Chapter 307 Solving the Problem (XII)
When he got close to the sea, Huo Chong saw that there was something wrong with the reeds on the coast. When he got to the sea, Huo Chong was shocked.
The seashores I had seen before were either rocks or sand. This was the first time Huo Chong had seen a coast made of loess. The coast was lined with reeds that had not grown yet and withered last year.
Huo Chong had never seen a coastline made of loess collapse at a speed visible to the naked eye. The entire coastline was muddy and yellow, like a mud pond. The blue sea did not exist at all.
With each wash, the fine yellow soil in the mud on the coastline disappears a little bit. At least the large grains of sand in the yellow soil become slightly more obvious after being washed by the waves dozens of times.
Reeds occasionally fell into the sea, though only one or two at a time, rather than a row at a time like they were chopped down by a knife or an axe. This was still a very frightening rate of decline!
"My lord, is there any solution?" Kong Bugeng beside him asked anxiously.
"The only solution is to build a dam," Huo Chong sighed.
"Build a dam on the seashore?" Kong Bugeng's voice was a little out of tune, and the questioning in it was so naked that one could imagine Kong Bugeng's voice just by listening.
Huo Chong could only nod his head. “If we don’t build the dam and allow the seawater to erode, the delta formed over hundreds of years will disappear completely.”
Kong Bugeng was confused, "My Lord, what is the Delta?"
Huo Chong did not use the "name of the special forces" as a joke, and had no intention of joking at all at this time.
Delta, or estuary alluvial plain, is a common landform. The estuary is the end of a river, where it flows into the ocean, lake or other rivers. An inland river that does not flow into a lake is called a dead river and may not have an estuary. At the estuary, the cross section expands, the water flow rate drops sharply, and a large amount of silt is often deposited to form a triangular sandbar, called a delta. The top of the delta points to the upstream of the river, and the outer edge faces the sea, which can be regarded as the "base" of the triangle.
After listening to this, Kong Bugeng thought for a moment and then asked, "How much manpower will it take?"
"Although this manpower is important, what is important is not how much manpower there is. Rather, it is how much concrete suitable for building dams in the sea that can be produced."
"Concrete?" Kong Bugeng found a new word.
"Concrete is not mortar. Concrete is an industrially produced material, especially for use in the sea, and concrete needs to be able to resist corrosion."
"...My Lord, if you have such a good thing, why didn't you use it earlier?"
Huo Chong looked at Kong Bugeng, feeling very unhappy, and could not help but answer: "Because there are not so many people engaged in production, we are still conquering the world."
Kong Bugeng was stunned for a moment, and then quickly said, "I cannot share my lord's worries. Please punish me, lord."
Huo Chong now felt that his words were a bit harsh. Kong Bugeng was not an expert in modern technology, so it was a joke to expect him to solve the problem.
In order not to hit Kong Bugeng, Huo Chong sighed: "You have done a good job. You did not exaggerate and accurately stated the problem. You really did a very good job. Don't think too much. If we can conquer the world, it will not be by whitewashing, but by solving all the problems we face before we can conquer the world."
Kong Bugeng was stunned. There was emotion, surprise, and some emotions in his eyes that Huo Chong couldn't understand.
However, before Kong Bugeng could speak, there was some movement from the guards. Turning around, he saw that the salt merchants wanted to approach but were stopped by the guards.
When the salt merchants saw Huo Chong looking at them, they immediately knelt down in front of him and shouted, "Master, Master! Let Huang He come back. We can't go on like this!"
Huo Chongzhen didn't want to bother with the salt merchants, but he finally held back his anger and went over to have them pulled up. "Don't worry, we will solve the problem here. Don't delay the liberation of the whole of China for your own selfish reasons."
After saying that, Huo Chong called Kong Bugeng to go back. The salt merchants behind him could not get close to Huo Chong at all. When they could no longer hear him, Huo Chong asked, "I have seen this. Do you think the salt merchants are all doomed?"
Kong Bugeng answered decisively, "If they continue like this, they will definitely be doomed."
