Li Xiazheng and Zhang Jue are inspecting the situation of Shanhe Weir.
There had been several spring rains in the past few days, and the road was muddy. A group of people led their horses on the mountain road, and their boots were already heavy from the mud and dust.
"Generally speaking, water conservancy projects should be built in winter, when the water is dry and the fields are idle. At this time, if corvees are used to build mountain and river weirs, spring plowing will be delayed, which is not appropriate."
Li Xia said: "In that case, how about recruiting refugees from other places and hiring them to build dams?"
“Where does the money and food come from?”
"There is a large amount of supplies left by the Mongolian army in Hanzhong."
"Feiyu neither intends to repay his merits nor hide it for himself? He is involved in the serious crime of corruption, but he only wants to build water conservancy and develop farmland? This is not good, but it is not only the crime of corruption."
"Brother Jun Yu, can you just say it?"
Zhang Jue thought for a while and said slowly: "I also feel that I am tired, but I have to ask again, Feiyu has worked so hard, is he really not afraid that something will happen and he will be transferred out of Hanzhong?"
The corner of Li Xia's clothes got stuck on a tree branch. He stopped to untie it and said, "If you say it openly, you can do whatever you can for the people."
Zhang Jue smiled and asked again: "What about saying it sincerely?"
"I have arranged twenty-one plans, and if more than five of them can be realized, things can be decided..."
With a "ta" sound, Li Xia couldn't get the hem of his clothes out, so he simply broke off the branch, continued walking forward, and said: "Looking at the time, Your Majesty has appointed me as the commander-in-chief of Shu."
Zhang Jue couldn't believe it, but he still believed it and smiled: "Then congratulations to Commander Shu."
Li Xia accepted it calmly and did not talk about seeking an official position for Zhang Jue.
"I suddenly had some thoughts. If Brother Jun Yu feels something is wrong after hearing this, just forget about it."
"Feiyu, don't worry, but it doesn't matter."
Li Xia said: "Ding Daquan will probably think so about the appointment of Commander Shu... I opened my mouth and found such a high position for Li Feiyu."
Zhang Jue asked: "It's not bad."
"Wrong." Li Xia said, "This position was never awarded to me by anyone."
He raised his hand and pointed to the south.
"How many people died in battle, and their bodies were wrapped in horse leather, just to expel the bandits who invaded their homes, rather than to seek high officials for anyone. I am the commander of Shu, because I am confident that I can lead them to protect their homes and country."
Zhang Jue nodded.
The mountains and rivers in front of him were so beautiful that he could no longer see the corpses of his comrades.
Li Xia said: "I'm afraid there are too many people in Lin'an City who still think that these are all gifts. Li Feiyu is so young and has no qualifications, so he can help him out of the ordinary. What a great kindness?"
"Feiyu, you..."
Li Xia looked very calm and did not appear cynical.
"I made a mistake. I just felt that those thoughts blasphemed the souls of countless heroes."
Zhang Jue raised his head and looked at the sky after the rain, as if looking for the heroic spirit who was floating outside and died in the battle.
After a long time, he sighed.
"Feiyu is beating my back bone little by little."
"Back Mountain Bone?"
Zhang Jue smiled and didn't answer.
"I've strayed too far, but then again." He pointed to the mountain road ahead and said: "Now that we have arrived in Hanzhong, we have to mention the story of the Shu Han Dynasty. Prime Minister Zhuge once built river and mountain weirs to farm Hanzhong. But no one knows what this weir is.
Sometimes?”
Li Xiandao: "The Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, Marquis Fou, was created by Marquis Yi, Xiao He and Cao Shen."
To govern Hanzhong, he must know something about Hanzhong. He has been reading a large number of local chronicles recently.
"I have calculated that if we repair the mountain and river weirs, we can irrigate more than a thousand hectares of farmland."
Zhang Jue was also diligent and said with a knowing smile: "In the sixth year of Shaoxing, Wu Jie established Hanzhong, built mountain and river weirs, and camped 854 hectares of farmland."
"Yes, the annual grain harvest is 250,000 shi." Li Xia said, "And if all six weirs are repaired, more than 300,000 acres of farmland can be irrigated."
Zhang Jue only saw Shanhe Weir in the local chronicles for the time being, and he couldn't help but feel that he was not as diligent as Li Xia.
Along the way, Li Xia was talking more often.
