In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, Shengjia arrived in Yanzhou via the Laiwu Valley Road, and then headed south all the way, arriving in Xuzhou around the New Year.
He originally planned to return to Beijing directly, but he didn't know what kind of mood was touched, so he directly ordered to go south. He wanted to visit Huainan, and Xuzhou was only the first stop.
If nothing else, I will spend most of the first month in Xuzhou.
The eighth year of Tongguang reign (923) was the first year of the implementation of the tax system reform, an important part of the Yazheng in the new dynasty.
As a canal hub and a major commercial and trade town, Xuzhou is naturally a top priority.
Shao Shude climbed to the Shifo Mountain Village outside the city and overlooked the panoramic view of Xuzhou.
The city gates of Xuzhou are wide open, and crowds of people are coming out of the city to celebrate the festival.
Under the city wall, a stage has been set up, and people gathered nearby to watch the performances.
Near the canal dock, it is rare for a year to be empty. Only a few ships were towed ashore for repairs, but work was also suspended at this time.
The market was also closed. At the nearest place, inside the wooden fence, coal was piled everywhere, and a thin layer of snow fell on the top.
Occasionally, I saw a four-wheeled carriage on the road, passing by like lightning, carrying laughter and laughter into the distance.
Xuzhou is alive.
Xuzhou, which was completely crippled during the era of Shi Pu and Zhu Quanzhong, gradually recovered its population after more than 20 years of peace.
The new generation did not fully inherit the "legacy" of Yin Daodu, which is quite "normal", perhaps because they were killed more severely in successive wars.
This sore in the late Tang Dynasty, like Wei Bo's, gradually healed.
As one of the canal hub nodes, Xuzhou has a large-scale ship repair and construction workshop.
Sea-going ships need maintenance after sailing for a period of time, and tank ships also need maintenance. Generally speaking, the main treatment is the bottom of the ship. In addition, there are also tasks such as replacing damaged and rotten ship plates, and repainting.
Shao Shude has been extremely concerned about maritime affairs in recent months and has not paid much attention to the canal. However, the newly established tax supervisor is very concerned about the canal and water transportation. They have set up a branch in Xuzhou and specially assigned an official from the fifth grade to sit here.
The governor handles water transportation affairs and liaises with the people in the transshipment envoy's yamen.
Local governments also attach great importance to it.
After winter started last year, dredging of the channel started and lasted until the winter solstice.
Maritime transportation does not benefit as much as water transportation, so it is normal for them to attach such importance to it.
To put it bluntly, if it were not for Shao Shude's personal will, maritime transportation would not be able to develop greatly. The two cannot go hand in hand, and common development is the way to go.
In addition to dredging canals and waterways, Xuzhou is also starting to build first-class national highways.
Among the first-class national highways in Daxia, the Liangjing Dayi Road and Yunxiang Road have been in use for many years. The latter has reached its limit and even passes through Rouzhou as far as possible. The former is still extending westward and is close to Huizhou.
It's almost the end.
The third first-class national highway is the one located in Beiping Prefecture.
Starting from Changping County and ending at Linyu Pass, this section has been fully opened to traffic. After exiting Linyu Pass, it is repaired towards Liucheng County, Yingzhou. This section is more expensive, but it can be repaired in half. What will happen next?
Whether it will be repaired in the direction of Shenzhou depends on the situation. It seems that it is not necessary for the time being.
What the imperial court really pays attention to now is the great post road that runs through Hebei and Henan. It starts from Beiping Mansion, goes all the way south, passes through Hebei, Henan, and reaches Yangzhou in Huainan.
The economic value of this first-class national highway is quite high. If the entire line is opened to traffic and four-wheeled carriages can be used, it can inject new vitality into the national economy.
Although water transportation is good, many places lack navigable rivers, and first-class national highways are still very necessary.
Xuzhou is currently renovating this road, mainly northward to Yanzhou. It has been built for dozens of miles, which greatly facilitates the transportation of goods along the way. At this stage, the largest transportation materials are grain, coal and
Iron material.
"The construction of the first-class national highway from Xuzhou to Haizhou Port should be given priority." After getting off the Shifo Mountain Village, Shao Shude looked back.
When they attacked Xuzhou, the Xia and Wu armies clashed here, with heavy casualties on both sides.
Later, he relied on his superb cavalry tactics to win consecutive battles. Yang Xingmi lost confidence and completely gave up the idea of gaining a foothold in the Central Plains. He retreated from Xuzhou with his navy in despair.
That battle laid the foundation for the founding of the Xia Dynasty. Because it meant that the most powerful regime in the south was no longer able to intervene northward, Shao Shude could do whatever he wanted, and it was natural to replace the Tang Dynasty with the Xia Dynasty.
Secretary Lang Zhao Ying silently wrote down Shao Shude's instructions without asking any questions.
How to explore the route is a matter for the Ministry of Works, who will supervise it. He only needs to send the news to the political hall.
The political hall should not raise objections on this matter.
In the former Tang Dynasty, there was an old post road from Xuzhou to Haizhou. Although it was often repaired, with the increasing prosperity of sea trade, it was overwhelmed by heavy-loaded carriages. A new road was really needed to share the pressure.
Haizhou is the largest port in Northland and deserves to be a first-class national highway.
Shao Shude stayed in Xuzhou until the 25th of the first lunar month, and then headed south along the unfrozen Surabaya waterway to Yangzhou.
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As the saying goes, "Northerners ride horses, and southerners ride boats." Huainan is a borderland that is neither south nor north, and its culture as a whole shows a state of blending of north and south.
Reflected on the transportation facilities, water and land travel simultaneously, without distinction.
