People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 799: Dayu controlled the floods and forced Wu Hai

Li Xuan was riding a horse and standing on a high slope. In front of him was the Yellow River flowing at a fast speed and the river wind was biting.

The Yellow River water rushes in from the southwest, then makes a sharp turn before the high slope, and then suddenly turns to the southeast.

"This section of the bank is very high from the river. To reach this point, the boat must dig out the rocks at an angle and dig out a gentle slope to send the boat to the other side." Jiang Qi's face looked a little ugly. At the bend of the river in front of him, They are everywhere on the Yellow River waterway.

"This is still before there is a flood in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. Otherwise, the Yellow River will change its course and the journey will be more difficult." Xu Ling couldn't help but sigh.

Several of them are responsible for transporting grain and grass and protecting grain roads. The general responsible person is Li Xuan, and the other two assist him.

"So, we can't make a fuss here." Li Xuan rode her horse, turned around, and walked slowly along the northwest bank of the lower reaches to another turning point two miles away.

The current here is much gentler than the bend upstream, and the river bank is much shorter, making it easier to get ashore.

"Dig a slope here, go ashore, then level the road, use ships to transport the food and ordnance above to the next gentle part of the river, and then launch into the water." Li Xuan pointed to the position under his feet and said softly: "Yellow River Although the water is turbulent, as long as there is a slight obstruction somewhere upstream, the water flow will immediately slow down. Now in April and May, the east wind and northeast wind are more frequent. Using the wind and manpower, the boat speed will definitely be much faster than the mules and horses on the south coast."

There is a narrow road on the south bank of the Yellow River. Although it can be used to transport grain, it is too narrow and there is no problem for people to cross it. However, it is much more difficult for food and ordnance to cross, and the delay will be longer. That's why we considered using boats to speed up. Ships transport food quickly.

"I heard that the prince often has magical powers. I wonder if I can give you some advice." Jiang Qi looked at Li Xuan curiously. He didn't seem provocative at all. He was more curious and dissatisfied. This was a common problem among technical officials.

I heard that the name of the King of Nanchang was even earlier. A few years ago, before Li Xuan became an official, Huang Rensu, the capital water supervisor, informed the capital water supervisor about the discovery of a large number of modified water trucks in Pengzhou. He did this. Yes, it is the King of Nanchang.

"Brother Jiang." Li Xuan looked at the rushing Yellow River and said calmly, "When I was in Pengzhou, I studied a lot about waterwheels."

Jiang Qi was slightly startled. He had just thought of the waterwheel when Li Xuan mentioned it directly, as if she knew what he was thinking.

Jiang Qi looked up and saw Li Xuan staring at him with a forced smile on his face.

Li Xuan nodded lightly, and then said: "Build two large waterwheels at the bends of the upstream and downstream rivers, and connect them with runners in the middle. With the help of ropes, the wheelwheels can be quickly pulled through this section of the road."

"Your Majesty, do you mean the rope ladder?" Jiang Qi raised his eyebrows and immediately understood the meaning of Li Xuan's words.

Using the height of the waterwheel, the rope ladder rotates back and forth until it is wide enough to accommodate the ship. The rope ladder is hooked from the top and pulled from bottom to top. After reaching the position, the ship is taken down, the rope ladder is untied and stuck on the other side, so that the ship below is also It won't affect your progress. When you reach the bottom, pull up the rope ladder.

"Pull one section at a time, and then untie this section after reaching the end. Although it is a bit more complicated, the efficiency can be greatly improved." Jiang Qi could imagine the advantages of doing this, and it was indeed a good method.

"The rope ladder is just one type. Rope loops and knots are all acceptable." Li Xuan then said, then looked around and said: "This method is okay here, but if you encounter a deep mountain canyon, this method is not That’s very efficient.”

