Country color

Chapter 277 Water Conservancy
After coming out of the granary, it was already dawn, and before I knew it, there was already the first snow since the beginning of winter in the house outside the granary.

The snowflakes fell on the palm of the palm and melted in an instant. The weather was already cold, and the guards at the side handed over a light fur. Li Chongjiu had just draped it on his shoulders when he saw a pair of ragged mother and daughter on the street outside the grain depot. , begging for food from people along the street with a broken bowl.

On the avenue, although people come and go, the mother and daughter have no business, and there is not even a copper in the broken bowl.

Li Chongjiu immediately took off his clothes and walked directly in front of the mother and daughter.When the mother and daughter saw a group of Panhan generals in armor coming together, they were already frightened.And the passers-by watched this scene, and avoided them one after another, wondering why the mother and daughter offended such soldiers.

Li Chongjiu covered the mother and daughter with the clothes. The mother was taken aback, and immediately kowtowed and said: "Thank you, General, for your kindness, General, Wanfu, General, and Duke."

Li Chongjiu nodded when he saw it, turned around and left, Li Chongjiu's personal guard said: "Don't thank the general, this is our envoy Li."

After hearing this, the mother and daughter said with tears of gratitude: "Your Majesty, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord!"

Seeing this scene, the people on the side couldn't help talking about it.

Li Chongjiu walked to the side of the horse and saw the people stop and discuss, he couldn't help but nodded secretly, he gave the clothes out of benevolence, but it was also a show.It won't take long for this move to spread among the people, fueling the flames, and it will be very good for his reputation in Ji County.

Fame is a part of power, and power is also what Li Chongjiu is currently lacking in fighting for the world.

The personal guard handed over the reins and said to Li Chongjiu: "Master, you haven't closed your eyes for two days and two nights, do you want to go back home to rest?"

Li Chongjiu turned on his horse and said, "No hurry, let's go to Chengnan Wharf to have a look."

After speaking, Li Chongjiu led all the generals and personal guards to ride from the granary to the Yongji Canal Wharf in the south of the city. There is a waterway along the Granary, going straight out of the south gate and arriving at the Yongji Canal Wharf.On the wharf, there are many sails, and on the water surface of the wide canal, many ships are moored here, and even large ships over [-] feet long should be seagoing ships that can enter the sea.

There is no need to doubt the berthing capacity of Jixian wharf. For four years in Daye, Yang Guang's quadruple dragon boat, 45 feet high, 45 feet wide, and 10 feet long, has been docked here.According to the history books at that time, Yang Guangfa sent people from the south of the Huaihe River and shipped rice from warehouses in Liyang and Luokou to Zhuojun.

Now in the morning, there is a layer of mist floating on the surface of the water, and a thin layer of oil and filthy garbage floating on the surface of the water. There are nearly a hundred ships moored on the river bank,

Dozens of fiber ropes were dragging the big boat along the river for assessment, and when they saw the big boat approaching the shore, and the mansions piled up with goods on the shore, with grass ropes tied around their waists and force sticks in sackcloth, their eyes lit up immediately, and they all went together. Like ducks fighting for food, they flocked to the side of the boat, scrambling to get jobs.

After the boat docked, a middle-aged man in silk shirt came out of the cabin.

"Zhou Xinglao, Zhou Xinglao!" Hundreds of sticks shouted eagerly, "Is it still the old rule? Ten boxes of silk and satin, half a bucket of rice?"

The other party clasped his fists in front of the cabin and said, "I'm sorry, folks, the waterway to the south has been cut off, and many boats were detained when they arrived in Yongnu County. If I didn't get the news earlier this time, I'm afraid I won't be able to come back. , It’s lucky to return empty-handed this time.”

Hearing what the middle-aged man said, everyone was disappointed.The crowd said: "Mr. Zhou Xing, the wives and children at home are all waiting for your kindness and food."

"Yeah, I haven't exposed the pot for three days, what should I do if this continues?"

All the sticks tried their best to strangle the straw rope around their waists, but they were still so skinny that they fell down their trouser legs.

The man also said with a look of embarrassment: "I also know everyone's difficulties. There are thousands of people in Ji County relying on this canal for their livelihood. If the canal transportation is cut off, everyone will be helpless. I will discuss this matter with you. All the shopkeepers discussed to see if there is any way out, and see if they can ask the government for help."

"Don't mention Zhou Xinglao, the government only cares about fighting, and doesn't care about the life and death of our people."

"I understand. It is said that this Yongnu County is Luo Yi's territory. He has cut off the water canal, and even a boat from our Ji County can't go south. Let alone take the Yongji Canal to Luoyang, it will reach Bohai County. Going to sea is also impossible."

"Yes, it's time to stop. Our hard work is bitter haha. The officials don't care about our lives. If we don't have enough to eat, we will rebel together."

All of them are locals. They have been carrying goods by the river bank for a long time. They are all powerful. They usually fight with outsiders and compete for business. Don't even think about it.

All the sticks wanted to say more, but when they saw a group of officers and soldiers in armor on the bank, they all shut up immediately.

After the man said a few more words, half of the sticks beside the pier dispersed. Most of them were thinking of finding another way to make a living. Others stayed on the pier unwillingly, waiting for other ships to see if there was a chance.

