The great man will live forever

Chapter 31 Emperor Wu also draws big cakes
Returning to Chang'an, Liu Han went to visit Sang Hongyang, one of the Nine Qings who was the Da Nong Order of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Sang Hongyang was born into a wealthy businessman family in Luoyang.At that time, Luoyang was a major commercial city in the Western Han Dynasty, and its long commercial tradition had a huge impact on Luoyang's folk customs.

In addition, Luoyang is home to a rich collection of humanities, and there are legends about Su Qin's tattoos and the seals of the Six Kingdoms.
Later, he went to Chang'an and became famous all over the world for his good mental arithmetic.According to the imperial edict of the Han Dynasty, he was specially selected to enter the palace and serve as a servant.

Then, he stayed with Emperor Wu for a long time, which enabled him to form a close monarch-minister relationship with Emperor Wu, and gradually became Emperor Wu's right-hand man, and then he rose through the ranks and became one of the Nine Ministers.

He is not old, he is only 32 years old now, even slightly younger than Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He is straight-looking, with a beard, tall, but slightly thin.

"I wonder why General Fu Guo came to my house?"

Liu Han stated his purpose, "I asked someone to make a water wheel, which can irrigate the cultivated land from lower areas and does not require manpower."

"how can that be?"

Sang Hongyang stood up directly. He was a little shocked. Irrigating the cultivated land in the lower areas did not require manpower. Is this possible for humans?

Then, he smiled and shook his head, "General, don't be joking, even the ancient Mo family couldn't do it."

"Are you kidding me? You'll know it when you follow me outside the city. It's right next to the Weishui River."

Even if Liu Han said this, Sang Hongyang still shook his head. In his eyes, this was a fantasy.

It is difficult for people to transcend cognition. For thousands of years, it is a rule that people go to higher places and water flows to lower places. If you want the water to go to higher places, you can, but it will only consume manpower and use wooden barrels to pump water. Water, carry it up.

Sang Hongyang smiled, "Could the general use horses or oxen?"

“Nothing, just water.”

Sang Hongyang shook his head, "Impossible, absolutely impossible. General, don't be joking. I still have a lot to do."

"Am I full and full, and come here to make fun of adults?"

Seeing the serious expression on Liu Han's face, he reluctantly agreed, and they rode a carriage to the outside of the city.

Eight hundred miles of Qinchuan are filled with dust, and 3000 million lazy people are singing Qin opera.

The Eight Hundred Mile Qinchuan, also known as the Guanzhong Plain of Shaanxi, refers to a location in the Weihe River alluvial plain at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, so it is also called the Weihe Plain.

It leans on the Qinling Mountains in the south, borders Beishan in the north, starts from Baoji Gorge in the west and ends at Tongguan in the east. It is about 360 kilometers long from east to west, accounting for about 19% of the total land area of ​​the province, and the plain is 520 meters above sea level.

The Guanzhong Plain is famous for its fertile land and developed agriculture. It is known as the "Eight Hundred Miles of Qinchuan" and is the main agricultural base of Shaanxi.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Feizi, the ancestor of the Qin people, founded the Qin State in what is now Tianshui, Gansu Province. The Qin people later moved eastward to Guanzhong, and the Shaanxi area became the main area of ​​the Qin State.

Because Shaanxi was governed by the Qin State, later generations referred to Shaanxi as "Qin", the main mountain ranges across central Shaanxi and eastern Gansu as "Qinling", and the Weihe Plain as "Qinchuan".

The Western Han Dynasty inherited the Qin Dynasty to a large extent, just like the later Tang Dynasty inherited the Sui Dynasty.

Chang'an relied on the 13-mile Qinchuan River, so it was prosperous and became the ancient capital of [-] dynasties, which influenced later generations. Outside the city, there are more water flows.

"Preface to Liangyudi County Annals": "Chang'an was the capital city of Yong and Qin Dynasties. Zhongnan stood in front of it, and the Wei River flowed around behind it."

"Guanzhong Ji": "Jing, Wei, Ba, Hu, Feng, Di, Lao, and Ju are the eight punishments in Guanzhong."

"Shanglin Fu": "At the beginning of the harvest, people came out of Jingwei; the fermentation picked up oranges, and the slender leftovers were snakes, which were managed inside. It was like the diversion of eight rivers, which were opposite to each other."

"Illustrated Records of Scenic Spots in Guanzhong": "The largest river in Guanzhong is named Bachuan. In the land of Chang'an, Pandi passes through it, Jingwei flows around it, Bahu borders it to the left, Fenglao joins it to the right, this is where Yu and Zhou were bound That’s the old way.”

Outside the city, next to the Wei River,
Sang Hongyang looked at the waterwheel with shock in his eyes.
"Let me take a closer look."

