Chapter 16 Zhang Xianzhong's results Farewell to King Chuang

Zhang Zhimu knew that Li Zicheng was asking about the Eight Kings Zhang Xianzhong, "Alas! The relationship between the Eight Kings and us has always been good. Now the places around the Xiangjiang River and Dongting Lake have been completely handed over to us. ”

"Old fox!" Li Zicheng smiled and said: "He just wants you to leave Sichuan to him, so that you are embarrassed to touch them." ”

"The world must be unified." Zhang Zhimu's words can be regarded as an answer to Li Zicheng, and it is also to tell Li Zicheng that as a result of Zhang Xianzhong, if he does not come to surrender, he will be eliminated.

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "The unification of the world in your hands is the luck of the people of the world!" ”

"Brother Li, do you know what the reason for Meng Yuan's retreat to the northern grassland?" Zhang Zhimu asked.

"They are so brutal and unpopular, and almost all of our Han people who are literate have been killed by them for various reasons." Li Zicheng said.

"That's a big reason." "Another reason was that they didn't have the technical means to manage such a vast empire at that time. Something happened on the frontier, and it took a few months for the Central Dynasty to know how they would manage it. It's like a boil on their body, and when they know it, it's already suppurating. Before I had time to treat, I had already made a big deal. So, you see, everywhere we go, first set up telegraph and telephone lines to keep the information flowing, and then we build roads. That way, the places we manage are always aware of what's going on. You can also react quickly when you have something. ”

"That's what we're going to learn." Li Zicheng said, "You should also prepare more for us with those telephone and telegrams." ”

"I'm saying this because I want you to send some literate people to learn how to use these things." Zhang Zhimu said, "With these means, it will be much more convenient for you to govern the localities." ”

"It seems that the year you left us is not too long." Li Zicheng said, "At first, we didn't understand why you were not happy to do things, and you had to delay things until a year later." Looks like I still have so much to learn. In the past, when we fought wars, we ate wherever we fought. It's often said when I get to the place. Now it's really like the war book says, you have to plan before you act. I'm getting more and more aware that the reason we can't beat you in the past is not only because our weapons aren't good, but because we can't do it as people. ”

"Actually, we all have our own strengths. Just because hundreds of thousands, millions of people can follow you, it already makes me very envious. Zhang Zhimu's words were a little polite, but they were also sincere.

Li Zicheng pointed to the pontoon box where the piers of the bridge were being built in the Yellow River and said: "If a bridge is built here, will trains and cars be able to drive directly across the Yellow River?" ”

"Of course, this is the first dual-purpose railway and road bridge on the Yellow River." Zhang Zhimu said that his face was full of joy, "In the future, when we go to Yaogang, we can take the train and sleep to Xi'an!" That's a lot faster than taking a boat. ”

"I took a train to Datong, and it was really fast." Li Zicheng's eyes also lit up a little when he talked about this, "Will the Yangtze River also be able to build a bridge in the future?" ”

"Of course! Must be built. Zhang Zhimu said with certainty, "Although there are no specific arrangements yet." However, I think that at the very least, a bridge should be built between Hankow and Wuchang and Hanyang. A bridge should also be built in Yingtianfu. ”

"In that case, let's build the railway to Annam in the future!" Li Zicheng said, "After Annan is calmed down, I will come back to help you with these things." Nothing else, your brother and I are still not afraid of suffering and being tired. ”

Li Zicheng's words made Zhang Zhimu also a little excited, Zhang Zhimu said: "Brother Li! There's so much we have to do, and we need people like you to do it with us. At this time, Li Zicheng in Zhang Zhimu's eyes was very contradictory. This man is also from a poor background, but he has done a lot of things that are difficult to forgive. However, Zhang Zhimu sighed in his heart, he couldn't ask the current Li Zicheng according to the moral standards of his previous life. All he did was within the moral standards of the people today. Although the people hated the war and slaughtered the city, they didn't feel that it was particularly undeserved. It seems that if it is defeated, it should be left to the hands of the victor.

Zhang Zhimu and Li Zicheng got up and came to the edge of the deck, holding on to the railing, Zhang Zhimu said: "Brother Li, look at the pontoon in front of you, where we use the latest method of building bridge piers. If this pier is built successfully, it will be easy to build other piers. ”

Zhang Zhimu told Li Zicheng about this method of caisson building bridge piers. Li Zicheng nodded when he heard it, and praised "It's wonderful."

