Chapter 488 Name the erudite gentleman Yang Qian with difficult disease
Chapter 488
Why, the people involved are not happy with the name of the bridge, and neither are you. Should this bridge be called the Unhappy Bridge?
"I asked Governor Yang to rename this bridge." As the person involved, Li Chun also saw that Governor Yang was not happy, so he quickly added.
"Yes, yes, please give the prefect a name for this bridge."
Well, seeing how everyone commented, Yang Qian finally changed his mind and started thinking about it seriously.
After carefully looking at the bridge deck, he led the people to the foot of the bridge. After thinking about it for a long time, Yang Qian asked Changsun Wuji beside him.
"How about calling it Five Arch Bridge? Look, there are five arches under this bridge, so it lives up to its name."
Yang Qian waited for a long time, but he didn't hear the talkative Changsun Wuji beside him speak, and subconsciously turned his head.
I saw the horrified expression on Changsun Wuji's face.
Yang Qian's face turned dark. "I said, Changsun, what's your expression?"
"Prefect, your ability to name names is really unpredictable... I have no choice but to obey."
"???"
"Zijing, don't be upset. Let me think about it. How about we call this bridge Jiangdu Bridge? Since it is the first stone arch bridge in Jiangdu, would such a bridge name be more appropriate?"
Yang Qian, an erudite gentleman who had difficulty naming, thought for a long time and felt deeply depressed. At least, the artistic conception of Jiangdu Bridge has more historical charm than the Five-Arch Bridge.
"Jiangdu Bridge? OK, the one near Gaoyou is called Gaoyou Bridge, and the bridge further north, near Shanyang County, is named after Shanyang."
"The prefect agrees. From today on, this bridge will be Jiangdu Bridge."
All the officials breathed a sigh of relief in unison, fearing that Governor Yang would use words like repentance and reform on the bridge again.
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The donations received reached a total of 400,000 yuan. This amount really made Yang Qiandu secretly stunned. It was enough to see how wealthy Jiangdu County and Jiangnan merchants were.
This is just a drop in the bucket for them, they have all achieved such wealth.
Thinking about later generations, agriculture became completely free, and the taxes collected were mainly based on industry and commerce. It is enough to see how profitable business is.
What to do with all the extra money? This has become a new problem.
But no one would be happy to return the money to those extremely wealthy businessmen.
"Of course it cannot be returned to those merchants. This is their intention towards His Majesty."
Fang Qiao is now Yang Qian's housekeeper, and his little abacus is rattling.
"As for this money, apart from building dragon boats and ships for Your Majesty, there are still 300,000 yuan left."
"Didn't the prefect worry about comprehensively renovating Jiangdu's road traffic before? There is a huge gap? This money can be used right here."
"The lower officials also think it is feasible. As the saying goes, take it from the people and use it for the people. Those merchants who do business have to travel to various places. We repair the roads and it will be convenient for them."
Seeing that all the civil servants agreed with Fang Qiao's suggestion, Yang Qian naturally had no objection.
As for the generals, it’s up to you to do whatever you like, and it has little to do with us anyway.
In the end, all the donations of 400,000 yuan found their way. Taking advantage of the slack farming period, the main roads were leveled and repaired into gravel roads one by one.
As funds come out, the construction of dragon boats will naturally be put on the agenda.
Yang Qian, who was ordered to build a dragon boat, did not build it according to the past practice, but proposed a new plan.
With Yang Guang's temperament that likes to be innovative, Yang Qian felt that his four-wheel plan would be even more innovative.
Importantly, the use of four huge paddle wheels can also greatly reduce the oar opening, which is beneficial to the structural stability of the ship.
Moreover, with four paddle wheels, animal power can be used to replace human power. One paddle wheel only requires four to five healthy oxen, and the entire dragon boat only requires twenty oxen.
It can move the entire dragon boat, and the speed is no slower than the dragon boats that used hundreds of oarsmen in the past.
Moreover, the four dragon claws can be painted on the outer cover of the paddle wheel.
What Yang Qian did not say was that his new plan was approved by Yang Guang, the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
Now that Yang Guang has approved it, what else is there to say? Let’s do it.
In addition, Yang Qian petitioned Yang Guang to establish a county seat on Liuqiu Island, which was also approved.
Moreover, Yang Guang personally named it Liuqiu County and it was under the jurisdiction of Jiangdu County.
With the emperor's imperial edict, Yang Qian was even happier. He didn't expect Yang Guang to be so smart and directly handed over the management of Liuqiu Island to himself. What else could he say?
After much deliberation, he finally selected a capable official, Xue Shou, from among his subordinate officials and asked him to take up his post. He also selected more than ten capable scribes to accompany him.
However, in order to establish the Sui Dynasty's control over Liuqiu Island, Yang Qian sent an elite force of about two thousand people to station on Liuqiu Island.
Of course, I also told them that they only need to stay for one year before they can return to the mainland, once a year. If they are willing to stay there, that would be better.
Each soldier who is willing to stay there can get two hundred acres of land, enough for them and their families to live and work in peace and contentment.
Anyway, Yang Qian is planning to continue to manage Liuqiu Island, and he will definitely not let the island fend for itself and escape the control of the court.
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In addition, a yamen was specially established to be responsible for various development affairs of Liuqiu County.
Including those merchants who were already excited and wanted to send manpower to Liuqiu County to occupy territory, they could only deal with this yamen honestly.
Three months later, the simple dock located in the south of Liuqiu County finally welcomed its first batch of pioneers.
It was a total of 3,000 young people from twelve merchants, feeling the warmer climate here than the mainland, and the vast plains.
Let the hearts of those pioneers be filled with a sense of expectation and mission to open up new territories.
When it was early summer again, a brand new giant dragon boat with dazzling golden light was finally built and slowly sank into the water.
This dragon boat is about fifteen feet long. After entering the water, the dragon boat, which is four feet high, looks particularly majestic.
With a majestic and domineering dragon head in front, and brass foil scales on the hull, the whole ship looks very resplendent.
The ship's hull is divided into five floors. The bottom floor is where food and baggage are loaded. The second floor is the rest room for the eunuchs, maids and guards on the ship. Of course, there are also four huge paddle wheel rooms.
At the back of the third floor was the residence of the emperor and his concubines, and further up was the deck that was so transparent that everything could be seen.
However, the top of the deck is completely blocked by a pavilion. If there is rain or snow, this deck is naturally the best place to enjoy the mist and rain, and there is no need to worry about being exposed to the sun or rain.
On the floor of the Tai Pavilion, there is only a small hall that is open to wind from all sides and is specially used by the emperor to view the scenery. There is no obstruction in other places.
It is good for some people who are tired of eating and drinking, to stand here to sunbathe in the scorching sun, or to stand here to feel the drizzle and mist of Jiangnan.