Xuchang, today is the twentieth day of the first lunar month, winter is about to pass and early spring is coming.
In Yingchuan County, Yuzhou, the weather is still quite cold at this time.
Throughout the dynasties, in the winter in Kyushu, women were busy spinning and weaving, while men were building cities, rivers, and doing corvee labor.
Around the Chinese New Year, for ordinary people, working in the winter is much harder than farming in the spring, summer and autumn.
In the past dynasties, there were more rebellions caused by heavy corvee labor than paying taxes.
Around Xuchang, Yinghe River and Shahe River are all famous rivers.
Yingchuan has fertile loess and dense water network, which are important reasons!
In addition to these two rivers, the Jialu River at the eastern foot of Xuchang and the Qingyi River that goes south around the city and joins the Yinshui River are all guarantees for the city's prosperity.
The Qingyi River originates from the Shizu Mountain. It does not freeze all year round and is rich in aquatic products. The carp it produces are as delicious as the carp in the Yellow River and are no less delicious. It has always been the favorite of high-ranking families!
This river surrounds the south of Xuchang City for more than ten miles and meets the Ying River. The land within a radius of about thirty miles is the most fertile!
Local people in Xuchang admire this place as a bucket of spring and a bush of dendrobium in summer.
Farming in these thirty miles can be said to be extremely light. It seems that if you just leave the seeds behind and don't need to worry about them, you will definitely have a good harvest in summer and autumn.
Today, nearly 10,000 people are working along the Qingyi River, using canals to divert the water from the Qingyi River into the canals extending in all directions.
There were also barrel carts guarded by the Central Guard Army, which took the clean water to the hills of Gaotai Mountain, and then took the bamboo road to deliver it to the city of Xuchang.
No matter whether it is the Han Palace or the ordinary city, everyone can enjoy clean water in this way.
This was naturally the strategy of the Han Dynasty's Nong and Fang Guangfang's Datong to collect water. It was equivalent to the Roman aqueduct thousands of miles away, but it was mainly made of bamboo and wood, not stone.
The intersection of Qingyi River and Ying River is not only the water conservancy center of the city, but also the place chosen by Fang Guang to build a textile workshop.
As a young man, I remember that water power is an important driving force for industry.
This place is uniquely endowed with natural resources and can be regarded as an eye-catcher on the Yuzhou chessboard!
It is impossible for the Han Dynasty to temporarily carry out the industrial revolution. Under the guidance of Mr. Fang, a farmer and Xuchang construction envoy, it is normal to do something convenient that benefits all people.
The strange thing is that the nearly ten thousand people gathered here today are working around the most important twenty miles. In the most important place, the people are hiding far away!
The central place that Fang Guang valued was guarded by a group of private soldiers. At the end of the road, the flag of the cavalry general Dong Cheng was fluttering in the winter wind, looking very majestic.
A second-grade chariot and cavalry general, he can be said to be one of the best generals in the court.
In Fang Guang's absence, Shi Tao, who was in charge of the construction, and Man Chong, the prefect of Xuchang, did not dare to provoke Dong Cheng, so they could only let the father-in-law of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty draw the land for himself.
It turned out that Dong Cheng took a fancy to this place and occupied it on the pretext that his daughter Dong Jieyu would build a farm with him and spend the summer with his majesty.
The Dong family is the natal family of Emperor Ling's mother. When Dong Zhuo came to Beijing, he was very polite to the old Dong family.
Dong Cheng now has no power or soldiers, so he just wants to enjoy himself, which is what he should do.
With such an important piece of land in the hands of this person, the entire Xuchang construction situation has been destroyed!
A few miles away from the already somewhat large palace, a thin man was standing in waist-deep water in the river, shouting slogans loudly.
The white robe on the man's body was stained by the mud brought up by the Qingyi River, and it was already extremely dirty.
His body was trembling, unlike a strong and strong man, and he was not hurt by the cold in winter.
"Made, if you can occupy the land in the middle of the river, why bother to put so much effort into driving a river-fixing stake here!"
"With such a waste of people's efforts, if we free up our hands, the canals can be built as far as Luoyang!"
Although the man in the white robe cursed his mother, his words were actually elegant, and he sounded like a member of a high-ranking family.
Next to him, there was a man who looked like a bear and a tiger. After hearing what the man said, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he couldn't help but glance at the treasure land that Liu Xie and Dong Cheng had their eyes on.
"Shi Gong, what kind of chariot and cavalry general is that? You are bullying. My lord and Master Fang are not here. Why doesn't this person dare to say anything before my lord leads the army to attack Yuan Shao?"
"At the end of winter and the beginning of spring, time is so important! The perfume workshop that you mentioned before you left should also be built here. When you come back this time, you must blame me for not doing things well!"
"Hey, when I get well, I'll go back to the army and work hard with Guan Hai, drinking wine and eating meat. This Xuchang, it's so frustrating to do things!"
It turned out that the man in the white robe was Shi Guangyuan and Shi Tao, who served as a servant of the Shaofu and also served as Pingzhong. He had a bet with Xun You and won the fertile land of Yingchuan.
In Fang Guang's absence, although the southern rice planted by Shi Tao had a great victory over Xun You's farm, the palace, the court, and the children of the aristocratic families all chose to deal with the matter coldly.
Of course, Xun You still has this kind of grace. Everyone in Yingchuan is no longer competing with Sinong for land!
Shi Tao thus became the plenipotentiary representative of Xuchang City when Fang Guang was away!
The man next to him was Shi Huan, who brought back the rice seeds. Old Shi suffered from miasma in Jiaozhou, and it took him nearly a year to recover, before he got slightly better.
Fang Guang prepared a good house for him and his old soldiers in the city, as well as a monthly salary, and took very good care of them.
Shi Huan, a tough guy who made great achievements in Guandu in history, did not want to live in peace and contentment for the rest of his life. He felt a little better and volunteered to help under Shi Tao.
He had just joined Cao Cao's army. As a retainer, he was the captain of the Central Military Academy. He had always been unaccustomed to high-ranking families.
Seeing Shi Gong panting and complaining, he drove Shi Guangyuan to the river bank, picked up a sledgehammer himself, and smashed the wooden pile into the river with just a few hammers.
"General Shi, Mr. Shi, the things in this river are all done by us civilians, how can we let you two do it!"
"Sir Fang is so kind. Before working in the winter, I made more than farming. If you let the two masters do it yourself, am I worthy of being called a man of destiny?"
"That's right, Mr. Shi, for thousands of years I have never seen a high-ranking official or general like Nishui. Come ashore and have a drink to warm yourself up. Your work is going well today. Maybe it will be fine before noon!"
Next to Shi Tao and Shi Huan, hundreds of civilians watched the civil and military ministers of the Han Dynasty working. Everyone was so moved that their eyes turned red and their voices became even louder.
Shi Guangyuan smiled softly, and was about to tell the villagers about the story of Lord Fang's construction of barrel carts when he was in Dongjun, when he heard the arrogant voice of a man yelling and cursing on the bank of Qingyi River.
"What are you doing here? Didn't you see that this place is already the farm of General Dong and the empress?"
"If you don't get out, labor and management will shoot arrows here!"
The person who speaks arrogantly is a middle-aged man with monkey cheeks.
Wearing a large cloak and holding the hilt of a sword with one hand, several soldiers behind him already had their bows and arrows ready, aiming at this place.
Shi Huan had a strong temper. It is recorded in the history books that Gong Liu always loved to fight side by side with Gong Ming. He never experienced this. His face instantly darkened and he subconsciously touched his waist with one hand. Only then did he realize that he was not wearing military uniform today!