The discovery of silver mines made Liaodong generals feel as if something had been injected into them...
Silver Mountain!
And there’s gold!
Mountains of gold and silver!
However, this location is indeed not good. Although it is not far from Kaiyuan, at least according to the standards of a farming nation, it is difficult to maintain it by farming. In fact, Liaohaiwei is not farming. If it can farm, it will not be the next year.
The commander-in-chief moved to Kaiyuan because the Han military households who moved in at the same time as the commander-in-chief were unable to farm.
Zhu Yuanzhang's Jurchen guards all had to include some Han military households.
Generally, it is the Zhongqianhu Office.
However, Liaohaiwei's military households could only rely on transporting food from Kaiyuan.
Maintenance costs are simply too high.
Not cost effective.
So we simply moved the command structure to Kaiyuan and left the Jurchens who did not need to transport supplies.
Costs are saved.
But his control over the Jurchens also declined.
Now the generals of Liaodong also need to face a problem, that is, the development of silver mines will also require a large number of people who are out of work. After all, it is impossible to open the mines without food.
"There is food. As long as we are willing, the transportation from Niuzhuang to Laomiwan is enough. Although it is slower to go upstream, it will be southerly most of the time after opening the river. Sail is enough, as long as we can mine silver.
, the court must also provide food. But from Laomiwan to here, the transportation will be troublesome, unless a large number of civilians are used, but using civilians will also increase the number of people to eat. After all, Kaiyuan cannot grow much food, so we still have to rely on
Water transportation. In the end, we got into an unsolvable problem. To mine silver, we can only use more people. If we use more people, we have to eat more food. Finally, we have to use more people to transport food. This is added layer by layer.
In the end, the money mined was not enough to feed these people.
Not only will this not benefit Liaodong, but it will become a burden to Liaodong.
The imperial court won’t do it either.”
Zhu Sheng said.
Then a group of generals looked at the big silver pit next to them and became entangled one by one...
So tempting.
Because the sun is at the right angle, the new stones exploded by grenades are reflecting the light of silver. This point is actually the location of the largest mine located by Yang Feng. It is full of high-grade ores, and some of them cannot even be called.
For ore.
Now when it is exploded, there are new sections, which are indeed very attractive in the sunshine.
"In other words, the key is actually this land transportation?"
Yang Feng said.
"Yes, if it's in the interior, these two hundred miles are really nothing, but it's really a problem to open a mine here. After all, to open a mine, you need thousands or even tens of thousands of people to be stationed there. Now Kaiyuan, Liao
Hai and Wei together are not even ten thousand strong."
Zhuang De said.
"Do you smelt iron here?"
"Yes, there is Tieye in Zhonggu City in the south."
"You don't have a shortage of horses here, do you?"
"There is no shortage, but it will not be enough if we use horses to carry it."
"Then pull a cart. If you want to be rich, build a road first, but it is not an ordinary road. You can say that the wood here is inexhaustible. Then use wood to pave a road from Laomiwan to Kaiyuan, and then from Kaiyuan
Wooden track to here.
I will also design a carriage specially designed for you to run on wooden tracks. From now on, grain transported to Laomi Bay will be transported using this carriage."
Yang Feng said.
It would be a waste not to build the railway under such good conditions...
We’ll talk about railways later, but wooden rails are really good!
Although the wooden rails are indeed easily damaged, the problem here is that they can be replaced at any time. There is an endless virgin forest next to it. You can go there and cut as much wood as you want, and you have to choose the best. Then from
Starting from Laomi Bay, we built it eastward to Kaiyuan, and then north to Shanmen. We also happened to supply Liaohaiwei in the middle, and we directly built a double line, one to the south and one to the north. In this way, we added loaded carriages.
It is enough to maintain transportation. In fact, wooden rails are not that fragile. In the future, you can learn from the British and add iron sheets to protect them. The anti-corrosion problem is not difficult. After all, this is Northeast China, not Jiangsu and Zhejiang. You can also paint them with oil to prevent corrosion or even
Just burn it.
Anyway, this is an easy solution.
This wooden track is estimated to be just over a hundred kilometers long.
Let’s just say one hundred and fifty.
150,000 meters.
Four strips of ten meters each require 60,000 pieces, plus sleepers...
It seems that there is no need to use too many sleepers for this. One sleeper every two meters is enough. In short, the material is not a problem at all. The key is that there is an endless forest guarding the side.
The special carriage is also very simple, just wheels with a groove in the middle.
There is no need to change tracks for double tracks.
If there is a problem, push it out directly to make way.
And it’s not just here. If this kind of wooden rail is effective, then Zhu Yuanzhang can be encouraged to build the same wooden rail from Peking to the Yellow River. After all, there is no shortage of wood near the Taihang Mountains. It can even be continued from the south bank of the Yellow River, that is, along the
Building all the way from the mountainous areas of Henan to Sheqi, you can enter the Han River water system, and the grain from the Huguang grain-producing area can be transported directly to the north. With sea transportation and wooden rail carriage transportation, the canal is not so important. The canal is indeed important for connecting the north and the south.
But there are too many alternatives to this important issue. On the contrary, maintaining the canal is a huge burden for the people.
