readx(); With the large number of people and the strength of the people, coupled with the sufficient supply of materials and reasonable allocation, the progress of the demonstration project is very fast. More than a dozen small reservoirs on Tangshan were dug in almost a day, and the two large reservoirs at the bottom of the mountain have also begun to be dug. These reservoirs are covered with stones to prevent leakage, and when the water in the small reservoirs is full, it is naturally discharged through the diversion canal to the large reservoir, which in turn is connected to the irrigation canal and the Dongsha River.

The purpose of these reservoirs is to hold back flash floods to prevent them from washing away farmland, and to provide water for the trees planted on the mountains. Originally, there was lush vegetation on this Tang Mountain, and there were hot springs, and the scenery was pleasant, and it was called Huangzhuang, which was actually no different from the royal garden. But when the Qing army besieged Jingshi last year, this area was occupied by the Eight Banners Army, and a fire burned the vegetation on the mountain and the crops in the fields. Therefore, the comprehensive project also includes the greening of Tangshan, and water is naturally needed to plant trees.

A barren mountain, if no one takes care of it, can slowly recover, but that speed is too slow, and it will take at least ten years or even decades. Chen Zilong's plan is to plant grass and plant jujube trees interspersed. Grass is planted because grass grows the easiest and fastest, and grass seeds can take root and sprout after a rain.

Jujube trees, on the other hand, are quite drought-tolerant and suitable for cultivation in mountainous areas. After growing, the crown of the tree can reach three or four zhang high, the branches are bent and ancient, the jujube leaves are hanging in the shade, the red fruit hangs the tree, and it has both ornamental and fruit. This plan is very praised by Zhu Youzhen, of course it is good in his landscape, but the comprehensive benefit is the first, if it can also take into account the economic benefits, it will be better.

Of course, the greening of barren mountains is not a matter of one or two days, and this work is mainly handed over to the villagers of Huangzhuang to complete it slowly. The identity of these bankers has also become that of workers, because they originally belonged to Huangzhuang and did not even have land, so it was easier for them to change their identities.

Other earthworks, the artificial river on the west side of Huangzhuang is planned to irrigate fields further west and north. Because these fields are privately owned, the artificial river can be temporarily untouched. An aqueduct running through the east and west of Huangzhuang was the first to be opened, and although this canal was fifteen miles long, it was only two feet wide and three feet deep, and the amount of earthwork was not particularly large.

According to the work quota of the Jingyang Business Gang, each worker worked four hours a day, and should dig 15 cubic feet of soil every hour, and 60 cubic feet a whole day. In other words, an earthen ditch two feet wide and three feet long should be dug ten feet per person every day, that is, one zhang long. But in fact, because of the more work and more rewards, almost every worker can exceed the quota, and in order to catch up, the working hours are more than five hours a day. As a result, each worker dug as little as one zhang and five feet, and as many as two feet, and the original plan was to complete the project in four days, but in fact the entire canal was completed in less than two days.

At the same time, the quarrying operation on Tangshan is also in full swing. Since ancient times, quarrying has been the hardest physical labor, because the stone is extremely hard, and it is necessary to use tools such as iron chisels to cut the stone into the required shape little by little, and then transport it down from the mountain piece by piece, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming, which can be imagined.

However, the Jingyang Merchant Gang used the method of setting off artillery to collapse the mountain to quarry, and many relatively small stones have been blown out. The workers did not finish the stones, but only smashed them with sledgehammers, smashing out a lot of rubble, which was then loaded onto mule carts and carried down the hill by mules. It just so happens that the rocks in this area have a high degree of weathering, and they will crumble when they are smashed, which also saves a lot of effort.

When it is used, it is stirred with crushed clay sand and water, and when it is viscous, it is pasted at the bottom of the canal and tamped layer by layer to dry. It is also quite hard after drying, and has a certain water resistance. Of course, the strength is still not comparable to that of a whole stone, and it is impossible to not leak at all, but it is much slower than ordinary soil seepage.

This kind of technology is generally used to build walls, especially city walls, or Zhu Youzhen first proposed it, and then applied it to river work. In fact, if it is a wall, the effect is better after adding lime and glutinous rice slurry, it is called lime mortar. But now there is a shortage of food, so I have to use glutinous rice.

As for lime, Zhu Youzhen knew that lime would react chemically with water and then become soft, which was the opposite of cement, which hardened when exposed to water. In fact, the material he really wanted to use was cement, but he really didn't know how cement was made, so he had to use this substitute, but fortunately, the effect was okay in the short term.

The work of laying the mortar lasted five or six days, which was much slower than digging a ditch. Of course, the workers have not been idle in the past few days, one brigade has laid mortar, three brigades continue to dig branch canals and drainage ditches, and the remaining six brigades have all gone to the mountains to quarry. In addition, the materials needed for the comprehensive project have also been transported from Beijing one after another, and the most important material is willow branches.

In this era, the embankment was built with soil, and the soil itself was not strong, and it was easy to disperse under the erosion of the water, resulting in dam failure. In order to prevent this situation, it is necessary to take various measures to strengthen the embankment, and the "silicon" made of willow branches as the main material is the most commonly used civil engineering structure for river engineering embankment.

The Jingyang merchant gang has built embankments in Shaanxi and Beijing, and Chen Zilong is no stranger to "silicon": it is layered with willow branches and reeds, etc., pressed with soil and gravel on it, and then pushed into bundles, and tied with bamboo ropes and hemp ropes, etc., to become a cylindrical "silicon". A "silicon" is generally several feet in diameter, up to three or four zhang long, placed in the water, like a big log, thick and heavy, very resistant to the impact of the current, played a role in protecting the embankment.

Of course, the cost of making "Si" is also quite high. Each roll requires at least 80 to 100 bunches of willow branches, hundreds of bunches of reeds, and dozens of hemp ropes. According to the market in the Wanli period, a bunch of willow branches weighs 30 catties and is worth one cent of silver; A bunch of grass is ten catties, worth two cents of silver; A piece of hemp rope is worth a penny of silver. Coupled with the value of earth and stones, it costs about ten taels of silver to make a "silicon". In recent years, prices have continued to rise, especially willow branches are becoming more and more expensive because the quantity cannot meet the demand, and it has cost at least fifteen taels to make a "silicon".

And a "silicon" is only a few zhang long, and if a section of river construction is all fixed with "silicon", the cost is absolutely astronomical. For the Xiaotangshan Huangzhuang Comprehensive Project, the usual water volume of the Nansha River and the Dongsha River is not large, and the flooding will be smoother after dredging, and there is no need to use "Si" now. The reason why willow branches are being shipped now is not to make "silicon", but to plant willows.

With the arrival of willow branches, an exciting news also reached the construction site: early tomorrow morning, the current holy general will bring the concubine and hundreds of civil and military officials to Xiaotangshan to plant trees!

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