Volume 85 Treatises 61: Rivers and Canals 3

運河上

Canal Transport

明成祖肇建北京，轉漕東南，水陸兼輓，仍元人之舊，參用海運。逮會通河開，海陸並罷。南極江口，北盡大通橋，運道三千餘里。綜而計之，自昌平神山泉諸水，匯貫都城，過大通橋，東至通州入白河者，大通河也。自通州而南至直沽，會衛河入海者，白河也。自臨清而北至直沽，會白河入海者，衛水也。自汶上南旺分流，北經張秋至臨清，會衛河，南至濟寧天井閘，會泗、沂、洸三水者，汶水也。自濟寧出天井閘，與汶合流，至南陽新河，舊出茶城，會黃、沁後出夏鎮，循泇河達直口，入黃濟運者，泗、洸、小沂河及山東泉水也。自茶城秦溝，南曆徐、呂，浮邳，會大沂河，至清河縣入淮後，從直河口抵清口者，黃河水也。自清口而南，至於瓜、儀者，淮、揚諸湖水也。過此則長江矣。長江以南，則松、蘇、浙江運道也。淮、揚至京口以南之河，通謂之轉運河，而由瓜、儀達淮安者，又謂之南河，由黃河達豐、沛曰中河，由山東達天津曰北河，由天津達張家灣曰通濟河，而總名曰漕河。其逾京師而東若薊州，西北若昌平，皆嘗有河通，轉漕餉軍。

When the Yongle Emperor first established Beijing, he redirected grain tribute from the southeast, relying on both land and water haulage in the Yuan manner while supplementing the system with sea transport. After the Huitong Canal was opened, both the sea route and the land haul were discontinued. From the river mouth in the south to Datong Bridge in the north, the transport route ran more than three thousand li. Taken as a whole, the Datong River consists of the waters from Shenshan Spring in Changping and other sources that converge and flow through the capital, pass Datong Bridge, and run east to Tongzhou, where they enter the Bai River. The Bai River runs from Tongzhou south to Zhigu, where it meets the Wei River and flows into the sea. The Wei River runs from Linqing north to Zhigu, where it meets the Bai River and enters the sea. The Wen River divides at Nanwang in Wenshang: its northern branch runs through Zhangqiu to Linqing and joins the Wei River, while its southern branch reaches the Tianjing Sluice at Jining, where it meets the Si, Yi, and Guang Rivers. From Jining the Tianjing Sluice releases water that joins the Wen River and flows to the Nanyang New Canal; formerly it exited at Chacheng and met the Huang and Qin Rivers, later it exited at Xiazhen and followed the Si River to Zhikou, where it entered the Yellow River to support transport—these waters are the Si, Guang, and Lesser Yi Rivers together with the springs of Shandong. The Yellow River runs from Chacheng and Qin Ditch south through Xu and Lü, past Pi, where it joins the Great Yi River; after entering the Huai at Qinghe County, it reaches Qingkou from Zhihekou. From Qingkou south to Guazhou and Yizhen, the route passes through the lakes of the Huai and Yang regions. Beyond this point lies the Yangtze. South of the Yangtze lie the transport routes of Songjiang, Suzhou, and Zhejiang. The waterways from the Huai and Yang regions south to Jingkou are collectively known as the Transport Canal. The section from Guazhou and Yizhen to Huai'an is called the Southern River; that from the Yellow River to Feng and Pei is the Central River; that from Shandong to Tianjin is the Northern River; and that from Tianjin to Zhangjiawan is the Tongji River. All together they are known as the Tribute Canal. East of the capital at places such as Jizhou, and northwest at places such as Changping, canals had at times been opened to move grain tribute and supply the troops.

漕河之別，曰白漕、衛漕、閘漕、河漕、湖漕、江漕、浙漕。因地為號，流俗所通稱也。淮、揚諸水所匯，徐、兗河流所經，疏瀹決排，繄人力是系，故閘、河、湖於轉漕尤急。

The Tribute Canal is divided into seven sections: the Bai, Wei, Sluice, River, Lake, Yangtze, and Zhejiang Canals. These names derive from local geography and reflect common usage. Where the waters of Huai and Yang converge and the rivers of Xu and Yan flow, dredging, clearing, and drainage all depend on human effort; for this reason the sluice, river, and lake sections of the transport route are especially urgent concerns.

閘漕者，即會通河。北至臨清，與衛河會，南出茶城口，與黃河會，資汶、洸、泗水及山東泉源。泉源之派有五。曰分水者，汶水派也，泉百四十有五。曰天井者，濟河派也，泉九十有六。曰魯橋者，泗河派也，泉二十有六。曰沙河者，新河派也，二十有八。曰邳州者，沂河派也，泉十有六。諸泉所匯為湖，其浸十五。曰南旺，東西二湖，周百五十餘里，運渠貫其中。北曰馬蹋，南曰蜀山，曰蘇魯。又南曰馬場。又南八十里曰南陽，亦曰獨山，周七十餘里。北曰安山，周八十三里。南曰大、小昭陽，大湖袤十八里，小湖殺三之一，周八十餘里。由馬家橋留城閘而南，曰武家，曰赤山，曰微山，曰呂孟，曰張王諸湖，連注八十里，引薛河由地浜溝出，會於赤龍潭，並趨茶城。自南旺分水北至臨清三百里，地降九十尺，為閘二十有一；南至鎮口三百九十里，地降百十有六尺，為閘二十有七。其外又有積水、進水、減水、平水之閘五十有四。又為壩二十有一，所以防運河之泄，佐閘以為用者也。其後開泇河二百六十里，為閘十一，為壩四。運舟不出鎮口，與黃河會於董溝。

The Sluice Canal section is the Huitong Canal. It runs north to Linqing, where it meets the Wei River, and south through Chacheng Mouth to join the Yellow River, drawing on the Wen, Guang, and Si Rivers and the springs of Shandong. The spring sources fall into five branches. The Fenshui branch belongs to the Wen River system and comprises one hundred forty-five springs. The Tianjing branch belongs to the Ji River system and comprises ninety-six springs. The Luqiao branch belongs to the Si River system and comprises twenty-six springs. The Shahe branch belongs to the New Canal system and comprises twenty-eight springs. The Pizhou branch belongs to the Yi River system and comprises sixteen springs. The springs converge to form lakes, of which there are fifteen. Nanwang comprises eastern and western lakes with a combined circumference of more than one hundred fifty li; the transport channel runs through them. To the north is Mata; to the south are Shushan and Sulu. Farther south is Machang. Eighty li farther south lies Nanyang, also known as Dushan, with a circumference of more than seventy li. To the north is Anshan, with a circumference of eighty-three li. To the south are the Greater and Lesser Zhaoyang lakes; the greater lake spans eighteen li, the lesser is one-third smaller, and together they have a circumference of more than eighty li. South from Majia Bridge and Liucheng Sluice lie the lakes of Wujia, Chishan, Weishan, Lümeng, and Zhangwang, linked in a chain eighty li long; the Xue River is channeled out through Dibin Ditch, meets at Chilongtan, and all waters flow together toward Chacheng. From the Nanwang diversion north to Linqing is three hundred li, with a drop of ninety chi and twenty-one sluices; South to Zhenkou is three hundred ninety li, with a drop of one hundred sixteen chi and twenty-seven sluices. In addition there were fifty-four sluices for storing, admitting, releasing, and leveling water. Twenty-one dams were also built to prevent the transport canal from losing water and to assist the sluices in their operation. Later the Si River Canal was opened for two hundred sixty li, with eleven sluices and four dams. Transport vessels no longer passed through Zhenkou but instead joined the Yellow River at Donggou.

河漕者，即黃河。上自茶城與會通河會，下至清口與淮河會。其道有三：中路曰濁河，北路曰銀河，南路曰符離河。南近陵，北近運，惟中路去陵遠，於運有濟。而河流遷徙不常，上流苦潰，下流苦淤。運道自南而北，出清口，經桃、宿，溯二洪，入鎮口，陟險五百餘里。自二洪以上，河與漕不相涉也。至泇河開而二洪避，董溝闢而直河淤，運道之資河者二百六十里而止，董溝以上，河又無病於漕也。

The River Canal section is the Yellow River. It runs from Chacheng, where it meets the Huitong Canal, down to Qingkou, where it meets the Huai River. The route has three branches: the central route is the Zhuo River, the northern route is the Yin River, and the southern route is the Fuli River. The southern route runs close to the imperial tombs and the northern route close to the transport route; only the central route, being far from the tombs, serves transport effectively. Yet the river shifted its course unpredictably—the upper reaches were plagued by breaches, the lower reaches by silting. The transport route ran south to north from Qingkou through Tao and Su, up the Two Hongs, and into Zhenkou—a treacherous passage of more than five hundred li. Above the Two Hongs, the river and the transport route did not intersect. Once the Si River Canal was opened, the Two Hongs were bypassed; once Donggou was opened, the direct river route silted up. The transport route relied on the river for only two hundred sixty li, and above Donggou the river no longer threatened transport.

湖漕者，由淮安抵揚州三百七十里，地卑積水，匯為澤國。山陽則有管家、射陽，寶應則有白馬、汜光，高郵則有石臼、甓社、武安、邵伯諸湖。仰受上流之水，傍接諸山之源，巨浸連亙，由五塘以達於江。慮淮東侵，築高家堰拒其上流，築王簡、張福二堤禦其分泄。慮淮侵而漕敗，開淮安永濟、高郵康濟、寶應弘濟三月河以通舟。至揚子灣東，則分二道：一由儀真通江口，以漕上江湖廣、江西；一由瓜洲通西江嘴，以漕下江兩浙。本非河道，專取諸湖之水，故曰湖漕。

The Lake Canal section runs three hundred seventy li from Huai'an to Yangzhou; the low-lying terrain holds water and forms a vast marshland. Shanyang has the Guanjia and Sheyang lakes; Baoying has Baima and Siguang; Gaoyou has the lakes of Shijiu, Bishe, Wu'an, and Shaobo. They receive upstream waters and connect with mountain sources; vast stretches of water extend in succession, reaching the river through the Five Dikes. To guard against the Huai River encroaching from the east, the Gaojia Dam was built to hold back its upper waters, and the Wangjian and Zhangfu dikes were built to prevent its diversion. To prevent Huai encroachment from disrupting transport, the Sanyue Canals—Yongji at Huai'an, Kangji at Gaoyou, and Hongji at Baoying—were opened to allow vessels to pass. East of Yangzi Bay the route divided in two: one branch ran from Yizhen through the river mouth to transport grain upstream to Huguang and Jiangxi; the other ran from Guazhou through Xijiangzui to transport grain downstream to the two Zhe provinces. These were not originally river routes but drew exclusively on lake waters; hence the name Lake Canal.

太祖初起大軍北伐，開蹋場口、耐牢坡，通漕以餉梁、晉。定都應天，運道通利：江西、湖廣之粟，浮江直下；浙西、吳中之粟，由轉運河；鳳、泗之粟，浮淮；河南、山東之粟，下黃河。嘗由開封運粟，溯河達渭，以給陝西，用海運以餉遼卒，有事於西北者甚鮮。淮、揚之間，築高郵湖堤二十餘里，開寶應倚湖直渠四十里，築堤護之。他小修築，無大利害也。

When the Hongwu Emperor first raised his great army for the northern expedition, he opened Tacangkou and Nailaopo to establish transport and supply the regions of Liang and Jin. After establishing the capital at Yingtian, the transport routes functioned smoothly: grain from Jiangxi and Huguang floated directly downriver; grain from western Zhe and Wuzhong traveled by the Transport Canal; grain from Feng and Si traveled on the Huai; and grain from Henan and Shandong went down the Yellow River. Grain was at times shipped from Kaifeng, carried upstream to the Wei River to supply Shaanxi, while sea transport supplied the Liaodong garrisons; affairs concerning the northwest were relatively few. Between the Huai and Yang regions, a dike more than twenty li long was built along Gaoyou Lake, and a straight canal forty li long was opened along the lake at Baoying, protected by accompanying dikes. Other minor repairs had little significant impact.

