Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 395 Sweep
"Build a dike for the Han River in Wudang County? Your Majesty, this... I'm afraid the project is huge. Even with cement and other materials, it may take decades to complete with the power of an entire county." Li Yan frowned after hearing Bai Tu's words.
He actually hopes to have a chance to achieve something and demonstrate his abilities, but... Bai Tu's request is a bit difficult!
The Wudang area has a rich water system. If Li Yan were to take up the post of Wudang magistrate, he would surely be able to build several new dams and increase the fertile land by tens of thousands of hectares within a few years...
But that was to build a weir for the tributary of Han River so that it could be used for its own purposes. Building a weir for Han River? This project would be much larger than the Du'an Weir!
“Of course it’s not just Wudang County. If the project is to start, it will require the financial and human resources of half the state, as well as the comprehensive technical support of the Ministry of Industry.” Bai Tu said as a matter of course.
Pang Tong's "Qi Machine" has recently made substantial breakthroughs, and has taken a big step towards civilian use. As long as the energy problem can be solved, the big guys in the steam industry will be able to come out one after another!
It was also the "true qi machine" that gave Bai Tu the confidence. As long as the Han Weir could be built here at Wushankou, it would not only be a matter of how much water could be added to irrigate the fertile fields, but the short-term strategic goal was to stabilize the water level in the upper reaches of the Han River to a level where warships could sail!
Although the climate was relatively cold at this time, the amount of water in various places was generally higher than in later generations.
As for whether to go against the current or not, that is another story...
Bai Tu also told Li Yan that this dike also required the construction of a sluice gate and a ship channel - the earliest ship lock, the sluice gate, also appeared , and Li Yan was very familiar with it.
But... Li Yan was a little unsure about such a big project!
Li Yan was very conflicted at this time. Originally, the scenario in his mind should be like this - after the king discovered his talent, he was ready to use him, but one of the tools was jealous of him, so he gave him a difficult task. In order to take care of the tools' emotions, the king agreed to use the difficult task as a test. After that, he passed the test in the incredible eyes of others...
In the last three years he was a minister and five years he was in the cabinet, reaching the peak of his life!
But now...
A bunch of tools are not powerful enough, the king really wants to reuse them, and directly throws out a big project, but...
This is too difficult!
Why don’t you say build a bridge across the Yangtze River?
Seeing Li Yan's conflicted look, Bai Tu was relieved. If Li Yan patted his chest and said that he was fully capable of doing the task, Bai Tu would probably not dare to hand it over to him!
"I am not familiar with the secrets of the Ministry of Works, but the number of civilians to be mobilized is definitely not a small number..." Li Yan did not dare to take on too much responsibility after all.
Li Yan is like many people. He tends to be humble in areas he is good at, but he will be silent in areas he does not understand.
Upon hearing this, Bai Tu said kindly: "In that case, Fang Zheng, are you willing to join the six ministries to observe government affairs for a year? After a year, if you are able to take on this important task, the court will make arrangements for you. If you are still unable to do so... then the Ministry of Personnel will make arrangements for you."
"Thank you, my king. Yan Ding has tried his best!" Li Yan could naturally hear that this was already a great favor.
Bai Tu’s intention was more to hope that Li Yan could understand the operating rules of the six ministries and how to write the word “cooperation” within this year!
"Work hard and try to build the Hanshui Weir. Then we'll build the Yangtze River Bridge. Hahaha..." Bai Tu smiled and patted Li Yan's shoulder.
Li Yan: …
Li Yan was choked at first, but then he realized... This was just a joking effort, right?
After promoting the deeds of Zigui Magistrate Li Yan as a positive example, Bai Tu's "popularity" also reached a new level.
Among all the counties and prefectures in Jingzhou, Li Yan's performance was indeed outstanding. This commendation was not only a credit to Li Yan, but also a show for other officials in Jingzhou.
Li Yan is a native of Nanyang and served as a county magistrate in Nanjun. Now, because of his meritorious service in local governance, he was immediately absorbed into the six ministries to observe government affairs. It seems that he is going to be reused, which will undoubtedly dissipate some of the conspiracy theories or the sense of crisis that naturally arises after the change of superiors.
After all, Bai Tu had been ruthless in his treatment of two county magistrates with serious problems before. Although there were sufficient reasons, especially in the local area, where a large number of charges were posted, the empathy of the fox grieving over the death of a rabbit is sometimes not so reasonable, not to mention that there were also instigators with ulterior motives.
Moreover...after promoting a county magistrate, you can appoint another trustworthy county magistrate.
When passing through Zhijiang County, Dong He came directly to surrender...
That is, when Bai Tu was reviewing government affairs in Zhijiang County, Dong He came to Naxian Hall!
It was considered a somewhat flattering surrender, otherwise, with Dong He's personal reputation and the influence of the Dong family, he would not be ranked among the people who would be visited in person by Bai Tu.
However, he took advantage of this opportunity to come to the Naxian Hall to recommend himself, and after reporting, he was specially received by Bai Tu.
Bai Tu was not disgusted by this slightly cunning behavior. He not only tried to appease him with kind words, but also started chatting with him about family matters.
After learning that the younger generation of the Dong family, including Dong He's son, would take the imperial examination this year, Bai Tu encouraged Dong's deep sense of justice and hinted to the Ministry of Personnel and Dong He that he would appoint him as the magistrate of Zigui later...
Bai Tu couldn't remember anything just from Dong He's words, but...
Dong He's son was named Dong Yun.
This made Bai Tu very happy.
Not only was he happy that Dong He and his son Dong Yun came to surrender, but also because in history, Dong He, like Fei Boren, fled to Xichuan after the rebellion in Jingzhou.
However, Dong He now had no intention of leaving, but instead defected to the State of Chu.
As expected, Fei Boren just had powerful connections, and his reputation was not on par with Cao Cao's - this made Bai Tu very happy.
Who is Dong Yun?
An important official of Shu Kingdom who appeared with Fei Yi in "The Memorial to the Emperor on Leaving the Capital", and was listed as one of the four ministers of Shu Han along with Fei Yi and Jiang Wan.
Well, if we round it off, Bai Tu already possesses 80% of the Four Prime Ministers of Mount Shu.
Only the one from Nanyang is left...
However, before going to Nanyang, Bai Tu had to go to Xiangyang first.
As the center of Jingzhou Prefecture, many of Liu Biao 's civil and military officials were either waiting for Bai Tu to appease and praise them, or waiting at home for Bai Tu to invite them...
Xiangyang is the place where Baitu has the heaviest workload!
After all, those who really don't want to bother with Bai Tu will most likely return to their hometowns to enjoy their retirement or educate their children and grandchildren after the situation in Jingzhou seems to have stabilized.
The reason why Bai Tu went from county to county was to invite these people. For those who were really unwilling to come out, Bai Tu would try his best to take care of them, at least to create momentum in the local area.
As for those who resigned from their posts but continued to live in Xiangyang City...
"I just covet my rainbow source! Fortunately, my mental strength is strong enough, otherwise I would be in danger of being drained dry!"
Bai Tu complained a lot, but his body was honest - he just wanted a step, and compared to the hard times, this was a relatively happy worry...
