Ming Zuo

Chapter 271 Fireworks under Yangzhou in March

Huang Zongxi didn't read that passage after all, which made Zuo Menggeng quite regretful.

Looking back, Liu Zongzhou seems to be from Zhejiang as well.

or……

Thinking about being beaten to death, Zuo Menggeng regretted giving up.

"Sit, there are officers and soldiers on the pier ahead, what's going on?"

Fu Yusun came to report.

Zuo Menggeng built a pergola with his hands, and after carefully looking at it, he laughed.

"Gong Baoyu is here."

On the shore of the Xuzhou Waterway Wharf ahead, a high-spirited man with a few soldiers was looking over.

Seeing Zuo Menggeng's figure, he kept waving.

Zuo Menggeng, Huang Zongxi and the others were even more delighted, and hurriedly ordered the boats to approach.

That big man jumped onto the boat, it was none other than Gong Heng.

"You guys are so slow, it makes my father's heart burn like fire."

Huang Zongxi chatted happily with him, and said jokingly: "It's not that you are the groom, what are you worried about?"

Everyone laughed.

Zuo Menggeng introduced Gongheng to Chen Zilong and others.

Knowing that this warrior is actually the son of Gong Nai and the dignified Xuzhou lieutenant general, Chen Zilong and others were all shocked.

Gongheng has also admired the famous scholars in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, so he really had a chat.

On the same day, Zuo Menggeng and his party took a rest in Xuzhou.

Zuo Menggeng and Gongheng still have important things to discuss.

"My brother sent me a letter, saying that you haven't taken Mengyin yet? You must hurry up on this matter. With Yimeng in your hands, you have everything in Shandong."

Knowing his good intentions, Zuo Menggeng said: "There have been some changes in the matter, so we have to delay it. Besides, the White Lotus Sect's rebellious thieves are too difficult to fight. We are afraid that killing the thieves too quickly will not be beautiful."

Raising a bandit's self-respect is a technical task that requires micromanagement.

Although Gongheng is far away in Xuzhou, he still knows the situation in his hometown.

"A letter from my family said that the number of thieves near Yimeng has increased significantly recently, and it has become quite a trend. It is estimated that they were driven over by you. The county magistrate of Mengyin has not yet been in place, and I am afraid that the county will lose it."

Zuo Menggeng and Huang Zongxi smiled, and Huang Zongxi explained: "Dang Huanchun, the magistrate of Mengyin County, is still in Linqing, and he is also one of us. It is only because the road is blocked, so we can't take office."

Zuo Menggeng thought for a while, and said to Gongheng: "Your mansion, you have to make a plan, our army won't be able to get through for a while. If it doesn't work, withdraw from the county and build a stronghold to protect yourself. I'll send a small army first In the past, I helped you defend yourself, and you should not be harassed by the evil Bailian."

The new army will definitely not attack Yimeng Mountain too soon.

This is the last part of the plan, at least it will not be implemented until Zuo Menggeng returns from Jiangnan.

Gongheng didn't want to affect the overall situation just because of his own safety, so he agreed.

Zuo Menggeng cared more about him here.

"Now Xuzhou's officers and soldiers are under control?"

Gongheng smiled confidently, reassuring Zuo Menggeng.

"The martial arts here have been abandoned for many years, and it has long been unbearable. Except for me, the deputy commander, there is no other general. There is not even a military equipment in the government, and no one is restraining. Now all the troops have been replaced by my cronies. Use your arms and fingers, and no one will resist."

Now Zuo Menggeng felt relieved.

"You will be of great use here within one or two years at most. You have to be prepared so as not to be caught off guard."

Gong Heng was quite pleasantly surprised when he heard that he was going to be useful, but he also explained the difficulties.

"Xuzhou's military equipment is weak, and the imperial court has not allocated money for a long time. Even if you want to raise your troops, it will be very difficult. You have to think of a way, otherwise, a group of hungry generals and exhausted soldiers may not be of great use."

Regarding this, Zuo Menggeng was very generous.

"I'll ask Linqing to send you [-] taels of silver every month. Is it enough?"

Gongheng was overjoyed.

"It's completely enough. In today's world, as long as the soldiers are fed, they are willing to work hard."

Zuo Menggeng didn't have much hope for the army under Gongheng's control.As long as you don't pull the span, then the follow-up plan will be foolproof.

On the second day, the fleet set off and continued southward.

Chen Zilong and others teamed up to find it, obviously there was something puzzling about it.

"General Zuo, yesterday you said that the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River are not the battlegrounds for military strategists, can you clear up the confusion for the students?"

Seeing a few people humbly asking for advice, Zuo Menggeng explained it to them using the actual situation as an example.

"Whether the two Huaihe Rivers are strategically important or not depends on the river."

Everyone looked around, and saw a billowing yellow dragon rushing towards the northwest, it was the Yellow River that took the Huai River into the sea.

"Why is this?"

Xia Yunyi was very studious and asked on behalf of everyone.

Zuo Menggeng looked at the vast waterway of the Yellow River, filled with emotion.

"Whenever the Yellow River goes south to the sea, the Huaihe River will lose its role. Whenever the Yellow River flows north to the sea, the Huaihe River will become an important place for military strategists."

Knowing that everyone didn't understand, he began to point out.

