The big man has a living father

Chapter 175 (Big Chapter) Cutting off the trouble
The head of the village scratched his head and said, "Not really, it's white fog."

Huo Qubing pinched his chin and said, "My second brother is here on his somersault cloud?"

The village head: "Somersault Cloud, I know Somersault Cloud! I heard the storyteller tell me about it!"

Huo Qubing: "Someone, go and take a look!"

The cavalry soon reported: "General, there really is a ship emitting thick smoke on the river!"

Huo Qubing simply jumped on his horse and headed for the ferry.

Soon, Huo Qubing reached the shore and saw the boat coming upstream.

Not one, but five.

After the first steamship was successfully assembled, several ship platforms that had been prepared were equipped with steam engines.

Huo Hai meant that if we were going to test it, we should do it on a large scale; we didn't mind spending this little money.

If you want to test, test at a long distance.

Just taking a walk.

Dangerous? To be honest, Huo Hai is not afraid at all.

The only danger of a real ship with wheels is that when it encounters rough seas, one side of the ship will tend to hang in the air and spin idle, wasting coal and eventually burning it all.

This problem does not exist at all in inland rivers.

The river section from Jincheng to Huaishuo is very smooth and there is no problem at all.

The people on the shore were also stunned.

There were no sails, but there were two wheels on the boat that kept turning, driving the boat forward.

The ship was so huge that I could see someone on the bow, but I couldn’t see clearly.

In fact, it is not that big. It is just because the design of this ship is different from the previous narrow and long flexible fighting boats that are easy to turn around, so it is wide and tall and looks big.

It was not until they got closer that Huo Qubing saw that there was a steam engine on the boat.

Near the ferry, many people were stunned.

What is this thing? Why does it have no sails or oars, just two wheels?

Is this wheel pulled by a cow?

What is that white smoke? Even if a cow smokes too much, it can't produce so much white smoke!
Huo Qubing reacted: "A new type of ship must be a new ship developed by the research institute."

At this time, someone noticed a small boat coming from the other side of the river.

When the small boat saw the big ship approaching, it didn't dare to come over.

But they were crossing a river, they were in the river, and if they didn't move forward, they would be moving backward. They had no other choice but to cross the river.

That seems to be... Zhao Guo?
Huo Qubing looked at the big ship and then at the small boat, and was a little worried that something might go wrong, so he immediately asked someone to wave a flag in the direction of the small boat.

The steamship's pilot then noticed that there was a small boat crossing the Yellow River, and he quickly deflated his steam and slowed down.

"Woo~~~~~~"

Huo Qubing thought for a while and said: "It seems that the port and the ferry should be built separately, not in the same place."

Huo Qubing knew very well that since the new type of ship had been developed, there would probably be ships traveling back and forth on the Yellow River from here to Huaishuo in the future, and a large port would definitely be needed.

Zhao Guo was surprised when he got ashore: "I almost got hit and killed. The boat is not big, but it is so fast!"

The reason why the boat that Zhao Guo used to cross the river looked small was actually because it was facing the crowd when crossing the river. In fact, it was two-thirds the length of the steamboat, about ten meters long.

But because it is not wide enough, it looks very small, as if it is about to be hit to death.

When the steamship docked and Huo Hai got on the spiral staircase, he felt like vomiting because of the sudden deceleration, but when he saw his elder brother on the shore, he hurriedly got off the ship.

Li Guang was originally planning to pack up slowly, but when he saw the General of Cavalry there, he hurriedly got off the boat.

Li Guang's visit this time also has a profound meaning.

Across the river is Longxi, his territory.

When Huo Hai saw his elder brother Huo Qubing coming, he did not rush to get off the boat. Instead, he looked at the dock and said to Zhou Bengen beside him: "In the future, the dock should be built bigger, and it would be better if it is more forward and a bridge is built farther away. Don't get on and off the shore."

Zhou Bengen wrote it down immediately.

This dock is barely usable for ships of 20 meters now, but it will be completely unusable for ships of 60 meters in the future.

Now a twenty-meter ship is twice as long as a ten-meter boat and three times as wide. It is much bigger, but not much higher. This dock can still be used, but it will not be able to be used any longer.

