Chapter 623: Overhaul of the Zero Channel
Zhao Yulin could tell that the old man still had a sense of regionalism. He was already a retired man enjoying his old age at home, so he stopped arguing and said goodbye after exchanging pleasantries.
When they returned to the inn, everyone had fallen asleep, so the couple bathed, changed clothes, and hugged each other until dawn. When they woke up, Chen Chen was still curled up in his arms, saying that Dujiangyan was colder than Chengdu, and he didn't want to get up.
He said he had some important things to do.
The couple dressed neatly and went out. The gentlemen were waiting for them after dinner.
Yang Zhishan said with a smile that Cao Gong had appointed Deputy Envoy Bai Guanghua to take over as the Chief Envoy of Dujiangyan. Today we will listen to what Master Bai said about water control.
The group crossed the river and walked towards Anlan Bridge, then crossed the bridge and reached Yuzui.
Bai Guanghua introduced the various water-diverting functions of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System eloquently, and pointed to the outer river embankment that the craftsmen were repairing and said: We only need to install two cage bags to increase the water inflow into the inner river .
However, the water diversion function of Dujiangyan is not just simple water diversion, it also has the functions of flying sand and discharging flood water. It is also necessary to widen and raise the embankments of the water diversion channel to ensure the safe diversion of water into the inland river, which requires careful planning.
Moreover, all of this has to be done in one go during the winter when farmland does not need water, so it must be done in a short period of time.
Zhao Yulin certainly knew the reason behind this, and nodded to Yang Zhishan, saying: "It's up to you to decide how to do it." He pointed to the craftsmen who were repairing the fish mouth and asked everyone to take a good look. There must be water damage in some places, and it's time to overhaul Dujiangyan again. We can take this opportunity to transform Dujiangyan and benefit the people of Sichuan and Shu.
Lao Cao asked: Is it okay to plan and raise funds in the first half of the year, and carry out intensive construction in the second half of the year, so that the renovation can be completed before the water is used next year?
Bai Guanghua said confidently that he had participated in the last maintenance of Dujiangyan and was confident that he could do a good job in this renovation.
Lao Cao said cheerfully, "That's great. As long as the person in charge has confidence, we can rest assured."
Chen Chen pointed to the crowds of carriages and horses parked on both sides of the river and asked everyone to look. She thought that with more merchants and pedestrians coming and going, the traffic on Anlan Bridge became a bottleneck restricting traffic, just like the Baopingkou water diversion port. We can build another cable bridge upstream, so that those going to Baoning in the west can take the Xinqiao Bridge, and those going to Chengdu in the east can take the Anlan Bridge.
In this way, people won’t have to crowd and wait.
Bai Guanghua said that this was very good, very good. He had discovered this problem on weekdays. Today, because the adults were inspecting Yuzui, the guards were on martial law and it was particularly prominent. If no change was made, Anlan Bridge would be overcrowded in the future.
Everyone nodded, believing that it was necessary to build a new bridge.
When they got back, Mr. Ding and the others were about to leave, but Chen Chen said that she had to stay to do some work. Yesterday, the former head of Dujiangyan was investigated and punished, which implicated officials from Daojiang County. She had to stay and sort things out.
Zhao Yulin and Chen Chen said goodbye and got on Ding Gong's carriage to go back together.
The mastermind of Dujiangyan had committed a crime, so Yang Zhishan dared not just leave, and stayed to accompany Chen Chen on his errands. He apologized that he had not disciplined his subordinates well and had caused the eldest lady to worry.
Chen Chen shook his head and sighed that the prosperity of Daojiang County was all due to the construction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System by Li Bing and his son. Their contribution was enormous. Common people spontaneously went to the Chongde Temple to burn incense and worship Li Bing and his son. We might as well change it into the Erwang Temple, renovate the houses and historical sites inside, and demonstrate our determination as the new Song people to control floods from generation to generation.
Yang Zhishan was overjoyed when he heard this, and even said that he had the same idea, and would go back and ask the Water Department to make careful plans.
He looked at Linshui Street and said: The businesses here are going to be booming again.
Chen Chen told Yang Zhishan proudly that she had thought it through. She would ask Si Niang to come here and open a new street to do real estate business. The business would definitely be a big hit. She would use the land next to the water diversion canal to build a street and make money, and use the money from the land sale to transform the Erwang Temple.
Yang Zhishan said with a smile: The eldest lady is very intelligent, her idea must be right.
Chen Chen looked confident and told Uncle Yang to just wait and see. She was going to fence off the Dujiangyan irrigation facility and make it a tourist attraction, requiring visitors to pay some money to enter and see the wonders of the two kings controlling the water. In the future, more and more people will come to Dujiangyan, and maybe the income from the ticket sales alone will be enough to cover our annual maintenance expenses for Dujiangyan.
Yang Zhishan immediately looked at Chen Chen with admiration. She was worthy of being Zhao Yulin’s wife. She could even think of such a way to make money.
In Chengdu, Zhao Yulin invited Cao Gong, Meng Gong and Yu Dayi to board a ship to the new town of Jiayang in Qianwei. Old Cao was very happy and liked to have tea and chat with Zhao Yulin to discuss family and national affairs.
The four men sat together. The Minister of Works Yu Dayi took the initiative to act as a waiter, busying himself with serving tea and water. He asked them to sit down and have tea together. Yu Dayi, as a minister, was still a little uncomfortable with the job.
Lao Cao smiled and asked us to sit down. When we first arrived in Chengdu to discuss matters, it was the boy from Yulin who discovered that Dayi was a pillar of the country.
