At the end of October, the entire Zhao State began to carry out large-scale mobilization.
By the beginning of November, 20,000 people from the three counties of Handan, Yiyang, and Xiangguo had gathered in large numbers on the banks of the Gulu River in the north of Handan and in the south of Xiangguo according to the preparations made during the previous autumn harvest... This is of course reasonable and reasonable.
Yes, because the people in these three counties are the direct beneficiaries of the water conservancy project;
The powerful and powerful families in Zhao Guo nearby also followed Gongsun Xun's official orders and established a large number of civilian camps on their own estates to receive and resettle them;
At the same time, Handan County Prime Minister Wang Xiu and Xiangguo County Magistrate Dong Zhao each came out with their county officials and took on the management of civilians on the north and south sides of the Gelu River;
Countless money, food, fuel, salt, vinegar, and tools were also collected into the hands of Wang and Dong from the treasury, county treasury, dome warehouses and cellars of powerful families;
In the two counties to the north, the strong men of Bairen County began to harvest reeds and polish stones on a large scale, and the people of Zhongqiu County also began to take on the work of transporting materials... Unlike the unpaid laborers in the three southern counties who only paid for food, these two
County labor can be exchanged for some meager money and food subsidies. For the poor who have nothing to do in winter, this is more like a business;
Of course, an army with Gongsun Xun's righteous followers as its main body, mixed with a large number of county soldiers, and almost all the king of Zhao's chariots and horses, also began to conduct orderly deployment and patrols in the territory of Zhao State, and gathered a large number of civilians.
There is even a regular military garrison on the bank of the Gelu River... There is nothing we can do about this. In a backward agricultural society, this kind of large-scale labor always contains great instability factors, and must be strictly guarded against.
However, facts have proven that water conservancy projects are water conservancy projects after all. As a master project that integrates political significance, economic significance and popular support projects in an agricultural society, any non-rogue class, from the most greedy tycoons to the most ignorant civilians, is still willing to
Cooperate fully... because almost every normal person understands that once the project is completed, they can benefit from it to a greater or lesser extent.
However, the premise of all this is that there must be a "powerful" person who can give everyone confidence that this hugely expensive project in the early stage can really be completed, and everyone must believe that this person will be involved in the entire project.
Before and after, from the contributions to the benefits, fairness has always been maintained to a certain extent.
Do this and things will naturally fall into place.
In fact, Gongsun Xun's previous actions, from excluding dissidents to cleaning up public security, from checking farmland and household registration to donating books for school building, although they have their own meaning, they are also planned for this day. In other words,
, when he has done so many things and has such control over Zhao State, it would be unjustifiable not to try to build a water conservancy project!
As for once the project is completed... Since Dayu's flood control, various famous water conservancy projects such as Zhengguo Canal, Dujiangyan, and Shaopi have always been benchmarks for an agricultural society. They represent theocratic power, morality, merit, wealth, and prestige... If you
Being able to complete a water conservancy project means that your 'domination' of a certain place has reached a certain level.
Of course, the small Gelu River is just a tributary of the Zhang River, so it's a bit far.
In fact, the Gelu River management plan did not even involve the high-end design of the reservoir... After discussion and consultation, Gongsun Xun finally chose the ‘Xiadi’ proposed by Juzong.
The so-called Xia Di is an open embankment. When building the embankment, we actively open openings in the embankment and build ditches diagonally parallel to the direction of the river. Judging from the shape, it looks like they are growing out of the river.
Just like branches.
The characteristics of this water conservancy facility lie in two points:
First of all, it has extremely strong flood control capabilities. A sudden flood will greatly reduce the pressure on the main embankments on both sides by back-filling the ditch. After large-scale rainfall, this design can also be used to quickly relieve waterlogging in the fields through the ditch.
.
This is designed based on the local geographical characteristics of Zhao State. The Gelu River pours down from the Taihang Mountains from west to east, and soon reaches the plains. The water level difference is huge, so a slight rainfall in the mountains will easily form a flood peak.
Secondly, from a project operation perspective, it is simple and straightforward, just renovate the river, build a levee, and then dig a canal. In actual operation, the progress of the project is almost visible to the naked eye, and every project participant can see the results of their efforts at any time.
It helps to increase everyone's enthusiasm and makes it easier for managers to supervise and manage!
