Haikou Institute.

Zhou Luqing saw off Shen Yan and Cai Yuanding, deputy commanders of the Inspector's Pacesetter Battalion.

"Vice General Shen, Li Dingguo summoned He Jiuyi back to Yunnan, he is preparing grain and grass packs, and he will leave Nanning soon."

Shen Yan was a little surprised: "As soon as He Jiuyi's more than 10,000 men and horses leave, Nanning will be empty, who will guard Kunlun Pass?" ”

"I can only give up, Xie Yuanbian is already starting to evacuate the military and civilians from Nanning and Hengzhou to the south, and this time he will evacuate hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides of the Yujiang River."

Cai Yuanding: "Then Qin Lian will face the enemy army next." ”

"Yes, we will reopen the line of defense in Yulin Tianmen Pass, Xingye County, Yongping Village, Lingshan County to Xixiang Village."

Cai Yuanding counted with his fingers, "10,000 soldiers in Qinlian's 4 training towns, plus Li Laiheng and Li Yuanyin, can you hold on to nearly 30,000 green battalion soldiers below the national security of the Guangxi line?" If Guangdong makes any more moves, we will be in trouble. ”

Zhou Luqing smiled bitterly, "It's man-made." ”

Shen Yan: "What are the actions of the Tusi of the left and right Jiangdao?" ”

Zhou Luqing sighed slightly, "As far as we know, most of the Tusi have lost their sincerity to the Tatars. ”

Cai Yuanding said in surprise: "Will those toasts intercept Vice General Shen along the road?" ”

"Yuan Lijun made sure that the toasts would not use force before He Jiuyi left, so Shen Yan, you have to move quickly."

Cai Yuanding: "Brother Shen......"

Shen Yan said calmly: "Brother Futai and Ji Tong, don't worry, I will definitely escort the envoys of Zheng Fan to Kunming safely." ”

Zhou Luqing nodded, "We can rest assured that you go." ”

Cai Yuanding: "To put it this way, when Brother Shen arrived in Kunming, the left and right rivers had already fallen, and I am afraid that I can only sneak back to Qinzhou in disguise, which is risky." ”

"No, Shen Yan doesn't have to go back the way he came."

"Huh?"

Zhou Luqing said to Shen Yan: "After you arrive in Kunming, you will follow Li Dingguo's central army. ”

"Then how does Brother Shen go home?"

Shen Yan tapped the hilt of the knife lightly, his tone was still very calm, "I can't come back, I will fight with Jianyu in the Dingguo Army." Qingshan buries loyal bones everywhere, why bother to return the body of the horse leather. ”

Zhou Luqing turned his head sideways and said to Cai Yuanding, "It's not that bad, Shen Yan's task is more important than fighting, whether he can come back safely will fall on you." ”

"Futai, I don't understand."

"Think about where you're going on this errand."

"Vientiane?"

"There are 3 merchants in Shen Yan's team who are familiar with the way down the Gongxiang, and they are the guides who are prepared for the withdrawal."

Shen Yan: "What is the way down the Gongxiang?" ”

"Siam and Nanzhang have two land routes into the Celestial Empire, one is the Cheli Xuanwei Division (Xishuangbanna Jinghong City) to Yuanjiang Mansion (Yuxi Yuanjiang County), through Jianshui (Jianshui County, Honghe Prefecture), Tonghai (Yuxi Tonghai County) to Kunming, and the other is Gongxiang Road, how to go to the guide will tell you."

Cai Yuanding: "It would be great if there was a safe passage back." ”

Cai Yuanding and Shen Yan cooperated to steal Prince Hui in Guangzhou, and they became inseparable friends, and when they heard that Shen Yan was not on a suicide mission, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Luqing: "There is a road, and it depends on you whether it is safe or not." ”

"Something to do with Nanzhang?"

"Exactly."

"The Great Command System only made me familiar with the national conditions of Nanzhang first, and did not instruct me what to do later."

"I'll tell you the beginning of the plan first."

"Please give the order."

"Houjiang Li Jun Changzheng organized a large caravan into Nanzhang, you led a mercenary to escort this caravan, and handed over to the trade representative after arriving in Vientiane, and then took up the post of federal minister in Nanzhang."

"Minister?"

"This time, we will formally sign a military alliance treaty with Nanzhang, and the diplomatic relations between the two sides will be upgraded from the level of trade representative to the rank of minister, and Li Junchang of Houjiang Province will tell you the second step of the plan."

