Chapter 297 Two-front Attack
This stream of water gushing out from deep underground made everyone who heard the sound feel the budding of hope.
Their eyes also subconsciously looked up from the bottom of the well towards the pestle and mortar above.
This kind of well-drilling tool has never appeared in their impression. They only vaguely heard that some salt wells in the salt mines controlled by the government were dug in this way.
Now, they have been improved and recorded in the Leping Monthly Report, a copy of which can be purchased with three five-zhu coins. They have become a tool for digging out hope of survival during droughts!
Also appeared in front of them.
"Don't just stand there, we have to dig deeper." Someone said this, interrupting the dazed state of the crowd gathered around the wellhead.
Yes, even though they have seen the water now, it is far from the time for them to stop.
Although this kind of well digging is not like digging a salt mine. After using a palm-leaf fan to file a large opening, it will take several years to use a six-hundred-pound silver ingot to file a small hole and continue to dig deeper. However, in order to prevent the water level from dropping further during droughts, as reported in the newspaper, they have to dig deeper to a depth of more than ten feet.
Then the well has to be widened.
After all, this palm-leaf fan file is said to be used to dig a large well, but in fact it is only one and a half feet wide.
By this calculation, water has been drawn from the well, but it will take at least another half a month to turn it into a well that can be used stably.
Fortunately, there was still some water in the surrounding streams and in their family's increasingly dry well, enough to tide them over during this period.
"Wait, wait, don't rush to continue." The old man who was persuaded by Yu Niang to go to Qishan County in the beginning interrupted everyone's action of setting up the cattail leaf fan and filing again.
He hurried back home to get a small bamboo jar, and then ran back.
Everyone saw that the bamboo jar was already tied with ropes on both sides, and now it was tied with a longer rope.
The old man handed the bamboo jar with a rope to Yu Niang and said, "Come, draw some water from the well."
"Let me do it?" Yu Niang looked at the bamboo jar in front of her in astonishment.
"It's no one like you. If you hadn't reminded us of this new well, we wouldn't have been able to dig it so quickly." Someone immediately responded.
Yu Niang took the bamboo pot and walked to the well under the shove of people around her.
In fact, what was in front of her could not be called a well, but in the pitch-blackness at the bottom of the well, the water surface reflected a hint of light from above, and it seemed no different from a real well.
The bamboo jar tied with a rope was thrown into the well. Because it was tilted, water quickly entered the bamboo jar, making it full and upright.
Yu Niang carefully pulled it up.
In this newly dug well, there was still some mud, sand and stone debris that had not yet settled and was swept into the water. However, this did not affect the appearance of this thing when it was placed on the ground. Everyone looked at it as if they were looking at a piece of gold that had been dusted off.
"We need to provide the first cup of new well water after the drought comes, right?" someone asked.
Of course there is no ancestral hall in their small village with only about a hundred people. However, if they want to worship, there is a place to do it. They can just temporarily build a small land temple in the middle of the village.
Someone immediately had a similar idea, "Water has to be supplied, so shouldn't this newspaper be supplied even more?"
This suggestion was immediately responded to by someone: "I'll pay three cents and go to the county town to buy another one."
"Then I will also pay three cents to make up for the damage in March."
"Since we are going to the county town, do we need to find a scholar who usually helps write letters for us to read the newspaper again? Although we have guessed almost everything we want to know by our blind guessing, who knows if there is anything we have misunderstood?"
This is indeed a problem.
Based on blind guessing based on the picture, there is indeed no problem judging from the current development, but it does not mean that this method can be used for other content.
Someone else said, "We'd better ask when we need to return the well-drilling vehicle. If there's enough time, wouldn't it be better to dig another well and try the well-canal irrigation mentioned in the newspaper? After all, we can't really give up all our harvest this year."
"Yes, yes. Ask again. With experience, the next fight won't take so long."
"Or we can talk to them and offer our manpower and the mortgage money for the iron file so that we can have another crack."
“…”
As Yu Niang listened to her neighbors giving advice one after another, she suddenly felt a little wet in the corners of her eyes.
