Shortly after the imperial examination, Chen Qing came to Shaanzhou for inspection. As the territory managed by the Yong Kingdom continued to expand, Chen Qing became more and more deeply aware of the impact of transportation and communication restrictions on the management of the huge territory.
Communication has improved, through pigeons and eagles on the one hand, and on the other hand, they began to restore the post stations of the Northern Song Dynasty in various places and encouraged the development of the private express industry. They had enough war horses to deliver the fastest gold medals.
By constantly changing horses, messages can be delivered at a speed of four hundred miles a day. Official documents sent from Guanzhong can reach Yangzhou in only ten days.
This is the fastest speed, but the cost is also the highest. It is suitable for urgent official documents or business letters. For example, when a businessman goes to Jingzhao Cabinet to withdraw money from Yangzhou, the cabinet will send one of the deposit receipts, the secret code and
Important information such as half of the jade pei was sent to the Yangzhou cabinet shop. After the merchants arrived in Yangzhou, they could easily withdraw thousands or even tens of thousands of coins from the Yangzhou cabinet shop. Although the commission fee charged by the cabinet shop was dozens of coins, compared with
The safety and freight costs of transporting money thousands of miles to Yangzhou are nothing, and businessmen are willing to pay this amount.
Starting from the Qin Dynasty, straight roads or official roads have been built in all dynasties in order to improve transportation and shorten communication time.
The official roads of the Yong Kingdom were very complete and extended in all directions. This was also due to the Northern Song Dynasty's vigorous repair of official roads on the basis of the Tang Dynasty. However, water transportation in Guanzhong and the Central Plains has always been a big problem.
Water transportation is extremely important. Bulk materials are basically transported by water. The cost of land transportation is too high. Chen Qing also attaches great importance to water transportation. A large amount of materials can be transported directly from the Yellow River to Jingzhao by ship through the Wei River and Tianbao Canal.
However, there is a large intestinal obstruction in the Yellow River water transportation, which has seriously affected the shipping from the Central Plains and Hebei to Guanzhong since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and that is Sanmenxia in Shaanzhou.
On the Yellow River in Shaanzhou, there are two small island-like boulders lying on the water. The boulders are islands and cannot be moved away. Three rapid water channels are formed between the two boulders and the two banks, like three water gates, hence the name Sanmenxia.
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The three water gates are called the Ghost Gate, the Divine Gate and the Human Gate respectively. The Ghost Gate is dangerous, the Divine Gate is fast, and the Human Gate is gentle. Most ships pass through the Human Gate, but the Human Gate is intertwined with underwater reefs, huge rocks stand in the river, and there are many whirlpools.
Difficulties and accidents often occur.
During the Kaiyuan period, Prime Minister Pei Yaoqing built a Jijin warehouse to the east of Sanmenxia, a salt warehouse to the west of Sanmen, and a Taiyuan warehouse in the southwest of Shaanzhou. He organized a large number of civilians to dig an eighteen-mile land road between the two warehouses to transport grain.
Store it in Jijincang to the east of Sanmenxia, and then transport it to the west of Sanmenxia via the eighteen-mile land route and enter the salt warehouse, thus avoiding the danger of Sanmenxia, and then transport it to the capital by boat.
Three years after arriving in Tianbao, Wei Jian, the governor of Shaanzhou, once again managed the Sanmen Gorge and rebuilt a plank road on the rock wall. Trackers pulled ropes to pull the boats through, so that grain and cargo could be transported across the Sanmen Gorge by small boats instead of overland.
But even if there are trackers, large ships with deep drafts still cannot pass through the door. As long as there are rocks underwater, deep drafts can easily hit the rocks.
Chen Qing's 10,000-stone ship transporting supplies from Hebei could not pass through Sanmenxia. He changed to a small boat in Shaanzhou and passed through Sanmenxia, and then changed to a 3,000-stone cargo ship to go to Jingzhao. It had to be unloaded and loaded twice, which was very troublesome and easy.
Hitting a rock, all people, ships and cargo were destroyed.
Many merchants in the Shaanzhou section had to take the land route into Guanzhong and then use water transportation to prevent damage to the goods.
With the establishment of the Yong Kingdom, it was decided to establish its capital in Jingzhao, so the shipping management of Sanmenxia became imperative.
Accompanied by Lu Wei, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, Chen Qing stood on a high mountain beside the Yellow River and looked at two huge rock islands from a distance. But in front of the rock islands, there was a huge rock that looked like a shark fin.