Zhang Zhimu's boat, after crossing the Kaiyuan New River, stopped at Kaifeng.

After arriving in Kaifeng, Zhang Zhimu, Li Zicheng and others crossed the Yellow River in a small boat and came to the construction site of the new channel of the Yellow River.

When Duan Jingzhong and Shi Xiu heard the news, they both greeted Zhang Zhimu and his party by the river. At this time, Zhang Zhimu didn't have to be too secretive, and introduced Li Zicheng and Song Xiance to Duan Jingzhong and Shi Xiu. Although Li Zicheng's arrival shocked the two of them, they quickly understood that Zhang Zhimu accompanied Li Zicheng over, indicating that the two families must have negotiated, and the two of them also calmly invited Zhang Zhimu and Li Zicheng to come to the newly built dam to take a look, and then to the old embankment at the bend of the Yellow River. Because this is the place where the old and new channels of the Yellow River are connected, it was the first to be measured and the earliest to start. In order to ensure that the new river channel is built, after the explosion here, it is easy to divert the water of the Yellow River to the new river channel, and the construction quality here is very important, and the construction is completely presided over by the kiln gang people. It's already a bit eyebrow-raising.

Duan Jingzhong said: "We plan to drill some deep holes in this old embankment, and when needed, we can blow them up at once and divert the Yellow River to a new channel." ”

Li Zicheng seemed to be very interested, and asked: "When will the new river be built?" ”

"It must be completed before the flood season next year. We have to wait for the flood season to blow up the embankment here, so that the high water level will wash away the old embankment and completely divert the Yellow River. Duan Jingzhong said.

"I've heard that the new river channel was built by officials of the imperial court in sections. They can't avoid cutting corners, so how can you guarantee the safety of new dams? "Li Zicheng is still very knowledgeable.

"Oops! It's a long story. Duan Jingzhong sighed and said, "In the past few months, I have been fighting with these officials. There is no way, we have given them a lot of benefits, but the more they give them, the more insatiable they become. However, after General Shi Xiu's men were all in place, we changed our countermeasures. We deployed the army along the embankment to supervise the quality of the embankment project, and suggested to the responsible officials sent by the imperial court that the quality of the project must be signed by the officials in charge of the section and our supervisors. Moreover, the officials in charge of the section are responsible for the quality of the dam, and once the embankment bursts due to quality problems, no matter when, where the person in charge is, he must be held accountable and resolutely punished! If the construction period is delayed because of any official, he will also be held responsible. These matters were reported to the imperial court, and after the imperial court approved it, the project progressed more smoothly. ”

"Haha! It seems that you still have a way to deal with the officials of the imperial court. Li Zicheng laughed.

"It doesn't work on that, and those officials have worked hard to get the errand of repairing the river. They are not willing to do some good. Later, they worked on the food of the workers on the construction site, and in some places, they could barely eat even the thin food. The construction site is full of heavy work, and the laborers can bear it. We had no choice but to leave the food work to them, and we organized our own people to fire the laborers. As a result, the officials organized people to intercept the laborers and prevent them from going to the construction site where we were taking care of our own food. General Shi Xiu led people to kill some troublemakers, and found that there were officials who were making troubles behind. General Shi Xiu dragged them to the embankment and shot them publicly. Some of the bullies on the river also killed a lot, which shocked these people. Duan Jingzhong was also a little excited as he spoke.

"Kill those officials like this, can those officials in the imperial court do it?" Song Xiance asked.

"Hey! They all know what's going on. They all feel that they can't afford to offend us, and they have to follow and say that they are good at killing! Duan Jingzhong said, "The officials sent by the imperial court, we will also give some benefits appropriately." There are some things that are much better for them to do than for us to do them. As long as we can complete the project on time next year, we are better than anything else. ”

"I can't believe that you dare to kill the officials of the imperial court." Li Zicheng said.

"Have the piers started to be built?" Zhang Zhimu is concerned about whether the pre-built piers can be completed before the water comes next year.

"Two sites have already been built." Duan Jingzhong said, "In the end, we agreed with Mr. Lu Bingyi that from Kaifeng to the mouth of the sea, a total of three bridge piers will be built in advance. They are in Fan County, Jinan Prefecture and Binzhou. ”

"You don't have a river, but you want to build a bridge first?" Song Xiance was a little strange.

