The first legitimate son of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 251 Water Transport Management
"Why are you here?" Li An walked to Li Shimin's side.

Li Shimin laughed heartily: "Ever since I heard Wuji say that the sweet potatoes here can produce a thousand catties per mu, I have been thinking about this place. To be honest, if my palace was not far away from here, I would definitely come here every day. .!”

Li An said with a smile: "These sweet potatoes will be here and will not run away, so Your Majesty does not have to come every day. Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will definitely manage this place well. The yield of sweet potatoes will be at least [-] kilograms per acre!"

"Then I will thank you on behalf of the people of the world." Li Shimin looked at Li An, who immediately bowed. Li Shimin patted Li An on the shoulder and said: "I actually know that the Tang Dynasty at this time not good."

After saying this, Li An glanced at Li Shimin with some admiration. You must know that Li Shimin's rule of Zhenguan has been praised throughout history, saying that Li Shimin's 23 years in power made the Tang Dynasty economic development, social stability, political clarity, and the people's prosperity and well-being. There was unprecedented prosperity.Since the reign name of his reign was Zhenguan, people called this period of his rule the "Reign of Zhenguan".

The "Reign of Zhenguan" was the most dazzling period in the history of our country.

But the fact is that this so-called prosperous age is just a superficial phenomenon. Many people did not even have enough to eat at that time, let alone other entertainment activities. In ancient times, productivity was very low. The first thing the emperors had to solve was the food problem of the people. .

However, this is easier said than done.Even Li Shimin, known as the first emperor throughout the ages, was unable to solve this problem.Especially when he first came to the throne, he encountered a severe drought.There is no other way.Li Shimin could only take the lead in saving food and changed from three meals a day to only two meals a day.

That's not the worst.Worst of all, drought and locust plagues followed for three consecutive years.The people continue to have insufficient food to eat.Even amnesty did not provide any relief.Li Shimin's biggest wish at that time was that God would bring rain so that the people of Tang Dynasty could have food to eat and relieve their urgent needs.It was not until the second half of Li Shimin's fourth year on the throne that the weather began to improve.

At this time, the people could finally eat, two meals a day, dry in the morning and thin in the evening.

In the Tang Dynasty at that time, even if the people walked all the way from the south to the north, they only had one meal to go without starving to death. Every household had two meals to go without starving to death.In order to learn from past mistakes, Li Shimin implemented a very effective warehousing system to combat future disasters.

This optimistic situation went wrong within two years. For 11 years, there is no shortage of water.Instead, there is more water.The flood is coming again.Floods raged everywhere.The common people lost their homes again.

People in ancient times had almost no productivity. Everyone relied on God for food. Even if Li Shimin had the ability, he could not compete with God.Therefore, during his 23 years in power, for more than half of the time, the people did not have enough to eat and had to rely on God to solve the problem.Li Shimin was called the wise emperor, but he never solved this basic problem of the people.

So, when Li Shimin knew that there was a kind of grain that could produce thousands of catties per mu, why would Li Shimin not pay attention to it, but Li An didn't think about it. Li Shimin, such a great emperor, would actually speak soft words on his side, admitting that now There are problems in the lives of ordinary people.

"Your Majesty, take everything slowly and wait until the sweet potato yield per acre is confirmed, so that it can be widely promoted. At that time, the people of the Tang Dynasty should be able to have three full meals."

Li Shimin nodded and smiled: "This all depends on you. It's just that I can't give you something."

Li An shook his head slightly and smiled: "Your Majesty, I don't want anything. I am actually quite good now. I can help the people of the Tang Dynasty. I am really satisfied. As for other things, I don't ask for anything. I don't want anything." don't want."

"Hey!" Li Shimin looked at Li An with a smile on his face: "I know how generous you are, so don't worry, I will definitely believe you. By the way, you still have to be careful about Meng Ziqian."

"Why is he making trouble?" Li An was a little surprised. "He has been doing little tricks, and now he wants to sow discord between your brothers. Unfortunately, I can't do anything to him yet, at least until the sweet potatoes are harvested. This clown is really like a fly, which makes people feel annoying. "

"Actually, there is a way to deal with him. It just requires your strong approval, Your Majesty." Li An smiled lightly.

"Oh, what can you do?" Li Shimin looked at Li An with expectant eyes.

"The Meng family has Chang'an by the throat. One is the food from Jiangnan, and the other is the waterway. In fact, food is easy to handle. I believe that as long as Your Majesty sends an imperial envoy to Jiangnan, the Jiangnan nobles will definitely give His Majesty three cents of noodles.

The only troublesome thing is the waterway. The Meng family has the strongest waterway transportation in the Tang Dynasty at this time. It is said that their family has hundreds of ships, but when we went there, there was no restriction on their waterway transportation management. "

The current Tang Dynasty has always been very deficient in water transportation management. It is limited to the leadership and organization of official shipping and the taxation of commercial and civilian boats. There are no laws and regulations on water transportation, and the methods used were only after entering the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Although each dynasty An official named "Jinzhu" was set up in Jiankang. In addition to collecting taxes, he also inspected ships to see if they were carrying prohibited items and criminals. However, this management was limited to the port terminals.

This is not possible, and it is also because of this that the Meng family is so unscrupulous.

"Oh, tell me, how should we manage this water transportation?" Li Shimin immediately became interested.

"First of all, I propose to formulate inland water navigation regulations. Your Majesty, you also know that with the increasing development of inland water navigation, boats on the main and tributaries of inland rivers, especially the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, are increasingly frequent. In order to maintain the order of water transportation, ensure that For the smooth flow and safety of ships, we must impose regulations on ship inspection and berthing.

First of all, boat owners are required to conduct safety inspections of the vessel at any time before sailing or during sailing to ensure that the hull is watertight.

If there is water seepage, it should be removed immediately to prevent the ship from sinking midway and causing a shipwreck accident, and to ensure that the ship remains in good seaworthiness.

Secondly, ships must berth overnight at the Puzhou Wharf in the port and are not allowed to berth overnight on uninhabited deserted shores.After the boat is berthed, signs must be installed to identify it to passing vessels and passengers.

There are also regulations on ship speed, ship encounter and avoidance regulations, ship overloading restrictions, etc. We must establish an effective water transportation management. As long as we formulate these, we will have a basis to restrict the Meng family. Follow me. A fleet will be set up to transport grain to the south of the Yangtze River.

And you can go to further places in the future! "

After Li An finished speaking, Li Shimin clapped his hands repeatedly: "Okay, okay, An'er, what you said here really made me realize. Yes, why don't we establish a water transportation department? With the water transportation department, the Meng family It will be restricted, so that we can build another water transport fleet, a water transport fleet that truly belongs to us."

At this time Li Shimin laughed!
(End of this chapter)