Fenghou

Songcheng County belongs to the Yellow River Flooding Area, but it is not on the edge of the New Yellow River. The Yellow River New Road is still [-] miles away from Songcheng County, and is close to another county, Yucheng County.

At noon the next day, Chen Qing came to the Yellow River New Road. One of the purposes of his trip was to inspect the Yellow River New Road. Both sides were barren muddy land. The continuous drought made the soil as hard as rocks, and no grass could grow.

"Has there been no grass growing here?" Chen Qing asked, pointing at the two banks with a whip.

"Exactly!"

Liu Sheng nodded and said: "There has been no grass for more than ten years, so here I am most afraid of rain. When it rains heavily, the ground is covered with mud and it is difficult to move."

"Have you tried growing grass?"

Liu Sheng smiled wryly, "No one cares about such things."

Chen Qing did not show any dissatisfaction, and continued: "This will cause a lot of soil to flow into the river, making the soil fertility worse. In recent years, Shaanxi Road has planted a large number of wild peas along the banks of the river. It has been implemented for three years, and the effect is very good. Well, the animal husbandry is booming and the soil has been greatly improved, if you promote the cultivation of vetch in large quantities, perhaps the animal husbandry will become a major feature of Guide Mansion."

"Can the vetch be planted successfully?" Liu Sheng lacked confidence.

"It should be possible. The vetch is very tolerant to the soil. It can be planted in large quantities in the poorer part of northern Shaanxi. Besides, you can grow wheat here. Later, I will arrange for the Xuanfu envoy to send the seeds over."

"We'll give it a try then!"

Chen Qing glanced at him, a little dissatisfied with his casual attitude, and said in an emphatic tone: "I'm thinking about how to manage the Yellow Flooded Area. I came to Songcheng County this time, and I'm also thinking about doing a pilot project in Songcheng. If the wild peas If it can be planted successfully, I will fully promote it to other states and counties, if you are not willing, I will not force it, I will go to Puyang to try it out!"

Liu Sheng Khan has come down. Over the years, they are used to dealing with various errands assigned by their superiors, and they haven't changed it for a while. Liu Sheng didn't realize the seriousness of the problem until he heard the dissatisfaction in Chen Qing's tone. He quickly said: "Of course we are willing. It is also our dream to form an industry, and I guarantee that Songcheng County will implement it to the letter."

Chen Qing took a breather and gave them a step up, "I know that you lack confidence, but you must do it. I will ask the Animal Husbandry Department to arrange experienced officials to help you. They will come to inspect first, and then plant next spring. It is a matter of concern. You must pay attention to the survival of the entire yellow flood zone."

"Follow your orders!"

Chen Qing urged his horse to run towards the Yellow River in the distance, and soon came to the bank of the Yellow River. In fact, Chen Qing's descendants have seen this Yellow River in Xuzhou. It was called the old course of the Yellow River at that time, but it was just a very narrow channel. It is two miles wide, and the current is fast-moving, and it looks very magnificent.

Niu Gao's fleet has already docked, Niu Gao hastily came forward to pay a visit, "See Your Highness for humble posts!"

Chen Qing nodded with a smile, "Niu Dutong has worked hard in blocking the Yellow River this time!"

Niu Gao said with shame on his face: "I didn't expect the Jin soldiers to retreat suddenly. We just happened not to be on the new road of the Yellow River. When we heard the news and rushed over, the Jin soldiers had already crossed the Yellow River, even the pontoon bridge was demolished. Hey! The humble judge Mistake, missed the most important action."

What Niu Gao said was true, if they could destroy the pontoon bridge, the Jin soldiers would not be able to cross the Yellow River, and they would most likely be wiped out on the west bank of the Yellow River. For this reason, Yang Zaixing and Liu Cui were quite dissatisfied with Niu Gao.

But Chen Qing couldn't blame Niu Gao. The task he assigned to Niu Gao before was only to prevent the Hebei Jinbing from supporting Bianliang, and it didn't involve the withdrawal of the Bianliang Jinbing. No one thought that the Jinbing would withdraw so quickly, not even Chen Qing himself. Not to mention Niu Gao who has poor intelligence, this is not playing a game, they are separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, and there is no information delivery on the water, how could Niu Gao know that the golden soldiers were retreating.

Chen Qingwen comforted Niu Gao and said, "It's not your responsibility. We didn't even think that Jin Bing would give up Bianliang and retreat. We thought that there would be a siege. I think Wanyan Wushu is only possible because of the existence of the war fleet. Decided to abandon Bianliang in advance, otherwise they would not even have a chance to retreat, and it is the early retreat of Jin Bing that reflects the success of your fleet and poses a huge threat to Jin Bing."

