不必深治。且欲多開入海之路，令高、寶諸湖之水皆東，而後周家橋、武家墩之水可注。而淮安知府馬化龍復進分黃五難之說。潁州兵備道李弘道又謂宜開高堰。鈇遂據以上聞。給事中林熙春駁之，言：「淮猶昔日之淮，而河非昔日之河，先是河身未高，而淮尚安流，今則河身既高，而淮受倒灌，此導淮固以為淮，分黃亦以為淮。」工部乃覆奏云：「先議開腰鋪支河以分黃流，以倭儆、災傷停寢，遂貽今日之患。今黃家壩分黃之工若復沮格，淮壅為害，誰職其咎？請令治河諸臣導淮分黃，亟行興舉。」報可。

Qicheng and Yikui jointly proposed splitting the Yellow to ease the Huai and separately dredging the estuary to guide the Yellow. Grain Transport Commissioner Chu Tie, citing famine in northern Jiangsu and the people's inability to bear heavy labor, wanted to release the Huai first and defer splitting the Yellow. Censor Yingyuan split the difference: "Guiding the Huai is geographically convenient and easier to accomplish; splitting the Yellow is a larger task but with more distant benefits. The river commissioners ask for only 680,000 taels—why should the state stint here? Censor Chen Chao, who had once governed Baoying, feared that opening Zhoujia Bridge would make Gaoyou and Shaobo the sacrifice zone—transport routes, private property, and salt fields would all suffer. He memorialized in fierce protest, arguing that splitting the Yellow should come first and the Huai need not be deeply treated. He also wanted many routes to the sea opened so the waters of Gaoyou and Baoying lakes could all run east, and only then could water from Zhoujia Bridge and Wujiadun be poured in. Huai'an Prefect Ma Hualong then submitted his argument on the five difficulties of splitting the Yellow. Yingzhou military preparedness commissioner Li Hongdao also argued that the Gaoya Weir should be opened. Tie thereupon memorialized the throne citing these views. Supervising Secretary Lin Xichun rebutted him, saying: "The Huai is still the Huai of old, but the river is no longer the river of old. Formerly the river bed was not yet high and the Huai still flowed at ease; now the river bed has risen and the Huai suffers backflow. Guiding the Huai is truly for the Huai's sake, and splitting the Yellow is likewise for the Huai's sake." The Works Ministry replied in memorial: "The earlier plan to open the Yaopu branch river to split the Yellow flow was suspended because of the Japanese alarm and disaster relief, and thus bequeathed today's calamity. If work to split the Yellow at Huangjia Dam is again obstructed and the Huai is dammed to the point of harm, who will bear the blame? We ask that the officials charged with river control be ordered to guide the Huai and split the Yellow and to launch the work at once." The memorial was approved.

二十四年八月，一魁興工未竣，復條上分淮導黃事宜十事。十月，河工告成，直隸巡按御史蔣春芳以聞，復條上善後事宜十六事。乃賞賚一魁等有差。是役也，役夫二十萬，開桃源黃河壩新河，起黃家嘴，至安東五港、灌口，長三百餘里，分泄黃水入海，以抑黃強。辟清口沙七里，建武家墩、高良澗、周家橋石閘，泄淮水三道入海，且引其支流入江。於是泗陵水患平，而淮、揚安矣。

In the eighth month of the twenty-fourth year, before Yikui's project was finished, he again submitted ten items on matters of guiding the Huai and conducting the Yellow. In the tenth month the river works were reported complete; Zhili investigating censor Jiang Chunfang memorialized the fact and again submitted sixteen items on follow-up measures. Rewards and gifts were then bestowed on Yikui and others in varying degrees. In this undertaking two hundred thousand laborers opened the new channel at the Taoyuan Yellow River dam, from Huangjiazui to Andong's five ports and Guankou—a length of more than three hundred li—to divide and discharge Yellow water into the sea and curb the Yellow's strength. Seven li of sand at Qingkou were cleared; stone sluices were built at Wujiadun, Gaoliangjian, and Zhoujia Bridge to discharge Huai water in three routes to the sea, and branch flows were also led into the Yangtze. Thus the water calamity at Siling was settled, and Huai and Yang were secure.

然是時一魁專力桃、清、淮、泗間，而上流單縣黃堌口之決，以為不必塞。鈇及春芳皆請塞之。給事中李應策言：「漕臣主運，河臣主工，各自為見。宜再令析議。」一魁言：「黃堌口一支由虞城、夏邑接碭山、蕭縣、宿州至宿遷，出白洋河，一小支分蕭縣兩河口，出徐州小浮橋，相距不滿四十里。當疏浚與正河會，更通鎮口閘裏湖之水，與小浮橋二水會，則黃堌口不必塞，而運道無滯矣。」從之。於是議浚小浮橋、沂河口、小河口以濟徐、邳運道，以泄碭、蕭漫流，掊歸仁堤以護陵寢。

Yet at this time Yikui concentrated his effort between Taoyuan, Qing, Huai, and Si, while holding that the breach at Huangguhekou upstream in Shan County need not be sealed. Both Tie and Chunfang asked that it be sealed. Supervising Secretary Li Yingce said: "The canal commissioner is master of transport and the river commissioner is master of works; each holds his own view. They should again be ordered to debate and decide separately." Yikui said: "One arm from Huangguhekou runs through Yucheng and Xiayi, connecting Dangshan, Xiaoxian, Suzhou, and Suqian, and exits at Baiyang River; a small branch splits at Xiaoxian's Lianghekou and exits at Xuzhou's Xiaofuqiao, the two less than forty li apart. They should be dredged to meet the main channel, and the water of Zhenkou Sluice's inner lake should further be connected so that it joins the two waters at Xiaofuqiao; then Huangguhekou need not be sealed and the transport route will not be blocked." The proposal was adopted. Thereupon it was proposed to dredge Xiaofuqiao, the Yi River mouth, and the Xiao River mouth to aid the Xu and Pi transport route, to discharge the overflow of Dang and Xiao, and to cut the Guiren Embankment to protect the imperial tombs.