永樂四年，成祖命平江伯陳瑄督轉運，一仍由海，而一則浮淮入河，至陽武，陸挽百七十里抵衛輝，浮於衛，所謂陸海兼運者也。海運多險，陸挽亦艱。九年二月乃用濟寧州同知潘叔正言，命尚書宋禮、侍郎金純、都督周長浚會通河。會通河者，元轉漕故道也，元末已廢不用。洪武二十四年，河決原武，漫安山湖而東，會通盡淤，至是復之。由濟寧至臨清三百八十五里，引汶、泗入其中。泗出泗水陪尾山，四泉併發，西流至兗州城東，合於沂。汶河有二：小汶河出新泰宮山下；大汶河出泰安仙台嶺南，又出萊蕪原山陰及寨子村。俱至靜豐鎮合流，饒徂徠山陽，而小汶河來會。經甯陽北堈城，西南流百餘里，至汶上。其支流曰洸河，出堈城西南，流三十里，會甯陽諸泉，經濟寧東，與泗合。元初，畢輔國始於堈城左汶水陰作斗門，導汶入洸。至元中，又分流北入濟，由壽張至臨清，通漳、禦入海。

In Yongle 4, the Yongle Emperor appointed the Marquis of Pingjiang, Chen Xuan, to supervise transport: one route continued by sea, while another floated on the Huai into the river to Yangwu, then overland haulage for one hundred seventy li to Weihui, and finally on the Wei River—what was known as combined land and sea transport. Sea transport was perilous, and overland haulage was arduous as well. In the second month of Yongle 9, acting on the proposal of Pan Shuzheng, vice-prefect of Jining, the emperor ordered Ministers Song Li and Jin Chun and Commander Zhou Chang to dredge the Huitong Canal. The Huitong Canal was the old Yuan grain transport route, abandoned and unused by the end of the Yuan dynasty. In Hongwu 24 the river breached at Yuanwu and flooded eastward over Anshan Lake, completely silting the Huitong Canal; now it was restored. It ran three hundred eighty-five li from Jining to Linqing, with the Wen and Si Rivers diverted into it. The Si River rises from Peiwei Mountain in Sishui, where four springs burst forth together; it flows west to the east of Yanzhou city and joins the Yi River. The Wen River has two branches: the Lesser Wen rises from beneath Gong Mountain in Xintai; the Great Wen rises from the south of Xiantai Ridge in Tai'an, and also from the north of Yuan Mountain in Laiwu and from Zhaizi Village. Both reach Jingfeng Town and merge, winding along the southern slope of Mount Culai, where the Lesser Wen joins them. It passes Gangcheng in northern Ningyang and flows southwest for more than one hundred li to Wenshang. Its tributary, the Guang River, rises southwest of Gangcheng, flows thirty li, meets the springs of Ningyang, passes east of Jining, and joins the Si River. Early in the Yuan dynasty, Bi Fuguo first built a sluice gate on the left bank beneath the Wen River at Gangcheng to divert the Wen into the Guang. During the Zhiyuan era it was further diverted north into the Ji River, from Shouzhang to Linqing, connecting with the Zhang and Yu Rivers to reach the sea.

南旺者，南北之脊也。自左而南，距濟寧九十里，合沂、泗以濟；自右而北，距臨清三百餘里，無他水，獨賴汶。禮用汶上老人白英策，築壩東平之戴村，遏汶使無入洸，而盡出南旺，南北置閘三十八。又開新河，自汶上袁家口左徙五十里至壽張之沙灣，以接舊河。其秋，禮還，又請疏東平東境沙河淤沙三里，築堰障之，合馬常泊之流入會通濟運。又於汶上、東平、濟寧、沛縣並湖地設水櫃、陡門。在漕河西者曰水櫃，東者曰陡門，櫃以蓄泉，門以泄漲。純復浚賈魯河故道，引黃水至塌場口會汶，經徐、呂入淮。運道以定。

Nanwang is the watershed between north and south. To the south, ninety li from Jining, the Yi and Si Rivers join to supply it; To the north, more than three hundred li from Linqing, there is no other water source—it relies entirely on the Wen River. Song Li adopted the plan of Bai Ying, an old man of Wenshang, building a dam at Daicun in Dongping to block the Wen from entering the Guang and channel all its water out at Nanwang, with thirty-eight sluices placed north and south. A new canal was also opened, diverging left from Yuanjiakou in Wenshang for fifty li to Shawan in Shouzhang to connect with the old canal. That autumn, upon Song Li's return, he also requested dredging three li of silted sand on the Sha River in eastern Dongping, building a barrier dam, and channeling the waters of Machang Lake into the Huitong Canal to support transport. Water cabinets and steep gates were also installed at Wenshang, Dongping, Jining, Peixian, and the lake districts. Those on the west side of the Tribute Canal are called water cabinets; those on the east are steep gates—cabinets store spring water, gates release floodwaters. Jin Chun further dredged the old course of the Jia Lu River, diverting Yellow River water to Tacangkou to meet the Wen River, passing through Xu and Lü to enter the Huai. The transport route was thus established.

其後宣宗時，嘗發軍民十二萬，浚濟寧以北自長溝至棗林閘百二十里，置閘諸淺，浚湖塘以引山泉。正統時，浚滕、沛淤河，又於濟寧、勝三州縣疏泉置閘，易金口堰土壩為石，蓄水以資會通。景帝時，增置濟寧抵臨清減水閘。天順時，拓臨清舊閘，移五十丈。憲宗時，築汶上、濟寧決堤百餘里，增南旺上、下及安山三閘。命工部侍郎杜謙勘治汶、泗、洸諸泉。武宗時，增置汶上袁家口及寺前鋪石閘，浚南旺淤八十里，而閘漕之治詳。惟河決則挾漕而去，為大害。

Later, during the Xuande reign, one hundred twenty thousand soldiers and civilians were mobilized to dredge one hundred twenty li north of Jining from Changgou to Zaolin Sluice, building sluices at shallow sections and dredging lake ponds to draw in mountain springs. During the Zhengtong reign, the silted rivers of Teng and Pei were dredged; springs were cleared and sluices built in Jining and the three prefectures and counties of Sheng; the earthen dam at Jinkou was replaced with stone to store water for the Huitong Canal. During the Jingtai reign, additional flood-release sluices were built from Jining to Linqing. During the Tianshun reign, the old sluice at Linqing was expanded and relocated fifty zhang. During the Chenghua reign, breached dikes totaling more than one hundred li at Wenshang and Jining were repaired, and three sluices were added at upper Nanwang, lower Nanwang, and Anshan. Vice-Minister of Works Du Qian was ordered to survey and manage the springs of the Wen, Si, and Guang Rivers. During the Wuzong reign, stone sluices were added at Yuanjiakou in Wenshang and Sidianpu; eighty li of silt at Nanwang was dredged, and the management of the Sluice Canal section was thoroughly documented. Only when the river breached would it sweep away the transport route—a grave disaster.

陳瑄之督運也，於湖廣、江西造平底淺般三千艘。二省及江、浙之米皆由江以入，至淮安新城，盤五壩過淮。仁、義二壩在東門外東北，禮、智、信三壩在西門外西北，皆自城南引水抵壩口，其外即淮河。清江浦者，直淮城西，永樂二年嘗一修閘。其口淤塞，則漕船由二壩，官民商船由三壩入淮，輓輸甚勞苦。瑄訪之故老，言：「淮城西管家湖西北，距淮河鴨陳口僅二十里，與清江口相值，宜鑿為河，引湖水通漕，宋喬維嶽所開沙河舊渠也。」瑄乃鑿清江浦，導水由管家湖入鴨陳口達淮。十三年五月，工成。緣西湖築堤亙十里以引舟。淮口置四閘，曰移風、清江、福興、新莊。以時啟閉，嚴其禁。並浚儀真、瓜洲河以通江湖，鑿呂梁、百步二洪石以平水勢，開泰州白塔河以達大江。築高郵河堤，堤內鑿渠四十里。久之，復置呂梁石閘，並築寶應、汜光、白馬諸湖堤，堤皆置涵洞，互相灌注。是時淮上、徐州、濟寧、臨清、德州皆建倉轉輸。濱河置舍五百六十八所，舍置淺夫。水澀舟膠，俾之導行。增置淺船三千餘艘。設徐、沛、沽頭、金溝、山東、谷亭、魯橋等閘。自是漕運直達通州，而海陸運俱廢。

When Chen Xuan supervised transport, three thousand flat-bottomed shallow-draft vessels were built in Huguang and Jiangxi. Grain from the two provinces and from Jiang and Zhe all entered by river, reaching Huai'an New City and passing through five dams to cross the Huai. The Ren and Yi dams stood northeast of the east gate; the Li, Zhi, and Xin dams stood northwest of the west gate. All drew water from south of the city to the dam mouths, beyond which lay the Huai River. Qingjiangpu lies directly west of Huai'an city; a sluice there was repaired once in Yongle 2. When the mouth silted up, grain-transport ships had to use two dams while official, civilian, and merchant vessels used three dams to enter the Huai, making haulage extremely arduous. Xuan consulted local elders, who said that northwest of Guanjia Lake, west of Huai'an city—only twenty li from Yachen Mouth on the Huai and opposite Qingjiangkou—a canal should be dug to draw lake water for transport. It was the old Sha River channel opened by the Song official Qiao Weiyue. Xuan then excavated Qingjiangpu, channeling water from Guanjia Lake through Yachen Mouth into the Huai. In the fifth month of Yongle 13, the work was completed. Along West Lake a dike was built, stretching ten li to guide boats. Four sluices were installed at the Huai mouth: Yifeng, Qingjiang, Fuxing, and Xinzhuang. They were opened and closed seasonally, and restrictions were strictly enforced. They also dredged the Yizhen and Guazhou rivers to connect with the Yangtze and lakes, cut away rock at the Lüliang and Baibu rapids to tame the current, and opened Taizhou's Baita River to reach the Great River. Dikes were built on the Gaoyou Canal, and a forty-li channel was cut inside them. In time the Lüliang stone sluice was restored, and dikes were built on the Baoying, Siguang, and Baima lakes as well. Every dike was fitted with culverts so water could flow between them. Warehouses for transshipment were set up along the Huai, at Xuzhou, Jining, Linqing, and Dezhou. Five hundred sixty-eight lodges were placed along the river, each staffed with shallow-water laborers. When water ran slow and boats grounded, the laborers were tasked with guiding them through. More than three thousand shallow-draft boats were added to the fleet. Sluices were installed at Xu, Pei, Gutou, Jingou, Shandong, Guting, Luqiao, and other points. From then on grain transport went straight to Tongzhou, and both sea and land routes were discontinued.

宣德六年用御史白圭言，浚金龍口，引河水達徐州以便漕。末年至英宗初再浚，並及鳳池口水，徐、呂二洪，西小河，而會通安流，自永、宣至正統間凡數十載。至十三年，河決滎陽，東沖張秋，潰沙灣，運道始壞。命廷臣塞之。

In Xuande 6, on censor Bai Gui's advice, Jinlong Mouth was dredged to channel river water to Xuzhou for transport. It was dredged again from the late Xuande period into the early Yingzong reign, extending to Fengchi Mouth, the Xu and Lü rapids, and the West Small River. The Huitong Canal ran smoothly for decades, from the Yongle and Xuande eras through Zhengtong. By Zhengtong 13 the river had breached at Xingyang, rushed east toward Zhangqiu, and collapsed at Shawan, damaging the transport route for the first time. The emperor ordered court officials to seal the breach.

景泰三年五月，堤工乃完。未匝月而北馬頭復決，掣漕流以東。清河訓導唐學成言：「河決沙灣，臨清告涸。地卑堤薄，黃河勢急，故甫完堤而復決也。臨清至沙灣十二閘，有水之日，其勢甚陡。請於臨清以南浚月河通舟，直抵沙灣，不復由閘，則水勢緩而漕運通矣。」帝即命學成與山東巡撫洪英相度。工部侍郎趙榮則言：「沙灣抵張秋岸薄，故數決。請於決處置減水石壩，使東入鹽河，則運河之水可蓄。然後厚堤岸，填決口，庶無後患。」

In the fifth month of Jingtai 3, the dike work was finally finished. Less than a month later, Beimatou breached again, pulling the transport current eastward. Tang Xuecheng, Qinghe instructor, said: "The river broke through at Shawan, and Linqing reports it is drying up. The terrain is low and the dikes are thin, while the Yellow River runs fast—that is why the dikes failed again as soon as they were finished. Twelve sluices lie between Linqing and Shawan; on days when there is water, the current is extremely steep. I propose dredging a bypass channel south of Linqing to allow boats to reach Shawan directly without passing through the sluices; this would slow the current and restore transport flow. The emperor immediately directed Xuecheng and Shandong grand coordinator Hong Ying to assess the site jointly. Vice-Minister of Works Zhao Rong said: "Between Shawan and Zhangqiu the banks are too thin, leading to repeated breaches. A flood-discharge stone dam should be placed at the breach to divert water east into the Salt River so the canal water can be retained. Then reinforce the banks and block the breach to prevent future problems."

