Wang Yan didn't have the extra energy to play tricks, ran for a few hours, was too tired, and said the future meaning bluntly.

Transporting grain to suppress food prices is exactly what Han Gang wants.

It's just that in Hangang's mind, the grain used to stabilize grain prices should be enough as long as the Kaifeng Prefecture's Changping position is used - and this will not affect the food security of Kaifeng Mansion - inside and outside Kaifeng City, there are seven or eight large grain reserve warehouses such as Fuguo, Yongfeng, Shuncheng, Wuzhanghe and Yicang, and the smallest one is a large warehouse with more than 100,000 stone of grain.

However, listening to Wang Yan's meaning, he is ready to beat the profiteers in Tokyo City to death at once, and the province will be troubled by this after getting the spring - once the regular position is used, it is equivalent to telling people that there is only the last trick left in the hands of the political affairs hall, and there must be many people who are stupid and ready to make trouble in the spring.

Therefore, Wang Anshi and Wang Yan had the idea of opening the mouth of Biankou, breaking the ice in the river, and transporting the stored grain from Sizhou and Suzhou to Beijing in winter. Therefore, Uncle Hou's suggestion to break the river ice with an ice boat was valued by Wang Anshi and Wang Yan. Therefore, as soon as he heard that Han Gang had a better way to do it, Wang Yan immediately rushed over and asked Han Gang for advice overnight.

It's just that although their original intentions are good, they are not realistic at all.

"Large-scale transportation by sled is absolutely impossible." Han Gang immediately dismissed Wang Yan's illusions, "Xihe Road has never had the experience of transporting a large amount of grain and grass in winter. ”

The winter traffic route of Xihe Road is indeed transported through frozen river channels. Not only the road from Weiyuan Fort to Didao City, but also the traffic between Longxi and Weiyuan, as well as the traffic between Didao and Lintao, Kenuo and other walled forts, are also connected by sleigh carriages.

The main city of Xihe Road is basically located by the river. With the help of the thoroughfares formed by the freezing of rivers such as Taoshui and Weishui, Xihe Road can also be smoothly trafficked in winter. Even though there were waterfalls in the middle of some of the sections, the nearby military stations were set up at checkpoints, and large winch lifts were installed at suitable locations, and the sleds and wagons were unloaded and lifted up in batches, which was not very difficult, except for occasional losses.

However, this mode of transportation is mainly based on delivering news, plus some rewards during the New Year, and the capacity is not large. It has never been said that large-scale transportation by sleigh wagons is no more important in winter than in spring and summer, when a snowstorm in the mountains can cost a convoy a lot. Even if it is a small-scale transportation at the moment, there are actually a lot of losses on the road.

At present, it is not the Xihe River that will organize large-scale sleds to transport it, but the Bianhe River. In the past, there was no experience with river ice transport at all, and there was not enough preparation. Can the six-way shipping division, which acted in a hurry and was ordered in danger, do this well?

In fact, it is not difficult to modify vehicles, as long as they are willing to use manpower, the more than 1,000 craftsmen who use the six routes to repair the boats in the hands of the six route shipping divisions can modify more than two or three thousand sleds within half a month - as long as the wooden strips of suitable shape are firmly nailed, the carriages and even some small flat-bottomed boats can be transformed into sleds that can run on the river.

However, for the sake of insurance, there must have been problems with the makeshift itself, and its load was only about 20 stones. 200,000 stone of grain is 10,000 trips. With such a number, Han Gang is not a small person, and the Six-Way Shipping Division is really unorganized. It will definitely be able to be transported, but in the process of transporting a large number of trains, I don't know how much loss will be in the middle.

And there's another question, "Sledding, as the name suggests, is driving on snow, not an ice sled." But there is only ice on the Bianhe River, and it is not easy to walk on the sled......"

Wang Yan's face changed: "Isn't it okay to sled on the ice?" ”

"A few inches of snow is enough." Han Gang wouldn't lie to his brother-in-law, "It's just that there is no snow, and the problem of short-distance transportation is not very big, at most it is a little bumpy, and it doesn't matter if it runs away." But that's not the point. Han Gang looked serious and said in a deep voice, "From Suzhou to Tokyo, the road is five or six hundred miles. I don't know the situation in the river, bury my head in the forward, bumpy all the way, the hastily modified sleigh is difficult to bear, and the loss in the middle is incalculable! ”

Hearing that the sleigh cart could be used on the ice, Wang Yan's expression softened, and he was not moved by Han Gang's words later: "Yi Yukun, in your opinion, how is it to use a sled car to pound ice than to drive a boat to make ice cubes?" ”

Needless to say, it must be a hundred times stronger. Han Gang would never believe that the problem of river icebreaking, which would be a headache for thousands of years, could be easily solved in this era. Anyway, the sleigh carriage has also been verified by practice for several years, and although it is very difficult to transport on a large scale, it is still much more reliable than Uncle Hou's plan.

