The spring breeze in February is like scissors, cutting off heavy winter clothes, cutting out tender green shoots, and also cutting out a wide canal......

Since the formal construction on February 2, in seven days before and after, the river channel 15 miles long and 10 zhang wide has been repaired, and the speed is so fast that it is like a trick.

People who are so lively run to the outside of the city every day, looking at the construction site, whenever they see the novelty, they can't help but dance and marvel, surprised and admired, more lively than watching the temple fair.

On the third day, after the water was diverted to wash the river, a huge rock was exposed, and the three teams worked together, and the hemp rope was broken several times, and then the wooden frame was also damaged, and two strong men fell and were injured, and they couldn't pull it out.

Finally encountered a hard bone, the people who have repaired the river in the past know in their hearts, encountering thousands of pounds of big stones, unless they are smashed a little bit, a little bit cleaned, there is no other way, not to mention ten days and half a month. In addition to the immortals, no one has the ability to lift 10,000 catties, not to mention that there is an extremely sticky mud sucking, and it is more difficult to get it out than to ascend to the sky. Some ill-intentioned guys are waiting to see the excitement.

Ye Sheng was very calm when he got the news, and after taking someone to check it, he immediately asked everyone to give up temporarily and clean up other places.

About a quarter of an hour later, dozens of people came with bamboo baskets on their backs, shovels and pickaxes, climbed onto the stones, knocked and beat, and left again and again for a long time.

Just when everyone didn't know why, all the people near the big stone withdrew, and after a while, a muffled thunder was heard, and the earth trembled. Thick white smoke rose from the river, and large chunks of silt were blown a hundred paces away. Far away, everyone who looks at the excitement feels their ears buzzing.

After a long time the smoke and dust dissipated, there was still no trace of the big stones, only the gravel was left everywhere, and the workers swarmed up, and after a while, they cleaned up and continued to rush to the next target.

Gunpowder!

Actually with gunpowder!

It's crazy to see the excitement, the construction guy has not never seen it, the most extravagant thing is to burn it with a large fire first, and then suddenly pour cold water, using the principle of thermal expansion and cold contraction, to break the stones. Exploded with gunpowder, it is simply unheard of and unseen. After being shocked, everyone inquired curiously, and when they heard that this construction method was proposed by Ye Sheng, they were happy again.

is worthy of our first name Xie Yuan, it is really amazing to be able to come up with such a wonderful method, and everyone is honored. Someone even brought their own bear children and let them watch it, so that they could be smoked and become smart in the future.

Not only them, but even Zhou Jun was shocked.

Ye Sheng once handed her the purchase list, and when Zhou Jun saw that there were 20,000 catties of gunpowder on it, this Zhou Jun was immediately angry, and he really couldn't think of any other use for gunpowder except for being used in the army. Could it be that you want to take my money, buy gunpowder, and give it to the army?

My Zhou Jun's eyes couldn't tolerate sand, he was furious and found Ye Sheng. It turned out that Ye Sheng was leading a group of people to dig the soil of the toilet!

The foul smell made him almost vomit, Ye Sheng smiled and accompanied him to the front.

Ye Sheng laughed and said, "Zhou Jun, my stinky body can be exchanged for a lot of silver." ”

"Hmph, there are a lot of nonsense!" Zhou Jun didn't believe it at all.

"How do you understand, if you want to produce gunpowder, you need three things, sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal, and there is saltpeter in the soil of the toilet stable, add plant ash, put it in the cauldron to heat, dissolve, filter, and the crystals that precipitate are pure saltpeter, which can be used for **."

Ye Sheng said a string of nouns, Zhou Jun couldn't understand any of them, and asked blankly: "What are you making gunpowder for, is it possible to gather a crowd to rebel?" ”

Poof, a sip of tea squirts far away, imagination is so rich!

Ye Sheng's face turned red with choking, who let the family pay, he had no choice but to tell the plate, "Zhou Jun, if you want to build quickly, it is necessary to blast with gunpowder." But it was no joke that the privately built gunpowder workshop was poked out, so I decided to borrow chickens to lay eggs. ”

Although Zhou Jun didn't know what it meant to borrow chickens to lay eggs, he knew that Ye Sheng was using gunpowder to repair the canal, and most of the anger in his heart disappeared, and he asked curiously, "What do you want to do?" ”

"There was originally an ordnance workshop in Taicang, which was supplied to Baoshanwei, which could produce hundreds of catties of gunpowder a year. As for me, if I place an order of 20,000 catties to the workshop, the ordnance workshop will definitely not be able to produce it. Then he asked the imperial court for permission to expand the scale, and took advantage of the situation to hang our workshop under the imperial court's ordnance workshop, and started at full power to produce gunpowder, and the wealth rolled in. ”

"Wait." Zhou Jun hurriedly waved his hand, a little unable to keep up with Ye Sheng's train of thought, and said suspiciously: "Isn't the canal able to be completed in half a year, producing so much gunpowder and making firecrackers?" ”

And that's the only use she can come up with.

