Royal road

Chapter 330

"The Jiuze Canal has finally been completed, and now Jinyang can avoid drought." As the head of the household, Duan Qin did not worry less about water conservancy construction.When the news came, he was really relieved.With water, a large area of ​​fields can be filled with ears and seeds, so that the grains will not fail.

"It's just Jinyang." Liang Feng didn't have much joy on his face.

Jiuze Lake is located between Xihe State and Taiyuan State, and it is considered the largest lake in Bingzhou.The purpose of this project is to divert water from the Fen River and the lake to irrigate the surrounding land.

In order to repair the Jiuze Canal, Liang Feng specially mobilized [-] servants and hundreds of officials, spending an unknown amount of manpower and material resources.However, even with the full support of the governor's office, half a year is still too short.What has been completed now is only the channel towards Jinyang.In other words, only part of the land in the Taiyuan Basin can be irrigated by the new canal.Compared with Zhengguo Canal and Dujiangyan, which can be passed down for a hundred generations, it is far behind.

What's more, Jinyang is not the only one suffering from drought?

"How are the deep wells in Jizhou and Sizhou going?" Liang Feng asked.

Even if it does not rain, the underground water resources will not disappear suddenly.If deep wells can be drilled, the basic living conditions of nearby villagers can be guaranteed.This is also extremely critical during a severe drought.

"Several wells have been successfully drilled. All the counties are trying to find a way to at least ensure that the people can drink water." Duan Qin sighed, "The problem is that the water level of some rivers in Jizhou has dropped, making it impossible for boats to pass."

That's not a big deal.Since the beginning of the severe drought in spring, the number of merchants coming to Haixing Port has decreased by half.People's livelihood is affected, and the economy will naturally be shut down.Fortunately, Xingang settled with grain last year, and the states and counties along the route have set up granaries, and there is a lot of grain in storage.Otherwise, just a lack of food can kill people.

Liang Feng frowned slightly: "With the new canal, Bingzhou can barely guarantee the summer harvest. In other places, the land tax should be reduced or exempted depending on the disaster. Send people down to investigate. If the drought continues in Jizhou, we will organize laborers to dig rivers and repair roads. Try to requisition those people who have suffered from the drought. Let them work for relief and have food to eat."

All of this is to stabilize people's hearts.Exemption from taxes can allow the people to stay at home with peace of mind, and will not be forced to flee famine by cruel officials.Repairing canals and roads is to complete large-scale infrastructure ahead of schedule while spending a large amount of food relief as much as possible.In normal times, tens of thousands of people are mobilized to build roads and canals in one go, which is very likely to lead to civil uprisings.But it is different during a disaster. Everyone knows that this is the way to survive, but it is better to organize manpower.Moreover, the decline of the river water facilitates the construction of the canal, and the excavated river sand and gravel are also paving materials.In this way, wouldn't they benefit each other?

"We need to be cautious about this matter. The disaster year is different from the past, if one is not good, it will cause disaster." Duan Qin is not so relaxed.In disaster years, people's ability to withstand is also different from the past. Coupled with the influx of refugees, once the officials fail to control things properly, things will get worse immediately.

"It's better than letting the people flee." How could Liang Feng not know the key?It's just that things have come to this point, and one can be saved.

"In other places where cultivation is possible, millet should also be replanted. Even if the severe drought continues, summer plowing cannot be completely ignored. The anti-drought measures sorted out by agricultural officials must be spread to all counties!" Liang Feng would Miss potatoes, sweet potatoes and other crops of later generations.It is drought-tolerant and has a huge yield. If it can be planted, I don’t know how many lives it can save.But now, there are only a handful of farming experience that can be relied on.

After several years of cultivation, the technology mastered by the agricultural officials of Bingzhou has also begun to enrich.During the spring plowing, a set of drought-resistant methods was summed up.For example, deep plowing of the land; crushing straw to pave the ground to protect the moisture content of the field; replacing water with fertilizer to increase the supply of fertilizer; and watering grains during the jointing and filling stages to promote ear formation.All these things, in fact, have long been mastered by farmers.It's just word of mouth, and it can only be limited to a small area forever.But when they arrived in Bingzhou, all the experience was written into books, and they were sent down layer by layer, and the agricultural officials preached and taught the people.

Farming is the top priority in farming society, no matter how important it is, it cannot be overstated.Fortunately, most of the low-level officials in the three prefectures are admitted by the Department of System Science or the Third Court of Chongwen, and there is no bad habit of being an official and not doing a job.As long as the officials are diligent, the policies are sound, and the impact of the drought is controlled, there is hope.

It's just... the troubles Bingzhou is facing are not limited to astronomical phenomena.This drought has affected most of the states and counties in the Northland.Once a large-scale disaster occurs, the three states under his rule will become fat meat coveted by the enemy.That's when the trouble came.

As of now, I can only do everything possible to tide over the difficulties...

The days are getting hotter day by day, spring is going to summer solstice, and the busy season of farming has entered.However, this year, almost all the winter wheat in the Northland has been harvested, and millet has been replanted in many places, but the weather is still not good, the drought does not stop, and the rain has not yet fallen.