Jiang Qi's slightly happy face suddenly condensed, then he looked at the river in front of him and said with a wry smile: "This section of the waterway is called Bingling Gorge. The gorge is eighteen miles long. It is the first difficult way to enter the mountain. The rocks on the shore are steep and narrow. , the raft carrying cargo must follow the irrigation to get out of the gorge. After that, there are eighty miles of waterway, which is relatively gentle. But after eighty miles, there is Dahejia. Next to it is Jishi Pass, which is the most dangerous pass. It is also seventy miles away. There is the Mengda Gorge, which is relatively gentle, and eighty miles further there is the Salar River, before reaching Xunhua."

This section of the road is the most difficult and dangerous, and now it is the easiest section. The Mengda Gorge and Salachuan at the end are equally difficult, but compared to Dahejia and Jishiguan, they are nothing.

If the Yellow River was that easy, there would already be thousands of boats and sails on it, and there would be no room for the Tibetans to be arrogant.

"In that case, let's go up and have a look." Li Xuan looked indifferent, and then urged the horse to go upstream.

He wanted to see how dangerous the Dahe Family and Jishi Pass were.

……

On top of the turbulent mountains, a small city stands on top. Standing on the edge of the city, looking down, you can see the turbulent river and cliffs below.

There is a name hanging on the city gate, Jishi Town.

Li Xuan urged her horse to arrive at Jishi Town, and the city guard immediately came to greet them. Li Xuan waved her hand and led people directly to the cliff to observe the river.

Jiang Qi walked up to Li Xuan and said in a clear voice: "When Dayu controlled the floods, he started from Jishi Mountain, 'guiding the river to accumulate stones, to Longmen, and into the sea.' In the Han Dynasty, Guoheguan County was established here; In the Western Jin Dynasty, Linjin Pass in Linjin County was established; in the Western Qin Dynasty, the capital was built on the outskirts of Tan; in the Sui Dynasty, when Jishi Town was established, the Jishi Army was established; from now on."

Li Xuan nodded and looked across the center of the long river to the rolling mountains on the other side.

The cliffs on both sides seem to be completely connected.

From a distance, it looked as if the mountains that were once connected had been cut off directly.

"When Dayu controlled the floods, did he just open mountains and conquer the floods?" Li Xuan couldn't help but sigh.Jishi Mountain, which stretches for dozens of miles, is cut into two sections by the Yellow River. The Yellow River Gorge is formed in the middle, which is fifty long and becomes Jishi Gorge.

The cliffs on both sides of the canyon are so steep that it is dizzying to look at them; the majestic and rugged rocks are stacked on top of each other, blocking the sky; and dangerous rocks and dangerous peaks rise out of the sky, which is thrilling.

The rapids of the Yellow River in the gorge are like thunder, the waves beat on the stone cliffs, the clouds and mist are formed, the roar is rapid, and the water flows thousands of miles away.

After walking through it, Li Xuan can roughly conclude that the drop between the upstream and downstream of Jishi Gorge is nearly 200 meters, which is the reason for the turbulent water flow.

It also means getting through the enormity of the problems faced here.

In modern times, Li Xuan could build a hydroelectric power plant out of reinforced concrete, but here, he couldn't even build a stone bridge.

"The terrain here is too steep. If you want to cross the mountain, there is only a two-meter-wide mountain road on the south bank below, which can be carried by mules and horses." Jiang Qi looked at the terrain here and frowned. The situation It was worse than he expected.

This section is the most steep place in the entire Hezhou section of the Yellow River. After here, both the upstream and downstream sections are much gentler.

The methods of the King of Nanchang can be used, and the round trip can save at least two days, but here, there is no way.

Li Xuan looked at the rushing river up and down, and said softly: "I read history, "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Deng Xun" contains, in the first year of Emperor Yongyuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Deng Xun was appointed as the captain to protect the Qiang, all the Qiang surrendered, and the Qiang chieftains of the Tang Dynasty were confused. Unsatisfied, he retreated to Xiaoyu Valley, so Deng Xun sent six cadres of soldiers from Huangzhong to Guiyi City. They were blocked by the Yellow River, so he ordered the soldiers to sew leather into boats and put them on barnyard grass to cross the river. He ordered them to be "straw boats". '."

