Han Zuo Gaomen

Chapter 128

After resting overnight in Wucheng, Shen Zhezi summoned his entourage and set off early the next morning. As for Shen Mu and Ji You, who looked like drunk dead dogs, they were thrown into the cabin together and vomited into darkness.

After crossing Taihu Lake and arriving in Wujun, the boat trip is no longer convenient.

Although Wu County is also a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, the water network in the territory is criss-crossed, but there are no large water arterials like Wu Xing's several streams competing with each other. There are many swamps and wetlands, and dredging is extremely difficult.In addition, the situation in Wu County is much more complicated than that in Wu Xing. Political contradictions, human entanglements, and rural conflicts are like an old tree with tangled roots, which is extremely difficult to sort out clearly.

Because the waterway became narrow, it was extremely difficult for the Shen family's large fleet to navigate. Shen Zhezi sorted out the fleet, leaving only three cargo ships to go north to the Yangtze River. The vacated ships returned to Wuxing, and he himself Leading a group of entourages continued by land.

As the connection point between Wuhui and Danyang, the previous dynasties also attached great importance to the water transport conditions in this area. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, water from Taihu Lake was used to connect Wujun and Danyang, or rivers were dug to divert the Yangtze River.

One of the more important canal waterways is the Pogangdu excavated by Sun Shiwan, the great emperor of the Eastern Wu Dynasty. Because of this waterway, Jiankang and Wuhui can be directly navigated, and there is no need to go north to Jingkou to take the Yangtze River diversion. It can be said that it is extremely convenient.

However, this waterway has too many hills and slopes, the river channel is a bit narrow, and the water flow is not sufficient. It is difficult to navigate half of the year. Even in the wet season, civilian use is often restricted, and navigation is mostly used by official ships.

The reason why Shen Zhezi took the land route was to observe the navigation of this important canal on the spot.If the river course is small, it is related to the Shen family's annual business of transporting Wuxing and Kuaiji taxes, and if it is large, it will directly affect Shen Zhezi's plan to use the money and grain of the three Wus to counter the strategic layout of the north.

Regarding the intricate forces of various parties within the small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Shen Zhezi's first consideration was not to overthrow any party, but to make all parties unable to do without him.Only by obtaining such an irreplaceable prominent position can we talk about controlling the court and eliminating dissidents.

There is no doubt that Wu Hui is the center of Jiangdong's money, grain and taxation.Occupying Kuaiji and developing Kuaiji made the position of this money and food center more prominent.Take control of this Jiangdong granary, no matter whether you are a powerful man, a military leader or a famous scholar, as long as you have to dress and eat, you will rely on me!
Of course, to ensure this deterrence, water traffic must be smooth.The so-called sharpening the knife to the pigs and sheep, the pigs and sheep are still on the other side of the mountain, no matter how sharp the knife is sharpened, what is the use?
Therefore, the renovation of the Wuxing Waterway is only the first step, and the key point is to continue to develop on the basis of the Jiangnan Canal.

In the past, when Shen Zhezi went back and forth, he always went straight to Jingkou, but this time he kept this purpose in mind, so he collected wind and survey along the way.Nowadays, late spring is approaching summer, and there is a wave of spring floods. The navigability of the first section of the historic canal is relatively good. Although it is not as prosperous as Wuxing's water transport, it can be said to be unimpeded.If we can continue the unified planning and expand the dredging on this basis, we will be able to receive excellent results.

But the further we went, the worse the situation became.The section of the river forked and diverted, and it had been silted up for many years and could not be dredged. Individuals dug ditches to divert the flow for irrigation, or blocked the river and built dams to operate water reeds.Cargo ships are gradually disappearing, and passenger ships are getting smaller and smaller. In some places, there is only a section of water left, which can only pass through bamboo rafts and sampans!

When it came time to actually break hills and desecrate waterways, this situation continued unabated.Because the terrain is too undulating, the broken hills are shaped like stairs, and the reservoirs are built in sections called earth dams, named Dai, to save water storage and balance the water level. A total of [-] dams were built throughout the whole process, showing the steepness of the slope.

Because of the existence of the dais, Pogangdu is barely navigable, but after a certain distance, it is necessary to open the dais to raise the water level.Such a labor-intensive, labor-intensive and time-consuming process does not fully reflect the convenience and labor-saving of water transportation.

The most important thing is that Shen Zhezi actually found several privately built ditches along the way. Although the scale was not as large as the official ones, they diverted part of the water that was not much in the first place, making the waterway even narrower.These privately built dais were either built by the government or by aristocratic families, in order to collect passage fees from passing ships for profit.

The Shen family also built this kind of barrage in Wuxing, because it required uninterrupted manpower maintenance and investment, and also required fees, but Wuxing's natural waterways are in excellent conditions, and they are not as frequent as here.

Moreover, Wu Xing was mainly engaged in the travel and democracy movement, while the Pogangdu in front of him was the official water transportation, and he did not hesitate to directly reach out to grab money and food from the imperial court. Therefore, Shen Zhezi was quite surprised that the various families in Danyang played so hard.

All the way through Pogangdu, Shen Zhezi asked the accompanying civil servants to settle the navigation fee, and found that it was much more expensive than detouring the Yangtze River and then going to Jiankang!If we talk about the significance of the existence of Pogangdu, it can only avoid the risk of natural disasters and man-made disasters such as strong winds and waves on the Yangtze River or invasion from the north and south to rob money and food.

Because in a few months, Kuaiji would have money and food to be transported to Jiankang. After thinking for a long time, Shen Zhezi decided to bypass Jingkou and go westward from the Yangtze River, temporarily abandoning the shorter route of Pogangdu.

