"Three Thousand ......"

Zhao Ji nodded, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he seemed to be quite satisfied with Han Gang's answer.

Zhao Ji still remembers that when the Xianghan Cao Canal was dug a hundred years ago, it was to mobilize several states in western Beijing, a total of 100,000 people, and it did not succeed until the end of the day. And Han Gang only needs 3,000 people, saying that he wants a people's husband, but in fact, it is enough to mobilize the Xiang army. Compared with the cost of excavating the river, laying the track does save a lot.

"In the humble opinion of the ministers, build construction services, and try not to disturb the people if they can."

The most powerful reason for opposing the construction of the construction of the ministry is that the project disturbs the people, and Han Gang hit the idea on the Xianghan Cao Canal this time, not that no one objected, but also that some people accused Han Gang of being greedy for merit. However, all that came out were small fish and shrimp, and several Zaizhi were silent about it, which made Han Gang feel a little unaccustomed.

"As long as the track over the mountain is completed and the canal passes through Fangcheng Mountain, it can be slowly excavated in a few years or ten years, and the manpower and financial resources that need to be consumed will be apportioned over the ten years, and the average amount to be consumed in a year is not too much."

"Han Qing's idea is indeed right, and it is indeed that if he can not disturb the people, he will try not to disturb the people." Zhao Ji did not hide his appreciation for Han Gang's purpose, "I remember that two years ago, when the imperial court was preparing to mobilize a large army to punish the thieves, the Privy Council once said that in order to deliver grain to the Annan army, at least 200,000 people must be mobilized, so as to ensure sufficient money and food supply. Originally, I was going to use the money to seal the pile, but I didn't expect that after the worst time, there were just some people in Guangxi, and the money and food consumed were not as good as the cost of Yan Yan or Huanqing to prevent autumn. ”

Han Gang has always acted like this, and he can always do big things with little money, which is one of the main reasons why Zhao Gang admires Han Gang. On the premise of success, try to save money for the country. What is called Nengchen, this is called Nengchen.

The most recent example is the Battle of Annam, which saved more than ninety percent of the cost of Zhao and the Privy Council's initial projections—if only the cost of money and grain is counted, the production of Guangdong and Guangxi alone has survived, and even the reserves of the states on the Jinghu South Road have not been used much.

After receiving the praise of the Son of Heaven, Han Gang did not get carried away: "The enemy is lenient, and the calculation of the Privy Council back then cannot be wrong." It also took a year for Annan's Strategic Recruitment Division to see through the reality of the thieves and dare to go out with 10,000 people. ”

Zhao Xuan smiled slightly, it was not difficult to see that Han Gang didn't want to offend people: "Then now that Han Qing wants to repair the track first, he has also seen through the reality of the track?" ”

"Since the invention of the track, it has been tried in the world's major mines and ports for more than two years, its shape is more than the old time of the Chen, has been improved a lot, everywhere is effective, now it is just in the Fangcheng Pass over a gentle slope of ten zhang, the total length is not more than sixty miles, compared to the pit, the road on the wharf, it is not much difficult, it can even be said to be simple."

Now in the ports on both sides of the Bianhe River, all use rails to communicate with wharves and warehouses, and Xuzhou and even many mines in the world have begun to use rails to transport ores.

Whether it is land transportation or water transportation, as long as the goods from the south - especially the grain gang - are transported to the capital by a low-cost transportation method, as long as the grain can be seen, Zhao Ji does not care what method Han Gang uses.

The canal across Fangcheng Mountain is not easy to excavate, and the two failed river repairs a hundred years ago are ready-made examples. If Han Gang only said that there was a way to make the ship navigable, even with Zhao Ji's trust in Han Gang's talent, he would inevitably have to take a part. And now that Han Gang is going to use effective, mature and reliable means, and the manpower used is small, there is no need to worry about disturbing the people, so of course, Zhao Ji is a lot more relieved.

I only heard the current Son of Heaven smile and said: "I have also heard about this matter, but it has only been two years, and the tracks in the Li Guojian are said to be hundreds of miles long, and the fifty or sixty miles that cross Fangcheng Mountain is indeed nothing." ”

"The minister also heard that the coal and ochre [ancient name of hematite] in the Li Guojian are now transported from the pit by rails, and the labor only uses the old eleven, but the amount of ore transported has increased several times. There are also millions of stone of pig iron, which are also cast from the blast furnace and transported to the ship by rail-drawn carriages. Just the transportation volume in the Li Guojian is always nearly 10 million stones a year. The grain transported from Jinghu is transported by rail, and one or two million stones are not a problem. ”

After a conversation with Han Gang, Zhao Ji was already full of confidence in the project of opening up the Xianghan Passage, and his attention turned back to the sand table on Jingxi Road, looking down at the section of Fangcheng Pass, "How does Han Qing plan to build the track, is it the craftsman who called the Ordnance Supervisor?" ”

Hearing the Son of Heaven's inquiry, Han Gang immediately replied: "Not only is the craftsman of the Ordnance Prison, but the minister also plans to transfer a craftsman from the Liguo Prison to build a track. Their experience, the craftsmen in Beijing may not be able to compare, the craftsmen of Li Guojian should also have some experience, the two refer to each other, learn from each other, when they can keep improving. ”

Han Gang has been far away in Guangxi for the past two years, and the news he has received is far less detailed than that of Zhao Ji, who is the Son of Heaven. However, the craftsmen of the Ordnance Supervisor still followed his instructions and continued to improve and study the wheel and axle technique.

