A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 496
Go north by boat and walk on the canal.

The characteristics of the northerners who are not good at water are fully revealed. Everyone is sitting in the cabin very nervously. No one dares to stand on the deck. Many people even get seasick.

Cao Qing shook his head.

"This is just the canal of Yongji Canal, just a canal, not a big river, and this boat is quite big, why is it so unhelpful."

Fatty Wu turned pale from vomiting, lying on the hatch, and said weakly, "You are from the south, of course you say that, we northerners are good at horses but not boats, the wind and waves are so strong, and the boat is shaking like this, your brains will come out gone."

Su Lie from Hebei performed quite well, standing on the bow of the boat and standing against the wind, he was very mighty. His hometown is Wuyi County, Jizhou, Hebei, and the Su Family Manor is by the Jianghe River. In front of it is the Yuhe Yongjiqu Canal.

Su Lie's water skills are relatively good. When he was suppressing the bandits in Anmin in his hometown, because the thieves were good at using the water nets on the plains to move around, he specially recruited fishermen and crew members who were good at water to organize a navy, and the record was remarkable. .

For Huaiyu and the others to go north, it is most convenient and fast to take a boat directly to the canal. They directly hired many cargo ships, and these cargo ships are quite large.

Square bow and stern, flat bottom, both ends upturned, the bottom plate and ship side are single-layer wooden structure, the bottom of the ship is tiled vertically, the ship side veneer is spliced ​​up and down, the gaps are filled with tung putty, and there is a watertight cabin inside the cabin. It is said that there are dragon tendons in the hull, which can play a good role in supporting and strengthening the hull.

This kind of ship is a relatively new type of advanced cargo ship. It is not only common on the northern canals, but also in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, some large inner lakes and offshore seas. These ships are collectively called sand ships.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were still many types of boats, but they were roughly divided into two categories: flat-bottomed boats with square heads and flat-bottomed boats with pointed bows.

Square boats and flat-bottomed sand boats are the main types of ships in inland rivers and offshore.

Cao Qing is an expert in shipbuilding. He has a good evaluation of this ship and thinks it is very well built. "This ship has a wide hull and a strong center of gravity, which can fight against strong winds and huge waves. Moreover, it has a flat bottom and shallow draft, which is especially suitable for driving in shallow water. Fast, high load.

In particular, his ship has a wide hull, can be equipped with multiple masts and sails, can make full use of the wind, and can sail against the wind against the water. It is strong in the characteristics of flat bottom, square head, square boat, wide, large, flat, and shallow. It is not afraid of shoals when walking on sand, and can even sit on the beach directly. "

"This boat is very stable, not afraid of wind and waves and not easy to capsize,"

Cao Qing felt that it was useless for Fatty Wu and the others to be able to faint like this while they were sitting in this sand boat and walking on the canal which was not wide and had no waves.

"The wind and waves on the Yangtze River are much stronger than this, and sand ships can sail directly along the coast, so the wind is high and the waves are rough,"

Fatty Wu was not convinced, "I saw the naval drills in Kunming Lake in Chang'an. The five-tooth warship and the Yellow Dragon ship of the navy are so tall as a building, and they can run horses on board."

Cao Qing disagreed, "Although the Wuya warship and Huanglong warship are as tall as buildings, these buildings are far less stable than sand boats. Even on rivers, they are easy to capsize when there are winds and waves."

The five-tooth battleship that Fatty Wu mentioned was a warship built by Yang Su in the Sui Dynasty for the purpose of flattening the Chen Dynasty. It can accommodate [-] soldiers, and horses can be raced on the deck.

According to historical records, Wang Jun even built a large boat with a circumference of about 170 meters and a capacity of carrying more than 55 people.

Yang Su's five-tooth battleship is also a large ship with a length of 55 meters.

The Huanglong ship is slightly smaller than the Wuya ship.