"Will they help build the dam for their own sake?"
Kong Bugeng frowned, thought for a while and shook his head, "My lord, I'm afraid this won't work."
Huo Chong actually really hoped that these gentry would stand up to protect their land in times of crisis, but Kong Bugeng said no, then it must not be possible. In terms of judging the people of the Qing Dynasty, Huo Chong believed that Kong Bugeng's judgment would be more accurate. He couldn't help but sigh: "Gentry is unreliable."
Kong Bugeng heard this and smiled bitterly: "My Lord, those people are indeed unreliable. But they are using some crooked ways and trying to find ways to take advantage of others. They are very smart."
Huo Chong didn't listen much, and said, "You suffered in Jiangsu."
Kong Bugeng didn't respond, but just asked, "When will the lord start? This requires stones. The concrete I'm talking about is a material that bonds stones together, not a material that can be used to build walls alone."
After seeing the situation in Jiangsu, Huo Chong also felt much better. After looking around Xuzhou for a while, he was about to leave when a messenger arrived. It turned out that the Spaniards who were anchored in Songjiang actually proposed to buy percussion cap guns. The people in Songjiang could not make a decision, so they could only come to ask Huo Chong.
The person who delivered the letter did not know that Huo Chong was in Xuzhou. He originally wanted to go directly to Linzi via Xuzhou. Now that he knew that Huo Chong was coming to ask for a meeting, of course he did.
Huo Chong found it interesting after listening to it. Although Huo Chong grew up in an era when China and the United States were competing for the world's first place, the Spanish had long been ignored by China. However, Huo Chong did not expect that the Spanish would come to buy China's advanced weapons so quickly.
The feeling of leading China back to the top of the world again...is really not a bad one.
"There's no price in it yet." Huo Chong looked at the document again.
"Yes. Reporting to the governor, we want to raise the price. We came here to find out whether we can sell it or not."
"The sale of weapons abroad must be decided by the court committee. Even if there is an imperial decree, it still needs to be cleared by the customs. So I can only say that I think it can be sold. As for the price, it doesn't have to be particularly high. The price is so high... The imperial decree will clearly state who will be sent to negotiate with the Spaniards."
After dealing with the Spaniards, Huo Chong left Xuzhou in a happy mood and rushed back to Linzi. Once he got back, all kinds of things came to him.
Huo Chong looked at many things and called a committee meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, Huo Chong asked a question, "Do you think that woods and forests are rare things?"
When this question was asked, everyone had an expression of "here we go again".
Huo Chong knew that he thought about things completely differently from these guys, and he couldn't blame anyone for being right or wrong. It was completely different social environments that created the different positions of both parties. Even so, Huo Chong could only choose what he insisted on.
"Then let me explain it more clearly. Mountainous areas must be greened, and highlands must be greened. Who do you think can take on this task? The work content required for this job has been listed." After saying that, Huo Chong put out the document.
Some people didn't watch it at all. Some watched it for a while and put it down. Only a few watched it to the end.
It can be seen that everyone thinks that the personnel power should be in Huo Chong's hands.
Weber, the acting Minister of Revenue, looked a little surprised, and in his heart he mocked these officials. They were born poor, and they had no idea what was going on. The highest personnel power in the court was of course in the hands of the emperor, so Weber didn't say anything. What Huo Chong needed was the head of the Forestry Department in the Ministry of Agriculture, at least a third-rank official.
Moreover, in this personnel selection, such people must not only know how to plant trees, but also understand how to conduct forestry knowledge training and be able to build schools that teach forestry knowledge and train forestry officials.
Weber didn't want to interrupt. If there were such talents, Weber would like to have them work under him.
What's the point of working so hard to plant trees? Isn't it good to deal with money at the Ministry of Revenue?
Moreover, Weber felt that the current obedience of these uneducated guys was only because they did not understand power. Once they understood the taste of power, they would definitely do something. Then there would be something interesting to watch.
Unlike Weber, Huo Chong didn't want to watch any good show. Like Weber, Huo Chong knew that his subordinates really couldn't understand what was going on, nor why Huo Chong did it.
