A man can use copper as a mirror to straighten his clothes and crown; Using history as a mirror, we can understand the rise and fall; Using people as mirrors can reveal gains and losses. What kind of story does our protagonist Su Shi have?
At dawn, welcome guests to the lush hills, and at night, the rain leaves people to enter the drunken countryside. “-” Drinking on the Lake after the First Clear Rain, Part One “by Song Su Shi
What comes to mind first when it comes to Su Dongpo? I believe most people would think of one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, who was talented and wrote timeless poems. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some foodies may associate Dongpo’s elbow with it. Su Dongpo holds a pivotal position in the entire history of Chinese culture, exerting a tremendous influence on the literary world after the Northern Song Dynasty.
The great literary figure Su Shi was accomplished in calligraphy, writing, and painting, and at that time, he could be said to have led the entire literary world of the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, when Su Dongpo was mentioned, it must have been well-known to everyone. His literary achievements have been praised by modern people, and those popular lines of poetry make people yearn for them.
However, what we are going to talk about today is not Su Shi’s achievements in the literary world. In fact, Su Shi not only had extraordinary literary achievements, but also had a patriotic heart in politics. When we look through the history books of the Song Dynasty, apart from his literary achievements, we can find that this great poet also made great contributions in helping the world and the people.
So, what did Su Shi do when he was an official?
From historical records, Su Shi did many things for the people, among which the more important ones were flood prevention, military reorganization, and epidemic control.
1、 Su Shi, who fought against floods on the city wall
At that time, Su Shi had just been transferred to Xuzhou as the governor, and before everything could start, a news made Su Shi nervous. This news is about the Yellow River bursting.
In ancient times, the Yellow River had already become a major problem for successive dynasties. The Yellow River carried a large amount of sediment and washed it down from the upper reaches. In areas with relatively flat terrain, the water flow slowed down, causing sediment to accumulate. Over time, the Yellow River has become an above ground river, and during the rainy season, it is prone to breaches.
At that time, the Yellow River broke at Caocun, and the flood instantly submerged nearby villages and farmland, and also swept away many people. And it rushed directly towards the low-lying city of Xuzhou. For a while, the city walls of Xuzhou were already submerged by floods, and the situation became very critical.
Watching the flood rise higher and higher, people’s travel has become a huge problem. Moreover, due to the convergence of floods under the city walls of Xuzhou, it is difficult to discharge them for a while, which poses a significant hidden danger that the city walls will face the risk of collapse.
Some people may wonder why the city walls are indestructible and can even be washed away by floods?
In fact, this is mainly because the floods have not receded for days, and the city walls of Xuzhou have been submerged in water. Although the city walls are indestructible, towering buildings rise from flat ground. If the foundation is lost, the city walls will naturally collapse. The continuous soaking in water has made the foundation of the city wall soft and very dangerous.
When the situation was not right, the wealthy people in Xuzhou city immediately thought of escaping to survive. These wealthy people were able to escape the city, tying their worth to themselves, and even if they left the city, they had a way out. But for other ordinary people, it’s not like that. Once the people realize that they cannot survive, it will inevitably lead to chaos.
In order to prevent the city of Xuzhou from falling into chaos, Su Shi, a civil servant, surprisingly told the people who were leaving the city that he would personally take charge of the city and would never let the flood wash away the city walls. Seeing the new governor’s unwavering determination, everyone gave up the idea of leaving the city and joined the struggle to defend the city walls.
As the saying goes, many people have great strength. In order to have sufficient strength to cope with floods, Su Shi thought of calling on the army. This is a very taboo thing. The collusion between civil officials and military generals, without the orders of the emperor or the Privy Council, directly calling on troops, regardless of which one, is enough to arouse suspicion from the court and the emperor towards Su Shi. But Su Shi did not hesitate. He came to the military camp and pleaded with the soldiers to contribute to the city of Xuzhou.
Seeing the governor’s actions, the soldiers were moved by him and brought their comrades to join the people in building a dam. Defend the people and property of Xuzhou. The rain continued to fall, and in order to stabilize the morale of the army and encourage everyone to work harder, Su Shi decided to build a thatched hut on the city wall. He personally lived in this small thatched hut on the city wall and led everyone to defend against floods day and night.