"Mr. Zhou, the Western Xia is making such a big fuss, the imperial court will definitely have to transfer troops over on a large scale, how much military supplies will be consumed? The gunpowder workshop is a big business, not only to make money, but also to build up with the army. Although he is noble and martial, when it comes to fighting, he has to speak with his fists. ”

After listening to Ye Sheng's idea, Zhou Jun thought for a long time and muttered: "It sounds like selling dog meat on the head of a sheep, not like borrowing chickens to lay eggs?" ”

Just thinking about this, Ye Sheng almost fainted.

"Mr. Zhou, do or not do a word?"

"Do it, why don't you do it, in the future, all your Ye Sheng's business will be counted as Mr. Ben's share!" Zhou Jun said happily.

Since the gunpowder was taken out, the speed of canal construction has been rapid, and in mid-February, everyone came to the city gate to greet Han Qi.

Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan were appointed as the deputy envoy of Shaanxi Jingluo to pacify him, acting as the deputy of Xia Zhu, the pacification envoy. Han Qi presided over Jingyuan Road, and Fan Zhongyan presided over Yanyan Road. Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan returned together and asked Renzong to decide on his own strategy for using troops against Western Xia.

I heard that the Grand Canal was built here, so I came to see it.

As soon as they got off the horse, Bao County Order, Li Xiancheng and others all greeted them and said together: "I have seen Han Xianggong!" Han Qi smiled and said: "All colleagues are exempt, this official came in a hurry, I heard that the Japanese are in turmoil, and there are still tens of thousands of people displaced, hungry and cold, but this is the case?" ”

It is worthy of the characters who were ordered to relieve the hungry people in Sichuan and resisted the Western Xia Iron Cavalry, and asked the people as soon as they came up. Bao Zhixian hurriedly stood up, bowed down and said: "Lord Qiyu Zhongcheng, it is true that the people have been displaced, but now the people have a livelihood and do not worry about eating. Han Qi was suddenly shocked, to say that the imperial court was able to provide relief, and it was normal for the people to survive, but in more than a month, tens of thousands of people had found jobs, and he couldn't believe it. Bao Zhixian pushed Ye Sheng forward with a smile and said with a smile: "Tens of thousands of disaster victims rely on him!" Han Qi looked curiously, the young man in front of him looked dignified, and between his eyebrows and eyes, he was full of intelligence. He is not very old, but he is calm and extraordinary.

"Bao Zhixian, who is this young talent?"

After briefly introducing Ye Sheng, Han Qi thought for a moment after listening to it, and then smiled happily: "I remember, I remember, when I first gave birth to you, the old man hugged you, I really didn't expect it to be so big in a blink of an eye." The old husband Chang'an has been traveling for more than ten years, but he doesn't feel that his temples are white, and he can't accept the old man! ”

There is no way to fall in love, the more Han Qi looks at it, the more he likes it, and says, "What, it's not called uncle?" ”

In the past, although the two families were relatives, after all, the blood relationship was far away, and now they are recognized in public, which means very different. What especially pleased Ye Sheng was that it seemed that Han Qi admired him very much, so some things might be easier...... Overjoyed, Ye Sheng hurriedly saluted and called him uncle.

"Brother Zhigui, as soon as the younger brother arrived in Luoyang, he heard Ye Sheng's name, with outstanding literary talent and quick thinking, and he was favored by Mr. Junshi. At a young age, with the world in mind, with his own strength, he can make tens of thousands of refugees happy, what a shame for me as a parent! ”

The sound is very magnetic, melodious and frustrating, and it is comfortable to listen to. Ye Sheng didn't dare to take credit, and hurriedly said modestly: "How can the kid be virtuous, it's not that he has the support of his parents, the gentry and businessmen of Suzhou to help him, and the suffering people are sympathetic to the difficulties of the court, the kid is just threading the needle." ”

"What a needle thread, can string up and down together, Brother Zhigui, this nephew is not ordinary!"

Han Qi also smiled: "What you said is so lively, I still have a black eye, why don't you go to the canal together?" ”

"Okay, I've had that too."

They said that Ye Sheng could only obediently be his guide, leading the adults towards the Grand Canal. Along the way, Ye Sheng told Han Qi in detail about his plan, Han Qi was still thinking about it, Bao Xianling seemed to have an understanding, and said with a smile: "Dredging the canal with refugees, relieving refugees with merchants' financial resources, and supplementing merchants with the benefits of the canal, interlocking, wonderful, wonderful!" ”

Talking and laughing, we arrived at the construction site. Just in time to divert water to wash away the silt, the clear water of the Liuhe River is bubbling out with mud. Many people were carrying wooden barrels and washbasins, and their eyes were waiting.