Ever since the war began seven years ago, most people felt that it was a misfortune for them to be born in this land, because no one knew whether the disaster would come first from heaven, from the imperial court, or from the barbarians of Xiliang.
In short, they will appear in front of them in a way that they cannot resist.
Even those who live together here no longer dare to make close friends with their neighbors.
If your neighbor were conscripted or killed tomorrow, it would add more pain to your already miserable life.
But now, there seems to be a sign of change in this muddled life.
Even though there is still drought, people feel that life is much more hopeful.
This is Guanzhong today...
As the drought spread in April, it was not just the village where Yu Niang lived that tried to save itself.
Due to the existence of Leping Monthly News, many people who did not live in the county town went to collect well-drilling trucks.
In order to prevent confusion in the collection and improper use of the money, the garrison troops in Guanzhong were dispatched to patrol various population centers.
Qiao Yan was flipping through the account book in front of her, and she heard Xian Yufu, who was seconded by her to take charge of this matter, ask, "According to the distribution method of the Grand Marshal, will there be enough iron?"
It’s no wonder that Xian Yufu would have such a problem.
A palm-leaf fan file requires a thousand pounds of iron, and only with such weight can it penetrate the rocks underground.
But what is the concept of one thousand Hanjin? With this iron, countless weapons can be made!
Is it worth spending so much iron just for these wells?
Xian Yu Fu didn't want to go against Qiao Yan's decision, he just simply felt a little distressed.
Qiao Yan replied: "Did you know that this year's drought is not just happening in the Central Plains?"
Xian Yu Fu was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding why she suddenly brought up this off-topic.
She continued, "Take the Xianbei grassland as an example. The most suitable state for them is that the snow in winter melts and moistens the grassland, and the rains in spring and summer make the grassland green again. But what will happen if there is little rain?"
Xianyu Fu himself had served in Youzhou, and the situation in Youzhou was somewhat similar to that north of the Yinshan Mountains and Yanshan Mountains.
It is said that there is little rain on the grassland, but it does not mean that there is no rain.
If this were the case, the grassland would soon become bare. This was almost fatal to the Xianbei people who lived by following water and grass.
The baldness of this grassland is not only because there is not enough water to supply the growth of grass, but also because the cattle and sheep raised by the Xianbei people eat too much grass.
Qiao Yan did not intend to keep Xianyu Fu in suspense and said bluntly, "Xianbei Chanyu Budugen and I reached a deal. I bought the cattle and sheep that they could not afford for the time being from him, and promised to give them a temporary place to stay in Bingzhou after the drought became uncontrollable. He would not bring back the workers who helped mine coal and iron mines in the winter, and even add a group of workers."
"The Qiang people in the Huangzhong River Valley also need to worry about this problem. Rather than raising cattle and sheep and incurring possible losses, it is better for them to deposit or sell their cattle and sheep to me and participate in these paid jobs."
"You don't have to worry about wasting these iron tools. Relatively speaking, the palm leaf fan file requires the least processing and manufacturing technology. When the need for well digging gradually decreases, we can just return it to the furnace and remake it."
Xian Yu Fu asked curiously, "But in this case, wouldn't the Grand Marshal's expenditure on purchasing cattle and sheep be too much? To supply the feed for these cattle and sheep, even Liangzhou and Bingzhou would be a bit stressed, right?"
Qiao Yan shook his head. "Why should I keep it alive if I buy it back? I can just make it into jerky and use it as military rations."
Now they are eager to get rid of the pressure brought by livestock breeding. Among the people they have contacted, the only one who can take such an order for cattle and sheep is Qiao Yan. The price is of course cheaper than if Qiao Yan raises the animals himself.
This is not a question of whether to lower the price or not. At best, it is a two-way choice.
Since she was planning to send troops in the year of natural disasters, the proportion of rice in the soldiers' rations would inevitably decrease, and the proportion of meat products would increase accordingly, which would be just right as supplies.
When the disaster is over, these Xianbei and Qiang people can return to the grassland. Some of them may have adapted to the current life inside the Great Wall and become naturalized foreigners, while some of them will really need to purchase cattle and sheep again.