Only after finishing the viewing did Huo Hai get off the boat.

This time, Huo Hai must come.

Before, Huo Hai had always wondered what the reason was for Huo Qubing's death.

There are several hypotheses, including poisoning, infection, and sudden death.

The most likely one is the second one. If it is the second one, then Huo Hai has actually found out what is going on.

The military, like the gym, is a typical place for bacteria such as Staphylococcus and Malassezia to coexist.

A large number of soldiers have to train every day, and they sweat during training. Their clothes become damp after sweating, which can easily breed bacteria.

But the conditions in the army were not good before, and it was impossible to change clothes frequently. Not to mention changing clothes, even taking a bath was difficult.

It is obvious that the Han army doctors had already discovered this problem. They had discovered that for strong soldiers, it took much longer to recover from each injury than ordinary people, but if they cleaned their bodies regularly, there would be significant changes.

So they didn't actually know about staphylococcus, but they knew how to deal with it.

However, during long-distance marches, especially for a general like Huo Qubing who loved blitzkrieg attacks over long distances, it must have been common for him to not take a bath in order to avoid catching a cold.

Therefore, once Huo Qubing suffered external injuries, he would easily become infected and be doomed.

But! After Huo Hai invented soap, he wanted to suppress the soap and not let anyone use it, to prevent industry and people from competing for the oil.

But later, people on the ranch discovered that alkaline substances could remove foreign matter and odors from wool, so soap was no longer a necessity in wool production.

As grain production surged, pork production also began to surge.

With more pork, making soap will no longer be a problem.

So, Huo Hai brought soap to the army and gave it to the soldiers first.

With soap, the chance of death from bacterial infection still exists, but it is not high.

Especially for someone like Huo Qubing, the possibility of being infected before the war even though he had not yet participated in the battle was almost zero.

In other words, what most people believe, that Huo Qubing died because of an infection that caused his external injuries to heal for years and eventually led to an outbreak of the infection, is almost impossible.

The mainstream school of thought has a second understanding.

Longxi was the territory of the Li family. Li Guang and Li Cai died one after another. Li Gan was Li Guang's son. He believed that Wei Qing had forced his father to death, so he went to fight Wei Qing.

Who is Wei Qing? The general didn't know who he was talking about, but Wei Qing was also such a person, so Wei Qing ignored it.

But Huo Qubing couldn't just pretend nothing happened.

Wei Qing was Huo Qubing's uncle! And Li Gan was Huo Qubing's subordinate.

So while hunting, Huo Qubing shot Li Gan to death.

Liu Che favored Huo Qubing. In that era when any noble who committed a trivial crime would be severely punished, stripped of his title, dismissed from office, and exiled three thousand miles away, Liu Che protected Huo Qubing and told the outside world that Li Gan was killed by a deer.

Therefore, if Huo Qubing did not die of illness, the most likely possibility is that he died from the revenge of the Li family.

Huo Hai understood the logic behind this. Although Li Guang was alive and well now and Huo Qubing was unlikely to shoot Li Gan to death, Huo Hai was still worried about the ominous nature of this place.

This time, Huo Hai chose to come with Li Guang.

History has both accidental and inevitable aspects. Who knows whether this matter is accidental or inevitable?

Although not now, Huo Hai will try his best to keep Huo Qubing away from the Western Regions after this year, and to prevent the Li family from having any disputes with the Huo family at this critical juncture.

After getting off the boat, Huo Hai walked across the sampan used as a staircase and went down with Li Guang.

As he walked, he said, "General Li Guang, do you remember what we said on the boat?"

Li Guang nodded and said, "Commander Huo, let's talk business first. After we finish talking about the court affairs, we can talk in detail."

Along the way, Huo Hai was poking Li Guang intentionally or unintentionally.

In fact, among all the heroes in the world, as long as they are knowledgeable, who doesn’t want to be an emperor?
All the larger families are making preparations.

The main reason is that after reading history, they always think, "If it were me, I would do this and that." If they think too much, they will naturally think too much.

You can't say they are whimsical, nor can you say they are disloyal, it's just... the prerequisites for becoming an emperor and developing the family lineage are 100% consistent.

