In fact, whether the road is dirt road, cement, or asphalt, it is damaged after a long time and needs to be maintained.

In ancient times, how could there be a special road maintenance department, or the road was so bad that the government couldn't afford to pay for maintenance, or a certain good person paid for repairs to get a good reputation.

As for the emperor's patrol, the local government naturally asked for loess pads, filling in pits and filling holes, and making surprise repairs.

Xu Qilin was traveling by land, and how far away he was from Chang'an, the condition of the road made him feel that he was really guilty of taking a car. Especially in a carriage without shock absorption, the butt will be turned in half.

Rail transportation is almost unaffected by roads and mines, unless there is a heavy flood or a blizzard covers the road.

However, long-distance rail transportation must also require a lot of supporting facilities, such as many maintenance stations along the way, and the track and vehicles can be repaired in time if they are broken.

Well, now Xu Qilin is mainly solving the problem of Cao Yun. The most important thing is the land route of Sanmenxia, and even if the other sections are delayed for a year or two, it is not a big problem.

Very simply, if you want to transport grain to Guanzhong, you don't have to start from Jianghuai. The granary in Luoyang has mountains of grain, not to mention millions of stones.

It is precisely because Luoyang has grain, but it is difficult to transport it into Guanzhong, so that the Tang Dynasty monarchs and ministers in Chang'an often go to Luoyang to eat because of famine.

After the inspection of the coal mine and the continuous development, Xu Qilin boarded the ship again and went straight to Huayin County along the Weishui.

"The water power of Weichuan is impermanent, the flow is shallow and the sand is deep, that is, it becomes a barrier, counting its path is only hundreds, and the dynamic and moving gas sequence cannot be reciprocated."

"Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Yuanguang six years, Dasi Nong Zheng presided over at that time, tens of thousands of people, by the hydraulic engineer Xu Bo to supervise the digging, after three years to build the canal. After the canal was completed, the 900-mile Weihe River channel from Tongguan to Chang'an was shortened to more than 300 li. It is convenient to transship, and it depends on it in the customs. ”

"Four years of the emperor, Emperor Wen of Sui ordered Yu Wenkai to lead the water workers, dig a canal to divert Wei water, from the east of Daxing City to Tongguan more than 300 miles, the name is Guangtong Canal, and build Guangtong Warehouse at the mouth of the canal. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the Guangtong Canal was silted up until today. ”

Along the way, Xu Qilin constantly asked officials who were familiar with Caoyun for advice, and also saw the situation in Weishui with his own eyes, and felt that he had seen the reform of Caoyun simple before.

The Wei River has a lot of sediment and shoals, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the river, the river channel is wandering and tortuous, there are many sandbars in the middle of the river, the river channel is alternately scoured and silted, and the main channel forks and swings frequently.

Moreover, there were many disasters in the lower reaches of Weishui, from the first year of Zhenguan to the first year of Tianbao, there were as many as 34 flood disasters recorded.

This is another punishment from nature! Xu Qilin looked at the turbid Weishui and smiled bitterly with emotion.

As the population increases, the huge demand for food, housing, and fuel leads to an excessive demand from nature. Deforestation to make land, burning grass and cultivating wasteland, nature is overwhelmed, and disasters are used to pay tribute to the insatiable human beings.

But now, Xu Qilin can only finish his work first, and then consider whether there is an opportunity to make changes in the future. After all, human survival is the most important thing, and you can't let them go hungry and freeze to protect the environment.

Of course, it is more realistic to open the Guangtong Canal to increase transport capacity than to rely on the Weishui, which is often silted up.

I'm afraid that His Majesty Li Er will be frightened when he sees this grand plan to spend money, and he will retreat! Xu Qilin thought for a long time and decided to suppress this advice for the time being.

Let's take it step by step, if you want to eat a fat man in one bite, don't want to spend money all at once to make His Majesty Li Er's flesh ache.

Arriving at Huayin, where the Wei River and the Yellow River meet, Xu Qilin took people ashore to investigate and determine the location for the establishment of the warehouse.

During the Sui Dynasty, there was originally a Guangtong warehouse at the mouth of the Guangtong Canal, that is, on the south bank of Weishui in the northeast of Huayin County, and later renamed Yongfeng Cang, which was an important granary near Jingshi at that time.

However, now that the Guangtong Canal has been silted up, the only way to realize the sectional transportation of the Yellow River and Weishui is to rebuild the warehouse and rely on the Weihe River for water transportation.

Fortunately, the change of Weishui's river channel in the Huayin area is not very drastic, and it is not too difficult to select a site and build a warehouse.

After completing the work, after a day's rest, Xu Qilin led people across Weikou, changed boats and entered the Yellow River waterway, and continued westward.

Going down the river, the trip was fast, and it was a boat that had been arranged by someone a long time ago, the boat boss and the boatman were very experienced, and the journey was quite smooth.

