Last year, the Xiang rebels were exterminated, Xiongshan Hou was not conducive to the annihilation of the whole army, and he sent his life, according to the military report afterwards, one is that Xiongshan Hou carelessly underestimated the enemy and was ambushed by the rebels, and the second is that the terrain in the south is too complicated, full of mountains and ravines, after the ambush in Yujiang County, the terrain is narrow and there is nowhere to retreat, and finally the rebels have suffered heavy casualties after repeatedly rushing and killing, so the terrain in the south is not suitable for large-scale corps array impact, and the Lingnan land is even worse, the terrain is more complex than Jiujiang and Huiji County, plus dense rivers like spider webs, It was very difficult to march and transport grain and grass, which was why many generals in the DPRK and China opposed large-scale troops.

But this time it was different, several Qin troops who had made meritorious contributions had been fighting in Lingnan and the Yue people for three years, and they were already very familiar with the terrain and fighting methods of Lingnan, and they also occupied a large area of territory, leaving enough space for the Qin army to attack, and the logistics support was not the same.

And the most important thing is that this time there is the invincible Imperial Army God General Wang Ben in command, the time and place are favorable, and the people have all fallen to Daqin, as long as the preparation is sufficient, there is no great difficulty in sweeping Lingnan in one go.

This is a rare opportunity to strive for military merit.

Therefore, a group of generals who are idle in Xianyang will naturally not give up this opportunity, and once they miss it, they don't know how long they will have to wait before they have the opportunity to lead the army to fight.

"Ren Huan, where are the two generals Zhao Tuo?"

"The minister is here!"

Two generals wearing brocade robes and military crowns stood up excitedly.

"I ordered the two generals to be the deputy generals of the expedition to Lingnan, and they were advised by the soldiers and the soldiers of the military department, and three days later they set off to Yuechengling to meet the Marquis of Tongwu, and accept his dispatch to send troops to sweep Lingnan!"

"Obey!" Ren Huan and Zhao Tuo smiled together, and they gave up their hands to accept the order.

Looking at the slightly scribe-like general Ren Huan and the handsome and burly Zhao Tuo, Chen Xu's face couldn't help but shake lightly a few times.

No matter how history changes, there are still some basic things that cannot be changed, such as the death of Tu Sui, the Marquis of Xiongshan, such as the current emperor's arrangement of Zhao Tuo and Ren Huanwei to conquer Lingnan, etc., but the only change is that because Xiang Liang rebelled in advance, the general who conquered Lingnan became Wang Ben.

And this change has made history impossible to judge.

But according to Wang Ben's attributes, there should not be too many twists and turns in sweeping Lingnan this time, especially with the assistance of Zhao Tuo and Ren Huan, the two generals who conquered Lingnan in later generations, it stands to reason that Lingnan is almost at your fingertips, and the territory of Daqin may be completed in the next year, so far it has been completely merged with the Chinese territory of later generations.

Next, the emperor made another arrangement, and the officials of the three provinces and six ministries each received the task of cooperating with this dispatch.

And Chen Xu was only an observer, the emperor was in such a hurry to get him back to Xianyang and couldn't wait to call him to come to the court to listen to the class, it must be for this important event.

Everything was arranged, and it was almost time to disperse again.

"Your Majesty, the minister has some suggestions for this dispatch!" After the court quieted down, Chen Xu stood up.

"Young Master, please speak!" The Emperor sat on the dragon chair and smiled and nodded.

"With the commander of Tongwu Marquis, with the assistance of General Ren and General Zhao, there will be no mistakes in the conquest of Lingnan, but the terrain of Lingnan is complex and the water network is dense, and there will be more and more rain after the beginning of spring, and the river will skyrocket, so it will be very difficult to transport grain and grass, and it is not suitable for long-term combat.

"Oh, Aiqing has such a good plan, tell me quickly!" Qin Shi Huang was overjoyed.

"Today's court meeting everything is arranged, please ask Your Majesty to move the infantry department to check the sand table, this strategy is not difficult, but it needs to dig an artificial canal, so it requires the cooperation of a lot of people......"

