The boatman stretched out his long pole, and the boat broke through the river and rowed towards the north of the river.
The man standing on the bow of the boat raised his hand and pointed, saying: "My hometown is in Fengtai, north of the Huaihe River. It belonged to Beishouzhou during the Jin Kingdom. When Duanping entered Luo, my father thought he could return to his hometown, so he named me
This name."
"So your name is Lu Fengtai?"
"Yes, our hometown is separated by a river. Five generations of our ancestors have not been able to go back."
"Then you can go back now."
Li Tingzhi responded politely and ended the conversation.
He didn't really want to chat with Lu Fengtai. These people always mentioned the bad things about the separation of the country and the country, emphasizing Zhao's incompetence. He was afraid that if he talked too much, his nostalgia for his motherland would become weaker and weaker.
He leaned across the cabin, stood at the stern, and looked up to the south shore.
Bagong Mountain got further and further away, and then the boat swayed and arrived at the north bank of the river.
Li Tingzhi has completely left the territory after the Song Dynasty's southern crossing.
If he does not agree with Li Tang, he has left his homeland. On the contrary, he has entered the hinterland of his family and country.
I have been aiming to restore the Central Plains my whole life, and today I am heading north this way.
After crossing the Huaihe River, you can gradually feel that the trees are getting lower and less densely arranged. In addition, the terrain is flat, and the sky is high and the clouds are vast.
South and north are still different.
Occasionally, you can see groups of people walking on the roadside. The accompanying officials said that they are the refugees who the imperial court moved from the Huaihe River to the north to settle down. The emperor hopes to use this to change the place where the poor in the south of the Yangtze River have no place to stand. The population in the north is sparse and the culture and education are sparse.
A ruined situation.
After hearing this, Li Tingzhi shook his head secretly, thinking that this matter is not as easy as it sounds. To achieve it, he must have a strong approach, otherwise good governance like the public land law will easily turn into bad governance that harms the people.
But he didn't speak.
Although he chose to surrender, he was not willing to serve in the new dynasty.
He agreed with Deng Yan that after giving up resistance and handing over military power, he would be allowed to become an idler in the mountains.
Deng Yan only said that he should go to Kaifeng to see His Majesty before discussing.
Li Tingzhi had no choice but to go all the way north, and finally arrived in Kaifeng on March 28, that is, Bianjing, the former capital of the Song Dynasty.
Before seeing the city wall, something that Li Tingzhi was very concerned about appeared on the side of the official road - horses.
To determine whether a country is strong or not, the first thing to consider is horses.
The corpses of all the princes in the Lin'an temple are eating plain food, and they will always say that the Song Dynasty was rich, that Meng Yuan was a barbarian, and that Li Xia was a traitor. In the end, if there are no horses, strategically, they will always be beaten.
As we get closer to the closed city, more and more horses and camels appear.
Not all of them are Han Chinese, most of them are Mongolians and Semu people.
This is what surprised Li Tingzhi. It can be seen that Li Xia inherited the business and trade of Meng Yuan.
The Song Dynasty also attached great importance to trade, but it focused more on maritime trade, and did not dare to let so many barbarians come to the capital. The Song Dynasty was afraid that "accepting them would lead to future troubles".
Therefore, the scene on the official road first made Li Tingzhi feel uneasy.
He was not only worried that Li Xia had been transformed into barbarians after living in the north for a long time, but he was also worried that it would be dangerous to allow so many foreigners to enter.
Lu Fengtai also came to Kaifeng for the first time. He turned around and murmured: "No wonder Wang Xin said that one day it would be necessary to return to the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty where all nations came to court..."
Li Tingzhi was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and suddenly realized that his thoughts just now were indeed a bit stingy.
When he arrived in Luzhou, he heard Wang Xun scold "the Lord of the Song Dynasty has lost his soul", and now he gradually realizes the accuracy of the word "lost his soul".
They shook their heads and continued walking forward. Because there were many businessmen and horses on the official road and many people were mobilized for military supplies, they queued for a while at Nanxunmen before they were able to enter the city. However, upon entering the city, they found that Kaifeng City was far less prosperous than Yangzhou.
The biggest difference lies in the style of the buildings. The houses along the street are very simple, with green tile roofs, gray walls, and lack of carved railings and painted buildings.
Lu Fengtai asked people to submit a letter to the government office first, and took Li Tingzhi to stay in the post house.
