Chapter 470 The Fleet Sets Off (Two Chapters in One, Please Vote and Subscribe)

"Chief, we should be able to recognize it. Even if the valleys are flooded, the mountains can't be flooded. As long as the mountains are still there, I can recognize it." One of the middle-aged young chiefs replied.

Luo Chong also nodded. This made sense. As long as the mountains are still there, they can definitely distinguish the previous geographical location. Of course, the premise is that they are more familiar with the terrain. This is why Luo Chong called several young chiefs to come at once. With several people verifying each other, the error rate can be greatly reduced. Now time is tight, he doesn't want to waste time outside.

"Which tribe are you the chief of?" Luo Chong asked the person who just answered.

"To reply to the chief, after our tribe joined the Han tribe, Lord Lin Shu called us the Hua clan." The middle-aged young chief immediately replied.

"Well, I hope you can really find the place where the mountain collapsed. Okay, go down to rest and prepare. We will set off early tomorrow morning." Luo Chong said as if muttering to himself.

"That, Chief, the lower reaches of the river have been flooded. How can we get there? It's very dangerous there. Should we go there?"

The head of the Hua clan asked Luo Chong again as he turned around. He wanted to suggest that Luo Chong take the entire Han tribe to escape, but after looking around at the decorations around him, he didn't dare to say it in the end, because he knew it was useless to say it, and the chief would never listen to him and run away.

Let's not talk about anything else, just talk about the wooden building he is in now. What a tall and magnificent building it is. The luxurious tables and chairs in the room, the warm brazier, and the bright white paper lattice windows. If these are all his own, I'm afraid he won't be willing to leave.

"Don't worry about this. In this operation, you just need to serve as a guide to find the place where the mountain collapses for the tribe. Now go down and prepare." Luo Chong naturally heard the meaning of his words, so he glared at him with some displeasure, waved his hand and drove the few people away directly.

However, they all came here by carriage, so they were not tired. This was their first time to visit Hanyang City. Seeing this city, which was also under the jurisdiction of the Han tribe but was higher than Liuyang County, they were curious, so they all wanted to walk around the city and visit various places.

Therefore, after getting permission, they also visited Hanyang City under the guidance of Ying Rui.

There was actually nothing to see in Hanyang City in winter. There were identical houses everywhere, and no distinctive buildings. The distinctive buildings were all concentrated in the central urban area. They had already seen the office building, and there was nothing to see in the school now. Only the printing workshop in the four teaching buildings still had people working.

After leaving the school, the other thing worth seeing was the workshop area. Although it was late winter, the weather was still very cold. The textile workshop had stopped working. The women in the workshop stayed at home on the kang for the whole winter to sew clothes and shoes. Only the metallurgical workshop and the woodworking workshop were left with people working.

Metallurgical industry can only be seen in Hanyang City now. After all, it was developed the earliest and has the most mature supporting facilities. In addition to smelting copper and iron, it is also responsible for making weapons and farm tools. Several small clan leaders were allowed to visit. So, they witnessed the birth of various tools in the hands of blacksmiths with curious eyes, and felt the strength of the Han tribe.

After all, they have joined the Han tribe for several months, and they also know that the Han tribe can rise in a short time, relying on these solid and sharp tools.

But that's all. Now the Han tribe's metallurgical department is very different from before. Under the personal leadership of Luo Chong, the current metallurgical department has split into a special department, that is, the mint. This special department is really special. Except for internal employees, no one is allowed to enter without Luo Chong's permission. It can be regarded as the most mysterious department of the Han tribe. Although everyone knows that there is such a department called the mint, what is coinage and what is the use of coinage, no one knows at all, because Luo Chong has not yet announced the order to start private ownership.

He had wanted to say it in the next few days, but he didn't expect to encounter a flood crisis, so he could only continue to delay.

After leaving the metallurgical workshop, everyone went to the woodworking workshop. There was also a woodworking workshop in Liuyang County, but the scale and facilities were not as complete as those in Hanyang City, and the staff were not as many as those in Hanyang City. However, the things made here made them curious.

There were many huge long "wooden basins" placed on the open space outside the woodworking workshop. Each one was bigger than a house. There were more than a dozen of them lined up in a row, which looked quite spectacular.

