In less than three days, Zhao Qian went from Kaifeng to Songjiang Mansion. Jia Weixin of Songjiang Mansion, Jia Zhifu and the senior of the school came to greet him in person, and after a few words of greeting, Jia Weixin asked directly: "Prince, when will we be able to open the train in Songjiang." ”

Zhao Qian comforted Jia Rudao's eldest grandson, "The train will pass, it will definitely pass." ”

"I know it's going to work, but when." Jia Weixin sighed. As more and more railway lines are built, more and more people have taken the train. The officials of the Great Song Dynasty were all organized to take the train to feel the pulse of the progress of the times, and no one after the feeling expressed doubts about the railway.

Zhao Qian can understand everyone's feelings, forty years ago in the battle of Ezhou, father Zhao Jiaren set off from Songjiang Mansion to Ezhou City near Hanyang, and the fleet worked desperately against the current for more than half a month to reach the destination. Jia Weixin's grandfather, Jia Yidao, praised Zhao Jiaren of Fujian Road Prison for 'titi prison day and night, day and night, and the fleet arrived in Ezhou, which terrified Kublai Khan's army'. The current Song army set off from Hangzhou and can reach Zhangjiakou on the first line of Yinshan in the north in more than half a month. In more than half a month, he traveled from Songjiang Prefecture to Hankow, and now he is going to court martial.

The railway is not only a very good means of transportation, but also changed the perception of geographical distance in the Great Song Dynasty. Kaifeng lives in the middle of the world, and by taking a train from Kaifeng, you can theoretically reach any frontier of the Great Song Dynasty within six or seven days. If the railway is opened, Zhao Qian will have to go from Kaifeng to Songjiang Mansion for one day at most. So Zhao Qian sighed to Jia Weixin: "Now that the imperial court has mobilized 1.5 million people to build the railway, there is really no extra manpower." ”

"The official family is too biased towards the Central Plains and the north." Jia Weixin also sighed. The Jia family and Zhao Jiaren's family are world friends, and he couldn't help but say what he really felt in his heart.

As soon as these words came out, the senior and other officials of Songjiang Prefecture also expressed the same opinion, "Now the railways planned by the imperial court are all in the Central Plains and the north, so it is better to build a railway for the south of the Yangtze River." ”

"Yes, prince, please ask the prince to think more about Jiangnan."

"When my colleagues in the north wrote to me, they mostly mentioned how convenient the railway was, and the imperial court really favored one over the other."

Zhao Qian hurriedly said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the imperial court has planned the Youguang Railway from Youzhou to Guangzhou. ”

The officials did not appreciate it, and immediately someone said: "We Jiangnan is too far away from Hankou." ”

In the past, officials of the Great Song Dynasty dared to scold the officials in the court for their misdeeds, and there was no need to muster up courage to express this complaint. Zhao Qian himself felt that what everyone said was right, so he could only keep his mouth shut.

Although the officials of the Great Song Dynasty dared to scold the imperial court, everyone also knew that they had to save some face for Zhao Qian. After all, the railway has only been around for four or five years, and if you are willing to wait, Songjiang Prefecture will definitely open the railway. Zhao Qian was silent, and the officials were also stoppable.

One of the purposes of Zhao Qian's visit to Songjiang was to see the use of asphalt, and when he arrived at the office building of Songjiang Mansion, he talked about it. After hearing this, Jia Weixin immediately arranged for the Highway Bureau to prepare for the experiment, and then asked Zhao Qian: "Did the prince come to Songjiang Mansion just for this little thing?" ”

"The officials are considering increasing shipping to Fusangzhou, and if the asphalt is really as good as the officials say, it will not be tens of thousands of tons a year, but millions of tons a year. Fusang Chau cannot ignore it as it does now. Also, I want to see the food situation. ”

Jia Weixin looked at the other officials, turned to Zhao Qian and replied, "Prince, the climate has not been very good in the past few years, and there have been many disasters of various sizes. It's just that after the railway was repaired, we just listened to the disasters everywhere, but we didn't really feel the disasters. ”

After hearing this, Zhao Qian felt that Jia Weixin's feeling was similar to his own, and this feeling could probably be described as 'discord'. The officials of the Great Song Dynasty worked very hard to educate, and everyone knew that natural and man-made disasters were very scary. When there was a disaster in history, all dynasties were like great enemies. Even Emperor Jin Hui can say the words 'why not eat minced meat'. So Zhao Qian asked, "Everyone, I feel the same way. It's Xiaoice weather now, and it's not going to be smooth. Everyone has worked hard, and I want to ask everyone how they feel. ”

