Chapter 2530
When they set off from Sanya, summer was about to begin. If Tao Hongfang hadn't mentioned the time, no one would have remembered that it was almost Mid-Autumn Festival. Except for Ha Jianyi, the other three people basically spent the Mid-Autumn Festival with their parents and family in previous years, but this year they came to a place thousands of miles away, which can be regarded as a fresh experience.
The speed of sailing upstream is naturally much slower than that of the sea. The official ship traveled on the Qiantang River for a full day and arrived at the pier at the mouth of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal outside Hangzhou in the evening.
Compared with the ports and terminals they have been to before, although the Jiang'an Port area in Hangzhou is still prosperous, due to terrain conditions, the level of infrastructure and port facilities are somewhat limited. It is indeed somewhat inconsistent with Hangzhou's status in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. proportionate.
However, it was the first time for Tao Hongfang and others to see an artificially dug river channel like the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and they all crowded to the side of the ship to watch before they even got off the boat. The river here is about six feet wide, but the depth of the waterway is limited, so the drafts of the boats coming and going on the river are not very deep.
Tao Hongfang and others have been on the ship for so many days on this trip, and now they can be considered half shipping experts. After taking a rough look at the hydrological conditions here, they can deduce that the navigation capacity of this section of the canal is about 100,000 displacement. Ships within tons. Although the navigation capacity seems to be limited, considering that this kind of artificial canal can ensure smooth flow all year round and is not easily affected by weather, tide and other factors, its cargo volume should still be considerable.
In fact, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal can be roughly divided into seven sections, and the Jiangnan Canal at the southernmost end is the section with the strongest navigation capacity. This section of the canal runs from Zhenjiang on the south bank of the Yangtze River through Danyang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Looking straight up to Hangzhou, the more than 200 miles in Zhejiang are the smoothest.
This section of the canal was first constructed in the Three Kingdoms period. After continuous construction and strengthening in the past dynasties, it finally connected the Taihu Lake water system and the Qiantang River water system, and extended the southern end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal to Ningbo Prefecture, thus connecting the north-south inland water transport artery with the sea. Shipping links.
Tao Hongfang and others only learned about the Grand Canal when they were studying geography before, but how could those written descriptions compare to the shock of seeing it with their own eyes.
"Such an artificial river extends thousands of miles north from here, all the way to the capital of the Ming Dynasty. What a powerful project it is! In my opinion, the difficulty of this project is comparable to the Hainan Island Roundabout planned by the Executive Committee Railway!" Tao Hongfang sighed.
"However, the island-circling railway planned by the Executive Committee will not take thousands of years to complete." Bai Letong obviously appreciates the Executive Committee's transportation plan for Hainan Island. After all, Haihan's engineering and construction capabilities are far superior to those of his predecessors. At present, The completion of many large-scale projects has fully proved this point.
Ha Jianyi said: "No matter what, this canal has now belonged to our country of Haihan. The predecessors planted trees and future generations can enjoy the shade. We can also enjoy the various conveniences brought by this canal in the future!"
Ning Zijing shook his head and retorted: "It may not all be convenient. As far as I know, this kind of inland artificial river is too gentle and can easily form siltation over time, so the maintenance work of the river will also be very heavy. , may be much larger than our investment in maintaining a railway.”
"If this is the case, there is no need to consider waterway maintenance when transporting goods by sea. Then why did previous dynasties not vigorously develop maritime transport?" Ha Jianyi asked in confusion.
Ning Zijing said: "This is because the shipbuilding and navigation technology in the past was limited, and it was difficult to create a maritime shipping system of sufficient scale to meet transportation needs. The second reason is that more and more people have relied on this canal for food in the past dynasties. It is said that the food and clothing of millions of workers depends on it. Whoever wants to vigorously develop maritime transportation will take away the jobs of this group." Ha Jianyi understood when he heard this: "In the final analysis, it is still the interests of our country! The word "sea" means that a country has been built on the sea since history. I believe Master Shi will not let the previous dynasty's practices affect the rule of our country."
"It's hard to say." Tao Hongfang, who knew a little about this, shook his head and said: "I have read relevant information. The Ming Dynasty specially set up the Caoyunfu Yamen. Under this Yamen, there was an armed establishment of 120,000 guards. That is The real power yamen that really controlled the military power also established laws such as the Water Transport Law, the Water Transport Law, and the Change of Water Transport Law to improve the management system of water transportation. It’s not an exaggeration. If not handled properly, it will cause chaos.”
This canal has been used by all dynasties to transport grain and other bulk materials to the north. During the reign of the Ming Dynasty, the share of grain in Zhejiang alone reached 630,000 shi, and the entire levy was not allowed to be reduced or reduced. All transportation costs were borne by Grain households bear the responsibility. As a result, governments at all levels have all kinds of excuses to increase expenditures and collect taxes, which naturally leads to unavoidable corruption.
In the end, the Ming Dynasty failed to solve the various shortcomings involved. Although people have changed to govern the world now, it is certainly not an easy task to be able to satisfactorily solve the historical problems left over from the previous dynasty. Although Shi Diwen is recognized as a powerful figure, he is not an omnipotent god. At least these young people on the ship cannot imagine what means Shi Diwen should use to deal with the many problems behind this canal. trouble.
After the ship docked, they found that there were no local officials specifically coming to greet them at the dock. This made them feel relieved, but at the same time they felt a little bit lost. They didn't want the local government to organize a grand reception ceremony, but it didn't feel good to be completely ignored.
Although the four of them each have official duties, it is not clear who they will work with after arriving in Hangzhou. Moreover, it was getting late at this time, and probably no government offices were still open for business.
"Everyone, looking at it like this, no one is here to receive us. Why don't we let my little brother arrange it for us to stay one night at Qiong Lianfa's business house tonight?" Ning Zijing took the initiative to ask.
"There are more than a dozen of us here. Is the hotel convenient for us to stay?" Tao Hongfang still asked politely.
"Don't worry, it will definitely fit in. Qiong Lianfa's office in Hangzhou is said to be built according to the standards of a first-class commercial store, and its scale will probably not be smaller than the Dutch commercial store we visited on Zhoushan Island. It will have to accommodate ten of us. There should be more than enough people to call." Ning Zijing immediately confirmed it.
After being on the ship for so many days, everyone did not want to be delayed on the ship anymore. They immediately landed and the entourage went to the dock to hire a carriage. After the luggage on the ship was unloaded, they went to Qiong Lianfa's business inn together.
(End of chapter)