Yánggǔ

Yanggu lies on the western Shandong plain, north of the Yellow River. Its county town was established at Mengdian in 1006, after earlier moves, while the Grand Canal passed through the eastern part of the county. Canal traffic brought prosperity but depended on an elaborate system of water control. In 1453, the Ming official Xu Youzhen oversaw the digging of the Guangji Canal and the building of a sluice at Zhangqiu to regulate water drawn from the Yellow and Qin rivers for navigation.