Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 108 Water Ship

The next day, when Sun Xiangfu went to the Qin Mansion, he found out what happened in Chang'an City yesterday. Li Shimin asked him to announce that there was a reason for the opening of the show yesterday. Gather before this time point and assign tasks, so their whereabouts and gathering point were detected by Li Shimin's secret guards, and then they were easily surrounded and wiped out before the play started.

"Your Majesty's every move has a deep meaning. Those rebellious officials and thieves are no match for Your Majesty." Qin Qiong roughly told Sun Xiangfu what happened, and finally concluded.

"After what you said, I feel that His Majesty is omnipotent." Sun Xiangfu said a little depressed. In such a big matter, he can only be an insignificant supporting role after all, and he can only follow Qin Qiong afterwards. Only here can he know the part of the whole thing that he can know, which fully shows the emperor's distrust of him.

"Not necessarily. Liang Shidu in Shuozhou and Feng An in Lingnan are difficult problems for His Majesty to solve. These two are cautious, and it is difficult for even secret guards to infiltrate them." Qin Qiong shook his head and said.

For some things, he can selectively tell Sun Xiangfu. Apart from Liang Shidu who has long rebelled, the most powerful rumor in the court recently is the rebellion of Feng An, the chief of Lingnan. , Thousands of miles from east to west, north and south, with hundreds of thousands of armored people, they are all barbarians and barbarians. It's no wonder that Li Shimin's people can get in. His magnitude is incomparable to several Wang Junkuo.

"Feng An's rebellion in Lingnan?" Among the many movies and TV dramas Sun Xiangfu has watched, there is really no story about Li Shimin's battle with someone in Lingnan. He is planning to take a trip to Lingnan recently, but he was a little surprised when he received this news.

"It's just a rumor, and it may not be credible. Feng An is well-known in Lingnan. His Majesty has sent someone to investigate secretly. I hope he will not take risks." Qin Qiong sighed.

Feng An's rebellion was something Li Shimin didn't want to see. At this moment, there are many powerful enemies in the north of the Tang Dynasty. If they face the barbarians from the south of the Lingnan, the country's foundation may be shaken. Therefore, in history, Li Shimin finally had to follow Wei Zheng's suggestion and send someone to Afterwards, Feng An honestly sent his son Feng Zhidai to the capital. After a few years, he also came to the capital. Li Shimin entertained him very kindly. It can be said that Feng An has a lot of credit for breaking away from the Central Plains Dynasty.

Sun Xiangfu didn't know the history, but he was more optimistic about Lingnan, the Pearl River Delta, which was one of the most economically developed areas in China in later generations.

"Speaking of Lingnan, I'm thinking of taking a trip recently!"

"Oh? Are you going to Lingnan?" Qin Qiong asked in surprise.

"Well, boy, I heard from a businessman from the south that there is a kind of rice in Jiaozhi, which can mature in two months from sowing to harvesting, so I want to introduce it to Datang. Lingnan is close to Jiaozhi, and it is the best in the fleet. The supply point is also one of the best places for trial planting of this new rice variety, so this Lingnan kid must be going there."

"Rice that can grow in two months?" Qin Qiong knew that Sun Xiangfu was proficient in farming, but he was familiar with history and knew that the Han people once ruled Jiaozhi in the pre-Han period. It has spread to the Central Plains, so he doubts such rumors.

"This matter is of great importance, and the boy would rather believe it, so he must go there."

As for why Champa rice was not introduced during the Han Dynasty, Sun Xiangfu also has a lot of doubts. One possibility is that the center of the country at that time was the north and the south, which belonged to the border of Nanyue Kingdom, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could not actually control it.

However, most areas in the north are relatively cold all year round, and there is no large area of ​​irrigated land, so it is not suitable for planting Champa rice. In addition, due to poor farming techniques, Champa rice was planted in the Han Dynasty, and one mu of land can only produce one or two stones at most. The yield of rice is not as good as that of broomcorn wheat, and it will not be worth the loss if it is planted. Therefore, it has not been popularized.

However, Sun Xiangfu believes that it is true that Champa rice needs to grow in a warm environment. In Guanzhong, it can be planted alternately with other crops on a small part of the irrigated land. In Jiangnan, Lingnan, and Yazhou, it can be planted completely. Three seasons, and he, who is familiar with the history of crop development, knows that during the Northern Song Dynasty, Champa rice set a record of more than four stones per mu in the Jiangnan area. It is not millet, but rice that has been hulled.

With it, there was the mantra of Jiangnanshu in the Song Dynasty, the world is full, and Hu Guangshu in the Ming Dynasty, the world is full. At that time, one or two provinces of land could feed a population of 2000 to [-] million , and now, how many people does Datang have?It's only [-] million. Sun Xiangfu felt that as long as he gave himself a few counties suitable for growing rice, he could almost guarantee the country's food rations.

While chatting, Uncle De came in to report that Yang Shunshui had arrived, driving a new boat, and was at Qujiangchi Wharf.

"Yi Gong, let's go and have a look together!" Sun Xiangfu invited along the way.

"Hehe, look at the boat, Hongshen is an expert." Qin Qiong said with a smile, and asked Qin Hu to go to Zou Guogong's mansion to inform Zhang Gongjin that he has been leading the army since he defeated Xieli and became the Duke of the Duke. He was away from home and was only recently transferred back by Li Shimin. Speaking of which, he had been Sun Xiangfu's boss for a few days, so he was familiar with him. It would be no harm to ask him to take a look.

