Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 731 New Capital Chang'an
February, the sixth year of Jianxing.

Liu Shan issued an edict to raise four armies to the north, claiming to have 600,000 men. He also ordered Prime Minister Huo Jun to travel west to build Chang'an and rectify the border defenses.

Huo Jun saw off the army in Mengjin. In order to experience the dangerous rapids of the waterway from Luoyang to Chang'an, he took a boat west to Guanzhong and inspected the dangerous river section of Sanmenxia.

Why investigate the waterway between Guanzhong and Luoyang? The key is to understand the problem of grain transport in Guanzhong. There are two waterways connecting Chang'an and Guandong, one is the Yellow River, and the other is the Xiaohan Road.

In theory, it is more convenient to transport grain by water along the Yellow River. However, due to the steepness of the Sanmenxia section of the river, it brought great risks to the normal navigation of grain ships. When grain ships from Guandong to Chang'an passed through Sanmenxia, ​​those that were not familiar with the waterway often capsized.

With Chang'an as the capital now, it is impossible for Huo Jun not to personally learn about the legendary and dangerous Sanmenxia.

On the Sanmenxia River, dozens of large ships were sailing upstream.

Huo Jun stopped at the bow of the boat and observed the terrain and water. He could see steep cliffs and jagged rocks on both sides of the river, jagged rocks in the river, and fast-flowing water. The terrain was as dangerous as the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

"The name of Ghost Gate Gorge is well-deserved!"

Seeing the river so precipitous, Huo Jun, who was born in Chu, did not panic. Instead, he admired the situation and said, "Compared with the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, it is no less precipitous."

The officials traveling with him from the capital all had bitter smiles on their faces.

Because the waterway in Sanmenxia was dangerous, they hoped to allow Huo Jun to enter Guanzhong via the Xiaohan Road. However, Huo Jun refused to allow them to enter via the land route on the grounds that he knew the water conditions well.

Everyone thought that Huo Jun would have a headache when he saw Sanmenxia, ​​but Huo Jun, who had been accustomed to rapids in rivers since childhood, was not afraid of the dangerous rapids in Sanmenxia at all. Instead, he commented on the situation with great interest.

"The Prime Minister has traveled the world, and his courage is terrifying. We northerners cannot compare to him!"

Lu Zhi cupped his hands and said, "However, most northerners are not used to boats. When the canal is transported through Sanmenxia, ​​many boats have sunk, and many people and money have been lost. If the difficulty of the dangerous shoals in Sanmenxia can be solved, then the canal transportation on the Yellow River will be worry-free!"

Huo Jun rested his hand on the Dragon Scale Sword and asked, "Does anyone know about the grain transport during the Han Dynasty?"

"Have!"

Jingzhao Yin Yan Fei bowed and said, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, in order to connect Sanmenxia, ​​the Former Han Dynasty sent people to open the Sanmenxia plank road, ordered boatmen to drag the grain boats upstream, and repaired it every year, so that they could get grain from Guandong. At that time, because the river was turbulent, one stone of rice could only get eight dou into the pass, which was a good deed."

"The transportation of money and grain from Xuzhou and Huaizhou is inferior to that from Ji and Yanzhou because of the long distance and the high loss. The reason for transporting grain from Yangzhou to the pass is the same as above, so it is inferior."

Whether it is the Sanmenxia of the Yellow River or the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, when the canal is transported upstream, most of the time, trackers are used to pull the boats. With the help of the trackers, the canal boats are transported across the fast-flowing and dangerous rapids.

When the Han and Tang dynasties made Guanzhong their capital, they always dug plank roads when managing the Sanmenxia River and often sent people to maintain the dangerous shoals.

Huo Jun pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "You are northerners and do not know the water conditions between the north and the south. Jiang boats cannot enter Huai, Huai boats cannot enter Bian, and Bian boats cannot enter the Yellow River. Therefore, the reason why it sank is not because of the dangerous water conditions, but because outsiders do not know the water conditions. Only the villagers know the pros and cons."

