Han Xiang

Chapter 81
The three of them have never heard of cement, but the two words are easy to understand separately, so they didn't continue to ask.

Seeing Long Xiang squatting on the ground and meditating, the upturned corner of his mouth revealed his mood, he should be thinking of something happy.

It was rare to see Long Xiang so happy, everyone squatted beside him and waited silently.

Because Tang Ju was born tall and heavy, his legs became numb after squatting for a long time.

Just as Tang Yu adjusted his squatting posture, Long Xiang woke up from the fantasy of building with cement.

"Don't squat down, come to me today, what's the matter?"

The three of them looked at each other left and right, and finally gave up the opportunity to speak to the elder Tang Xi.

"Yun Qi, in the past two months, a lot of new people have arrived in Hefei, and my city defense is under a lot of pressure, after all, there are only more than 300 soldiers.

The brothers have many tasks, in addition to guarding the north and south gates, guarding the granary, patrolling the city, etc., they also have to watch out for the newcomers not to run around."

After Tang Yu finished complaining, Feng Zhong didn't answer immediately, so Cao Xing went on to add:

"The general's skills are insignificant, and he was originally responsible for cavalry sentry and household statistics. He was barely competent, but with the continuous addition of newcomers, the difficulty of household statistics became more and more difficult, and he might not be able to do it."

Long Xiang understood immediately, and thought that although the two of them spoke tactfully, the core was that they were under a lot of work pressure, and he looked at Feng Zhong who hadn't spoken.

"What's the problem, Uncle Zhong?"

Feng Zhong frowned and said: "It wasn't a big problem for Yun Qi to let Uncle Zhong take care of the people's livelihood, but the continued intake of refugees has significantly increased the consumption of food reserves.

Right now the seedlings outside the city are not growing very high, and there may be natural disasters this year, and I don’t know how much the harvest will be. "

"Haha, Uncle Zhong, don't worry. How many people are there in the city now? Less than 3000 people? We can store food for 3 people for ten years, and for [-] people for a year. What are you afraid of when you have newly harvested more than [-] dendrobium grains?" Long Xiang waved his hands indifferently.

Feng Zhongyu said earnestly: "Don't just think about the harvest. If there is a severe drought like last year, one busy season may not be enough for a good year. Old Tang and Master Cao are also right to worry. Even if we don't worry about food for the time being, we will work together. There are only more than 300 people available, and there are always times when they are too busy.”

Long Xiang's management experience is rich, and he was not annoyed at all after hearing everyone's complaints. He immediately invited the three of them to sit down on the stone platform in the garden, and explained with a smile:

"I understand your problem. It is nothing more than the continuous influx of refugees. I am afraid that we will not have enough food, and I am afraid that too many people will cause trouble and it will be inconvenient to manage. I broke it off one by one."

"Sima, there are still limited manpower, and everyone is almost overwhelmed."

Seeing that Long Xiang didn't mention this, Cao Xing hurriedly added it.

"Insufficient manpower is the third problem."

Long Xiang nodded slightly, then cleared his throat, and began to narrate:

"First of all, there is the issue of food. I have just settled accounts with you. The food stored in the city is enough to feed 3 people for a year. In the past two months, more than a thousand people have come here. If the monthly increase continues at this rate, there will be no more than [-] people by the end of the year. , so even if there is no harvest, Hefei can last for two to three years."

Taking advantage of Long Xiang's pause, Feng Zhong turned his head and continued to remind: "Two or three years is actually very fast. People are needed for farming, building cities, and recruiting soldiers. I don't object to accepting refugees. You must always do what you can. Have a plan? You How many people do you plan to accept?"

Long Xiang shook his head lightly: "I haven't thought about the exact number of people, but the city of Hefei is already big enough, and there are countless arable land around it. I guess it will be no problem to support 6 to [-] people."

"How can it be so simple, you forgot Uncle Zhong's previous reminder?

It is no problem for us to grow food, but the key is drought, flood, and war.

You can’t guarantee that there won’t be any in a few years, how did the former Hefei country disappear?”

Feng Zhong rubbed his temples, thinking of these things gave him a headache.

After hearing this, Long Xiang still had a calm expression, and he continued to explain: "Hefei is adjacent to the water supply system, guarding the big river, will it be afraid of drought? As long as the water is well diverted for irrigation, the damage will not be too serious.

As for Uncle Zhong's concern about heavy rain, the downstream Chaohu Lake and Shishui could not bear the rainfall, and the flood would flood the fields on both sides of the river. In fact, I have thought of a solution to this problem. "

Feng Zhong was both surprised and delighted, and said: "Floods frequently occur around Chaohu Lake. Once there is continuous heavy rain, many places will become flooded countries. If Yunqi has a way to control the water, it will undoubtedly benefit all people."

"Yun Qi, tell me quickly." Tang Yu couldn't wait to start urging.

Long Xiang said seriously: "Rainwater is inevitable, and the reason why it accumulates and causes trouble is that the water has nowhere to go, and it can't go east to the sea.

The Shi water that flows outside Hefei City originates from the watershed fifty miles away from the northwest (now Jiangjunling). Shi water flows from the southeast of the watershed, and Feishui flows from the southwest, one of which enters the river and the other enters the Huai River.

If a canal is dug between the two rivers, it will be rainy in Hefei, and the Shi water will overflow to the Huai River, and it will be rainy in Shouchun, and the Fei water will overflow to Shi, so there will be no worries about drought or flood. "

After listening seriously, Tang Xi suddenly spoke up and asked a question without EQ.

"What if it rains heavily on both sides?"

"If the land in Huainan is flooded, it is not a problem in Hefei. To reduce waterlogging as much as possible, the river must be dredged every year to ensure that the river has enough water flow capacity, otherwise it will be useless to divert more water."

Tang Xi suddenly realized, "No wonder you asked me to clear the silt last year. It's a pity that there were too few people at that time, and we didn't clean it very far. This winter, we don't need to cultivate wasteland, and we will organize the people to clean it together."

"That's the reason, you can't do anything with few people." Long Xiang nodded solemnly.

Feng Zhong asked again: "It is indeed a good plan to connect water and Feishui, but digging canals is not a trivial matter. How many people and how much time will it take to do it?"

Long Xiang said calmly, "I went to see the terrain last month. In the southern part of the watershed where the terrain is flat, the shortest distance between Shishui and Feishui is actually only about fifteen miles.

We dig from the middle to both sides. I believe it will not take much manpower and material resources, and there is no need to dig a big canal at one time. We can dig deep and wide from small river ditches year by year. "

Feng Zhong couldn't help standing up and applauding, "This is a great plan."

"Building bricks and firing kilns, dredging canals, opening up wasteland and farming, the more the population, the better. Uncle Zhong, don't be afraid of not having enough food, and don't be afraid that newcomers will eat for free.

Although these people have not caught up with spring plowing and rice cultivation, they can grow wheat and millet after the summer harvest. As long as we cultivate more varieties, we can get some harvest even in lean years. "

Feng Zhong had already been persuaded by Long Xiang, so he kept nodding his head in affirmation, "If you plant two crops a year and grow vegetables and fruits in the city, the harvest should be quite impressive, but how do you solve the war problem?"

Long Xiang squeezed his chin, frowned and analyzed with everyone:
"We don't provoke anyone, if we can't avoid it, we can't fight it, so we evacuate the people to the city to use the stored food.

I think as long as there is no gnashing of teeth and hatred, no one should travel thousands of miles to Hefei to waste money and food. "

(End of this chapter)