是時，徐、邳復見清、泗運道不利，鈇終以為憂。二十五年正月，復極言黃堌口不塞，則全河南徙，害且立見。議者亦多恐下齧歸仁，為二陵患。三月，小浮橋等口工垂竣，一魁言：

At this time Xu and Pi again saw the Qing and Si transport route impaired, and Tie remained anxious. In the first month of the twenty-fifth year he again spoke urgently that if Huangguhekou were not sealed the whole Yellow River would shift course and the harm would appear at once. Many in the debate also feared that downstream erosion at Guiren would threaten the two tombs. In the third month, as work at Xiaofuqiao and the other mouths neared completion, Yikui said:

「運道通利，河徙不相妨，已有明驗。惟議者以祖陵為慮，請徵往事折之。洪武二十四年，河決原武，東南至壽州入淮。永樂九年，河北入魚臺。未幾復南決，由渦河經懷遠入淮。時兩河合流，曆鳳、泗以出清口，未聞為祖陵患。正統十三年，河北沖張秋。景泰中，徐有貞塞之，復由渦河入淮。弘治二年，河又北沖，白昂、劉大夏塞之，復南流，一由中牟至潁、壽，一由亳州至渦河入淮，一由宿遷小河口會泗。全河大勢縱橫潁、亳、鳳、泗間，下溢符離、睢、宿，未聞為祖陵慮，亦不聞堤及歸仁也。

"The transport route is open and smooth and river migration does not interfere—there is already clear proof. Only because debaters worry for the ancestral tombs, let past events be cited to refute them. In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu the river breached at Yuanwu and flowed southeast to Shouzhou to enter the Huai. In the ninth year of Yongle it moved north to enter Yutai. Before long it breached south again, passing through the Wo River via Huaiyuan to enter the Huai. At that time the two rivers joined and passed Feng and Si to exit at Qingkou; no one heard of harm to the ancestral tombs. In the thirteenth year of Zhengtong the river burst north at Zhangqiu. In the Jingtai period Xu Youzhen sealed it, and it again entered the Huai via the Wo River. In the second year of Hongzhi the river burst north again; Bai Ang and Liu Daxia sealed it and it flowed south again—one route from Zhongmou to Ying and Shou, one from Bozhou to the Wo River to enter the Huai, and one from Suqian's Xiaohekou to join Si. The whole river's main tendency ran across Ying, Bo, Feng, and Si; downstream it overflowed at Fuli, Sui, and Su—yet no one heard of concern for the ancestral tombs, nor of diking at Guiren.

正德三年後，河漸北徙，由小浮橋、飛雲橋、穀亭三道入漕，盡趨徐、邳，出二洪，運道雖濟，而泛溢實甚。嘉靖十一年，硃裳始有渦河一支中經鳳陽祖陵未敢輕舉之說。然當時猶時浚祥符之董盆口、寧陵之五里鋪、滎澤之孫家渡、蘭陽之趙皮寨，又或決睢州之地丘店、界牌口、野雞岡，寧陵之楊村鋪，俱入舊河，從亳、鳳入淮，南流未絕，亦何嘗為祖陵患？

After the third year of Zhengde the river gradually shifted north, entering the canal via Xiaofuqiao, Feiyun Bridge, and Guting in three routes, all rushing toward Xu and Pi and out through the Two Rapids; though the transport route was aided, flooding was in fact severe. In the eleventh year of Jiajing Zhu Shang first voiced the view that a Wo River branch passing through the Fengyang ancestral tombs could not be lightly attempted. Yet at that time they still sometimes dredged Dongpenkou at Xiangfu, Wulipu at Ningling, Sunjiadu at Xingze, and Zhaopizhai at Lanyang, or breached Diqiudian, Jiepaikou, and Yejigang at Suizhou, Yangcunpu at Ningling—all entering the old river and from Bo and Feng entering the Huai; the southern flow was not cut off—when had it ever harmed the ancestral tombs?

嘉靖二十五年後，南流故道始盡塞，或由秦溝入漕，或由濁河入漕。五十年來全河盡出徐、邳，奪泗入淮。而當事者方認客作主，日築堤而窘之，以致河流日壅，淮不敵黃，退而內瀦，遂貽盱、泗祖陵之患。此實由內水之停壅，不由外水之沖射也。萬曆七年，潘季馴始慮黃流倒灌小河、白洋等口，挾諸河水沖射祖陵，乃作歸仁堤為保障計，復張大其說，謂祖陵命脈全賴此堤。習聞其說者，遂疑黃堌之決，下齧歸仁，不知黃堌一決，下流易泄，必無上灌之虞。況今小河不日竣工，引河復歸故道，雲歸仁益遠，奚煩過計為？」報可。

After the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing the old southern channels were finally all blocked, or entered the canal via Qingou, or via the Zhuo River. For fifty years the whole river exited only at Xu and Pi, seizing Si to enter the Huai. Meanwhile those in charge treated the guest as master, day by day building dikes to confine it, so the river daily silted, the Huai could not match the Yellow, retreated and ponded inward, and thus bequeathed calamity to the tombs at Xu and Si. This was truly because inner waters stagnated and dammed, not because outer waters struck and shot. In the seventh year of Wanli Pan Jixun first feared Yellow backflow at the Xiao River, Baiyang, and other mouths, carrying various river waters to strike the ancestral tombs; he therefore built the Guiren Embankment as a safeguard and again exaggerated the claim that the ancestral tombs' life-line wholly depended on this dike. Those accustomed to hear this view then suspected that the Huanggu breach would erode Guiren downstream, not knowing that once Huanggu breached, downstream discharge would be easy and there would certainly be no fear of upward flooding. Moreover the small river will soon be completed and the diverted river will return to its old course; Guiren will be even farther away—why fuss with excessive worry?" Approval was granted.

一魁既開小浮橋，築義安山，浚小河口，引武沂泉濟運。及是年四月，河復大決黃堌口，溢夏邑、永城，由宿州府離橋出宿遷新河口入大河，其半由徐州入舊河濟運。上源水枯，而義安束水橫壩復沖二十餘丈，小浮橋水脈微細，二洪告涸，運道阻澀。一魁因議挑黃堌口迤上埽灣、淤嘴二處，且大挑其下李吉口北下濁河，救小浮橋上流數十里之涸。復上言：「黃河南旋至韓家道、盤岔河、丁家莊，俱岸闊百丈，深逾二丈，乃銅幫鐵底故道也。至劉家ＡＨ，始強半南流，得山西坡、永涸湖以為壑，出溪口入符離河，亦故道也。惟徐、邳運道淺涸，所以首議開小浮橋，再加挑辟，必大為運道之利。乃欲自黃堌挽回全河，必須挑四百里淤高之河身，築三百里南岸之長堤，不惟所費不貲，竊恐後患無已。」御史楊光訓等亦議挑埽灣直渠，展濟濁河，及築山西坡歸仁堤，與一魁合，獨鈇異議。帝命從一魁言。

Yikui had opened Xiaofuqiao, built Yi'an Mountain, dredged the Xiao River mouth, and led Wuyi springs to aid transport. In the fourth month of that year the river again breached greatly at Huangguhekou, flooding Xiayi and Yongcheng, passing Suzhou's Fuliqiao to exit at Suqian's new river mouth into the great river; half entered the old river at Xuzhou to aid transport. Upstream sources ran dry, and the Yi'an barrier dam that held back water was again breached for more than twenty zhang; the Xiaofuqiao water course grew fine, the Two Rapids reported dry, and the transport route was blocked and sluggish. Yikui therefore proposed dredging upstream at Huangguhekou at Saowan and Yuzui, and greatly dredging the Zhuo River below Lijikou to the north to save the dozens of li of dryness above Xiaofuqiao. He again memorialized: "The Yellow turns south to Hanjiadao, Pancahe, and Dingjiazhuang—all banks a hundred zhang wide and more than two zhang deep—the old channel with copper banks and iron bottom. At Liu's bend it begins to flow mostly south, gaining Xishanpo and Yonghu Lake as basins and exiting at Xikou to enter the Fuli River—also an old channel. Only the Xu and Pi transport route is shallow and dry; that is why opening Xiaofuqiao was first debated, and further dredging will surely greatly benefit the transport route. Yet to turn the whole river back from Huanggu would require dredging four hundred li of silted-high river bed and building three hundred li of long dikes on the south bank—not only would the cost be beyond reckoning; I fear endless trouble afterward. Censor Yang Guangxun and others also proposed dredging a straight channel at Saowan, extending the Zhuo River, and building the Xishanpo Guiren Embankment, agreeing with Yikui; only Tie differed. The emperor ordered that Yikui's view be followed.

