When the new dock in Rongzhou slowly took shape, it was really time for Zhao Xi to return to the court.
Although there was no edict from the court, Taoniang's family letter made him feel a little embarrassed.
Besides, some things in Rongzhou have been completed, and the rest need to be settled back to the court.
"Bachelor, when Xi returns to the court this time, he intends to take charge of military equipment supervision, water transportation, mining field, iron supervision, and coinage matters. I would also like the bachelor's advice."
This is a department that is more relevant to Zhao Xi’s next work focus.
It is easy to do things, but difficult to coordinate. Especially with the current situation of the country, Zhao Xi does not want to spend all his time on scheming people, he wants to do things.
When he was in the palace earlier, and even when he was in charge of politics later, Zhao Xi always had the idea of waiting for the future.
But this time the Nong-Thieves Rebellion made him realize that he could no longer delay.
If the shortcomings of Guochao are diseases, then the disease is now in the stomach and intestines. Zhao Xi is very worried that by the time he inherits the throne, Guochao will already be ill in the bone marrow.
Perhaps now he is unable to comprehensively change the dynasty, so finding an appropriate entry point and trying to leverage the dynasty to take the initiative to change is Zhao Xi's strategy.
"Your Highness, you have solved the problem of copper shortage in the country and used the firearms in the guard camp. It is the proper meaning to monitor the weapons and mint coins."
"Even if it is a market, water transportation can still be fought for. The only one thing is the railway supervision, which is the responsibility of the Sansi Envoy Yamen. I am afraid that the Prime Minister of the East Prefecture..."
Zhang Fangping didn't know why Zhao Xi wanted to take on all the troubles of water transportation and business, which were thankless jobs.
"Bachelor, Xi has no intention of getting involved in the duties of the Sansi Envoy Yamen. What Xi undertakes is iron ore production, and it will not change the structure of the court."
The Third Secretary Yamen, to put it bluntly, is the finance of future generations, and what Zhao Xi wants to manage is not profits, he wants to improve the mining industry and improve the steelmaking process.
As for arms supervision, coinage, water transportation, and foraging... these will be equivalent to the Federal Reserve, the Ministry of Military Industry, foreign trade, and transportation in later generations.
They should all be important departments, but in today's dynasty, they cannot be compared with the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, or even inferior to the yamen in charge of livestock in the Qunhu Division.
Zhao Xi felt that time was waiting for him, but he really couldn't do anything drastic.
Therefore, he chose these tasks that the court did not value much to start with.
If this is the case, Zhang Fangping feels that there is no big problem.
Although he didn't understand His Highness the Crown Prince's intention, Zhang Fangping didn't mind taking the initiative in response to His Highness the Crown Prince's request.
He even contacted some people who were close to him and shouted for His Royal Highness.
When Zhao Xi returned to the dynasty, he did not take the land route through Guanzhong. Since he was interested in taking up water transportation, he took the water route to take advantage of this opportunity to see the shipping industry of the dynasty.
Zhao Xi really wanted to hide his whereabouts so that he could see the real water transportation. It would be better if he could also interact with the laborers at the bottom.
Unfortunately, given his status and the formation of these two thousand guard battalions, he knew it was impossible.
This time when the king's army marched south, the efforts that Zhao Xi and others spent on the Dali and Chengdu roads had been turned into a drama by the thoughtful people in Watai, and spread throughout the country. Almost all the military states in the country knew about this great victory...
…It’s been years since this happened.
So, don't expect to hide your whereabouts, you even have to change the uniform of the Imperial Guards...
Rongzhou is the intersection of Jinsha River and Min River, which is also equivalent to the starting point of the Yangtze River.
The Yangtze River, on the other hand, has never changed its course on the Chengdu Road for thousands of years. It will not waver until it reaches the Jingchu Road, on the endless plain of the two lakes.
Zhao Xi once had the experience of sailing down the river. When the boat passed Chongqing, all the scenery became familiar.
The so-called Three Gorges is not much different from that of later generations, and today's boatmen can also deal with these dangers.
In some waters, even Zhao Xi tensed up, but the boatmen passed so dexterously after paying homage to the river god.
"The copper ore is being pressed against the ship, and I'm afraid there will be ships passing through here..."
There was a water transport yamen in the country, but there was no shipping along the Yangtze River. The people in the country who were responsible for water transportation, in addition to the embankment departments in various places, were the Jianghuai transshipment envoys who were permanent.
Once the Dongchuan Copper Mine reaches large-scale production, it will be necessary to consider setting up a yamen to manage the transportation of this section of the Yangtze River... Alas, with the current situation of the country, Zhao Xi really doesn't know if he can pass it.
If that doesn't work, he will have to take the Xijiang route.
The territory enclosed by cowhide in Dongchuan is still a long way from Xijiang, and he will pass through many Wuman villages along the way. However, Zhao Xi really doesn't want to provoke those barbarians, especially now.
As for the future... when the country is restored and Dali is no longer a so-called vassal state, that will be a different matter.
Now...it's quite troublesome.
Without the familiar landmarks, when the ship entered Jingchu Road, where the Han River flows into the Yangtze River, Zhao Xi was still somewhat familiar with it.
He knew that Xiangyang was not far to the northwest from here, and there was originally water transportation from Xiangyang to Bianliang, but the transportation volume was not large and it cost a lot. In recent years, the country has slowly abandoned it.
To put all the supplies of a capital city and a population of nearly one million on one canal, or a seasonal canal... Dad is probably numb if he can sleep peacefully.
Everyone is making do, from the princes in the court, to the people of Bianliang, all the way to the capital of the country, it seems that they are in a make-do state.
Regardless of the flat plains in Hebei Province, the Daliao cavalry could avoid the city and go straight outside Bianliang. In terms of survival, if there was an accident on the Bianhe River, millions of people would be killed.
The water management of the Yangtze River was well developed. Only when the ships arrived at the Jianghuai River did Zhao Xi truly see the shipping industry of the country.
Can this be called a hundred boats contending? Chuzhou boats, Huai boats, Wu boats, Yue boats, Songjiang boats, Zhejiang boats, Hu boats, Hui boats, Wenzhou boats, Mingzhou boats, gorge boats, Sichuan boats, etc.
Waiting for a while, the boatman introduced everything to Zhao Xi. Only then did Zhao Xi realize that he still didn’t know enough about this era and the country.
When we arrived in Xuzhou and the fleet turned into the Bian River, it could almost be described as crowded.
Originally, their troop transport fleet of two thousand people was already considered huge. When they entered the narrow and busy Bian River... one can imagine what would happen.
If he wanted to do something to the country, for Zhao Xi, there was really no need to do anything. He only needed a team with the capabilities and number of people like the escort battalion.
You don't even need to do too much, you just need to carry out guerrilla warfare for three to five months during the busiest season for water transportation.
The Bianhe River opens its gates in March every year, letting in abundant water from the Yellow River and also bringing in the unique sediment of the Yellow River.
Therefore, every dry season, the country had to spend a lot of material and financial resources to regulate the Bianhe River. This was repeated for many years.
The entire Bianliang City is truly hanging on by a thread.
Zhao Xi couldn't understand. Are the elites in the court really not worried?
This was the water transportation of the country. Zhao Xi didn't know too much about the details. His journey was already full of lawsuits.
Not to mention other things, let’s talk about the transportation problem of Dongchuan Copper Mine after the Bianhe River is suspended during the dry season... This is a problem that must be solved before the copper mine is mined.