Xie Qian, Liu Jian and Zeng Jian finally retreated to the next best thing, not sitting on the flagship of the black people, but only on an ordinary pot-bellied boat.

They do not know that the cabins of the transport ship are the most aggrieved, not only crowded, but also without a good design of ventilated windows.

As soon as they got on the boat, their families complained a lot, but they had to bow their heads under the eaves.

The deck was also very small, and the three of them could only take turns to let off steam, but the three old men stayed on the deck as soon as they got on the ship.

With the sound of the horn, the sails were quickly raised, and the ship began to slowly sail away from the harbor.

The three of them stood at the stern of the ship, looking out over the harbor and looking back at the ship's tall mast.

There was no wind to use in the offshore waters, and the three of them felt the bumps of the waves, watching the land gradually shrink, and they had a feeling they had never felt in their lives.

"There will be a time to ride the wind and waves, and hang on the clouds and sail to the sea!" Almost all three thought of this poem.

This is what Li Bai wrote at the low point of his life, they are not underestimated in life at the moment, but underestimated in their later years, the three of them combined are more than two hundred years old, and another trough can only be regarded as a misfortune in life.

Xie Qian looked at the huge sails and listened to the sound of the waves, and his heart was a little more open-minded.

Away from the fetters of the court, you don't have to worry about those trivial matters anymore, and you can think of it as a good death.

After a while, the sea became stormy.

The three of them also became seasick, and they no longer had the heart to sigh.

They were so dizzy that it took two days for them to get used to it.

When I set foot on the land again, I have come to Haiyang Port in Shandong.

There is a Shandong Customs here, the largest trade is cotton, and it is also a distribution center for all kinds of goods in the north to go to sea.

Xie Qian looked at the busy scene in the port with a pale face, and found that the people of Huang had managed the customs in an orderly manner.

It was as if people from all regions were doing their jobs, and large bales of cotton were loaded onto ships, and large quantities of goods were removed from the ships.

Liu Jian's perception is deeper, he is originally from Luoyang, and he knows that the trade in the north is far inferior to that in the south, so seeing such a busy place in Shandong made him look down on the people.

No wonder a few customs can collect so much silver!

Zeng Jian didn't have so many thoughts, and he was still wondering why the ships of the Huang people could use iron as ribs.

After he found out about this, he never understood that as the former secretary of the Ministry of Engineering, he also knew about some engineering things, but he had never heard of it, and he used iron as his rib!

After resting for half a day at Hai Duong Port, they set off again.

The three of them, who had already adapted a little, stood at the stern of the boat again, blowing the sea breeze and looking at the clear blue sky.

Liu Jian said with a slight sneer: "Shandong is so prosperous, it seems that this black man's heavy business is really not just talking!" ”

"This is the place where the Grand Canal passes, and it must have been very prosperous in the past!" Xie Qian continued.

"Definitely!" Liu Jian sighed and said: "There are indeed many important commercial towns on the Grand Canal, but they are not as good as this one port!" ”

"Oh, speaking of the Grand Canal! These ships could be transported from the south to Tianjin...... You say this luck ......," Zeng Jianmeng looked at the two and said.

Xie Qian and Liu Jian also reacted, and their eyebrows instantly twisted.

"It took about two days to get to Haiyang, if you don't detour this way, will you be able to reach the mouth of the Yangtze River in a few days?" Zeng Jian said again.

Xie Qian nodded solemnly and said, "I'm afraid it will only take a few days to reach the mouth of the Yangtze River!" ”

"How many things can this boat carry?" Liu Jian asked.

The three of them didn't know, so they hurriedly ran to ask a sailor, and got the value of about 800 tons.

Xie Qian has calculated the customs accounts and knows that one ton is equivalent to more than 17 stones of the Ming Dynasty, that is, a ship can transport 13,000 stones of grain!

At present, the imperial court stipulates that 4 million stone of grain will be sent to Beijing every year, and the total amount last year was about 5.5 million stone.

The three of them were silent unconsciously, according to the calculation of the black boats, a boat runs twice a month, and only more than 20 boats are needed to ensure the stability of the grain.

Xie Qian said with some complications: "I heard that in the early years of the National Dynasty, I also transported grain by sea!" At first I didn't think it was credible, but now it seems that it's mostly true! ”

"A Grand Canal, every year for the sake of transport, the amount of silver invested is innumerable! And a boat with less than a hundred boatmen can beat tens of thousands of workers. Liu Jian was also quite emotional.