一魁復言：「歸仁在西北，泗州在東南，相距百九十里，中隔重岡疊嶂。且歸仁之北有白洋河、硃家溝、周家溝、胡家溝、小河口泄入運河，勢如建瓴，即無歸仁，祖陵無足慮。濁河淤墊，高出地上，曹、單間闊一二百丈，深二三丈，尚不免橫流，徐、邳間僅百丈，深止丈餘，徐西有淺至二三尺者，而夏、永、韓家道口至符離，河闊深視曹、單，避高就下，水之本性，河流所棄，自古難復。且運河本籍山東諸泉，不資黃水，惟當仿正統間二洪南北口建閘之制，於鎮口之下，大浮橋之上，呂梁之下洪，邳州之沙坊，各建石閘，節宣汶、泗，而以小浮橋、沂河口二水助之，更於鎮口西築壩截黃，開唐家口而注之龍溝，會小浮橋入運，以杜灌淤鎮口之害，實萬全計也。」報可。

Yikui again said: "Guiren lies to the northwest and Sizhou to the southeast, a hundred ninety li apart with heavy ridges and layered peaks between. North of Guiren are Baiyang River, Zhujiagou, Zhoujiagou, Hujiagou, and the Xiao River mouth discharging into the canal—the force like water poured from a high jar; even without Guiren the ancestral tombs need not be worried over. The Zhuo River is silted and piled higher than the ground; between Cao and Shan the width is one or two hundred zhang and depth two or three zhang, yet overflow cannot be avoided; between Xu and Pi it is only a hundred zhang and depth barely more than one zhang, and west of Xu there are shallows of only two or three chi; yet from Xia, Yong, and Hanjiadao to Fuli the river is wider and deeper than at Cao and Shan—seeking low from high is water's nature; what the river abandons has been hard to restore since antiquity. Moreover the canal originally relies on Shandong's springs and does not depend on Yellow water; one need only imitate the Jingtai-era system of sluices at the north and south mouths of the Two Rapids—below Zhenkou, above Dafuqiao, at Lüliang's lower rapid, and at Pizhou's Shafang, build stone sluices each to regulate Wen and Si, aided by Xiaofuqiao and the Yi River mouth; further west of Zhenkou build a dam to cut the Yellow, open Tangjiakou to pour into Longgou, join Xiaofuqiao to enter the canal, and stop the harm of backflow silt at Zhenkou—a truly perfect plan." Approval was granted.

二十六年春，從楊光訓等議，撤鈇，命一魁兼管漕運。六月，召一魁掌部事，命劉東星為工部侍郎，總理河漕。

In the spring of the twenty-sixth year, following Yang Guangxun and others, Tie was removed and Yikui was ordered also to oversee grain transport. In the sixth month Yikui was summoned to head the ministry; Liu Dongxing was appointed Works Vice Minister to oversee rivers and grain transport overall.

二十七年春，東星上言：「河自商、虞而下，由丁家道口抵韓家道口、趙家圈、石將軍廟、兩河口，出小浮橋下二洪，乃賈魯故道也。自元及我朝行之甚利。嘉靖三十七年北徙濁河，而此河遂淤。潘季馴議復開之，以工費浩繁而止。今河東決黃堌，由韓家道口至趙家圈百餘里，沖刷成河，即季馴議復之故道也。由趙家圈至兩河口，直接三仙臺新渠，長僅四十里，募夫五萬浚之，逾月當竣，而大挑運河，小挑濁河，俱可節省。惟李吉口故道嘗挑復淤，去冬已挑數里，前功難棄，然至鎮口三百里而遙，不若趙家圈至兩河口四十里而近。況大浮橋已建閘蓄汶、泗之水，則鎮口濟運亦無藉黃流。」報可。十月，功成，加東星工部尚書，一魁及餘官賞賚有差。

In the spring of the twenty-seventh year Dongxing memorialized: "Below Shang and Yu the river from Dingjiadao reaches Hanjiadao, Zhaojiaquan, Shijiangjun Temple, and Lianghekou, exits at Xiaofuqiao below the Two Rapids—that is Jia Lu's old channel. From Yuan times and our dynasty it was run with great benefit. In the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing it shifted north to the Zhuo River and this channel silted. Pan Jixun proposed reopening it but stopped because of vast expense. Now the river has breached east at Huanggu; from Hanjiadao to Zhaojiaquan for more than a hundred li scouring has formed a channel—that is exactly the old channel Jixun proposed restoring. From Zhaojiaquan to Lianghekou it connects directly to the Sanxiantai new canal, only forty li long; recruit fifty thousand laborers to dredge it and in a month it should be finished, while great dredging of the canal and small dredging of the Zhuo River can both be saved. Only the Lijikou old channel, once dredged, silted again; last winter several li were dredged and earlier work is hard to abandon—yet it is three hundred li to Zhenkou, not as close as the forty li from Zhaojiaquan to Lianghekou. Moreover Dafuqiao already has sluices storing Wen and Si water, so aiding transport at Zhenkou also need not rely on Yellow flow." Approval was granted. In the tenth month the work was completed; Dongxing was promoted to Works Minister and Yikui and the other officials received rewards in varying degrees.

初，給事中楊廷蘭因黃堌之決，請開泇河，給事中楊應文亦主其說。既而直隸巡按御史佴祺復言之。東星既開趙家圈，復採眾說，鑿泇河，以地多沙石，工未就而東星病。河既南徙，李吉口淤氵殿日高，北流遂絕，而趙家圈亦日就淤塞，徐、邳間三百里，河水尺餘，糧艘阻塞。

Earlier, Supervising Secretary Yang Tinglan, because of the Huanggu breach, had asked to open the Si River; Supervising Secretary Yang Yingwen also supported the view. Later Zhili investigating censor Ni Qi spoke of it again. After Dongxing opened Zhaojiaquan he again took various views and cut the Si River; because the ground had much sand and stone the work was not finished before Dongxing fell ill. The river having shifted south, Lijikou silt rose day by day and northern flow ceased; Zhaojiaquan also daily silted, and for three hundred li between Xu and Pi river water was barely a chi or more and grain ships were blocked.

