Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 424 River

"Will Liu Bang abandon us?"

"We have waited for decades, and now we are finally able to see the attire of our homeland in our lifetime. We hope that you, Lord Pei, will have mercy on our loyal hearts and not abandon the elders of Guanzhong..."

"Liu Bobo is cruel and ruthless. Once Liu Bang's army arrives, they will surely slaughter us..."

As soon as the army made a move, the Qiang and Jin people of Chang'an came upon hearing the news and crowded the army gate.

"I have left behind elite troops to guard Guanzhong. I will definitely return from Jiankang within six months. You can all rest assured." Liu Daogui understood their fear.

The Tiger Guards can enter the city without committing any offenses, but Hu Xia's army will not be so lenient.

Liu Bobo was infamous in Guanzhong. He often sat on the city wall with a knife and bow beside him. If he had any dissatisfaction with anyone, he would personally kill them.

If a subject's eyes show resentment, gouge out their eyes; if they dare to laugh, cut off their lips; if they dare to offer advice, cut off their tongue first, then behead them.

Each time he breached a city of Yao Qin, he would unleash a massacre. When attacking Nanliang, he defeated the Nanliang army twice in Zhiyang and Yangwu, killing more than 10,000 people and building the "Skull Terrace" to publicize his martial prowess.

In Xingcheng, 20,000 surrendered soldiers of Yao Qin were massacred in one go.

In contrast, after Liu Daogui captured Chang'an, he pacified the displaced people, pardoned the generals of Yao Qin, distributed land to them, exempted them from taxes for three years, and abolished the corrupt practices of Yao Xing's rule.

With these measures in place, people naturally sided with Liu Daogui.

"If that's the case, then we can rest assured."

They said this, but their eyes were still filled with worry.

Liu Daogui could understand their concerns. Decades ago, Huan Wen had also stationed troops at Ba Shang, but did not move and eventually retreated to Jiangzuo.

"Since you all still have doubts, how about I transfer the Crown Prince to be stationed in Chang'an?" With Zhu Lin and Mao Xiuzhi in charge in Shu, things have gradually gotten on track in the last two years.

The Yijiang Governor's Office initially established itself in southern China, but the gentry of Sichuan, having tasted success, began to expand wildly, capturing barbarians as slaves, seizing mountains and rivers, and becoming pioneers in opening up new frontiers.

As these aristocratic families moved south, Sichuan began to flourish. Liu Yixing, as the heir apparent and future crown prince, could not remain marginalized indefinitely.

Guanzhong needs him more.

"The General is wise!" the crowd cheered immediately.

Liu Daogui immediately had Feng Kai write a transfer order, affixed the seal of the Grand General, and sent someone on horseback south.

The people then withdrew, and Liu Daogui led his troops out of the camp.

"Take care, Lord Pei!" The crowd behind him said with earnest expectation.

"Take care, everyone." Liu Daogui bowed and then spurred his horse eastward.

After eighty or ninety years of war, no one wanted to continue killing.

If we trace back to the war between the Han and the Qiang, the Qiang people fought each other for two or three hundred years, and the war was also a process of integration.

These Qiang people in Chang'an were already not much different from the Jin people.

"The people's hearts are at stake, the people's hearts are at stake." Yao Xing sighed, filled with regret.

Liu Daogui moved eastward along the Wei River and established his capital in Chang'an. His intention was not to isolate himself from the Guandong region, but rather to integrate it with the manpower and resources of the Guandong region to support his expansion to the north and west.

The best way to connect Guanzhong and Guandong is through the Grand Canal.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, canals such as the Zheng Guo Canal, Bai Canal, and Longshou Canal were built, transforming the saline-alkali land north of the Wei River into fertile fields stretching for thousands of miles.

The most noteworthy of these is the Zheng Guo Canal, which diverted silt from the Jing River to irrigate the saline-alkali land north of the Wei River. Once completed, the canal irrigated over 40,000 hectares of saline-alkali land, nearly 1.1 million mu, yielding one shi per mu. As a result, Guanzhong became a fertile land with no years of famine, and Qin became rich and powerful, eventually unifying the other states.

