Chapter 805 Fenshui (Part 1)
Two groups of envoys went to Xianbei, and the matter could not be completed in a short time.
The negotiation process is tortuous and must be combined with changes in the domestic situation in Xianbei, and this will not happen overnight.
Therefore, until mid-to-late July, even though it had been more than three months since the mission, there was still no news back.
Shao Xun is not in a hurry, he also needs time to restore the gradually depleted national power.
There were drastic changes now, and he was unable to interfere.
Managing something is far easier than imagined.
On July 20, there was no annoying heavy rain, only the scorching sun. Shao Xun boarded a boat in the east of Pingyang City and sailed down the Fen River.
The north and south post roads are almost parallel to this. The brigade of Fu soldiers and Wansheng Army soldiers walked south along the post roads, practicing as they walked.
Yes, Thief Shao is alive again.
After harvesting a season of summer wheat and about to harvest a season of millet beans, I felt happy and relaxed, so I collected some food and distributed it, and pulled the soldiers out to practice so as not to become unfamiliar with the art of killing.
At noon on the 21st, the fleet stopped.
A total of 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers were deployed on the west bank of the Fen River. The sound of killing was loud and the drills were impressive.
The bow of the boat split through the white waves and moved forward slowly.
"The autumn wind is blowing and white clouds are flying, and the grass and trees are yellowing and the wild geese are returning south..." A soft and gentle voice sounded from Brother Cong's boat.
As an old artist, Jing is already in his thirties, but his voice remains the same as before, and even has a lot more content due to his experience, making it even better.
Shao Xun was sitting in the cabin, sleeping behind closed doors, gently keeping to the beat with his hands, looking leisurely and contented.
"The orchids are beautiful and the chrysanthemums are fragrant. Don't forget to be pregnant with a beautiful woman..."
When he heard this paragraph, he gently squeezed Song Yi in his arms.
The once childish and youthful girl is now over thirty years old, and her whole body smells of ripeness. When she curled up in Shao Xun's arms, her eyes seemed timid and resentful, but she did not dare to say anything. .
There was wind on the river, and the boat was shaking slightly.
Shao Xun lowered his head and looked at the beauty in his arms, secretly thinking that the princesses had their own merits, and people like Song Yi also had their own merits.
If nothing else, there is absolutely no way Yang Xianrong can play the flute. She will think it is an insult to her, but Song Yi can, she is good at playing the flute.
Zheng Yingtao is not to mention a foxy girl. She has a very low bottom line and is willing to do anything.
Although Mrs. Cui is often described by Liu Ye and others as a nuisance spirit who uses sex to serve others, she can at most seduce more, but she is not willing to humiliate herself too much.
The reason is actually very simple. Some women have high spirits, while others have low self-esteem.
Men sometimes need a change of taste.
"The pan-building boat comes to the Jifen River, and the Yangsu wave flows across the middle..." During the singing, the boat slowed down and docked slowly on the shore.
After a while, Shao Xun walked out of the cabin and went down to the shore.
"Open the mansion." He looked at the grain depot on the high slope in the distance and said.
The grain depot is an old mansion built in the Liu Han era. It was built against the mountain, with walls on the outside and dozens of round spire grain storages built in an orderly manner inside. It can store 600,000 grains.
There are soldiers in the grain depot, but it is an emergency. Usually, young men are temporarily recruited to defend it. At this time, it has been taken over by the Yellow Head Army officers.
They struggled to push open the heavy outer door, and then opened the partition doors of the grain stores.
Shao Xun arrived soon.
After all, he is a Shacai who has practiced martial arts all year round. He just finished the boat shake and walked such a mountainous road, and he was not out of breath at all.
He picked a grain store at random, walked over and took a look, and saw that it was filled with yellow wheat.
"New harvest this summer?" Shao Xun grabbed a handful of wheat, looked at it carefully and smelled it.
"It will be harvested in May and shipped in June. It will arrive here ten days ago." Yin Xian, the Sinong Qing who arrived in advance, replied.
Sinongqing is the chief official of Sinong Temple, corresponding to the great Sinong of Luoyang, who is in charge of grain affairs.
Tang Jian, the former prefect of Hanoi and now the prefect of Pingyang, followed Yin Xian and said softly: "Your Majesty, this pavilion has stored 200,000 dendrobium of summer wheat."
Shao Xun nodded slightly.
The designed storage capacity was 600,000, but only 200,000 were saved, which was only one-third.
But it is understandable. For example, the war horse has just finished a long march and is very skinny. It is now the time to gain weight.
After inspecting one grain store, he looked at seven or eight more in succession.
Some are already filled with grain, and some only have a bottom. They are all different.
Just from visual inspection, there are almost 200,000 dendrobium. These grains were delivered by horse-drawn carriages from manors and forts near and far according to their respective share.