"What is this? I have seen a similar one on the shore of Liuyang County, but I don't know what it is used for. Does Chief Eagle know the use of this thing?" Chief Hua, one of the several small chiefs, asked again.

The patriarch of the Eagle Clan in front of him was very prestigious. As soon as he saw the silver-white tin crown on his head, he knew that he was someone he couldn't afford to offend. Now more and more patriarchs joined the Han Tribe, but the number of people who were rewarded with tin crowns by the leader could be counted on two hands. These people who were able to get the tin crowns not only joined the Han Tribe earlier than them, but also made contributions to the Han Tribe that they, the latecomers, could not compare with.

For example, the patriarch of the You Clan I met a few days ago, it is said that he led the caravan of the Han Tribe to travel thousands of miles to open up grassland trade routes for the Han Tribe. Now the cattle and horses used by the Han Tribe, the sheep raised, and the woolen cloth and sheepskin they wore were all brought back by the caravan from thousands of miles away.

For another example, the patriarch of the Eagle Clan in front of him was in charge of the information transmission of the Han Tribe. The giant eagles flying in the sky were all domesticated by his tribe, and he was transferred here from Liuyang County, a hundred miles away, because of a letter brought by the giant eagle.

After hearing this question, Ying Rui could not help but proudly said, "This thing is called a boat. You saw it on the shore of Liuyang County because it is a tool that can carry people on the water. You will set off to the downstream tomorrow, and you will take these boats to go there."

After hearing this, several young clan leaders were shocked. They had been in the Han tribe for a few months and had seen various vehicles, some pushed by people and some pulled by cattle and horses. This was the first time they knew that the Han tribe had transportation tools that could be used on the water.

Some people say that to see the development level of a civilization, you can directly see its transportation capacity. This is not an exaggeration. From the initial shoulder-carrying and hand-carrying, to the emergence of rickshaws, animal-drawn carts, and finally steam locomotives, electric locomotives, and internal combustion locomotives, the transportation capacity has increased by more than a thousand times. In the development of transportation methods, the Han tribe has directly leaped over thousands of years of long evolution and directly appeared four-wheeled carriages. This is already the pinnacle of land transportation before the Industrial Revolution.

Of course, it is impossible for the small leaders such as the Hua clan leader to have such knowledge, but the various means of transportation they have seen with their own eyes in the past few days are already artifacts that these primitive people who live in the mountains as hunters and gatherers cannot imagine.

After visiting these high-end things, they returned to the barracks to rest. Someone had already sent them thick woolen clothes and sheepskin coats. They would be out for a long time and would have to sleep outdoors. Although the ice and snow had almost melted, the temperature at night was still below freezing, so cold-proof equipment was indispensable.

On the other side, in a shed outside the oil press of the Han tribe, dry food was also being prepared. However, since cooked rice was not easy to store and carry, flatbread was used as dry food for this operation.

The dough is a thick, fermented dough, similar to a pot cake, but Luo Chong is not particularly clear about what a pot cake looks like. He only knows that the fermented dough can be kept for a month or so without spoiling, and that's enough.

The dough was made a few days ago. The dough was fermented on the kang in each family. The dough was placed in a basin, and some syrup and eggs were kneaded in it. The lid was covered and covered with animal skins. It would ferment overnight.

After that, the dough was collected and sent to the shed outside the oil mill to be baked into dough cakes. There was a special iron plate here, and the stove was built with bricks around it. The fire was burned below and the cakes could be baked on top.

According to the calculation of three per person per day, it took five days to make the cakes. In other words, everyone had to carry 15 cakes on their backs when they went out this time. The cakes were not very big, about the size of an adult's palm.

Of course, these are for emergency use. Pots and rice are the staple food this time. It is so cold, it is best to find a place to dock on the road, and then put up a pot to cook hot food. The five-day rations are only used when there are no conditions for hot food, for example, there is no suitable landing point, or there is a lack of fuel around the landing point.

Of course, dried meat and salted fish are also indispensable. To put it bluntly, this operation is all physical work. You can't work if you are not full.

In this way, after several days of continuous preparation, the time came to the second Monday of the last month of winter, which was the day for the team to set out.