明年四月，決口方畢工，而減水壩及南分水墩先敗，已，復盡沖墩岸橋梁，決北馬頭，掣漕水入鹽河，運舟悉阻。教諭彭塤請立閘以制水勢，開河以分上流。御史練綱上其策。詔下尚書石璞。璞乃鑿河三里，以避決口，上下與運河通。是歲，漕舟不前者，命漕運總兵官徐恭姑輸東昌、濟寧倉。及明年，運河膠淺如故。恭與都御史王竑言：「漕舟蟻聚臨清上下，請亟敕都御史徐有貞築塞沙灣決河。」有貞不可，而獻上三策，請置水閘，開分水河，挑運河。

The following April, right after the breach was sealed, the flood-discharge dam and southern diversion pier collapsed first; then pier banks, bridges, and embankments were washed away entirely; Beimatou broke through, diverting canal water into the Salt River, and all transport vessels came to a halt. Instructor Peng Kun requested building sluices to regulate the flow and excavating a canal to divert the upper reaches. Censor Lian Gang forwarded his proposal to the court. An edict was sent down to Minister Shi Pu. Pu then excavated a three-li canal around the breach, linking upper and lower reaches of the Grand Canal. That year, transport boats unable to proceed were ordered by grain transport commander Xu Gong to temporarily offload at the Dongchang and Jining granaries. The next year, the Grand Canal was still silted and shallow as before. Gong and censor-in-chief Wang Hong reported: "Transport boats are backed up like ants around Linqing. We urgently request that Xu Youzhen be commanded to dam the Shawan breach. Youzhen refused the direct order but submitted three proposals: install water gates, excavate a diversion channel, and dredge the canal.

六年三月，詔羣臣集議方略。工部尚書江淵等請用官軍五萬以浚運。有貞恐役軍費重，請復陳瑄舊制，置撈淺夫，用沿河州縣民，免其役。

In the third month of Tianshun 6, officials were summoned to discuss strategy together. Works Minister Jiang Yuan and others asked to deploy fifty thousand troops to dredge the canal. Youzhen worried that mobilizing troops would be too costly and urged reviving Chen Xuan's old practice: recruit dredging laborers from riverside counties and exempt them from corvée duties.

五月，浚漕工竣。七月，沙灣決口工亦竣，會通復安。都御史陳泰一浚淮、揚漕河，築口置壩。黃河嘗灌新莊閘至清江浦三十餘里，淤淺阻漕，稍稍浚治，即復其舊。英宗初，命官督漕，分濟寧南北為二，侍郎鄭辰治其南，副都御史賈諒治其北。

In the fifth month, canal dredging was finished. In the seventh month, work on the Shawan breach was completed as well, and the Huitong Canal ran smoothly again. Censor-in-chief Chen Tai dredged the Huai-Yang transport canal and built intake works and dams. The Yellow River once inundated the thirty-plus li from Xinzhuang Sluice to Qingjiangpu, silting the channel and blocking transport; gradual dredging brought it back to normal. Early in Yingzong's reign, officials were appointed to oversee transport, with Jining split into north and south sections—Vice-Minister Zheng Chen handled the south and vice censor-in-chief Jia Liang the north.

成化七年，又因廷議，分漕河沛縣以南、德州以北及山東為三道，各委曹郎及監司專理，且請簡風力大臣總理其事。始命侍郎王恕為總河。二十一年敕工部侍郎杜謙浚運道，自通州至淮、揚，會山東、河南撫按相度經理。

In Chenghua 7, after court discussion, the canal south of Pei County, north of Dezhou, and Shandong were split into three districts, each assigned to a bureau director and supervising official, with a request to appoint a senior minister of proven ability as overall supervisor. Wang Shu was first appointed Vice-Minister and Grand Canal overseer. In Chenghua 21, Works Vice-Minister Du Qian was ordered to dredge the transport route from Tongzhou to Huai-Yang, working with Shandong and Henan grand coordinators and regional inspectors on survey and management.

弘治二年，河復決張秋，沖會通河，命戶部侍郎白昂相治。昂奏金龍口決口已淤，河並為一大支，由祥符合沁下徐州而去。其間河道淺隘，宜於所經七縣，築堤岸以衛張秋。下工部議，從其請。昂又以漕船經高郵甓社湖多溺，請於堤東開衤復河西四十里以通舟。越四年，河復決數道入運河，壞張秋東堤，奪汶水入海，漕流絕。時工部侍郎陳政總理河道，集夫十五萬，治未效而卒。

In Hongzhi 2, the river breached again at Zhangqiu and flooded into the Huitong Canal; Revenue Vice-Minister Bai Ang was ordered to take charge of repairs. Ang reported that the Jinlong Mouth breach had already silted shut and that the river had united into a single channel descending from Xiangfu along the Qin River toward Xuzhou. Along the route the channel was shallow and constricted; dikes should be raised in the seven counties traversed to safeguard Zhangqiu. The proposal was sent to the Ministry of Works for review and approved. Ang also reported that transport boats often sank on Gaoyou's Bishe Lake and asked that a parallel canal forty li west of the eastern dike be opened for navigation. Four years later the river broke through again in several places into the canal, wrecked the eastern dike at Zhangqiu, diverted the Wen River toward the sea, and cut off transport entirely. Works Vice-Minister Chen Zheng was then in charge of the waterways; he mobilized 150,000 laborers but died before the project succeeded.

六年春，副都御史劉大夏奉敕往治決河。夏半，漕舟鱗集，乃先自決口西岸鑿月河以通漕。經營二年，張秋決口就塞，復築黃陵岡上流。於是河復南下，運道無阻。乃改張秋曰安平鎮，建廟賜額曰顯惠神祠，命大學士王鏊紀其事，勒於石。而白昂所開高郵衤復河亦成，賜名康濟，其西岸以石甃之。又甃高郵堤，自杭家閘至張家鎮凡三十里。高郵堤者，洪武時所築也。陳瑄因舊增築，延及寶應，土人相沿謂之老堤。正統三年易土以石。成化時，遣官築重堤於高郵、邵伯、寶應、白馬四湖老堤之東。而王恕為總河，修淮安以南諸決堤，且浚淮、揚漕河。重湖鵒需民盜決溉田之罰，造閘鵜達以儲湖水。及大夏塞張秋，而昂又開康濟，漕河上下無大患者二十餘年。

In the spring of Hongzhi 6, Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Daxia was ordered to go block the breach. By midsummer transport boats had piled up thickly; he first cut a bypass channel from the west bank of the breach to restore traffic. After two years of work the Zhangqiu breach was sealed and the upper works at Huangling Gang were rebuilt. The river then resumed its southward course and the transport route was clear again. Zhangqiu was renamed Anping Town, a temple was built and titled the Xianhui Shrine, and Grand Secretary Wang Ao was commissioned to commemorate the feat in an inscription on stone. The parallel canal Bai Ang had opened at Gaoyou was finished as well, named the Kangji Canal, with its west bank revetted in stone. The Gaoyou dikes were also revetted in stone from Hangjia Sluice to Zhangjia Town, thirty li in all. The Gaoyou dikes dated from the Hongwu period. Chen Xuan expanded them on the old foundations, extending as far as Baoying; locals have long called them the Old Dikes. In Zhengtong 3, earthen sections were replaced with stone. During the Chenghua reign, officials were sent to build secondary dikes east of the Old Dikes on the four lakes: Gaoyou, Shaobo, Baoying, and Baima. As Grand Canal overseer, Wang Shu repaired breached dikes south of Huai'an and dredged the Huai-Yang transport canal. He reinforced the lake dikes, imposed strict penalties on illegal dike breaches for irrigation, and built sluice gates and dams to hold lake water in reserve. After Liu Daxia sealed Zhangqiu and Bai Ang opened the Kangji Canal, the transport route suffered no major calamity for more than twenty years.

十六年，巡撫徐源言：「濟寧地最高，必引上源洸水以濟，其口在堈城石瀨之上。元時治閘作堰，使水盡入南旺，分濟南北運。成化間，易土以石。夫土堰之利，水小則遏以入洮，水大則閉閘以防沙壅，聽其漫堰西流。自石堰成，水遂橫溢，石堰既壞，民田亦沖。洸河沙塞，雖有閘門，壓不能啟。乞毀石復土，疏洸口壅塞以至濟寧，而築堈城迤西春城口子決岸。」帝命侍郎李遂往勘，言：「堈城石堰，一可遏淤沙，不為南旺湖之害，一可殺水勢，不慮戴村壩之沖，不宜毀。近堰積沙，宜浚。堈城稍東有元時舊閘，引洸水入濟寧，下接徐、呂漕河。東平州戴村，則汶水入海故道也。自永樂初，橫築一壩，遏汶入南旺湖，漕河始通。今自分水龍王廟至天井閘九十里，水高三丈有奇，若洸河更浚而深，則汶流盡向濟甯而南，臨清河道必涸。洸口不可浚。堈城口至柳泉九十里，無關運道，可弗事。柳泉至濟寧，汶、泗諸水會流處，宜疏者二十餘里。春城口，外障汶水，內防民田，堤卑岸薄，宜與戴村壩並修築。」從之。正德四年十月，河決沛縣飛雲橋，入運。尋塞。

In Hongzhi 16, grand coordinator Xu Yuan said: "Jining sits at the highest point and must be fed from the upper Guang River; the intake is above the Gangcheng stony rapid. Under the Yuan, sluices and dams were managed to channel all water into Nanwang, divided to serve northbound and southbound transport. During Chenghua, the earthen works were converted to stone. The benefit of earthen dams was that in low water they held the flow back into the Guang River, while in high water the sluices were shut to keep out silt, letting surplus water spill west over the dam. After the stone dam went up, water spread uncontrollably; when it collapsed, farmland was swept away as well. The Guang River was choked with sand; even though sluice gates existed, sediment pressure kept them from opening. I ask that the stone structure be removed and earthen dams restored, that the blocked Guang River mouth be dredged through to Jining, and that the breached bank at Chuncheng Mouth west of Gangcheng be repaired. The emperor sent Vice-Minister Li Sui to investigate. He reported: "The Gangcheng stone dam blocks silt without harming Nanwang Lake and reduces the current without threatening Daicun Dam—it should not be torn down. Silt had piled up near the dam and should be cleared. Just east of Gangcheng stood an old Yuan sluice that diverted Guang River water into Jining and linked downstream to the Xu and Lü transport canal. Daicun in Dongping Prefecture was the Wen River's old route to the sea. From early Yongle onward a cross dam held the Wen into Nanwang Lake, which is what first opened the transport canal. From the Fenlongwang Dividing Temple to Tianjing Sluice is ninety li, with water over three zhang deep; dredging the Guang River deeper would send the entire Wen flow south toward Jining and leave the Linqing reach dry. The Guang River mouth should not be dredged. The ninety li from Gangcheng Mouth to Liuquan does not affect transport and can be left alone. From Liuquan to Jining, where the Wen, Si, and other streams meet, about twenty li needs dredging. At Chuncheng Mouth, which holds back Wen water on the outside and protects farmland within, the dikes are low and the banks weak; it should be rebuilt together with Daicun Dam. The court approved his report. In the tenth month of Zhengde 4, the river broke through at Feiyun Bridge in Pei County and flooded into the canal. The breach was soon sealed.

世宗之初，河數壞漕。嘉靖六年，光祿少卿黃綰論泉源之利，言：「漕河泉源皆發山東南旺、馬場、樊村、安山諸湖。泉水所鐘，亟宜修浚，且引他泉並蓄，則漕不竭。南旺、馬場堤外孫村地窪，若瀦為湖，改作漕道，尤可免濟甯高原淺澀之苦。」帝命總河侍郎章拯議。而拯以黃水入運，運船阻沛上，方為御史吳仲所劾。拯言：「河塞難遽通，惟金溝口迤北新沖一渠可令運船由此入昭陽湖，出沙河板橋。其先阻淺者，則西曆雞鵒塚寺，出廟道北口通行。下部並議，未決。給事中張嵩言：「昭陽湖地庳，河勢高，引河灌湖，必致彌漫，使湖道復阻。請罷拯，別推大臣。」部議如嵩言。拯再疏自劾，乞罷，不許。卒引運船道湖中。其冬，詔拯還京別敘，而命擇大臣督理。

Early in the Jiajing reign, repeated river breaches disrupted transport. In Jiajing 6, Ceremonial Chamberlain Huang Wan argued for harnessing spring sources, saying: "The canal's springs all issue from Shandong's Nanwang, Machang, Fancun, and Anshan lakes. The spring basins urgently need dredging; if additional springs are tapped and pooled, transport water will not fail. Sun Village, low ground outside the Nanwang and Machang dikes, could be dammed into a lake and made a transport channel, easing Jining's chronic shallow water on the high ground. The emperor ordered Grand Canal Vice-Minister Zhang Zheng to study the proposal. Zhang Zheng was meanwhile under impeachment by censor Wu Zhong for allowing Yellow River water into the canal and blocking transport boats above Pei County. Zheng replied: "The river cannot be reopened quickly; only the newly cut channel north of Jingou Mouth can let transport boats pass into Zhaoyang Lake and exit at Shahe Banqiao. Where shoals blocked passage earlier, boats should go west past Jigu Tumu Temple and leave through the north outlet of the temple road. The proposal went to the ministries for joint review, but no decision was made. Censor Zhang Song argued: "Zhaoyang Lake lies in low ground and the river runs higher; if the river is led in to fill the lake, the water will spread unchecked and the lake passage will be blocked again. He asked that Zhang Zheng be removed and a different senior minister be appointed. The ministries reviewed the proposal and endorsed Zhang Song's recommendation. Zhang Zheng submitted another memorial impeaching himself and asking to be relieved, but the court refused. Transport boats were ultimately sent through the lake after all. That winter the emperor ordered Zhang Zheng back to the capital for reassignment and directed that a senior minister be selected to take charge.