However, compared with the axles of later generations, it is still too far away, and it has not even reached the time of practical use. However, there was a small breakthrough in the track technique in the Li Guojian, which originally used a hardwood track, which was greatly damaged in the process of the wheels constantly running over, and even in some places, it had to be replaced every few days, which consumed a lot of costs. But a year ago, Li Guojian had a new invention that people knew how to nail a layer of forged iron sheet on top of the hardwood track to protect the wood. The cost of maintaining the track has been reduced by more than half at once.

Therefore, Hangang hopes that the two sides can work together to study and accelerate the development of rail and vehicle technology. Just two days ago, he also privately asked people to send a message, asking the craftsmen in the ordnance prison not to be discouraged and to continue to study and improve in the established direction. As long as the bearings are mass-produced, even if they are not high-quality steel, they are 100 times stronger than today's wooden axles.

Han Gang didn't expect to become fat in one bite, the development of the technique always came step by step, not that if you throw money into it, you can see the desired results, many of them are lost, and they won't even bubble - but one thing is more certain, that is, if you don't study, you will never get results.

After asking Han Gang about it, Zhao Ji was also relieved, "Xianghan Caoqu has the weight of a military state, so this matter will be a lot of work for Han Qing." After Han Gang was humble for a few words, he smiled again, "Speaking of which, it is also Han Qing's credit." Just the case of malaria has left many doctors in the old days helpless. At the beginning, Di Qing led the army south, but more than half of them contracted malaria, and nearly half of them died. But after Han Qing arrived in Guangxi, he immediately found the cause of malaria, and less than one percent got sick. ”

Regarding the relationship between malaria and mosquitoes, the minister only speculated at first, and did not dare to make a conclusion. At the root of it, it can be said that it was tried by chance. Han Gang was humble. In fact, in addition to prevention, he also sent people to find a special drug for the treatment of malaria, he knew artemisin, but he ordered people to find many artemisia, but he did not try to find any of them.

"Not the income of the object?" Zhao Ji asked with a smile.

"It's exactly what you get. The minister is to watch the beast and get it. The genus of birds and beasts is also born between heaven and earth, and in many cases, they even know how to protect themselves better than humans. For example, elephants like to smear mud on their bodies, such as buffaloes, which always like to soak in water, and oxtails are also used to repel mosquitoes and flies. Although it is a behemoth. things, but they are afraid of gnats like snakes and scorpions. At that time, the minister guessed that this should not be a fear of itching, but a fear of disease. ”

Zhao Ji was stunned for a moment, turned his head and thought about it, and nodded slowly, "So that's the case." Looking up at Han Gang again, he smiled and said, "But the world says that Han Qing is a disciple of the Medicine King." After a trip to Guangxi, this time, it was all recognized. ”

Han Gang sighed, still refusing to admit it. He also knew about the rumors outside, because the Western soldiers who sent troops to Guangxi rarely got sick, which indeed made people identify him as a disciple of the Medicine King.

There is a saying in the world that he Han Gang can't administer needles and prescribe medicine, because he has only learned half of Sun Zhenren's medical skills, and he is a doctor of ten thousand people, not a doctor of one person. The medical skills learned can only be used to treat 10,000 people, not one person, so there is a sanatorium, so it can protect the Western army from the disease.

This kind of statement has been around since Han Gang was still in Kansai, and now it is more and more recognized. But Han Gang still didn't admit it, as a Confucian disciple with strong roots, the things of gods and ghosts can only be avoided from afar, and they must not be close.

When I came out of the Wuying Palace, it was already dusk. Zhao Ji still stayed in the deep hall, looking intently at the land under his rule, as if he couldn't get tired of looking at it.

Under the dark gray sky, the temples were immersed in the twilight, looking gloomy, and there seemed to be countless demons and monsters lurking in the shadows.

A gust of night wind blew from between the palaces, and the chill was bone-chilling, making Han Gang shiver, the palace forbidden was indeed not a place to live.

Walking towards the outside of the palace, Han Gang recalled today's conversation in the Wuying Palace. After thinking about it from beginning to end, he was relieved that there should be no problem, and the Son of Heaven finally agreed to his plan to lay the track. From now on, the track is no longer limited to mines and docks, but extends to all places in the world that need transportation.

The cost of water transportation is indeed not high, so even in later generations, it is a very important means of transportation. However, the limitations of water transportation are too great, and with the rails, most of the plains and even river valleys can come in handy. This is his original intention, digging the Xianghan Cao Canal is only one of the purposes, Han Gang does things, not counting birds with one stone, but he is too lazy to do it.

As long as this success is achieved, the rail can be promoted in the country, and there will be a more convenient and larger means of transportation, which will be beneficial for business development. It can also greatly reduce logistics costs, and correspondingly, the development of industry will also be more strongly promoted.