Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1197 Will be high
There was a drizzle in the sky, and petrels danced against the wind, flying freely in the air.

Shao Siwu climbed down the rope net on the port side of the "Hai Sha Ding" type ship.

Below the ship's side, there are two smaller flat-bottomed boats, which are swaying with the waves at the moment.

Shao Siwu carefully climbed to the bottom, and then suddenly jumped onto one of the small boats.

The undulating waves made him reel, and he almost lost his footing and fell into the sea.

The sailors on the boat quickly supported him.Shao Siwu shook off them and forced himself to stabilize his figure.His face was a little pale, which was undoubtedly caused by mild seasickness.

After him, the sailors got off the boat one by one, got down steadily to two small boats called "traffic boats", skillfully handled the oars, and rowed hard to the shore.

Some sailors hoisted the small sails on the traffic boat.The strong southerly wind immediately filled the sail, and the speed of the boat increased.

Some materials, mainly weapons, have been hoisted on the boat, and they are wrapped in oiled paper to prevent them from getting wet from the rain.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew, and the torrents surged, and the turbid waves surged to the sky.

Shao Siwu tightly grasped the railing of the ship, trying to resist the feeling of nausea.As a prince, he didn't want anyone to see his incompetence and weakness.

The sailors walk on the boat, why can't I?
Sailors don't care about seasickness at all, why shouldn't I?
He is so strong that he has already lost his mind.

The two small boats moved forward slowly in the waves, one behind the other.The cold rainwater hit the cabin, the coir raincoat, and Shao Siwu's face, blurring his vision.

The sea and the sky are gray, only the occasional sound of petrels reminds everyone to fight against the wind and waves.

Gradually, floating barrels appeared on the yellow-green sea.

The barrels are anchored to the bottom of the sea with small iron anchors, which cost a fortune.But the effect is also very obvious, marking a clear channel for ships entering and leaving the port.

It's a pity that the entire waterway has not been fully determined, and the hydrological survey work at the mouth of the Daliao River has not been fully completed.Otherwise, a large ship with a deep draft can sail directly into the port without worrying about running aground or running aground.

For a short distance, due to the influence of the waves, they rowed for more than an hour before crossing the waterway and entering the surface of the Daliaoshui River.

The water surface here is too calm, with only some slight ups and downs, and it is a completely different world from the open sea.

Shao Siwu looked around, and in the confused rain and fog, there were sand dunes, reeds, and salt and brackish water swamps everywhere.A little farther away, you can see stretches of woods, but the area is also very small.

After the two small boats rowed across a bend in the river, a broken land suddenly appeared in front of them.

Land is surrounded by water.Obviously it was fresh water, because someone was drawing water nearby, and it was loaded into a car and sent to the walled city.

"Strength!" The sailors chanted and paddled vigorously. The speed of the ship suddenly increased, and soon it came to a rough trestle bridge, one left and one right across the two sides.

There were guards on the shore, and they took the rope handed over from the boat and quickly fixed the boat.

"See Your Highness." Everyone on the shore saluted together.

"There's no need to be polite." The nausea had subsided a lot, Shao Siwu suppressed the swelling in his throat, twitched the corners of his mouth, and said with a smile.

After speaking, he gathered his strength and jumped onto the pier, as if he was not affected by seasickness at all.

The sailors all looked at him in admiration.

Zhao Wang is not like them, he will not live on the boat all day long, and he can endure the discomfort to go ashore. This perseverance has been recognized by everyone.

This is a very strong and face-saving prince, everyone knows it.

Shao Siwu looked up at the walled city not far away.

This was the first time he saw Yingkou Village.The overall style of the village is extremely rough, with large sections of logs that have hardly been processed.The log was covered with a layer of soil, and weeds grew stubbornly on it, swaying in the wind.

There are many houses inside and outside the stockade.The houses are even simpler, basically made of reeds and branches.Especially reed, which is almost the most common material here.When he had just landed, Shao Siwu saw soldiers working around the stockade. They were holding machetes and tirelessly felled the reeds and cleared the open space.