In Huo Chong's view, the current situation of the Qing Dynasty is a natural disaster by 21st century standards. In Shandong for so many years, Huo Chong saw few trees. It was almost the same on the other side of the Yangtze River.
When I first arrived in Jiangsu, there were still few trees.
Where did the trees go? Needless to say, they were cut down, either to build houses or to burn as firewood.
The Qing Dynasty had such a large population that if it could not effectively carry out construction, the ecological environment would only get worse. The worse the ecological environment, the worse the farming environment.
However, Huo Chong has such an idea not because he himself has been engaged in environmental protection, but because Huo Chong has established such awareness through learning and publicity.
Thinking of this, Huo Chong knocked on the table and said, "Since everyone is like this, I think we should add another class to let everyone know what environmental protection and sustainable development are."
As soon as the words fell, the guys who had been watching the matter as if it had nothing to do with them immediately became excited, "Commander-in-chief, we understand. Can we not attend the class?"
Huo Chong felt that the attitudes of these guys were too real. They were a group of honest and straightforward comrades. With admiration, Huo Chong smiled and said, "It is not possible to skip classes. In addition, I have to confirm one more thing, to add a holiday. That is Arbor Day! It happens to be in spring, so there must be Arbor Day every year in the future. On Arbor Day, all departments, all troops, and all schools must carry out publicity, and the content of the publicity is to plant trees and green our homes. Everyone should try to participate in tree planting activities! This is an order. There is no need to discuss whether to do it or not, just consider how to do it!"
Weber was stunned. He had discussed with Gong Yu and others many times before what kind of person Huo Chong was. Gong Yu said that Huo Chong was a lord who would conquer the world and rule the world immediately. He didn't expect that even planting trees was the same. Such a tough style sounded admirable.
What makes Huo Chong's court different from others is that he borrowed the concept of "learning organization". Since it is a learning organization, the discipline is very strict.
Once an order is given, of course we have to act. Otherwise, the study committee members will be punished.
In Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, wherever the Chinese imperial court governs, action will be taken immediately.
When Chen Mingtai in Zhenjiang got up, the servant had already put the latest issue of Xinhua Weekly in the study. After breakfast, Chen Mingtai went to the study to read it.
Seeing the headline on the front page was about establishing Arbor Day, especially the news that the government, the army, and schools would plant trees on Arbor Day, Chen Mingtai sighed. After reading the newspaper, Chen Mingtai called the servant and asked him to go and see Gao Pang.
Although he was still a disciple, Gao Pang was no longer a student, but the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It was no longer Chen Mingtai's turn to give orders to Gao Pang.
Soon, the servant brought back news from Gao Pang, who asked Chen Mingtai to go to the governor's residence.
Chen Mingtai did not refuse and was ready to leave immediately. Before leaving, he saw that his daughter was limping. Chen Mingtai was very unhappy, but he felt sorry for his daughter after all, so he just said, "I don't allow you to be an official," and then left.
Although he didn't want to get angry with his daughter, he couldn't help but think of her when he saw Gao Pang. Chen Mingtai was a little angry, "Gao Pang, the governor is still going to rule the world right away!"
Gao Pang didn't understand why the teacher was unhappy, so he explained, "What's wrong with ruling the country right away? This is an order from the governor, and it's also an additional statutory holiday. Arbor Day benefits the country and the people, and why we need to plant trees? Didn't the governor make it very clear in his article?"
Chen Mingtai did not want to refute the idea of setting up Arbor Day. In fact, Chen Mingtai was quite surprised. He really did not expect Huo Chong to be so precise in his words and explain the goals and implementation methods clearly.
Soil and water conservation refers to the work of preventing soil and water loss in mountainous and hilly areas, including measures in agriculture, forestry, water conservancy and other aspects.
Agricultural measures include: building terraces, cultivating ridges, contour farming, reasonable crop rotation, intercropping, relay cropping, deep plowing, and reasonable close planting.