二十九年秋，工科給事中張問達疏論之。會開、歸大水，河漲商丘，決蕭家口，全河盡南注。河身變為平沙，商賈舟膠沙上。南岸蒙牆寺忽徙置北岸，商、虞多被淹沒，河勢盡趨東南，而黃堌斷流。河南巡撫曾如春以聞，曰：「此河徙，非決也。」問達復言：「蕭家口在黃堌上流，未有商舟不能行於蕭家口而能行於黃堌以東者，運艘大可慮。」帝從其言，方命東星勘議，而東星卒矣。問達復言：「運道之壞，一因黃堌口之決，不早杜塞；更因並力泇河，以致趙家圈淤塞斷流，河身日高，河水日淺，而蕭家口遂決，全河奔潰入淮，勢及陵寢。東星已逝，宜急補河臣，早定長策。」大學士沈一貫、給事中桂有根皆趣簡河臣。

In the autumn of the twenty-ninth year Engineering Supervising Secretary Zhang Wenda memorialized on it. Just then Kai and Gui suffered great floods; the river rose at Shangqiu and breached at Xiaojiakou; the whole river poured south. The river bed became flat sand and merchant boats stuck on the sand. Mengqiang Temple on the south bank suddenly shifted to the north bank; Shang and Yu were largely submerged, the river's tendency all rushed southeast, and Huanggu ceased to flow. Henan governor Zeng Ruchun memorialized, saying: "This is river migration, not a breach." Wenda again said: "Xiaojiakou is upstream of Huanggu; never yet could merchant boats not pass Xiaojiakou yet pass east of Huanggu—the transport fleet is greatly to be worried over. The emperor followed his words and was just ordering Dongxing to investigate and debate when Dongxing died. Wenda again said: "The transport route's ruin—first because the Huanggu breach was not sealed early; second because effort was combined on the Si River, causing Zhaojiaquan to silt and cut flow, the river bed daily higher and water daily shallower, until Xiaojiakou breached and the whole river rushed into the Huai, the force reaching the tombs. Dongxing has passed; river officials should urgently be filled and a long-term plan fixed early. Grand Secretary Shen Yiguan and Supervising Secretary Gui Yougen both urged selecting river officials.

御史高舉獻三策。請浚黃堌口以下舊河，引黃水注之東，遂塞黃堌口，而遏其南，俟舊河沖刷深，則並塞新決之口。其二則請開泇河及膠萊河，而言河漕不宜並於一人，當選擇分任其事。江北巡按御史吳崇禮則請自蒙牆寺西北黃河灣曲之所，開浚直河，引水東流。且浚李吉口至堅城集淤道三十餘里，而盡塞黃堌以南決口，使河流盡歸正漕。工部尚書一魁酌舉崇禮之議，以開直河、塞黃堌口、浚淤道為正策，而以泇河為旁策，膠萊為備策。帝命急挑舊河，塞決口，且兼挑泇河以備用。下山東撫按勘視膠萊河。

Censor Gao Ju submitted three strategies. He asked to dredge the old river below Huangguhekou, lead Yellow water east into it, then seal Huangguhekou and check its south; wait until the old river scours deep, then also seal the newly breached mouth. The second asked to open the Si River and Jiao-Lai River, saying river and canal should not be under one man and that choice should divide the duties. Jiangbei investigating censor Wu Chongli asked to open a straight channel from the bend northwest of Mengqiang Temple, leading water east. He also dredged the silted channel from Lijikou to Jianchengji for more than thirty li, and fully sealed breaches south of Huanggu so the river would all return to the proper canal. Works Minister Yikui weighed Chongli's proposal: opening the straight channel, sealing Huangguhekou, and dredging the silted channel as the main strategy, the Si River as a secondary strategy, and Jiao-Lai as a reserve strategy. The emperor ordered urgent dredging of the old river and sealing of breach mouths, and simultaneous dredging of the Si River for reserve use. Shandong governors and censors were sent to inspect the Jiao-Lai River.

三十年春，一魁覆河撫如春疏言：「黃河勢趨邳、宿，請築汴堤自歸德至靈、虹，以障南徙。且疏小河口，使黃流盡歸之，則彌漫自消，祖陵可無患。」帝喜納之。已而言者再疏攻一魁。帝以一魁不塞黃堌口，致沖祖陵，斥為民。復用崇禮議，分設河漕二臣，命如春為工部侍郎，總理河道。如春議開虞城王家口，挽全河東歸，須費六十萬。

In the spring of the thirtieth year Yikui replied to river governor Ruchun's memorial: "The Yellow River's tendency is toward Pi and Su; please build Bian dikes from Guide to Ling and Hong to block southward shift. Also dredge the Xiao River mouth so Yellow flow all returns there; then widespread flooding will naturally subside and the ancestral tombs need not be harmed." The emperor gladly accepted it. Soon memorialists again repeatedly attacked Yikui. The emperor, holding that Yikui's failure to seal Huangguhekou had struck the ancestral tombs, dismissed him to common status. Chongli's plan was again adopted; river and canal officials were split into two posts, and Ruchun was appointed Works Vice Minister to oversee the river course overall. Ruchun proposed opening Wangjiakou at Yucheng to turn the whole river east—a cost of six hundred thousand.

三十一年春，山東巡撫黃克纘言：「王家口為蒙牆上源，上流既達，則下流不可旁泄，宜遂塞蒙牆口。」從之。時蒙牆決口廣八十餘丈，如春所開新河未及其半，塞而注之，慮不任受。有獻策者言：「河流既回，勢若雷霆，藉其勢沖之，淺者可深也。」如春遂令放水，水皆泥沙，流少緩，旋淤。夏四月，水暴漲，沖魚、單、豐、沛間，如春以憂卒。乃命李化龍為工部侍郎，代其任。

In the spring of the thirty-first year Shandong governor Huang Kezuan said: "Wangjiakou is upstream of Mengqiang; once upstream is open, downstream cannot spill aside—Mengqiang mouth should be sealed at once." The order was followed. At that time the Mengqiang breach was more than eighty zhang wide; the new river Ruchun opened had not reached half that width—sealing and pouring into it was feared beyond capacity. Someone offering a stratagem said: "Once the river turns back, its force is like thunder; borrow that force to scour it and what is shallow can become deep. Ruchun thereupon ordered water released; the water was all mud and sand, the flow somewhat slowed, and it quickly silted. In the fourth month of summer water surged; it burst between Yu, Shan, Feng, and Pei, and Ruchun died of grief. Li Hualong was then appointed Works Vice Minister to replace him.