After a short rest, someone came to summon him.
Li Tingzhi didn't expect to see Li Xia just after entering Kaifeng. In Lin'an, he would have had to wait for three to five days, not to mention that he was still surrendering.
After entering the palace, he immediately realized that Li Xia had no plans to make Kaifeng the capital.
Because this so-called palace is nothing more than changing the plaque, and right next to the tower after entering the door, the "Henan Jinglue Mansion" sign is still there.
Recalling the song "Qinyuanchun", Li Tingzhi was sure that Kaifeng City could not accommodate Li Xia's ambition...
After passing the tower, someone came to greet me.
"Ms. Li, do you still remember us?"
Li Tingzhi took a closer look and thought for a while before saying: "Guan Daguan?"
Guan De then laughed with satisfaction and said: "Your Majesty attaches great importance to Xianggong Li. He was saying the day before yesterday that Xianggong Li will be arriving from Lianghuai in about two days, so we should not neglect him."
"Thank you, Emperor, for your kindness."
Li Tingzhi just regarded it as a casual comment and responded politely.
"Unfortunately, the previous ministers were a little late to discuss matters. Please ask Mr. Li to wait in front." Guan De said with a smile, "Xianggong Lu of Xiangyang is also here..."
Going further, I saw people from Xiangyang.
Standing at the front is Lu Wenhuan. His clothes are not as luxurious as when we met a few years ago. His hair is still meticulously combed, and his demeanor has not diminished.
Lu Wenhuan turned around, with a look of surprise in his eyes, as if he didn't expect to see Li Tingzhi here.
Li Tingzhi cupped his hands and said nothing. He couldn't say "You surrendered too."
Everyone stood and waited for a while. After being summoned by Li Xia, they lined up one by one and prepared to enter the main hall.
Lu Wenhuan asked Lu Fengtai to come forward. Lu Fengtai didn't understand these rules. After a few words of refusal, he couldn't refuse, so he simply stood in front.
Lu Wenhuan looked at Li Tingzhi again.
Li Tingzhi then raised her hand to ask him to come forward. After Lu Shisheng and others had all stood up, he stood in the middle of the team and entered the main hall one by one.
As soon as more than twenty surrendered ministers entered, the hall was almost full.
"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty..."
Li Tingzhi didn't want to kneel at first, but after all, it was the first time he met the minister, and everyone else knelt, so he had no choice but to do so.
"Everyone is safe."
Li Xia's voice is very young.
As he stood up, Li Tingzhi took a peek and saw that Li Xia was wearing an ocher red round-neck robe. He was indeed very handsome... Then, he suddenly found Li Xia's sharp eyes looking this way, even facing him.
Seeing it, he quickly lowered his head.
"Your Majesty and others obey the destiny and stop the war, so that the world can be unified as soon as possible and all the people can be settled as soon as possible. They will all contribute to the country..."
Li Xia opened his mouth to encourage the surrendered ministers, his voice was calm and devoid of emotion.
Afterwards, he asked his chamberlain to declare the decree and award him official titles.
Li Tingzhi did not want to become an official, but today he could only accept the official position and submit his resignation later.
He raised his head slightly again, only to find a large map placed on the side of the hall, almost covering the entire wall.
In terms of size and detail, this map was the first he had seen in his life. It stretched from the Great Wall in the north to the South China Sea in the south. All mountains, rivers and rivers were marked, and not a single prefecture or county was left behind.
Just by looking at this map, he knew that the Song Dynasty had not lost the battle unjustly.
Although some war games are placed near the Yangtze River on this map, the most marked places are the Yellow River.
"Is there still war in the Yellow River?" This was the first thought that came to Li Tingzhi's mind.
Taking a closer look, he couldn't help but become more confused, and thought to himself: "That's weird."
When they met in court that day, Li Tingzhi didn't even hear clearly what official position he had been pardoned from. What he was thinking more about was the winding Yellow River on the map...
~~
"Xianggong Li, Xianggong Li?"
The next day, when Li Tingzhi was drowsily sleeping, he heard a rather shrill voice calling him.
When he opened his eyes and saw Guan De's face, he realized that he was sleeping so deeply that he didn't even know someone came in.
"Guan Guan, what's the matter?"
"His Majesty summons you."
Li Tingzhi was quite surprised. He originally came to be a surrendered general living in Kaifeng, but unexpectedly he was treated like a favorite.