In other words, if your family is powerful, in the end, you will have no choice but to become emperor. This is the case with Cao Cao's family.

From another perspective, if you climb up step by step, maybe you never thought about yourself or your descendants becoming emperors, but suddenly the opportunity falls in front of you? Sima Yi is such a person.

Admittedly, it can be assumed that Cao Cao and Sima Yi have always had ambitions, but did they really have ambitions to usurp the throne when they were twenty years old?
But now, Huo Hai pointed out one thing to Li Guang.

Nowadays, developing the family's bloodline and preparing to seize the throne are no longer the same thing, and they take different paths.

Nowadays, if you want your family to be powerful, you have to do business, enter the latest technological fields, and start a company to engage in economics and business.

But doing business can only make you a wealthy family, not aristocracy.

And being granted a title of nobility can make one a noble.

Nowadays, there are actually two paths in front of you. Either become a wealthy businessman and then be granted a title of nobility, or develop big business after being granted a title of nobility.

Both aspects must reach the top in order to become a top family in the Han Dynasty; neither can be missing.

Now that the Li family has the geographical advantage of Longxi, it is much easier for them to develop than other families.

And what the Li family lacks is a marquis.

Li Guang knew that his son Li Gan was too stupid and that his fate was already at stake as he was granted the title of Guannei Hou.

To do all this, Li Guang has to do it, and if Li Guang does it, he has to seize the current opportunity in the Western Regions.

Huo Hai pointed out to Li Guang where the current contradiction lies.

In the past, Li Guang did not want to be granted a title of nobility, nor did he want to leave Longxi.

Now no one will let him leave Longxi, so you'd better stay in Longxi and not go anywhere else, so you will earn even less.

Li Guang certainly knew that the opportunity in Longxi was coming, but he had no choice but to go.

Huo Hai promised something, which was a little bit better than other conditions.

Even though it is just a small amount, when it is magnified into an economic activity involving hundreds of millions of people, the advantage will be huge.

Now Huo Hai actually also hopes that the Li family can give up the iron-clad status of Longxi.

The Li family can keep its base intact, but Longxi must attract a large number of new families.

Because Longxi in the future will be a hundred times larger than it is now, its economy will be hundreds of times more developed, and it will also be an important transportation hub.

The next step for Huo Hai and Liu Che was to invest all their resources in building a railway from Longxi to Chang'an.

This was of course a preparation for the administration of the Western Regions, as well as for the transportation of supplies and future trade routes.

At present, the railways that the Han Dynasty needs, in addition to the opening of traffic between the five capitals and Chang'an, are the railways between Longxi and Wuyuan and Chang'an.

As for the Wudu Railway, Anluo Railway Company is about to start public bidding.

However, railway construction will not stop. The railway being built to the north is interrupted at Shenmu because the area west of Shenmu is vast and sparsely populated. Huo Hai and Liu Che are afraid that after the railway is built... there will be no one to guard it and the rails will be stolen.

Therefore, we must first start building the railway from Chang'an to Longxi.

This railway requires a huge investment. Of course, the people who put in the money will reap the lion's share of the profits, and of course, Liu Che and Huo Hai will get the lion's share.

If the Li family continues to dominate Longxi, this railway will never be built.

Of course Li Guang was willing to give it up.

One person eats a steamed bun weighing two taels, and shares 5% of the large meat buns in a ten-layer steamer with each other. Even a pig can tell that the latter is far more than the former.

Seeing Huo Hai coming down, Huo Qubing stepped forward.

Huo Hai finished talking to Li Guang and was about to say hello to his eldest brother, but Huo Qubing walked past Huo Hai and pulled Huo Hai back: "Is this the steamship?! Let's go out for a stroll?!"

Huo Hai's eyes widened: "Hey! I just got off and I almost vomited!"

Huo Qubing: "You'll get used to it after vomiting over and over again."

Huo Hai: “…”

After boarding the ship, Huo Qubing praised: "This ship is really big, very wide, but the steam engine is placed at the back, occupying half of the ship's deck."

Huo Hai: "We are building a new ship that is three times longer, three times wider, and eight times taller than this one. The steam engine will be hidden under the deck, and there will only be guest rooms and cargo above the deck."