"The bridge cannot be built for the time being. But we wanted to build some bridge piers on dry land when there was no water. It is much easier to excavate earthworks on dry land. We will build the bridge piers first, and then build the bridge when we have the conditions. Otherwise, it will be difficult to build the piers when the water is open. Zhang Zhimu explained.

"It's really a world change!" Li Zicheng said with emotion, "The area of Yan'an Prefecture in my hometown is short of water, and there has been nine droughts in ten years. Can you think of a way, many of the hillside areas there produce not much more grain than seeds in a year. ”

"Brother Li doesn't forget his homeland!" Zhang Zhimu said, "In that area, we will return all the land near the river to forest. The hillside land should be terraced as much as possible. But I've always had the idea of building a barrage dam at Hukou Waterfall to raise the water level upstream there, and the water level of the Yan River can also be raised. In this way, the river channel of the Yanhe River will be extended a lot, and the water transportation capacity there can also be improved, and it will be convenient to divert water from the Yanhe River for irrigation. The dam can also be built through the locks to communicate the shipping on both sides of the Hukou Falls. Wouldn't that improve some of the situation there? ”

"Oh, Brother Zhang Xian! Hurry up and do this kind of thing! Li Zicheng was a little excited.

"There's so much we have to do. I can't help it now, I still have to spend my energy on fighting. When the world is calm, we can concentrate all our energy on this! Zhang Zhimu said.

"Alas! Brothers who have died on the battlefield all these years, how good would it be if they were alive to do these things together? Li Zicheng said with some regret.

"It's still too late." Zhang Zhimu said.

On the way for Zhang Zhimu and their passenger boat to leave Kaifeng for Huai'an, Zhang Zhimu said to Li Zicheng: "This waterway, after we prepare for the opening of the new river, we will block the old river in Kaifeng, and this old river channel will be reconverted into a canal, and the river will be reduced, but the river will be deepened." This will increase navigation capacity and will allow a lot of arable land to be reopened. ”

"The north embankment of this section of the Yellow River is very well built, and it can be borrowed directly, as long as the south embankment is rebuilt." Li Zicheng also saw some eyebrows.

"Yes, build a new embankment in the middle of the original river. It's a lot of trouble. Zhang Zhimu said, "It turned out that the dam at the bottom of the river was not stable, so we wanted to dig a ditch first, and then use pine stakes to drive into the ditch, add stones, and then use soil to tamp it layer by layer." The amount of work is not small. ”

Song Xiance asked beside him: "Is it necessary to build a bridge across the canal at the same time?" ”

"Yes, we've thought about it." Zhang Zhimu said, "There will be many bridges to be built here in the future. ”

Song Xiance came over and said: "I think the amount of work is not small is the excavation of the Huai River estuary. This estuary must be wide enough. Because the Huai River will come here, many rivers will converge here, and when there is a flood, the water level will suddenly rise. The discharge flow must be very large. ”

"Mr. Lu Bingyi, they have put a lot of thought into this matter. They plan to start this river from Hongze Lake, which can be used as part of the Huai River channel or as a flood storage lake in the future. "Although this is a channel for floodwater to flow into the sea, it has a great effect on improving water transportation." It's worth the effort. ”

"If the Huai River flood can be solved, it will be a good thing with immeasurable merits." Song Xiance said, "However, in the matter of the Huai River, there is an estuary to the sea. However, I have seen that the embankments along the Huai River are also in disrepair. As soon as there is a big flood like this year, there will still be accidents. It's not just the Huai River that needs to be repaired. Even the embankments of the numerous tributaries had to be reinforced. The amount of work is simply too large. ”

"We can't always go to disaster relief. Prevention is the only way to prevent problems. Zhang Zhimu said, "Wouldn't it be too stupid if we always had no money to buy medicine and money to buy coffins?" ”

"Huh!" Li Zicheng said, "Brother Zhang Xian's metaphor is good. I believe that there is nothing that the kiln people want to do that cannot be done. ”

After arriving in Huai'an, Li Zicheng and Zhang Zhimu, who were in a good mood, chartered a restaurant, tasted Huaiyang cuisine, and got drunk again.

