In the afternoon, Pan Liao came as promised, and Guo Song met him in the outer study.

Pan Liao is Guo Song's most important right-hand man, although he is not from the imperial examination, but his attitude to work is pragmatic, serious, hard-working, especially his loyalty and low-key, can solve the worries of Guo Song when he leads the army, and has always won the trust of Guo Song.

"How is Your Highness doing these days? It seems to be very laid-back! Pan Liao sat down and said with a smile.

"Don't mention it, my baby daughter wants to paint a portrait of me, I sat stupidly for two days, and in the end I still didn't finish it."

"Your Highness being with a child is a joy in itself, so you don't have to care too much about the way."

"That's right."

The two exchanged a few words, Pan Liao groaned and said: "I am making plans for this year in the past two days, last time His Royal Highness said that he would move to Chang'an this year, but he did not say in detail how to do it. ”

Guo Song smiled and said: "I can't say in detail, the main reason is that the dredging progress of Tianbao Canal is unpredictable, but I have a preliminary idea, I think about moving to Taiyuan according to the method, people go first, and then the materials slowly pass." ”

"Can Your Highness tell me about the specific time?"

Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "People will go before the summer, and then the materials will be transported by the autumn of next year." ”

"And how did the Southern Tang Dynasty move back to Chang'an......"

Before Pan Liao finished speaking, Guo Song waved his hand, "You don't have to worry about this problem, in a few days, there will be news from Chengdu, they will not move back for the time being, the situation will be a little tense recently, I will rush back to Chang'an this month, and you should also notify the officials as soon as possible, so that everyone can pack their luggage." ”

Pan Liao nodded silently, "Humble duty remembered!" ”

At this time, Guo Song got up and said with a smile: "I just want to go to the dock and warehouse to have a look, why don't we go together!" ”

...........

At the beginning of January, Taiyuan was still a snow-capped world, Fenshui was frozen solidly, and thousands of trough boats neatly moored along the river were completely frozen.

It's also the New Year, and it's quiet along the Fen River, not far from where a group of children who live nearby are having a snowball fight, and the sounds of crying and laughter echo in the snow.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid this year's imperial examination will not be as popular as last year."

"Why do you say that?"

Pan Liao smiled bitterly and said: "The feudal towns in Hebei strictly prohibit scholars from coming to Taiyuan to participate in the imperial examination, Zhu Zhu's side is similar, their imperial court does not oppose it on the surface, but the following states and counties make stumbling blocks, this year to Taiyuan to participate in the imperial examination, the tax will be doubled, the scholars on the south side of the Yangtze River are not allowed to cross the border from the Central Plains, can only take the Bashu detour, it is too far for them, there are reference scholars around the New Year last year, but this year has not been seen until now." ”

Guo Song nodded and said: "Mu Xiu is in the forest, the wind will destroy it, last year's imperial examination was too popular, causing jealousy and hatred in various places, and it is inevitable that there will be various obstacles this year, but we should have a countermeasure." ”

"What does Your Highness think our response should be?"

Guo Song smiled slightly: "We should announce the scope of the examination and the types of test questions, and announce that they will remain unchanged for at least ten years, so that even if they can't come to participate in the imperial examination, the scholars will study hard at home, accumulate a lot of money, and as long as they are talents, they will be used by us sooner or later." ”

"Your Highness is right, I will ask the Ministry of Scholars to announce it as soon as possible."

At this time, a group of people came to the warehouse group, there are three warehouses in Taiyuan, two are in the city, each covers an area of hundreds of acres, the north is called the gold and iron warehouse, the gold and silver, copper ingots, pig iron, cloth, silk, satin, armor, jade jewelry and other valuables are placed, the south is called the grain and grass warehouse, mainly to pile up grain, forage and medicinal materials, in addition to the underground meat, cheese, wine ice storage.

But the largest warehouse group is still on the bank of the Fen River, surrounded by high walls and guard towers, covering an area of about 60 hectares, thousands of various warehouses, guarded by 3,000 soldiers, the security is extremely strict, the materials are abundantly stored, saltpeter and oil, pig iron and copper ingots, grain and herbs, armor and war drums, wood and sheepskin, etc., there are more than a dozen ice warehouses, which store a large amount of meat and wine.

In fact, there are 3.2 million stones of grain alone, 1 million quintals of forage, and tens of millions of catties of pig iron.

Guo Song's visit to the warehouse was not a whim, and it had something to do with their plan to move to Guanzhong.

It is more convenient to walk into Guanzhong is two roads, the land route is not mentioned, a waterway and a waterway are carried out simultaneously, the waterway is to take the Fenshui into the Yellow River, and then take the Yellow River into the Wei River, the key is that the Yellow River into the Wei River This section is inconvenient to go by boat, in the early years of Tianbao had built the Tianbao Canal to ensure that the ships can enter the Wei River smoothly, but decades have passed, the river gradually silted up, and it is necessary to carry out dredging and dredging to restore the channel of the Tianbao Canal.