In the end, with Su Shi’s strong persistence and under the command of all parties, the city walls of Xuzhou were successfully preserved, as well as the lives of millions of people in the city. Afterwards, Su Shi repaired the areas damaged by floods and reinforced the areas where the Yellow River had breached its banks to prevent another outbreak of floods.
2、 Su Shi, who led the army in accordance with the law
After the death of Emperor Renzong of Song, Emperor Zhezong of Song succeeded to the throne. At this time, Su Shi was originally an official in the capital city. However, due to the situation in the court at that time, he requested to go to a local office so that he could personally help the people in one area. He can no longer tolerate the intrigues and deceit within the court.
Faced with Su Shi’s request, Song Zhezong sent him to Dingzhou, which was adjacent to the Khitan, as an official. In the border areas, the Northern Song Dynasty deployed a large number of armies. Although these armies had lower combat effectiveness compared to the central army, they were responsible for guarding the border for a long time.
Originally, the border areas had harsh conditions, and the court treated these soldiers as favorably as possible. But the officials here regard soldiers as a way to get rich and withhold military pay and food. And the soldiers in the army are also lazy and proud, completely unwilling to undergo training. Local officials have no way at all.
After Su Shi came to Dingzhou to take office, he immediately discovered this problem. In order to change this situation, he came up with various methods. Firstly, he banned drinking and gambling in the military, and did not allow such bad behavior to exist in the barracks.
Secondly, it is necessary to increase supervision over military officers and ensure that soldiers’ clothes, food, and rations can be fully delivered to their hands. Seeing the soldiers of real gold and silver, I finally believed in Su Shi. After all, there were too many corrupt officials, and there was a commander who was not greedy for military pay, so everyone naturally showed extra respect.
Seizing the opportunity to review the army in spring, Su Shi restored the long abandoned order of hierarchy in the military camp. All the soldiers were dressed in their own official uniforms, looking majestic and full of the appearance of soldiers defending their country.
3、 Su Shi, who was treating the epidemic in Hangzhou
Later, Su Shi was transferred to Hangzhou, which was a good place with abundant resources and abundant food, contributing to the huge financial expenditures of the Northern Song Dynasty. When Su Shi arrived in Hangzhou, he coincidentally encountered a drought, famine, and disease that hit the people inside the city.
For this reason, Su Shi raised a sum of money and took out fifty taels of gold from his own property to establish a charity organization in Hangzhou specifically for treating poor and helpless people. His actions have earned him great love and admiration from the common people.
In the spring of the following year, Su Shi even further strengthened his assistance to the people. Due to the severe drought, Su Shi knew that the common people might face a shortage of resources, so he began selling square meters. This was the policy of the Northern Song court, which purchased a large amount of grain in the year of harvest and sold it in the year of famine, in order to stabilize the price of rice and ensure the food security of the people.
After resolving these issues, Su Shi turned his gaze back to West Lake. At that time, the water transport rivers were severely silted up and had to be excavated again every three years, otherwise the imperial transport ships could not pass, which would pose a huge danger to the Northern Song court. This re excavation work has become an extremely heavy burden.
West Lake is also severely silted up, with a shrinking lake surface and decreasing water supply, causing difficulties for people’s daily water needs. For this reason, Su Shi had two rivers excavated and the water reintroduced into the canal. This way, the canal had enough water to be navigable, and there was no need to excavate every three years.
Later, Su Shi also built a dam to block the tide and prevent it from eroding the land of Hangzhou. Su Shi also built a dam in the West Lake, which was over thirty miles long. This action was aimed at clearing the silt in the lake and making the water deeper. The second is to facilitate pedestrian traffic. Moreover, in order to completely solve the problem of siltation in West Lake, Su Shi had people plant water chestnuts in the lake, relying on the power of nature to prevent water and grass from silting up.
Summary
Afterwards, Su Shi revisited his hometown of Hangzhou and found that the local people hung his portrait and even built a shrine for him. Su Shi felt that these were all things he should do, and he did not have any achievements. Speaking of which, Su Shi has never strived for success, and he has always been indifferent to fame and fortune. Let the great name of Su Shi be passed down to future generations.