It's its presence that makes the water flow extremely turbulent and unpredictable.
Lu Wei pointed to the shark fin in the distance and said: "That huge rock makes the water flow extremely fast and weird. When a ship passes by it, if you are not careful, you will be carried into the ghost gate or the divine gate by the current. That is a narrow escape."
It takes the superb skills of the helmsman to bring the ship to the door."
Chen Qing felt that these words were a bit alarmist, and could not help but frown slightly: "Our first batch of wealth transported from Yanshan Prefecture passed through Sanmenxia in thousands of small boats, and none of them was damaged. Is it possible that the boatmen of each small boat have high skills?"
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Lu Wei smiled slightly and said: "In addition to highly skilled boatmen, there is another way to make the boat safely pass through the gate."
"any solution?"
"Can your Highness see the cliff on the other side?"
At this time, the sun was shining high and the mist on the river dissipated, allowing people to see very far. Chen Qing's eyesight was extraordinary. He could only vaguely see some black spots on the cliff on the other side. "I saw very small black spots!"
"Those tiny black dots are craftsmen. They drill deep holes in the rock wall and install plank roads. Plank roads are very important. The fiber pullers walk on the plank roads, control the direction of the ship, and pull the ship through the gate safely."
"Is the management of Sanmenxia in all dynasties just the renewal of the plank road?" Chen Qing asked again.
"Of course, the rocky island cannot be shaken, and the reef cannot be eliminated. We can only make a fuss on the plank road."
Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said: "But we have Iron Fire Thunder, so we should be able to do things that our predecessors could not do!"
Lu Wei nodded, "I am trying to use iron fire mines to blow up underwater reefs, but how to make iron fire mines explode underwater is a difficult problem. The firearms maker has been studying hard and testing repeatedly. It is estimated that in the past two days,
There will be gains.”
At this time, there was a muffled sound of 'Boom!' in the distance, and white water columns splashed. Lu Wei said: "This is what they are doing."
"No! This should be an underwater explosion." Chen Qing saw the white water column and immediately realized that it was an explosion that occurred underwater.
Lu Wei was overjoyed. Did the firearms maker succeed?
He hurriedly took Chen Qing to Shaanxian County, to the temporary testing site of the Firearms Bureau in Shaanxi, and met Xie Ying, who had just been promoted to the director of the Firearms and Powder Bureau.
Xie Ying did not expect that His Highness King Yong would arrive, so she hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, "Is it your humble duty to see His Highness?"
Chen Qingxiao asked: "I saw an underwater explosion just now. Was the underwater iron fire thunder you tested successful?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, it was successful a few days ago. It has just been built and is being tested!"
"How is it made, I mean waterproof?"
"Please come and take a look, Your Highness. Your Highness will understand after a brief explanation of my humble duty."
Xie Ying took Chen Qing into a heavily guarded warehouse. In a small warehouse, Chen Qing saw the mine they had just made, which looked like a big pumpkin with a horn on its head.
"Actually, we all ignite it and then throw it into the water, so we need a plug to plug the mouth of the match and then throw it into the water. The most important thing here is delayed explosion. I already had it in Huolei's belly.
It is a screw-like device, with the match rope spiraling and burning inside. If we make more circles, the match rope will burn inside for a longer time, allowing ships on the river to leave calmly."
Chen Qing nodded. Firearms makers are very experienced in delayed combustion. He asked again: "Then what? Will the match go out in the belly of Iron Fire Thunder?"
"Your Highness is right. This is a big problem. I am always short of breath. Later, a craftsman thought of a solution. He installed a wooden tube on the top of his head and plugged the stopper at the top of the wooden tube. This way, he breathed more. It can be said to be just right. Just now
The test was successful and it exploded underwater."
Chen Qing laughed and said: "Use a bamboo pipe! Get a ten-foot-long bamboo pipe, and then tie the iron fire thunder to the reef. The outlet of the bamboo pipe is on the water, light the match rope and leave. There is no need for any plugs. This way
Ok?"
Xie Ying smiled and said: "Of course this is possible. Some craftsmen have also proposed it, but it needs to be implemented in winter when it freezes. Your Highness also knows that the water flow is relatively fast and the bamboo pipes cannot support it for long in the water."
"It can be made stronger. Of course, I just mentioned it casually. You can figure it out on your own. Anyway, it has been successful now. I need to see the results."
"Reporting to Your Highness, we will start blasting tomorrow!"