"The benefits of repairing mountain and river weirs go beyond irrigating fields. During the Shaoxing period, after Wu Jie repaired the weirs, it attracted tens of thousands of households from the north to settle in Hanzhong. Brother Jun Yu thought, with a population of hundreds of thousands, the national power rose and fell. , isn’t it better than a big victory? Or how many big wins can bring such a big gain?”
Zhang Jue asked: "Is there anything else that Feiyu has thought about? It costs so much manpower and material resources to irrigate the fields. But it is exempted from tax for three years. After three years, it is taxed thirty-one. In the future, money and food will be insufficient."
"I don't think so." Li Xia said: "The money and food of the people and the money and food of the government must have a total number. The more government, the less the people, and vice versa. When using troops, more money and wages need to be collected; and a truce This is a rare opportunity to recuperate with the people."
"The Mongols won't attack again within three years?"
"They have too much time to take care of themselves." Li Xia said: "This is the only chance. We need a large population and... creativity. In other words, we need to raise the total money and food of the people and the government."
There were so many strange words that Zhang Jue began to think deeply.
"Reducing taxes is the best way to attract the population and stimulate people's strength. If taxes are reduced, the money and food will not be in the treasury, but it is not less, but more. Where is it? In the homes of the people, then they will do it to protect Their family property struggled to resist; in the hearts of the people, they were no longer so thin that they would fall over when the wind blew.
It’s rare that we don’t need to recruit too many troops for the time being. It’s so rare. During this period, every civilian who cultivates the land can become our soldiers. They will be sons of good families, stronger and more determined sons of good families.
The truth is just four words: Hiding wealth among the people. It is simple to say and not difficult to do. Just be less selfish and less comfortable, that's all. But I think few people in the world can do it. If we can do it, we will definitely do it. It makes the country rich and the people strong.”
After Li Xia finished speaking, he waved his hand and said: "Of course, what I said may not be right. I have never governed such a large place. There must be many mistakes, and it doesn't matter. If they are wrong, just correct them. Keep learning, keep thinking, keep doing.”
Zhang Jue just kept looking at Li Xia.
It's as if she has fallen in love with him... but that's definitely not the case.
Li Xia calmly let him stare and walked forward.
After bypassing a mountain col, he suddenly said: "We are almost there... The mountain and river weirs are divided into three dams. The main road has been built for six years and has been increased to six dams. They are all overflow dams. Channels are opened upstream of the dams to divert water, and the water is diverted to irrigate the fields. Water distribution is only superficial on paper. After reading it today, we still need to find a way to recruit talents from Dali who understand water conservancy..."
~~
Li Xia is working hard to learn how to build water conservancy.
In the past, he thought he could have many inventions, but later he realized that was not the case.
For example, he wanted to make a gun, but he didn't understand the principles of firearms at all, so he said, "Let's make a cannon first, a tube, and shoot fireballs out of it."
Then a craftsman picked up a bamboo rocket launcher and asked, "Is this what the county captain was talking about?"
People in the Song Dynasty also knew the principle: gunpowder propels cannonballs. But how to cast a cannon barrel that can withstand the explosive force? How to mine and refine materials with sufficient toughness? How to forge them precisely?
Li Xia gradually discovered that many smart people had thought about many of the things he knew.
Even when Jiang Cang went to the workshop to play, he whimsically proposed using an iron house to restrain the cavalry. He almost had a prototype of a tank... but it had no power.
Even if there is power, there is no material strong enough to make bearings to withstand such powerful power.
It's like someone from the future came to Li Xia and said, "We can build a robot that is exactly like a real person. You didn't think about it, did you?"
"Just pretend I didn't think of it. How can I make it?"
"It's very simple. I'll tell you the general principle, and you can build one..."
An invention involves all aspects, including the most basic human power... Eat enough first.
Of course, someone else might be able to do it, but Li Xia's knowledge is limited.
He must promote these. Maybe he can create grenades and rocket launchers, maybe not. In the end, it must conform to the productivity of the entire era.
When certain conditions are met, the invention he mentioned can be realized by leaps and bounds.
In short, Li Xia never thought that he could save a country's destiny with these items in just over ten years.
…
Then, Li Xia is not here to teach people how to do things, he should learn how to do things.
Learn to survive, learn to lead troops, learn strategies, learn tricks, and even learn how to get along, the relationship between husband and wife... Now, learn to govern the people's livelihood.
The only thing that differentiates him from others, the most fundamental thing, is his ideas.
Not an object.
Objects are used by people, people have ideas and are constantly making progress.