"Futai, Brother Ruo Hui, please rest assured, I will live up to my mission and guard the way out for Brother Ruo Hui."

Zhou Luqing took a long look, "The two of you are going to thousands of mountains and rivers, the road is hard, take care all the way." ”

"Futai, goodbye, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Shen Yan boarded the bird fleet to Qinzhou, and Cai Yuanding still took the Shrike.

The Shrike rode the north wind and traveled along the west coastline of Qiongzhou, then found the western boundary current of the South China Sea off the coast of Annam, and reached the Houjiang River five days later. The boat turned northwest and sailed into the Mekong River.

The Shrike lowered its two decks, a device that slowed down the ship but helped stabilize the ship against the current.

Cai Yuanding stood on the stern deck, opened his binoculars, and looked at both sides of the Houjiang River, he had not been to the Houjiang River for many years.

The Houjiang Plain is 2 meters above sea level and was once covered with swamps and jungles. When Cai Yuanding left Nanyang, the banks of the Houjiang River were a wilderness, and the terrible Indochinese tigers, reticulated pythons, and saltwater geese roamed the wilderness on both sides of the river, choosing people to eat.

The record of the Houjiang area of the Chinese is that "although the land is vast, the people are not numerous, the forests are lush, the forests are cloudy, the voices of birds and beasts are mixed everywhere, the grass is reckless and messy, mosquitoes and flies are flying indiscriminately, and leeches are dense." ”

When the Federation conquered Houjiang, only a few port towns were developed nearby.

Now Houjiangfu Tiandi has a new look.

Since the first governor, Lin Tongwen, the Chinese began to repair the earth.

The first is to build dikes along the coastline and river banks to drain the swamps.

The embankment extends northwest from the mouth of the Houjiang River and the mouth of the Guyu River to the Zhenlagandang area, and on both sides of the Houjiang River, the three embankments on the right bank of the Guyu River have a total length of more than 600 kilometers.

The embankment took hundreds of thousands of people and 15 years, and countless laborers and slaves died on the site.

During Lin Tongwen's tenure, he completed the river embankment and part of the seawall project.

Li Junchang's first term of office was completed, and the initial development of the two sides of the Yangtze River and Haikou was completed.

In the second term, the Houjiang River began to extend inland, first with 2 horizontal and 1 vertical post roads.

Since the year before last, Houjiang has been put into the inland canal project.

The first is the Yongji River at the border between the de facto control area and Chenla.

The soil of the Houjiang River is soft, the place is flat, and the canal project is simpler than the embankment.

The Yongji River starts from Xinzhoubao, the estuary of the confluence of the Houjiang River and the Guyu River, and pulls southwest to Hexian. It is 87 kilometers long, 40 meters wide and 2 meters deep.

Houjiang forcibly recruited tens of thousands of Gao barbarians and hired Yue people and Chinese. The 80,000 migrant workers lasted 8 months, divided into two dry seasons, and completed in 4 shifts.

The Chinese and Yue people are responsible for the dry soil project, and the Gao Barbarians are responsible for the wet soil project, and the Gao Barbarian is more than twice the amount of labor of other ethnic groups.

The Yongji River was repaired, and the Houjiang Prefecture has complete statistics, and 10,000 migrant workers died in the river, including the casualties in the two uprisings suppressed by the Houjiang garrison during the project.

In addition to providing irrigation for the cultivated land along the river, the Yongji River also played an important military role.

The Houjiang garrison can quickly maneuver between the Mekong River and the Gulf of Siam, and naval light warships can also enter the upper Mekong River directly from this river.

The Yongji River was completed and the Federation became the first military power in the Gulf of Siam. The new king of Siam, King Nalei, canceled the honeysuckle and sent a new military covenant.

The Yongji River is just the beginning, and the Houjiang government has planned a dense river canal project, and these canals and irrigation canals that do not undertake military tasks do not need to be built to the scale of the Yongji River, and are gradually being constructed.

Two days later, in Can Tho, the capital of Hou Giang, the Shrike docked at the port to unload its cargo.

After Cai Yuanding got off the ship, he went straight to the Houjiang Governor's Mansion.

"Governor Lee."

"Minister Cai, sit down."

Cai Yuanding shook hands with Li Junchang, sat down in the wooden sofa, and said impatiently: "Mr. Governor, I want to understand the task as soon as possible." ”

Li Junchang smiled, "Don't worry, how much do you know about the history of Nanzhang Kingdom?" ”

"I have read all the materials given to me by the Führer, and I have a general impression."