"It's not difficult for the people, now the four counties have recruited 100,000 people and prisoners, just a river canal, Aiqing and I will go to the military department to check the sand table!" Qin Shi Huang stood up with a smile and ordered to prepare the carriage and horses to drive to the military headquarters.

Half an hour later, accompanied by the Xuanwu guards and hundreds of civil and military officials, Qin Shihuang and Chen Xu drove to the military headquarters in the car of the Son of Heaven, and then gathered around the sand table above the lobby.

"Your Majesty, please look at ......" Chen Xu pointed to a small red flag planted on the Yuecheng Ridge with a long bamboo stick, "This is the Yuecheng Ridge, this river is Xiangshui, and the Xiangshui is a tributary of Dongting, so the ministers refer to the rivers in Changsha County as the Dongting Water System, and there are countless rivers in the south of Yuecheng Ridge, but these rivers are all injected into another big river, these rivers are bounded by Wuling, which distinguishes the two different water systems in the north and south, once the army enters Lingnan, the transportation of grain and grass is all transported to Lingnan through artificial cattle and horses through the Wuling Pass, This requires a lot of manpower and material resources, and there is also a great loss, Chen thought that an artificial canal could be dug from Xiangshui near Yuecheng Ridge to communicate the river in Lingnan...... "Chen Xu used a bamboo stick to extend along the Xiangjiang River and pointed near Yuecheng Ridge, and then the bamboo pole continued to fall south on another river.

"Your Majesty, please see, from Xiangshui to Lingnan Lishui is only dozens of miles, as long as the labor is enough, plus the minister can also let the Academy of Sciences cooperate with the use of Taiyi Shenlei to open the mountain and split stones, and soon this river canal can be completed, once Xiangshui and Lishui communicate, then the grain and soldiers of the Central Plains will continue to flow from the river to the hinterland of Lingnan through boats, and the Nanban Yue will inevitably be unstoppable, once the army occupies several large areas of flat terrain to stabilize its position, it can bloom in all directions to attack the Yue people, and the Yue people will soon collapse......"

"Hiss~~" All the onlookers looked at Chen Xu like a gorilla, their eyes were full of strangeness, many people were inhaling cool air, even Qin Shi Huang was no exception, his eyes fell on Chen Xu for a long time, and after seeing Chen Xu blushing a little, he fell on the two rivers near Yuecheng Ridge again, and after observing for a long time, he kept nodding: "Aiqing's strategy is like a stroke of genius, if a ditch is dug to connect the two rivers in Lingnan and Lingbei, it can ensure that the army has sufficient food and offensive routes!" ”

"Yes, Qinghe Hou's strategy seems simple, but it is indeed eye-opening!"

"Although it takes some time to build the canal, it is a matter of time and for all, and it is easy to rule after conquering the Lingnan lands!"

"Indeed, with this canal, Lingnan will be connected with the Central Plains without separating each other, and the Yue people will no longer be able to block the passage and coming and going of our army......"

"Qinghe Hou's strategy must be feasible!"

The onlookers quickly expressed great enthusiasm and admiration for Chen Xu's artificial canal plan, especially Feng Quji, the big man in charge of the six departments, once the river is built, the task of transporting grain and grass can be said to be reduced by more than half, only need to load the grain and grass in Dongting Lake, and then you can go straight to Lingnan along the Xiangshui, this amount of labor is simply negligible.

"How could Feng Xiang look at Ben Hou like this?" Chen Xu was furious when he was looked at by Feng Quji's affectionate eyes.

"Does the Marquis of Qinghe still have the idea of taking a concubine?" Feng Qu frowned and smiled.

"What does Feng Xiang want to do?" Chen Xu felt that the chrysanthemum was a little cold.

"Qinghe Hou is so smart, the old man also has a granddaughter, Fang Ling is twelve, I don't know ......"

"Well, Feng Xiang still looks at his granddaughter, Benhou has a lot of wives and concubines, and she can't take care of it anymore!" Chen Xu quickly shook his head with black lines.