What Chen Qing said is very reasonable. If it weren't for the fact that the Niugao fleet successfully intercepted half a million frozen muttons, making Wanyan Wushu suddenly realize the serious consequences of the failure to retreat, would Wanyan Wushu have hurriedly evacuated Bianliang early? ?Absolutely impossible, he will definitely defend Bianliang City and continue to encourage the imperial army to go north.

From the huge amount of supplies left by Jin Bing, they knew that they had no retreat plan, and finally retreated hastily.

Of course, there is still worry about the Song Army's Tie Huolei, but the fear of being cut off by the Niu Gao fleet must also be an important factor in Wanyan Wushu's decision to retreat.

Niu Gao was touched and said: "Thank you Your Highness for your tolerance!"

Chen Qing smiled, and changed the topic: "I have a very important question to ask you, what do you think of the shipping value of this new Yellow River road?"

Niu Gao shook his head, "It's okay to sail a ship with a weight of more than a thousand stones, and it's barely stable, but it's not good for ordinary cargo ships. My humble suggestion is to go to Bian Shui."

"Why, because the current is fast?"

"It's not that the current is turbulent, but because it is unstable. The underwater is full of countless uncertain currents. Generally, small cargo ships will capsize inexplicably. This is likely to encounter a cross-cutting undercurrent, and the water is too heavy. It is very difficult to control the ship, even a two-thousand-stone ship like the humble one needs someone to guide it to dock safely, let alone an ordinary cargo ship."

Chen Qing nodded. He himself thought that the new Yellow River course was not conducive to shipping. After all, it was a new river. However, Niu Gao confirmed that he had given up the idea of ​​launching navigation on the new Yellow River course, and that the Bian River should still be dredged according to the established plan.

After Bianliang arrived in Songcheng, it was washed away by the Yellow River that broke its embankment. A long section of Bianhe River from Songcheng to the south has disappeared. Inhabited area, not much economic value.

So Chen Qing decided to excavate a new Bianhe River. The new Bianhe River has been determined, so he will use the Caihe River. The water connects Bozhou and Xuzhou and other places, and can also connect Yingchangfu, Ruzhou and other places through Yingshui, forming a water transportation network extending in all directions.

But this new canal also has shortcomings, that is, the channel of the Cai River is silted and the channel becomes very narrow. Ships with more than [-] stone cannot sail. At least a section of more than [-] miles needs manual dredging. I considered dredging the Cai River, but there was no money, so I had to let it go.

Chen Qing left [-] troops to garrison Songcheng, while the rest of the army returned to Bianliang. He himself brought [-] cavalry to patrol Caihe.

Chen Qing returned to Kaifeng Mansion from Songcheng County to continue his inspection. This afternoon, he came to Lincai Town in Chenliu County. Lu Dai from Chenliuzhi County accompanied Chen Qing to the bank of Cai River.

"How far is it from Chenliu County to Caihe?" Chen Qing asked.

Lu Dai hurriedly said: "Reporting to Your Highness, it's about thirty miles away."

Chen Qing shook his head, "It's too far away, you need to dig a Cao River, otherwise Chenliu County will be completely forgotten by the New Bian River."

After a pause, Chen Qing smiled again: "Of course, you can also go through the old Bianhe River to Bianliang, and then from Bianliang to Caihe, just like Songcheng County. Opening a Cao River is not only beneficial to you, but also beneficial to Song City."

Lu Dai sighed and said, "The humble workers are also worried about this these days. All the elders in our county want to dig this Cao River. There is a small river that can be used, but there is no money and food, so we can't mobilize the people."

Chen Qing said slowly: "I advocate paying money but not food. Each worker is paid at [-] Wen a day, and then each person is provided with a catty of food per day, and every [-] people are provided with a large account. In fact, it is food control Take care, each person is [-] Wen per day, and then your county government is responsible for formulating the plan and organizing the people. After making the plan, immediately rush to the Kaifeng government office in Bianliang, find Zhang Xiao, the appeasement envoy, and report your plan to him , once approved, he will allocate money and food."

Lu Dai scratched his head and said, "Your Highness already knows the way your highness said, and we have already reported the plan to Mr. Zhang."

Chen Qing glared at him, "Since you know, why ask?"

Lu Dai hurriedly said: "The notice issued by the appeasement envoy is the dredging method of the main road of Caihe River. What Beizhi is worried about now is the branch line, which is the [-]-mile Caohe branch line from Caihe to Chenliu County. I don't know if it is the same as the main road. The dredging method is the same?"

"The same, there is no difference between the main road and the branch road!"

"I understand, I will try to make a plan today and tomorrow, and I will go to Bianliang in a few days and report to the appeasement envoy."