Of course, maybe building a reservoir would be better, but Gongsun Xun didn't have enough water conservancy talents... In fact, even Ju Zong's plan was not done by him, but by his family.
Taking advantage of his local reputation, he recruited a person from Wei County who had experience in preventing floods in the Yellow River. The latter designed and completed the design, and even received help from the judge's family.
All in all, with the arrival of winter, the entire Zhao Kingdom began to boil.
However, one interesting thing is that when the entire Zhao State was working hard for this project, and even a waste like Cai Yong could lead a group of old men to perform tricks and perform sacrifices to stabilize people's hearts, the instigator, Gongsun Xun, was
Suddenly I found myself with nothing to do.
What can he do?
Methods such as sharing the responsibility in sections, rewarding the good and punishing the bad, etc., are all gone as soon as they talk about it. After it is said out, Wang Xiu and Dong Zhao will naturally implement it, and judging from their appearance, these methods are not new.
It was like pretending to nod yes to save face for oneself; there was someone else who was acting against the will, and the promised food was not delivered, so he just asked Shen Pei to lower his face and lead a few knights for a ride; even if there were water bandits in the lower reaches of the mainland,
It is enough to spy on people like Han Dang, Zhao Zhao, and Yang Kai...
However, even if there is nothing to do and everyone else is on the river bank, you, Gongsun Xun, can't stay in Handan City forever, right? Besides, Handan City also has Lu Fan in charge, so it doesn't need you?!
So, after thinking about it, Gongsun Xun did something that left people speechless. He removed all the unstable factors that Zhao could think of, from the powerful leaders to idlers like Zhao Ping, and even Zhang Sheng.
They all called to the river embankment, then formed a team and moved the stones together.
It’s really like moving rocks!
From Gongsun Xun himself to Zhao Ping, the doctor's order, they had to transport stones to the construction site three times a day, and then senior citizens such as retired county magistrate Zhang Shu were responsible for boiling water for cooking...
No one raised any objections. After all, Mencius said, "Yu spent eight years away from home to control the floods, and never entered his house three times." Li Bing died of exhaustion on the river embankment when he built the Dujiangyan weir. What the hell are you?
Picky and picky?!
Besides, isn't it just moving rocks? Three trips a day, from outside the embankment to inside, just for show, just for exercise, will it kill you?! In the end, everyone understood in their hearts, who didn't know that Gongsun
The county magistrate called you people together to facilitate control. If you don't come, do you want to take the opportunity to cause chaos?!
So, no one said anything!
And I have to admit that the power of role models is infinite. It is said that not only the workers on the construction site were greatly inspired, but also Cai Bozhe prepared to write an essay praising the matter after visiting it twice...
"Junhou!"
Probably because he was in a hurry, it was winter, but Juzong was sweating profusely as he rushed from Handan City. However, fortunately, he quickly found Gongsun Xun's body on the already neat river embankment.
Figure. "Brother Ziheng asked me to tell Junhou that Mr. Cai will accompany Uncle Fang here in the afternoon."
"The time has come." In the slight cold wind, Gongsun Xun had not yet spoken, but Lou Gui rolled up his sleeves and said with a smile. "If he doesn't come, the credit will not be his."
Juzong also laughed dryly, but did not refute... It was not because Lou Gui was more trusted by Gongsun Xun, but because what Lou Zibo said was the truth. Liu Yan must have come to grab the credit for this trip.
Everyone knows everything.
As I said before, in the agricultural era, the significance of water conservancy projects cannot be overestimated. From the political achievements of the organizers to the personal evaluation of society, from local economic interests to the morale of the people, almost everything will bring significant improvements...
...So, it would be weird if Liu Yan didn't come and give it a try!
And to be fair, Gongsun Xun had criticized Liu Junlang many times before and used his name to cause trouble. Now it's time for him to come over and collect interest. It can be regarded as a fair transaction between you and me.
In fact, in addition to Liu Yan, this credit is destined to go to Xiang Xu, Dong Zhao, and even Zhao Wang. It is even conceivable that after arriving at the center, Zhao Zhong will definitely add Zhao Ping's share.
Maybe Zhao Ping can become the prefect of Two Thousand Stones directly after this incident.
The eunuch's son!