Zeng Jian asked: "Can it be abolished and replaced by the sea?" ”

"Absolutely not!" Xie Qian sighed: "We are not black people, we don't have a strong sailor, and millions of workers are tied to food and clothing, so we can't move easily!" The Grand Canal is also a matter of lifeblood, and if the grain is changed to sea transportation, the imperial court is also afraid of any chaos! ”

"That's a mistake!" Liu Jian tied his hands and said: "I know a little bit about the situation of the Grand Canal, many places are no longer able to sail, and the people below also rely on the river to eat the river, even Caoding, they also rely on this canal to eat!"

But every year, with so much money, I can't even do dredging. Every time the Yellow River floods, because of the need to keep the water luck, we have to choose to suffer the people! Since it can be transported by sea, then presumably shipping is the solution to the drawbacks of the Grand Canal, and it can also make Daming lose a hole in selling gold! ”

Zeng Jian lowered his eyes and thought about it, as the former secretary of the Ministry of Industry, he knew that most of the money used by the Ministry of Industry was used to repair the river embankment.

The imperial court can let other things go, but this Grand Canal does not dare to be sloppy in the slightest.

"Since there was a sea in the early years of the dynasty, you might as well learn from this matter!" Zeng Jian said.

Liu Jian nodded and said: "So many southern maritime merchants have also come to Shandong to trade, and they have also been to Tianjin to trade before, which means that our Ming sea ships are also good!" ”

Xie Qian folded his hands and said: "When I get to the place, I have to send a letter to Elder Li Ge, and ask him to mention this matter in the court to see if there are any officials who have the same idea!" ”

The three of them all understood that this matter was difficult, but they still held on to a glimmer of hope. Zeng Jian even wanted to search for shipping information in the early years of the dynasty to see if he could find more useful information.

In history, Zeng Jian will drive the crane to the west next year, this time and space, he does not have thousands of miles of travel fatigue, I am afraid that he will not necessarily die.

Now that I have found the goal of my later years, I have many thoughts in my heart.

Outside the temple, he can also worry about the country and the people, if what he does can change one or two of the disadvantages of luck, he thinks it will be worth it!

……

In fact, the dredging of the Grand Canal in Yongle was less than a Jiazi, and Caoyun became a big burden for the Ming Dynasty. It has always been the top priority of the imperial court, and the previous Eastern Qin conquered Zhenjiang, and the Ming monarchs had to kneel down to sign the contract.

Cao Yun has always been expensive, inefficient, and the Yellow River, Huai River related to it, every time the flood is raging, the first thing the imperial court thinks of is to keep the Cao Yun unimpeded, for which it would rather flood the unlucky states and counties.

Not to mention Caoyun, it is also a very complex logistics project, which requires a lot of manpower to manage, and the content involved is very much, so since ancient times, there has been a special knowledge of "Caozheng", and the Caozheng family is also like a small official at the bottom, relying on the ability to inherit, worry-free food and clothing!

In the Zhengde period, a canal went from south to north, up to the court, down to the Yunding gatekeeper, and they all relied on this river to eat.

There are also many rules in the industry, such as "passing Huai", that is, everywhere you go, you have to give red envelopes as usual, and there are countless people who reach out to ask for money.

As for the operation of drifting, it is inevitable, a Grand Canal can still be floated, but the imperial court has to choose to believe it!

There is also money for dredging and repairing embankments every year, and I don't know how many people have been fattened.

This huge vested interest group is like a huge wound, constantly putting the blood of the Ming Dynasty.

Historically, if a single imperial court formed several groups of such vested interests, then the reason that "millions of workers are tied to food and clothing" can make decision-makers hesitate, and even have to give up the future of development.

If you want to change it, you really have to break your wrist! Many times, people who are a little smarter can think of solutions, and the people at the bottom also think that the people in the court are smart people, so they will naturally think deeper than ordinary people, but the ministers in the court will choose the most stupid choice.

This is the norm of history, otherwise, history should be a manual without twists and turns.

…………

Two days later, the ship arrived at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

This group of Ming courtiers landed in Shanghai County and ended the boat trip.

This made them quite emotional, in the past, they had to walk for more than half a month by land, and they could get from south to north, but it only took four days to reach by sea.

Except for some seasickness, the comfort of riding a boat is far more than that of a horse-drawn carriage or sedan chair, and if they can, they are even willing to travel by sea boat in the future.

And this also strengthened Zeng Jian's views on the three of them, and they jointly wrote a letter when they went ashore, wanting Li Dongyang to take charge of one or two.

Zeng Jian has even made plans to investigate the matter of shipping.

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