諸大臣多進治河議。詹事霍韜謂：「前議役山東、河南丁夫數萬，疏浚淤沙以通運。然沙隨水下，旋浚旋淤。今運舟由昭陽湖入雞鳴臺至沙河，迂迴不過百里。若沿湖築堤，浚為小河，河口為閘，以待蓄泄，水溢可避風濤，水涸易為疏浚。三月而土堤成，一年而石堤成，用力少，取效速。黃河愈溢，運道愈利，較之役丁夫以浚淤土，勞逸大不侔也。」尚書李承勳謂：「於昭陽湖左別開一河，引諸泉為運道，自留城沙河為尤便。」與都御史胡世寧議合。七年正月，總河都御史盛應期奏如世寧策，請於昭陽湖東鑿新河，自汪家口南出留城口，長百四十里，刻期六月畢工。工未半，而應期罷去，役遂已。其後三十年，硃衡始循其遺跡，浚而成之。是年冬，總河侍郎潘希會加築濟、沛間東西兩堤，以拒黃河。

Senior ministers submitted numerous plans for managing the rivers. Household Tutor Huo Tao said: "The earlier plan called for tens of thousands of corvée laborers from Shandong and Henan to dredge silt and reopen transport. But sand settles as fast as the water moves—dredge today and it silts again tomorrow. At present transport boats pass from Zhaoyang Lake through Jiming Terrace to Shahe, a roundabout route of less than one hundred li. If dikes were built along the lake shore, the channel dredged into a narrow canal, and sluice gates set at the mouth to hold and release water, high water could be kept clear of wind and waves, and low water would be easy to dredge. Earthen dikes could be finished in three months and stone dikes in a year, with less labor and faster results. The higher the Yellow River ran, the better the transport route would fare—far less burdensome than mobilizing corvée labor to dredge silt by hand." Minister Li Chengxun proposed: "Open a new channel on the west side of Zhaoyang Lake and use the spring waters as the transport route; routing it from Liucheng and Shahe would be especially convenient. This matched the plan of Censor-in-Chief Hu Shining. In the first month of Jiajing 7, Grand Canal Censor-in-Chief Sheng Yingqi submitted a memorial adopting Hu Shining's plan, proposing to cut a new channel east of Zhaoyang Lake from Wangjiakou south to Liucheng Mouth—a distance of one hundred forty li, to be finished by the sixth month. Before the project was half finished, Sheng Yingqi was removed from office and the work stopped. Thirty years later Zhu Heng finally traced the old line, dredged it, and brought the channel to completion. That winter Grand Canal Vice-Minister Pan Xihui strengthened the eastern and western dikes between Jining and Pei County to hold back the Yellow River.

十九年七月，河決野雞岡，二洪涸。督理河漕侍郎王以旂請浚山東諸泉以濟運，且築長堤聚水，如閘河制。遂清舊泉百七十八，開新泉三十一。以旂復奏四事。一請以諸泉分隸守土官兼理其事，毋使堙塞。一請於境山鎮、徐、呂二洪之下，各建石閘，蓄水數尺以行舟，旁留月河以泄暴汛；築四木閘於武家溝、小河口、石城、匙頭灣，而置方船於沙坊等淺，以備撈浚。一言漕河兩岸有南旺、安山、馬場、昭陽四湖，名為水櫃，所以匯諸泉濟漕河也。豪強侵佔，蓄水不多，而昭陽一湖淤成高地，大非國初設湖初意。宜委官清理，添置閘、壩、斗門，培築堤岸，多開溝渠，浚深河底，以復四櫃。一言黃河南徙，舊閘口俱塞，惟孫繼一口獨存。導河出徐州小浮橋，下徐、呂二洪，此濟運之大者。請於孫繼口多開一溝，及時疏瀹，庶二洪得濟。帝可其奏，而以管泉專責之部曹。

In the seventh month of Jiajing 19 the river broke through at Yeji Hill and the Xu and Lü rapids dried up. Grand Canal Supervisor Vice-Minister Wang Yiqiao proposed dredging Shandong's springs to feed transport and building long dikes to store water, following the Sluice River model. One hundred seventy-eight existing springs were cleared and thirty-one new ones opened. Wang Yiqiao submitted a further memorial outlining four measures. First, he asked that the springs be placed under local officials for ongoing upkeep so they would not silt shut. Second, he proposed stone sluices below Jingshan Town and at the Xu and Lü rapids, each holding several chi of water for navigation, with parallel relief channels beside them to spill flood surges; four timber sluices at Wujiagou, Xiaohekou, Shicheng, and Shitou Bay, and square dredging barges stationed at shoals such as Shafang. Third, he noted that Nanwang, Anshan, Machang, and Zhaoyang—the four lakes flanking the canal, known as water reservoirs—were meant to collect spring water for the transport route. Local magnates had encroached on them, storage had dwindled, and Zhaoyang Lake in particular had silted up into high ground—a far cry from the purpose for which the lakes were created at the dynasty's founding. He urged appointing officials to reclaim the lakes, add sluices, dams, and wicket gates, rebuild the dikes, open additional channels, and dredge the bed deeper to restore all four reservoirs. Fourth, he reported that after the Yellow River moved south, the old sluice openings had all silted shut—only Sunji Mouth remained open. Directing the river out at Xuzhou's Small Floating Bridge and down through the Xu and Lü rapids was the chief way to keep transport supplied. He asked that an additional channel be cut at Sunji Mouth and dredged promptly so the two rapids could be fed. The emperor approved the memorial but placed sole responsibility for the springs with a ministry bureau.

徐、呂二洪者，河漕咽喉也。自陳瑄鑿石疏渠，正統初，復浚洪西小河。漕運參將湯節又以洪迅敗舟，於上流築堰，逼水歸月河，河南建閘以蓄水勢。成化四年，管河主簿郭升以大石築兩堤，錮以鐵錠，鑿外洪敗船惡石三百，而平築裏洪堤岸，又甃石岸東西四百餘丈。十六年增甃呂梁洪石堤、石壩二百餘丈，以資牽挽。及是建閘，行者益便之。

The Xu and Lü rapids were the choke point of the canal transport system. From the time Chen Xuan cut stone and opened channels, the small river west of the rapids was dredged again early in the Zhengtong reign. Deputy Commander Tang Jie of grain transport, finding that the swift current at the rapids wrecked boats, built an upstream dam to drive water into the bypass channel and erected sluices on the south bank to impound the flow. In Chenghua 4, River Registrar Guo Sheng built both dikes of large stone secured with iron bolts, removed three hundred wrecking rocks from the outer rapid, leveled and rebuilt the inner rapid's banks, and faced more than four hundred zhang of shoreline with stone on both sides. In Chenghua 16, more than two hundred zhang of stone dikes and dams were added at Lüliang Rapid to support boat hauling. Once the sluices were built, passage became still easier.

四十四年七月，河大決沛縣，漫昭陽湖，由沙河至二洪，浩渺無際，運道淤塞百餘里。督理河漕尚書硃衡循覽盛應期所鑿新河遺跡，請開南陽、留城上下。總河都御史潘季馴不可。衡言：「是河直秦溝，有所束隘。伏秋黃水盛，昭陽受之，不為壑也。」乃決計開浚，身自督工，重懲不用命者。給事中鄭欽劾衡故興難成之役，虐民幸功。朝廷遣官勘新舊河孰利。給事中何起鳴勘河還，言：「舊河難復有五，而新河之難成者亦有三。顧新河多舊堤高阜，黃水難侵，睃而通之，運道必利。所謂三難者，一以夏村迤北地高，恐難接水，然地勢高低，大約不過二丈，一視水準加深，何患水淺。一以三河口積沙深厚，水勢湍急，不無阻塞，然建壩攔截，歲一挑浚之，何患沙壅。一以馬家橋築堤，微山取土不便，又恐水口投埽，勢必不堅，然使委任得人，培築高厚，無必不可措力之理。開新河便。」下廷臣集議，言新河已有次第，不可止。況百中橋至留城白洋淺，出境山，疏浚補築，亦不全棄舊河，羣議俱合。帝意乃決。時大雨，黃水驟發，決馬家橋，壞新築東西二堤。給事中王元春、御史黃襄皆劾衡欺誤，起鳴亦變其說。會衡奏新舊河百九十四里俱已流通，漕船至南陽出口無滯。詔留衡與季馴詳議開上源、築長堤之便。

In the seventh month of Jiajing 44 the river broke catastrophically at Pei County, inundated Zhaoyang Lake, and from Shahe to the two rapids spread without limit; the transport route was blocked for more than one hundred li. Grand Canal Supervisor Minister Zhu Heng surveyed the remains of the new channel Sheng Yingqi had cut and proposed opening it above and below Nanyang and Liucheng. Grand Canal Censor-in-Chief Pan Jixun opposed the plan. Zhu Heng replied: "That channel runs straight toward Qin Ditch and is pinched in places. During the flood season, when Yellow River water runs high, Zhaoyang can take it in without becoming an uncontrolled spillway." He decided to proceed with opening and dredging the channel, supervised the work in person, and punished anyone who failed to obey orders. Censor Zheng Qin impeached Zhu Heng for launching a project doomed to fail, oppressing the people while chasing glory. The court sent officials to inspect whether the old or new channel would serve better. Censor He Qiming returned from inspecting the river and reported: "There are five obstacles to restoring the old channel and three to finishing the new one. Still, the new route runs along old dikes and high ground where Yellow River water cannot easily reach; open it up and transport will surely improve. Of the three difficulties: first, the ground north of Xiacun is high and may be hard to feed—but the elevation change is only about two zhang; deepen the channel to the proper level and shallow water need not be feared. Second, at Sanhe Mouth sand has piled deep and the current runs fast, which could cause blockage—but build a dam to trap it and dredge once a year, and sand buildup need not be feared. Third, building dikes at Majia Bridge makes hauling earth from Weishan awkward, and fascines at the outlet may not hold—but with capable men in charge and banks built high and thick, there is no obstacle that effort cannot overcome. Opening the new channel is the better course." The case went to a joint ministerial review, which found the new channel already well underway and argued it must not be halted. Moreover, the stretch from Baizhong Bridge to Baiyang at Liucheng was shallow; beyond Jingshan, dredging and repair would preserve parts of the old channel, and all sides agreed. The emperor made up his mind. Heavy rains then sent the Yellow River surging; it broke through at Majia Bridge and destroyed the newly built eastern and western dikes. Censors Wang Yuanchun and Huang Xiang both impeached Zhu Heng for misleading the court, and He Qiming reversed his position as well. At that point Zhu Heng reported that both old and new channels—one hundred ninety-four li in all—were open, and grain boats passed Nanyang's outlet without delay. An edict directed Zhu Heng and Pan Jixun to study in detail the merits of opening the upper reaches and building long dikes.

衡召入為工部尚書，都御史翁大立代，上言：「漕河資泉水，而地形東高西下，非湖瀦之則涸，故漕河以東皆有櫃；非湖泄之則潰，故漕河以西皆有壑。黃流逆奔，則以昭陽湖為散漫之區；山水東突，則以南陽湖為瀦蓄之地。宜由回回墓開通以達鴻溝，令穀亭、湖陵之水皆入昭陽湖，即浚鴻溝廢渠，引昭陽湖水沿渠東出留城。其湖地退灘者，又可得田數千頃。」大立又言：「薛河水湍悍，今盡注赤山湖，入微山湖以達呂孟湖，此尚書衡成績也。惟呂孟之南為邵家嶺，黃流填淤，地形高仰，秋水時至，翕納者小，浸淫平野，奪民田之利。微山之西為馬家橋，比草創一堤以開運道，土未及堅而時為積水所撼，以尋丈之址，二流夾攻，慮有傾圮。宜鑿邵家嶺，令水由地浜溝出境山以入漕河，則湖地可耕，河堤不潰。更於馬家橋建減水閘，視旱澇為啟閉，乃通漕長策也。」並從之。

Zhu Heng was recalled to serve as Works Minister, and Censor-in-Chief Weng Dali took his place, reporting: "The canal depends on spring water, but the land slopes down from east to west—without lakes to hold it, the channel runs dry, which is why there are reservoirs east of the canal; without lakes to release it, the banks burst, which is why there are spill basins west of the canal. When the Yellow River surges upstream, Zhaoyang Lake serves as a flood plain; when mountain floods push eastward, Nanyang Lake serves as a storage basin. Passage should be opened from Huihui Tomb to Honggou so the waters of Guting and Huling can all flow into Zhaoyang Lake; then Honggou's abandoned channel should be dredged to carry Zhaoyang Lake water east to Liucheng. Reclaimed lake flats could also yield several thousand qing of farmland." Weng Dali added: "The Xue River runs swift and fierce; it now flows entirely into Chishan Lake, through Weishan Lake to Lü-Meng Lake—this was Minister Zhu Heng's achievement. But south of Lü-Meng lies Shaojia Ridge, where Yellow River silt has raised the ground; when autumn floods arrive, the inlet can take only so much, and water spreads across the plain, ruining farmland. West of Weishan lies Majia Bridge, where a dikes was hurriedly thrown up to open transport—the earth had not yet set when standing water kept undermining it; with only a few chi of foundation, two currents press from both sides, and collapse is a real danger. Shaojia Ridge should be cut so water can pass through Dibin Ditch at Jingshan into the canal; lake land could then be farmed and the dikes would hold. A flood-relief sluice should also be built at Majia Bridge, opened or closed according to drought and flood—a lasting solution for keeping transport open. All of these proposals were approved.

