Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 85 River and Canal Engineering
After checking the fields, Yan Yi led his men to Jiuqu River without stopping.

Yuncheng had very little farmland, and only the riverbanks of the Changshui and Jiuqu rivers were suitable for planting. Farmland farther from the river was difficult to irrigate effectively.

It is necessary to build ditches and canals and expand the irrigation area of ​​the river in order to significantly increase the number of acres of farmland in Yuncheng.

However, building canals is not as simple as digging ditches along the river bank. It must be carefully surveyed and planned in advance, and appropriate water conservancy plans must be formulated according to local conditions before it can be implemented.

After implementation, the project must undergo inspections during the spring and summer flood seasons to prove whether its quality is up to standard.

If the test fails, it will cause a serious blow to the prestige of the ruler. On the contrary, it will bring huge prestige to the ruler.

Because the development of water conservancy has special strategic significance in this era dominated by agriculture, famous water conservancy projects, such as Zhengguo Canal, Dujiangyan, Lingqu Canal, Grand Canal, etc., are regarded as benchmarks for the development of the entire agricultural society.

If a regime can successfully complete the construction of a water conservancy project, it means that the regime has strong organizational and resource allocation capabilities in all aspects, and that the power and prestige of the ruler in the local area have reached a high level.

In addition, every water conservancy project requires a huge investment of manpower, material resources and money. Once any mistakes occur, the losses can be imagined.

Therefore, although the irrigation canals of the Changhe and Jiuqu rivers were only a small project, Yan Yi still showed absolute importance to it. Not only did he mobilize all kinds of money, manpower, and materials, but even for the canal construction plan alone, he used Yan Baihu's connections and traveled hundreds of miles to Xuzhou Xiapi to ask Chen Deng to design it.

Chen Deng had served as the Commandant of Agriculture during Tao Qian's administration of Xuzhou, overseeing the construction of numerous water conservancy projects. He had extensive experience in this area and commanded numerous water conservancy professionals. Therefore, designing a canal construction plan was not a difficult task for Chen Deng.

He even said to the envoy sent by Yan Yi: "Your county lord is young, ambitious, and talented. When he first took charge of the county, he was able to put people's livelihood first, reduce taxes and levies, and develop water conservancy projects. How could I covet his meager wages for labor and materials? Just consider it my humble contribution to the people of Yuncheng."

Therefore, the 500,000 yuan in design and material fees that the envoy had presented was fully returned.

The goodwill Chen Deng showed towards Yan Yi was naturally not as simple as he said, but was related to the current political situation.

The previous year, after the death of Yangzhou Governor Chen Wen, Yuan Shao appointed Yuan Yi as Governor of Yangzhou, intending to govern the region. However, on his way to take up his post, Yuan Yi was attacked by Yuan Shu, who also had his sights on Yangzhou. Defeated, Yuan Yi fled to Pei State, where he was killed by the rebels. Yuan Shu then promptly appointed Chen Yu, Chen Deng's cousin, as Governor of Yangzhou.

However, when Yuan Shu was defeated by Cao Cao in the battle for Yanzhou and fled to Shouchun, Chen Yu, who occupied Shouchun at the time, refused to accept Yuan Shu. The two then went to war with each other, and Chen Yu was eventually expelled by Yuan Shu and fled to Xia Pi.

From then on, the relationship between the Chen family of Xia Pi and Yuan Shu was completely broken, and Tao Qian, whom the Chen family worked for, also had an obvious conflict of interest with Yuan Shu, so Chen Deng hated Yuan Shu very much.

Chen Deng once publicly commented that Yuan Shu was "arrogant and unbridled, and not a leader who could bring order to chaos." Later, he continued to alienate the relationship between Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, leading to a complete break between Lu Bu and Yuan Shu.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Yan, who had been secretly fighting with Wu Jing recently, naturally became Chen Deng's target of friendship.

Yan Yi's series of military and political actions also gradually reached Chen Deng's ears. For Chen Deng, who was good at using strategies in military operations and paying attention to people's livelihood, Yan Yi's behavior was very much to his liking, and he felt a sense of mutual appreciation.

It is not difficult to understand why Chen Deng was willing to design a canal construction plan for Yan Yi free of charge.

According to Chen Deng's reply, the craftsmen he sent would arrive in Yuncheng in about ten days, and this would be almost the end of spring plowing. At that time, Yan Yi could recruit manpower from the people who had finished spring plowing and start building canals.

Before this, preparatory work for the construction of the canal had already been carried out in full swing.

Before Yan Yi's eyes, the Jiuqu River construction site was already filled with various stones, wood, soil, bamboo, as well as a large number of construction tools and transportation vehicles. In addition, a large amount of daily necessities such as food, fodder, firewood, candles, and salt were also stored in the nearby huts.

Two odometer trucks are also conducting the final mileage survey on site.

In just over ten days, the project can start.

A troop of 500 men will also be stationed there to maintain order.

If all goes well, the project will be completed in four months.

In this project, Yan Yi invested at least 20 million yuan in various funds, food and supplies.

The money and goods seized from Yuncheng are rapidly decreasing.

However, for Yan Yi, this was something he would be happy to see happen. If he did not convert these money and goods into war tools and productivity as soon as possible, would he let them lie idle and rot in the treasury?

Looking at the winding Jiuqu River in front of him, he thought of a fiscal and tax revenue that was very suitable for Yuncheng.

That's the fishery.

There have been records of "taxes in May and June" and "taxes of sixty yuan in May and June" in Wu and Yun since ancient times. The fishing industry in the two places is very developed, and a complete industrial chain of catching, transporting, selling and taxing has long been formed. If it weren't for the prodigal Qian Tong who banned the fishing industry for military reasons, the people of Yuncheng would not be so poor.

Now is the time to open up and restore the fishery.

Yan Yi firmly believed that as long as there was support from the textile and fishery industries, coupled with the rapidly increasing farmland, Yuncheng's population and economy would surely enter a period of rapid development.

Not only does he have this confidence, everyone in Yuncheng has an increasingly clear perception of this.

This is also an important reason why Yan Yi’s reputation in Yuncheng is so high.

More and more people feel that the ruler of Yuncheng is like a magician, who is rapidly changing the face of Yuncheng at an astonishing speed and leading it to prosperity.

The price was that Yan Yi was almost exhausted.

After inspecting the houses, fields and riverbanks, he also had to meet with the elders, filial brothers and hard-working farmers of the three townships under his jurisdiction one by one.

The origin of the Three Village Elders can be traced back to the pre-Qin period. It first appeared in the Book of Rites, but it was not until the Qin and Han dynasties that it was formalized and widely implemented.

Their duties include educating the people, resolving lawsuits and grievances, assisting government officials and temples in conveying government orders and collecting taxes, and sometimes they also have to preside over and participate in sacrifices.

Those who can serve as the three elders of the village are basically respected elders in the village. They are elected by the villagers, deeply respected by the villagers, and have both official and civilian identities.

(End of this chapter)