He was from Huazhou. During the Chao Rebellion period in Guanzhong, he was captured by Huang Ye and sent to the craftsman camp because he knew how to build and repair ships. When he attacked Tongzhou, he served in Zhu Wen's army and later retreated all the way back to Chang'an.
After Chao Zhong was defeated, Henan was in a raging war and water transportation was cut off. His life suddenly became difficult. He and his family were hungry and full, which was really unsightly.
This time the king of Lingwu County entered Guanzhong and searched for shipbuilders everywhere. After Ma Wanpeng heard about it, he didn't need anyone to come to his door and took the initiative to apply. He had no choice but to suffer a little, but let the whole family eat glutinous vegetables.
, this is no longer the taste.
"Eat some water and get ready to go." A primary school student came over and said seriously.
"Captain Zhang, it's only three quarters, why are we about to set off?" The cook accompanying the team brought everyone breakfast. Ma Wanpeng looked at the food in front of him and asked casually.
Ghee, milk dregs, multigrain cakes, and salted soy sauce. It wasn't bad, but it really didn't suit Ma Wanpeng's taste. However, he was also a person who had tasted the feeling of being hungry, so he was naturally not picky, and he quickly devoured it.
The cook is a party member, he can only do these things, and these are the only things in the house.
There are more than thirty people in their team, half of them are state soldiers, and five of them are shipwrights and carpenters, including Ma Wanpeng.
The rest, such as horsemen and cooks, are all from the Dangxiang tribe. They have to prepare their own food, cooking utensils, carriages, fodder, etc. and set off with the team, which is considered a form of corvee distribution.
The food cooked by the Dangxiang chef is of course Dangxiang style, what else can you expect?
"Finish your work early and return to the county early." At this point, Captain Zhang hesitated and said vaguely: "In a few days, I will go to the Yamen Army."
"Captain Zhang's shooting skills are unparalleled and his spear skills are superb. He should have gone to the Yamen Army long ago." Someone laughed.
Captain Zhang was very happy when he heard this, so he sat down, took a sip of kumiss, and said: "I am going to Feng'an Army, so it will be difficult to see you all in the future."
The Feng'an Army and the Xinquan Army are the two yamen armies that are about to be formed and belong to the right wing. Everyone knows this because since last month, notices have been posted in every county to recruit warriors for the Feng'an and Xinquan armies. Many of them
Everyone went to apply for the army. After all, the Yamen Army had many rewards. It was no lie that one person joining the army could support a large family.
Unfortunately, the requirements of the shogunate were too high and not everyone wanted them, which made many people sigh.
Ma Wanpeng actually envied those sergeants. In his early years, he studied literature but failed. Later, he joined the army. Because he couldn't shoot arrows, no one wanted him. If he couldn't be good at literature and martial arts, there was nothing he could do. He had to eat! So in
Introduced by relatives, he studied under a master and became a shipwright.
It must be said that he is quite talented in the fields of carpentry and shipbuilding. After twenty years, his skills are not only better than those of others, but more importantly, he is comprehensive. He has good carpentry skills, understands shipbuilding, can select and identify ship materials, and also knows a lot about shipping.
Knowledge. So after arriving in Lingzhou, he quickly stood out and became a foreman of the newly established Huaiyuan Shipbuilding Workshop. The monthly salary was two thousand yuan, and the workshop also included a lunch. Life at home suddenly improved.
stand up.
My wife Li and her eldest son are farming at home, renting land from a military farm. The annual rent is 35%, which is not high. The old man at home is not in good health. It would be good if he can live to Lingzhou. He really can't do heavy work, but he has never done anything.
I received some camel hair from the official family and helped to weave brown cloth at home.
It's really interesting that the six states of Dingnan do not spin wool but camel hair. I heard that there is a two-hundred-year tradition, but I don't know why.
Of course Ma Wanpeng knew about the newly formed Feng'an Army and Xinquan Army. As a person who knew a lot about shipping and had chatted with many great craftsmen and boatmen, Ma Wanpeng was not as ignorant as others and did not know about these two armies.
What does the name of the army mean.
Feng'an Military City was located on the north bank of the Yellow River 180 miles southwest of Lingzhou (near today's Zhongwei, Ningxia). There was a wharf through which water boats often passed.
From Feng'an Military City Wharf, go upstream five hundred miles to Wulan Pass and Huining Pass, both of which have docks. I heard that during the Tianbao period, every bad year in Guanzhong, grain from the Helong area was gathered at Huining Pass, and then used
The large canal boats went down the river, passing through Fengan Military City, Dingyuan Military City, Xishou Jiangcheng, Zhongshou Jiangcheng, and then collected the millet and wheat raised near Zhenwu Military City, directly into the canal, and finally transported it to Chang'an via the Wei River.
Xinquan Military City is twenty miles west of Huining Pass. The purpose of setting it up by the imperial court was to protect shipping.
Of course, these are all the past events of the Tianbao period. Since the Anshi Rebellion, the Helong Prefectures have been lost, and Lingzhou has become the front line. This section of shipping has long been abandoned. Nowadays, there are not many ships in the Six-City Water Transport Envoy Yamen, and the starting point of shipping is also Lingzhou.
, instead of Huiningguan, which is a pity.
Three hundred and eighty miles upstream from Huining Pass is Lanzhou. Marshal Shao resettled the Xinquan Army. What is the purpose of this? It is not easy to sail from Huining Pass. The water is fast and there are many shoals. During the Tianbao period, canal boats sailed
There are many damages, and I don’t know if it can be sailed now. After all, all I know is the news passed down by word of mouth among boatmen for generations, which may not be accurate.