Wu Zi was not convinced, "At that time, Yang Suping Chen, Nan Chen general Qi Xin commanded more than 100 Qinglong warships, stationed at Langwei Beach in the Three Gorges, and blocked Yang Su from going south. The Huanglong battleship attacked directly, Qi Xin was defeated, and the Qinglong fleet was also taken prisoner.

Later in Qiting, Lu Zhongsu of Nanchen blocked the river with three huge iron cables, but Yang Su was still not stopped.

In the third battle, Lu Zhongsu made a comeback and occupied Jingmen Yanzhou to intercept. Yang Su recruited a thousand tribes of crabs who were good at water and sailing, took four five-tooth warships, and easily smashed more than ten Lu Zhongsu with his stick. Warship, after the third battle, east of Baling, there is no one who dares to defend. "

"How can you say that the building boats are useless? Nan Chen is not the best at water warfare, why can't he beat the building boats in the north?"

Cao Qing shook his head, "First of all, this building boat was not invented by Yang Su, it was first used in the south of the Yangtze River, and there were building boats and general building boats in the Han Dynasty. It has been concluded long ago that there are three layers of buildings on the ship. In case of a storm, manpower cannot be controlled and it is inconvenient.

Yang Su's five-tooth warship and the slightly smaller third-floor Huanglong boat are actually nothing to brag about. He was able to defeat the Nanchen Navy in all three battles, not because his warship was so good, it had nothing to do with the ship. "

After all, Nanchen was destroyed by Sui, which was not a matter of tactics.

"Didn't the Sui Dynasty conquer Goguryeo and send navy several times from Donglai to Pyongyang? There were also many warships in the navy."

"Then don't you know that when Emperor Kaihuang conquered Goguryeo for the first time in 18 years, land and water advanced simultaneously, and the water army led by Zhou Luohou encountered a storm. As a result, many ships capsized, and soldiers and ships were buried in the sea. At that time, most of the large ships capsized and sank gone."

In the 18th year of Kaihuang, Yang Jian sent 30 troops to conquer Goguryeo. He took Han Wang Yang Liang as the marshal, the prime minister Gao Ying as the long history, and the general Wang Shiji as the deputy. It was ten years earlier than Yang Guang. , the Liaohe River was flooded, and the three hundred miles of swamps were unable to supply food and grass. Later, due to the high temperature and high humidity in the three hundred miles of swamps, the concentration of soldiers led to the spread of the disease. Seventeen or eighteen soldiers died.

There was another storm on the waterway, and the 30 troops were almost wiped out without seeing the Goguryeo people. Later, Goguryeo made an apology, claiming to be a minister of dung, and Yang Jian accepted the situation and no longer conquered Liao.

Although the building boats transport a lot of troops and are tall and imposing, they are not suitable for the sea at all, and they are not even suitable for being near the river.

Cao Qing is an expert, so of course he knows about these things.

Later, Yang Guang made three expeditions to Goguryeo. Although he still sent sailors to start from Donglai, some sailed along the coast of Liaodong, and some went straight to Pyongyang, but almost no longer used building boats.

This thing holds more soldiers and more food, but it is also easy to turn over, and it will sink even more once it is turned over.

"Actually, sand boats like this are the best to use on the Yongji Canal,"

The entire Yongji Canal is more than [-] miles long, originating from Huaizhou Qinshui in the Yellow River North of Luoyang, going north from Huaizhou Wuzhi all the way to the southeast of Youzhou (Tianjin), where it connects the northern section of Yongji Canal and reaches Youzhou City .

However, the section from Wuzhi to Weizhou was only open to navigation for about ten years after the Sui Dynasty was completed. The conditions were not very good, and there was no dredging after the war, so it was impossible to sail large ships at that section.

In fact, the Yongji Canal now starts from Jixian County in Weizhou, and it is the result of introducing Qingshui and Qishui to help the canal.

From Weizhou to Tianjin, basically the section of the canal is relatively smooth, allowing boats to run over buildings.

