Chapter 3 Transportation (Additional update for leader Lao Li)
On May 27, the fourth year of Qianning, it rained moderately.
The Qingshu Palace reconstruction project was temporarily stopped. However, the Tibetan people did not stop the work and went to work indoors.
There is a large work shed at the foot of the mountain. A large amount of wood is piled in the shed and has been drying in the shade for a year. Workers constantly sprinkle water on it to keep the overall humidity of the wood within a balanced range.
To the east of the work shed, an earthen kiln was erected. The earthen kiln was used to dry wood. Whether it was for shipbuilding, house repair or furniture making, there was a huge demand for wood. It would be too slow to dry wood in the shade alone. I couldn't wait any longer, so I had to use a kiln to dry it.
This was an idea proposed by Shao Shude, and it was the only one in the Tang Dynasty. Anyway, he had not seen this done elsewhere.
The wood drying kiln is not the only “industrial element” in Ruzhou.
During the most painful period of the Xia-Liang War, Xiuwu sent people to Ruzhou to investigate the feasibility of setting up an ordnance manufacturing institute to produce and supply the front line nearby. However, the war ended soon, and there was no time to do this. Continuing, but the craftsmen discovered coal fields near Liang County and thought they could be mined.
This was an unexpected surprise. If you think about it carefully, it is not surprising. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, coal was mined vigorously in the western half of Henan, mainly in Liang County of Ruzhou, Shouan, Xin'an, Gong and Dengzhou of Henan Prefecture. Rang, two counties in Neixiang, and Langshan County in Caizhou and other places.
Of course, Shao Shude knew that Henan would also be a major coal province in later generations, and the benefits of mining would be great. Unfortunately, he was short of people, so he currently agreed to mine coal in Liang County, Ruzhou, in order to supply wood drying kilns and the soon-to-be-built brick and tile wheel kilns nearby. The whole thing was built for him to build the palace.
In fact, most of the palace has been repaired. Currently, the construction is mainly on new buildings. Because of the shortage of manpower, the speed is very slow.
Shao Shude has been living in the Qingshu Palace recently. On this afternoon, Mrs. Chu wore a gauze, took a silk scarf, and lovingly wiped her daughter-in-law's forehead.
"Mrs. Zhang is wonderful!" Shao Shude sighed happily and held Xie Shi still.
Mrs. Chu spat and subconsciously assumed the role of herself last night.
After lighting the incense, Li Zhong called softly from outside.
"This guy! He's a little too clever, and he's already here." Shao Shude laughed and cursed.
Chu's and Xie's all blushed.
After Shao Shude put on his robe, he went out of the palace.
Mrs. Chu brought a pillow and put it on her daughter-in-law's head. Mrs. Xie looked at her mother-in-law gratefully.
"What's the matter?" Shao Shude asked.
"Zhu Quanzhong has returned to Bianzhou." Li Zhong replied.
After that, he explained the details in detail. Caishui and Bianshui both lead directly to Bianzhou City. There is a water gate that goes directly into the city, and then leaves Bianzhou and enters the Yellow River. This is how Zhu Quanzhong walked, which was convenient and fast.
After deciding the difficulty, the Iron Cavalry Army pursued along the way, but was delayed by rain for a few days. Some of the Liang Army were killed on the way, and more than 5,000 people were captured and killed, mainly the Poxia Army and the Shenwu and Tianwu Army. In other words, Zhu Quanzhong finally rushed back with about 55,000 men. It was said that he was reorganizing his troops and boosting morale. The next step is probably to consolidate the defense of Bianzhou first, and then strive to control the two states of Song and Song.
"Do you still have grain in Bianzhou?" Shao Shude asked.
Li Zhong is really someone who can find out all kinds of miscellaneous information. I only heard him say: "Yes, it will not be a problem to persist until the end of the year. However, this year's harvest should be greatly affected. If there is no harvest next year, if there is no external assistance, I'm afraid it will be
Difficult."
Yes, it is most annoying when there is no harvest. When Shao Shude was just in Xiazhou, he went to Fan Yanbo's house and he said that he relied on eating fruits, bran vegetables and even mulberries to survive. The agriculture of Bian and Song Dynasties was so severely damaged that by then
Something can really go wrong.
In fact, it wasn’t just Bian and Song who had problems? Is Chen Xu, Cai Yingbo and others all right?
Shao Shude suddenly felt that playing with women was not fun anymore, and he wanted to solve the food problem for the people.
"Since you, Cai and other places are my territory, it's time to tidy things up after the wheat harvest in June. Call Erlang and come with me for a trip." Shao Shude ordered.
Shao Chengjie was practicing archery when Li Zhong found him.
The fourteenth daughter of the Zhe family shamelessly followed her, dressed like a flower butterfly, but Erlang of the Shao family only discussed archery with her. The little girl was so angry that she grabbed the hem of her skirt, grabbed the bow, and shot five arrows in a row.
Hit the bullseye all.
I thought this would dampen Shao Erlang's confidence and take the opportunity to do something else, but instead it aroused his competitive spirit and continued to study archery until Li Zhong came to invite him.
"There are several key waterways in Henan, crisscrossing the north and south." The rain outside was gradually decreasing. The father and son were wearing raincoats and walking by the Ru River. Shao Shude pointed to the rushing river and said.
"The Ru River passes through eight counties including Ru, Liang County, Jiacheng, Xiangcheng, Yancheng, Shangcai, Ruyang, and Xincai, and merges into the Huai River between Guang and Cai. It is the main transportation artery for Ru and Cai Prefectures.
Traveling by water is much more economical than traveling by land," Shao Shude said.
