Chapter 2753
After years of practical application, steam engine sailing boats have become a relatively mature means of transportation in Haihan. Especially in inland river environments where hydrological conditions are relatively stable, motorized sailing boats have gradually replaced traditional sailing boats in some areas of the south due to their advantages of convenience and efficiency.
Although the Donghai Region has not yet deployed motorized sailing boats in the Fuchun River, a large amount of industrial equipment will be transported to Jiande County upstream. It is obviously difficult to meet the schedule requirements only by relying on traditional sailing boats. Motorized sailing boats have entered this area to undertake transportation tasks. It is an inevitable development trend.
However, driving a motorized sailboat requires certain professional skills, and the hydrological conditions in the upper reaches of the Bucheon River are relatively complex. It is not easy to directly transfer people from other places. The only way is to select some people from the local boatmen and sailors for training. Only then can the motor and sailboats be deployed here.
But the reality is as Huang Zhichang introduced, from time to time you can see rocky beaches protruding from the river surface. The boat they are on must meander along the channel explored by predecessors in order to avoid the hidden reefs in the water. Once the wind on the river subsides, all the sailors on the boat have to go out to paddle, paddle, and pole. When encountering a slightly gentle river bank, they have to go ashore to pull fibers, which is indeed extremely inconvenient.
But having said that, the river scenery in this section is indeed particularly beautiful. The river is green and clear, and the peaks on the river bank are stacked like a landscape gallery. As the saying goes, "Painted mountains on both sides of the bank face each other, and a stream of beautiful water flows forward." Although Bai Kesi and others were busy with official duties, no one wanted to take a second look at such beautiful scenery. Bai Letong was even more generous in his praise. Even if it was just for the scenery, the trip was worth it. However, it was really their loss that Tao Hongfang and others did not come with them.
Perhaps it was God's welcome. After arriving here, there was almost no wind in the river. It took another full day to walk these dozens of miles of waterway. It wasn't until after dark that we arrived at the confluence of Lanjiang River and Xin'an River. Downstream from here is the Fuchun River, and continuing upstream along the Xin'an River is Jiande County. On the left bank of the river is Meicheng Town, the final destination of Qililong.
This place is still fifty or sixty miles away from Jiande County. However, although there are not so many reefs on this section of the river, the hydrological conditions are equally complicated. There are several "J" shaped river bays connected in succession, so traveling at night is still risky. So for safety reasons, we have to rest one night in Meicheng Town before continuing on the road.
"When I was meeting in Hangzhou, I saw on the map that Jiande County was only more than 200 miles away from Hangzhou City, and there were waterways, but I didn't expect that it would take so much time on the road!" After getting off the boat, Bai Letong couldn't help but be impressed by the scenery here. The inconvenience of transportation was lamented.
Bai Kesi smiled and said: "You have been at sea for a few months before, and taking a boat for so many days shouldn't mean anything to you?"
Bai Letong waved his hand and said, "It's because I went to sea for too long before, and I really don't want to take a boat. If it weren't for the beautiful scenery along the way, I would have wanted to abandon the boat and go ashore and go to Jiande County by land."< br>
Huang Zhichang continued from the side: "Master Xiaobai, if you want to take the land route, you have to cross mountains and ridges to get from Hangzhou. The journey is far more difficult than the water route. You should give up this idea as soon as possible!"
Bai Letong sighed: "I come here once in a while, but I can't say how hard it is. But you have to do construction in this ravine and you have to stay there for several years. That's really not easy."
Huang Zhichang quickly bowed his head and responded, saying that he was not working hard and it was his duty to serve the country. He is a professionally qualified technocrat with a high salary. No matter how difficult the environment here is, now that the blame is on him, he must put the completion of the task first. Of course, no matter how tired they were, they would definitely not be as tired as the boatmen and sailors who had worked hard all day. Baikes specially sent people to Meicheng Town to buy several jars of rice wine and brought them back to the boatmen and sailors as a consolation. At the same time, he announced that there would be another reward after arriving in Jiande County tomorrow.
The sailors were overjoyed and thanked Bai Kesi for the reward. After drinking two bowls of rice wine per person, the snoring sounds of these boats could be heard on the entire river bank.
The weather was fine the next day, and the wind finally picked up on the river. The speed of travel was much faster than the previous day. The sixty-mile waterway from Meicheng Town to the county seat only took more than half a day to reach.
The county seat of Jiande County is located on an alluvial plain in the mountains. The Xin'an River forms an arc outside the county seat from south to north, and then turns to flow eastward. Although it looks like just a small county town in the mountains, in fact the government offices and official offices of Yanzhou Prefecture are located here, making it a small regional center.
Zhang He, the prefect of Yanzhou, had already led a group of subordinates to wait on the dock for a long time. He hurriedly hurriedly arrived at Jiande a day and a half earlier than Bai Kesi and his party, which was able to gain valuable time to prepare for the reception. Waiting at the dock with these officials were thousands of local people who had organized in advance, and it was like a scene where all the people were returning home.
Although Bai Kesi was nonchalant about this kind of cookie-cutter reception, Zhang He, who had been an official for two dynasties, naturally had a clear understanding of the situation. His boss might not care whether this kind of event was organized in a lively manner, but he absolutely had to do it. arrange.
Whether a reception event is run well or not is a matter of ability, but whether it is run or not is a matter of attitude. Now was the time for Zhang He to show his loyalty to Haihan, so how could he miss such a rare opportunity to show his loyalty.
Bai Kesi did not show too much enthusiasm for the local officials who were retained. He had communicated with Shi Diwen before coming here, and generally knew that these officials were still in the inspection period, and their abilities and positions remained to be seen. There was no need to rush to win people's hearts. .
Of course, in addition to these officials who remained from the previous dynasty, there are also a group of civil and military officials from Haihan stationed in the local area. Among them, the military attache is an army lieutenant company commander in the Donghai Region, while the civilian officials are basically technocrats like Huang Zhichang. It can be seen from this that the local administrative affairs are still in charge of the retained officials, while the officials stationed in Haihan have a unified mission, which is a number of engineering projects that are or will be constructed in Jiande County.
Zhang He had met Bai Kesi before in Hangzhou and knew that this big shot from the capital was relatively pragmatic, so at the reception banquet, he took the initiative to introduce some information about Yanzhou Prefecture and Jiande County.
The terrain of Yanzhou Prefecture is mainly mountainous and hilly, and the cultivated land area is not too large. It is far less than Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Huzhou and other places in the lower reaches of the Qiantang River. However, the local area has mountains and rivers, rich products, and people The guarantee of food and clothing is not a problem. And this time the executive committee decided to carry out large-scale construction in Yanzhou Prefecture, which brought new development opportunities here.
(End of chapter)