三年七月，河決沛縣，茶城淤塞，糧艘二千餘皆阻邳州。大立言：「臣按行徐州，循子房山，過梁山，至境山，入地浜溝，直趨馬家橋，上下八十里間，可別開一河以漕。」即所謂泇河也。請集廷議，上即命行之。未幾，黃落漕通，前議遂寢。時淮水漲溢，自清河至淮安城西淤三十餘里，決禮、信二壩出海，寶應湖堤多壞。山東諸水從直河出邳州。大立以聞。其冬，自淮安板閘至清河西湖嘴開浚垂成，而裏口復塞。督漕侍郎趙孔昭言：「清江一帶黃河五十里，宜築堰以防河溢；淮河高良澗一帶七十餘里，宜築堰以防淮漲。」帝令亟浚裏口，與大立商築堰事宜，並議海口築塞及寶應月河二事。

In the seventh month of Wanli 3 the river broke through at Pei County; Chacheng silted shut, and more than two thousand grain boats were stranded at Pizhou. Weng Dali reported: "On inspection at Xuzhou I followed Zifang Mountain, passed Liangshan, reached Jingshan, and entered Dibin Ditch, running straight toward Majia Bridge; within eighty li upstream and downstream a separate canal could be cut for transport. This was the route known as the Jia River. He asked for a court conference, and the emperor immediately ordered the plan put into effect. Before long the Yellow River fell and transport resumed, and the earlier proposal was dropped. The Huai then rose and overflowed; from Qinghe to west of Huai'an city more than thirty li silted up, the Li and Xin dams were cut to discharge to the sea, and many dikes on Lake Baoying were breached. Shandong's waters were all draining to Pizhou through the Straight River. Weng Dali reported the situation to the throne. That winter dredging from Huai'an's Ban Sluice to Xihuzui at Qinghe was nearly complete, but the inner mouth silted shut again. Grain Transport Vice-Minister Zhao Kongzhao proposed: "Along the fifty-li Qingjiang reach of the Yellow River, a dam should be built to hold back floods; along the seventy-plus li of the Huai at Gaoliangjian, a dam should be built to hold back rising Huai water. The emperor ordered the inner mouth dredged at once, told Weng Dali to plan the dams, and also took up sealing the river mouth and the Baoying bypass channel.

四年六月，淮河及鴻溝境山疏浚工竣。大立方奏聞，諸水忽驟溢，決仲家淺，與黃河合，茶城復淤。未幾，自泰山廟至七里溝，淮河淤十餘里，其水從硃家溝旁出，至清河縣河南鎮以合於黃河。大立請開新莊閘以通回船，兼浚古睢河，泄二洪水，且分河自魚溝下草灣，保南北運道。帝命新任總河都御史潘季馴區畫。頃之，河大決邳州，睢寧運道淤百餘里。大立請開泇口、蕭縣二河。會季馴築塞諸決，河水歸正流，漕船獲通。大立、孔昭皆以遲誤漕糧削籍，開泇之議不果行。

In the sixth month of Wanli 4 dredging of the Huai River and Honggou at Jingshan was finished. Weng Dali had just reported completion when the waters surged, broke through at Zhongjia Shoal, merged with the Yellow River, and Chacheng silted shut again. Soon afterward the Huai silted up for more than ten li from Taishan Temple to Qiligou; its water spilled out through Zhujia Ditch and reached Henanzhen in Qinghe County, where it joined the Yellow River. Weng Dali proposed opening Xinzhuang Sluice for return traffic, dredging the old Sui River to spill the two flood streams, and splitting the river from Yugou down to Caowan to safeguard transport north and south. The emperor put the newly appointed Grand Canal Censor-in-Chief Pan Jixun in charge of planning. Soon afterward the river broke catastrophically at Pizhou, and the Suining transport route silted shut for more than one hundred li. Weng Dali proposed opening the Jia River mouth and two channels at Xiao County. By then Pan Jixun had sealed the breaches, the river returned to its main course, and grain boats got through. Weng Dali and Zhao Kongzhao were both dismissed from office for delaying grain transport, and the plan to open the Jia River was never implemented.

五年四月，河復決邳州王家口，自雙溝而下，南北決口十餘，損漕船運軍千計，沒糧四十萬餘石，而匙頭灣以下八十里皆淤。於是膠、萊海運之議紛起。會季馴奏邳河功成。帝以漕運遲，遣給事中雒遵往勘。總漕陳炌及季馴俱罷官。

In the fourth month of Wanli 5 the river broke through again at Wangjiakou in Pizhou; from Shuanggou downstream there were more than ten breaches north and south, destroying roughly a thousand grain boats and transport troops, sinking more than four hundred thousand shi of grain, and silting the channel below Shitou Bay for eighty li. Proposals for the Jiao-Lai sea route then proliferated. Pan Jixun then reported that the Pizhou river works were finished. Because transport was running late, the emperor sent censor Luo Zun to inspect the situation. Grand Grain Transport Supervisor Chen Can and Pan Jixun were both removed from office.

六年，從雒遵言，修築茶城至清河長堤五百五十里，三里一鋪，鋪十夫，設官畫地而守。又接築茶城至開封兩岸堤。從硃衡言，繕豐、沛大黃堤。衡又言：「漕河起儀真訖張家灣二千八百餘里，河勢凡四段，各不相同。清江浦以南，臨清以北，皆遠隔黃河，不煩用力。惟茶城至臨清，則閘諸泉為河，與黃相近。清河至茶城，則黃河即運河也。茶城以北，當防黃河之決而入；茶城以南，當防黃河之決而出。防黃河即所以保運河，故自茶城至邳、遷，高築兩堤，宿遷至清河，盡塞缺口，蓋以防黃水之出，則正河必淤，昨歲徐、邳之患是也。自茶城秦溝口至豐、沛、曹、單，創築增築以接縷水舊堤，蓋以防黃水之入，則正河必決，往年曹、沛之患是也。二處告竣，故河深水束，無旁決中潰之虞。氵市縣之窯子頭至秦溝口，應築堤七十里，接古北堤。徐、邳之間，堤逼河身，宜於新堤外別築遙堤。」詔如其議，以命總河侍郎萬恭。

In Wanli 6, following Luo Zun's recommendation, a five-hundred-fifty-li long dike was built from Chacheng to Qinghe, with a maintenance station every three li staffed by ten men, and officials assigned to patrol defined sections. Dikes on both banks from Chacheng to Kaifeng were extended as well. Following Zhu Heng's recommendation, the great Yellow River dikes at Feng and Pei were repaired. Zhu Heng also reported: "The Grand Canal runs from Yizhen to Zhangjiawan—a distance of more than twenty-eight hundred li—and its conditions fall into four sections, no two alike. South of Qingjiangpu and north of Linqing lie far from the Yellow River and require little effort. Only from Chacheng to Linqing does a river formed by sluiced springs run close to the Yellow River. From Qinghe to Chacheng, the Yellow River is the Grand Canal itself. North of Chacheng, one must guard against Yellow River breaches pouring in; south of Chacheng, one must guard against Yellow River breaches breaking out. Defending against the Yellow River is how one protects the canal; therefore from Chacheng to Pi and Qian, twin dikes were raised high, and from Suqian to Qinghe every breach was closed—meant to keep Yellow River water from breaking out, which would silt the main channel, as happened in the Xu-Pi disaster the year before. From Chacheng's Qingou Mouth through Feng, Pei, Cao, and Shan, new and extended dikes were built to connect with the old Lüshui embankments—meant to keep Yellow River water from breaking in, which would burst the main channel, as had happened in Cao and Pei in earlier years. With both sections finished, the river ran deep and the water was confined, and there was no longer fear of lateral breaches or collapse in the channel bed. From Yaozitou in Pei County to Qingou Mouth, seventy li of dikes should be built to connect with the ancient northern embankment. Between Xu and Pi the dikes hugged the riverbed too closely; separate outer dikes should be built beyond the new embankments." The emperor approved the plan and put Grand Canal Vice-Minister Wan Gong in charge.

萬曆元年，恭言：「祖宗時造淺船近萬，非不知滿載省舟之便，以閘河流淺，故不敢過四百石也。其制底平、倉淺，底平則入水不深，倉淺則負載不滿。又限淺船用水不得過六拏，伸大指與食指相距為一拏，六拏不過三尺許，明受水淺也。今不務遵行，而競僱船搭運。僱船有三害，搭運有五害，皆病河道。請悉遵舊制。」從之。

In the first year of Wanli, Wan Gong reported: "Our forebears built nearly ten thousand shallow-draft boats—not because they failed to see the advantage of full loads and fewer vessels, but because the sluice river was shallow, and they dared not exceed four hundred shi per boat. They were built with flat bottoms and shallow holds—flat bottoms kept draft shallow, and shallow holds kept cargo light. Shallow boats were also limited to a draft of no more than six na—a na being the span between thumb and forefinger; six na came to about three chi, a clear sign of how shallow their draft was meant to be. Today the old rules are ignored, and officials compete to hire boats for relay transport instead. Hiring boats brings three evils, and relay transport five—all of them harmful to the canal. I ask that the old system be fully restored." The court agreed.

恭又請復淮南平水諸閘，上言：「高、寶諸湖周遭數百里，西受天長七十餘河，徒恃百里長堤，若障之使無疏泄，是潰堤也。以故祖宗之法，偏置數十小閘於長堤之間，又為令曰：「但許深湖，不許高堤」，故設淺船淺夫取湖之淤以厚堤。夫閘多則水易落而堤堅，浚勤則湖愈深而堤厚，意至深遠也。比年畏修閘之勞，每壞一閘即堙一閘，歲月既久，諸閘盡堙，而長堤為死障矣。畏浚淺之苦，每湖淺一尺則加堤一尺，歲月既久，湖水捧起，而高、寶為盂城矣。且湖漕勿堤與無漕同，湖堤勿閘與無堤同。陳瑄大置減水閘數十，湖水溢則瀉以利堤，水落則閉以利漕，最為完計。積久而減水故跡不可復得，湖且沉堤。請復建平水閘，閘欲密，密則水疏，無漲懣患；閘欲狹，狹則勢緩，無齧決虞。」尚書衡覆奏如其請。於是儀直、江都、高郵、寶應、山陽設閘二十三，浚淺凡五十一處，各設撈淺船二，淺夫十。

Wan Gong also asked to restore the level-water sluices south of the Huai, reporting: "The Gaoyou and Baoying lakes stretch for hundreds of li; from the west they take in more than seventy rivers from Tianchang. To rely on a hundred-li long dike alone and block them with no outlet is to burst the dikes. That is why the forefathers placed dozens of small sluices along the long dike and issued the rule: "Deepen the lakes, do not raise the dikes"—and why shallow boats and dredging crews were assigned to take lake silt to thicken the embankments. Many sluices let water fall easily and keep dikes firm; steady dredging deepens the lakes and thickens the dikes—the intent was far-sighted indeed. In recent years, dreading the labor of repairing sluices, officials filled in every sluice that failed; in time all the sluices were buried, and the long dike became a dead wall. Dreading the toil of dredging, they raised the dikes a chi for every chi the lakes shoaled; over the years the lake water was lifted higher and higher, until Gaoyou and Baoying stood like cities in a bowl. Moreover, lake transport without dikes is no transport at all, and lake dikes without sluices are no dikes at all. Chen Xuan installed dozens of flood-discharge sluices: when the lakes rose, water was released to protect the dikes; when they fell, the sluices closed to aid transport—it was the soundest design of all. Over time the old flood-discharge works could no longer be found, and the lakes began to swallow the dikes. I ask that the level-water sluices be rebuilt: they should be closely spaced—close spacing drains water and prevents flooding and stagnation; and they should be narrow—narrow channels slow the current and prevent erosion and breach." Minister Zhu Heng submitted a follow-up memorial endorsing the request. Twenty-three sluices were then established at Yizhi, Jiangdu, Gaoyou, Baoying, and Shanyang; fifty-one shallow sections were dredged, each with two dredging boats and ten dredging crews.