Huo Qubing turned his head sharply: "Three times, three times, eight times...it's bigger than it is now, seventy-two times? How many tons of cargo can this ship carry?"

Huo Hai: “Fifteen tons.”

Huo Qubing: "So, the new ship can carry...more than 100 tons?" Huo Hai: "How is that possible? The new ship can carry more than 400 tons. It doesn't mean that if it is twice as big, it can carry twice as much cargo. With a larger draft, the carrying capacity will increase dramatically. It should be at least between 400 and 1,200 tons."

In fact, the new ship designed by Huo Hairang'erkuan and his team has a size that can easily carry thousands of tons, but the material cannot hold up.

However, this technological development is mutual. It will be useful only if all technological points are upgraded simultaneously. If you max out one technology tree first, the result will be that a 10,000-ton cruise ship uses rat hearts.

However, Huo Hai's estimate of four hundred to twelve hundred is also a relatively low estimate.

Four hundred is the carrying capacity of the second generation of the original cruise ship in Huo Hai's memory, and twelve hundred is the carrying capacity of the first generation of ocean-going cruise ships.

Huo Hai estimated that the results should at least reach this value by then.

Of course, Huo Hai also thought about directly reaching the 2,000-ton or 3,000-ton standard, but... that was not likely for a wooden plank ship.

If it is a mortise and tenon structure, it is a Song Dynasty Fu ship or a Ming Dynasty treasure ship, of course it is possible.

However, a structure made of wooden boards nailed together with steel frames cannot possibly reach that level.

But the advantage is that it can continuously accumulate workers with steamship experience to prepare for the subsequent super-large ironclad ships.

After Huo Qubing stood on the boat and took a look, he found that the steam engine of the steamship was exactly the same as that of the train, and then he lost interest.

Huo Qubing didn't come to see the technology, he just wanted to watch the fun and see the future.

So when we found out there was nothing new, we got off the boat.

As he stepped off the small sampan, he said, "What's the use of making such a big boat on the river?"

Huo Hai: "That's for use at sea. It can also be used in rivers."

Huo Qubing did not think about it any more. The boat he had now was enough: "With this boat, the things from Jincheng can be sent to Huaishuo."

"By then...if the people of the right wing of the Xiongnu want to go back to the south of the desert or the central part, the people of Huaishuo will have received the news just after they set out."

Huo Hai laughed: "This is exactly the effect I want."

It only takes this much time for a steamboat to reach Jincheng going upstream, and Jincheng can reach Jincheng three times faster going downstream than going upstream.

The Huns set out from the Qilian Mountains, and the spies' intelligence came from the Yumen Pass.

When the Xiongnu had only walked one-third of the Yanzhi Mountain (later Qilian Mountain), the people from Huaishuo had already organized their troops and set out, and had been waiting on the northern side of the central part of Yanzhi Mountain for a week or so to rest.

Who could have thought that with the ships, they could completely control the southern part of the desert?

Besides, if the Huns were really that powerful, they could have passed through Yanzhi Mountain and defeated Huaishuo, and even defeated Huaishuo's musketeers.

By then, the Han Dynasty's ships will sail downstream from upstream and capture Huaishuo in one day.

Therefore, with the advent of ships, the area south of the desert would belong to the Han Dynasty forever.

It connects the Hexi Corridor and Hetao, two completely different geographical units, separated by a thousands of miles of uninhabited desert, into one area.

With Huo Qubing's strategic vision, he could of course see through this easily.

While Huo Qubing and Huo Hai were chatting here, Li Guang, who had just got off the boat, had been talking to the Li family for a while.

Li Guang hasn't returned to Longxi for a long time, and the old people here haven't seen Li Guang for a long time either.

The news that Li Guang had returned from the river was delivered in advance.

Longxi is different from Yumen Pass. When Longxi gets the news, it only needs to cross a river to get to Jincheng. Therefore, even if it is military-level intelligence, it will naturally reach Longxi faster than Huo Qubing getting the military report and running back.

This also indirectly confirms the necessity of road construction.

After talking with the elders of the family for a while, Li Guang asked them to rest first while he went to talk with the General of Cavalry.

