“We not only need to dig food from the ground, but also fish meat from the water to make up for the lack of food production with aquatic products and non-staple food that do not take up farmland.
Make use of the large area of lakes gifted to us by God to make money to repair the roads that God hinders us from traveling.
Their weeds are my medicine. His rotten fruit is my honey paste. Everything in the world will self-destruct when it becomes outdated.
Therefore, we must centralize, scale, and technology aquaculture, coordinate people's working time, and unify ideas..."
Zhu Xi, who finally caught the opportunity, told his father and others, giving people the feeling of scolding Fang Qiu and giving guidance to the country.
It's just a matter of organizing people and managing them, which will be conducive to rebellion.
Zhu Yuanzhang had not considered whether Zhu Ping would rebel. He was wondering whether the master had been thinking about this matter for a long time.
If the imperial court did not build the Rouge River, the aquatic products would have to be sent to other places for sale. Now that it is about to be built, the four lakes will be connected immediately.
Although the four lakes are connected by rivers, they belong to Yingtian Mansion, Taiping Mansion, and Ningguo Mansion. There is also Wuhu County to the west. Is the expert thinking about it as well?
"Chen'er! You want to do this big deal with Xiaqiu Village. Where will the capital come from?"
Queen Ma listened carefully. As for whether it would work or not, there was no harm in giving it a try.
"What I have thought about is to give the palace 80% of the profits from selling beer and continue to use it to invest in other industries, including department stores. Department stores are..."
Zhu Xi continued to say that there were too many things waiting for him to arrange, and he was very busy.
"The advantage of the store is that it is not easy for people to travel far, but goods can be sent far away. They can be transported centrally, sold by land, and purchased by land. This saves people's time in traveling and can provide daily supplies for the people."
Zhu Xi finally concluded that this is the advantage of opening a chain of department stores, and it can also make money.
"Chen'er! You are busier than our emperor!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.
"I don't dare!" Zhu Xi shook his head. We have never thought about the idea of an emperor not being an emperor.
"Eat crabs. Xiaqiu Village is really not suitable for such a big thing. Let us Ping'er take the lead. It's easy to make a plan!"
Queen Ma personally brought a steamed crab to her second son and greeted him for dinner.
Everyone understands that if Xiaqiu Village wants to do this, it will need to spend more energy and cost, especially getting through to the local government.
Things need to be transported back and forth. Should the roads be opened one at a time? Who does the tax go to in the end? What should I do if someone deliberately makes things difficult?
In partnership with the King of Qin, the problems of various yamen have been solved. What path should be taken to lead the way? Taxes are arranged by the palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma had the same idea, let the experts do it. Anyway, no one has done it this way. If it works, then consider asking other places to try to learn it.
If it fails, there will be no loss to the court or the palace.
…
On the ninth day of September, the Double Ninth Festival, people plant dogwood, drink chrysanthemum wine, etc.
Xiaqiu Village has no time to celebrate the festival, and neither does the palace.
This festival comes from the harvest, proving that the first crops were harvested around this time.
It can be wheat, rice, sorghum, millet, and highland barley planted in the summer, but now the Ningguo Mansion has finished harvesting, and ramie and rapeseed have been planted.
The Ningguo Mansion came forward to lend money to the people to rent large animals, and they would repay it after the next year's harvest.
The people have something to do this winter. They need to constantly look for fertilizers for top dressing, and the things in the latrines in the counties cannot be wasted.
One hundred thousand troops from the imperial court were dispatched to Rouge Hill near the source of the Qinhuai River.
They carried pickaxes, earthen baskets, poles, drills, hammers, ropes...
During this time, the imperial court has been preparing things, including learning from gunpowder makers who went back to teach others how to make new gunpowder.
Fortunately, the grain has been harvested and is being transported to Yingtian Mansion. Soldiers also have to eat normally. Now Zhu Yuanzhang has some savings on hand.
The ropes, baskets, poles and other things used can be purchased from nearby counties.
Recruit some people who have not done hard work this year to help with cooking. Anyway, they are free after the harvest.
Then in the evening, Li Chang received a letter from the Song Magistrate of Ningguo Prefecture, saying that today is the Double Ninth Festival. I missed the good time and missed it very much. When should Chang be able to return to Xiaqiu? Everyone drank and talked and other useless nonsense.
Finally, I would like to briefly mention my worries. People in the other five counties of Ningguo Prefecture have cultivated their land and cannot catch up with it. They are very worried.
"Hanhan, Song Zifu is worried. He wrote here to ask for help."
Li Chang knew what the other person meant at a glance. What did he miss or not miss? Why didn't he miss him so early?
"Dredging the river! Isn't there silt there? Then add dried weeds and mix them with the fertilizer that was soaked before. Continue dredging. There will be enough time."
Zhu Wentian felt that the prefect of Song Dynasty was stubborn and would look for fertilizer if there was no fertilizer. There were still a lot of phosphate mines in the area, and he would burn some plant ash.
"No one in the entire Ningguo Mansion has thought of such a simple method?" The chief felt something was wrong.
"He can think of it, but he doesn't have the manpower, so in the name of letting the people work? Give the people benefits, take more from the people, and the people won't do it."
Zhu Wentian naturally understands the other party's difficulties. Those who should serve this year have basically finished their service. If next year's time is used, what should the court do if something happens next year?
The chief nodded: "In this case, the method of dredging the river is not feasible."
“We asked the people to work extra, but they were unwilling to do so. In other words, we said we would allow the people to use the silt from the river for free.
The government is willing to help organize it and let everyone know how to do it. For the sake of the people, the officials are willing to work hard.
But there is one thing: the number of people is limited, and those who sign up to dig silt first will get it first. Later, when the number is enough and there is not enough silt, it will not work. "
"What quantity should I set?"
"Any way you decide, there will never be enough to count anyway, how can the people count one by one? They said that only 50,000 people were provided, but when it was 100,000, they said it was less than 50,000. Whoever is willing to come can come, there are so many large and small Where’s the river? There’s enough mud.”
"Alas!" Li Chang sighed: "I'm going to write a letter and send it to Xiaqiu Village tonight. I'll go to Xiaqiu Village to exchange for a carriage and take my things with me."
"By the way, I asked him to help collect chrysanthemums from other counties in Ningguo Prefecture. They are medicine. People from the villages who are fishing for crabs together asked those who have no time at home to pick chrysanthemums. On the Double Ninth Festival, we will come to collect chrysanthemums."
Zhu Wentian added that the village still had money to collect chrysanthemums.
"Okay!" The mayor left and went back to his room to write a letter.
Half an hour later, the guards took the letter and set off by boat. They crossed the Qinhuai River and entered the Yangtze River. It was very inconvenient to go against the current.
If the Rouge River opens up, you can go directly from the Qinhuai River to Shijiu Lake, then to Danyang Lake next to it, and return to the village.
When coming to Nanjing from Xiaqiu Village, you can take a longer road, follow the river, and switch to another one when you go back. It feels like this artificial canal was built for Xiaqiu Village.
At this time, the people of Xiaqiu Village were leading people from other villages to light up lamps to catch crabs. They dug a hole next to the lake and lit a lamp. After dark, the crabs crawled around when they saw the light, and then fell into the hole.
(End of chapter)
