In any case, Wanyan Zongpan now has a lot to do. A major upheaval has occurred in the western border region, and the military power of Wanyan Zongwang and Wanyan Wushu has been increased. Wanyan Zongpan has to devote a considerable amount of energy to suppressing them.

However, to Zhao Huan's surprise, the matter of establishing three major trading towns was not postponed.

A month later, Jin minister Han Qixian visited Beidu Youzhou to discuss the construction of a commercial city at the junction of Yanyun and Dajin. He met with Zhong Shizhong, the military commissioner of Yanyun and commander of the war zone, and Li Guang, the prefect of Youzhou.

At this time, the Council of State Affairs had already conveyed the message to Yan Yun a month earlier.

On the Song side, Li Guang sent someone to meet with Han Qixian's people, and the two sides began to discuss specific matters.

Zhao Huan didn't ask any further questions and left the matter to his subordinates to carry out.

He is now more concerned about another issue: given the current food production, how many people are still going hungry?

In fact, Zhao Huan has been paying attention to this issue for the past few years.

Food is the most important thing for people. Eating is of paramount importance.

In the last two years, construction projects have become more frequent, and the imperial court not only has to pay salaries but also provide food and drink.

Money is a minor issue. Zhao Huan is now wealthy, but it's common knowledge that manual laborers have a significantly increased demand for meat.

Meat is a standard feature of every meal on the construction site.

As a result, it also boosted the development of private pig farming. Some people not only farmed, but also started raising pigs at home. The imperial court would regularly come to collect the pigs and settle accounts with them according to the market price.

Moreover, it has increased fish production, which has also boosted the development of the fishing industry in the south.

Moreover, in order to stabilize the supply of goods, the imperial court also intended to support several large merchants in the pig farming and fishing industries to cooperate with the court in the long term, while some small merchants would serve as backups and cooperate continuously.

From the year before last to now, pig farming and fishing in the Song Dynasty have developed rapidly, becoming a major industry second only to agriculture and planting.

However, due to war, this phenomenon is rarely seen in Hebei and Hedong, and the northwest region is also very barren.

However, in order to increase the administrative strength of the new territory, the road to the north is urgent.

This troubling problem has now become a constraint on development in the north. The laborers on the construction sites work hard every day, but because they cannot guarantee sufficient nutrition, the time spent traversing long roads is far greater than that of construction in the south.

This is an unbalanced development.

It will take several years for the North, which is in dire need of reconstruction, to gradually recover.

In this world, time is the most expensive cost.

Because of the delay, any kind of uncertain crisis may occur.

Regarding this issue, Tang Ke requested that pork be transported from the south to the north.

However, because the roads were not yet in place and transportation conditions were poor, pork could easily spoil en route.

Tang Ke suggested that the people could sell ice collected in winter to the imperial court, and that the quality of the meat should be guaranteed using this ice.

The proposal was quickly refuted by Zhou Chao, the Minister of the Three Departments. It was simply an unreasonable and wasteful act, and the cost of each meter of road would increase by at least tenfold.

Xu Churen, however, believed that one should not be impatient. The North was in a weaker position due to war, so it was impossible to expect the same speed as the South. They should be treated differently.

Forcing seedlings to grow faster will only cause all the seedlings in the field to die.

This matter was hotly debated in the imperial court, and no better solution could be found for the time being.

Zhao Huan also knew that the basic road infrastructure was inadequate and refrigeration technology was almost non-existent. Even in later generations, cold chain logistics only began to develop vigorously after 2010, let alone in the Song Dynasty.

Everything still has to follow the logic of business.

The pace in the north can only be slower; forcing growth can easily lead to collapse if not handled properly.

They thought that if the north were allowed to develop according to its own laws, there would be no more trouble. At most, Zhao Huan would have to be patient and endure it, and at least there would be no more wars, allowing the people to recuperate.

But reality proved to be cruel, determined to keep Zhao Huan from getting a good night's sleep.

As temperatures rose in June, the Yellow River region experienced continuous heavy to torrential rains.

Moreover, the water level of the Yellow River is higher this year than in any previous year.

It was only mid-June, but the water was already showing signs of reaching the shore, and the water level was still rising.

The Yellow River was originally the mother river of Chinese civilization, but in history, by the Song Dynasty, it had become a veritable "harmful river".

According to the history of the Song Dynasty, the Yellow River would flood almost every two to three years.

A single flood primarily damages the middle and lower reaches of the river, and the extent of the damage is comparable to that caused by war.

Take, for example, eighty years ago (1051), when the Yellow River breached its banks at Guogu in Guantao County, and the Yellow River began to change its course and flow south.

At this time, Li Zhongchang, the transport commissioner of Hebei, proposed to block the northward flow of the Shanghu River and restore the old Henglong River course.

As a result, on the very night the Yellow River was diverted into the Henglong Old Course, the water flow was too slow to be released and the river breached again, turning thousands of miles of Hebei into a vast expanse of water, causing countless deaths and injuries.

Nine years later, the Yellow River breached its banks at the Sixth Dike in Weixian County, splitting into two streams: one flowing north to Tianjin, and the other east to Wudi in Shandong.

Faced with this mess, the scholar-officials formed two opposing opinions.

One faction advocated continuing the northward flow and reinforcing the river channel; the other faction advocated flowing eastward into the sea.

At this time, the eastward-flowing river channel was mostly silted up, but the latter opposed the northward flow on the grounds that the Yellow River would flow into the territory of the Liao Kingdom if it flowed north, and the Liao army might go upstream against the Yellow River and reach Bianliang directly, which would be militarily unsafe.

Moreover, the northward flow would prevent the Yellow River from fulfilling its purpose of "defending against Liaodong".

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!