However, after all, water transportation is more convenient, both in terms of cost and efficiency.
After Shao Shude left Xuzhou, he boarded a temporarily allocated canal boat and passed through Xiapi, Suyu, Huaiyin, and then arrived at Lisuo Shanyang County in Chuzhou.
After entering Chuzhou, it is the boundary of Huainan.
Shao Shude stood on the Huaishui embankment, nostalgic for the past by the river.
In historical time and space, Yang Xingmi successfully fought a scaled-down version of the "Battle of Feishui". Zhu Jin led 5,000 cavalry "sponsored" by Li Keyong to kill Pang Shigu, thwarting Zhu Quanzhong's idea of invading the south.
Quanzhong, who was stationed in Suzhou, heard of the failure of the front line and immediately withdrew his troops and went north to Xingzhou to defeat Li Keyong.
Going forward, the wars that broke out in Huainan were even more unprecedented.
To defend the river, you must defend the Huaihe River. Without the defense line of the Huaihe River, the Southern Dynasty, whose capital was Jinling, had too little room for error and would be destroyed if not careful.
"Your Majesty, in fact, Huainan has been devoted to the imperial court since the Tang Dynasty." Xiao Qu, the minister of Zhongshu, followed him and said: "During the Anshi Rebellion, Huainan did not allow the rebels to succeed. During the feudal era, Hedong, Jiannan, and Huainan were
The three famous towns are all owned by the imperial court. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the authority of the central government has been lost, so Yang Xingmi succeeded."
"Well..." Shao Shude looked at the farmland in the distance.
The Spring Society Festival has passed, and many people are doing spring plowing in the fields. After seeing the yellow umbrella covers, they all fell to the ground.
Shao Shude understood that Huainan's attitude was to "firmly support the central government" and "whoever is in the central government supports whom."
In fact, this is enough.
As the most developed area in the south, Huainan was oriented toward the center, so the vast amounts of tea, silk, and grain were owned by the imperial court, and it also exerted strong pressure on Jiangnan.
The first-class national highway was built to Yangzhou in order to better integrate Huainan into the entire northern economic circle. It has water transportation conditions comparable to those in the south of the Yangtze River, fertile land and a warm climate. It is also flatter than the south of the Yangtze River and has more fields. In the agricultural era,
Said, definitely not inferior to Jiangnan.
As long as you don't mess it up, do a trick like the Yellow River seizes the Huai River and flows into the sea.
Shao Shude strolled down the embankment and stepped on the soft field ridge.
In the farmland, green wheat seedlings are growing well.
In the river ditch, fish with gray and black backs can still be seen.
In the middle of the reeds, a wild duck flew up and dropped a few feathers.
A little further away, dense mulberry forests extend to the horizon in the distance.
Fishermen paddle their boats up and down the river. In summer, these rivers and lakes will be covered with water chestnuts and lotus flowers, and crabs and swimming fish in the rivers and lakes will be densely packed and extremely plump.
With two crops a year, silk, tea, fishery and salt, as well as developed shipping and sea trade, Huainan is indeed a good place.
As the warm period gradually ends, the southward shift of the economic center of gravity is indeed inevitable, as the geographical advantage is too great.
"It's time to go to Yangzhou and have a look." Shao Shude returned to the post road and looked at the sunny south and said.
In this life, his ancestral home was Huainan, and in later generations he was still from Huainan. In both lives, he had an indissoluble bond with this place.
At this time, seeing every plant and tree in Huainan, it is easy to fall into memories. Memories from the past life that have long since turned yellow and are almost forgotten come flooding back.
Memories, memories, are both annoying and intoxicating.
When he dreamed back at midnight, he had the urge to go back thirty years ago, even if the imperial hegemony was destroyed.
After he woke up, he couldn't help but laugh. He didn't want to go back thirty years ago, but he wanted to go back to the energetic prime of life and the prosperous years when he was accompanied by his old brothers.
Time is the most ruthless, and it has consumed so much pride and ambition.
Xiao Qu also looked south.
Yangzhou is the ancestral home of His Majesty, but more than two hundred years have passed since the Wu Zhou Dynasty, and the connection with his hometown has long been severed.
I heard that when the prince led troops to attack Huainan, some people came to visit relatives, but they were whipped randomly.
His Majesty probably only feels a little inexplicable melancholy towards Yangzhou.
What he really wants to go to may still be Nanjing.
The three major palaces in Xijing (Tai Chi, Xingqing, and the Third Palace of the Ming Dynasty), the two major palaces in Tokyo (Ziwei, the Second Palace of Shangyang), and the Linshuo Palace in Beijing. The saints have all lived there for several years. The Yang Palace in Nanjing has been mostly completed, and the finishing work is still underway
It will be completed within two years, and it is actually ready for people to live in now. Maybe the saint would like to take a look?
He was also very curious about the South.
The sage always said that as the weather gets colder, the south will become more livable in the future and will become a land of wealth. The more he talked, the more Xiao Qu became more curious and wanted to appreciate the grand scenery of Jiangnan.
In fact, he has already felt it a little bit now.
In many places in the north, crops are gradually no longer able to be harvested three times every two years, and have begun to slip towards one crop a year. In the south, however, crops can be harvested twice a year. If things go on like this, the wealth distribution will be completely reversed - all the way south from Xuzhou, he saw a lot
sign.
The general trend is so vast that no one can change it. Perhaps it is time to send more family members to the south and invest more resources to take advantage of the situation.
After leaving Shanyang in Chuzhou, Shengjia went south along the Cao Canal, passed through Anyi and Gaoyou, and arrived in Yangzhou.
At this time, the March Fireworks are just around the corner.