On the third day of October, autumn planting has been completed for more than half a month. With the support of Li Zhi's disaster relief grain, almost all the autumn planting farming work in Shandong Province has been completed. After having enough food, the farmers work smoothly.
Li Zhi was riding a horse on a field path and saw green wheat seedlings growing in the wheat fields on both sides.
After walking for an hour, Jing Yishan pointed forward and said with a smile: "Master Guo, our Guo Gongpi is in front of the Crucian Carp Valley. There is still one mile to go."
Li Zhi nodded and continued to ride forward. When a dozen personal guards heard that their destination was approaching, they galloped forward to see if there was any danger on the Crucian Carp Ditch first.
Li Zhi asked casually: "Jing Yishan, how much dry land can be irrigated after the Gongpi of this country is built?"
Jing Yishan smiled and said: "My lord, please don't be anxious. I will explain it to you in detail when we get to the Crucian Carp ditch."
Li Zhi was inexplicably frustrated by Jing Yishan, and was a little speechless. These days, when Li Zhi lets other people speak, who doesn't talk respectfully and tell everything he knows? This Jing Yishan is really good, he doesn't face the real thing on the spot
Too lazy to say anything. Li Zhi looked at Zheng Hui and secretly thought that Jing Yishan was too arrogant.
Zheng Hui was a little anxious when he saw Li Zhi looking at him. He hurriedly looked at Jing Yishan, widening his eyes as if urging Jing Yishan to speak quickly, but Jing Yishan was riding leisurely, not even looking at Zheng Hui. Zheng Hui's head was
A few drops of cold sweat broke out, but there was nothing Jing Yishan could do, and he said: "Master Guo, Jing Yishan will naturally explain it in detail when we get to Crucian Carp Valley."
Li Zhi frowned and secretly thought that Jing Yi could not be reused because of his good talent. In order to get a satisfactory water conservancy project, Zheng Hui could tolerate his subordinates being so unruly and really devoted himself wholeheartedly to the construction of Hsinchu. Li Zhi thought about it.
After a while, Zheng Hui's evaluation was even higher.
When they arrived at Crucian Carp Gou, Li Zhi walked to a small mound and saw tens of thousands of people digging earth and carrying burdens to fill in the channel of a small river. The busy farmers were well fed and worked very hard.
The scene was in full swing.
Jing Yishan jumped off the horse, took out a few drawings from under the saddle, opened one of them in front of Li Zhi, and said: "Look, Mr. Guo, we are building a plan on the channel of this small river, Crucian Carp Ditch, and in nearby low-lying areas."
The one-hundred-and-thirty-foot concrete embankment, with the highest point two to three feet high, blocks the creek and stores water, turning the low-lying land behind Crucian Carp Ditch into a large reservoir that is higher than the surrounding dry land."
"The bank walls on both sides of the embankment inside and outside are made of long strips of stone that are interspersed and stacked in layers. The middle of the embankment is filled with clay, and a layer of cement is filled on top. The top surface is paved with stone slabs to form a 'Picheng'. There is one every two feet.
The embankment pier is three feet long and two feet wide, with long stones inserted into the ground for two feet. The embankment built in this way is durable, not afraid of water and fire, and is the most sturdy."
"There are ten sluice gates on the dam. In case of drought, the gates are closed to store water, and in case of floods, the gates are opened to release water to keep the water level in the reservoir at a high level."
Li Zhi asked: "How long will this dam last?"
Jing Yishan said proudly: "There is a sand sluice on the dam. Even if the sediment accumulates, the sand sluice can be opened to wash away the sand. The sluice should be redone every five years. If the entire dam is properly maintained, it will take five years.
There won't be any problems in ten years. If you make some repairs, it will last even a hundred and fifty years."
Li Zhi nodded and said nothing.
Jing Yishan took a picture of the drawing and said: "Master Guo, answer your question. After the Guo Gongpi is repaired, the water level of the reservoir will be raised. Seventeen irrigation inlets will be opened from the east and west sides to irrigate the nearby wasteland, so that fields can be cultivated.
Two hundred and seventy thousand acres."
Being able to open 270,000 acres of new farmland is indeed a big project worth boasting about. Li Zhi seemed to understand why Jing Yishan was so arrogant, smiled and said: "Jing Yishan, do your best. If the project is completed well, I will
I’ll reward you with two hundred taels of silver!”
Jing Yishan smiled and said: "The Duke is more generous than General Zheng. I commanded a large dam that irrigated 500,000 acres of farmland in Hsinchu, and General Zheng only rewarded me with one hundred taels of silver."
After thinking about it, Jing Yishan said: "My mother-in-law likes to make satin clothes and buy rouge. She comes to me for money every three days. If the Duke of Guo really rewards me with these two hundred taels of silver, I will not be short of money to spend! Of course.
It’s a real emergency money.”
Li Zhi heard Jing Yishan's words and laughed dryly, secretly thinking that Jing Yishan really didn't have any humility as a subordinate when he spoke. Li Zhi said: "Jing Yishan, do your best, and I will reward you with so much money that you can marry a wife!"
Zheng Hui burst out laughing when he heard this. Li Zhi looked at Zheng Hui, stopped talking to Jing Yishan, and just rode his horse towards the working people below the hill.
The common people were stunned when they saw Li Zhi's official guard of honor moved to the construction site. Looking at the golden melons and staffs, they all felt that this must be a high official. The common people stopped what they were doing and knelt down on the construction site.
He didn't dare to look up at Li Zhi.
Li Zhi waved his hand and signaled the people to stand up. Li Zhi's personal guards shouted loudly in the crowd, calling out all the people who were kneeling on the ground.
Li Zhi walked up to a woman in her thirties and asked, "Woman, is it hard for you to work here?"
The woman raised her head and said, "My lord, this is a year of hunger. The Duke of Jin gave us sweet potatoes to save our lives. We can't thank you enough. Now the Duke of Jin has given us rice and noodles so that we can eat two meals a day."
How can we not work hard when we are full? We must be conscientious. Without Jin Guogong, Shandong would have been in chaos. Maybe the bandit Li Zicheng had already entered. My two daughters and one son are still alive.
If they are small, they will definitely not survive. The Duke of Tianjin gave my three children sweet potatoes to eat. Not to mention asking us to build water conservancy projects, he even asked us to open mountains and reclaim the sea."
After the woman finished speaking, she looked at her husband beside her, as if asking her husband if what he said was right. Her husband was a little nervous in front of Li Zhi and nodded cautiously. The woman received her husband's approval and smiled with a smile on her face.
Get up. But in front of Li Zhi, a high official, she did not dare to be presumptuous and quickly covered her smiling face with her hands.
Li Zhi looked at the woman's husband.
When the man saw Li Zhi looking at him, he said solemnly: "My lord, there are floods in the Crucian Carp Valley every now and then, which is a disaster for us. The Duke of Jin is building a dam to control the water now. In the future, there will be no floods in the Crucian Carp Valley. We
All the people in the township will benefit. Everyone is doing this work vigorously!"
Li Zhi nodded, looked at a thin young man next to him, and asked, "What about you, do you feel tired from doing this work?"
When the young man heard Li Zhi's inquiry, he knelt on the ground with a plop and said loudly: "Master, I don't feel tired at all! The official sent by Jin Guogong said that the poorest tenant farmers like me can rent in the future
My wife and I can rent 40 acres of the land irrigated by Guogongpi. Jinguogong only charges 30% of the land rent."
"With these forty acres of good land, my wife and I will live a good life. Let alone working for a few months without getting tired, even if we work for a year, we will only be happy."