After the others had left, Li Guang tidied up his clothes and armor and walked towards Huo Qubing again.

Huo Qubing had almost finished his conversation at this time. When he saw Li Guang coming over, he was actually not very happy.

In Huo Qubing's view, the Li family was too rigid in fighting wars and too political in doing things, which he did not like.

However, this time Li Guang came and could solve the key problem at hand, so Huo Qubing still smiled.

Li Guang bowed and said: "General Hussar! You have fought thousands of miles away and performed unprecedented feats in one battle!"

Huo Qubing smiled and said, "It wasn't a big battle. It didn't take much effort. It's not worth boasting about."

Li Guang was about to continue his compliments when Huo Qubing turned serious: "Originally, I wanted you to go to Dunhuang, to Yumen Pass, and exchange towns with me, but something happened suddenly, and I have to deal with more important things for the time being."

Logically, Huo Qubing should have gone to Jincheng, the Jincheng on Jinshan Mountain, not the old Jincheng on the banks of the Yellow River.

Li Guang was puzzled: "What's the matter?"

Huo Qubing told the story of the Qiang people's surrender.

Huo Hai was stunned after hearing this.

The Qiang people and the people in the Central Plains had the same ancestor and later merged together, so Huo Hai's impression of the Qiang people was that they were relatively strong and fierce, with their own villages, similar to the Han people.

Of course, this is probably the impression Ma Chao gave to Huo Hai.

Now, after listening to Huo Qubing's detailed account of the Qiang people's affairs, Huo Hai was finally certain of their situation.

Simply put, the Qiang people at that time were the ancestors of the Tibetans and Han people in later generations, as well as the ancestors of other ethnic groups living in this area.

To be precise, they separated from ancient China, and then formed multiple ethnic groups later, and some returned to the bloodline of the main ethnic group.

That's it.

Huo Hai didn’t know how the Qiang issue was resolved in history, but it was definitely not resolved during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.

The Qiang people’s current request to submit to the country is probably a chain reaction brought about by economic development.

If it were in the past, the Han court might not have agreed to their surrender.

But now, it is the most beneficial option for them to vote over.

Because...lack of population!
There is a severe shortage of population to the north of Longxi now.

Large-scale migration from the interior to the western regions is basically unrealistic, and even if it is to be done, the cost will be huge.

If the Qiang people surrendered, it would solve a big problem.

First of all, a large number of Han people went to dig for gold, which increased the proportion of Han people in the Western Regions. Then the Qiang people submitted to the Central Plains. Compared with the people in the Western Regions, they had completely accepted Han culture. It was plug-and-play and the system was compatible.

They would make some arrangements and settle down near the four counties of Hexi, and then the young and middle-aged people could be selected to go to the Western Regions.

The Western Region will need a lot of population in the future, and the Qiang people can undoubtedly solve some of the practical population problems.

As for the rest, we can only stimulate their birth.

Huo Hai thought this was a good thing.

Huo Qubing asked Li Guang for his opinion.

After all, Li Guang grew up in Longxi, and he was more familiar with the Qiang people than Huo Qubing.

After listening, Li Guang frowned.

When he was in Longxi, the Qiang people were not like this.

However, Li Guang now remembered the words of his good friend Wang Shuo.

When Li Guang was the prefect of Longxi, a small Qiang tribe in Longxi rebelled.

Li Guang lured them to surrender and then killed all the 800 Qiang people.

Now people in Chang'an say that Li Guang was not granted the title of marquis because he killed the surrendered soldiers.

Of course, this was spread by Wang Shuo.

Now, it’s time to make a choice again.

Of course, no one would stand up for the small tribe that was destroyed by Li Guang.

Now, can this deal be concluded? Will there be any setbacks?
Although Li Guang did not comment on the fact that he killed prisoners and surrendered soldiers, he had to admit one thing.

No matter how you whitewash your original actions, no matter how you say it was an attempt to induce surrender, there is one thing that cannot be changed.

In fact, the Qiang tribe did surrender at that time.

Li Guang shook his head: "I can give some advice on this matter, but don't let me take the lead in the discussion, otherwise it will cause unnecessary trouble."

Li Guang also read the collection of idioms.

Huo Qubing glanced at Huo Hai.