Wang Yan's mind had been completely revealed from the question, Han Gang was silent for a while, and finally asked, "...... Do you really want to do that? ”

"Ready to fly." Wang Yan's voice was heavy, "That's why I came to ask Yukun if it is feasible." ”

"This kind of loss is definitely not small, and it is already a blessing to be able to enter Beijing for half of it." Han Gang once again reminded Wang Yan, "The transportation cost is much higher than that of the Gang ship. ”

"No matter how much it is, it's almost the same as transporting grain from Guanzhong to Xihe Road." Wang Yan smiled disappreliantly: "I remember that when Cai Zizheng was on Jingyuan Road, he once wrote a book and said, 'From Weizhou to Xizhou, the rice is worth four hundred and thirty, and the grass is six hundred and fifty'. ”

"Vice Pivot Cai exaggerated a little, four hundred and three buckets of rice, and the freight cost of one stone is four thousand three, that is, five and a half [the Song Dynasty has always been seven hundred and eighty texts, and the foot square is a thousand texts]." Han Gang shook his head, Cai Ting was just lying and intimidating, taking the highest price as an example, it was not an average, and it couldn't be taken seriously, "I remember that in Xining's three years, four years, until the beginning of the fifth year, there were almost more than 300,000 stones of rice and wheat transported from Jingyuan Road, and 450,000 bunches of forage. Could it be that it took three or four million yuan just for freight? ”

"But the freight is several times higher than the price of food, and it didn't run." Wang Yan immediately answered.

"That's right." Han Gang nodded and admitted, "Three or five times is always there." Speaking of which, if there is no military station system created by the younger brother. With the consumption in the old road, if you want to transport grain to the front line, it would be good to have one bucket of three buckets. Now it's at least half. ”

Wang Yan didn't care about Han Gang's self-boasting, "No matter how much it costs on the road, it doesn't matter here." Even if it is based on the freight rate mentioned by Cai Ting...... As long as the hoarding of grain from Suzhou and Sizhou can be transported to the capital this winter, Zhongshu can bear it! ”

Wang Yan's voice was categorical, and Han Gang suddenly had nothing to say.

sighed secretly in my heart, it's good to have a lot of money!

When a government with sufficient strength begins to operate at full capacity at any cost, losses and obstacles are indeed nothing. As long as they can achieve their goal, they can bear it simply at the cost of three or five times the money. Just like the industrialized countries of later generations went to war, the state apparatus operated, and countless materials were reduced to ashes in the war, but for the country, in the face of victory, these losses and losses are not much of a problem at all.

Although the Great Song Dynasty was not an industrialized country, it was not difficult for the resources in the hands of Wang Anshi, the prime minister, to support this road. Since Wang Yan said so, Han Gang's previous worries were all relieved. Since it is not counting losses and expenses, is there anything to worry about.

As soon as the mind was activated, the brain began to turn, and all the original worries turned into motivation, "The modified sled can be used every year as long as it is repaired and repaired." The cost of this retrofit can be evenly spread. ”

"It's nothing." Wang Yan smiled easily, his brother-in-law, who had been pushing back for a long time, was finally willing to help come up with an idea.

Han Gang nodded, "In that case, I wonder if I can modify it secretly?" ”

Wang Yan frowned, and suddenly smiled: "Ming Xiu plank road, secretly crossing Chen Cang?" ”

Originally, he was going to use the ice boat offered by Uncle Hou, but in fact, Wang Yan felt that he still failed a lot, and even had the idea of a dead horse being a live horse doctor. But when he heard that Han Gang had a sled, a weapon for the winter transport team, he had the idea of secretly stealing someone at that time. Now seeing that Han Gang also proposed, he suddenly had a feeling of sympathy for each other, and the hero saw a little bit of the same.

Han Gang also laughed when he observed his words, "It seems that Brother Yuan Ze is already confident." ”

Wang Yan nodded: "The Foolish Brotherhood will notify the Sixth Route Shipping Division, let them do their best to transform, and strictly keep secrets." ”

"Another advantage of the sled is that it can connect several cars together. It can save a lot of horsepower. "The barge can be dragged with several boatloads of goods in the back, and the train is also carried by the front of the car, and the sled can be pulled on two more cars.

And, of course, the heavy-spiked horseshoe that can be used on ice.

Han Gang had already taken out the horseshoe in Xihe, but because he had too much credit, the weapon that he originally cherished and prepared to use to win fame had long been regarded as usual.

But now following Wang Yan's words, Wang Yan's shooting is amazing. As for the segmented transportation, that is, the military station system, it is also not a problem, and Han Gang took it out.

After talking all night, the two were in good spirits, discussed the things before and after in detail, and finalized the steps one by one. However, none of them considered that on roads where there was no snow, horse-drawn carts could be used to transport grain and grass.

After all, suppressing food prices is not so much a business war as a psychological war. The capacity of land transportation is known in the heart of every grain merchant, and the backers behind the grain merchant are also numerous. Therefore, Wang Anshi insisted on opening the estuary, because the unobstructed Bianhe River could completely suppress the price of grain. Han Gang's sleigh is a mystery, no one can guess how much grain can be transported into Beijing, which can make those grain merchants dare not act rashly.