Soon, everyone came to Shaanzhou, which is also a very important link on the road to Caoyun. From Luoyang to Shaanzhou, the waterway has the risk of Sanmenxia Zhuzhu, and the land route of 300 miles is expensive to transfer by car.

And there is a Taiyuan warehouse in Shaanzhou, which saves the cost of building a warehouse again. In Xu Qilin's plan, if the warehouse built in the west of Sanmenxia is smaller, the Taiyuan warehouse should be used as the main distribution center.

He stayed in Shaanzhou for a day and a night to purchase and use materials, mainly dry food. Xu Qilin also invited the boatmen to eat and drink in the restaurant and learn more about the specific situation along the Sanmenxia coast.

According to the description of the boatmen, there is a plank road along the Sanmenxia Gorge. But this plank road cannot be transported, but is for the slender man to walk and pull the boat forward.

Most of these plank roads are carved into a rocky path halfway up the cliff on the river bank, and where the tunnel cannot be excavated, a square hole is drilled every two meters to insert wooden beams and pave the bridge.

Whenever the boat is about to go upstream, the slender man pulls the boat along the plank road. On the stone wall in the middle of the plank road, there are many small holes in the shape of a cow's nose, which are used to tie the rope for the fiber puller to hold and exert force.

And the transport ships have to go against the water, all relying on the coolies of the slender man. The profession of slender man is undoubtedly the highest among many high-risk industries. With a heavy rope on his shoulders and a rugged mountain trail under his feet, you can fall off a cliff if you are not careful, either dead or injured.

"Climb the rock with your feet, grasp the cliff with your hands, pull the boat with a rope on your shoulder, pout your ass in the sky, pull your head between your legs, earn two dollars and take it home, and feed your wife and children and parents......"

In later generations, there was also the Yellow River horn shouted by the slender man pulling the boat, which can be said to be a true and vivid record of the suffering of the slender man pulling the boat and the difficulty of sailing against the current.

Xu Qilin sighed with emotion, and was also considering whether this narrow plank road could be widened and strengthened and turned into a road that could transport food and materials.

There is no need for a few lanes in both directions, even if it is a one-way street, as long as you can cross the danger of the pillar as soon as possible.

And this idea is not outrageous, think about the Qinshu Ancient Road, the Three Gorges Plank Road, both of which played an extremely important role in the history of ancient politics, economy, society, military and transportation,

Of course, whether it is feasible or not, whether there is another better plan, Xu Qilin needs to conduct field visits and listen to the opinions of experts.

After resting and making complete preparations, Xu Qilin and the others boarded the boat and set off again, going down the river and heading straight for Sanmenxia.

When there were still seven or eight miles away from Sanmenxia, the boatmen docked at an ancient ferry port in the Han and Sui periods, and explained the situation on the shore to Xu Qilin and others.

Xu Qilin took it to heart, took his entourage to abandon the ship and landed, and let the ship continue to sail, and after passing the pillar, he waited for them on the east side of Sanmenxia.

Walking east along the river beach, Xu Qilin and others observed the terrain as they walked. After walking for a mile or two, I saw a terrace on the shore.

This platform is about 100 meters from east to west, 20 or 30 meters from north to south, and is next to the river beach.

"And mark it on the diagram." Xu Qilin instructed, "If there is no suitable place ahead, I'm afraid we can only build a position here." ”

An official stretched out his finger and reminded: "Xu Cheng, please look, this is the first layer of terrace, and there is a small village further up!" ”

After a pause, he added, "Is it the Kamikura Village that the boatmen are talking about?" Send someone to inquire! ”

Xu Qilin took out his binoculars and took a closer look, so that people could go to the village to inquire, and it was best to ask a guide who walked through Sanmenxia.

After sending people, Xu Qilin and others went up to the platform, measured and surveyed, wrote down all kinds of data, and rested and waited for a while, only to see that the officials sent to bring two people.

These were two people, an old man and a young man, surprised and frightened by the sudden arrival of the officials in this poor and remote country. Under a simple inquiry, it turned out to be the village chief and his son. Because he had relatives in Longyan Village in the east of Sanmenxia, he walked the path to visit.

Xu Qilin comforted them gently, explained his intentions, and took out copper coins as a reward, and asked them to act as guides and walk the path.

The village chief was in a hurry to push back, but Xu Qilin insisted on doing so, so he had no choice but to accept it and lead everyone east along the river.

I went all the way, but I saw steep cliffs along the coast and narrow roads. People are okay, but if you want to transport supplies, you can't. Moreover, the trail is close to the river beach, and once the river rises, it will be blocked by flooding.

While walking and checking the terrain, Xu Qilin casually talked to the guide, but heard that there was still a mountain road that could also reach Longyan Village. It's just that it takes time and effort to go over mountains and mountains.