The canals north of the Wei River only need dredging to continue functioning. However, south of the Wei River, from Longshouyuan to Tongguan, there are very few canals, the land is cracked, and the population is sparse.

If there were a canal connecting Tongguan and Chang'an, it would not only solve the drought problem in Weinan, but also connect the Yellow River and the Luo River.

Money and grain from Guandong could then be transported to Guanzhong in a continuous stream.

Following the Wei River out of Tongguan and into Hongnong, the current becomes turbulent. Reaching Sanmenxia, ​​towering rocks emerge from the river, forming nineteen rapids, comparable to the Three Gorges, with extreme elevation changes, making it unsuitable for large ships of more than three thousand hu.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court carved plank roads into the rocks around the Sanmenxia Gorge to help boatmen navigate the dangerous waterways.

Liu Daogui summoned Zhang Gang and asked, "Could the river be widened here?"

Zhang Gang smiled wryly and said, "I am skilled in mechanical tools, not water conservancy."

The problem that even the Han and Wei dynasties couldn't solve, Zhang Gang, an outsider, naturally couldn't solve.

However, Feng Kai said, "The mountains here are extremely dangerous, making the transport of grain and fodder difficult and prone to capsizing. It would be better to carve out eighteen miles of mountains for land transport, and set up granaries on the east and west sides to make them transit points for supplies. The grain can be transported by boat to the eastern granary and by land to the western granary, and then transported by boat to avoid the dangers of the waters at Sanmen."

"Brilliant plan!" Liu Daogui praised.

Right now, there is a shortage of manpower and resources everywhere, and there is really no energy to carry out large-scale construction.

The surrounding mountains are treacherous and there is no way to bypass them. Rather than spending huge amounts of manpower and resources to open up the mountains and build plank roads, it would be better to build a granary here as a transit point.

After passing this section, the water flow in other river channels is relatively gentle. Guanzhong needs money and grain, so they can return by boat and go downstream to collect them.

It could also support a large number of canal porters.

This place has a strategic location and is not afraid of enemy attacks.

Liu Daogui's governing philosophy was to allow the people to rest and recuperate, and to avoid unnecessary disruptions.

If all else fails, they'll go out and kidnap barbarians to serve as laborers.

Having surveyed the terrain along the way, Liu Daogui felt reassured. As long as the waterways were connected, Guanzhong and Guandong would be a unified whole.

In addition to connecting to the Yellow River, the Wei River is also connected to the Fen River and other water systems in Hedong. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Jin suffered a great famine and asked the State of Qin for help. Qin's grain ships set off from Yongcheng and transported grain along the Wei River from west to east for 500 li. Then they switched to carts, crossed the Yellow River, and then used the Fen River for canal transport to go north, directly to the Jin capital, Jiangcheng.

Wherever the water network extends, Liu Daogui's reach extends as well.

After entering Xuchang, the army boarded the cargo ships prepared in advance by Cao Ji and sailed down the Ying River into the Huai River.

When Xin Gongjing governed Yuzhou, besides establishing military farms, he also dug canals, dredging all the old waterways of Cao Wei and turning the Central Plains into fertile land. As soon as spring arrived, farmers were already carefully cultivating the fields.

It's so much better than six or seven years ago when there was no one to be seen for miles around and not even a rooster could be heard for miles.

The Central Plains are a vast and resource-rich land. There are no powerful clans or noble families. Woodcutters and fishermen, dressed in cloth clothes and straw sandals, can often be seen in the mountains and rivers.

However, once you enter the Jianghuai region, the scene changes completely, and the population becomes denser.

Although Liu Yu had been promoting the land reform for years, he bypassed the two prefectures of Guangling and Jinling, so the land reform was not thorough and only served to suppress powerful clans and strike at political enemies.

The people were still dressed in rags.

According to the standards of the Jin Dynasty, seventy to one hundred mu of land was needed to support a family of five. However, in reality, many families had less than ten mu of land and still had to endure various forms of corvée labor, making life difficult.

Many people still want to join the ranks of powerful families and become their dependents.

"Moving the capital is imperative!" Liu Daogui had no interest in the intrigues and power struggles among the aristocratic families.

With the sword hilt in hand, the court must act according to its own rules.

(End of this chapter)