Huo Hai: "Their demands are not excessive."

To put it bluntly, it's human resources subcontracting.

Dahan is an employer, but it is too expensive for Dahan to find people himself. Now a subcontracting company comes here, their people are cheap, and there will be no risk to Dahan. Logically speaking, they propose to settle the bill together, which is no problem.

But it's not that simple: "But if they want to keep doing this forever, that's too much."

Things can only be sold once.

A person can only betray once.

If you sell it this time, you won’t be able to sell it next time.

How could the Qiang leaders sell out the Qiang people again and again?
Huo Hai: "We negotiated with them that for every person they introduced to work here, we would give them one month's salary as agency fee, but the prerequisite is that the worker must sign a one-year contract with us."

Huo Qubing began to think about it.

Of course, he quickly thought about the reason for doing this.

Did the Qiang people really work for the Han people for a year and then go back to be ruled by the Qiang leader?

Are you kidding me? I eat and drink at Dahan and live in Dahan for a long time. Why should I listen to you? Am I asking for trouble?
Therefore, this one month's salary as an agency fee is actually a buyout fee.

Don't ever think about getting it a second time.

Huo Qubing calculated carefully: "If it is a large Qiang tribe with 20,000 people, and they send 7,000 young and strong men and 5,000 young and strong women here, that would be a brokerage fee of 15 million yuan."

"The entire Qiang tribe has 1.5 million people. If 1 million of them come to work, we will take out 800 million to share among the Xiongnu leaders, big and small."

"This money……"

You have to know that before the Han Dynasty developed its economy, two years ago, this amount of money could buy almost all the high-quality land in Liangzhou.

Huo Qubing continued: "Moreover, if we put forward this condition, they may not agree. They will definitely negotiate. If the situation goes well, it will be two to three months or even four to five months' money."

This is an extremely large number, which is equivalent to sending all the Qiang tribal leaders directly to the top of the Han Dynasty in one leap.

Huo Hai: "If they really want to sell out the entire clan..."

After Huo Hai said this, he looked at Li Guang.

Li Guang: "Why are you looking at me?"

Huo Hai: "You are familiar with this job."

Li Guang: "I won't do it..."

Li Guang still doesn’t know what Huo Hai wants to do?

At that time, we will set the tone and let the Qiang people know that they have actually been sold, and sold as slaves. It’s just that the agreement states that they are workers, but in fact their treatment in all aspects is worse than that of Han and Xiongnu craftsmen, and the extra money is eaten by these tribal leaders.

Wouldn't the Qiang people, who are already very tough, roast and eat the tribal leaders?
Of course, they were very excited, but the big man couldn't let them do it.

Because you are already Han people, you cannot lynch people at will. You have to see what Han law says.

At this time, the Han law allowed Li Guang to go out and kill people.

Li Guang has the bad reputation on the Qiang side anyway, so wouldn't it be natural for him to continue to be the bad guy?
Moreover, although Li Guang's killing of this group of people would arouse hatred among the upper and middle class survivors of the Qiang people, it would actually help to clear the hatred of the ordinary Qiang people towards him.

Li Guang killed people according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, and it was not a personal vendetta. Now he has also killed the person I want to kill, which shows that he is impartial and just. What reason do you have to hate him?

Besides, it would be nice to get money. What if there is no money for causing trouble? Then someone would naturally speak up for Li Guang, and over time, the hatred would be transformed.

But Li Guang really didn't want to.

Huo Qubing: "That's a good idea."

Li Guang's face darkened: "You two brothers are really filthy-hearted."

Huo Qubing: "I heard people say that the research institute now calls the human heart the heart. Of course the heart is dirty."

Huo Hai patted Li Guang on the shoulder and said, "Time will prove that we are right. It may not sound good now, but in the future, the Qiang people will thank your ancestors for eight generations and erect a statue for you at their gathering place."

Li Guang declined: "I just want to get things done quickly and then go to Yumen Pass."

If these Qiang people are not dealt with properly, who would dare to go to Yumen Pass? There are millions of them! More than the current Xiongnu people!

Huo Qubing: "It's not too late to make a detailed plan."

----

Asking for monthly ticket

(End of this chapter)