Xu Xing touched his gray beard and said, "King, although manpower alone cannot change the celestial phenomena and cannot increase the rain between Jiang and Han, manpower can change the terrain. Therefore, the minister asked the king to issue an edict, saying that the water in the land of Jianghan was insufficient, and the promotion of wheat was suspended, and then ordered to recruit the people to build a canal around Yunmeng Daze between Jiang and Han, and divert Han water and Yunmeng water to irrigate the land, so that wheat and rice could be planted in winter between Jiang and Han in the future. ”

"And for the people of Huainan and Huaibei, the edict to build a canal between the Jiang and Han Dynasty was originally to prepare for planting wheat in winter. Therefore, for the people of Lianghuai, if the people grow wheat and rice, they will be exempted from conscription, and if they do not plant a large amount of wheat and rice at home, they will be conscripted and let them come to Jianghan for labor. ”

"In this way, in order to avoid conscription, the people of Lianghuai will inevitably grow a large number of wheat and rice."

"According to Chen's observation, if the canal between Jiang and Han is built, then it will inevitably reverse the situation of rice cultivation between Jiang and Han, and the yield is not as good as that of Dongting, so building a large number of canals between Jiang and Han can immediately obtain two benefits, one is that wheat can be planted in winter, and the other is that rice can be planted in summer."

As he spoke, Xu Xing arched his hand and said, "King, if the canal is completed, then ten years later, the wealth of the Chu State will far exceed that of the northern countries." ”

Xiong Huai was silent when he heard this.

Xu Xing's method is not bad, to be honest, now Xiong Huai is very excited.

Whether it is planting wheat or rice between Jianghan and Han, Xiong Huai is very excited.

Needless to say, winter wheat is not to be mentioned.

And the yield of rice also makes Xiong Huai greedy.

In the past, the Chu State also used corn as the staple food, but when Wu Qi developed Dongting, the people of Dongting did not let the Chu State come forward at all, and then all spontaneously planted rice from the Yue Kingdom.

The reason is also very simple, in the era of Wu Qi, if it was an ordinary inferior field, the yield of corn was only 1.5 stone per mu, while the yield of rice was close to 3 stone, almost double that of corn.

It can be said that the development of Dongting and the rice from the Yue country are really indispensable.

However, when the rice was transmitted to Jianghan, the effect was not obvious, and the reason was that after the land used to grow drought-tolerant crops corn was planted with rice, which was extremely water-hungry, corn was still planted.

Therefore, the people between Jiang and Han have always been saying that the rice grown in Dongting in the south only needs to be planted for one year to harvest the grain that Jiang and Han have grown for two years.

If rice can also be planted between Jiang and Han, it will be the luck of the Chu State and the luck of the people.

If it weren't for the fact that the State of Chu was cultivating and preparing for war, then Xiong Huai would have immediately given the order.

Xiong Huai naturally knows the benefits of water conservancy projects, because Chu now has Shaobei, one of the largest water conservancy projects in the world.

Shaobi is located in Shou County, which was built by Ling Yin Sun Shuao in the era of King Chuzhuang, and the king of Chuzhuang relied on the food provided by Shaobi and other water conservancy projects built by Sun Shuao, and his strength increased greatly, so he dominated the Central Plains.

Until now, Shaobi still plays an important role, Shou County is also one of the largest counties in Chu State, once there is something in the East, Shou County will bear most of the grain.

If Shaobi supported the hegemony of King Chuzhuang, then the Zhanghe Canal, another major water conservancy project in the world, supported the hegemony of Wei for nearly a hundred years, not only the hegemony of Wei Wenhou and Wei Wuhou, but also Ximen Leopard and Yecheng.

Especially after the Wei State lost the land of the West River, the importance of Yecheng, an important grain-producing area, to the Wei State is also self-evident.

It's just that the construction of water conservancy projects is protracted and the consumption is too great, so Xiong Huai still has hesitation in his heart.

Although Xiong Huai didn't know how many years it took Ximen Leopard to build the Zhanghe Canal, he still knew how many years it took Chu to build Shaobi.

Sun Shuao built Shaobei, with the strength of the whole country, and it took eight years for the Chu State to complete it.

In the future, Zheng Guo built the Zheng State Canal for the Qin State, and as a result, the Qin State regarded Zheng Guo as a spy and ordered the expulsion of all foreigners. And the Sui Dynasty built the Grand Canal, but the people were completely reversed.

All this proves one thing, that is, building water conservancy projects is not only difficult, but also tiring.

Although the merit is in the future, the disadvantage is in the contemporary era!

Therefore, after thinking about it again and again, Xiong Huai still didn't dare to agree easily, but said: "Sir, the matter of building a canal between Jiang and Han is too big for the widow to decide easily. Therefore, the widow planned to discuss with the ministers and invited the gentleman to participate in the discussion, but I don't know what the gentleman wanted. ”

For such a big matter, Xu Xing didn't expect the King of Chu to agree immediately, thinking that since the King of Chu wanted to discuss with the ministers, he must be moved, but he still hesitated.

Therefore, as soon as Xu Xing heard that the king of Chu asked him to participate in the deliberations of the monarchs and ministers of the state of Chu, he immediately bowed and said, "I am willing to listen to the king's orders." ”

······

After Jing Li learned that the king of Chu had asked the important ministers to go to the meeting tomorrow, he asked the messenger who had come to give the order: "Isn't it the king, does he say what he will discuss tomorrow?" ”

The envoy shook his head and said, "Returning to Ling Yin, the king has not explained, but when the king gave the order, it was just after the king had just finished his conversation with Xu Zi from the east. ”

"Just finished the conversation with Xu Xing, and then convened the ministers to discuss the matter?" Jing Li frowned, nodded to the envoy and said, "Okay, please reply to the king, the minister will definitely enter the palace tomorrow." ”

"No!"

After the envoy left, Jing Li looked in the direction of the Chu Palace, and said with a hint of worry: "I hope that the king will not be confused by Xu Xing, a delusional person, and implement any benevolent and righteous actions, and decide to reduce taxes on the people." Or order all the ministers to go to the fields to cultivate, in this way, my Chu State will definitely become the laughing stock of all countries, and the ministers will lose face. ”

After speaking, Jing Li instructed the doorman in the house: "Take my order and ask the doctor Zuo Cheng to come and see me." ”

"I want to know what this Xu Xing is capable of, and what flattery he will say to the king!"

"No!"

At the same time, after receiving the news that the king of Chu asked for tomorrow's meeting, the important ministers who were in Yingdu all showed their worries.

Vertical day.

After the ministers came to the main hall, soon after, they saw the king of Chu walking in with an old man in coarse cloth clothes, only to see his black face that had been exposed to the wind and sun for a long time, everyone had already determined that this guy must be Xu Xing, who had just been invited by the king of Chu, that is, the initiator of today's court discussion.

Xu Xing followed behind the Chu State, and as soon as he entered the main hall of the Chu State, he immediately attracted the attention of the ministers.

There are those who doubt, there are those who visit, there are those who are curious, there are those who despise, there are those who are disgusted...

There are all kinds of things, and there are no adoring friendly eyes anyway.

Xu Xing ignored all of this.