Amid Li Shu's wailing, May came and the drought reached its peak.The Yellow River, the Luo River, the Yangtze River, and the Han River, these great rivers that nourish the people, have all dried up, and the shallow ones can be waded across.

When natural disasters arrive, wars begin.There was a severe drought in eastern Liaodong. Cui Wei, the governor of Pingzhou, joined forces with the Yuwen Ministry to attack the Murong Ministry. Duan Bu stepped in to help after hearing the news.Yongzhou Xingtai, which once pulled [-] troops, revived again and started an uprising in Qinzhou to crusade against the Xiongnu and puppet Han.Even the rebels in Jingzhou began to stir up trouble, attacked the prefectures, drove away the governor Wang Cheng, and established themselves as a governor.

As the hinterland of the Central Plains, Yuzhou and Yanzhou have another look.

It's probably useless to stay here.Sitting in the tent, Shi Le stared at the faint candlelight in front of him, full of thoughts.In the past two months, he has been leading troops to sweep Yuzhou.Wang Mi's troops occupied many cities before, and several counties were taken back by the Jin army. There are indeed many places to fight.

Break through the strong wall and enter the Kou county.During this period of time, he killed hundreds of Sima alone.Don't talk about other officials and gentry.At first, they also got a lot of money and food.But as the drought intensified, the situation changed.

All powerful families moved south to Yangzhou.The rest hide in the deep mountains, with many barriers, very difficult to overcome.As for the common people and those small cities, even if they were conquered, the food and grass they would get would be quite limited.As for the common people, those who could escape would have fled long ago.Most of Yuzhou fell into the hands, but the predicament was not solved, but it became more difficult because of the expansion of the army.

What's the next step?

The drought has lasted for too long, and the rain has not yet fallen in May. This year's harvest is estimated to be hopeless.It was the same when he fled famine and left Bingzhou.Not to mention this year, I am afraid that next year will be extremely difficult.

And the soldiers under him can't wait for two years.It takes a lot of money and food to feed these tens of thousands of mouths.If he doesn't think of a way, and the morale of the army is slackened, how can he defend the places he has laid down?

Maybe it's time to recruit some scholars to help him with government affairs.Shi Le was also belatedly aware of the usefulness of those officials.No one is in charge, and the occupied territory is just a piece of white land.After working so hard to beat them down, they want money but no money, and food but no food.What's the use?

But now, it's too late.The land is dry and the river is cut off. Even if people are organized to cultivate, there will be no harvest.The only thing that can be relied on is to grab it.

Should he go south to Yangzhou and attack the capital of Jin, or should he go to Jingzhou to fight against the rebels?It would be great if Qinzhou is not chaotic, Liu Yao should support him with some money and food no matter what.But now that Han is too busy to take care of himself, how can he care about him, the general who conquered the East?Let yourself cause chaos in Henan and Yan, or to contain Bingzhou...

Thinking of this, Shi Le's eyebrows tightened, and he thought of a place.

Back then, he and his benefactor Ji Sang raised troops together, and the city of Ye was the first to attack.Therefore, Shi Le is very familiar with the city defense of Yecheng.But Yecheng is different from other prefectures, but it is the main road connecting Bingzhou to Jizhou.I heard that Jizhou operated shipping last year and got a lot of money and food, most of which were shipped to Yecheng.If Yecheng can be conquered, maybe there will be enough food and fodder to raise soldiers for a year.

His military strength is far superior to that of the past, and he is familiar with geography, so he should be full of confidence.However, the fact is that even if he thought of this idea, Shi Le still couldn't make a decision.It's just because Yecheng is too close to Bingzhou.The cavalry who defeated the rebel army and beheaded Jisang arrived in Yecheng in just a few days.If the city cannot be captured within a few days, I am afraid that it will be attacked from both sides.

To fight or not to fight?

Just thinking about it, there was a sudden noise outside the tent.

It's already night, how can there be any noise in the barracks!Shi Le immediately got up and strode out of the tent: "What's going on?!"

"Reporting to the general, it's a riot in the civilian camp..." The guard guarding the tent hurried forward and said, "Soldiers have already gone, so there shouldn't be any serious problems."

There are quite a few civilians in the Shile army, most of whom were surrendered after the city was broken, and some refugees.It is by them carrying food, grass and weapons that they can support the army to sweep Yuzhou.

However, Shi Le is old in battle, and knows that these peasants are timid and fearful, and they will change at the slightest sign of trouble.Therefore, every time a camp is set up, the civilian camp and the military camp must be separated to avoid mutual influence and camp noise.A commotion of this scale is indeed nothing to worry about, and it will subside soon.

However, looking at the campfire burning in the distance, Shi Le suddenly had an idea.That's right, it may be difficult to attack Yecheng by force.But what about surprise attacks?What's more, even if they can't grab food and grass, they can break through Yecheng, and they can also cause chaos in nearby states and counties.Then take advantage of the situation to go north and enter Jizhou, which is also a way out.If the plan doesn't go well, retreat dozens of miles to the old camp in Yanzhou.You can attack when you advance, and you can defend when you retreat. Isn't it better than sitting and defending to the death?

As for the danger... If you want to survive the severe drought, what is the danger?

With a sneer on his lips, Shi Le turned around and opened the curtain to enter the account.