The felled reeds were neatly laid out on the ground.These reeds grow very tall and very light.After drying, it is an excellent simple house material.Sometimes it can even be woven into reed rafts and walked on the river.

The noise on the pier gradually rose.The sergeants were busy and began to move supplies.

After the materials were unloaded, the cables were untied again, and they continued to descend to the surface of the sea to start the next transfer.

"The last general, Gao Youqing, see Your Highness." After a while, Yingkou town envoy and Dengzhou general Gao Youqing walked out of the camp and bowed in salute.

"General Gao has worked hard, no courtesy." Shao Siwu supported him with his own hands, and said.

"General Gao has created a big situation." Shao Siwu pointed to the northeast corner of the camp and said, "Is that rebuilding the pond?"

"Yes." Gao Youqing replied: "There are many water pools here, most of which are fresh water, which can be drunk. The general thought about it, maybe a small pond can be rebuilt, so that there will be more fields, and the soldiers will also have water to drink, so they don't have to go far to draw water."

Drain the swamp and get the land.Build ponds to irrigate farmland.This is the number of roads operated by Jiangnan East and West Roads in the former Tang Dynasty. It is very effective, but it is also very difficult.

"Are the sergeants willing to do this?" Shao Siwu asked.

"If you are willing or not, you will pass on your inheritance to your descendants. Of course, you have to be careful." Gao Youqing said, "There are now two thousand soldiers in Yingkou Village, and more than one thousand and four hundred households. They are not self-sufficient in food and grass. Don't be careful, won't you be hungry in the future?"

The two thousand soldiers that Gao Youqing mentioned were actually government soldiers, but in a short period of time, there was not enough land to grant them. Up to now, they still depend on the money and food sent by the Anton Mansion. Life is actually very hard. He said he was fooled, so he shouldn't have come to a place like Yingkou.

More than 1000 households have also moved here this year, including [-] households from Weibo, [-] households from Caozhou, and more than [-] households from auxiliary soldiers who have been allocated fields.

Simply put, there is nothing here.

The floods are rampant, the land is scarce, and there is nothing to ask for, and the ghosts will be very depressed.

In Shao Siwu's view, rather than working hard to renovate the fields in Yingkou, it is better to herd them.

His father told him a story when he was a child.It is said that there is a country in the west called Hungary, and there is a big river in their country, which floods every year.The Hungarians did not build embankments, but waited for the flood to recede, and then drove their cattle and sheep to the river to graze.

The flood brought sediment from the bottom of the river, and after it settled on both sides of the river bank, the pasture grew fresh and juicy, and the yield was extremely high. Therefore, the local beef cattle are of high quality, and the beef soup is famous far and wide.

In the lower reaches of the Daliao River, instead of trying to drain the swamp and renovate the farmland, it is better to graze cattle, which seems to be able to gain a foothold faster.

Of course, the people here in Yingkou Village are not fools, they have also carried out a certain degree of grazing.Even the people in the Central Plains have considerable experience in caring for livestock, especially the people in Hebei.

Back then, when Zhu Quanzhong was stationed in Wei Bo, he ate more than 70 miscellaneous animals in half a year. Without any background in animal husbandry, he obviously couldn't sustain it.

The soldiers and civilians in Yingkou Village are now eating from a big pot.Some people cut logs to build houses, some people renovate farmland, some people herd cattle and sheep.

It's just that the scale is a little small, which is not comparable to that of Anton Mansion.

"Lushun sent some equipment, and General Gao will send someone to deliver it to the warehouse." Shao Siwu said after entering a house made of reeds, taking off his coir raincoat and handing it to the soldiers.

"Why do you need His Highness to come personally for these trivial matters?" Gao Youqing immediately ordered his subordinates to deliver, and at the same time asked in puzzlement.

Shao Siwu paused for a moment, and finally decided to tell the truth, only to hear him say: "Without him, let's get acquainted with the sea conditions."

"This..." Gao Youqing thought to himself that this eldest prince is really crazy, he has a lot of guts, and he is also very eager to make contributions.