Not only southwestern Shandong, but also the canal was extremely impoverished along the Huaihe River in the late Ming Dynasty.
Because we have to choose between protecting the Mingzu Mausoleum and maintaining shipping north of Huai'an.
To protect the canal, you have to maintain the water level.
To maintain the water level, Sizhou will have to be flooded.
To protect the Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, it is necessary to add a new outlet to the Huaihe River, but this will reduce the depth of the Qingshui River and make it impossible for canal boats to pass through the river channel that is silted by the Yellow River.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty struggled to maintain itself between the two trade-offs. The consequence of this maintenance was that Fengyang suffered nine disasters out of ten years. It also cost countless laborers along the Yellow River and the canal, and the Yellow River burst again and again. Because it must be
To wash away sand, the Yellow River must be narrow enough. Since it is narrow enough, you must be prepared to be washed away during the flood season. After all, the Yellow River will not consider these messy things. But if you give up maintaining this section of the canal, things will be very serious.
It's simple. Dig a main irrigation canal in northern Jiangsu and dredge the waterway into the Yangtze River. The Huaihe River water blocked by Qingkou and Gaojiayan is released, and the floods along the Huaihe River immediately drop by more than half.
As for the Yellow River, just let it flow freely, leaving a wide enough channel to weaken the power of the flood season.
The modern Yellow River channel is wide enough.
As for siltation...
There's really no way around that.
After all, that cannot be solved downstream at all.
This imaginative plan left Zhu Zhi and others completely at a loss. However, since it was designed by Yang Feng, it must be good. At this time, he is omnipotent in the minds of these people, so just listen to his words.
, there is no need to doubt, whatever he says can be done will definitely be done.
In short, they have now begun to develop into fanatical believers.
Then they went straight to Jilin.
Seven days later, the expeditionary force arrived in Jilin.
Then three thousand people were left to garrison, waiting for the follow-up craftsmen and garrison troops, while Zhu Zhi and Yang Feng led the army straight to the northeast along the Kacha River.
This area is almost uninhabited, especially in this cold winter season. The Jurchen fishermen and hunters are also hiding in the villages in the mountains and forests to warm themselves up. The only thing this army of more than 10,000 cavalry has to face is the cold wind and snow...
…
Of course, there is also the issue of supplies.
To be precise, they don't have any supplies now. Everyone only brings dry food and beans for the war horses. The latter can't get much food from the mountains and forests. This trip can be said to be a desperate one. It can only succeed.
It failed. If it failed, there wouldn’t even be enough food to go back. However, the real threat in this kind of action is not supplies or fighting, but getting lost. As long as they don’t get lost along the way, the cavalry can still struggle to walk back for hundreds of miles.
of.
As for getting lost...
"Songhua River!"
Yang Feng stood on the bank of the snow-covered Songhua River and sighed.
Then he looked at his watch.
The location is right, not far from the other side is Bayan County.
So with satellite positioning, how can you get lost?
"Where is Xiyang Ha's village?"
he asked.
"Ambassador, can you please use your telescope?"
Polo said cautiously.
Yang Feng casually gave him the telescope.
I have already used Polo several times, so I don’t need to teach you.
"In that mountain over there, his stockade is in a sheltered valley on the south side of the mountain, not far from here. In winter, he has to find a place facing the sun and facing the river to spend the winter. He can also dig ice for fishing, but this is just for him.
He is the leader of the Wuzhe tribe, and he also has leaders of various sizes, such as Ayangha, Bronze Buddha Village, and Mongolian Village, all scattered around the black pine forest."
Polo pointed to the north and said.
"Your Majesty, let's divide our troops. The Black Pine Forest is this mountain forest, surrounded by flat land. I will lead the Jurchens and Zhang Fu to attack the Black Pine Forest. Your Majesty will lead the troops to patrol left and right outside this mountain forest to prevent Xiyang Ha from escaping."
Yang Feng pointed to the mountainous area in the northeast of Bayan County and said to Zhu Zhi.
"Ambassador, shall we attack the black pine forest?"
Polo said in shock.
Yang Feng looked at him speechlessly, then pulled the safety button and fired at the river...
"What else are you afraid of?"
he said calmly.
"Don't be afraid, follow the ambassador and kill Xiyang!"
A Jurchen Qianhu roared excitedly.
"Follow the ambassador and kill Xiyang!"
The other Jurchens roared.
"After robbing the black pine forest, each person will be given a vulgar woman. Today the king has made the decision. Whether the Jurchens robbed them this time, whether they are gold, silver, livestock or slaves, they are all theirs!"
Yang Feng roared.
Then he pointed the trigger at the sky again.
Those Jurchens immediately went crazy, after all, this kind of thing is always exciting.
Immediately afterwards, Yang Feng mobilized the chariot and led the seven thousand Jurchens, like the Night King leading the corpses, onto the snow-covered Songhua River. Zhang Fu and his camel artillery team had no choice but to follow, followed by Zhu Zhi.
and the Ming army watched their progress silently...
"Send the order and surround the black pine forest. No one from Xiyangha or these Jurchens are allowed to come out alive."
Zhu Zhi said with a sneer.
Zhu Sheng, Zhang Yu and others looked at him in astonishment.