This time when he entered the palace, he did not wait any longer and was directly introduced into the palace by Guande.
In the palace, several ministers were sitting and talking to Li Xia.
"It may not be possible to take it out..."
"Your Majesty, Mr. Li is here."
Li Tingzhi was about to salute when Li Xia said, "No need to be too polite."
So Li Tingzhi straightened up.
Li Xia got straight to the point: "Yesterday I saw that Li Qing was interested in maps. Is he interested in the Yangtze River or the Yellow River?"
Li Tingzhi was stunned for a moment, then saluted and responded: "I dare you to ask Your Majesty if you want to build the Yellow River?"
"Since the chaos in the country, the Yellow River has been dug up many times. The Jin people dug it, the Song people dug it, and the Mongolian people dug it. It flooded and wreaked havoc on life for decades. Now I personally come to Kaifeng. In addition to destroying the Song Dynasty, I want to supervise this matter.
.Guo Shoujing still has one and a half years left in Hebei, so he just needs to raise funds to build the river first..."
Li Tingzhi didn't know who Guo Shoujing was, but he saw a very detailed river repair plan on the map yesterday.
He was based in Yangzhou, and in his early years he often fought against Li Fen from Shandong Province. The area where he was most active was the lower reaches of the Huanghuai River, an area that was hit by floods.
Therefore, although he has never been to Kaifeng, he is very concerned about the Yellow River.
Looking back at the map on the side of the palace again, Li Tingzhi asked: "Can I allow the guilty minister to take a closer look?"
"Li Qing, just take a look."
Li Tingzhi then walked to the map and saw many small pieces of paper stuck on it along the Yellow River, marking the sedimentation and flooding of each river section, and detailing the river control methods such as diverting the water southward, diverting it to the Huaihe River, and returning it to its original path.
The advantages and disadvantages, and even the impact of water transportation in the Huaidong River section were mentioned...
The entire plan is relatively conservative, focusing on sand control, which relatively saves manpower and material resources.
Of course, the world has not yet been unified, and even if the Song Dynasty is destroyed, it is true that there will not be much manpower and material resources available.
"There are actually people who are good at water conservancy in the Northland."
"Guo Shoujing is a master of water conservancy." Li Xia also came over and stood behind Li Tingzhi.
Li Tingzhi disagreed, thinking that Guo Shoujing was just talented in the north.
"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you this boldly: Why are you in such a hurry to control the river now that your country has just established its dynasty?"
"The sooner the Yellow River is built, the smaller the impact of political factors will be."
Li Xia was actually very straightforward. He raised his finger and pointed at the old path of the Yellow River on the map, and then pointed at the Huaihe River.
"Sooner or later it must be repaired. The later it is repaired, the greater the conflict of interest will be."
"Yes."
Of course, Li Tingzhi understood that whether to move the Yellow River back to its original course or to build it on the Huaihe River would involve great interests for both the south and the north. As long as factions were formed in the court, there would be no possibility of disputes.
After the Song Dynasty was destroyed, it was the time when Li Xia's prestige and control were at the highest, and there would even be necessary prisoners in Jiangnan, and a lot of property would be confiscated.
Therefore, the first thing Li Xia did after he conquered the world was to build the Yellow River.
Before the Tang army crossed the Yangtze River, he was already making plans.
The Song Dynasty may be gathering hundreds of thousands of troops to serve the king. In Li Xia's eyes, it seemed as if he didn't see it and was more concerned about what happened after the Song Dynasty was destroyed.
As for Li Tingzhi, he didn't know for a moment whether he hoped that the Song Dynasty would perish soon or not...
"I heard that Li Qing also built water conservancy in Yangzhou?" Li Xia asked again.
"Reporting to your Majesty, when I first arrived in Yangzhou, Yangzhou was suffering from floods."
"oh?"
Several important officials in the palace became interested and gathered around.
Li Tingzhi raised her hand and pointed, pointing right at the note on the map where Guo Shoujing wrote "Seize the Huaihe River".
"Because the Yellow River flows into the Huaihe River, the Huaihe River surges and rushes into the canal every year, which is Xianding... It was the Gengshen Year, and the floods were particularly severe. Not only the residents of Yangzhou were affected, but also the entire salt industry was affected..."
Li Tingzhi originally did not want to defect to serve in the new dynasty. He was the most out of place among the surrendered ministers yesterday, but now he seemed to be the first to integrate.