給事中宋一韓言：「黃河故道已復，陵、運無虞。決口懼難塞，宜深浚堅城以上淺阻，而增築徐、邳兩岸，使下流有所容，則舊河可塞。」給事中孟成己言：「塞舊河急，而浚新河尤急。」化龍甫至，河大決單縣蘇家莊及曹縣縷堤，又決沛縣四鋪口太行堤，灌昭陽湖，入夏鎮，橫沖運道。化龍議開泇河，屬之邳州直河，以避河險。給事中侯慶遠因言：「泇河成，則他工可徐圖，第毋縱河入淮。淮利則洪澤水減，而陵自安矣。」

Supervising Secretary Song Yihan said: "The Yellow River's old course has been restored; tombs and transport are without worry. Breaches are feared hard to seal; deeply dredge the shallows and obstructions above Jiancheng, and raise dikes on both banks at Xu and Pi so downstream has room to hold—then the old river can be sealed. Supervising Secretary Meng Chengyi said: "Sealing the old river is urgent, but dredging the new river is even more urgent." Hualong had barely arrived when the river breached greatly at Suzhuang in Shan County and at the thread dike in Cao County, and again at Taixing Embankment at Sipu in Pei County, flooding Zhaoyang Lake, entering Xiamu, and cutting across the transport route. Hualong proposed opening the Si River, assigning it to Pizhou's straight channel to avoid river peril. Supervising Secretary Hou Qingyuan therefore said: "Once the Si River is complete, other works can be planned slowly—only do not let the river enter the Huai. If the Huai benefits, Hongze's water will lessen and the tombs will naturally be secure."

三十二年正月，部覆化龍疏，大略言：「河自歸德而下，合運入海，其路有三：由蘭陽道考城至李吉口，過堅城集，入六座樓，出茶城而向徐、邳，是名濁河，為中路；由曹、單經豐、沛，出飛雲橋，泛昭陽湖，入龍塘，出秦溝而向徐、邳，是名銀河，為北路；由潘家口過司家道口，至何家堤，經符離，道睢寧，入宿遷，出小河口入運，是名符離河，為南路。南路近陵，北路近運，惟中路既遠於陵，且可濟運，前河臣興役未竣，而河形尚在。」因奏開泇有六善。帝從其議。

In the first month of the thirty-second year the ministry replied to Hualong's memorial, in general saying: "Below Guide the river joins the canal to the sea; its routes are three: from Lanyang via Kaocheng to Lijikou, past Jianchengji, entering Liuzuo Lou, exiting at Chacheng toward Xu and Pi—called the Zhuo River, the middle route; from Cao and Shan via Feng and Pei, exiting at Feiyun Bridge, spreading through Zhaoyang Lake, entering Longtang, exiting at Qingou toward Xu and Pi—called the Silver River, the northern route; from Panjiakou past Sijiadao to Hejiati, via Fuli, through Suining, entering Suqian, exiting at the Xiao River mouth into the canal—called the Fuli River, the southern route. The southern route is near the tombs, the northern near transport; only the middle route is far from the tombs and can aid transport—the former river official's project was not finished, yet the river form remains." They therefore memorialized six benefits of opening the Si. The emperor followed the proposal.

工部尚書姚繼可言：「黃河沖徙，河臣議於堅城集以上開渠引河，使下流疏通，復分六座樓、苑家樓二路殺其水勢，既可移豐、沛之患，又不至沼碭山之城。開泇分黃，兩工並舉，乞速發帑以濟。」允之。八月，化龍奏分水河成。事具《泇河志》中。加化龍太子少保兵部尚書。會化龍丁艱候代，命曹時聘為工部侍郎，總理河道。是秋，河決豐縣，由昭陽湖穿李家港口，出鎮口，上灌南陽，而單縣決口復潰，魚臺、濟甯間平地成湖。

Works Minister Yao Jike said: "Yellow River shifts and migrations—the river officials propose above Jianchengji to open a canal to lead the river so downstream is cleared, and further divide Liuzuo Lou and Yuanjialou in two routes to kill water force—this can move Feng and Pei's calamity and not swamp Dangshan's walls. Opening the Si to split the Yellow—both works together—we beg rapid disbursement from the treasury to aid them." It was granted. In the eighth month Hualong reported the division canal complete. The matter is recorded in the Si River gazetteer. Hualong was promoted to Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Minister of War. Just as Hualong entered mourning and awaited replacement, Cao Shipin was appointed Works Vice Minister to oversee the river course overall. That autumn the river breached at Feng County, passing through Zhaoyang Lake via Lijia Harbor mouth to exit at Zhenkou, flooding upward into Nanyang; the Shan County breach also collapsed again, and between Yutai and Jining flat land became lakes.

三十三年春，化龍言：「豐之失，由巡守不嚴，單之失，由下埽不早，而皆由蘇家莊之決。南直、山東相推諉，請各罰防河守臣。至年來緩堤防而急挑浚，堤壞水溢，不咎守堤之不力，惟委浚河之不深。夫河北岸自曹縣以下無入張秋之路，南岸自虞城以下無入淮之路，惟由徐、邳達鎮口為運道。故河北決曹、鄆、豐、沛間，則由昭陽湖出李家口，而運道溢；南決虞、夏、徐、邳間，則由小河口及白洋河，而運道涸。今泇河既成，起直河至夏鎮，與黃河隔絕，山東、直隸間，河不能制運道之命。獨硃旺口以上，決單則單沼，決曹則曹魚，及豐、沛、徐、邳、魚、碭皆命懸一線堤防，何可緩也？至中州荊隆口、銅瓦廂皆入張秋之路，孫家渡、野雞岡、蒙牆寺皆入淮之路，一不守，則北壞運，南犯陵，其害甚大。請西自開封，東至徐、邳，無不守之地，上自司道，下至府縣，無不守之人，庶幾可息河患。」乃敕時聘申飭焉。

In the spring of the thirty-third year Hualong said: "Feng's loss was from lax patrol, Shan's from late lower revetments—and both from the Suzhuang breach. Nanzhili and Shandong pushed blame on each other; he asked that each punish river-defense officials. In recent years dikes were slackened while dredging was rushed; dikes broke and water overflowed—they did not blame inadequate dike defense but only blamed insufficient dredging depth. North of the river's north bank below Cao County there is no route to Zhangqiu; south of the south bank below Yucheng there is no route to the Huai—only via Xu and Pi reaching Zhenkou is the transport route. Thus if the north bank breaches between Cao, Yun, Feng, and Pei, it exits at Zhaoyang Lake via Lijiakou and the transport route overflows; if the south breaches between Yu, Xia, Xu, and Pi, it goes via the Xiao River mouth and Baiyang River and the transport route dries. Now the Si River is complete from the straight channel to Xiamu, isolated from the Yellow River; between Shandong and Zhili the river cannot control the transport route's fate. Only above Zhuwangkou—breach Shan and Shan floods, breach Cao and Cao and Yutai flood, and Feng, Pei, Xu, Pi, Yutai, and Dang all hang on a single thread of dike defense—how can it be slackened? At Jinglongkou and Tongwaxiang in central Henan are routes to Zhangqiu; Sunjiadu, Yejigang, and Mengqiang Temple are routes to the Huai—if one is not defended, the north ruins transport and the south violates the tombs; the harm is very great. From Kaifeng in the west to Xu and Pi in the east there is no place not to defend; from circuit intendant above to prefecture and county below there is no one not to defend—perhaps river calamity can be stilled. An edict then ordered Shipin to enforce this strictly.