Forestry measures include: closing mountains for afforestation, afforestation and grass planting, and creating slope protection forests, gully protection forests, beach protection forests, and sand fixation forests according to different parts of the terrain.
The water conservancy measures include: building ponds and dams, digging interception ditches along contour lines, carrying out gully management, bank protection and beach consolidation, etc.
Based on the forestry knowledge that Chen Mingtai has read in the books, if the above measures can be implemented, they would probably be very good methods.
However, Chen Mingtai was furious when he remembered that his daughter had untied her feet in order to take the civil service exam, or secretly prepared to take the civil service exam in order to untied her feet. Since he was angry, Chen Mingtai was not going to indulge Gao Pang, "Gao Pang, you don't want me to go plant trees with you, do you?"
Gao Pang was stunned for a moment and exclaimed: "Teacher, you really have foresight."
"Why do you know the future? You won't get up early unless it's beneficial. You invited me here, of course, not to let me march and fight. The rest is probably how I can help you. I thought about it over and over, and I think planting trees is the only thing that can help you." Chen Mingtai replied unhappily.
"Then...what does the teacher want me to do?" Gao Pang asked tentatively.
"You are already taking the civil service exam. Let me ask you again, do you really want to use the question bank method?"
Gao Pang looked at his teacher's serious expression and said with a smile, "Isn't this the method used by the Qing Dynasty? The imperial examination has been nothing more than a question bank for so many years. Our question bank is even more useful than the Four Books and Five Classics."
The so-called question bank means that a large part of the questions in the exam come from the question bank. The content of the question bank is pre-set and public.
Huo Chong adopted this method this time. The junior civil servant exam has a total of 3,000 questions, and adopts the standard of choosing 200 from 3,000. It provides multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and essay questions .
As for the big questions of analysis, that is another matter. Several big questions are analyzed based on the content provided by the question bank.
Chen Mingtai certainly knew what was going on. The Chinese court did not hide this, but publicized it comprehensively. The newspapers had related content for several weeks in a row, and Chen Mingtai had read it carefully and understood it. So Chen Mingtai was angry, "You guys don't take the Four Books and Five Classics seriously at all!"
"Teacher, the governor has a very interesting metaphor on this matter." Gao Pang left his words halfway, deliberately whetting the teacher's appetite.
"What metaphor?"
Gao Pang laughed and said, "Haha. The Qing Dynasty entered the country! After the Qing Dynasty entered the country, great scholars knelt down to pay homage. So the Qing Dynasty never had to explain why, nor did they ask for the people's understanding. After ruling the country, there are naturally too many people to explain to."
This really made Chen Mingtai angry. Feeling his face burning, Chen Mingtai didn't know what to say for a moment.
Gao Pang did not speak either. He recalled the strange look and the strange pause when Huo Chong talked about the so-called "Entering the Pass Learning". There was only one reason for such a performance, that is, Huo Chong did not say everything.
Although Gao Pang saw that Huo Chong did not say everything, he did not know what Huo Chong did not say. If he knew, Gao Pang would definitely think it was "outrageous".
The "Entering the Pass Theory" cited by Huo Chong is a 21st century thing. The main content is that Western European and American countries are analogous to the Ming Dynasty in Chinese history, and other countries are barbarians outside the pass. As long as the Jurchens do not enter the pass, the Ming Dynasty can profit from it and suppress the Jurchens and other ethnic groups outside the pass through the system it has established. But it solves a key problem, that is, why China has never been recognized by Western powers and can only be excluded? As long as you do not enter the pass, the barbarians are wrong in everything they do, and the Ming Dynasty will always look down on you. Therefore, there is no need to keep reflecting on what you did wrong, just enter the pass and you will be done, and there will be great scholars kneeling down to you when you enter the pass.
Gao Pang didn't think the foreign devils were the "Heavenly Kingdom". If he knew, he would be furious.
After entering the Pass, great scholars knelt down and explained the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty. That was a fact, and Gao Pang had to face it.
What is the Celestial Empire? It is a special name for China. It is not the turn of foreign countries to bear such a title!
