Hearing about his ancestors' great achievements, Chen Wangmo couldn't help but straighten his chest and nodded heavily, saying, "Yes, our ancestors dug the Qingjiangpu River so that the canal boats could directly reach the Yellow River, and since then the canal transportation costs have been greatly reduced. Also, due to the dangerous sea waves, the boats were often damaged, so we petitioned to stop sea transportation. Our ancestors have long proved that sea transportation is not as good as canal transportation, but now those people are trying to go against the grain, they are really worthy of death!"

"Since shipping is originally under our control, if we come here now, won't everything be settled?" The officials of the grain transport department were immediately quite excited. No matter whether it was grain transport or shipping, as long as it was in their hands, it was good luck.

"No, no, we can't move to the seaside." The local officials along the river were unhappy to hear this. Although everyone came here with the same hatred, their interests were not always completely consistent. No matter who was in charge of shipping, the harm to them would be the same.

"This is just a temporary measure. We will resume water transport once the canal is repaired," the water transport officials advised.

"That's not right. The Canal Transport Office has always said that shipping is too risky, but now it suddenly says it's feasible. Isn't that a slap in the face?" Local officials are not as easy to appease as three-year-old children. They still understand that it's hard to recover what has been done. If the Canal Transport Office is allowed to manage shipping, given the current state of the Canal Transport, it's hard to say who will be the biological child and who will be the stepmother's child in the future.

Seeing that the two gangs were about to quarrel, Zhenyuan Hou slapped the table to shut up the idiots, and then asked Song Xiaoming: "Boss Song, tell me, should we grab the shipping?"

"My Lord, in my humble opinion, we cannot let others lead us by the nose." Song Xiaoming replied calmly: "Although we still have thousands of ships and tens of thousands of sailors, sailing in the canal and sailing in the ocean are two completely different things."

"Hmm..." Gu Huan nodded, agreeing deeply. There was no wind or waves on the canal, and the canal boats did not need navigation, they just had to follow the only river.

But sailing on the vast sea with high winds and dangerous waves requires skills, experience and courage, which the boatmen do not have.

"If Jiangnan Group can do it, why can't we?" the people from the Canal Transport Office grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"The Jiangnan Group was able to do this because they first took over the Sand Ship Gang. The waves on the Yangtze River are second only to those on the sea, and the Sand Ship Gang often operates along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Their ships and sailors are capable of shipping by sea." Song Xiaoming said calmly, "We will not be able to meet the conditions for shipping in a short period of time."

After a pause, he changed the subject and said in a deep voice, "Besides, there is no need for us to take the evil path of ocean shipping. It is unwise to use our own weaknesses to attack the other side's strengths."

"Then what do you mean, Rentou?" Gu Huan nodded and asked.

"In order to take the initiative into our own hands, we should come up with our own alternative plan." The shopkeeper Song said in a deep voice: "We can propose to reopen the Jiaolai River!"

"Reopen the Jiaolai River?" Everyone in the hall looked at each other, wondering what a bad idea this is.

Everyone here is involved in the canal transportation business, so they are no strangers to topics related to it. For example, the discussion about the Jiaolai River is much more popular than the discussion about sea transportation. Almost every time something goes wrong with the canal, someone brings it up. It can also be seen that among the alternatives to the canal, the Jiaolai River ranks higher than sea transportation.

The Jiaolai River was originally an artificial canal dug by the Yuan Dynasty to avoid the fleets from detouring the Shandong Peninsula when transporting grain by sea. It runs through the Shandong Peninsula and connects Jiaozhou Bay and Laizhou Bay.

The canal is 200 miles long, which can save 800 miles of sea route and avoid sea waves. It sounds great. So Kublai Khan recruited tens of thousands of civilians and spent two years to dig this beautiful canal.

But after the canal was opened to navigation, it was found that the canal had too many defects - the terrain of Shandong Peninsula was high in the middle and low on both sides, which caused the water of Jiaolai River to flow north and south. Therefore, the canal originally planned to flow with abundant seawater was actually still a freshwater river with insufficient water.

Therefore, the Jiaolai River is easily blocked and difficult for large ships to pass. Seagoing ships must change to small boats in Jiaozhou Bay in order to pass through the canal. Not only is it very troublesome, but the losses are also staggering.

In addition, at that time, sea transportation opened up safer and faster ocean routes, which avoided the coastal areas far away, making the Jiaolai River completely useless. Therefore, Kublai Khan quickly issued an order to "stop the Jiaolai shipping business."

However, the rulers and ministers of the Ming Dynasty were always obsessed with the Jiaolai River.

In the 14th year of the Jiajing reign, in order to relieve the pressure of water transport, the imperial court recruited civilians to reopen the Jiaolai Canal, which had long been blocked, and diverted river water into the canal to increase water flow. It also built nine sluice gates to adjust the water level of the river, following the example of the Grand Canal.

Now, it was finally possible to pass through the Jiaolai Canal without having to exchange large ships for small ones. The court was extremely happy and all the officials who proposed and built the canal were rewarded.

But the next year, the Jiaolai River was blocked again. The culprit this time was the tide. When the tide was high, the sea water rushed in from the river mouth with a lot of silt. When the tide was low, the sea water left the silt and receded alone. The siltation was so fast that there was no time to clear it...