The other officials looked at each other and also at Zhao Qian. Finally, the senior of the school spoke, "Prince, we are indeed hard. It's just that now the relief food is coming very quickly. The hardest part of our work is to get food into the hands of the victims. I couldn't go home for a month or two. I have food in my hand, and I don't panic in my heart. When we encounter a disaster now, we are anxious, tired and annoyed, but we are not too afraid. ”

The remark was immediately echoed by officials. It's just that the key points have been said by Jia Weixin and the seniors, and the officials don't want to repeat what others have said, so the latter statement is a little exaggerated. Some officials couldn't help but mention the matter of the railway again, "Prince, if the railway can reach Songjiang Mansion, we don't have to worry about food." ”

There are also those who spit bitterness, "Prince, the people are not easy to manage now." When we were hit by disasters before, we sent food to the victims, and the victims were truly grateful. Now that we are sending food for disaster relief, some of the victims have scolded us for being slow in delivering food. It's really infuriating. ”

This kind of splash material is available everywhere, and Zhao Qian has also encountered it. Thinking of his anger and grievances at that time, Zhao Qian replied: "Thank you for your hard work." ”

After talking about the disaster relief for a while, Zhao Qian asked about the current situation of Songjiang Mansion. Jia Weixin immediately said: "Prince, Songjiang Mansion is in trouble now. Cotton is in short supply. Our Songjiang Mansion started with weaving, and it is also known as the rich world. In recent years, the supply of cotton has become less and less, and I have written many times, but the ministry said that textile factories have been built in various places, and cotton is sold on the spot in many places. It's really not much for us Songjiang. Without cotton, life in Songjiang Prefecture is not easy. ”

"Are you trying to figure out how to increase local cotton production on your own?" Zhao Qian asked puzzled.

Jia Weixin asked the directors of the Songjiang Prefecture Agricultural Bureau and the Light Industry Bureau to answer, and the two were very familiar with their own work, and told Zhao Qian about the current situation of Songjiang Prefecture with numbers. Compared with a decade ago, the cotton planting area in Songjiang Province has not changed much, and the textile production has increased by nearly 20 times, and this gap cannot be solved by tapping the potential locally.

Zhao Qian listened, his brows furrowed inadvertently. The problem of raw materials is indeed very difficult to solve, but there are many areas on the Huanghuai Plain that are suitable for growing cotton, and cotton has also been planted through agricultural planning. The cotton was not shipped to Songjiang Province, but to Kaifeng for production. Songjiang Province is indeed a famous county of the Great Song Dynasty, but it can be compared with the Gyeonggi region to become famous. The Ministry of Industry made a choice between the Gyeonggi region and Songjiang Province, and the results were predictable.

After thinking for a while, Zhao Qian suddenly thought of something, and he asked, "Didn't the long-staple cotton get it from Fusang Continent when we sailed around the world?" ”

Many officials didn't quite understand what Zhao Qian meant, but Jia Weixin and a few officials' eyes lit up. Jia Weixin hurriedly asked: "Does the prince mean to get long-staple cotton from Fusang Continent back?" ”

Zhao Qian sighed: "It's just that Fusang Island is too far away, I don't know if the locals have planted long-staple cotton in large quantities like the Great Song Dynasty." ”

"The locals don't grow it, we can go to the local area." Jia Weixin immediately put forward his opinion, "Even asphalt can be transported from Fusangzhou, so what's the harm in transporting more cotton." ”

Such a radical view was immediately opposed, "Where did so many people go overseas in the Great Song Dynasty?" Now the South China Sea is recruiting people every year, and I don't see many people willing to go. Everyone would rather go to Hebei. ”

Zhao Qian also felt that this steady and realistic view was very good, and the reason why the Great Song Dynasty was able to have so much grain to cope with the famine was due to the contribution of Jiaozhi County, Champa County, and Siam County in the South China Sea region. Rice was abundant there, and boatloads of grain were transported to all parts of the Great Song Dynasty, which effectively stabilized the price of grain in various places.

Thirty years ago, my father Zhao Jiaren once asked a large number of landless farmers in Fujian to open up in those places, and they bore fruitful results. It has also succeeded in making Fujian's population from 7 million at its peak to about 1 million now. However, more than a million of the two million migrants who went to the South China Sea have returned to their homeland in the Central Plains and the north. Huaxia's interest in hot and humid regions is very average. The South China Sea is still like this, and it is difficult for people to go to Fusang Island, which is tens of thousands of miles away.