Dayi hurriedly thanked Lao Cao, and thanked him and Meng Gong for their cultivation with great fear and trepidation.
Zhao Yulin said that they were all working for the people in the same dynasty, so they shouldn't be so humble and reserved, as it would make them feel unfamiliar.
Meng Gong nodded and suggested: Young talents have more new ideas and thoughts, so don’t be afraid of making mistakes, just go for it boldly, the world will belong to them in the future.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said, "Taste the tea, taste the tea."
After seeing the construction of Jiayang Town, the group thought that the progress was very fast and was very satisfied. In particular, Lao Cao was very happy when the Ministry of Industry built a new train production workshop in Jiayang. He thought that Jiayang New Town had endless coal, and it was very convenient to directly smelt iron and cast large parts in Jiayang, and use iron smelting waste slag and coal ash to make earth and cement. Directly making finished products can save a lot of transportation capacity.
Yu Dayi accompanied them to visit the newly built railway station and told them that the railway would soon be completed. The new railway from Xinshi to Jiayang had accumulated a lot of experience and trained a large number of master craftsmen, which could speed up the construction of the railway .
Zhao Yulin said: Some time ago, the Dali Kingdom asked us to help build a railway to Kunming to facilitate trade between the two countries. This is a considerable expense.
Dayi said that he was just about to talk about this. Although we have accumulated experience and produced many road-building tools and equipment to speed up the construction of railways, it is not possible to build the railway to Kunming in one go. To the south, there are mountains everywhere. The height difference between the mountains and valleys is too great, so we need to take a detour, which is not a small distance.
He suggested extending the railway to Chengdu, first to Jiading and then to Xinjin. The road would become smoother and smoother as time went by, and it would eventually be completed with year after year planning.
Lao Cao and Meng Gong were both delighted, saying "good, very good". We can take the train as soon as we leave Chengdu.
Zhao Yulin kept shaking his head, and everyone looked at him in confusion.
He asked: What is the purpose of building railways? It is for the needs of national construction.
What are the bottlenecks restricting our railway construction right now?
Yu Dayi said: It's not that there is not enough refined iron. Iron ore can be dug from the Dukou Town on the Jinsha River, and the refined iron smelted is still top-grade black iron. But the Jinsha River is fast and it is too difficult to sail. It is a life-threatening situation to launch a boat from the Dukou Town.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: "That's the problem. Why don't we build a railway from Xinshi to Dukou Town to solve the need for iron smelting first? After breaking through the constraints of steel smelting, we can speed up the construction of railways. Are you still worried that Chengdu people can't take the train soon?
Meng Gong looked at him approvingly and said: Great, you are a man of foresight, while we are only concerned about having fun.
Lao Cao was also very kind. He said that we had forgotten that Chengdu now has waterways leading to all directions, so there is no need to rush to build a railway.
Zhao Yulin waved his hand and said that the two of you were too modest. He walked in and whispered: Let's build the railway to the border of Dali Kingdom. The people of Dali will be jealous of our speeding trains every day. Will they want to join our New Song Dynasty and ride the train together?
The three of them burst into laughter immediately, and Lao Cao said happily: This is called killing two birds with one stone, it's a great thing.
Before leaving, he called Wei Rensheng, who was in charge of the construction of Jiayang, to his side and said: You have done a good job, and be prepared to take on heavier responsibilities.
The young man was full of energy and assured him that he would complete the task.
Zhao Yulin was very satisfied and led the officials on board the ship and headed south to inspect Mujiachuan, Lingqu Canal and Guangnan West Road along the way.
Mujiachuan is the Xiangjiang River or Xiangshui River, and people in the Song Dynasty also called it Mujiachuan.
Seven days later, Zhao Yulin turned into Mujiachuan and went upstream.
These places have been in chaos due to years of war in the past, and the entire society has been dependent on the war. Although there has been peace for several years, they still look dilapidated and are a far cry from Chengdu.
When the group arrived in Changsha, they saw that there were still emaciated hungry people gathered at the city gate. Zhao Yulin felt very uncomfortable and proposed that the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly plan to dredge Mujiachuan on a large scale again and select suitable towns to build new passenger and freight terminals. In the form of work-for-relief, these hungry people were organized to work, and the transportation channels of Mujiachuan, Lingqu and Guangnan West Road were unblocked, so that the people could have food to eat and the waterway would be more convenient.
He said: The implementation of such a huge project requires a large number of manpower, which just happens to solve the resettlement and living problems of the hungry people along the Mujiachuan line. By paying them wages, the hungry people will have an income.
We let the counties and cities along the way organize people to work, which not only stabilized society but also got practical work done, killing two birds with one stone.
Lao Cao nodded and said: Okay, let’s do it.
Meng Gong said apologetically: It was all because of his blindly levying taxes in Jinghu back then. The court has supported the area for so many years but it has not recovered yet. I am sorry to the local people.
Yu Dayi said happily that the Third Young Master had pointed out the direction for our Ministry of Industry to work in. If we mobilize craftsmen from all over the country to work together, we will surely bring new life to this ancient waterway.
That’s it. That’s it…
Lao Cao was a little displeased when he saw that he was hesitating, and asked him what he wanted to say.
If you have to fart, just fart.
Dayi quickly said that he was worried that large-scale construction projects would be launched everywhere, which would cost a lot of money. Could the court afford it?
Meng Gong also looked at him with doubt.
Lao Cao said with a laugh: "We don't have to worry about the money. Brother Yulin has plenty of ways to deal with it. If it's really not enough, we can just turn on the machine and print it."
Zhao Yulin had just taken a sip of tea when he spat it out with a "Puff".