"In a few days, another 50,000 hu of dendrobium will be delivered. After ordering them all, they will be sent to Jinyang as soon as possible. General Duzhi Zhonglang will coordinate the matter." Shao Xun looked at Yin Xian and said.
"Yes." Yin Xian didn't look very good, but he still responded.
Transportation is the responsibility of Duzhi Zhonglangjiang and Duzhi Xiaowei.
In February and March of this year, Duzhi Zhonglang Yang Bao came to Pingyang and developed his "business" here.
When transporting grain and grass to Jinyang, of course, we must avoid land transport as much as possible, and this is the main reason why Shao Xun came to inspect. He wanted to see the shipping conditions on Fenshui River.
"Liu Cong built ships with raw materials, just for pleasure, but did not use water transportation." When he said this, Shao Xun's face was not red, his heart was not beating, and he said: "Don't you hear about Qin Mugong's boating campaign? He was on the water. Have the beams been demolished?”
“They have been demolished,” Tang Jian said, “I personally led the troops to demolish them.”
The thirteen that Tang Jian said. The wooden pile is located at the intersection of Fen River and Hui River. The diameter of the pillar is five feet and it is cut horizontally. It is said that it is "the old beam of Duke Ping of Jin Dynasty". "Things are in the water, so they can last and remain undefeated."
To put it simply, during the reign of Duke Ping of Jin Dynasty, he built a waterfront palace by the Fen River, named 虒(sī) Qigong. Some parts of the building may be above the river, so they were supported by wooden piles. It turns out that I don’t know how many there are, but there are still thirteen left.
Shao Xun felt incredible after hearing this. It has been more than 800 years. How can the wooden pile still exist? It is feared that they were not placed by later generations, and it was said to be from the era of Duke Ping of Jin Dynasty. Historically, these thirteen wooden piles were still there in the Northern Wei Dynasty. They were recorded by Li Daoyuan and were only removed in the Sui Dynasty so that they no longer hindered shipping.
"There are countless fertile fields on both sides of the Huishui and Fenshui rivers. If we use boats to carry grain in Damin this summer, one boat can carry 1,200 dendrobiums, while an ox-cart can only carry 40 dendrobiums. It is even more expensive. "Same day." Shao Xun said: "Qin Mugong's boating campaign was during the dry season of winter and spring, but now it is the time of high water in summer and autumn. What happened to Gao Xiancang if Liu Cong didn't use it?"
"Construction will begin after the summer harvest." Yin Xian replied: "It will be completed this year."
"After completion, all grain and grass in Hedong and nearby counties and villages will be lost here." Shao Xun ordered: "Gao Xian Going north to Mengkeng, we can transfer to land transportation, then transfer to water transportation, and go straight to Pingyang, Yangxian and other places."
Gaoxian is within the territory of Quwo today.
To the north of Gaoxian is the famous Mengkeng, located between today's Quwo and Xiangfen counties.
Geographically speaking, this is a north-south loess gully, but I don’t know how it came out. Perhaps the Fen River in ancient times was more violent. Because it connects the two counties of Hedong and Pingyang, and the terrain is relatively dangerous, many major battles have occurred in history. The Northern Wei, Later Qin, Northern Zhou, and Northern Qi all fought their main battles here, and the winning side basically unified the north.
The battle between Shao Xun and Liu Cong broke out in Wenxi.
After Hou Feihu defeated Liu Cong's main force, he passed Gaoxian, entered the Mengkeng, and drove 200 miles straight down to Pingyang. During this period, he encountered no major obstacles. It can be seen that the Huns had completely lost their will to fight at that time.
This section is not navigable and is probably dozens of miles long, so it needs to be transported by land.
Go up the Fen River, pass through Pingyang, Yangxian and other places, and enter Yongan County, which is still navigable.
However, there are many rocks in the Fenshui River in the Guanjuejin (Queshu Valley) section, making it unnavigable. They have to be transported by land to Jiexiu, which is more than a hundred miles from north to south.
After entering the Taiyuan Basin, the Fenshui River is relatively wide and has a large amount of water. It can be navigable all the way to Jinyang.
In general, there are not many miles required for land transportation. Shipping has been used as much as possible, which greatly reduced road losses and greatly reduced the number of slaves recruited. It is a great benefit to the people. kind of relief.
The war with Xianbei last year was too hasty.
Most of the food and grass collected with great difficulty was spent on land transportation, making the people dizzy with hunger, long-distance transportation was even more miserable, and countless families were broken up and people died.
There is no doubt that war consumes national strength, but where exactly is the loss? The hardest hit area was the long-distance transportation of supplies by conscripted soldiers, not just the casualties on the battlefield.
It is best to use water transportation.
After inspecting the palace, Shao Xun inspected the farmland accompanied by Yin Xian and Tang Jian.