"Haha, Feng Xiang is also too anxious, the two Aiqing still talk about this matter privately!" Qin Shi Huang knew that the two were joking, and he laughed heartily and waved his hand to interrupt the words of the two, "Since the young master has such a clever plan, I will naturally not abandon it, and the matter of repairing the canal will be arranged by the young master, and the required manpower and property will be fully supported by Shangshu Province, Feng Xiang also asks for close cooperation, and you Aiqing are not allowed to shirk and delay for no reason!" ”

"Your Ministers obey!" The Chinese military officials who laughed loudly agreed together.

Chen Xu had some toothache, and when he returned to Xianyang, he got a thankless errand for himself.

But the cannon of his own appointment...... Well, the sin of his own making, this matter must be gritted his teeth and arranged for it to be completed as soon as possible no matter what.

What's more, once the Lingqu is completed, a large number of goods from the Lingnan regions will be able to quickly transport the Central Plains, especially the sugarcane sugar that Chen Xu has been thinking about for a long time.

In the history of China, sugar and salt have always been a scarce thing, salt is good to say, after all, there are thousands of miles of coastline and countless salt lakes and salt wells, the output is still enough to guarantee, that is, production and transportation is a big trouble, but with the continuous construction of cement roads, the road continues to be smooth, for only twenty or thirty million people and widely distributed Daqin, it is definitely enough to eat, and sugar is different, the history of sugar production in China is very long, but Daqin is still fructose-based, maltose is also available, but because of the lack of food before, The folk are forbidden to boil sugar, so sugar is an extremely luxurious item for the common people, although there is honey supplement, but the output is negligible, the price is almost equal to gold, even the emperor and the prince can not eat from time to time, the ordinary poor people don't have to think about it, and finally get a little will be exchanged for money to subsidize the family, and the opportunity to get honey is as unreliable as the leakage of the cultural play market in later generations.

The Lingnan climate is suitable for planting sugarcane, although it is wild now, but it does not prevent it from being popularized and cultivated, as long as there is sugarcane, brown sugar and white sugar rock sugar can be slowly made out, which will greatly enrich the diet of the people, and sugar is also the main raw material for winemaking, before the oil is found, alcohol will become the main fuel for chemical and physical research.

"Go and find Hu Kuan, Shi Lu and the craftsmen and craftsmen who are proficient in building rivers and ditches, Benhou has an important task to arrange!" Chen Xu came to the Academy of Sciences, walked into the office and told Uncle Sun to hurry up and find someone, and then stared at the map hanging on the wall and began to study.

On another time and space line, Daqin's final conquest of Lingnan was because of the construction of the Ling Canal to open up the communication line to ensure the army's sufficient supply of grain and grass, although I don't know that the person with a flexible head presided over the design, but the role of the Ling Canal is undoubted, with the development of Chinese civilization, although the Ling Canal was soon abandoned, but the status of the Ling Canal in Chinese history is very high, and the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project is almost comparable, but Dujiangyan is used for civilian irrigation, and the Ling Canal is mainly used for military purposes, once there is no war, Lingqu is not so important.

At present, the emperor suddenly decided to conquer all of Lingnan, and hundreds of thousands of troops plus the conscripted civil servants and prisoners will be dragged into this war, according to Chen Xu's consistent idea that the sooner this kind of thing is completed, the better, otherwise even if it is successful for two or three years, the agricultural production of the four southeastern counties will be greatly dragged down, which is not beneficial to the country and the people.

In fact, the rapid conquest of Lingnan is not in Chen Xu's plan, he hopes to rely on Gao Yan and these people to slowly grind with the Yue people, grinding for ten or eight years, the Yue people will inevitably be exhausted by grinding, and the process of boiling frogs in warm water will not cause the Yue people to resist too violently, and a large army will break into Lingnan, then it must be quickly resolved.

Wang Ben is not Chen Xu, and naturally he doesn't know Chen Xu's plans, so he feels that the situation in Lingnan can be solved in one go, so after eliminating the Xiang family, he began to investigate the situation in Lingnan, and after careful consideration, he wrote to the emperor to help the emperor complete this plan.

Perhaps, the emperor didn't hesitate too much at the beginning, and listened to Chen Xu's words, and the purpose of sacrificing Wang Ben's magic axe must have been a military plan to conquer Lingnan.