And this part of the demand is sufficiently covered by her existing cattle and sheep breeding.
Qiao Yan raised his eyes, "Any other questions?"
Xian Yufu replied, "No more."
As the leader of the Jinwu Guards, he didn't need to ask so many questions. He just needed to assist in the work of informing the villagers.
Xun Yu and Huang Wan, who were also recruited and borrowed by Qiao Yan, thought more than Xianyu Fu.
On the surface, it seemed that Qiao Yan could easily purchase cattle and sheep from the Qiang and Xianbei people and provide them with jobs and pay them wages because he still controlled the three officials of the coin minting. However, in fact, it was not the case.
By printing large quantities of Leping Monthly News and selling them to the outside world, she was able to amass a fortune by selling at low prices and in large quantities.
The liquor trade, which she strictly controlled over the past two years, also brought her astonishing profits.
The soy sauce that had newly occupied the market also brought her considerable profits because of its raw materials.
Therefore, a large part of the expenditure on purchasing cattle and sheep actually came from these channels, rather than through the abuse of the power of coinage.
It was precisely because of this rigor that Liu Ba, who was more perceptive in economics, did not find any problems when he took over these economic affairs, but was able to directly carry out price regulation work.
In this regard, Qiao Yan's performance is truly admirable.
There was just one thing that the two of them couldn't understand.
If the development of printing and papermaking technology made large-scale printing possible, it was an inevitable result of the times; the emergence of soy sauce and the profit of the industrial chain of its raw material salt were the only way to bind the relationship between the aristocratic families and the Chang'an court; this alcohol restriction order that lasted for two years proposed -
But it seems like they are preparing for this drought.
It’s no wonder that they have such strange associations.
This timing is just too coincidental.
However, from Qiao Yan's behavior, sometimes he arranged matters concerning the disaster in an orderly manner, and sometimes he was worried about the disasters suffered by the people, it was impossible to see any clues.
Besides, how could people have the ability to predict the weather?
If she could really do this, she should have made better preparations for last year's Huashan collapse and Chang'an earthquake, instead of allowing Yuan Shao to use these things as a pretext to attack her.
Thinking of this, they felt that they were overthinking.
Rather than dwelling on this unfounded possibility, it would be better to think about other issues.
After arranging Xian Yu Fu's duties and sending him away, Qiao Yan turned to Huang Wan and Xun Yu and said, "There are two things I need your assistance with right now."
"First, the measures to use groundwater to deal with drought in Guanzhong are going well, but we can't just focus on the drought and forget about the locust plague. In the past, when there was plenty of water, people could irrigate the land as much as possible, but now they can only start to prevent adult locusts."
Qiao Yan said to Huang Wan, "Huang Sikong, I would like to ask your majesty and the three ministers to set an example by catching and killing locusts in the suburbs of Chang'an. What do you think?"
"It is not appropriate for me to propose all the measures to deal with the drought and locust plague, so I would like you to speak about this matter in the court."
Locusts are not impossible to catch and kill. This has been published in the Leping Monthly a long time ago. However, it is inevitable that some people will still show hesitation when it comes to actually doing it, so someone needs to demonstrate first.
If Qiao Yan were to demonstrate this, it would seem that she was taking too much of the limelight in this disaster relief operation, so she would have to step back a bit.
Anyway, the people already know clearly who brought about the changes in them, so there is no need to fight over everything.
Huang Wan replied, "That's right. Your Majesty should inform the heaven and earth in the Mingtang so that more people can know about this. I wonder what the other thing the Grand Marshal wants to say?"
Qiao Yan said: "About the possible influx of refugees from Guanzhong."
"I would like to discuss with you two how to treat them."
Xun Yu is good at internal affairs, and Huang Wan also started out as a provincial governor. Since this issue is not just for discussion within the Grand Marshal's Mansion, but also needs to be discussed with the court officials in Chang'an, it is indeed most appropriate to find these two people first.
It’s not surprising that Qiao Yan would first think of the person in a negative way.