But Gongsun Xun did not feel angry... There is no need to be angry about this, and there should be no reason to be angry about this, because everyone in the Zhao Kingdom and the people of Hebei know who built the river, and the smart people in the central government must also know that it is indispensable.
His share.
On the contrary, at this moment, Gongsun Xun felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.
The embankment is not very high, but standing here, looking at the river bed that is slightly lower due to the dry season in winter, especially when there are many densely packed working people, it does seem to be a high-rise building.
Lou Gui and Ju Zong stood on the embankment and chatted and laughed for a while, and also noticed something strange about Gongsun Xun.
"Junhou?" Lou Zibo asked tentatively.
"What?" Gongsun Xun just came back to his senses at this time.
"Uncle Fang will be here in the afternoon." Lou Gui reminded. "It would be better to make a little gesture..."
Gongsun Xun nodded slowly: "In that case, Gongyi (Zongzi) go and greet you, and then bring all the powerful and idle officials who have been imprisoned here by me, and make a serious appearance."
"Your Majesty, won't you go?" Ju Zong was curious for a moment.
"I want to change my clothes and go to move the rocks." Gongsun Xun responded calmly. "Do it yourself. This is the style of a famous official in ancient times... Uncle Fang will only praise me when he sees it."
Juzong also burst into laughter for a moment... After getting along for a long time, he realized that although the monarch he temporarily surrendered to was scary when he was angry, he was also an interesting person on weekdays. One obvious characteristic was that the monarch faced
It is difficult to conceal a hint of arrogance that he inadvertently reveals when dealing with almost any 'big man', but for 'little people' he always inadvertently develops a little respect that is inconsistent with his status.
Moreover, this kind of arrogance is not based on any specific classification, but purely based on status... In other words, at least it is very comfortable to be a subordinate of this kind of person, because you can always get unexpected results.
External respect and reward.
At this point, the three of them turned around and walked down the outside of the river embankment. Then Juzong went straight to look for the person, while Gongsun Xun went along the embankment to the stone point. Lou Gui stood under the river embankment, twirling his beard and thinking for a moment
, but he set off directly to catch up with his lord.
"Uncle Zi, are you coming to accompany me in transporting stones?" Gongsun Xun said indifferently.
"That's true." Lou Gui replied proudly. "It's cold in winter and I haven't moved for a long time. It's time to sweat..."
Gongsun Xun didn't take it seriously. He took off his outer train, revealing his shorts, then straightened up his trouser legs, and together with Lou Zibo, he lifted a basket of stones weighing only a hundred kilograms.
In the Han system, four kilograms equaled one kilogram in later generations, and a hundred kilograms was less than thirty kilograms.
Well, I have to defend myself here. This is definitely not because Gongsun Xun has no strength, nor is he sincerely lazy. If he really worked hard, Gongsun Xun could carry two hundred kilograms of stone up the embankment by himself, and still walk as fast as flying...
...It just means that he has to take care of the level of the powerful people in the country who are imprisoned by him! On weekdays, they go back and forth three times a day. These people don't dare to lift more than Gongsun Xun, but they also don't dare to lift less than him.
But all of them were too proud and didn't have much energy, so Gongsun Xun was forced to cheat with them!
To put it bluntly, only the surface layer of the baskets is made of gravel, and the bottom layer is actually mostly large pieces of broken soil. These baskets are prepared in advance and have special personnel to look after them... It is embarrassing to do this for a show!
However, two young men, who were probably the tallest and strongest people on this section of the riverbed, stopped transporting just one hundred kilograms of stone baskets after only one trip.
"When we were on the embankment just now, I saw that Junhou looked a little unswerving?" In the riverbed sheltered from the wind, just when Gongsun Xun had dumped the stones and then picked up the basket to carry it on the second trip, Lou Gui suddenly pulled
Holding on to the rope on the basket, he took the opportunity to ask. "May I ask you, Lord, is there something wrong with the project, or is Uncle Fang a little dissatisfied with this visit?"
"None of them." After hearing this, Gongsun Xun simply put down the basket in his hand, and just leaned on the lifting pole with a bitter smile and shook his head. "It's just because the project is about to be completed, and I was thinking randomly, but I didn't want Uncle Zi to see clearly."