恭又言：「清江浦河六十里，陳瑄浚至天妃祠東，注於黃河。運艘出天妃口入黃穿清特半餉耳。後黃漲，逆注入口，清遂多淤。議者不制天妃口而遽塞之，令淮水勿與黃值。開新河以接淮河，曰：「接清流勿接濁流，可不淤也」。不知黃河非安流之水，伏秋盛發，則西擁淮流數十里，並灌新開河。彼天妃口，一黃水之淤耳。今淮、黃會於新閘開河口，是二淤也。防一淤，生二淤，又生淮、黃交會之淺。歲役丁夫千百，浚治方畢，水過復合。又使運艘迂八里淺滯而始達於清河，孰與出天妃口者之便且利？請建天妃閘，俾漕船直達清河。運盡而黃水盛發，則閉閘絕黃，水落則啟天妃閘以利商船。新河口勿浚可也。」。乃建天妃廟口石閘。

Wan Gong also reported: "The Qingjiangpu channel runs sixty li; Chen Xuan dredged it east to Tianfei Shrine, where it joined the Yellow River. Grain boats leaving Tianfei Mouth entered the Yellow River and crossed the clear channel in only half a day's travel. Later, when the Yellow River rose, it backed into the mouth and the clear channel silted badly. Planners did not regulate Tianfei Mouth but hurriedly blocked it, so Huai water would not meet the Yellow River. They cut a new channel to link with the Huai, saying: "Connect clear water, not muddy water, and it will not silt up." They failed to see that the Yellow River is no gentle stream: in the flood season it surges west for dozens of li, pushing the Huai before it and pouring into the new channel. At Tianfei Mouth there was only one source of Yellow River silt. Now the Huai and Yellow meet at the new sluice's outlet—two sources of silt instead of one. Blocking one silting point created two, and also created the shallow junction where the Huai and Yellow meet. Every year thousands of laborers were drafted; dredging was barely finished before the waters rose and silted the channel again. Grain boats were forced to wind eight li through shallow, sluggish water before reaching Qinghe—how can that match the ease and efficiency of the Tianfei Mouth route? I ask that a Tianfei sluice be built so grain boats can reach Qinghe directly. When transport was complete and the Yellow River rose, the sluice would close to shut out muddy water; when the river fell, Tianfei sluice would open to let merchant boats through. The new outlet need not be dredged at all." A stone sluice was then built at Tianfei Temple Mouth.

恭又言：「由黃河入閘河為茶城，出臨清板閘七百餘里，舊有七十二淺。自創開新河，汶流平衍，地勢高下不甚相懸，七十淺悉為通渠。惟茶、黃交會間，運盛之時，正值黃河水落之候，高下不相接，是以有茶城黃家閘之淺，連年患之。祖宗時，嘗建境山閘，自新河水平，閘沒泥淖且丈餘。其閘上距黃家閘二十里，下接茶城十里，因故基累石為之，可留黃家閘外二十里之上流，接茶城內十里之下流，且挾二十里水勢，沖十里之狹流，蔑不勝矣。」乃復境山舊閘。

Wan Gong also reported: "From Chacheng, where the canal leaves the Yellow River, to the Ban sluice at Linqing is more than seven hundred li; there were once seventy-two shallow sections. After the new channel was cut, the Wen River spread evenly and the land rose and fell only gently; seventy shallows became open passage. Only at the Chacheng-Yellow River junction, when transport peaked, the Yellow River was at its low stage and the levels did not meet—hence the chronic shallow at Huangjia sluice near Chacheng, a problem year after year. In the forefathers' time Jingshan sluice had been built, but once the new channel leveled out, the sluice sank more than a zhang deep in mud. The sluice stood twenty li above Huangjia sluice and ten li below Chacheng; rebuilt on the old foundation with stone, it could hold twenty li of upstream above Huangjia sluice and feed ten li of downstream within Chacheng—carrying twenty li of head to drive through ten li of narrow channel, nothing could fail to yield." The old Jingshan sluice was then restored.

恭建三議，尚書衡覆行之，為運道永利。而是時，茶城歲淤，恭方報正河安流，回空船速出。給事中硃南雍以回空多阻，劾恭隱蔽溺職。帝切責恭，罷去。

Wan Gong's three proposals were reviewed and implemented by Minister Zhu Heng, securing lasting benefit for the transport route. Yet at that very time Chacheng was silting every year, even as Wan Gong reported that the main channel ran clear and empty return boats were moving swiftly. Censor Zhu Nanyong impeached Wan Gong for concealing the truth and neglecting his duties, citing the frequent delays to empty return boats. The emperor sharply rebuked Wan Gong and removed him from office.

三年二月，總河都御史傅希摯請開泇河以避黃險，不果行。希摯又請浚梁山以下，與茶城互用，淤舊則通新而挑舊，淤新則通舊而挑新，築壩斷流，常通其一以備不虞。詔從所請。工未成，而河決崔鎮，淮決高家堰，高郵湖決清水潭、丁志等口，淮城幾沒。知府邵元哲開菊花潭，以泄淮安、高、寶三城之水，東方芻米少通。

In the second month of Wanli 3, Grand Canal Censor-in-Chief Fu Xizhi proposed opening the Yao River to bypass Yellow River hazards, but the plan was not adopted. Fu Xizhi also proposed dredging below Liangshan and alternating it with Chacheng: when the old route silted, open the new and dredge the old; when the new silted, open the old and dredge the new—building dams to cut the flow and always keeping one route open as a safeguard. An edict approved the proposal. Before the work was finished, the river broke through at Cuizhen, the Huai broke at Gaojiayan, Gaoyou Lake broke at Qingshuitan, Dingzhi, and other points, and Huai'an city nearly went under. Prefect Shao Yuanzhe opened Juhua Tan to drain Huai'an, Gaoyou, and Baoying, and fodder and grain from the east began to move again, if only barely.

明年春，督漕侍郎張翀以築清水潭堤工鉅不克就，欲令糧船暫由圈子田以行。巡按御史陳功不可。河漕侍郎吳桂芳言：「高郵湖老堤，陳瑄所建。後白昂開月河，距湖數里，中為土堤，東為石堤，首尾建閘，名為康濟河。其中堤之西，老堤之東，民田數萬畝，所謂圈子田也。河湖相去太遠，老堤缺壞不修，遂至水入圈田，又成一湖。而中堤潰壞，東堤獨受數百里湖濤，清水潭之決，勢所必至。宜遵弘治間王恕之議，就老堤為月河，但修東西二堤，費省而工易舉。」帝命如所請行之。是年，元哲修築淮安長堤，又疏鹽城石鵜達口下流入海。

The following spring, Grain Transport Vice-Minister Zhang Chong, finding the Qingshuitan dike project too vast to finish, proposed routing grain boats temporarily through Quanzitian. Investigating Censor Chen Gong refused. Canal Vice-Minister Wu Guifang reported: "Gaoyou Lake's old dike was built by Chen Xuan. Later Bai Ang cut a moon river several li from the lake, with an earthen dike in the middle and a stone dike to the east, sluices at both ends, and called it the Kangji River. Between the middle dike to the west and the old dike to the east lay tens of thousands of mu of farmland—the so-called Quanzitian, the Encircled Fields. Because the river and lake stood too far apart, the old dike was left broken and unrepaired, until water poured into Quanzitian and formed a new lake. When the middle dike failed, the eastern dike alone bore the lake surge for hundreds of li—the breach at Qingshuitan was inevitable. We should follow Wang Shu's Hongzhi-era proposal: turn the old dike into the moon river and repair only the eastern and western dikes—saving expense and making the work easier." The emperor ordered the plan implemented as proposed. That year Shao Yuanzhe repaired Huai'an's long dike and dredged Yancheng's Shijunda outlet so its lower reach flowed to the sea.

五年二月，高郵石堤將成，桂芳請傍老堤十數丈開挑月河。因言：「白昂康濟月河去老堤太遠，人心狃月河之安，忘老堤外捍之力。年復一年，不加省視，老、中二堤俱壞，而東堤不能獨存。今河與老堤近，則易於管攝。」御史陳世寶論江北河道，請於寶應湖堤補石堤以固其外，而於石堤之東復築一堤，以通月河，漕舟行其中。並議行。其冬，高郵湖土石二堤、新開漕河南北二閘及老堤加石、增護堤木城各工竣事。桂芳又與元哲增築山陽長堤，自板閘至黃浦亙七十里，閉通濟閘不用，而建興文閘，且修新莊諸閘，築清江浦南堤，創板閘漕堤，南北與新舊堤接。板閘即故移風閘也。堤、閘並修，淮、揚漕道漸固。

In the second month of Wanli 5, as Gaoyou's stone dike neared completion, Wu Guifang proposed cutting a moon river a dozen zhang or so beside the old dike. He explained: "Bai Ang's Kangji moon river lay too far from the old dike; people grew complacent about the moon river's safety and forgot how much the old dike still held back the lake. Year after year without inspection, both the old and middle dikes failed, and the eastern dike could not stand alone. With the channel close to the old dike, it will be easier to supervise." Censor Chen Shibao, reviewing Jiangbei canal routes, proposed adding stone dikes to Baoying Lake's embankment to strengthen the outer face, and building another dike east of the stone dike to carry the moon river, with grain boats running between them. Both proposals were approved. That winter the earthen and stone dikes on Gaoyou Lake, the north and south sluices of the newly opened canal, the stone facing added to the old dike, and the timber crib revetments—all were finished. Wu Guifang and Shao Yuanzhe also extended Shanyang's long dike seventy li from Ban sluice to Huangpu; Tongji sluice was closed and Xingwen sluice built instead; Xinzhuang and other sluices were repaired, Qingjiangpu's southern dike was raised, and a new grain dike was built at Ban sluice, linking north and south with the old and new embankments. Ban sluice was the old Yifeng sluice. With dikes and sluices repaired together, the Huai-Yang transport route gradually stabilized.

六年，總理河漕都御史潘季馴築高家堰，及清江浦柳浦灣以東加築禮、智二壩，修寶應、黃清等八淺堤，高、寶減水閘四，又拆新莊閘而改建通濟閘於甘羅城南。明初運糧，自瓜、儀至淮安謂之裏河，自五壩轉黃河謂之外河，不相通。及開清江浦，設閘天妃口，春夏之交重運畢，即閉以拒黃。歲久法馳，閘不封而黃水入。嘉靖末，塞天妃口，於浦南三里溝開新河，設通濟閘以就淮水。已又從萬恭言，復天妃閘。未幾又從御史劉光國言，增築通濟，自仲夏至季秋，隔日一放回空漕船。既而啟閉不時，淤塞日甚，開硃家口引清水灌之，僅通舟。至是改建甘羅城南，專向淮水，使河不得直射。

In Wanli 6, Grand Canal Censor-in-Chief Pan Jixun built Gaojiayan; east of Qingjiangpu's Liupu Bay he added the Li and Zhi dams; repaired dikes at eight shallows including Baoying and Huangqing; built four flood-discharge sluices in Gaoyou and Baoying; and dismantled Xinzhuang sluice to rebuild Tongji sluice south of Ganluo city. In early Ming times, transport from Guazhou and Yizhen to Huai'an was called the inner route; from the Five Dams onto the Yellow River was the outer route—and the two did not connect. When Qingjiangpu was opened and a sluice installed at Tianfei Mouth, the gate was closed after the main grain convoys passed in late spring and early summer to shut out the Yellow River. Over time the rule lapsed, the sluice was left open, and Yellow River water poured in. At the end of the Jiajing reign, Tianfei Mouth was blocked; a new channel was cut at Sanligou south of the pu, and Tongji sluice was built to draw on Huai water. Soon afterward, following Wan Gong's advice, Tianfei sluice was restored. Not long after, following Censor Liu Guangguo's proposal, Tongji sluice was expanded; from midsummer to late autumn, empty return grain boats were released every other day. Soon the sluice was opened and closed at the wrong times, silting worsened by the day; Zhujiakou was opened to flush it with clear water, and boats barely got through. It was then rebuilt south of Ganluo city to draw solely on Huai water, so the channel would not take the river's full force head-on.