Li Xia is the Commander-in-Chief of Shu... Although he has not been formally awarded an official title, he regards himself as Commander-in-Chief of Shu, and he must first do things for others.
Food is the most important thing for people.
Food is dug from the ground.
The ground must be watered.
Not talking about water conservancy is all in vain.
The logic is very simple. Li Xia does not need to look to future generations, he only needs to learn from the outstanding Shu commanders in the past.
~~
"Hahaha... Shushuai! Shushuai!"
In Lin'an City, Liu Jinsuo was shouting wildly.
"You annoy me so much, but I'm so happy." Lin Zi grinned and kicked Liu Jinsuo hard.
"oh!"
"pain."
"It hurts? That's true! The commander-in-chief is really Shu-shuai!"
"You hozen, I'm here to kick you and show you if it's true..."
In the small courtyard of Lin'an City, as soon as the person sent by Ding Daquan to deliver the message left, the noise of Liu Jinsuo and Lin Zi could be heard in the courtyard.
After a while, Liu Niang was coming back from the door, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw this scene.
Even though she had never met Marshal Li, she could already understand the prestige he had in the hearts of these men.
When Liu Jinsuo saw her, he ran over again and hurriedly took the object in her hand.
"The commander-in-chief has truly become the commander-in-chief of Shu."
"I heard you say it just outside the door. Be careful not to let anyone hear you." Liu Niang was a careful person and warned her with a smile.
Liu Jinsuo repeatedly said yes, but then asked: "We are leaving soon. Have you heard about Tang An'an today?"
Liu Niang shook her head and said: "I have asked all my acquaintances, and no one has seen her more than two years ago. I am afraid she is no longer in Lin'an."
She is considered the least popular in this industry, but she is very popular. If she couldn't find out about Lin Zi, Liu Jinsuo would be even more helpless.
Liu Jinsuo scratched his head and turned to look at Lin Zi.
"This is a mess."
Lin Zi narrowed his eyes and said, "We'll start our journey again tomorrow. I'll go to Jia's mansion at night to explore."
"I have asked a familiar singer in the Jia family." Liu Niang said: "Tang An'an is so beautiful and talented. If she were in the Jia family, she should not have noticed it."
"Thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law." Lin Zi had no choice but to say: "Get ready to leave."
As a group of people loaded up the carriage, Liu Jinsuo always felt that everything was not done well and he no longer had the same joy as before.
"Lin Zi, at that time, the commander-in-chief was talking about finding Tang An'an's maid Nian'er, or was Tang An'an's maid Nian'er being found?"
"Of course it's 'Ji'." Lin Zi said angrily.
Liu Jinsuo casually mentioned it, threw his and Liu Niang's few belongings into the carriage, and said, "How do I remember it's 'zhi'? I heard it clearly."
"You idiot Liu, you are really stupid." Lin Zi sat on the shaft of the car and said, "There is so much to argue about this kind of thing, I don't want to talk to you."
"Then what should the commander do about this matter?"
"The commander-in-chief said that if he can't find it, he will talk to Xianggong Jia."
Listening to this, Liu Niang thought about the rumors that were circulating in Lin'an City more than two years ago.
When Li Xia went to Sichuan and Sichuan, he left a poem: "Falling red is not a heartless thing, it turns into spring mud to protect flowers."
Some people say that he left the court, but decided to protect it;
Some people also say that he left Tang An'an but protected Tang An'an.
Thinking about it now, Liu Niang felt that Marshal Li had both, and she couldn't help but make a comment in her mind.
"A beauty from the country, a truly romantic person..."
~~
The carriage of a group of people here left the Yuhang Gate from the northwest of Lin'an City, but heard the sound of horse hooves ahead.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Emergency military situation, hit to death and ignore it! Drive..."
Liu Jinsuo quickly avoided it and saw the fast horse galloping past.
~~
"Report!"
In the inner city of the palace, the small yellow gate stumbled to the palace.
"Official!"
"..."
"Your Majesty, urgent report from Tanzhou!"
"A Shu came from Dali and defeated our army of 60,000 at Laocangguan last year. He then defeated Guizhou and Xiangzhou. He entered Jingjiang Prefecture at the beginning of the year and defeated Chenzhou and Yuanzhou. The soldiers were as fast as lightning along the way, even faster than Our army has been defeated, and the battle report has not yet arrived, but its army has reached the gates of Tanzhou City ten days ago! We may join forces with Kublai Khan to attack Ezhou..."