Everyone quickly finished the party-style breakfast, then packed up and hit the road until they arrived at a forest at noon.
"Foreman Ma, are these all pine trees?" Captain Zhang led the people into the woods and asked.
"Mostly pine wood." Ma Wanpeng replied affirmatively.
This forest is densely located to the west of Huaiyuan County and extends to the Helan Mountain in the distance.
At this time, the wind was blowing in the forest, and the pine waves were bursting. Ma Wanpeng looked at each tree carefully, as if looking at his wife, his eyes were burning, they are all big trees that can be used to build ships. How many years have they been growing? Give them all to me.
Cut them all down and go build ships!
What Zhang Duitou saw was another scene: Helan Mountain stretches hundreds of miles from north to south and is the natural dividing line between Lingzhou and the desert grasslands to the west. However, there are many valleys and dozens of roads that can be entered. Without these dense forests to block them, Captain Zhang saw another scene.
Now, the Lu army is invading the border from the west, and it is hard to defend against it. The commander-in-chief was right to order a ban on woodcutting in the Helan Mountain forest before. No harvesting is allowed in this forest!
"Captain Zhang!" Ma Wanpeng gently stroked a pine tree and said, "This keel wood can be used to build big ships."
"Foreman Ma!" Captain Zhang was stroking a pine tree sadly and said, "General, this pine can keep you safe."
"However, the shogunate has an order to cut down large trees to build ships." Ma Wanpeng said.
"Don't cut too much. Don't you have ready-made shade-dried ship materials in the Lingzhou shipyard? Li Shijun also learned from the people of the Tibetan people that the big trees in Huizhou are better." Zhang Duizheng said.
Li Shao was the military governor of Shuofang, but in private, many people still called Li Shijun and regarded him as the governor of Lingzhou rather than the military commander of a town.
Li Shao indeed learned from the Tibetan people that the wood quality in the Huizhou area was better, especially in the "Snow Mountain" (Hasi Mountain), which the Tibetan people called "Snow Mountain".
Next, you can go to Huile and Huaiyuan, two places with shipyards. Of course, you can also purchase wood from cities along the way that have demand for wood, which is very convenient.
Moreover, when these prepared rafts are transported down the river, goods can also be transported along the way, further reducing costs.
This method can also be extended to the upper reaches of the river. At this time, the forest in the Helong area was very dense, which was different from that of later generations. During the Qing Dynasty, after thousands of years of deforestation and war destruction, the forests in the Hetao area were
Large areas have disappeared, and even Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and other provinces do not have enough wood, so they have to purchase it from Gansu, Qinghai and other places.
The method at that time was to cut down forests from Gansu and Qinghai, build them into rafts, and then float them down the river to the northern provinces. These rafts also shouldered the task of transportation. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, about 100% of Qinghai’s grain was shipped out on rafts and sheepskin rafts every year.
Ten million kilograms are called "Xihe Grain" and "Ledu Wheat" in Lanzhou.
Of course, the consequences of deforestation in these places are also obvious. The Northern Song Dynasty began to enter the cold period, which lasted until the end of the Qing Dynasty before it began to pick up. During this period, the weather became colder and the precipitation decreased. Once the forest disappears, it will be difficult to recover.
.
"Huizhou..." Ma Wanpeng heard these two words from others again.
He now somewhat guessed the commander's thinking. For the Dingnan Army, Huizhou is indeed a very crucial place. There is a ferry at Huining Pass, which leads directly to Lanzhou in the southwest, Minzhou in the south, and Yuanzhou in the east.
Liangzhou can be reached in the northwest. It is really a place connected in all directions, connected by major post roads, and river transportation is convenient - even if large cannons, small boats, and rafts are not accessible, it should be no problem.
Of course, Ma Wanpeng didn't know that Marshal Shao was also very interested in a place southwest of Huizhou and northeast of Lanzhou. In later generations, it was the only city named after a precious metal in the country. Iron was mined here in the Han Dynasty, and it remained silent until the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang
There are 20 mining furnaces and more than 30 mining sites here, with thousands of miners mining and smelting silver.
The most precious resource here is of course not silver, but copper, which is buried very shallowly. In the 1950s, it was even called an open-pit mine, but I don’t know why it was not discovered in the Ming Dynasty.
With this alone, Huizhou and Lanzhou will be attacked!
The group stayed in the forest for several days, and after a rough inspection, they returned to the Huaiyuan County Shipyard, which was also a newly built dock.
"Another ship carrying coal has arrived. This is probably the first ship after the beginning of spring." Ma Wanpeng said, looking at a small sailboat slowly approaching the shore.
At this time, the northwest wind was blowing, and the heavily loaded sailing ships from the north could quickly go south to Huaiyuan, Baojing, Huile, Mingsha (near today's Zhongning County) and other counties. I heard that there were captured soldiers near Dingyuan Military City.
Coal is mined in Dangxiang, Hexi Province. Its price is very low. After being shipped to various places, it is often cheaper than firewood.
The commander-in-chief is determined to reduce the amount of woodcutting and is thinking of ways to reduce the use of firewood. In the future, it will probably be shipped to the Huining Pass area for consumption by the army.
No wonder we need to build a lot of ships.
With ships transporting grain, troops, livestock, coal, and equipment, civil service can be greatly reduced. This is a great charity that benefits the people!