In short, the emperor's edict has been issued, and the affairs of Lingnan must not be delayed.

"Master Hou, what are your orders for calling me and others to come?"

Half an hour later, just after Chen Xu thought about this matter, Hu Kuan, Shi Lu, and a group of craftsmen and craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry who managed the country's rivers, ditches and other water conservancy facilities arrived one after another.

Chen Xu watched the personnel arrive, so he pointed to the map on the wall with a bamboo stick and told him about his plan to build an artificial canal in order to cooperate with the conquest of Lingnan.

"This is Benhou's canal repair plan, because Benhou did not investigate the situation of the two rivers on the spot, but these two rivers have to think of some other ways to connect together, and choose the right location, otherwise the water level is not high enough to cause the river to flow and connect, then it will be a waste of effort, but now there is already experience in building a waterwheel mill dam, which can be intercepted and raised through the dam, as long as the two rivers can be connected, this thing is considered a success, and the ditch does not need to be wide and deep. It's just a 10-zhang riverboat......"

"Master Hou, this is simply a whimsical method!" After hearing this, Hu Kuan's eyes lit up and he was amazed.

Chen Xu glanced at Shi Lu, who was tugging at his beard in a daze.

It is said that this spiritual canal was built by this guy in front of him, but the records in the history books are relatively chaotic and may not be true, but Shi Lu was indeed found by Zhao Qing from Changsha County, and his ancestors are also from the Yue tribe, and he speaks with a strong Cantonese flavor with his tongue, and he can't hear it clearly if he doesn't work hard.

The most important thing is that Shi Lu is really good at building dams, so the historical record is probably not groundless, and it is estimated that he at least participated in the construction of the Ling Canal.

"Shi Lu, do you think this plan of Ben Hou can be completed?" Chen Xu asked.

"According to Master Hou, according to his subordinates, there must not be much of a problem!" Shi Lu came back to his senses and hurriedly said.

"Well, His Majesty has agreed to this matter and ordered the three provinces and six ministries to fully cooperate, ask for money and money, and labor and labor, and in order to speed up the construction of the canal, Benhou will also let the craftsmen of the Academy of Sciences cooperate with Taiyi Shenlei, and Benhou will hand over this task to you and Hu Kuan to complete, do you have confidence!"

"Hou Ye rest assured, Hou Ye has made this matter clear and clear, as long as we go to the field to investigate the situation of the two rivers and find the location of the canal, we will definitely be able to build the canal successfully!" Hu Kuan was a little excited and a little swinging.

Once this canal is repaired, the army will drive straight into it and will soon conquer Lingnan, and as the main leader of the canal, they will inevitably be rewarded, not to mention the marquis, it should be easy to get the title of a doctor, not to mention the help of the Marquis of Qinghe, and it is very likely that there will be a real shortage of four or five official positions in the Ministry of Industry.

So Hu Kuan and Shi Lu dispersed excitedly with a group of craftsmen and craftsmen, and each went to gather people.

Two days later, under the financing of the Ministry of Industry and the Academy of Sciences, a canal-repairing team led by Hu Kuan, vice president of the College of Engineering, followed by 3,000 soldiers led by the two generals Ren Huan and Zhao Tuo, who had obtained the military talisman and the military advice of the military department, set off for Lingnan.

This canal repair team not only included craftsmen and craftsmen who were good at building canals in the Ministry of Engineering, but also craftsmen of the Academy of Sciences who were proficient in measuring and drawing, as well as more than a dozen craftsmen in charge of gunpowder and artillery, and the accompanying carriage was loaded with tens of thousands of catties of gunpowder.

At present, many places in the south of Yuecheng Ling have been recovered, as long as there are enough manpower, it should not take long to build this canal, and perhaps it will be completed in autumn, then the problem of sending soldiers and food supplies can be completely solved.