At this time, Li Zicheng's whereabouts are simply semi-public. When leaving Huai'an, Ouyang He deliberately said to Li Zicheng: "Last time, our President Zhang encountered assassins in Huai'an and Yangzhou. Those killers of Qiankun are really one by one, and they would rather die than leave a trace. ”

Song Xiance took over and said, "We have also heard about this matter. But let me say it today, this kind of thing has absolutely nothing to do with us. The people we sent to the kiln are all our own people. We can't do something so big with someone else. We've been looking into it, but there's been no news. Now the Central Plains is yours. It shouldn't be difficult to find someone from the Qiankun Gate. ”

Hearing Song Xiance's explanation, Ouyang He was happy and said, "At first, we judged that it was possible for you, but then we felt that it was unlikely that you would do this. Because it fits your style. We haven't bothered to find them yet, but we don't think they pose much of a threat. As long as we take it seriously, there is no chance for them. Besides, those who can spend money to hire them to do shady tricks don't dare to openly oppose us, it's not a big deal. ”

Song Xiance knocked on it and judged that this matter was really not done by Li Zicheng and them. Because everyone talked about it, Li Zicheng and they would not hide it if they did it.

When he arrived in Yangzhou, Li Zicheng wanted to go to Yangzhou for a walk, but Song Xiance resolutely disagreed. Because Li Zicheng's identity is now semi-public, it is too eye-catching to enter Yangzhou like this. Li Zicheng had no choice but to do it. However, Li Zicheng and Zhang Zhimu are going to break up here.

Zhang Zhimu and Xiao Hongyu want to change boats here to go to Xiao Hongyu's house. Li Zhi led people to follow Zhang Zhimu together. Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He accompanied Li Zicheng to the Zhenjiang Shipbuilding Base. Li Zicheng and the others were going to change to a passenger boat towed by a tugboat there, cross the Yangtze River and take the canal to Lin'an (Hangzhou).

In Yangzhou, Zhang Zhimu and they got off the ship, but a group of kiln gang people wanted to get on the boat and follow Li Zicheng to Zhenjiang, Lin'an, Wuxi, and Yingtianfu to restore the original kiln gang branch. The people who withdrew from the branch stayed in Yangzhou. This time, I went back with Li Zicheng and restored the company.

On the dock in Yangzhou, Li Zicheng insisted on sending Zhang Zhimu and their boat to go first. Everyone got on the boat, but Li Zicheng and Zhang Zhimu clasped their hands tightly together, unwilling to part for a long time.

Li Zicheng said: "Brother Zhang Xian, if only I had known you earlier." It won't run around like a fly without a head. In Yaogang these days, I think a lot. You said a lot of things, I have to go back and think about it slowly. But what we have agreed upon, no matter who opposes it, I will stick to it to the end. You can rest assured. ”

"Brother! Take care of your body when you go. There are still many things to do in this world. Rest assured, we behind you will provide you with full support! Zhang Zhimu was also a little reluctant.

The other people on the dock were relatively deeply infected by their deep affection, and no one could bear to step forward to persuade them. This is a rare scene of two men who deeply appreciate each other.

Or Chen Yufeng said in the past: "There must be a farewell when you send you a thousand miles." We've come a long way! ”

After hearing this, Zhang Zhimu arched his hand and said, "Brother Li, take care!" "Turn around and board the ship. A gunboat opened the way, and Zhang Zhimu and their fleet set off. On the boat, Zhang Zhimu held the railing of the boat and waved to Li Zicheng on the shore. It's been far away, and Zhang Zhimu can still see Li Zicheng standing on the dock.

Xiao Hongyu came over to persuade Zhang Zhimu and said, "How can two big men make them look like two lovers?" ”

Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "This is heart-to-heart!" ”

"It's also convenient to contact now, and let's contact by telegraph in the future!" Little Hongyu said.

"These days, you're a little slow to treat you?" Zhang Zhimu said affectionately to Xiao Hongyu.

"Hmmm! Did you know? Xiao Hongyu said angrily, "I thought you would be able to accompany me well when I came back by boat this time." But you and the big man seem to have endless words. If you hadn't been able to think of me at night, I'm afraid you wouldn't have gone back to your room. ”

Zhang Zhimu was about to make out with Xiao Hongyu when someone knocked on the door.

Xiao Hongyu frowned, but still went out to open the door. It turned out to be Li Zhi.

As soon as Li Zhi came in, he said, "Mr. Zhang, urgent electricity!" ”

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Mt. Fuji erupted, Japan was earthquaked. --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".