其秋，時聘言：「自蘇莊一決，全河北注者三年。初泛豐、沛，繼沼單、魚，陳燦之塞不成，南陽之堤盡壞。今且上灌全濟，旁侵運道矣。臣親詣曹、單，上視王家口新築之壩，下視硃旺口北潰之流，知河之大可憂者三，而機之不可失者二。河決行堤，泛溢平地，昭陽日墊，下流日淤，水出李家口者日漸微緩，勢不得不退而上溢。溢於南，則孫家渡、野雞岡皆入淮故道，毋謂蒙牆已塞，而無憂於陵。溢於北，則芝麻莊、荊隆口皆入張秋故道，毋謂泇役已成，而無憂於運。且南之夏、商，北之曹、濮，其地益插，其禍益烈，其挽回益不易，毋謂災止魚、濟，而無憂於民。顧自王家口以達硃旺，新導之河在焉。疏其下流以出小浮橋，則三百里長河暢流，機可乘者一。

That autumn Shipin said: "Since the Suzhuang breach the whole river poured south for three years. First it spread through Feng and Pei, then flooded Shan and Yutai; Chen Can's sealing did not succeed and Nanyang's dikes were all ruined. Now it floods all of Ji upward and encroaches on the transport route. I personally went to Cao and Shan; looking upstream at the new dam at Wangjiakou and downstream at the north-collapsed flow at Zhuwangkou, I know three great worries of the river—and two opportunities that must not be lost. The river breaches along the traveling dike, spreads over flat land, Zhaoyang daily silts and downstream daily silts; water exiting Lijiakou grows daily somewhat slower and weaker—the tendency must retreat and overflow upward. Overflowing south, Sunjiadu and Yejigang are all old routes into the Huai—do not say Mengqiang is already sealed and there is no worry for the tombs. Overflowing north, Zhimazhuang and Jinglongkou are all old routes to Zhangqiu—do not say the Si project is complete and there is no worry for transport. South at Xia and Shang, north at Cao and Pu—the land grows more pinched and the disaster fiercer and reversal harder; do not say the calamity stops at Yutai and Ji and there is no worry for the people. Yet from Wangjiakou reaching Zhuwang, the newly guided river lies there. Clear its downstream to exit at Xiaofuqiao and the three-hundred-li long river will flow freely—one opportunity that can be seized.

自徐而下，清黃並行，沙隨水刷，此數十年所未有，因而導水歸徐，容受有地，機可乘者二。臣與諸臣熟計，河之中路有南北二支：北出濁河，嘗再疏再壅；惟南出小浮橋，地形卑下，其勢甚順，度長三萬丈有奇，估銀八十萬兩。公諸虛耗，乞多方處給。」疏上留中。時聘乃大挑硃旺口。十一月興工，用夫五十萬。三十四年四月，工成，自硃旺達小浮橋延袤百七十里，渠廣堤厚，河歸故道。

Below Xu, clear and Yellow run parallel and sand scours with water—something not seen in decades; thus guide water back to Xu and there is room to receive it—a second opportunity that can be seized. I and the officials deliberated: the river's middle route has north and south branches—the north exits at the Zhuo River, dredged twice and blocked twice; only the south exiting at Xiaofuqiao has low terrain and very favorable tendency—length estimated at more than thirty thousand zhang, cost estimated at eight hundred thousand taels. Public funds are wasted; we beg funds from many sources." The memorial was held at court. Shipin then greatly dredged Zhuwangkou. Work began in the eleventh month with five hundred thousand laborers. In the fourth month of the thirty-fourth year the work was complete—from Zhuwang to Xiaofuqiao extending one hundred seventy li, channel broad and dikes thick, the river returned to its old course.

六月，河決蕭縣郭暖樓人字口，北支至茶城、鎮口。三十五年，決單縣。三十九年六月，決徐州狼矢溝。四十年九月，決徐州三山，沖縷堤二百八十丈，遙堤百七十餘丈，梨林鋪以下二十里正河悉為平陸，邳、睢河水耗竭。總河都御史劉士忠開韓家壩外小渠引水，由是壩以東始通舟楫。四十二年，決靈璧陳鋪。四十四年五月，復決狼矢溝，由蛤鰻、周柳諸湖入泇河，出直口，復與黃會。六月，決開封陶家店、張家灣，由會城大堤下陳留，入亳州渦河。四十七年九月，決陽武脾沙堽，由封丘、曹、單至考城，復入舊河。時朝政日馳，河臣奏報多不省。四十二年，劉士忠卒，總河閱三年不補。四十六年閏四月，始命工部侍郎王佐督河道。河防日以廢壞，當事者不能有為。

In the sixth month the river breached at the ren-shaped mouth at Guonuanlou in Xiaoxian; the northern branch reached Chacheng and Zhenkou. In the thirty-fifth year it breached at Shan County. In the sixth month of the thirty-ninth year it breached at Langshigou in Xuzhou. In the ninth month of the fortieth year it breached at Sanshan in Xuzhou, breaching thread dikes for two hundred eighty zhang and remote dikes for more than one hundred seventy zhang; the main channel below Lilinp for twenty li all became flat land, and Pi and Sui river water was exhausted. Grand Canal Director Liu Shizhong opened a small channel outside Hanjiaba to lead water; from that dam eastward boats could at last pass. In the forty-second year it breached at Chenpu in Lingbi. In the fifth month of the forty-fourth year it breached again at Langshigou, passing through Haman, Zhouliu, and other lakes into the Si River, exiting at the straight mouth, and again joining the Yellow. In the sixth month it breached at Taojiadian and Zhangjiawan in Kaifeng, passing under the Huicheng great dike to Chenliu and entering the Wo River at Bozhou. In the ninth month of the forty-seventh year it breached at Pishagang in Yangwu, via Fengqiu, Cao, and Shan to Kaocheng, re-entering the old river. Court affairs daily slackened; river officials' reports were often not reviewed. In the forty-second year Liu Shizhong died; the grand canal post went unfilled for three years. In the intercalary fourth month of the forty-sixth year Works Vice Minister Wang Zuo was at last ordered to supervise the river course. River defenses daily fell into ruin and those in charge could not act effectively.