十年，督漕尚書淩雲翼以運船由清江浦出口多艱險，乃自浦西開永濟河四十五里，起城南窯灣，曆龍江閘，至楊家澗出武家墩，折而東，合通濟閘出口。更置閘三，以備清江浦之險。是時漕河就治，淮、揚免水災者十餘年。初，黃河之害漕也，自金龍口而東，則會通以淤。迨塞沙灣、張秋閘，漕以安，則徐、氵市間數被其害。至崔鎮高堰之決，黃、淮交漲而害漕，乃在淮、揚間，湖潰則敗漕。季馴以高堰障洪澤，俾堰東四湖勿受淮侵，漕始無敗。而河漕諸臣懼湖害，日夜常惴惴。

In Wanli 10, Grain Transport Minister Ling Yunyi, finding the Qingjiangpu outlet too hazardous for grain boats, cut the Yongji River forty-five li west of the pu—from Yaowan south of the city, through Longjiang sluice, to Yangjiajian and out at Wujiadun, then east to join the Tongji sluice outlet. Three additional sluices were installed to bypass Qingjiangpu's hazards. By then the canal had been brought under control, and Huai and Yang went more than ten years without flood disaster. At first, when the Yellow River threatened transport, the harm lay east of Jinlong Mouth, where the Huitong section silted up. After Shawan and Zhangqiu sluice were blocked and transport was secure, the Xu-Pei region suffered repeatedly instead. After the breaches at Cuizhen and Gaojiayan, when the Yellow and Huai rose together and threatened transport, the danger shifted to the Huai-Yang region—when the lakes broke, transport failed. Pan Jixun used Gaojiayan to hold back Hongze Lake, keeping the four lakes east of the weir from Huai flooding—only then did transport stop failing. Yet the canal officials, fearing what the lakes might do, lived in constant dread.

十三年從總漕都御史李世達議，開寶應月河。寶應汜光湖，諸湖中最湍險者也，廣百二十餘里。槐角樓當其中，形曲如箕，瓦店翼其南，秤鉤灣翼其北。西風鼓浪，往往覆舟。陳瑄築堤湖東，蓄水為運道。上有所受，下無所宣，遂決為八淺，匯為六潭，興、鹽諸場皆沒。而淮水又從周家橋漫入，溺人民，害漕運。武宗末年，郎中楊最請開月河，部覆不從。嘉靖中，工部郎中陳毓賢、戶部員外範韶、御史聞人詮、運糧千戶李顯皆以為言，議行未果。至是，工部郎中許應逵建議，世達用其言以奏，乃決行之。浚河千七百餘丈，置石閘三，減水閘二，築堤九千餘丈，石堤三之一，子堤五千餘丈。工成，賜名弘濟。尋改石閘為平水閘。應逵又築高郵護城堤。其後，弘濟南北閘，夏秋淮漲，吞吐不及，舟多覆者。神宗季年，督漕侍郎陳薦於南北各開月河以殺河怒，而溜始平。

In the thirteenth year, following Grand Coordinator for Grain Transport Li Shida's proposal, the Baoying relief canal was opened. Baoying's Siguang Lake was the roughest and most dangerous of all the lakes, spanning more than a hundred and twenty li. Huaijiao Tower lay at its center in a curve shaped like a winnowing tray, with Wadian on its south flank and Chenggou Bay on its north. When west winds whipped up the waves, boats capsized with alarming frequency. Chen Xuan built dikes along the lake's eastern shore, impounding water to create a transport channel. Water had somewhere to enter above but nowhere to discharge below; the lake broke into eight shallows and six pools, inundating the salt fields of Xing and Yan. Huai River water also poured in through Zhoujia Bridge, drowning people and disrupting the grain transport route. In the last years of the Wuzong reign, Director Yang Zui petitioned to open a relief canal, but the ministry's reply rejected the proposal. During the Jiajing period, Chen Yuxian of the Ministry of Works, Fan Shao of the Ministry of Revenue, Censor Wen Renquan, and grain transport commander Li Xian all urged the same course, yet the plan was never carried out. Now Xu Yingkui, a director in the Ministry of Works, submitted a plan; Li Shida endorsed it in a memorial to the throne, and the project was finally approved. More than seventeen hundred zhang of canal were dredged; three stone locks and two flood gates were installed; dikes totaling over nine thousand zhang were raised, a third of them faced in stone, along with more than five thousand zhang of secondary dikes. When the work was finished, the canal received the imperial name Hongji, "Great Relief." Before long the stone locks were rebuilt as level-water gates. Xu Yingkui also constructed the protective dike around Gaoyou city. Later, at the north and south locks of Hongji, summer and autumn Huai floods overwhelmed the gates' capacity, and many transport boats were lost. In the late Wanli reign, Vice Minister Chen Jian, supervising grain transport, opened relief canals on both the north and south sides to tame the river's force, and the currents at last grew calm.

十五年，督漕侍郎楊一魁請修高家堰以保上流，砌範家口以制旁決，疏草灣以殺河勢，修禮壩以保新城。詔如其議。一魁又改建古洪閘。先是，汶、泗之水由茶城會黃河。隆慶間，濁流倒灌，稽阻運船，郎中陳瑛移黃河口於茶城東八里，建古洪、內華二閘，漕河從古洪出口。後黃水發，淤益甚。一魁既改古洪，帝又從給事中常居敬言，令增築鎮口閘於古洪外，距河僅八十丈，吐納益易，糧運利之。

In the fifteenth year, Vice Minister Yang Yikui petitioned to repair Gaojiayan to secure the upper stream, block Fanjiakou against side breaches, dredge Caowan to break the river's momentum, and restore Liba to protect Xincheng. The emperor ordered that his proposal be carried out. Yang Yikui also reconstructed Guhong Lock. Earlier, the Wen and Si rivers had met the Yellow River at Chacheng. In the Longqing period, muddy backflow blocked transport vessels; Director Chen Ying relocated the Yellow River mouth eight li east of Chacheng, built the Guhong and Neihua locks, and routed the canal out through Guhong. Later, whenever the Yellow River swelled, silting grew steadily worse. Once Yang Yikui had rebuilt Guhong, the emperor also accepted Supervising Censor Chang Jujing's advice and ordered Zhenkou Lock added beyond Guhong, a mere eighty zhang from the river, so that water could enter and leave more easily and grain transport profited.

工部尚書石星議季馴、居敬條上善後事宜，請分地責成：接築塔山縷堤，清江浦草壩，創築寶應西堤，石砌邵伯湖堤，疏浚裏河淤淺，當在淮、揚興舉；察復南旺、馬踏、蜀山、馬場四湖，建築坎河滾水壩，加建通濟、永通二閘，察復安山湖地，當在山東興舉。帝從其議。未幾，眾工皆成。

Minister of Works Shi Xing reviewed the follow-up proposals submitted by Ji Xun and Chang Jujing and called for assigning tasks by region: extending the Tashan thread-dike, the Qingjiangpu grass dam, a new Baoying west dike, stone facing for the Shaobo Lake dike, and dredging the silted inner canal—all to be undertaken in the Huai-Yang area; restoring the four lakes of Nanwang, Mata, Shushan, and Machang, building Kanhe overflow dams, adding the Tongji and Yongtong locks, and reclaiming the lands of Anshan Lake—all to be undertaken in Shandong. The emperor accepted the plan. Before long, every project was finished.

十九年，季馴言：「宿遷以南，地形西ＡＨ，請開縷堤放水。沙隨水入，地隨沙高，庶水患消而費可省。」又請易高家堰土堤為石，築滿家閘西攔河壩，使汶、泗盡歸新河。設減水閘於李家口，以泄沛縣積水。從之。十月，淮湖大漲，江都淳家灣石堤、邵伯南壩、高郵中堤、硃家墩、清水潭皆決。郎中黃日謹築塞僅竣，而山陽堤亦決。

In the nineteenth year, Pan Jixun reported: "South of Suqian the land rises toward the west; I propose opening a thread-dike to release water. Sand would come in with the water and raise the ground level, so that flood damage might ease and costs be reduced." He also asked to replace Gaojiayan's earthen dike with stone, build a river-blocking dam west of Manjia Lock, and divert all Wen and Si waters into the new canal. Flood gates were to be installed at Lijiakou to discharge Pei County's pooled water. The court approved. In the tenth month the Huai lakes surged; the stone dike at Chunjiawan in Jiangdu, the south dam at Shaobo, Gaoyou's middle dike, Zhujiadun, and Qingshuitan all gave way. Director Huang Rijin had scarcely finished the repairs when the Shanyang dike breached as well.

二十一年五月，恆雨。漕河泛溢，潰濟甯及淮河諸堤岸。總河尚書舒應龍議：築堽城壩，遏汶水之南，開馬踏湖月河口，導汶水之北。開通濟閘，放月河土壩以殺洶湧之勢。從其奏。數年之間，會通上下無阻，而黃、淮並漲，高堰及高郵堤數決害漕。應龍卒罷去。建議者紛紛，未有所定。

In the fifth month of the twenty-first year, unending rain fell. The canal burst its banks, destroying the dikes along Jining and the Huai River. Grand Coordinator Shu Yinglong proposed building Qiangcheng dam to hold Wen water on the south, opening Mata Lake's relief canal mouth, and directing Wen water northward. Open Tongji Lock and breach the relief canal's earthen dam to break the force of the flood surge. The court accepted his memorial. Within a few years the Huitong section ran clear, but the Yellow and Huai rose together, Gaojiayan and the Gaoyou dikes broke again and again, and grain transport suffered. Shu Yinglong died and was removed from his post. Conflicting proposals multiplied, and no settled plan emerged.

楊一魁代應龍為總河尚書，力主分黃導淮。治逾年，工將竣，又請決湖水以疏漕渠，言：「高、寶諸湖本沃壤也，自淮、黃逆壅，遂成昏墊。今入江入海之路即浚，宜開治涇河、子嬰溝、金灣河諸閘及瓜、儀二閘，大放湖水，就湖疏渠，與高、寶月河相接。既避運道風波之險，而水涸成田，給民耕種，漸議起科，可充河費。」命如議行。時下流既疏，淮水漸帖，而河方決黃堌口。督漕都御史褚鈇恐泄太多，徐、邳淤阻，力請塞之。一魁持不可，浚兩河口至小浮橋故道以通漕。然河大勢南徙，二洪漕屢涸，復大挑黃堌下之李吉口，挽黃以濟之，非久輒淤。

Yang Yikui succeeded Shu Yinglong as Grand Coordinator for Rivers and forcefully championed separating the Yellow River from the Huai. After more than a year in charge, with the work nearly done, he petitioned again to drain the lakes and open the transport channel, arguing: "The Gaoyou and Baoying lakes were once rich farmland; once the Huai and Yellow backed up into them, they turned into boggy marsh. Now that the routes to the Yangzi and the sea have been cleared, we should open the sluices on the Jing River, Ziying Gou, and Jinwan River, along with the locks at Guazhou and Yizheng, release the lake waters in full, dredge channels through the lakes themselves, and link them to the Gaoyou and Baoying relief canals. That would spare the transport route the peril of wind and waves; when the water withdrew, reclaimed land could be given to farmers, taxes could gradually be levied, and the revenue could pay for canal maintenance." The court ordered that the plan be carried out. By then the lower reaches had been cleared and the Huai was subsiding, but the Yellow River had just broken through at Huanggu Port. Grain Transport Censor Chu Tie feared that too much water would be lost and Xu and Pi would silt up, and he urgently petitioned to close the breach. Yang Yikui refused to agree and instead dredged from Lianghekou to the old course at Xiaofu Bridge to keep transport moving. But the Yellow River's main current shifted south; the Erhong section of the canal kept drying up; they dredged Lijikou below Huanggu to pull Yellow River water into the channel, yet it silted shut again within little time.

一魁入掌部事。二十六年，劉東星繼之，守一魁舊議，李吉口淤益高。歲冬月，即其地開一小河，春夏引水入徐州，如是者三年，大抵至秋即淤。乃復開趙家圈以接黃，開泇河以濟運。趙家圈旋淤，泇河未復，而東星卒。於是鳳陽巡撫都御史李三才建議自鎮口閘至磨兒莊仿閘河制，三十里一閘，凡建六閘於河中，節宣汶、濟之水，聊以通漕。漕舟至京，不復能如期矣。東星在事，開邵伯月河，長十八里，闊十八丈有奇，以避湖險。又開界首月河，長千八百餘丈。各建金門石閘二，漕舟利焉。

Yang Yikui entered the ministry to head river affairs. In the twenty-sixth year Liu Dongxing took over, keeping to Yang Yikui's earlier policy even as Lijikou silted higher and higher. Each winter they cut a small channel there and in spring and summer led water into Xuzhou; they did this for three years, but by autumn it usually silted shut. They then reopened Zhao Jiaquan to link with the Yellow River and opened the Si River to support transport. Zhao Jiaquan silted shut almost at once, the Si River remained unrestored, and Liu Dongxing died. Then Fengyang Grand Coordinator Li Sancai proposed adopting the lock-canal system from Zhenkou Lock to Moerzhuang—one lock every thirty li, six locks in all built in the riverbed to regulate Wen and Ji waters and keep transport barely alive. Grain boats could no longer reach the capital on time. During Liu Dongxing's tenure he opened the Shaobo relief canal, eighteen li long and over eighteen zhang wide, to bypass the lake's dangers. He also opened the Jieshou relief canal, over eighteen hundred zhang in length. At each site two golden-gate stone locks were installed, to the great benefit of transport vessels.