"To be honest, after this trip, I'm going back to Lushun." Shao Siwu said, "Next, I'm likely to go to the Central Plains."

"Central Plains? Where?" Gao Youqing asked anxiously.

"Or Pingzhou." Shao Siwu found a chair and sat down.Then, he skillfully took off the boots and poured out the accumulated water inside.

Gao Youqing's eyelids twitched.

King Zhao's feet must have turned white from the soak, right?Tian Huanggui, being so cruel to himself, remembered what his staff Liu Mian said privately, and he was a little scared.

"The Jin army has already launched a large-scale mobilization. Li Ke used his own way to fight the Tiande army and Wuwei army in Xing Mingci. They won each other. The other route led by Li Cunzhang went south from Youzhou and approached Cangzhou. There are many bandits. Zang Dutou is not in a hurry to fight, but he is at loggerheads with the thieves."

Gao Youqing seemed to understand something, slapped her thigh, and said, "Good strategy!"

His rank is not high, and he cannot communicate with high-level military secrets.But at least after fighting for so many years, when I heard it now, a flash of lightning flashed in my heart, and I understood everything.

Shao Siwu smiled with satisfaction, there are so many talents in the world.Even in the state army, there are also good talents.This Gao Youqing, he was desperate to fight, and his subordinates had some unique skills, they repeatedly broke the enemy's front, and were unparalleled in bravery.

He is very optimistic about such a talent, and he is willing to promote him, if Gao Youqing is willing to stay in An Dong Mansion.

After talking with his father, Shao Siwu no longer worries about gains and losses.The crown prince belongs to the second brother, so he doesn't intend to fight anymore.But my father also said that we must have the ambition to make contributions.Today, the situation is not very stable.To be disrespectful, one day when your father dies, will the soldiers of the Imperial Army support you?Do you listen to me?Or even if you support it, if you have no foundation in the army, no achievements in the local government, and insufficient prestige, will you worry about the generals of the imperial army raising their arms and adding yellow robes?

The warriors these days don't recognize your background.Is it really justified for Lao Tzu to pass on the throne to his son?No, it is only right and proper to have strong soldiers and strong horses.

His father said that in this world, at least two or three generations must be handed down from father to son to be stable, and Shao Siwu deeply believed it.

My father also said that the Shao family members are not prosperous, and brothers should be united and friendly.Shao Siwu had no objection to this, but he still wanted to see if his second brother had that kind of mind.

Which young man has never fantasized about making contributions?Floating sea to attack Youzhou, he really wanted to try it, although many people tried their best to dissuade him.

"In a few days, there will be ships coming from Qingzhou, transporting [-] hu of grain, and [-] households in Weibo and Caozhou." Shao Siwu said: "If General Gao feels that staying in Yingkou Village is boring, why don't you come with the return ship to Lushun."

Gao Youqing's heart skipped a beat.

He understood what King Zhao meant, he wanted to take him to Youzhou.

"How many people does His Highness plan to bring?" Gao Youqing asked.

"Longwu, Guide Second Army, Huaihai Daozhou Army, and Anton Mansion Army, there are tens of thousands of people." Shao Siwu said: "No matter how many there are, the boats will not be enough. If you can't send 5000 people ashore at a time, it is meaningless. The risk is too great for a wise man to take.”

Upon hearing this, Gao Youqing replied without any hesitation, "If you stay here in Yingkou, you'll be covered in hair and your legs will rot. Your Highness has orders, and the general will obey them."

"Okay!" Shao Siwu was also a little excited, and said: "If there are any close and capable soldiers in the Yingkou village, General Gao can take them with him as a help. By the way, have the Khitan people ever come here to harass them?"

"No." Gao Youqing replied: "The general sent cavalry to the north, traveled a long distance, but did not see the Khitan tribe. The general dares to conclude that the Khitan people don't even know that we have established a camp in Yingkou. They are in the Bohai Kingdom. It's a lot of looting."

"Haha!" Shao Siwu laughed and said, "Let the Khitan thieves be arrogant for a while, after Li Keyong is dealt with, we will come to seek their misfortune."

(End of this chapter)