In addition, the simultaneous development of water and land refers to the first waterway to Pujin Pass, and then from Pujin Pass to take dozens of miles of land route, and then through Luoshui into the Wei River, for different materials, you can use different methods, such as grain and grass, copper and iron, saltpeter, timber and other bulk goods, it is best to take the waterway, and armor, cloth, silk and the like, can be transported through Pujin Pass by camel.

Warehouse material management is of great significance, in Hexi is Cangcao to participate in the military, and later upgraded to the Department of Warehouse, Shilang is still Zhang Chen, under the copper and iron department, the grain department, the ordnance department, the silver money department and the cloth department, respectively, to manage different materials, today Shilang Zhang Chen is just in the Fenshui warehouse.

Hearing the arrival of His Royal Highness King Jin and Changshi, Zhang Chen hurriedly came to greet him, Guo Song smiled and asked: "It's still a New Year's holiday, why is Zhang Shilang here?" ”

"This year's snow is much greater than in previous years, the water potential of the Fen River is very likely to rise after the beginning of spring, the terrain of the warehouse is a little lower, and I am worried that the reservoir area will be flooded, so I came to take a look this year."

This is also Guo Song's worry, when the warehouse was built, it was mainly to use the original warehouse, and did not take into account the problem of low terrain, and when it was too late to consider this problem later. This is a worrying thing.

"Look at it!"

A group of people walked to the west of the warehouse, the southwest corner of the warehouse is close to Fenshui, this is also the place where the wharf is purchased, the wharf is dozens of steps away, although it is still icy and snowy, but from the height of the ice, you can still see some clues.

Tang Wenyao, the head of the warehouse, was taking more than a dozen craftsmen to measure the current water level, that is, the position of the ice surface, Tang Wenyao turned around and saw that King Jin, Changshi and Shi Lang were all here, and couldn't help but be startled, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"What's going on now?" Guo Song asked.

"Returning to Your Highness, the ice is only one foot from the embankment, and the two feet and five inches recorded last year, it is almost certain that after the beginning of spring, the Fen water will definitely rise, and the river will overflow into the warehouse."

"Is there any good way to do that?" Guo Song asked.

Tang Wenyao invited a middle-aged man in his fifties over and introduced him to Guo Song: "This is Zhao Zhi, the supervisor of the capital water, whose home is in Puzhou, specially invited him here, he has been in Guanzhong for a long time and has rich experience. ”

The middle-aged man was dark-skinned and thin, but he was in good spirits, and he gave Guo Song a deep salute, "See His Royal Highness King Jin!" ”

Guo Song smiled slightly: "Zhao Jiancheng rushed over for the New Year, it's hard work." ”

"Don't dare, it's an honor to serve His Highness."

Guo Song nodded and asked, "How should we deal with the situation in Fenshui now?" ”

Zhao Zhi said with a smile: "There are thousands of ways to control water, the essence is nothing more than blocking and dredging, the simplest and most effective way is to use mud and sandbags to raise the embankment, but I have taken a closer look in the past two days, and it will actually be better to use dredging." ”

Guo Song said happily: "I also like sparseness, I don't like blocking, the supervisor might as well talk about it in detail." ”

"You can dig two ditches around the warehouse, and then the ditches will connect to the moat, and then go south from the moat and flow into Baiyadang, which is thirty miles away, and the area of Baiyadang will expand several times, but in the end it will only affect five or six villages, and they will be relocated in time."

"But if the Fenshui rises, what will happen to the middle and lower reaches?"

"Your Royal Highness doesn't have to worry, Fenshui is not the Yellow River, and it will not cause the consequences of dam failure, especially after entering Jiexiu County, there are canyons on both sides, don't worry, I have seen the previous record, Fenshui rises almost once every ten years, but there will be a little loss of crops along the coast of Taiyuan Prefecture, and other problems are not big, this time it is mainly a threat to the warehouse, keep the warehouse materials, and don't think too much about anything else."

Guo Song waved his hand and said, "Since it is only a threat to the warehouse, it is better to move all the materials from the warehouse." ”

Pan Liao said with a smile: "Your Highness, the water overflowing is still harmful to the warehouse, unless these thousands of warehouses are abandoned, it would be a pity, dig a circle of rivers, and then surround the warehouse with sandbags along the shore, basically foolproof, Your Highness think about it, there are 3.2 million stones of grain alone, and it is really a bit unrealistic to move them in a short time." ”

Zhang Chen also said: "Pan Changshi is right, I suggest that the meat and food materials in the ice storage be moved, and nothing else should be moved." ”

Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "Try to think about it thoroughly, and then implement it as soon as possible, we actually only have more than a month, and we must hurry up to dig a river canal of dozens of miles." ”

Pan Liao immediately said: "Obey the order, and start implementing it tomorrow to mobilize the people to participate!" ”

(End of chapter)