"Second and third sons, do you still remember the intention of the widow to dig this ditch?"

Qingji pointed to the water next to the boat, looked around, and asked the ministers with interest.

Wen Chong, Sun Wu, Fan Li, Wu Zixu and other ministers looked at each other.

Then, Dazai Wenzhong bowed down and said: "Back to the king, the minister still remembers that more than 20 years ago, the king intended to go north to the Central Plains and compete for hegemony with other countries, but my Wu army went on a northern expedition, and the transportation of military food and baggage was far away and difficult. ”

"The people of Wu in the south 'take boats as their home and take their horses as horses' and are good at water warfare, but Wu lacks horses and is not good at land warfare, while the Central Plains is flat and open, and rivers and lakes are scarce."

"Fighting here is bound to be dominated by land warfare, and at that time, Wu will start a war with the enemy with his own shortcomings, and there is almost no chance of victory."

"At that time, after repeated considerations by the king and the second and third sons, they decided to dig a canal to connect the multiple lakes between the north bank of the river and the Huaishui River to form a waterway, which can give full play to the strengths of our Wu army."

"It took me two years to recruit tens of thousands of people to dig this ditch with a total length of more than 400 miles."

Hearing this, Qingji sighed with emotion: "Yes." It was not easy for the widow to dig this ditch back then. ”

"Originally, it was intended to be used to go north to the Central Plains and compete for hegemony with other countries. I didn't expect that the actual use was not military, but Caoyun. ”

"However, the matter of Cao Yun is also a national event, and it cannot be sloppy."

"Sometimes, it is more convenient to take the waterway, which can save a lot of time, and can also reduce a lot of food and manpower loss."

After a pause, Qing Ji said earnestly: "This ditch introduces the water of the big river through Fanliang Lake, Bozhi Lake, and Sheyang Lake to the Huaishui, and can transfer troops and transport grain from the waterway. ”

"The widow's intention is to expand the ditch, open the lotus canal, and connect to Surabaya. Connecting the big river, Huaishui, Surabaya, and even Jishui, I don't know what the second and third sons will do? ”

Hearing this, the ministers said in unison: "King Shengming! ”

The expansion of Hangou is only an insignificant project for the current Wu State, and it is not difficult.

But, how can Qingji's mind be so simple?

"Glue, bring the map."

"No!"

After receiving the order, the CRRC government ordered Jiao to slip, and hurriedly took out a sheepskin map and handed it to Qingji to look at.

After Qingji spread the sheepskin map on the table, he asked people to take pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and drew a "black line" on the map.

In Qingji's planning, the mouth of the ditch into the Huai is the hub of the four major water systems of the river, the Huai, the river and the Ji, and it is the key point of transportation.

Waterway transportation is economical and labor-saving, so waterway transportation has been valued and used by people for a long time.

However, the vast majority of China's major rivers run east-west, and there is no north-south waterway, and this horizontally closed natural water system seriously restricts the traffic and flow of all parts of the country, which is not conducive to the reunification of the country and the economic and cultural exchanges and development.

Under these circumstances, Qingji had to try to dig an artificial river in a north-south direction, the canal.

"This ......"

When the ministers saw the ink line that Qingji had drawn on the map, they couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

"The widow has the intention of digging an unprecedented north-south Grand Canal. The Qiantang River of Huiji County in the south is connected to Yanling, Wudu, Hongshang, Jinling, after entering the ditch, it passes through Huaishui, Langdang, Suishui, to the big river (Yellow River), to the west, directly leads to Luoyi and Guanzhong, and ends at Xianyang. ”

"To the north, lead the water to the big river, and the north to Jicheng."

"Shhh

After hearing Qingji's thoughts, all the ministers and doctors couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

Qingji's idea of the north-south Grand Canal of Wu is naturally based on the "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal" dug in the Sui Dynasty.

In this way, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Si River, etc., and various water systems are connected together to ensure that the transportation of Wu is unimpeded, and it becomes a smooth road like a straight road and a galloping road.

Whether it is to transport grain, troops, or trade, the Grand Canal is the most ideal road.

However, Wen Chong had to persuade stubbornly: "King, I am afraid that it is not easy to dig the Grand Canal. ”

"From Jicheng to the Qiantang River, there are thousands of miles away, and we have to turn to Luoyi and Xianyang, such a huge project, I am afraid that it will be protracted, and I will have to invest an unknown amount of manpower, material and financial resources."

"Great King, with all due respect, with the current national strength of my Great Wu, I am afraid I can't afford it......"

The Zhou system takes eight feet as a step, the Wu system takes six feet as a step, and 300 steps as a mile.

And what Qingji knows, one step of the Wu system is equivalent to 0.231 meters in modern times, and one mile is equivalent to about 415 meters in modern times.

The Grand Canal is about 1,797 kilometers long.

So when converted, the length of the Grand Canal of Wu is no less than several thousand miles......

At this time, before Qingji could speak, Bo Yu, who had always been a hardcore loyal minister of Qingji, snorted and came out to retort: "Dazai's words are wrong. ”

"Although the project of the Grand Canal is protracted and costly, it is a major event that will benefit the present and future generations!"

"This is a great feat of the past and the present!"

Hearing this, Prime Minister Kong Qiu sneered: "Yu Shi Zhongcheng, you said it lightly, digging the Grand Canal from scratch to connect the major water systems in the country, the cost of labor and money is unprecedented!" ”

"Can you calculate how much manpower, material and financial resources will be required to dig such a canal?"

"This ......"

Bo was speechless for a while.

However, a flash of inspiration came to Bo's mind, and he replied: "Prime Minister Zuo, it's not that I don't understand this engineering matter. ”

"According to the king's intentions, to dig the Grand Canal, material and financial resources are secondary. The main thing is manpower! ”

"Now I have no less than two million Kunlun slaves in Dawu, although it includes women and children, it may not be impossible to dig the Grand Canal with millions of Kunlun slaves!"

"You!"

Kong Qiu wanted to refute Bo Yu, but when he thought that Kunlun Nu was not a "person" in Wu State, he kept silent.

The excavation of the Grand Canal is undoubtedly a matter of labor and money.

Just like the historical Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, after he ascended the throne, he immediately ordered the conscription of 2 million people to build the eastern capital Luoyang.

The eastern capital is still under construction, and a total of 5 million people have been requisitioned to dig the canal from Luoyang to Jiangdu, and four or five out of ten people have died in the river.

At the same time as digging the canal, 1.2 million people were sent to build the Yulin Great Wall in the third year of the great cause, and more than half of the people died.

At that time, the total population of the Sui Dynasty was 46 million, and Yang Guang levied 10 million people in ten years, and there were not enough men to fill the women.

There are also countless soldiers who died in the three expeditions to Goryeo.

Behind the series of numbers are broken families, and the bones of the people bear his name as a tyrant......

Can Qingji be the same as Emperor Yang of Sui?

Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall!

Wen Chong sighed and said: "King, not to mention manpower, if the Grand Canal is dug up, it will also consume huge financial and material resources. Now that the new dynasty has been established, and all industries are waiting to be prospered, the king should recuperate with the people, not waste the people's strength......"

"The opening of the Grand Canal is certainly a great feat. However, a generation should do the things of a generation, and the king has so far completed a great cause that can only be completed by several generations! ”

"The king, the ministers are brave, please cherish the people's strength, don't be happy."

As soon as Wen Chong's voice fell, he knelt down.

Seeing this, the ministers also knelt down one after another, asking Qingji to dispel the idea of digging the Grand Canal.