But this does not mean that he has given up on Pogangdu, it is just that after the previous leap, the Shen family needs a period of digestion and accumulation, and for the time being, they do not have the strength to continue to develop.But the Pogangdu must be repaired, and it needs to be overhauled!
Once this waterway can come and go unimpeded, then the power accumulated by the Shen family in Wuxing and Kuaiji can be cashed in at the Jiankang court with the least loss, and can directly support him in his future expedition to the north!
Right now, the Pogangdu was completed by Sun Shiwan of the Eastern Wu Dynasty who dispatched [-] soldiers to break the mountain. Due to the limitations of manpower and technology, it can only be completed like this.Shen Zhezi wanted to repair the Pogangdu, in addition to facing manpower and technical problems, he also had to face a political dilemma and conflict of interests.

In terms of technology, Shen Zhezi has an idea, that is to develop gunpowder and blow up mountains and open ditches.If this method is not feasible, then use money and people to pile up hard, and this waterway must be opened up.As for the conflict between politics and local interests, it can only be solved slowly and painstakingly.It's a pity that the Ji family's local influence is not here, it is still west of Jiankang, otherwise it would be much easier.

After passing Pogangdu, we have reached Jurong County, which is not too far from Jiankang.However, Shen Zhezi did not go directly to Jiankang because he had to meet the boats and goods. Instead, he went north to Lianhu Lake and waited another day before the entourage who came via the Yangtze River arrived here. This section of the waterway is in dire condition.

After meeting, Shen Zhezi discovered that besides his own three boats, there were seven or eight passenger boats, large and small, accompanying him behind.These passenger ships are decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, which are extremely luxurious, and one of them is even decorated with gold leaf, pearls, jade and precious stones, which is extremely exaggerated.Even if the Shen family is entrenched in Wu Xing's local tyrant's family, they don't have such flashy and extravagant appliances.

When Shen Zhezi was surprised, he saw an acquaintance standing on one of the passenger ships. It was Yu Tiao, the eldest son of the Yu family.Or because of the family tradition, Yu Tiao did not wear gold and silver in a luxurious manner, but held a snow-white white jade stag tail in his hand, which was extraordinary at a glance.

Seeing Shen Zhezi and his party standing at the ferry on the shore, the smile on Yu Tiao's face became even brighter. The boat he was on was still far away from the shore, so he stood impatiently at the bow of the boat and waved to Shen Zhezi repeatedly: "Zhezi Xiaolang, It's been a long time since I've been away, and I've become more and more handsome! It's so elegant, it's heart-wrenching!"

Seeing Yu Tiao's high-spirited appearance, which was completely different from his previous state, Shen Zhezi smiled, and saluted on the shore: "Mr. Yu is the one who is truly different from what he used to be. Looking forward to the majestic appearance, it is scary!"

Hearing Shen Zhezi's approval, Yu Tiao raised his head and laughed, and when the passenger ship came to a stop, he even jumped onto the shore from the boat, and took a few quick steps to hold Shen Zhezi's hand, with quite agitated expressions: "If it weren't for the kindness of Mr. Xiaolang in the past, I am just a farmer who is trapped in the countryside. Even if I can't stretch my ambitions, waste my days, and wait for my old age, how can I have the great achievements I have today!"

"Xiao Langjun is a gifted talent from heaven, crowned Jiangdong, and I have the grace of rebirth in a few words! Such a kindness, I dare not forget it for a day! Since I learned that Xiao Lang is going to enter the capital to choose the emperor's son-in-law, I will be promoted At the end of Lingbi, I gathered friends and thought that Mr. Xiaolang was powerful! Unexpectedly, Mr. Mr. Xiao, you came here by land, so you missed it. So I followed here again, and went to Jiankang with Mr. Lang!"

Seeing Yu Tiao's sincere expression and gratitude from the bottom of his heart, Shen Zhezi was a little surprised.If we go deeper, if he can choose the emperor's son-in-law this time, it will be a kind of harm to the overall interests of the Yu family.

He was even ready to counteract the Yu family through the arrangement of Yin Jue's salary, but he did not expect that Yu Tiao was still sincerely grateful to him, which made him quite ashamed.Probably because this Yu Tiao did not have too strong political intentions after all, so he was not used to turning his face and being ruthless like his elder brother Yu Liang.

Yu Tiao didn't know what Shen Zhezi was thinking. After exchanging a few words with Shen Zhezi, he turned to the children from various families who got off the passenger ship one after another, and introduced Shen Zhezi to a group of friends: "Everyone, the gentleman in front of you is My noble teacher, Yulang Jun Shen Zhezi of Wuzhong. Don’t underestimate Zhezi Langjun because he is young. In the past, Xiang Lian was a sage teacher when he was seven years old. We all rely on Zhezi Langjun’s planning and guidance the day before yesterday. !"

When those overseas Chinese disciples from Nandu heard this, they stepped forward to salute one after another, with a very respectful attitude.Shen Zhezi returned the salute one by one, and after listening to these people report the family backgrounds of their respective counties, he had an intuitive understanding of the great power of the Yinjue's salary operated by Yu Tiao.

However, Shen Zhezi also discovered a clue from this. It makes sense for Yu Tiao to be grateful to him and sincere and enthusiastic, but why did he introduce it so solemnly?Moreover, these overseas Chinese children in front of him have no friendship at all with him, and it is even more strange that they also behaved respectfully and politely.

At present, the gap between the North and the South is not superficial, but pervasive in all aspects. It would be too naive to simply blame these people for their gratitude.

After a little thought, Shen Zhezi realized that there was something wrong with the operation of the hermit's pension. Maybe it wasn't too serious, but it was enough for Yu Tiao to realize the existence of the crisis, and then pinned his hopes on himself, the instigator.

　Recruit a group of business managers. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)