"The old man took us through this trail, and let's walk the mountain road!" Xu Qilin said: "According to a certain point of view, it is difficult to take this trail if you want to go by car. ”

The village chief saw that Xu Qilin was young and had a kind attitude, and he was not arrogant and shouting, but he was willing to work harder, and he also agreed with Xu Qilin's statement, "The mountain road is also difficult to walk, but after digging, widening and repairing, it should be able to walk on the carriage and horse." ”

After a pause, he continued: "This trail is flooded by nearly half of the water every time it rises, but the mountain road is fine. ”

Xu Qilin is not sure that the mountain road can be successfully transformed, if not, he can only dig out the grooved road on the cliff, supplemented by the plank road of stone pillars and planks, and use this time-consuming and laborious method to achieve the goal.

When you enter Sanmenxia, you can hear a huge sound of water, and the river water seems to be more turbulent. After walking for a while, I saw the three river gates known as the Divine Gate, the Human Gate, and the Ghost Gate. The yellow muddy water crashes and entangles in the river gate, which is terrifying.

Xu Qilin was very worried, and after searching for it, he didn't find the wreckage of the ship, and couldn't help but say to himself: "Those two ships should be fine, they have passed safely." ”

"Xu Cheng doesn't have to worry too much." An official comforted him: "It is not the flood season, and they are the most experienced boatmen, so they will be fine." ”

The village chief chimed in: "This is not the most dangerous place, walk a little further, you can see the pillars, there is the ghost gate!" “

Xu Qilin wiped the sweat on his face and urged everyone to speed up their pace.

In a short time, they passed the three gates, and a mountain-shaped boulder across the river came into view.

The river passed through the three gates, and rushed to the pillars, crashing and lapping, and the splashing waves and water splashed into the air, like a pillar of smoke rising several feet high into the sky.

Xu Qilin was shocked by the momentum of nature, opened his mouth slightly, and stared intently at the "mainstay" standing proudly in the water.

Under the impact of thousands of years of water, Mt. Tsuzu has been covered with scars and has become mottled and uneven. But it still stood firmly, silently resisting the impact of the turbid waves.

Sanmen Canyon, the two banks are sandwiched with water, the wall stands thousands of miles, the strange rocks are craggy, the terrain is dangerous, there are two stone islands in the middle of the river to divide the river water into three streams, so it is called "Sanmen Gorge".

The pillar is facing the three gates, the river water grabs the door and comes out, rushes straight to the pillar, and then diverts the pillar to pass through, so it is called "the mainstay".

Sanmen Caoyun began in the Qin and Han dynasties and ended in the Sui and Tang dynasties, with a history of nearly 1,000 years. In the past thousand years, I don't know how many people have been killed, and I don't know how many ships have hit the pillars and capsized in the river.

Xu Qilin was dazzled in the face of this danger, staring at the turbid waves, speechless for a long time.

"If you can avoid the danger of the pillar by land, it can be described as a great merit!" The old village chief's sigh resonated with everyone, and also interrupted Xu Qilin's gaze.

If you are not immersed in the scene and do not consider it realistically, how can you know the dangers of the three doors and the difficulties of the road?

And the high-ranking magnates, who only consider the cost of transportation and the consumption of money, but how can they value human life?

"No matter what the odds are, there will be success." Xu Qilin's face was solemn, and he said loudly: "I hope that all you will work together to build this achievement." ”

……………

After passing the Pillar Mountain, the water suddenly calms down, and the river channel widens, which makes people look open and feel relieved.

"After the terrace in front, it is Longyan Village." The village chief stretched out his finger and pointed with a relieved smile on his face.

Xu Qilin estimates that he has walked sixteen or seventeen miles, which is more consistent with the "eighteen miles of Kaishan Road" recorded in the history books. Looking at the plateau again, it is surrounded by mountains on three sides, facing water in the south, and the terrain is relatively low and flat, which is a place where you can build a warehouse.

When everyone approached and observed, they found that this platform seemed to be the remains of the Han Sui Cangli, and the fragments of gray rope tiles could be found on the ground.

"I'm afraid this is the closest place to Sanmenxia, and it's more suitable for building a position." Xu Qilin looked back and asked for the opinions of others.

"The river is wider and the river is slower, so boats can anchor here and turn back."

"It's okay to open a position, but how to go by land?"

Xu Qilin turned to the village chief and asked, "Where does the mountain road you said come from?" ”

The village chief pointed ahead and said, "Two miles away, there is Longyan Village, and the mountain road passes through Longyan Village. ”

Xu Qilin raised his head to look, but the village didn't see it, but he saw two boats moored on the shore in the distance, which must be the ancient ferry port that the boatman said-Langlan Crossing.

Judging from the distance, if you go up from the shore of the Langlan Ferry, it should be Longyan Village. Perhaps, where is it better to open a position?

Xu Qilin was not sure, so he asked his subordinates to measure the platform, mark it on the map, and then took another step and walked forward.

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