They are all people in the vicinity, and this is the time when the wheat is green and grows faster, and needs water and fertilizer. The silt from the canal is full of nutrients and is fed into the wheat fields, where the wheat grows better and harvests more. Whenever the muddy water is released, it attracts a lot of people to come, which is also a side benefit of the canal construction.

Ye Sheng said: "The 200-mile Grand Canal can not only be used for shipping, but also for irrigation, I have planned 20 diversion canals, and after all of them are repaired, 500,000 acres of fields along the way will benefit." "Of course, Ye Sheng will not say that you have to pay for the use of the aqueduct.

"Hmm!" Hearing this, Han Qi was extremely happy, for them, no agriculture is unstable, nothing is as important as agricultural stability.

Repairing the canal can think of irrigation of fields along the way, just this one, it is enough to see that Ye Shengzhi is in general, and Han Qi is more and more satisfied.

The muddy water was released, and the workers skillfully erected the wooden frame, twisted the pulley, and the stones were pulled out like a turnip. When it's all cleaned up, it's time to run to the next one. As for the stones left on the shore, there were others who drove the cattle and horses and dragged them away with animal power.

Then the workers in charge of digging the soil arrived quickly, and they first divided the area, some digging with shovels, and others carrying the sand with bamboo baskets.

If you look closely, you will find that the shovels they use are of the same size, and the digging movements are almost the same, no matter how much effort they have, and the soil that each spade digs out is almost the same. The same is true for the size of the bamboo basket, and every movement is standardized, and no mistakes are allowed.

This is because Ye Sheng has learned from the experience of scientific management in later generations, and can reasonably distribute the physical strength of workers to achieve the greatest effect. At first, the big guys were awkward, and they said that they had done most of their life's work, so they still needed to teach!

Ye Sheng didn't say much, he selected two hundred workers and strictly followed his methods, as for the two hundred people, it was customary. As a result, for two days in a row, the efficiency of the excavation of the strict enforcement party was more than twice that of the other two hundred.

The facts are in front of them, there is no more voice to refute, everyone is trying to be uniform, in Ye Sheng's opinion, they can only be regarded as just getting started, and they are far worse than the professional construction team in later generations. But in the eyes of Han Qi, Bao Zheng and others, it is not enough to describe surprise.

The smooth movements, the swift and fast construction, comparable to the discipline of the army, are really breathtaking. Just when everyone was sighing, suddenly there was a muffled sound of thunder in the distance.

What's going on? Han Qi asked in surprise.

Ye Sheng hurriedly explained: "It's gunpowder, and when it encounters a big rock that is difficult to deal with, it will be exploded with gunpowder, which is also to speed up the progress of construction, which makes my uncle frightened." ”

"I see!" Han Qi nodded.

Master Bao frowned, and asked suspiciously: "Blasting with gunpowder, the cost will definitely not be enough, right?" ”

"Qiyu old parents, the cost is indeed very large, but without gunpowder, there is no way to repair the canal before the Dragon Boat Festival, the kid thinks that although the cost is too much, it is worth it!"

"What!"

Master Bao almost jumped up, and exclaimed in disbelief: "You said that you can repair it before the Dragon Boat Festival?" ”

What's so strange about this, you haven't seen a bridge change in 43 hours!

Ye Sheng nodded solemnly and said: "Old parents, rest assured, as long as no one obstructs it, before the Dragon Boat Festival, the entire line along the Yellow River of the 200-mile Grand Canal will be completed."

"Who dares to stop this official from screwing off his head!" Han Qi said murderously.

Don't blame him for that

Excited, it turned out that after Han Qi arrived in Shaanxi, he checked the grain stocks of the government, found out the family background, and prepared to train and prepare for war, but after a check, the government stocks of grain were less than one-third, and he thought of transferring it from other places, but the Grand Canal had long been overwhelmed, the Weaving Bureau, the big households in the southwest, the gentry and bureaucrats, these people's ships were congested in the river, and Han Qi could only cry out in vain.

Because of this, the opening of the White Crane section of the Yellow River Wharf attracted his attention, and he couldn't wait to come and see it. When Ye Sheng said that he could be repaired before the Dragon Boat Festival, Han Qi went crazy with joy, and after making sure again and again, he laughed out loud and was extremely happy.

"Hahaha, as long as the canal is repaired, let alone being able to share the pressure of the Grand Canal, there will be one more way to mobilize soldiers' food and salary in the future, I will go to the court and ask for credit for you."