The population migration that occurred during this period was actually completely different from the outflow of people caused by the relocation of the Luoyang court in the early years, and the migration of people to Guanzhong after the capital was established in Chang'an in the first year of Jian'an. It was also more likely to cause disasters such as popular riots than those two periods.
At this time, the distribution of land in Guanzhong was actually in a relatively saturated state. Even if there was any surplus, it was either within the scope of military settlements or in areas that were temporarily abandoned along the current canal planning route.
It is impossible for Qiao Yan to give up the former in a short period of time. This part of the excess grain production is also a guarantee for her food supply during the march. The latter is really difficult to develop.
In addition, these people came to Guanzhong from afar, most likely because they could no longer survive in their original places.
In such a situation, the possibility that they had no food on hand was quite high.
How much relief funds should the court allocate to them so that they can feel Chang'an's willingness to welcome and accommodate them, thereby avoiding unrest, and also so that they do not feel that the court's help is a matter of course?
Qiao Yan expressed his concerns.
After listening to this, Xun Yu replied: "Is it possible not to settle them in Guanzhong? I don't mean to move them to Bingzhou or Liangzhou, but to places like Hongnong County and Henan Yin."
"Since the capital was established in Chang'an, the Sili Xiaowei Department has never completely regained control. Although Sima Jiangong, the governor of Henan, has clearly expressed his loyalty to Chang'an, he has not sent troops to garrison there. This area can completely become a buffer zone at this time."
Seeing a thoughtful look on Qiao Yan's face, Xun Yu said, "If the Grand Marshal agrees, I can draft a plan to help."
Qiao Yan said, "Then it's up to Lao Wenruo."
Hongnong County and Henan Yin...
These are indeed the two most suitable places!
The fact that Xun Yu was in charge of this matter and placed the people outside Guanzhong first did not mean that she would give up on trying to bring these refugees back home.
On the contrary, this means that she is finally going to take a step outside Tongguan!
Compared with the Central Plains, the hydrological changes in coastal Xuzhou during the drought were not as rapid.
However, because various parts of the Central Plains had entered the intensive disaster preparation stage, the two Xuzhou Mu forces confronting each other on both sides of the Huai River were temporarily in a state of truce.
The reasons for the two are not exactly the same.
To the north, it was because Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others from Langya County asked Liu Bei and Chen Deng for a large amount of stored grain in April, saying that it was to prevent drought and locusts from causing trouble and causing unrest among their subordinates, so they had to make preparations in advance.
These people were originally bandits, so no one could be sure whether their so-called request would turn into robbery. But now was not the time for Liu Bei to turn against them.
For this reason, Liu Bei was forced to withdraw some troops to establish a northern defense line.
On the south side, it was because, at this critical juncture, Zhou Yu still needed to focus more on the local situation in Yangzhou, so he reduced his support for Zhang Yi.
So in this state of truce, the group of teachers and students who had been in Hailing for only a month had some free time. After having a clear understanding of the various situations in Xuzhou, they decided to go to the shipyard to admire the newly built ships there.
Gan Ning naturally came with them.
But ever since he entered the shipyard, he felt something was wrong.
Not to mention that the roof here is much higher than the place where boats are built to sail on the river, and it is even higher than the height of the building ship.
The smell in the air and the things scattered around did not seem like they were just building a river boat.
River boats actually also need to use tung oil, but fish oil is basically not used!
Riverboats occasionally used some insect-repellent and anti-corrosion pigments, but rarely were they so extravagant as to use things like myrrh and orpiment.
River ships need some hemp materials, such as white hemp and jute, but hemp is a special supply for sea ships.
When Gan Ning saw the four-masted ship in front of him with his own eyes, his bad premonition became true.
He suddenly turned around to look at Lu Lingju and Lu Yi who had "tricked" him here, but saw that the two children met his gaze without any guilt, smiled at him encouragingly, and then directly admired the ship's nailing technology.
The meaning of this expression seems to be saying, isn’t the ship in front of them quite beautiful?
The expression on Gan Ning's face suddenly became as colorful as an overturned paint palette.
It's really a ghost!
How could this kind of boat be used to cross the Huai River?
It’s more like being used for crossing the sea!
He's on a pirate ship!
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