After a while, Qin Qiong and Sun Xiangfu rode their horses to the Qujiangchi Wharf. From a distance, they saw a large ship with a much higher side and mast than other passenger ships.

"Heh, this is the new boat you asked to make, and it must have a load of at least three thousand stones!"

Sun Xiangfu laughed and said nothing when he heard the words. Three thousand stones are only 180 tons. Wanshi ship, but its size is not as big as other Wanshi ships, because its loading position is all below the plywood. As more cargo is loaded, its draft will become deeper. will be more stable.

There is nothing loaded now, and the draft is not deep, so the ship's side looks five or six meters high, which is similar to the five-tooth warship of the Datang Navy, which is a three-story ship.

"Heh, this boat is interesting."

I am watching the overall appearance of the ship from the shore!He saw a man coming with a horse and shouted, this man is Zhang Gongjin.

"Your Majesty has met Mr. Zou." Sun Xiangfu bowed his hands and bowed.

"You are welcome, tell me about your boat! What is it for when it is built?" Zhang Gongjin dismounted, handed the reins to the guards who came after him, and pointed to the shape of this boat, which was different from all the boats on the river. Big Ship Road.

"Let's get on the boat, let's talk about it while visiting!" Sun Xiangfu made a gesture of invitation, and the three of them walked to the boat along a springboard lowered by the side of the boat.

After walking a few steps, Zhang Gongjin discovered that the boat had no oar holes, and the ramming angle of the bow was covered with fine iron, and there were two huge wheel-shaped objects behind the boat. raised his own doubts.

"Mr. Zou, this boat is called a water steamer. It is not propelled by the boatman's oars. You can tell when you go down and look inside the cabin."

Walking on the plywood, Zhang Gongjin found that apart from a low lookout room at the stern, there were only masts and sails on the wide plywood, and the number of masts reached five, not counting the small side sails. , if this is fully sailed, what a powerful driving force it is!
Then, walking from the lookout room to the interior of the cabin, he discovered that there is a universe inside the boat. Under the lookout room, there are many gear plates made of fine iron. With four or five steers.

"Here, how did the cow get on the boat?"

"Hehe, this is the subtlety of water steamships. Put on these buffaloes and let them pull these stone-mill-like gear plates, which can drive the propellers on the sides and bottom of the big ship to rotate. able to propel a big ship forward.”

Hearing this, Zhang Gongjin was stunned. Sailing against the current has always been a difficult problem for the ancients. The canals in the early Tang Dynasty had just been dug, and the waterway conditions were relatively good. , A boat with a heavy load can’t be rowed at all. This water steamer pulled by an ox can actually push the boat forward in the face of headwinds and headwinds. Could it be that the load of this boat is not heavy?
"What is the load of your steamship?"

"Above ten thousand stones."

"Wanshi? Impossible, your boat is not as big as Wanshi's boat." Zhang Gongjin didn't believe it.

"Mr. Zou can take a look at the cabin below." Sun Xiangfu smiled and asked Yang Shunshui to lead the way. Although most of the ship was designed by him, the boatmen will do a lot according to the actual situation. Sun Xiangfu, who was boarding the ship for the first time, did not know all about the changes and the details of the interior.

"My lords, there are three floors in the cabin, and the uppermost floor is for people to live in. There are more than 30 rooms on the left and right. Each room is very comfortable for two to four people. The lower two floors are warehouses. If you store grain and rice Such cargoes, Wanshi is not a problem, and there can be more heavy objects such as ironware, as long as the draft is less than [-]% of the height of the ship's side, there is no problem."

After speaking, Yang Shunshui led everyone to the end of the corridor on the first floor. Zhang Gongjin and Qin Qiong scanned the rooms on the left and right sides of the cabin, and found that the space inside was not small. There was a fixed wooden square table in the middle. The upper and lower bunks are made of wood on both sides, and there are cabinets nailed to the wall of the ship, which is just right for four people in one room.

"Tsk tsk tsk, your ship looks like a cargo ship with a size of five or six thousand shi at most, and the space inside is so large, and the arrangement is reasonable. It is really a treasure ship." Zhang Gongjin praised.

More than 30 rooms can accommodate more than 100 people, and the warehouse below can hold more than 1 shi of goods, but it is much more advanced than the standard warships of the Tang Army.

Of course, he still didn't see the design of the whole ship clearly.

When Yang Shunshui walked to the center of the ship, he pulled the machine expansion on the ship wall, and the thick splints spread out to both sides, exposing the sky above his head. Then he pulled another machine expansion, and the wooden boards of the corridor under his feet also spread to both sides. , when Yang Shunshui opened two sliding doors slightly wider than the door of the room to both sides, Zhang Gongjin and Qin Qiong suddenly found that only a springboard needs to be stretched from this position to connect to the shore. The springboard can be extended on both sides. If heavy objects get on the boat from the springboard, they can be directly lowered to the warehouse on the second and third floors. It is also very convenient to pick up the goods from the warehouse.

Of course, what they didn't know was that the reason why Yang Shunshui opened the splint above his head was because there was a thick iron frame on it. With ring pulleys, one person can easily lift hundreds of catties of goods by pulling the rope, and the warehouses on the lower two floors have carts with wheels, which can easily push the goods to corners and unload them. The hundreds of craftsmen are not raised in vain. They design and build these exquisite objects all day long. Sun Xiangfu spent tens of thousands of dollars to build this ship, which is not counted as research and development. hidden investment.

(End of this chapter)