What to do?

Of course, grain storage is the best.

Li Daoru felt that this truth needed to be explained clearly to His Majesty, so he typed the draft in advance.

"Your Majesty, in this article of the minister, there are some illustrated expressions, uh...... Because there is a lot of information consulted, in addition to drawing trend charts, the minister summarized this information. All the data is from the classics, such as the disasters suffered by crops or fruit trees when they grow, to illustrate the changes in the weather over the past 500 years. ”

Then every ten years is a period, and the years are classified into three categories, one is a normal year, one is a drought and flood year, and finally a drought and flood year, so that after classification, it can be clearly seen that in relatively warm periods, drought and flood disasters are less. In the cold period, there are more drought and flood disasters, which is caused by cold damage. Of course, the most important thing is to summarize the impact of chilling injury on grain growth, and even affect the price of rice, which is all about the physiology of the people, and I can't help but pay attention to it. ”

"So you just say, how to deal with disasters in the next few years?"

"The minister thinks that no matter what kind of disaster, its prevention will ultimately fall on grain storage, and 'if the country does not have three years of reserves, the country is not its country'. Only with sufficient grain reserves can we achieve relief and quickly level the grain to ensure that the people have food in their hands and that the people's hearts can be stable. ”

"Yes, go on."

"Our Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, and there is a huge disparity in grain production in various places, and there is a surplus or shortage of grain, and it is also possible to transfer grain storage in various places through the means of allocation. Of course, in order to achieve leveling and allocation, we need unimpeded roads and the ability to transport quickly. And horses are the fastest of all animal power, and the use of horse-drawn carriages as a means of transportation is a good choice. ”

"How fast can it be?" Emperor Yongming was still flipping through the account book presented by Wu Yan in his hand, but he was listening to him with his ears, and he said a lot, but he didn't feel that he was on the point.

"To be fast, first of all, we must solve it from the carriage structure, there are many new four-wheeled carriages in the capital today, the structure is different, the front and rear wheels of this carriage are independent, the front wheels can achieve easy steering, and the front wheels are slightly smaller than the rear wheels, so that the carriage as a whole is shorter, compared with ordinary two-wheeled carriages, this is not only conducive to the pulling of horses, but also very stable load-bearing driving."

"As for how much weight you can carry, how fast you can run? It has to do with the number of horses, but also with the arrangement of the horses. It's like using two horses, driving side by side and steering is flexible, and if it's a longitudinal row, you can pass smoothly even if the road is narrow. If you want to load more goods, you can also lengthen the body, with a four-horse carriage that can carry up to 50 stones, and between the two capitals, it can almost reach the level of traveling 50 miles in an hour on a smooth road. ”

This made the emperor a little surprised: "Is it really that fast?" ”

"The premise is that the road conditions are good, but what are the road conditions? It is necessary to pave the road to a level that is hard and flat, and it will not be muddy even if it rains, so that the carriage can run smoothly. If the road conditions reach this level, there will be almost no problem driving day and night, so it is also possible to imagine that from Oncheon to Gyeonggi, people can reach it in less than four days. ”

Wu Yan is not surprised by such a statement, is it possible? Absolutely!

The transportation revolution that preceded the Industrial Revolution was the horse-drawn carriage revolution, and later in the same century in England, horse-drawn carriages reached speeds of 10 miles (16 kilometers) per hour, and the 650-kilometer journey from London to Edinburgh was shortened to 44 hours.

In the era before the appearance of steam locomotives, this is a very amazing speed, and the land distance between the north and south of the Ming Dynasty is more than 2,300 miles, so it is not impossible to reach it in four days.

"Can it really be four days?" Emperor Yongming raised his head and looked at him, with some doubts in his heart.

"When the post delivery is transmitting military information, one person and one horse can reach such a speed around the clock, so it is not uncommon to arrive in four days. It's just that most of the current post roads are in disrepair, the road conditions are very poor, one person and one horse can run, and it is unlikely to carry goods and pull people. ”

"In fact, the advantage of land transportation is that it is fast, but the premise of achieving fast is good roads and enough horses. The disadvantage is that the load is limited, and fifty stone for one car is the limit. A boat can carry 400 stones, which is incomparable to a carriage. But the speed of the boat is slower than that of the carriage, and it takes a month for the same two capitals to be transported, and the carriage can run several times back and forth in a month. ”

"The advantage of sea freight is that a ship can carry up to 10,000 stones, but the disadvantage is also obvious, it is slower than water transportation, and it is easily affected by the weather. The three modes of transport have their own advantages and disadvantages, so it is not possible to talk about which is better or worse, the northwest provinces do not have Caohai connection, but there are innate conditions for the development of land transport, so the smooth flow of land routes, they must be of greater significance. ”

"Oh......"

"Continuing what the minister just said, it is necessary to use grain storage to prevent famine, and grain storage will inevitably require the construction of granaries, so in addition to the two Beijing warehouses and the water warehouse, the minister believes that it is also necessary to restore the local grain reserve system. In addition, the munitions warehouse should also be reassigned from the local area to the imperial court for unified jurisdiction. The advantage is that the imperial court can grasp the situation of the world's grain reserves anytime and anywhere, so as to be prepared for emergencies. ”

The last thing is to the point.