This Zhou Xinglao sighed, and when Xia Xia came ashore, there were two soldiers standing in front of him, saying: "This is Zhou Xinglao, please."

Elder Zhou Xing also saw Li Chongjiu and the others, and immediately walked over to Li Chongjiu, and said, "Zhou Bo, the old silk weaver in Caomin City, has met Li Shijun."

Li Chongjiu knows Xinglao at heart, and the word is the title of the leader of a line of business. Such a person is generally used to avoid competition and harmony among peers, and is the chief priest when worshiping gods; externally, he acts as a representative of the industry.At that time, the textile industry was divided into silk weaving, hemp weaving and cotton weaving, and silk weaving was the most superior. Before the Song Dynasty, the textile industry in the north was always stronger than that in the south, so this week Bo Neng became an industry leader, obviously also in the local area. Very energetic character.

Seeing Li Chongjiu glance at the exquisite satin shirt on his body, Zhou Bo felt embarrassed at the moment. Although merchants are not allowed to wear silk shirts, this is already a bad rule. The merchants in Zhuo County have long been very rich, so how many people still wear sackcloth .

But Li Chongjiu is a county governor. According to the usual practice, when Zhou Bo meets officials, he usually wears sackcloth;

Zhou Bo lowered his head and said, "I don't know what's the important thing for the envoy to call Caomin here?"

Li Chongjiu said: "You said that Luo Yi cut off the water transportation of Yongji Canal?"

"Exactly. Caomin was originally going to Dingzhou to transport goods. How did Luo Yi set up a barrage in Yongnu County to cut off the river transport. Any ships from Zhuojun were not allowed to go south, and the rest of the ships were not allowed to go to Zhuojun. , that’s why I came back here. Your Majesty, you saw that when you entered Jixian County, the water transportation in this city is very prosperous, and thousands of people rely on this river to come to eat. .”

Li Chongjiu nodded and said: "I know, how do you say how to deal with it?"

Zhou Bo immediately said with a smile, "Your lord sees thousands of miles away, and the grassroots dare to show off their knowledge in front of you."

Wang Mahan shouted at the side: "If you tell me, just say it, what are you talking about?"

Zhou Bo heard Wang Mahan say this, and said immediately: "Yes, the envoy, we businessmen hate nothing more than the chaos. If the envoy can capture Yongnu County, all problems will naturally be solved, or we can Make peace with Luo Yi, then the canal waterway will naturally be smooth."

Li Chongjiu shook his head, he couldn't do the two things right now.Now that Zhuojun's new location has not been settled, the army can't go out rashly, not to mention it's going to be winter now, and it's really inconvenient to siege the city and field battle. As for negotiating with Luo Yi, it's even more impossible to negotiate with Luo Yi now that the two families have reached this point.

If Gao Kaidao, Luo Yi, and Li Chongjiu want to unify the land of Zhuojun, these two are the targets he will sweep away next.

"What about other than that?"

"Please forgive the grassroots people for their stupidity, I really don't know."

Li Chongjiu nodded and said: "I understand, thank you for your golden words."

Seeing that Li Chongjiu spoke politely, he was not at all like the officials he had dealt with in the past, and looked down on his status as a businessman in his bones, but he was a little surprised. He heard that this envoy was quite different. , I think he is also a person of great insight.

Zhou Bo immediately said: "If you can't help the envoy, how can you be worthy of the words of gold, the grassroots are really ashamed."

Li Chongjiu smiled, and said: "It's okay, remember that in the future, if you have anything to do, you can come to the county governor's mansion directly to find me, especially today, if you are not careful, it will be a civil uprising."

At that moment, Li Chongjiu got on his horse and led his subordinates away, but after hearing Li Chongjiu's words, Zhou Bo couldn't help but looked at Li Chongjiu's leaving back, and saluted respectfully from the bottom of his heart.

After leaving Yongji Canal, Li Chongjiu inspected the main streams around Jixian County. Along the way, he saw many people carrying the freshly harvested autumn grains, pushing their own chicken busses one by one, all the way up the river.

Li Chongjiu was surprised at the moment, and ordered the sergeant to ask. Only then did he know about these people, so he transported the newly harvested autumn grain upstream to grind and peel it.

The so-called grinding stone mill is a stone mill powered by water, which uses the momentum of running water to drive the wheel shaft to rotate and drive the grinding stone mill.

This milling began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it was very common in the south of the Yangtze River with convenient water conservancy in the Sui Dynasty, and it became one of the main handicraft industries.However, due to the lack of rivers in the north, they are relatively scarce. Generally, horses can only be used to pull the ash, or even manpower.

Li Chongjiu was curious at the moment, so he went to see it. Sure enough, the local people stored water on it as a dam.

Li Chongjiu and all the generals couldn't help but nod their heads when they saw it. This is really a convenient move for the people, and it can be done without a lot of manpower.Li Chongjiu saw that on the surface of this section of water, there were dozens of grinding holes all over the place.

Li Chongjiu said in his heart that the builder of the dam and abutment has done a great job, and I don't know which family built it.

(End of this chapter)