"If we want to open up the canal from Guandong to the mainland, we can do it in sections. The water conditions of the Yangtze River, the Bian River, and the Yellow River are different. It is not appropriate to use one ship to travel a thousand miles. We should build ships according to the water conditions, appoint canal officials, and train sailors to carry out canal transportation."

After a pause, Huo Jun organized his thoughts and continued, "In my opinion, Jiang ships should reach Jiangdu, Huai ships should reach Pengcheng, Bian ships should reach Heyin, and He ships should reach Weikou. If the water conditions of Wei and He are different, we should build Wei ships to reach Chang'an. The warehouses set up in between can transport goods to each other."

Huo Jun has traveled to all the Yangtze, Huai, Han, Ji and Yellow rivers in the world, and can be said to be very familiar with the water conditions in different places.

Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, all rivers are the same. But as Huo Jun, who led the Northern Expedition, he can say with full responsibility that rivers are different. River boats can enter the Yellow River, but the conditions are harsh and the river must be flooded before they can pass.

If we want to solve the problems caused by canal transportation, we must adopt professional management, that is, we must adapt to local conditions, build appropriate ships, and specially train canal officials for canal transportation.

Warehouses under the vertical jurisdiction of the central government were set up at the confluence of the rivers to transport the grain downstream in sections. Professional ships and officials were responsible for the transportation of money and grain into Guanzhong.

As for the Sanmenxia River section, the policy of the Western Han Dynasty can still be used, with trackers towing boats across dangerous rapids. However, only boats and watermen will be specialized and used specifically for navigating the Sanmenxia River section. This will greatly reduce the risk of ships sinking and reduce the loss of grain.

Listening to Huo Jun's explanation of the new grain transport law, the old officials of Cao Wei instantly understood the pros and cons of it. Training specialized grain transport officials would ensure smooth grain transport and minimize losses due to their professionalism from long-term work.

Not to mention the ships specially designed to suit the water conditions of the river. In terms of the development of shipbuilding technology and the professionalism of shipbuilders, the Southern Han Dynasty ranks first in the world today, so designing canals that suit the river conditions is not a problem.

Lu Zhi, Yan Fei, Chang Sun Yang and other former officials of Wei looked at each other and couldn't help but show respect on their faces.

The fall of Wei was not unjust!

The problem of grain transport that troubled Guanzhong, Guandong, and Jianghuai was solved so easily by Prime Minister Huo. No wonder His Majesty praised Prime Minister Huo's unparalleled ability in both civil and military affairs in his imperial edict. Not only was the battle fierce, but his governance was also first-class!
In fact, the segmented transport method proposed by Huo Jun can be said to be an innovation in the history of water transport.

Because during the middle Tang Dynasty, the Han and Tang dynasties had not used dedicated ships for transportation due to the different water conditions in Guandong, which resulted in considerable losses in water transportation, so that the Tang royal family often had to go to Luoyang for food.

It was not until Pei Yaoqing and Liu Yan took office that they promoted the new grain transport system, using special ships and special transportation, and no grain was lost due to water accidents. Combined with other policies, large-scale storage of grain and grass in Guanzhong was possible, which meant that the Tang royal family no longer needed to go to Luoyang for food.

The Northern Song Dynasty continued the old policy, and during the hundreds of years of war with the Western Xia, there was never a food shortage problem in Guanzhong.

The segmented water transport that Huo Jun wants to implement will be enough to prevent the Southern Han from having to return to Luoyang for food due to the decline of Guanzhong and food shortage in the capital for a long time in the future.

Sima Zhi bowed and asked, "Although the new method of transporting grain is good, if we want to build special ships, we still need to transfer shipbuilders from Wu and Chu to the north to build ships."

"good!"

Huo Jun thought for a moment and said, "Pengcheng, Jiangdu, and Heyin need large warehouses, and each river needs boats. Order Yangzhou shipbuilders to build a thousand river boats. The three rivers of Bian, Huai, and Jiang need water boats for transportation."

As he spoke, Huo Jun looked at Shang Shu Pushe Jiang Wan and asked, "I want to appoint a transport envoy for the country to be responsible for the transportation of grain on the four rivers. Does Gong Yan have any recommendations?"

