Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1709 Huainan trip

In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, Shengjia arrived in Yanzhou via the Laiwu Valley Road, then went all the way south, and arrived in Xuzhou around the New Year.

He originally planned to go back to Beijing directly, but he didn't know which emotion was touched, so he directly ordered to go south. He wanted to visit Huainan, and Xuzhou was only the first stop.

If there is no accident, most of the first month will be spent in Xuzhou.

The eighth year of Tongguang's reign (923) was the first year of the implementation of the tax system reform, an important part of the Yazheng of the new dynasty.

As a canal hub and a major commercial center, Xuzhou is naturally the top priority.

Shao Shude boarded the Shifo Mountain Village outside the city, overlooking the panoramic view of Xuzhou.

The city gate of Xuzhou is wide open, and crowds of people going out of the city for the festival are crowded.

At the base of the city wall, a stage had already been set up, and the common people gathered nearby to watch the Baixi performance.

The vicinity of the canal pier is rarely empty during the year.Only a few ships were towed ashore for repairs, but work was also suspended at this time.

The market is also closed.The closest one, inside the wooden fence, was piled with coal everywhere, and a thin layer of snow fell on the top.

Occasionally on the road, I saw a four-wheeled carriage passing by like lightning, carrying laughter and laughter into the distance.

Xuzhou is alive.

Xuzhou, which was completely disabled during the era of Shi Pu and Zhu Quanzhong, has gradually recovered its population after more than 20 years of peace.

The new generation did not fully inherit the "legacy" of Yindaodu, and they are all quite "normal", perhaps because they were killed more ruthlessly in successive wars.

This rotten sore in the late Tang Dynasty, like Wei Bo, gradually healed in this way.

As one of the canal hub nodes, Xuzhou has large-scale ship repair and construction workshops.

Sea-going ships need maintenance for a period of time, and of course tank ships also need maintenance.Generally speaking, the main thing to deal with is the bottom of the ship. In addition, there are other tasks such as replacing damaged and rotten ship boards, and repainting.

Shao Shude has been very concerned about maritime affairs in recent months, and he has not paid much attention to the canal.However, the newly established tax supervisor paid great attention to canals and water transportation. They set up a branch office in Xuzhou, and specially sent an official from the fifth rank to sit here to supervise the water transportation affairs and connect with the people in the transfer envoy's yamen.

Local governments also attach great importance to it.

After winter last year, the channel was dredged and lasted until the winter solstice.

Sea transportation is not as extensive as water transportation, so it is normal for them to value it so much.

To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Shao Shude's personal will, it would be impossible for shipping to develop greatly.The two are not contradictory, and common development is the kingly way.

In addition to dredging the canal waterway, Xuzhou is also starting to build a first-class national road.

Among the first-class national highways in Daxia, Liangjing Dayi Road and Yunxiang Road have been in use for many years. The latter has reached its limit, and the farthest even passes through Rouzhou. The former is still extending westward, and it is close to Huizhou. It's almost the end.

The third first-class national highway is the one located in Beiping Prefecture.

From Changping County to Linyu Pass, this section has been fully opened to traffic.After leaving Linyu Pass, it was repaired in the direction of Liucheng County, Yingzhou.The cost of this section is relatively high, but it has been repaired in sevens and eighties. Whether it will be repaired in the direction of Shenzhou in the future depends on the situation, and it seems that it is not necessary for the time being.

What the imperial court really pays attention to now is the big post road running through Hebei and Henan.That is, starting from Beiping Mansion, all the way to the south, passing through Hebei and Henan, and arriving at Yangzhou in Huainan.

The economic value of this first-class national highway is quite high. If the entire line is opened to traffic and four-wheeled carriages can be used, it can inject new vitality into the national economy.

Although water transportation is good, many places lack navigable rivers, and first-class national roads are still very necessary.

Xuzhou is currently renovating this road, mainly going north to Yanzhou. It has been built for dozens of miles, which greatly facilitates the transportation of goods along the way-the largest transportation materials at this stage are grain, coal and iron material.

"The first-class national road from Xuzhou to Haizhou Port should be built first." After getting off the Shifo Mountain Village, Shao Shude looked back.

When Xuzhou was attacked that year, the Xia and Wu armies had confronted here, and both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Later, relying on his superb cavalry tactics, he won consecutive battles, which made Yang Xingmi lose confidence. He completely gave up the idea of ​​gaining a foothold in the Central Plains, and retreated from Xuzhou with his navy in desperation.

That battle laid the foundation for the founding of Great Xia.Because it means that the most powerful political power in the south is unable to intervene northward, Shao Shude can do whatever he wants, and replacing the Tang Dynasty with Xia is a matter of course.

Secretary Lang Zhaoying silently wrote down Shao Shude's instructions without asking any further questions.

How to explore the route is a matter for the Ministry of Industry and the general supervisor. He only needs to pass the German message to the Zhengshitang.

Zhengshitang should not raise objections on this matter.

In the former Tang Dynasty, there was an old post road from Xuzhou to Haizhou. Although it was often repaired, with the increasing prosperity of the sea trade, it was already overwhelmed by heavy-duty horse-drawn carriages, and a new road was really needed to share the pressure.

Haizhou is the largest port in the north, worthy of a first-class national highway.

Shao Shude stayed in Xuzhou until the 25th of the first lunar month, and then went south along the unfrozen Surabaya waterway to Yangzhou.

******
As the saying goes, "People from the north ride horses, and people from the south ride boats." Huainan, as a border between the south and the north, presents a state of cultural integration between the north and the south.

Reflected on the transportation facilities, that is, water and land run in parallel, without distinction.

