Say goodbye to Cen's people.
Zhu Xuan continued to set off, passing through Nanning, Wuzhou and other places along the way, and finally entered Guangdong.
Traveling long distances for such a long time is quite tiring.
If I had known this, I should have left the Hongwu ship behind and stopped responding to Tian for the time being.
"Where is this?"
At this time, Zhu Xuan passed through the mountain.
After entering Guangdong, the first thing you see is that you are surrounded by mountains. After walking for a while, you can see the flat land, but in front of the flat land, you can also see the high mountains.
This is like a basin terrain.
"Your Highness, this is Luoding Prefecture." Hou Xian said.
Zhu Xuan opened the map and looked at it. Luoding was not far from Panyu. If the speed was faster, it would still be more than two days away. He said: "Stop and rest!"
It's getting late now.
Ahead was Luoding City. They went directly there and got in touch with the commander of Longshui Station.
"Greetings to Your Highness!"
The officials here confirmed Zhu Xuan's identity and came out to greet him politely.
Zhu Xuan said: "You don't need to be too extravagant. I'm just here to stay for one night, just do whatever you want. In addition, I will buy some food with you and make arrangements."
The magistrate here said respectfully: "Your Highness wants food, so there is no need to buy it. I can have it delivered directly."
Zhu Xuan said with a serious face: "Luo Ding's grain reserves are shared by the people. I took them away directly. What will the people do if something unexpected happens? I will give you enough money."
Zhizhou said in admiration: "Your Highness is righteous!"
Zhu Xuan sent him away and went back to rest.
the next morning.
Zhizhou sent the grain, and Zhu Xuan, who was in the army, also brought a lot of money with him. According to the price of grain at that time, he paid with one hand and delivered the goods with the other.
The food in their team can only be eaten until noon today at most. Although they can reach Panyu in more than two days, they are really out of food. Fortunately, there is a place to replenish it.
"Do you have a waterway back to Guangzhou?" Zhu Xuan asked again.
"Of course there is. After entering the Xijiang River from the Longjiang River, you can go all the way downstream to Guangzhou."
"Let's make arrangements!"
Zhu Xuan said again.
Sailing on the water is more comfortable than on land, and you can travel day and night.
To go to Panyu from here, it is better to go down the river. It belongs to the river and can go back faster.
The Zhizhou quickly prepared enough boats. They boarded the boats in the Longjiang River and fled along the water. The Zhizhou still stood on the shore and watched Zhu Xuan and the others leave.
The ship entered the Xijiang River, finally passed through other waterways, and soon arrived near the Lion Ocean. It had already entered the Pearl River, and then headed back to Panyu City.
"Greetings to Your Highness!"
Xu Qi learned that Zhu Xuan was back and first went out of the city to greet him.
Zhu Xuan asked directly: "Sister Miaojin, have you arrived in Panyu?"
"The princess has arrived and is at my residence."
"Take me to see Sister Miaojin quickly."
They soon arrived at Xu Qi's house.
"younger brother!"
When Xu Miaojin saw that the person she wanted to see the most was finally back, she cheered, ran over and hugged Zhu Xuan.
"Sister Miaojin, I miss you."
Zhu Xuan hugged her for a while and then said: "Sister Yuanjun wanted to stay in Kunming to accompany Marquis Xiping and his wife, but she didn't come back with me. What happened to Sister Miaojin in Panyu while I was away?"
Hearing that Mu Yuanjun did not come back, Xu Miaojin felt a little regretful and said softly: "Master Xu has been very good to me. I am living quite comfortably in Panyu. By the way... there is a fruit called lychee here, which is very sweet."
Lychee has long been spread out of the Lingnan region.
Su Dongpo had written a poem related to lychee back then, but this was the first time Xu Miaojin had eaten it.
"OK!"
The first time Zhu Xuan came back, he stayed with Xu Miaojin.
evening.
Xu Qi came over and asked, "Your Highness, what are you planning to do next?"
The matters in Annan and Yunnan have been handled almost the same. Now we need to consider the issue of development. Xu Qi still attaches great importance to this, so he came to remind them.
Zhu Xuan touched his chin and asked, "Are there any serious problems within Guangzhou Prefecture currently?"
Everything here is still stable and there is no need to change too much. He wants to start with the local problems.
Xu Qi said: "Water source."
"There is no shortage of water in Lingnan area, but you also have water problems?"
Zhu Xuan asked in disbelief.
Walking out of Panyu City, you can see from the outside that the Lingnan area is densely covered with river networks, especially near the mouth of the sea. You can see various tributaries flowing into the Pearl River everywhere.
Water resources are abundant.
"Your Highness is unaware that we have plenty of water, but not much water that can be used for drinking and irrigation."
"Guangzhou is close to the sea, and the sea currents are salty in autumn."
"It's more serious in the fall and winter."
"When the tide rises at night, the salty tide will lift up the Pearl River water and pour it into the city."
"When the salty tide is at its most ferocious, it can flow back into Feilai Gorge in Qingyuan, causing the river water to be salty and bitter."
"Usually, surface water is not drinkable. Groundwater from dug wells is basically the same as surface water."
Xu Qi explained.
Zhu Xuan was a little surprised after hearing this.
He naturally knew where Qingyuan was. It was a bit far from the Pearl River. The intrusion of sea water could affect that far.
Zhu Xuan asked again: "Then how do you usually use water?"
Xu Qi said: "We usually rely on rivers for irrigation and water that are not affected by sea water. However, when using those rivers, there will often be competition for water. For this reason, clan fights are very common during busy farming periods."
Clan power in the Lingnan area is also common and continues to exist hundreds of years later.
"Also, to get fresh water to eat, you either go up or down."
"The way up is to Baiyun Mountain and to get water from the source of Pujian."
"Going down, you dig wells inside and outside the city. The deeper you dig, the less salty it will be. But when the salty tide comes, it will still be salty."
"In the city, relying on wells, lakes and mountain springs, we can still meet the food needs."
"Outside the city, we not only eat food, but also need irrigation. The water consumption is large, and it is related to the harvest of the year. Water conflicts often occur."
As the prefect of Guangzhou, Xu Qi was very confused about this.
Whenever farming was busy, he would discuss with Huaying and send soldiers from the guard station to patrol the farmland to prevent the villagers from fighting each other.
After Zhu Xuan heard this, he also felt a little headache.
You can imagine how important the water issue is.
In modern society, how do we prevent seawater from flooding back?
Strengthen river embankments, release tides and drain water, and even build sluices. In addition, we must have running water, build water conservancy projects, and build reservoirs...
To manage these well is very troublesome and requires a lot of investment.
But this is more challenging.
Zhu Xuan said: "I roughly understand. Apart from water sources, are there any other problems?"
As the first step in governance, he decided to start with the water source.
But water control still requires a lot of money, and nothing can be done without money.
Xu Qi shook his head slightly.
Zhu Xuan asked again: "Do we have a place to burn kilns, raise silkworms and grow tea here?"
Among the commodities exported by the Ming Dynasty, these three items always accounted for the majority. People overseas were only after ceramics, silk and tea, and the market was huge.