The boats of the woodworking workshop were all carried out, leaving the city from the nearest gate, and then put into the moat, and then towed from the shore to the Ru River with ropes to meet with the previous boats. The

400 people participating in this operation were ready to go. Dali and Yumao divided them into teams, 20 people in a team, led by a tribe member who used to be in charge of shipping. The old man was in charge of command, and the newcomers followed the command to paddle. If there was no one to command, these people had to circle in the river.

Luo Chong also said goodbye to the people who came out to see him off on the shore.

"Ying Rui, when I'm not here, you will be in charge of all the affairs of Hanyang County. You can leave the affairs of the city to the county magistrate. You are only responsible for supervision and urging. In addition, we must make preparations for spring plowing during this period. We cannot delay spring plowing because of flood prevention. The number of various farm tools and maintenance work must be checked in advance to find out the gaps. The cattle and horses used for farming must also be taken care of. I don't want to solve the flood and then come back to supervise the farming matters in person." Luo Chong told Ying Rui.

"Please rest assured, leader, I will take good care of the family." Ying Rui nodded solemnly and agreed, and was also very happy that Luo Chong trusted him.

"Okay, we'll set off now. If there is anything urgent, you can contact Feiying."

"Yes, Ying Rui understands."

Just like that, after saying goodbye to everyone, Luo Chong also boarded a wooden boat, stood at the bow, drew the long sword at his waist, pointed forward, and ordered the boats behind him: "Let's go."

Of course, the process of the fleet's operation was naturally not as high-spirited as Luo Chong's, but the progress was very slow.

However, this is also unavoidable. Although most of the people who were called this time can swim, most of them are in contact with boats for the first time, so the rowing skills need to be taught on the spot. Fortunately, this is not complicated. You just need to listen to the captain's command to row in unison.

In this way, everyone spent a morning gradually getting familiar with the rhythm of rowing, and the speed of the team's marching accelerated. As the fleet moved further and further south, the water surface of the river began to gradually widen.

At first, it was relatively normal, and the widest part was less than 20 meters, which was not particularly exaggerated compared to the upstream, but in the afternoon, the change was great. It was not that the water surface was wider, but now it was almost impossible to see the shore.

This description is not quite right. It should be that the normal banks of the river can no longer be seen, because along the way, Luo Chong found that many trees that should have grown on the shore are now half soaked in water. From this, it can be clearly seen that the water level in the downstream has risen to an exaggerated degree.

It is true that traveling by water is much faster than traveling by land. There is a line in the poem "I left Baidi in the morning among the colorful clouds, and returned to Jiangling in one day after a thousand miles". Although traveling a thousand miles a day is a bit exaggerated, it is indeed possible to travel hundreds of miles.

It only takes half a day to transport ore from the iron ore area upstream from Hanyang City, which is five or six days away, by water, and it takes a whole day to go back and forth. This is still relying on human rowing. If it is powered by sails and catches up with a favorable wind, it is really possible to travel a

thousand miles a day. Similarly, the fleet led by Luo Chong traveled for a whole day. By the second day, the fleet had traveled hundreds of miles. The water surface has become wider and wider. Even in some low-lying areas, the "two banks" of the river have extended into the woods. Those were once woods on the riverside, but now they are all soaked in water. It

is becoming more and more difficult for boats to travel. Although the water surface here is wide, it is actually not very deep. Sometimes when boats pass by, some people's wooden oars or iron shovels will be tripped by bushes and vines in the water, which once caused the fleet to stagnate.

However, these gradually emerging conditions also confirmed Luo Chong's guess. It seems that there is indeed a barrier lake in the downstream, otherwise it is impossible to have such a situation. The water area of ​​the barrier lake is very wide and very deep. Otherwise, it is impossible that the incident last summer has not affected the upstream until now. The water in the river keeps flowing. It took more than half a year to fill this lake. How much space is needed to hold so much water.

Since the "two banks" are all trees growing in the water, it is difficult to go ashore. Looking at the current situation, dry firewood is not easy to find. Everyone had to find a safer place, tied the boat to the tree and docked. After a quick meal of noodles and dried meat, they leaned on the boat and went to sleep.

Of course, in this case, Luo Chong could not forget to set up sentries when camping. In addition to the night shifts of each boat, Luo Chong also sent several agile young men to climb the tree as lookouts, which looked like a lookout on a ship who was responsible for climbing the mast.

(End of this chapter)