For example, in the busiest section of the Qinghe River, the water surface of the canal is 42 feet wide and [-] feet [-] feet deep. Dragon boats that are [-] feet high and [-] feet long can pass through.

Running this kind of flat-bottomed sand boat is even smoother.

That is, in winter, the canal freezes and you will not be able to run for a period of time.

But now it's autumn, and the amount of water is slightly reduced, which doesn't affect it.

For Cao Qing, who grew up in the south of the Yangtze River, a canal like Yongji Canal is as insignificant as the small ditch in front of his house. In his hometown, children in their teens can swim in such a wide canal.

"In our hometown, such a canal, why do we need any boats? When I went to the city when I was young, I had to pass through several rivers. Because I didn't want to take a detour to cross the bridge or spend money on a ferry, we just took off our clothes It’s on the head, it’s not wet when you swim over.”

"You're bragging!" Although the fat man was so dizzy that he was paralyzed, the only thing left was his mouth.

Huaiyu smiled, "There is nothing to doubt about it, just like the herdsmen on the grasslands outside the Great Wall, who grew up on the back of a pony. They rode sheep when they were only two or three years old, and rode cows and horses when they were older. They were eleven or twelve years old. , has become proficient in bow and horse, and can ride and shoot."

Although the canal is not very wide, willows are planted on both sides of the canal. In the Sui Dynasty, millions of men and women were conscripted to build the Yongji Canal, and four thousand miles were dug at the same time. It took only one year to dig through. I have to say that the efficiency is high. However, this approach was indeed too hasty, causing public dissatisfaction. As a result, Yang Guang still built several canals to connect them, built the Eastern Capital, and then conquered Goguryeo, abruptly tossing away the great cause and prosperity.

The Sui Dynasty has drifted away with the wind, but the canals left by the Sui Dynasty are still unobstructed, and the willow trees on both sides have grown very tall.

"At that time, Emperor Daye of the Sui Dynasty sailed on the canal in a huge dragon boat. Because the boat was too big and the wind couldn't move it, he had to ask many trackers to pull the boat. It is said that they even specially used young girls to pull the boat."

Fatty was overwhelmed when he heard it, "Do you really use girls to stretch?"

"As far as I know, it's just folklore."

Yang Guang took a dragon boat parade, not only the emperor, but also civil and military officials, even many eminent monks, priests, and harem concubines. Cao Qing said that he once saw Yang Guang parade to Jiangdu on a dragon boat. At that time, the whole team, including the entourage The imperial army and others add up to more than [-] people.

The emperor rides on a dragon boat, also known as the Water Palace, the concubines ride on floating scenery boats and watercolor boats, princes and nobles ride on the fifth-floor, third-floor, and second-floor boats, and those below are ordinary sand boats, etc.
"At that time, the whole team set sail from Luoyang and lined up for more than [-] miles from the beginning to the end. It took more than a month for the first boat to set off and the last boat to leave the port.

The entire fleet had to use trackers because many of the boats were too large, but not girls.Those who pull the fibers of the dragon boat are called Dianjiao, a total of 80 people, divided into three sections, each section is three hundred and sixty-six.There are nine hundred and ninety people who pull the fiber for the queen's boat, also known as Dianjiao.There are 90 people per boat to pull the fiber for the floating scenery boat.

As for the troop carriers and transport ships below the building boats, they will not be given to the trackers, and the soldiers will pull the fibers.

The entire fleet has a very large number of trackers.

The emperor's concubines, princes and nobles, civil and military officials, generals and soldiers, as well as a large number of trackers and entourages, etc., formed a huge parade team, which consumed a lot of money along the way, and had to be supplied by states and counties along the way.

At that time, the emperor of Daye issued an edict to provide food for five hundred miles in the counties and states he passed. "

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help being silent.

I can imagine that the scene at that time was really spectacular, but Yang Guang also lost his great career.

"Report to the governor, we are about to enter the territory of Xiangzhou."

"The governor of Xiangzhou, Shuangshiluo, led the officials to welcome him!"

(End of this chapter)