Such a canal with all kinds of problems is simply a hopeless case, but Song Xiaoming regards it as a magic weapon to fight against sea transportation. Naturally, people find it hard to believe.

~~

Facing everyone's questioning gazes, Song Xiaoming said calmly: "I know that the Jiaolai River is not suitable for heavy use. Even if it is barely opened, it will soon become clogged again."

"That's right." Everyone nodded, thinking to themselves, you already know this and yet you still say it?

"But for us, this Jiaolai River is the best." Song Xiaoming picked up the teacup, gently skimmed off the foam, and said leisurely:

"First of all, the beauty of it is that it can only be used for one or two years."

"Yes!" The more active participants understood what Manager Song meant. "Don't we need a short-term replacement like this?"

The local officials had no objection. If the Jiaolai River was used to temporarily replace the grain transport, the grain transport ships would definitely return to their place when the canal was repaired in the future. Otherwise, the soaring costs would bankrupt the grain transport office.

"Secondly, if the court adopts our Jiaolai shipping plan, the starting point of the sea transportation will not be Suzhou Taicang, but our Huai'an. This will cause the least damage to the current situation, and most importantly, it can keep those Jiangnan crabs out and prevent them from getting involved in the canal transportation." Manager Song took a sip of tea and continued.

"Great, great!" Everyone gave thumbs up. The leading role of water transport cannot be lost to others, this is a fundamental principle.

"Third, the Jiaolai shipping route is less than 600 miles from Huai'an to Jiaozhou Bay, and both are near the coast, so sailing is much easier, and it is easier for our boatmen to get started." Song Xiaoming put down his teacup and said slowly: "In summary, I suggest that the Governor's Office and the General's Office jointly write a petition to reopen the Jiaolai River. What do you think, Lord Marquis?"

"support!"

“No problem!”

"I totally agree!" The people in the canal transport industry, who were panicking just now, now finally have a backbone. Who would still object?

"This is a good idea. It not only solves the court's urgent needs, but also does not harm our foundation." Zhenyuan Hou also nodded and praised: "Why don't we also call it 'Jiaolai Shipping'? This way, we can also implement your majesty's will to 'hurry up and handle shipping'. Those who support shipping have no reason to oppose us."

"Great change! Great change!" Everyone quickly echoed and praised: "The Marquis is so experienced, every word is worth a thousand gold! With this change, we have taken a lot of initiative!"

"Hehe." Only the Earl of Sincerity Liu Shiyan was still deliberately singing a different tune, saying, "You have a nice idea, but will the court listen to you? Even if you play word games, you can't change the fact that His Majesty and the Minister of Revenue both support the Jiangnan Group!"

"We are the grain transport office. At least we should listen to your opinions on grain transport matters, right?" everyone retorted as a matter of course.

"You better save Zhao Kongzhao's head first." Liu Shiyan laughed strangely, "Eight hundred canal boats capsized in Suqian. They just made such a big mistake. The fart they let out can only be a muffled fart. It will definitely not make any sound!"

"You!" The mood of the crowd, which had just turned from gloomy to bright, was disturbed even more by the words of 'little Liu Ji'.

"Okay, talk less." Marquis Zhenyuan gave Liu Shiyan a helpless look. This guy was of high status and old age. He had also been in charge of the Right Army Commander's Office. He was the only one in the field who could suppress this guy.

"But what Lord Chengyi said does make some sense." Gu Huan sighed, and then said with some worry: "If it was just the Jiangnan Group, it wouldn't be a big deal. After all, their influence in Beijing is not as great as ours. But that kid surnamed Zhao brought Xishan Company into this, which is indeed a bit troublesome."

"Yes." Nan Hebo nodded and said, "I heard that the families of Duke Dingguo, Duke Yingguo, and Duke Chengguo all have shares in Xishan Company. Duke Dingguo and Duke Yingguo are still employed there. Not to mention the eldest princess."

"The high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen in Beijing are all fascinated by this damn Xishan Company." The officials nodded and said with some fear: "If these two companies join forces, it will be really difficult."

"So we must have other countermeasures." The shopkeeper Song looked at everyone calmly and said in a deep voice: "But today, let's finalize the Jiaolai shipping matter first, and arrange the petition and lobbying as soon as possible."

"That's right." Everyone knew that this was going to be a trick. This kind of thing naturally couldn't be discussed in front of so many people, and most of them didn't want to hear about it.

So they hurriedly spent the entire afternoon finalizing the Jiaolai shipping plan and the plan to facilitate it, and then everyone went back to their respective residences in Huai'an City to rest.

Only a few core figures such as Gu Huan, Chen Wangmo, and Song Xiaoming stayed behind to discuss some shady matters.

Eunuch Qiu would naturally not participate in such a matter. The fact that he, the eunuch guarding the city, could pretend to be deaf and dumb was the greatest support for the Caoyun Group.

Liu Shiyan wanted to stay and join in, but Gu Huan gave a look to the Earl of Dongning, and the latter, with the Earl of Nanhe on the left and right, took the Earl of Chengyi to go drink wine.