Jiang Wan thought about it for a while and said, "My Lord, I think that the Minister Fei Yi is very talented and can be put in charge of the grain transport."

"good!"

"I now recommend Fei Yi as the transport commissioner of the two rivers and ask him to implement the new grain transport system as soon as possible. Your Majesty will pacify Hebei and enter Guanzhong at the earliest this year and Chang'an at the latest next year. Fei Yi must not make any mistakes." Huo Jun said.

"promise!"

Fei Yi was appreciated by Zhuge Liang in history, and he inherited Ma Su's position and was quickly promoted. But now, let alone Ma Su, Fei Yi is not even a famous one among the talented people in the Han Dynasty. Fortunately, Jiang Wan still appreciates Fei Yi, and now he specially recommends Fei Yi as the transport envoy.

The problem of grain transport between Guanzhong, Guandong and Jianghuai was solved by the implementation of the new grain transport law. Now that we have entered Guanzhong, the key issue is the current situation in Guanzhong.

The current situation in Guanzhong needs to face the climate impact brought to Guanzhong by the Little Ice Age.

As we all know, the Three Kingdoms period belonged to the Little Ice Age. Fortunately, the future of Southern Han is not in the downward Little Ice Age, but in the upward stage.

During the Little Ice Age, the dynasty faced large-scale natural disasters and intensified internal conflicts, which eventually led to its demise.

But in Huo Jun's opinion, the reason why many dynasties perished during the Little Ice Age was not because the Little Ice Age directly led to the demise of the dynasty, but because the Little Ice Age acted as a catalyst, accelerating internal conflicts within the dynasty and ultimately leading to its demise.

Simply put, the biggest impact of the Little Ice Age was the reduction in land output. Many rice fields had to be converted to wheat, and the land where wheat was grown was converted to millet.

Land output decreased, domestic politics was unstable, official corruption was rampant, and the population of the people was increasing. With food consumption and a large number of people, it was not surprising that large-scale uprisings broke out due to hunger.

If it was a new dynasty that encountered the Little Ice Age, the situation might have been different.

Because the newly emerging dynasties had a sparse population and serious land abandonment, they were far from reaching the upper limit. Take the Qing Dynasty as an example. Although it encountered the Little Ice Age when it was founded, it lasted for about 300 years because of the small population at the beginning, the climate recovery, and the improvement of crops.

Today's Guanzhong is located in the north, and the Little Glacier directly affects its agricultural output. Naturally, it is impossible for the current population to reach the peak period of the Han and Tang dynasties, with a population of millions.

But don't forget that Guanlong, which was under the jurisdiction of Southern Han, experienced three Qiang rebellions and two warlords' melees. The registered population of Guanlong was only over 400,000, which was almost ten times away from the upper limit of 5 million agricultural population.

Not to mention that if the Hetao and northern Shaanxi counties are restored in the future, the area of ​​Guanxi will be further increased, and the upper limit of the population it can bear will be further increased. And as the climate approaches warmer, the population capacity will rise.

The impact of the Little Ice Age on Southern Han may not be favorable for the time being, but as time goes by, the climate gradually recovers, which is beneficial to the Han Dynasty. If the population of Guanxi cannot bear it in the future and the grain transport cannot solve the food supply problem, then it will be the job of the successor.

The unstable climate brought about by the Little Ice Age required the Han Dynasty to build more water conservancy facilities and promote wheat planting on a large scale to ensure that the impact of the Little Ice Age's climate on Guanzhong agriculture was minimized.

After all, the water and soil in Guanzhong during the late Han Dynasty were still there, and northern Shaanxi and Hetao were occupied by nomads, which was conducive to ecological restoration to a certain extent. In the future, the Han Dynasty could also implement a tree planting policy to maintain the ecology of Guanzhong as much as possible.

Therefore, Huo Jun's purpose in entering Guanzhong was to restore the water conservancy facilities in Guanzhong, build a defense system for the border counties of Guanlong, and consider whether to rebuild Chang'an City.

(End of this chapter)