After various discussions, there was no result, but the technical staff sent by the Songjiang Highway Bureau and the Ministry of Communications worked together to quickly start using the road in front of the Songjiang Prefecture office building as a demonstration road. Originally, this road had a good roadbed, first shovel off the gravel and lime slag pavement on it, and lay a 10-centimeter-thick roadbed of date-sized gravel mixed with asphalt on these roadbeds, and then paved with finer gravel and asphalt after it was completely solidified.

The project took more than half a month, and when Zhao Qian came back from inspecting the surrounding area of Songjiang Prefecture, he saw a black road of more than 300 meters in front of him. Just by taking a few steps on it, Zhao Qian felt completely different. Flat, too flat. The rollers press the road surface very strongly. When I press the road with my hand, I feel that it is very hard, but when I walk up, I feel that the road surface is elastic. Compared to the gravel road, it is simply a heaven and an underground.

It is certainly no problem for people to walk, and all kinds of vehicles pass by the road, leaving a lot of gray marks on the black road. Technicians measured the road surface and determined that there was no deformation. Although the road surface is flat, the strength is no worse than that of gravel roads. To test the strength, the technicians also use metal guys to dig the ground. When a pickaxe goes down, the ash and gravel pavement is flying wildly, but the asphalt gravel pavement is like a thick cowhide, and the pickaxe only smashes out some white spots. Officials thought that asphalt, one of the main materials used in asphalt roads, was very soft, but they were dumbfounded when they saw that the road surface was unusually hard.

Zhao Qian's heart moved, and asked the officials themselves to try it. After touching it in person, the officials couldn't help but be amazed. With the same tools and the same force, a large hole was dug out of the ash pavement, but only a few small pits were dug out of the asphalt pavement due to the strong adhesion. The repair experiment is even simpler, and there are inevitably various density imbalances between the ash and gravel, and it takes a long time to fill the road. Asphalt gravel roads can be solved with only one repair. After it is completely solidified, it is no different from a new one.

Just when the officials of Songjiang Prefecture praised this, Zhao Qian said based on his own experience: "Ladies and gentlemen, this road looks very good now, but it has to pass the test of time. The traffic department here found a gravel slag road for comparison, and conducted a comprehensive comparison for a period of three years. Including the flow of people, the means of transportation that pass by. The Department of Transportation is more professional than me, and you know how to compare. You can even choose a few more ash roads for comparison, and you can get a convincing result after comparing them for three years. ”

The director of the Department of Communications, who is also a man from science and engineering, immediately responded when he heard the words full of science and engineering concepts: "Please rest assured, the prince will definitely do a good job." ”

"Send us a copy of the report when the time comes." The technicians from the Ministry of Communications immediately joined the conversation with the men of the science and technology, but two of the technicians were women, and the other side of the men of the science and technology was involuntarily revealed. The technicians of the Songjiang Prefecture Transportation Department couldn't help but invite a few science and engineering girls to come to the field for a field trip in half a year.

The officials felt that the reaction of these science and engineering men was a bit excessive, and they wanted to criticize, but they were greeted by Zhao Qian and left together. The officials did not dare to refuse, and followed Zhao Qian back to the office building, so that the guys from science and engineering could face the road.

"I've come a long way and I know what you're facing. The lack of raw materials is a big deal. Zhao Qian said to officials in Songjiang Prefecture.

When these words reached everyone's hearts, Jia Weixin hurriedly added, "Now that we use machines, one person can do the work that ten people couldn't do before." Prince, there are really not enough raw materials. ”

Zhao Qian responded: "I will definitely discuss with the ministries when I go back this time and see how the ministries want to deal with this matter." ”

On the way back, Zhao Qian thought about what he saw in Jiangnan. The population of various cities has increased significantly, but according to the statistics of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the population of Jiangnan is constantly decreasing. After all, after hundreds of years of war north of the Huai River, it was almost killed into a no-man's land under the rule of Satisfactory. The Great Song Dynasty completely solved the barbarians. Because of the Luoyang incident in which Zhao Qian was inadvertently involved, the Great Song Dynasty has cleaned up the remnants of the barbarians over the years. The vast land north of the Huai River provided great opportunities for the people of the Great Song Dynasty, and a large number of southern people moved north. The scale of Jiangnan cities has increased rapidly under such a situation, what is the rural area of Jiangnan like now? Zhao Qian regretted that he didn't go to the countryside to see what the level of the rural population was.