Shao Chengjie is familiar with the classics and has been taught by famous teachers, so he certainly knows this. However, the knowledge in books is very different from the experience gained in practice.
"You have been transporting grain and grass with the campers in Luoyang for more than a year. You should know the importance of Ru River." Shao Shude continued: "On rainy days, windy and snowy days, land transportation will encounter big problems, but Ru River is not frozen in winter.
, there is no obstruction, and even people can rush to the front line by boat, saving time and effort."
Ru River is called Ru River in later generations. The frozen Ru River was also watched by everyone in that era because it was relatively rare and would only be encountered when it was extremely cold. In the Tang Dynasty when transportation was underdeveloped, this was a transportation artery. No matter how
Its importance cannot be overstated.
During the Xia-Liang War, there was a stalemate with more than 200,000 troops on both sides. The Xia army relied on the Yellow River for land transportation, and then water transportation to transport supplies to the front line. The Liang army relied on the Ying, Huan, Wo, Bian, Cai and other water systems to transport supplies. Otherwise, the stalemate would have been huge.
Half a year? Everyone is bankrupt.
"Yingshui is also completely in our hands. It is also a thoroughfare on the water. It connects Luo, Xu, Chen, and Yingzhou and twelve counties. It is even more important than Rushui."
"During the dry season this winter, my father is planning to mobilize people from Ru, Luo, Chen, Xu, and Ying prefectures to go up the river to further dredge the Ru and Ying river systems. This will be of great benefit to us, not only in terms of war, but also in terms of money and food.
It’s actually bigger.”
"Erlang has been transporting food and grass for so long, so he must be deeply touched by it." Shao Shude said: "War requires money and food. If the army cannot continue to feed the army, it will lead to death. Pang Shigu could still hold on in Yingdong, so why did he retreat in a hurry?
The food supply cannot be continued."
After that, Shao Shude carefully analyzed several major grain-producing areas in Henan for Shao Chengjie.
"Among the states in Henan, corn production ranks first, followed by wheat. The millet-producing areas are Chenzhou and Caizhou. The corn is very distinctive and has been offered to Jiahe many times. In the year when Emperor Daizong was born, because Yuzhou offered Jiahe
And named it Yu. After Emperor Daizong ascended the throne, Yuzhou was renamed Caizhou. Chen, Xu, and Cai are also fertile places."
"The output of wheat is less than that of corn, and Henan Prefecture is an important wheat-producing town. From Jingyun to Kaiyuan years, Dongdu offered Rui wheat three times. In the 13th year of Kaiyuan, Liu Huai's family from Shouan cultivated Liangqi, Sanqi, Siqi, and Liuqi.
Qimai, raw and cooked, has a different color than other wheat. Ruzhou also produces a lot of wheat. There was a poem in Yuanjie in the first year of Guangde that said, 'The general will live with fish and wheat and return to the old rivers and lakes', which can be seen."
"Before we captured Henan, although the people in the world were afraid of my father's army, they were not particularly worried about me sweeping the world. But if we capture Henan, the world would be shocked. Why? The truth is that Henan is a geomantic treasure land. Luo, you,
Chen, Xu, and Cai are not able to hold the land of the five states. During the Tianbao period, there were three million people, and they could become the most powerful vassal in the world. Hedong is a beautiful place with seven states in one, but it is only half the strength of these five states."
Shao Shude talked a lot, and Shao Chengjie was greatly impressed after hearing it: "How can I know so much? I have to march and fight, and I have to fight with those civil and military generals, and..."
"Hmph!" Shao Shude gave his beloved son another violent shudder and said, "Do you think I play with women all day long?"
Shao Chengjie felt a little aggrieved and muttered: "What's so fun about women..."
"High grain output is inseparable from irrigation canals." Shao Shude added: "There are dozens of canals, pits, and ponds in Henan, almost twice as many as in the former Sui Dynasty. In fact, Zhu Quanzhong was fighting wars in recent years while vigorously renovating the pit pond irrigation canals. He
He is a man with vision, so it is not surprising that he can kill all the people in Henan. These facilities also need to be repaired. If they are not repaired, these places will be in vain."
"Don't just focus on fighting and killing, you are so short-sighted." Shao Shude couldn't help but want to give his son another blow, but finally held back and said: "There are too many things to do. We will renovate the river this winter. First, maintain it."
The waterway is open. Many of my father's plans cannot be separated from water transportation. Land transportation is too time-consuming and troublesome. After the inland river ports are prosperous, they will drive other places. If the people are rich and the soldiers are able to fight, the world will have long-term peace and stability."
"Does Grandpa want to sell wool through water?" Shao Chengjie suddenly had a whim and asked.
Shao Shude was stunned for a moment, thinking that the level of this sentence was not low, and it was quite interesting.
"Not only selling wool, but also transporting grain, coal, bricks, timber, and ironware. Without shipping, these workshops would not be able to grow in scale. They could only develop within a radius of dozens of miles. The limitations are too great.
Never try to come up with anything new." Shao Shude said: "You can think of this, I am very happy as a father. Let me ask you again, are these more interesting than fighting and killing?"
"Yes." Shao Chengjie did not dare to answer this question randomly and answered honestly.
"How about you supervise the dredging of Ru River and Ying River?" Although Shao Shude used a questioning sentence, his tone left no room for doubt.
"I understand." Shao Chengjie responded.
Shao Shude smiled with satisfaction and looked up at the river.
Although it is raining, ships of all sizes are still plying on the Ru River. They are loaded with food and equipment and transported to Xiangcheng. After being transported by land for a period, they are transported northward through the Yingshui and Caishui systems to support many
The army of the state camp advanced northward, approaching Bianzhou, and slowly tightened the noose around Zhu Quanzhong's neck.