"What do you think?"

"There are many exaggerations in the ancient records of the Tai people."

"That's right, the southern state only records their royal lineage, and many historical events have to be verified by the historical materials of Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Chenla, and even Annam, and there are many contradictions among them."

"Some things may never be clear."

"Yes, but that's not the point you need to know."

Li Junchang patted the thick stack of materials on the table, "These are the tasks to focus on." ”

"What's it?"

"The current royal lineage of Namzhang is the historical origin of Luang Prabang, Sichuan Khouang and Vientiane; the people of Annam, who stand behind the Chuankuang; the relationship between the Kingdom of Chiang Mai and its predecessor, the Kingdom of Jinglin, and the Sukhothai-Ayutthaya lineage; All of the above Thai kingdoms are entangled with the reality of the Burmese. ”

Cai Yuanding wiped his sweat, "I'll try my best to understand." ”

"There's another one. The military conquests of Nanzhao and Qianyuan in Jinglin, Nanzhang, Chenla and northern Siam. ”

Cai Yuanding's head was sweating more and more.

Li Junchang: "Don't be in a hurry, this military alliance is not only between us and Nanzhang, but also with Siam, and it will be a three-country military alliance at that time." The negotiations will not be concluded anytime soon, and there is still one important member of your mission who has not yet arrived. ”

"Important members."

"Yes, Xingping Bogao Yuanjue."

"Gao Jie's son?"

"Gao Yuanjue graduated from the Army Non-commissioned Officer School this year, you wait for him."

"Yes, Mr. Governor."

Li Jun often picked up the teacup, "Let's celebrate the New Year in Houjiang, wait for the rainy season to rise before setting off, if there are any questions in the materials that you don't understand, feel free to ask me." ”

Cai Yuanding stood up, "Mr. Governor, then I will leave first." ”

Li Junchang nodded slightly, "Go out and close the door." ”

Cai Yuanding walked out of Li Junchang's office, and the governor's secretary took him to a guest hotel near the governor's palace.

The Houjiang River is hot and humid, and the so-called hotel is built on the side of a canal, with tall wooden houses, which are ventilated and breathable.

Fruit trees are planted along the river and the scenery is pleasant.

Cai Yuanding stayed in the hotel, and when he saw a brief introduction to Houjiang Mansion in the study, he opened it casually.

Since the development of Houjiang Province, the land area has exceeded 25,000 square kilometers, all of which are reclaimable plains.

If in the planning, starting from the mouth of the ancient felt river in Charongzhou, the site of Xingping Bogao Yuanjue, extending to the northern mountainous area of Hexian Prefecture, the seawall with a total length of more than 600 kilometers will be completed, and the river canal network all over the plain will be completed, and Houjiang can reclaim 40 million mu of rice fields.

The surface soil of Houjiang is made up of humus, i.e., peat, formed by plants decaying over thousands of years, and is very fertile.

The local water and heat conditions are calculated according to the harvest of 2 crops of rice a year, and the ground is casually engaged in 2 stone of grain a year.

With a little fine cropping, the annual production capacity of 2 crops of rice per mu reached 3 stone grains. That's 120 million stone grains, more than 10 million tons, 4 stone grains per capita according to the federal standard, which can feed 30 million people.

To achieve this goal, Houjiang needs 2 million peasants, which is not a fantasy, and Houjiang already has a population of 900,000 people.

If the population increases further and the cultivation level reaches the Jiangnan standard, the annual output of 2 crops of rice can reach 4 stones, which is 160 million stone of grain.

Coupled with the grain that can be purchased in Siam and Zhenla, Cai Yuanding no longer dares to imagine.

The main problem restricting Houjiang's support for grain on the mainland is not rice production, but transportation capacity.

In terms of the most cost-effective Daguang ship, the cost of the ship is 3,000 taels of silver, the average load is 500 tons, and 2,000 ships are needed to transport 1 million tons of grain, and the cost is 6 million taels of silver at a time, and 90,000 sailors are needed.

It's hard, but it's not fantastic.

After many wars in the mainland, Cai Yuanding has seen too much starvation and too much famine.

The appeal of food in war is greater than that of the sky.

With such strength behind it, for the first time, Cai Yuanding felt that conquering Chinese mainland was no longer a dream.

——————

Note: For reference, before the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty had about 2,000 sand ships in Shanghai, with a deadweight tonnage of 370,000 tons.