He checked again and again and found that there was indeed no manpower or horses.
It was a huge thing. Liu Han summoned hundreds of craftsmen and worked on it for several months and tried several times before he succeeded.

This waterwheel looks like an ancient wheel, with a spoke diameter of about 20 meters. An axle 10 meters long and 1 meter in diameter supports 24 wooden spokes, which spread out radially in all directions. The top of each spoke has a scraper. Board and bucket.

The scraper scrapes water and the water buckets are filled with water. When the river water rushes in, the spokes are slowly rotated by the inertia of the water potential. Each bucket is filled with river water and is lifted up step by step.

When reaching the top, the water bucket tilts naturally again, pouring water into the aqueduct and flowing to the irrigated farmland.

It can raise the water by 15 to 18 meters, has a thick axle in the center of the spokes, and twice as many horizontal boards as a wooden bucket.

Looking at the sink at the other end, water was flowing out continuously. Sang Hongyang was so excited that he danced and gently stroked the sink, like a parent stroking a newborn child.

So cautious, so passionate.

"This is based on the flow and impact of water. It is a miraculous workmanship. It is simply a miraculous workmanship."

Sang Hongyang exclaimed, "General Liu, you have done a great job. Come on, I will go to the palace immediately to report to Your Majesty. You will wait here for nationwide promotion." Liu Hanla did not hold back, but Sang Hongyang was excited. Got on the carriage and went to the palace.

At this time, Liu Che was still reading the memorial, which was actually some bamboo slips.

A eunuch came to report, "Your Majesty, Da Nong ordered me to see you and said there is something urgent."

Liu Che waved his hand and said, "Okay, let him come in."

"Meet Your Majesty."

"Get up and tell me, what's the rush? Are you in such a hurry?"

Sang Hongyang said happily: "Your Majesty, the auxiliary general Liu Han built something called a waterwheel. It can transport water from low to high places and irrigate farmland without manpower."

"Is there such a thing?"

"I didn't believe it at first, but I saw it in person. It is indeed true. It is a powerful weapon for the country. It is even better than the curved shaft plow last time. It borrows the flow and impact of water flow."

"No matter how much the water flows, it won't flow to higher places. I'm afraid it was pulled by horses, oxen and other animals, right?"

"Your Majesty, this is what I have seen with my own eyes. You will know after you come with me and take a look."

Seeing Sang Hongyang speak firmly, Liu Che also knew that he would not lie. This Sang Hongyang had been serving him for more than ten years and was one of his most trusted people. Otherwise, he would not have handed over the financial power to him.

"Okay, let's show off!"

When Liu Che saw this huge waterwheel for the first time, he was also shocked.

"You made this?"

He looked at Liu Han with a smile on his face and almost laughed.

"Yes, I had a sudden idea and I didn't expect it to work."

"Okay, okay, you are truly the unicorn of my Liu family. You were given to me by God. If this waterwheel is promoted nationwide, there will be another bumper harvest next year."

Liu Che turned to look at Sang Hongyang and said, "Sang Hongyang."

"Chen is here!"

"Promote this waterwheel nationwide immediately. It must be completed before the autumn harvest. You should communicate with Liu Han more often."

"promise!"

"Liu Han, I will grant you the title of Marquis of Shuiche, with a household of 800 households."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Liu Han heard that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty intended to suppress him, but not too much. This was an official title, the kind without a fief. There was a big difference between whether he had a fief or not.

"I heard that the acting king and the acting princess were not good to you?"

"It's not bad, at least I don't have to worry about food and drink."

"You are his younger brother. Although he was already the acting king when the favor order was issued, if you really want to, I can grant you some land."

If it weren't for the order of favor, these princes would probably not even want to give their fiefdoms to sons. After all, some princes had many sons, and sons would have sons. If the division continues, the territory of the legitimate sons would only become smaller and smaller in future generations.

You don’t even want to give it to your son, let alone your brother who is a concubine?

As if he was afraid that Liu Han would think too much, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are the younger brother of King Dai. Fight well and defeat the Huns. If you make great achievements, I will give you some of King Dai's fiefdoms and give you a title." , let you all be equal, after all, you are all the sons of the emperor."

This is a naked pie-in-the-sky attempt to confer kings. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wished that there would be fewer and fewer kings, so he got rid of two kings. Was he willing to confer kings?
No, he dislikes the fact that the fiefdom of the king is too big. He reckons that in a few years, the king will have to shrink it. If it is not in order, it will be abolished.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will work hard to defeat the Xiongnu and open up the Hexi Corridor!"

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Haha, it's good to have this confidence."

Perhaps, even Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty would not have thought that Huo Qubing's performance in the next few years would be so terrible that future generations could only look up to him.

Not only him, maybe even Huo Qubing himself didn't think of it, and only Liu Han from later generations knew about it.

(End of this chapter)