"Your Majesty, can you add a few words?" Wu Yan asked aloud.

Emperor Yongming turned his head to look at her and asked, "What do you want to add?" ”

"Actually, Li didn't say everything in the review, he only said storage and transportation, but he didn't say that the grain was grown in the ground."

"Puff......" Li Daoru couldn't help laughing: "What Yan Sizhen said is right, the grain is indeed grown in the ground. ”

"You don't understand what I mean, not all the fields are planted with grain, and they may all be crops such as cotton, linen, and tobacco."

"So you have to make sure you have enough land to grow food, right?" Li Daoru immediately understood what she meant.

"Yes, in response to disasters, to ensure grain is to ensure production, and it is necessary to demarcate the number of acres of grain cultivated land unchanged, at least not less than a certain number, otherwise it is very likely that the country will not have three years of reserves."

Emperor Yongming applauded: "This idea is very good. ”

"In the face of foreseeable natural disasters in the future, we must be vigilant and plan for the worst, such as ensuring that most people will not starve to death in extremely bad conditions, even if it is the best outcome under the worst conditions."

"Hey, that's right......" The reality is like this, and there is no way to disagree with this.

"Your Majesty, in fact, there is no good or bad difference between the three types of transportation that Li Jian said, and the minister still agrees. Just like Huai'an, Xuzhou, and Caolu are all passable, it is possible to develop into a land and water artery by virtue of its location advantages, so that it can also drive the recovery of local commerce, like Xuzhou will no longer be 'Lu Yan depression, the well market is scattered', business can bring prosperity to the city, but commercial prosperity is relying on the convenience of transportation. ”

Emperor Yongming thought it was very interesting to hear it, and some courtiers said that the prosperity of commerce was vain, so that the cart was turned upside down, and she was good, and only commerce could bring prosperity......

"Wouldn't you put the cart before the horse?" He asked suddenly.

"To settle the economic account, Your Majesty, it is like the grain farmers themselves can get to the market and sell it at a good price, no matter what, it is a good thing, but only if there is a prosperous market and convenient transportation. Wouldn't it be better for the peasants to drive their own wagons to transport grain to the market and sell it than to let them pay rent in kind or land endowments in kind? ”

"In that case, the imperial court can save a lot of trouble, but at least the people themselves can afford to raise horses," Li Daoru asked.

"It's a possibility, as long as the cost of raising horses can come down."

"That's what you're doing at the racetrack?" Emperor Yongming asked her again.

"Of course, it won't stop there," Wu replied.

"I understand, that's why you keep telling me how important it is to build roads and how important business is."

Wu Yan couldn't help but ask: "Isn't it important?" ”

"But I think you're saying that for the sake of your racetrack?"

"Uh...... It is also important to make money, after all, Your Majesty, you know. ”

The emperor laughed twice, and did not continue to ask.

In the end, he said: "I also understand the meaning of Li Qing's family, so let's leave it at that, and hand over the 'development plan' that Yan Sizhen said to Li Qing's family to complete, limited to one month." ”

Li Daoru was stunned, what is the development plan?

But after only a slight pause, he calmly replied, "The minister obeys the order." ”

————————————

After Li Daoru retreated, Wu Yan asked the emperor again: "Your Majesty, can you publish the two articles reviewed by Li in the newspapers?" Xiao Chen thinks that if he can publish it, it will be able to let more people see and understand ......"

"Let them know what?"

"Your Majesty, didn't you say that you should care about everything? In fact, the people are very concerned about the major affairs of the imperial court, especially the major affairs of the people's livelihood. ”

Wu Yan hopes that through various non-governmental newspapers and periodicals, the people will not only have more channels to understand the trend of national policies, but also let people know the decrees of the imperial court through more channels and implement them smoothly.

This propaganda cannot be abandoned.

Emperor Yongming couldn't help but wonder: "You want your family newspaper to publish it exclusively, right?" ”

Wu Yan hesitated, hesitated again, and nodded.

"Not for the time being," the emperor replied decisively.

After nearly an hour, he felt a little tired, so he waved away Wu Yan and returned to the apse to rest.

At the same time, in the cabinet of duty rooms,

The elders are as conscientious as ever, because there are endless notebooks to deal with every day.

The four of them are not young anymore, but they can still insist on doing their own work every day and working all night, so it can only be said that they are all dedicated models.

On the table in front of them, there were stacks of books of different sizes, all of which were official documents from different yamen in the world. Two of them are more 'conspicuous', two feet high, and the paper is three feet when unfolded, which is the specification of the official documents of the Sanpin Yamen, and several cabinet elders have already circulated and read them.

Today is a little different, and the four elders have a sense of helplessness about these two books.

Liu Yikun, a scholar of the Ministry of Engineering and a scholar of the East Pavilion, has been tapping his fingers on the tabletop, making an irregular clicking sound, the sound is not loud, but it is like a magic sound, as if it can make people fall into a state of mental dissociation.

In fact, Liu Yikun's first thought was not that the title was tricky, but that the book of the household department.

After a long silence, he took the lead in asking, "If the cabinet agrees to these two proposals, what will happen to Gu Xianchen?" ”