Back in Kaifeng, Zhao Qian first talked about his trip to Jiangnan at the morning meeting. The ministers did not make a fuss about Zhao Qian's tour. If it was before, the prince would have traveled from Kaifeng to Songjiang Mansion, and the mighty travel team would not have been able to complete it in two or three months. In the past, such actions were a place of alarm, and they were bound to be opposed by the ministers. Now Zhao Qian has only taken a month to walk seven or eight big cities, and the means of transportation are either trains or steam ships, so it is not easy to disturb the people.

Minister Luo Yiren immediately said: "It is not difficult to solve the problem of cotton, the climate of Tianzhu is suitable for planting long-staple cotton, and there is no shortage of local population, so it is good to plant a large number of cotton in Tianzhu." ”

Zhao Qian was stunned, he really didn't expect this method. It's just that Luo Yiren has always advocated the settlement of the slave dynasty, but Zhao Qian solemnly stated to his father that he would not support Luo Yiren. Although there was a way, Zhao Qian was still silent.

After the morning meeting, Luo Yiren took the initiative to find Zhao Qian, "But I don't know why the prince opposes the settlement of the slave dynasty." ”

Zhao Qian could only tell Luo Yiren what his father said, and after listening to the statement of 'using the stability of the Great Song Dynasty to restrain small countries', Luo Yiren looked serious. After thinking for a while, Luo Yiren said: "What the prince said is very reasonable. These plans are planned for the next few hundred years, and they must be insisted on from generation to generation. As long as one generation does not do this, the previous efforts will be in vain. I don't think it's necessary. ”

"It makes sense." Zhao Qian didn't particularly support his father's opinion, and at this time he felt that what Luo Yiren said was in line with his thoughts.

"If you don't solve the slave dynasty now, it's not impossible. If the slave dynasty is here, we can also balance the two river valleys. It's just that this involves the Persian Protectorate, and I don't know how the prince plans the territory of the Persian Protectorate. ”

"Consider the Protectorate of Persia now? Will it be too early? "Zhao Qian didn't really want to think about the Persian Protectorate. The Tang Dynasty established six major capital protectorates, namely Anxi, Anbei, Andong, Annan, Shanyu, and Beiting.

According to the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty, when the Arabs invaded the Sassanid Persian Empire in 661 AD, the Persian prince Balus traveled to Chang'an to ask for military assistance from the Tang Dynasty, which ruled China at the time. The Tang Dynasty then set up the Persian Governorate in the Persian Tomb City (now Zabol, Iran) and appointed Belus as the governor, which was subordinate to the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate. In 662 AD, Tang canonized Belus as king of Persia. From 670 to 674 AD, Balus came to Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty. Tang Gaozong awarded him the right Weiwei general.

This Balus was the son of Isae III, the last monarch of the Sassanid dynasty of the Persian Empire. In addition to the military blows of the newly rising Arab Empire, the Persian Empire was also assassinated by two successive emperors in 629 and 642, and the Sassanid Empire was destroyed by internal and external troubles. Prince Balus was desperate, so he led his cronies to flee Chang'an for refuge. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was in the era of Gaozong and did not know much about the situation of Persia and the Arab Empire, but felt that this was a rare opportunity to control Central Asia, so it established the Persian Governorate, using the legitimacy of Balus's Sassanid Empire to help restore the country and bring the Persian homeland into the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence.

"Prince, many people in the court feel that the name of this Persian Protectorate is not right, and after the establishment of the Persian Protectorate, the Tang Dynasty still suffered very heavy losses in the Battle of Talas on the other side of the Green Ridge, but the minister thought that the battle did not shake the Tang Dynasty, but it was just a small setback. The Tang Dynasty was in the middle of its heyday, and its military strength was rapidly restored. An Lushan mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to continue the attack on the Khitan in 752, Yang Guozhong also launched another war against Nanzhao two years later, Feng Changqing made an expedition against Dabolu in 753 and achieved a brilliant victory, and Geshuhan broke the Tubo in 753 and collected the Jiuqu tribe. At present, the Persian capital was very important to the Great Song Dynasty. Once the Persian Protectorate was established, the land north and east of the Persian Protectorate naturally belonged to the Great Song Dynasty. Please also ask the prince to think twice. ”