And there is an important reason is that Wang Ben is the same as Wang Qian, not Tu Sui, a general who likes to kill innocents indiscriminately, and the historical records of later generations are that because Tu Sui invaded Lingnan, he slaughtered the Yue people and killed a large number of leaders of the Yue people to inspire the fierce resistance and counterattack of the Yue people, and finally was attacked by the Yue people late at night, and the 500,000 army was almost wiped out, and this battle also made the vitality of Daqin consume too much, and the emperor was furious and recruited 500,000 troops to conquer Lingnan again, almost emptying the garrisons and people of the southern counties. Even a large number of prisoners, slaves, sons-in-law, and merchants were used as soldiers, and they also looted the people's grain with heavy taxes for many years, in this case, in fact, it has left a disaster for the rebellion in the southern regions, and the peasant rebellion at the end of the Qin Dynasty was the most fierce in Jiangxi, including many local officials rebelled.

But the current situation is completely different, Wang Ben replaced Tu Sui's command and built the Ling Canal in advance, Daqin now has enough food in each county, and all the conditions have accumulated together, and the recovery of Lingnan has indeed reached the point of completion.

It's just that in Guizhou, Yunnan, these lofty mountains and dense forests where birds don't are necessary to hold them in their arms so early?

Chen Xu always felt that the emperor was making a fuss.

Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi and other places, these places are close to the sea, and now there are large ships to come and go, which is of great significance for the development of navigation, and Guizhou and Yunnan are even more primitive in Vietnam, Thailand and other places, which are definitely inaccessible savage areas at present, and there is a use for beating down.

But this time Chen Xu learned to be obedient, decided not to point fingers, but honestly quieted down, meditated and practiced every night, and then entertained his body and mind with a few wives, got up early in the morning and practiced swordsmanship gently with the water, and spent the rest of the time doing something delicious to treat himself and his family, and then spent most of his time soaking in the Academy of Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Agriculture, College of Liberal Arts, Experimental Factory, Fiefdom Farm and other acres of land that he was interested in. In addition to teaching physical and chemical experiments, he also participates in the research of various machinery and equipment being developed by craftsmen.

In the blink of an eye, in February, when the spring flowers bloomed, the Keju commercial plaza on the south bank of the Wei River began to end at a daily visible speed, the five-story grandstand has been completed and began to enter the interior decoration stage, and the three-story commercial building around the Keju field is also in full swing construction, as for the entertainment square covering an area of thousands of acres, it has also entered the stage of ground leveling and greening.

In order to cooperate with the beautification work of Keju Commercial Plaza, Chen Xu wrote to the emperor that he was going to build embankments on both sides of the Wei River and build a ten-mile-long riverside garden, building this wild river beach full of thorns and reeds into a landscape corridor integrating leisure, entertainment and sightseeing, and also set up public toilets, snack shops, tea houses, courtyards, etc., so as to enhance the overall image of Xianyang.

And when this spring arrived, the Academy of Sciences and experimental factories that had been preparing for several years had finally accumulated and begun to enter a blowout period of scientific and technological innovation and invention.

In mid-February, after repeated design and experiments by countless craftsmen and craftsmen, under the premise of fully absorbing Chen Xu's various mathematical and geometric knowledge and physical and mechanical principles, coupled with the gradual improvement of the casting process of the ironworks and blacksmiths, the first pair of linkage gears that have reached the commercial level was finally successfully manufactured.

There is almost no big difference between this gear and the mechanical gears seen in later generations, the only gap may be the material, because there is no strict smelting process, the alloy technology is not completely passed, and it is processed by pure casting, which is still lacking in strength, but in Chen Xu's view, in this era without high-speed power drive, this gear has reached the stage where it can be fully promoted, coupled with the continuous improvement and maturity of the bearing manufacturing process, the simple mechanical era has seen the dawn.

After the successful development of the gears, the dough sheeter, which had been designed and proven for a long time, became the first real machine ever completed by the craftsmen.

After Chen Xu and a group of craftsmen and craftsmen worked in the experimental factory for half a month, at the end of February, the first dough sheeter was officially launched, which was defined by the Academy of Sciences as Liu's dough sheeter after the equipment came out, causing the entire Academy of Sciences system to shake, thousands of people flocked to the experimental factory to watch the first industrial test of the dough sheeter.

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