三十二年，總河侍郎李化龍始大開泇河，自直河至李家港二百六十餘里，盡避黃河之險。化龍憂去，總河侍郎曹時聘終其事，疏敘泇河之功，言：「舒應龍創開韓家莊以泄湖水，而路始通。劉東星大開良城、侯家莊以試行運，而路漸廣。李化龍上開李家港，鑿都水石，下開直河口，挑田家莊，殫力經營，行運過半，而路始開，故臣得接踵告竣。」因條上善後六事，運道由此大通。其後每年三月開泇河壩，由直河口進，九月開召公壩入黃河，糧艘及官民船悉以為準。

In the thirty-second year Vice Coordinator Li Hualong finally opened the Si River in earnest, from Zhihhe to Lijiagang—a stretch of more than two hundred sixty li that wholly bypassed the Yellow River's dangers. Li Hualong departed before the work was done; Vice Coordinator Cao Shipin saw it through and memorialized the Si River's achievements, writing: "Shu Yinglong first opened Hanjiazhuang to drain the lakes, and the route first became passable. Liu Dongxing opened Liangcheng and Houjiazhuang on a large scale to test transport, and the route gradually broadened. Li Hualong opened Lijiagang upstream and cut through the Dushui rock barrier; downstream he opened Zhihhekou and dredged Tianjiazhuang, pouring every effort into the work until transport was more than halfway restored and the route truly opened—only then could I follow in his steps and report the project finished." He then submitted six follow-up measures, and from that point the transport route ran clear. Thereafter, every year in the third month the Si River dam was opened and vessels entered through Zhihhekou; in the ninth month the Zhaogong dam was opened into the Yellow River—grain fleets and all other official and private boats followed this calendar.

四十四年，巡漕御史硃堦請修復泉湖，言：「宋禮築壩戴村，奪二汶入海之路，灌以成河，復導洙、泗、洸、沂諸水以佐之。汶雖率眾流出全力以奉漕，然行遠而竭，已自難支。至南旺，又分其四以南迎淮，六以北赴衛，力分益薄。況此水夏秋則漲，冬春而涸，無雨即夏秋亦涸。禮逆慮其不可恃，乃於沿河昭陽、南旺、馬踏、蜀山、安山諸湖設立斗門，名曰水櫃。漕河水漲，則瀦其溢出者於湖，水消則決而注之漕。積泄有法，盜決有罪，故旱澇恃以無恐。及歲久禁馳，湖淺可耕，多為勢豪所佔，昭陽一湖已作籓田。比來山東半年不雨，泉欲斷流，按圖而索水櫃，茫無知者。乞敕河臣清核，亟築堤壩斗門以廣蓄儲。」帝從其請。

In the forty-fourth year Transport Censor Zhu Jie petitioned to restore the fountain lakes, arguing: "Song Li built the Daicun dam, cut off both Wen rivers from their paths to the sea, and impounded them to form a canal, then brought in the Zhu, Si, Guang, and Yi rivers to supplement it. Though the Wen gathered every tributary and poured its full force into grain transport, it wore itself out over the long haul and was already hard to sustain. At Nanwang four-tenths of its flow was sent south to meet the Huai and six-tenths north toward the Wei, so its strength was spread ever thinner. Moreover, the water rose in summer and autumn but failed in winter and spring; without rain even the summer and autumn runs went dry. Song Li foresaw that the Wen alone could not be trusted, and so along the route he installed sluice gates at the lakes of Zhaoyang, Nanwang, Mata, Shushan, and Anshan, called "water cabinets." When the canal rose, overflow was stored in the lakes; when it fell, the stored water was released back into the canal. Storage and release followed strict rules, and unauthorized opening was punishable, so drought and flood could be met without dread. Over time the prohibitions lapsed, the lakes grew shallow enough to plow, and powerful families seized much of the land—Zhaoyang Lake alone had been turned into polder fields. Recently Shandong had gone half a year without rain, the springs were nearly dry, and when officials searched the maps for water cabinets, none could be found. I beg that river officials be commanded to investigate, and that dikes, dams, and sluice gates be rebuilt at once to expand storage." The emperor approved his petition.

天啟元年，淮、黃漲溢，決裏河王公祠，淮安知府宋統殷、山陽知縣練國事力塞之。三年秋，外河復決數口，尋塞。是年冬，浚永濟新河。自淩雲翼開是河，未幾而閉。總河都御史劉士忠嘗開壩以濟運，已復塞。而淮安正河三十年未浚。故議先挑新河，通運船回空，乃浚正河，自許家閘至惠濟祠長千四百餘丈，復建通濟月河小閘，運船皆由正河，新河復閉。時王家集、磨兒莊湍溜日甚，漕儲參政硃國盛謀改浚一河以為漕計，令同知宋士中自泇口迤東抵宿遷陳溝口，復泝駱馬湖，上至馬頰河，往回相度。乃議開馬家洲，且疏馬頰河口淤塞，上接氵加流，下避劉口之險，又疏三汊河流沙十三里，開滔莊河百餘丈，浚深小河二十里，開王能莊二十里，以通駱馬湖口，築塞張家等溝數十道，束水歸漕。計河五十七里，名通濟新河。五年四月，工成，運道從新河，無劉口、磨兒莊諸險之患。明年，總河侍郎李從心開陳溝地十里，以竟前工。

In the first year of the Tianqi reign the Huai and Yellow flooded, breaching the inner canal at Wanggong Shrine; Huai'an Prefect Song Tongyin and Shanyang Magistrate Lian Guoshi strained every effort to close the breach. In the autumn of the third year the outer river broke in several places again, but the breaches were soon closed. That winter the Yongji New Canal was dredged. Ever since Ling Yunyi had opened this canal, it had been closed again before long. Grand Coordinator Liu Shizhong had once opened the dam to support transport, but it had been sealed again. Meanwhile Huai'an's main canal had gone thirty years without dredging. The plan was therefore to dredge the new canal first so returning empty boats could pass, then dredge the main channel from Xujia Lock to Huiji Shrine—a stretch of more than fourteen hundred zhang—rebuild the small lock on the Tongji relief canal, route all transport boats through the main canal, and close the new canal once more. At the time the rapids at Wangjiaji and Moerzhuang grew worse daily; Transport Storage Vice Commissioner Zhu Guosheng planned to cut a new canal for grain transport and sent Vice Prefect Song Shizhong to survey from Sikou east to Chenggoukou at Suqian, then upstream through Luoma Lake to the Majia River, traveling back and forth to assess the route. They then proposed opening Majiazhou, clearing the silted Majia River mouth, linking upstream to the Si flow, bypassing the danger of Liukou downstream, dredging thirteen li of sand at Sancha River, opening more than a hundred zhang of Taozhuang River, deepening a small stream for twenty li, opening Wangnengzhuang for twenty li to reach Luoma Lake's mouth, and blocking dozens of side channels such as Zhangjia to force water back into the transport route. The canal totaled fifty-seven li and was named the Tongji New Canal. In the fourth month of the fifth year the work was finished; the transport route ran through the new canal, free from the dangers of Liukou, Moerzhuang, and the like. The following year Vice Coordinator Li Congxin opened ten li at Chenggou to finish the earlier project.

崇禎二年，淮安蘇家嘴、新溝大壩並決，沒山、鹽、高、泰民田。五年，又決建義北壩。總河尚書硃光祚浚駱馬湖，避河險十三處，名順濟河。六年，良城至徐塘淤為平陸，漕運愆期，奪光祚官，劉榮嗣繼之。

In the second year of the Chongzhen reign the great dams at Sujiazui and Xingou in Huai'an both failed, flooding farmland in Shanyang, Yan, Gaoyou, and Taizhou. In the fifth year Jianyi North Dam breached as well. Grand Coordinator Zhu Guangzuo dredged Luoma Lake, bypassing thirteen dangerous stretches of river, and named the channel the Shunji River. In the sixth year the stretch from Liangcheng to Xutang silted up into flat ground, grain transport fell behind schedule, Zhu Guangzuo was dismissed, and Liu Rongsi took his place.

八年，駱馬湖淤阻，榮嗣開河徐、宿，引注黃水，被劾，得重罪。侍郎周鼎繼之，乃專力於泇河，浚麥河支河，築王母山前後壩、勝陽山東堤、馬蹄厓十字河攔水壩，挑良城閘抵徐塘口六千餘丈。九年夏，泇河復通，由宿遷陳溝口合大河。鼎又修高家堰及新溝漾田營堤，增築天妃閘石工，去南旺湖彭口沙礓，浚劉呂莊至黃林莊百六十里。而是時黃、淮漲溢日甚，倒灌害漕。鼎在事五年，卒以運阻削職。繼之者侍郎張國維，甫蒞任，即以漕涸被責。

In the eighth year Luoma Lake silted shut; Liu Rongsi cut a canal in Xu and Su to introduce Yellow River water, was impeached, and received a heavy sentence. Vice Minister Zhou Ding succeeded him and devoted himself entirely to the Si River, dredging the Mai River branch, building dams before and after Wangmushan, the east dike at Shengyangshan, and the cross-river blocking dam at Matiya, and dredging more than six thousand zhang from Liangcheng Lock to Xutangkou. In the summer of the ninth year the Si River opened again, joining the great river at Chenggoukou in Suqian. Zhou Ding also repaired Gaojiayan and the Xingou Yangtiancamp dike, reinforced the stonework at Tianfei Lock, cleared sand and gravel from Pengkou in Nanwang Lake, and dredged a hundred and sixty li from Liuluzhuang to Huanglinzhuang. Yet by then the Yellow and Huai flooded more fiercely by the day, backflowing and wrecking grain transport. After five years in office Zhou Ding was finally dismissed for failing to keep transport moving. He was succeeded by Vice-Minister Zhang Guowei, who was rebuked as soon as he took office because the transport route had dried up.

十四年，國維言：「濟甯運道自棗林閘溯師家莊、仲家淺二閘，歲患淤淺，每引泗河由魯橋入運以濟之。伏秋水長，足資利涉。而挾沙注河，水退沙積，利害參半。旁自白馬河匯鄒縣諸泉，與泗合流而出魯橋，力弱不能敵泗，河身半淤，不為漕用。然其上源寬處正與仲家淺閘相對，導令由此入運，較魯橋高下懸殊，且易細流為洪流，又減沙滲之患，而濟仲家淺及師莊、棗林，有三便。」又言：「南旺水本地脊，惟藉泰安、新泰、萊蕪、甯陽、汶上、東平、平陰、肥城八州縣泉源，由汶入運，故運河得通。今東平、平陰、肥城淤沙中斷，請亟浚之。」復上疏運六策：一復安山湖水櫃以濟北閘，一改挑滄浪河從萬年倉出口以利四閘，一展浚汶河、陶河上源以濟邳派，一改道沂河出徐塘口以並利邳、宿，其二即開三州縣淤沙及改挑白馬湖也。皆命酌行。國維又浚淮、揚漕河三百餘里。當是時，河臣竭力補苴，南河稍寧，北河數淺阻。而河南守臣壅黃河以灌賊。河大決開封，下流日淤，河事益壞，未幾而明亡矣。

In the fourteenth year, Guowei reported: "The Jining transport route from Zaolin Sluice upstream through the Shijiazhuang and Zhongjia Shallow sluices was plagued by silting every year; the Si River was regularly diverted through Luqiao into the transport canal to supplement it. During the flood season, when water was high, passage was easy. Yet it carried sand into the canal, and when the water fell the sand built up—gains and losses were about equal. Nearby, the Baima River collected the springs of Zou County, merged with the Si, and exited at Luqiao; being too weak to counter the Si, its channel was half silted and could not serve transport. Yet where its upper reach widened, it lay directly opposite Zhongjia Shallow Sluice; diverting it there into the transport canal offered three advantages over Luqiao: the drop in elevation was much smaller, a narrow stream could become a strong current, sand infiltration would be reduced, and Zhongjia Shallow together with Shizhuang and Zaolin would all be supplied." He also said: "Nanwang sits on the watershed ridge; the transport canal remained open only because it drew on springs from Tai'an, Xintai, Laiwu, Ningyang, Wenshang, Dongping, Pingyin, and Feicheng, which entered through the Wen River. Now Dongping, Pingyin, and Feicheng are blocked by silt; I request that they be dredged immediately." He further submitted six policies for transport: restore Anshan Lake's water cabinets to supply the northern sluices; reroute the Canglang River from Wannian Granary's outlet to benefit four sluices; extend dredging of the upper Wen and Tao Rivers to aid the Pi branch; redirect the Yi River to exit at Xutang Mouth to benefit both Pi and Su; the remaining two called for clearing silt in the three prefectures and counties and rerouting the Baima Lake channel. The emperor ordered each measure to be carried out as appropriate. Guowei also dredged more than three hundred li of the Huai and Yang transport canals. At that time river officials strained every effort to patch and mend; the southern route grew somewhat stable, while the northern route repeatedly shoaled and blocked transport. Meanwhile Henan's defending officials dammed the Yellow River to flood the rebels. The river breached catastrophically at Kaifeng; the lower reaches silted up daily; river management deteriorated further—and before long the Ming dynasty fell.

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