Jiang Qi nodded immediately and said: "The 'leather raft' that the prince mentioned is the leather raft used by the Qiang people for shipping on the Yellow River. It is sewn with sheepskin and blown up to form a leather ball. Nine sheepskins The balls are hooked together to form a raft. Not only can it be used for skin rafts, but it can also be used for wooden rafts. However, when the amount of water is large, the raft is more likely to capsize."

Li Xuan nodded, looked at the river in the canyon, and whispered: "This section of the canyon looks like it was split open by a giant with a giant axe. Although the river is fast, there is also a big advantage. The river is relatively straight. . You see there is room for a foothold on both sides of the bank. If you build a waterwheel there, arrange cables, and then bring the grain into the sheepskin ball, then tie it to the raft, and then pull it with the rope, you can quickly transport the grain. transported across the river."

"But the cable is soaked in water and easy to break." Xu Ling walked over calmly and put forward the fatal point.

"Then first soak the cable in tung oil, then dry it in the sun, and finally put it into the water for use." Li Xuan looked back at Xu Ling and said calmly: "We are only using it to transport food, once every ten days, midway Just dry it in the sun and repair it when not in use. Repeat this until the war breaks, and you should be able to survive."

"Yes!" Jiang Qi immediately nodded in agreement and said, "In this way, the days of transporting food can be reduced by three days, and five days is feasible."

Being able to transport grain and grass from Bingling Lake to Kuozhou in five days is definitely a great achievement for them.

"Moreover, the loss of military rations along the Yellow River is greater than on the land bank. Using Wangye's method, although there is a risk of getting wet, the loss is definitely lower than expected. Moreover, after being soaked, it can be dried in the sun and ground immediately. The waterwheel grinds flour at the right time." Jiang Qi quickly made up for the last loophole.

A slight sneer flashed at the corner of Xu Ling's lips, and then he asked: "May I ask, Your Majesty, how long will it take to complete this section of the project?"

Li Xuan's breathing suddenly became low, and he quickly calculated in his mind, and then said calmly: "It could be two months at the earliest, three months at the earliest. If there are rainy days in the middle, the construction period will be extended."

"Then, can the front line be delayed until that time?" Xu Ling shook his head slightly. If they could finish everything, the war would have stopped long ago.

Li Xuan smiled and said softly: "Young Master Xu, you don't think that this year's battle will be the last battle between our country and Tubo."

Xu Ling was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed, and he quickly said: "Of course not, it's just..."

"It's just that Xu Shaojian is not optimistic about the outcome of this battle. He believes that Datang will inevitably repeat the defeat of Dafeichuan. As for the future, a comeback will take a few years, so doing it this time is nothing more than a futile effort. That's all." Li Xuan could see through Xu Lingzhen's thoughts at a glance.

There was even something he hadn't said yet, and that was the emperor's body.

If the war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo was defeated again, then the emperor's body and mind would inevitably suffer heavy losses, and he might be dead before the next war.

Even if Li Xuan thought of such taboo words, she would not dare to say more.

Xu Ling's face turned very pale at this moment. Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said: "Young Master Xu, I will pretend that I did not hear or see your matter, but you must not slack off in the slightest about this matter. "

"Here!" Xu Ling immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Xuan looked at the rolling water below and said softly: "This project is not determined by my words. It needs to be agreed upon with Duke Yan and Pei Shangshu of Lanzhou. After the agreement is reached, a large number of craftsmen will need to be mobilized. Say no. It’s better to report it to the central government.”

Li Xuan looked back at Xu Ling and said coldly: "If this time is really successful, then the Wuhai Sea is dangerous and far away will become an empty talk, and the grain road will no longer be the real threat to our Tang Dynasty. If we talk about Qinling Mausoleum If he continues to follow the previous plan, then in the end, he will definitely achieve nothing."

Between the words, Li Xuan's true plan was revealed at this moment.

(End of this chapter)