天啟元年，河決靈譬雙溝、黃鋪，由永姬湖出白洋、小河口，仍與黃會，故道湮涸。總河侍郎陳道亨役夫築塞。時淮安霪雨連旬，黃、淮暴漲數尺，而山陽裏外河及清河決口匯成巨浸，水灌淮城，民蟻城以居，舟行街市。久之始塞。三年，決徐州青田大龍口，徐、邳、靈、睢河並淤，呂梁城南隅隱，沙高平地丈許，雙溝決口亦滿，上下百五十里悉成平陸。四年六月，決徐州魁山堤，東北灌州城，城中水深一丈三尺，一自南門至雲龍山西北大安橋入石狗湖，一由舊支河南流至鄧二莊，曆租溝東南以達小河，出白洋，仍與黃會。徐民苦淹溺，議集貲遷城。給事中陸文獻上徐城不可遷六議。而勢不得已，遂遷州治於雲龍，河事置不講矣。六年七月，河決淮安，逆入駱馬湖，灌邳、宿。

In the first year of Tianqi the river breached at Shuanggou and Huangpu in Lingbi, exiting via Yongji Lake at Baiyang and the Xiao River mouth, again joining the Yellow; the old channel silted dry. Grand Canal Vice Minister Chen Daohheng mobilized laborers to build and seal. At that time Huai'an had continuous rain for ten days; Yellow and Huai surged several chi; inner and outer rivers at Shanyang and Qinghe breach mouths pooled into a great flood, water flooding Huai city; people lived on the city like ants and boats traveled the market streets. Only after a long time was it sealed. In the third year it breached at Qingtian Dalongkou in Xuzhou; Xu, Pi, Ling, and Sui rivers all silted; Lüliang's south corner was hidden, sand a chi or more above flat ground; Shuanggou breach mouths were also full and for one hundred fifty li upstream and downstream all became flat land. In the sixth month of the fourth year it breached at Kuishan Embankment in Xuzhou, flooding Guizhou city to the northeast; water in the city was one chi and three cun deep—one route from the south gate to Yunlong Mountain's northwest Da'an Bridge into Shigou Lake, one by the old branch south to Deng'erzhuang, passing Zugou southeast to reach the small river, exiting at Baiyang, again joining the Yellow. Xu people suffered drowning; some proposed pooling funds to move the city. Supervising Secretary Lu Wenxian submitted six arguments that Xu city could not be moved. Yet circumstances forced it; the prefectural seat was moved to Yunlong and river affairs were set aside. In the seventh month of the sixth year the river breached at Huai'an, backing into Luoma Lake, flooding Pi and Su.

崇禎二年春，河決曹縣十四鋪口。四月，決睢寧，至七月中，城盡圮。總河侍郎李若星請遷城避之，而開邳州壩泄水入故道，且塞曹家口匙頭灣，逼水北注，以減睢寧之患。從之。四年夏，河決原武湖村鋪，又決封丘荊隆口，敗曹縣塔兒灣大行堤。六月黃、淮交漲，海口壅塞，河決建義諸口，下灌興化、鹽城，水深二丈，村落盡漂沒。逡巡逾年，始議築塞。興工未幾，伏秋水發，黃、淮奔注，興、鹽為壑，而海潮復逆沖，壞範公堤。軍民及商灶戶死者無算，少壯轉徙，丐江、儀、通、泰間，盜賊千百嘯聚。至六年，鹽城民徐瑞等言其狀。帝憫之，命議罰河曹官。而是時，總河硃光祚方議開高堰三閘。淮、揚在朝者合疏言：「建義諸口未塞，民田盡沉水底。三閘一開，高、寶諸邑蕩為湖海，而漕糧鹽課皆害矣。高堰建閘始於萬曆二十三年，未幾全塞。今高堰日壞，方當急議修築，可輕言開浚乎？」帝是其言，事遂寢。又從御史吳振纓請，修宿、寧上下西北舊堤，以捍歸仁。七年二月，建義決口工成，賜督漕尚書楊一鵬、總河尚書劉榮嗣銀幣。

In the spring of the second year of Chongzhen the river breached at Shisipu in Cao County. In the fourth month it breached at Suining; by mid-seventh month the city walls were entirely destroyed. Grand Canal Vice Minister Li Ruoxing asked to move the city to avoid it, open the Pi dam to discharge water into the old channel, and seal Caojiakou and Chitouwan to force water north and lessen Suining's calamity. The proposal was adopted. In the summer of the fourth year the river breached at Hucunpu in Yuanwu and again at Jinglongkou in Fengqiu, breaking the Taixing Embankment at Ta'erwan in Cao County. In the sixth month Yellow and Huai rose together; the estuary was blocked; the river breached at Jianyi and other mouths, flooding downward into Xinghua and Yancheng, water two zhang deep, villages all swept away. After hesitation of more than a year, sealing was at last debated. Work had barely begun when autumn flood waters came; Yellow and Huai poured in, Xing and Yan became basins, and sea tides again struck back, breaking Fan Gong Embankment. Soldiers, civilians, and salt-field households died beyond counting; the young and strong migrated, begging between Jiang, Yi, Tong, and Tai; robbers gathered by the hundreds and thousands. By the sixth year Yancheng commoner Xu Rui and others spoke of the situation. The emperor took pity and ordered debate on punishing river officials. Meanwhile Grand Canal Director Zhu Guangzuo was debating opening three sluices at Gaoya Weir. Huai and Yang officials at court jointly memorialized: "Jianyi and other mouths are not sealed and civilian fields are all sunk beneath water. Once the three sluices open, Gaoyou and Baoying counties will be swept into lake and sea, and grain transport and salt levies will all be harmed. Building sluices at Gaoya Weir began in the twenty-third year of Wanli and before long was fully sealed. Now Gaoya Weir daily decays—urgent debate should repair it; can one lightly speak of opening and dredging?" The emperor agreed and the matter was dropped. At censor Wu Zhenying's request, the old dikes northwest of Su and Ning upstream and downstream were repaired to ward off Guiren. In the second month of the seventh year work at the Jianyi breach mouth was completed; grain transport director Yang Yipeng and grand canal director Liu Rongsi were granted silver and silks.