"Why are we thinking wildly when the project is about to be completed?" Lou Gui pulled the basket and looked around, also puzzled. "Of course I don't understand water conservancy, but since the beginning of last month, I have worked hard for the past two months. Now the embankments are gradually completed and the ditches are also
It gradually became denser, and the people coming and going, both common people and dignitaries, were very happy. The swampland where Yiyang originally belonged was gradually emptied, and turned into fertile farmland visible to the naked eye... Everyone said that they would renovate it after the New Year.
Is this thing going to happen?"
"It is precisely because everyone's faces are so happy and the swamps can be seen transformed into fertile fields with the naked eye that I feel deeply impressed by this project." As he said this, Gongsun Xun actually sighed. "Uncle Zi, between you and me.
There is no need to hide anything. Others don’t know. You should know what I want when I come to Zhao to be an official. It’s just the qualifications for the place. Maybe I also want to compete for the local people’s hearts and talents. However, although the embankment construction this time is
It all worked out naturally, but suddenly I felt that it was a waste of people's energy."
"Have you thought too much, Lord?" Lou Gui's heart moved, and he suddenly realized what the other party meant. "Water conservancy is no different from other things. It is something that has been used for hundreds of years. The Baigong Canal in the south of Handan City has been in use for more than a hundred years...
But in a few years, the world will be in turmoil, and your hard work will not be in vain."
"I'm not worried that this Xia Di will be abandoned." Gongsun Xun shook his head and said. "I was on the embankment just now and saw the faces of the people who were building the embankment were happy, but I was worried that these people who worked hard to build the canal would not be able to enjoy their hard work.
... In a few years, if chaos really breaks out as you and I think, will these people really be able to farm here? And where will you and me be at that time? Maybe we can protect the people here.
?”
Lou Gui was silent for a while, and then he slowly shook his head: "The Lord is still wrong!"
"Uncle, please speak." Gongsun Xun was as frank as ever.
"Your Majesty, the world is about to be in turmoil. You are worried that the people of Zhao cannot survive alone. No matter how hard you work today, it will be in vain in the future, aren't you?"
"good."
"But sir, turmoil is ahead. The hard work of the people of Zhao may be useful or useless, let alone useless. What's the use of sighing here like you do?"
"..."
"I'm sorry to speak frankly." Lou Zibo was rarely serious. "When I was young, I, Lou Gui, felt that the world was going to be in chaos, so I recruited desperadoes all day long in order to gain some industry. But why did I go all out when I saw the prince?
How about letting the prince drive away? Isn’t it because I think that compared to me, the prince is the one who is more qualified to put down the turmoil? "
Gongsun Xun was silent for a moment.
"As for how to quell the turmoil." Lou Gui turned to look at the governor's ceremonial guard and a bunch of Zhao dignitaries and celebrities who suddenly appeared on the river embankment, but he showed disdain. "The prince has the power of a county, build a Xiaxia
The embankment will enable the people of a county to live and work in peace and contentment, but there are hundreds of counties in the world, so they are worried about the local people... However, if the king can one day take charge of hundreds of counties in the world, build hundreds of public schools, and build hundreds of dykes, how can he
Is there a commotion?!"
"I understand what Zibo means." Gongsun Xun bowed his hands in thanks. "In other words, if you cannot bring peace and happiness to one county today, how can you be qualified to bring peace and happiness to hundreds of counties in the future?"
At this point, the two of them looked at each other and smiled, but neither said anything more... However, they both knew in their hearts that if the world was not in chaos, why would a boy from a border county be in charge of the power and responsibility of a hundred counties?
Did you castrate yourself and enter the palace?!
————I am the dividing line that can withstand two hundred pounds————
"Taizu was the order of Handan and built a Xia dike on Luhe River in the north of Handan, opening up 5,000 hectares of fertile land in three counties. When it was about to be completed, Zibo followed Taizu on the embankment. Seeing that the people and the people were all happy, he sighed: 'The world is general.
There is chaos but you still don't know, the embankments are solid and the fertile fields are solid, how can you enjoy this joy for a few days in peace?" Taizu was not happy and rebuked: "Irrigation has been done for hundreds of years. His people will not receive this virtue, and his descendants will not!
"Moreover, if there are clouds of clouds everywhere in the world, making all the poor people in the world happy, how can we prevent chaos?" Zibo retreated in shame." - "Jiu Yan Shu", Volume 70, Biography, No. 20