"The Yellow River enters the sea from here, and the result is that a large amount of water is injected, making the river network in the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River criss-cross, and the traffic is not smooth. And like the south of the Yangtze River, the land is cut by the river network, and it is almost impossible to find a few large areas. Flat terrain. This will undoubtedly increase the difficulty of combat."

Chen Zilong was still puzzled.

"If there are waterways, wouldn't it be more convenient to transport food, grass, military supplies, and soldiers and horses? Why is it not conducive to combat?"

Sure enough, it is similar to the thoughts of many people in later generations.

Zuo Menggeng pointed to a river delta that appeared not far in front of him, and asked: "Look, if there are such terrains everywhere, the army can be transported through the river, how can it be deployed when fighting? Especially in the north where there are many cavalry, here If you can't run at all, how can you fight? If you don't take down the cities in the Huaihe River, how can you push Jiangnan?"

Everyone stared blankly at the broken land on both sides of the river, and if they realized something, they finally realized that what they had thought in the past was shallow.

Zuo Menggeng took the Battle of Chibi as an example and explained it in more detail.

"During the time of the Three Kingdoms, although the Yellow River flowed northward into the sea, but only a hundred years ago, there were still a large number of lakes and water systems in the Huaihe River and Huaihe River, so it was no different from today. When Cao Wei went south, he could only attack Jingxiang and get a glimpse of Jiangnan. At that time Henan is a fertile land, where the essence of the world lies, and Cao Wei can gather supplies from Henan and go down the Han River, which is far more convenient than attacking the Huaihe River."

They are all smart people. When he said this, everyone understood.

Li Wen clapped her hands and sighed, "No wonder Meng Yuan insisted on attacking Xiangyang, instead of crossing the river this way."

Looking at the very unfamiliar Yellow River in front of him, Zuo Menggeng thought more deeply.

"It's actually not a good thing for the Yellow River to take the Huaihe River into the sea. Not to mention isolating the central and local areas, it has also had a great impact on the water use in the north. If possible, it is better to make it northerly."

Because of the amount of precipitation, the north is very short of water.

Originally, there was the Yellow River, and North China could get a certain amount of water resources.However, the south of the Yellow River moved backwards, and the water shortage in North China became increasingly serious.

Even from the perspective of the defense of the Ming Dynasty, the lack of water in the north has greatly increased the cost of defense.

If the Yellow River returns to its original course, it will be able to solve the water shortage problem in North China to a large extent.

Zuo Menggeng secretly remembered how to do it.When the time is right in the future, we must seek a water conservancy expert for argumentation.

The canals of this era have a very developed transport capacity, and the water area is so wide that it is far from being comparable to later generations.

Everyone went south all the way, but they also saw the hardships of the people along the river.

As far as the eye can see, the most seen is the water worker in rags.

They are all yellow and thin, distributed on both sides of the canal.Often driven by people, they are active everywhere along the river like ants.

Even so, on this road going south, everyone stopped many times because of the blockage of the river.It took eleven days to travel from Xuzhou to Yangzhou.

"The lifeblood of the country must be investigated. Zhongheng, remember, this river is related to the livelihood of the people in the world."

Looking at the busy scene of the canal, Liu Zongzhou took the opportunity to mention Zuo Menggeng.

But Zuo Menggeng didn't think so.

"Although this river is good, it is far inferior to sea transportation. Both in terms of capacity and speed, they are far from each other."

Seeing that Zuo Menggeng looked down on Water Transport, Liu Zongzhou was very puzzled.

"Since the Kingdom of China, countless people have mentioned sea transportation, but in the end they all returned to water transportation. There must be a reason. The sea is dangerous, and a careless move will cause huge losses. How can it be as safe as water transportation, which can support such a large population? "

Zuo Menggeng certainly knows the advantages and disadvantages of water transportation and sea transportation.

"Teacher, sea transportation extends in all directions. Not only does it have the advantages of fast speed and large capacity, but it can also connect with people at home and abroad, broadening the horizons of the world. In terms of feeding the population, water transportation can't compare with sea transportation. The cost of water transportation has already made the imperial court overwhelmed. .On the contrary, there is no cost for shipping by sea. Compared with the two, the risk of shipping by sea is negligible.”

Liu Zongzhou intended to teach Zuo Menggeng, but he was educated instead.

But Zuo Menggeng's rhetoric, he couldn't argue whether it was right or wrong.

Fortunately, he is from Zhejiang and has seen the sea trade since he was a child, so he is not pedantic.After deciding to go back, study the essence of sea and water transportation carefully, and then discuss it with Zuo Menggeng.

While speaking, there was a sudden shout from the bow of the ship.

"Yangzhou is here!"

Zuo Menggeng and Liu Zongzhou woke up and looked up, only to see the originally narrow canal suddenly widened, as if the world suddenly opened up.

On the smoky water surface, the boats are like weaving, coming and going, laying out the river surface, in an endless stream.

The pavilions and buildings on the bank are undulating and undulating, and the end can't be seen at a glance.Only the faint sound of silk and bamboo is mixed in the hawking in the market, which is not a fireworks.

This is the gateway to the south of the Yangtze River -- Yangzhou.

Thousands of years of Jiangnan style seem to gather here, and they are presented in front of tourists.

If you want to be drunk in Jiangnan, you should go to Suzhou and Hangzhou; if you want to know Jiangnan, you should not waste Yangzhou.

(End of this chapter)