? In the Tang Dynasty, historian Li Mi took water from the West Lake and drilled six wells, which ensured that the people in Hangzhou had enough water to drink. Bai Juyi introduced the water from the West Lake into the canal, and then introduced the water from the canal into the fields, irrigated nearly a thousand acres of fields, and the people in Hangzhou became rich. However, there are many weeds in the West Lake, which need to be cleaned and dredged every year. After the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) in Song Dynasty, the cleanup stopped. The more weeds pile up, the less water there is in the West Lake. As a result, the navigation capacity of the canal was lost, a large amount of sediment was deposited in the river, the irrigation capacity was gradually weakened, and agricultural production was greatly affected. The original six wells were abandoned. Su Shi met with drought and famine after serving as the governor of Hangzhou, and found that the problem of the West Lake must be solved immediately.
In the spring of the following year, Su Shi wrote to the court to apply for money and food to solve the problems existing in the West Lake. Su Shi dredged a river in Maoshan and a river in Yanqiao, connecting shipping with these two rivers. In order to store water and discharge the lake, a dam was built to stop the tide from flowing into Hangzhou. Then the six abandoned wells were dredged again, so that people could have clean and sufficient water. It is beneficial to use the weeds accumulated in the lake for many years to build long dikes for the people to pass through. ?
Su Shi's management of the West Lake has greatly improved the life of Hangzhou people and left a beautiful West Lake for future generations!