八年九月，榮嗣得罪。初，榮嗣以駱馬湖運道潰淤，創挽河之議，起宿遷至徐州，別鑿新河，分黃水注其中，以通漕運。計工二百餘里，金錢五十萬。而其所鑿邳州上下，悉黃河故道，浚尺許，其下皆沙，挑掘成河，經宿沙落，河坎復平，如此者數四。迨引黃水入其中，波流迅急，沙隨水下，率淤淺不可以舟。及漕舟將至，而駱馬湖之潰決適平，舟人皆不願由新河。榮嗣自往督之，欲繩以軍法。有入者輒苦淤淺，弁卒多怨。巡漕御史倪於義劾其欺罔誤工，南京給事中曹景參復重劾之，逮問，坐贓，父子皆瘐死。郎中胡璉分工獨多，亦坐死。其後駱馬湖復潰，舟行新河，無不思榮嗣功者。

In the ninth month of the eighth year Rongsi fell from favor. Earlier Rongsi, because the Luoma Lake transport route had breached and silted, devised a plan to haul the canal—from Suqian to Xuzhou cutting a separate new channel and pouring Yellow water into it to open grain transport. The project was more than two hundred li and five hundred thousand in cash. What he cut above and below Pizhou was all old Yellow River bed; dredging a chi or so, below was all sand—digging formed a channel, overnight sand fell and the river bank was flat again; this happened four times. When Yellow water was led in, the waves ran swift and sand followed the water down, mostly silted shallow and unusable for boats. When grain boats were about to arrive, the Luoma Lake breach happened to be level and boatmen all refused the new channel. Rongsi went personally to supervise and wished to bind them with military law. Those who entered always suffered shallow silt; soldiers and runners mostly resented it. Canal investigating censor Ni Yuyi impeached him for deception and wasted work; Nanjing supervising secretary Cao Jingcan again impeached heavily; he was arrested and questioned, convicted of corruption, and father and son both died in prison. Director Hu Lian's division of work alone was greater; he also died by conviction. Later Luoma Lake breached again; boats on the new channel all missed Rongsi's achievement.

當是時，河患日棘，而帝又重法懲下，李若星以修浚不力罷官，硃光祚以建義蘇嘴決口逮繫。六年之中，河臣三易。給事中王家彥嘗切言之。光祚亦竟瘐死。而繼榮嗣者周鼎修泇利運頗有功，在事五年，竟坐漕舟阻淺，用故決河防例，遣戍煙瘴。給事中沈胤培、刑部侍郎惠世揚、總河侍郎張國維各疏請寬之，乃獲宥免云。

At that time river calamity daily tightened and the emperor again punished subordinates severely; Li Ruoxing was dismissed for ineffective repair and dredging, Zhu Guangzuo was arrested for the Jianyi Sizui breach mouth. In six years river officials changed three times. Supervising Secretary Wang Jiayan once spoke of it sharply. Guangzuo also ultimately died in prison. His successor Zhou Ding repaired the Si for transport benefit with considerable achievement; in five years in office he was finally sentenced to frontier exile by the old precedent for breach of river defense because grain boats were blocked shallow. Supervising Secretary Shen Yinpei, Punishments Vice Minister Hui Shiyang, and Grand Canal Vice Minister Zhang Guowei each memorialized asking leniency; he was pardoned and exempted.

十五年，流賊圍開封久，守臣謀引黃河灌之。賊偵知，預為備。乘水漲，令其黨決河灌城，民盡溺死。總河侍郎張國維方奉詔赴京，奏其狀。山東巡撫王永吉上言：「黃河決汴城，直走睢陽，東南注鄢陵、鹿邑，必害亳、泗，侵祖陵，而邳、宿運河必涸。」帝令總河侍郎黃希憲急往捍禦，希憲以身居濟寧不能攝汴，請特設重臣督理。命工部侍郎周堪賡督修汴河。

In the fifteenth year bandits besieged Kaifeng long; defending officials planned to lead the Yellow River to flood them. The bandits learned and prepared in advance. Taking advantage of rising water, their agents breached the river to flood the city and the people all drowned. Grand Canal Vice Minister Zhang Guowei was just ordered to the capital and memorialized the situation. Shandong governor Wang Yongji memorialized: "The Yellow River breached Kaifeng city and ran straight to Suiyang, pouring southeast into Yanling and Luyi—it must harm Bo and Si and invade the ancestral tombs, and the Pi and Su canal must dry. The emperor ordered Grand Canal Vice Minister Huang Xixian to rush to defend; Xixian, being at Jining and unable to oversee Bian, asked that a specially appointed senior official supervise. Works Vice Minister Zhou Kaneng was ordered to supervise repair of the Bian River.

十六年二月，堪賡上言：「河之決口有二：一為硃家寨，寬二里許，居河下流，水面寬而水勢緩；一為馬家口，寬一里餘，居河上流，水勢猛，深不可測。兩口相距三十里，至汴堤之外，合為一流，決一大口，直沖汴城以去，而河之故道則涸為平地。怒濤千頃，工力難施，必廣浚舊渠，遠數十里，分殺水勢，然後畚鍤可措。顧築浚並舉，需夫三萬。河北荒旱，兗西兵火，竭力以供，不滿萬人，河南萬死一生之餘，未審能應募否，是不得不借助於撫鎮之兵也。」乃敕兵部速議，而令堪賡刻期興工。至四月，塞硃家寨決口，修堤四百餘丈。馬家口工未就，忽沖東岸，諸埽盡漂沒。堪賡請停東岸而專事西岸。帝令急竣工。

In the second month of the sixteenth year Kaneng memorialized: "The breach mouths are two: one at Zhujiazhai, about two li wide, on the river's lower reach—water surface wide and current slow; one at Majiakou, a bit more than one li wide, on the river's upper reach—current fierce, depth beyond measure. The two mouths thirty li apart, beyond the Bian embankment, join as one flow, breaching one great mouth and rushing straight at Kaifeng city, while the river's old course dried to flat land. Angry billows a thousand qing—labor cannot be applied; the old channel must be broadly dredged far for dozens of li to divide and kill water force—then baskets and spades can be set. Yet building and dredging together require thirty thousand laborers. North of the river famine and drought, Yanxi war and fire—exhausting strength to supply falls short of ten thousand; Henan after ten thousand deaths in one life—whether they can enlist is unknown—so we must borrow from pacification armies. An edict then ordered the War Ministry to debate quickly and Kaneng to start work on schedule. By the fourth month the Zhujiazhai breach mouth was sealed and dikes repaired for more than four hundred zhang. Majiakou work was not finished when it suddenly breached the east bank and all revetments were swept away. Kaneng asked to stop the east bank and devote effort to the west bank. The emperor ordered urgent completion.

六月，堪賡言：「馬家決口百二十丈，兩岸皆築四之一，中間七十餘丈，水深流急，難以措手，請俟霜降後興工。」已而言：「五月伏水大漲，故道沙灘壅涸者刷深數丈，河之大勢盡歸於東，運道已通，陵園無恙。」疏甫上，決口再潰。帝趣鳩工，未奏績而明亡。

In the sixth month Kaneng said: "The Majia breach is one hundred twenty zhang; both banks each built one-fourth, the middle seventy-odd zhang water deep and current urgent, hard to work on—we ask to wait until after frost to start work." He then said: "In the fifth month summer flood waters greatly rose; the old channel's sand beach blockage dried and was scoured several zhang deeper; the river's great tendency all turned east, transport was open, and the tombs were unharmed." The memorial had barely been submitted when the breach collapsed again. The emperor urged laborers; before success was reported the Ming dynasty fell.

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