However, after all, water transportation is more convenient, both in terms of cost and efficiency.

After Shao Shude left Xuzhou, he took a temporarily allocated tank boat, passed through Xiapi, Suyu, and Huaiyin, and then arrived in Shanyang County, Lisuo, Chuzhou.

After entering Chuzhou, it is the boundary of Huainan.

Shao Shude stood on the embankment of Huai River, nostalgic for the past by the river.

In historical time and space, Yang Xingmi successfully fought a reduced version of the "Battle of Feishui".Zhu Jin took the five thousand cavalry "sponsored" by Li Ke to defeat Pang Shigu, defeating Zhu Quanzhong's idea of ​​invading south.

Quan Zhong, who was sitting in Suzhou, heard that the front line had failed, so he withdrew his troops directly, and went north to Xingzhou to fight Li Keyong.

Going forward, the battle that broke out in Huainan was even more unpredictable.

To defend the river, one must defend the Huai River. Without the defense line of the Huaihe River, the Southern Dynasties, whose capital was Jinling, had too little room for error.

"Your Majesty, in fact, Huainan has been devoted to the imperial court since the Tang Dynasty." Xiao Yun, the servant of Zhongshu, followed him and said, "during the Anshi Rebellion, Huainan did not let the rebels succeed. The three famous towns are all owned by the imperial court. Since the end of Tang Dynasty, the authority of the central government has been lost, so Yang Xingmi succeeded."

"Hmm..." Shao Shude looked at the farmland in the distance.

The Spring Festival has passed, and many people in the fields are plowing in the spring. When they saw the yellow umbrella cover, they bowed to the ground one after another.

Shao Shude understood that Huainan's attitude was to "resolutely support the central government" and "whoever is in the central government supports whom".

In fact, this is enough.

As the most developed area in the south, Huainan was oriented toward the center, so the vast amount of tea, silk, and grain were owned by the imperial court, and it also exerted strong pressure on Jiangnan.

The construction of the first-class national road to Yangzhou is also to better integrate Huainan into the entire northern economic circle.It has water transportation conditions comparable to those in Jiangnan, fertile land and a warm climate. It is also flatter and has more fields than Jiangnan. In terms of the agricultural era, it is definitely not inferior to Jiangnan.

As long as you don't play it badly, come up with a trick like taking the Yellow River into the sea.

Shao Shude strolled down the embankment and stepped on the soft field ridge.

In the farmland, the green wheat seedlings are growing well.

In the river ditch, fish with gray and black backs can still be seen.

In the middle of the reed, the wild duck flew up and dropped a few feathers.

A little farther away, there are dense mulberry forests, extending to the distant horizon.

The fisherman paddles across the river with his small pole.In summer, these rivers and lakes will be covered with water chestnuts and lotus flowers, and within the rivers and lakes, crabs and swimming fish are densely packed and extremely plump.

With two crops a year, the benefits of silk tea, fish and salt, and well-developed shipping and sea trade, Huainan is indeed a good place.

With the gradual end of the warm period, the southward shift of the economic center of gravity is indeed inevitable, and the geographical advantage is too great.

"It's time to visit Yangzhou." Shao Shude said as he returned to the post road and looked at the sunny south.

In this life, his ancestral home is Huainan, and in later generations, he is still from Huainan. Both generations have formed an indissoluble bond with this place.

At this time, seeing every plant and tree in Huainan, it is easy to fall into memory.Those memories of the previous life that had long been yellowed or even almost forgotten, rushed out of his brain.

Memories, ah memories, both annoying and intoxicating.

When he dreamed about it at midnight, he had the urge to go back to 30 years ago, even if the imperial hegemony was destroyed.

After waking up, he couldn't help but laugh.He didn't want to go back 30 years ago, but he wanted to go back to that energetic and prime time, to go back to the glorious years accompanied by his old brothers.

Time is the most ruthless, how much pride and ambition have been consumed.

Xiao Yun also looked to the south.

Yangzhou is the ancestral home of His Majesty, but more than [-] years have passed since the Wu Zhou Dynasty, and the connection with his hometown has long been broken.

I heard that when the crown prince led the army to attack Huainan, some people came to seek relatives, but they were whipped indiscriminately.

Your Majesty should have only a little inexplicable melancholy towards Yangzhou.

What he really wants to go to may still be Nanjing.

The three major palaces in Xijing (Tai Chi, Xingqing, and Daming Palace), the two major palaces in Tokyo (Ziwei, Shangyang Second Palace), and Beijing Linshuo Palace, the saints have lived for several years.Most of the Nanjing Yang Palace has been completed, and the finishing work can be completed within a year or two. Now it is actually ready for people to live in. Perhaps the saint wants to go and see it?

He was also very curious about the South.

The sage always said that the colder the weather, the south will become more livable in the future, and it will become a place of wealth.After talking too much, Xiao Yun became more and more curious, wanting to appreciate the magnificent scenery in the south of the Yangtze River.

In fact, he has already felt it a little bit now.

In many places in the north, it is gradually no longer possible to achieve three crops every two years, and has begun to slip towards one crop a year.But the south can produce two crops a year. If things go on like this, the distribution of wealth will be completely reversed - all the way south from Xuzhou, he saw many signs.

The general situation is like this, and no one can change it.Perhaps, it is time to send some younger generations of the family to the south and invest more resources in order to take the lead.

After leaving Shanyang in Chuzhou, Shengjia went south along the Caoqu Canal, passed Anyi and Gaoyou, and arrived in Yangzhou.

At this time, the fireworks in March are just around the corner.

(End of this chapter)