"If the king wants to make an expedition to the north, he still has to conquer Taiyuan." Yin Xian followed closely and said, "The Fen, Qin, Zhang, Su, Hutuo, Chihong and other rivers are all the great rivers of Jin. Those who benefit from it are mostly in Taiyuan. "
"Pingyang and Hedong are south of Guanjuejin. The fields are high and the river is below. Irrigation is difficult and consumes a lot of people's efforts."
"Xinxing and Yan. In the two counties, the water is strong and the sand is floating, and the water is dry and overflowing. "If Taiyuan is the only one who enjoys the benefits of Fenshui, there will be no worries about military supplies." "Oh? Hedong and Pingyang counties have always been called rich, but Hong Qiao actually thinks that they will not benefit from the Fen River?" Shao Xun asked curiously.
"Of course." Yin Xian said: "If we build Pichis widely, open more canals, and divert water for irrigation, we will reap great benefits."
"How many people are needed?"
"If If we can spread Dingzhuang to Hedong, Pingyang, Xihe, Shangdang, Hongnong, Hanoi and even Henan counties, we will see results in a year or two," Yin Xian looked at Shao Xun cautiously and lowered his head.
"Is this what the Prime Minister meant?" Shao Xun asked.
Yin Xian was speechless for a moment.
Shao Xun shook his head and laughed.
Is this Zheng Guoqu’s old wisdom?
Consume a lot of resources and manpower on the construction of water conservancy projects, and then be unable to make the Northern Expedition?
"Xianbei is ignorant and can be defeated by a little trick." Yin Xian said: "It is not beautiful to send a large army to conquer."
Shao Xun was silent.
If he openly opposes it at this time, more people may say that he is being militaristic.
Yin Xian must have endured these words for a long time.
I was probably cursing my mother when I heard him talk endlessly about how to transport supplies to Jinyang by water.
Tang Jianze stared at Yin Xian, as if blaming him for talking to himself because he was out of breath.
Yin Xian didn't even look at him.
Tang Jian, a man from a wealthy family in Hebei, has not yet been taken seriously by Yin Xian. In fact, in his opinion, it is very abhorrent for such people to think about fighting and meritorious service and promotion every day.
“I didn’t say that we would launch the Northern Expedition now.” Shao Xun sighed and said, “Preparing for a big war can be completed in one year? Hong Qiao is worrying too much. The matter of Taiyuan is fair enough. Very good, I will go to Taiyuan in a while. You can come with me.”
“Yes,” Yin Xian said.
Shao Xun said nothing more.
In the view of these officials from Henan aristocratic families, the Northern Expedition to Xianbei actually had little benefit, but the cost was extremely shocking.
Henan has been stable for many years. Children of wealthy families have gone to Luoyang and Pingyang to serve as officials, and their momentum has gradually grown.
The output of their manors and forts has become more and more stable. They control a large number of villagers, soldiers, and grain, and train a large number of farmers and soldiers.
In recent years, people have opened restaurants to accept apprentices, swim in the water, have gatherings and talk, and everything is slowly coming back.
The three-year disaster in Hebei should be just a trigger, not the root of the problem.
The root cause is that they are dissatisfied with long-term blood drawing.
Unexpectedly, I also enjoyed the treatment of being opposed by the nobles during the Southern and Northern Expeditions.
Fortunately, the degree is much milder, and no one dares to hold back openly. They just complain, and continue to test and dissuade through various channels.
Haha! Fortunately, I still have twenty counties in Liang Kingdom in my hands.
Without these twenty counties, things would be much more difficult to handle. The nobles are no longer as good as they are now, and it is not just people like Yin Xian who are testing the situation. I am afraid that my father-in-law will dissuade him face to face.
"I am thirty-five years old." Shao Xun looked at Yin Xian and said.
Yin Xian was shocked and didn't know how to answer.
"This field is good." Shao Xun suddenly stopped, pointed to the farmland not far away, and said: "The west wind in the west is fragrant, and I seem to smell the smell of yellow rice cakes."< br>
Yin Xian seemed to want to make up for the unhappiness just now, and said with a smile: "It is better to eat oil cakes today."
Shao Xun smiled and walked towards the end of the field.
Some farmers were weeding in the fields, and when they saw this, they all fell down.
This will be July. In another month, these millet will be heading and filling. Then the sparrows will come to eat, and the farmers will have to be busy.
"Hong Qiao, if you don't do some things, you won't see such a scene." Shao Xun said: "The Huns also killed Chenjun back then, and there are some things that I don't need to say. If you don't do this at this time, It will take more effort to get rid of Tuoba Xianbei, but it may not be successful. "
After finishing speaking, Shao Xun looked at Tang Jian and said, "Go and tell. Farmers, who don’t have enough food after the autumn harvest, will eat it with open stomachs this year.”
Tang Jian immediately sent someone to spread the word.
After a while, the farmers were stunned for a moment, and then cheered enthusiastically.
Shao Xun laughed and looked at Yin Xian again.
Yin Xian handed over his hand: "Your Majesty is benevolent."
(End of this chapter)