Zhuge Liang used the historical credibility of the Zhuge family and the design ideas that could not be seen for the time being, and successfully persuaded Chen Qun to invest resources to try it with him.

At this moment, it has only been less than ten days since Zhuge Liang arrived in Guangling, and he has just entered mid-March.

The farming season usually lasts until the end of March, and now is not the time to levy conscription.

Fortunately, those who have done a little bit of engineering know that a project needs to be surveyed first, then designed, and then constructed, and it is only the third stage of construction that requires a lot of forced labor.

Therefore, in the first half month, Zhuge Liang only needed a small number of miscellaneous assistants to follow him and help him complete the site selection and planning of the new bifurcated river, the precise measurement of the altitude along the way, and the altimetry of the water surface along the Yangtze River......

Time flies, and Zhuge Liang's survey and design are also smooth. Although others couldn't understand what he was doing at all, even Chen Qun couldn't understand it very well. But as long as Mr. Kong Ming can come up with a construction plan when the time comes, they don't care.

Party A never needs to understand Party B's design process and how to draw conclusions.

In the blink of an eye, at the end of March, Chen Qun's side finally took advantage of the slack to levy tens of thousands of people to start the construction of the canal gate and dig another northbound branch.

The specific construction process is inevitably a mixture of blood and tears, but it is also for the people of Guangling to be able to ensure more drought and flood in the future, and there is nothing to repeat the specific details. Liu Bei's camp has tried to suppress the efforts of the people, and is relatively willing to provide more guarantees.

According to the law of the Han Dynasty, the common people originally had to serve the imperial court for at least 20 days a year, and the time spent on the round trip was normal for a month.

In today's troubled times, the levy and conscription in various places are even more severe, and it is generally necessary to work for free for more than a month and a half, and there is no exemption from land taxes and taxes. Unless it is an extreme situation of two or three months, these fields will be gradually exempted.

Liu Bei is already a more benevolent shepherd, but it is inevitably more than in peacetime, and at most the government manages the food during the service, which is a good compensation.

After the start of construction, in the first few days, Zhuge Liang still had to run the construction site every day, pointing out various construction plans that were wrong and not in place.

After the first ten days, after all parties began to get started, he could take a look at it in a few days, and often supplemented the survey, and adjusted the construction in time when he found the accumulated errors.

Repairing the canal is better than repairing the tunnel and building bridges, that is, it is not afraid of "error accumulation to the moment of the final docking", and the construction plan can be adjusted every few miles when it is found that there is an error in the early measurement.

With Zhuge Liang's meticulous calculations and cautious work, some small problems were successfully resolved.

……

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-April, and Zhuge Liang came to Guangling County for a whole month.

As the water control project gradually got on the right track, the energy that needed to be involved was decreasing day by day, and Liu Bei didn't dare to find another thing to trouble him. Only occasionally invited Zhuge Liang to eat, drink, relax and relax, reminded him to pay attention to rest, he could get together with his family more, and relieve the tension of his mind by relying on the joy of family.

Zhuge Liang then remembered that there was another important reason why the eldest brother asked him to come to Guangling this time - his stepmother Song had written a letter before, hoping to meet other children besides Zhuge Jin.

Zhuge Liang has been here for a month, just because he was too busy before, and he was considered "passing through the house in January and not entering", and now he finally thought of preparing some gifts to visit his original uncle's house.

Early the next morning, he asked the third brother Zhuge Jun to carry the gift and take the eldest sister Zhuge Zhi to visit the Song Mansion - the second sister Zhuge Lan was still detained by the eldest brother and stayed in Chaisang to help him take care of the accounts, anyway, the second sister is far from the age of marriage, and there will be a chance to see him in the future.

Zhuge is young and orderly, and generally after the eldest sister gets married, the second sister can start to discuss marriage, plus the process, at least one year later than the eldest sister, which is also helpless, who let the war delay.

Zhuge Liang came to the Song Mansion, and the scene in front of him also surprised him, the Song family was actually living a very decent life, the gate was newly painted with vermilion lacquer, wrapped with brass door nails, and several guards and servants stood there guarding, not at all like a depressed family supported by only Song Xin.

Fortunately, the servants of the Song family also knew Zhuge Liang, so they didn't let him wait, so they directly introduced him inside, and rushed in to report it. After a while, Song Xin personally went to the atrium to greet him.

Zhuge Liang stepped forward to salute, habitually wanting to call him uncle, but was stopped by Song Xin, just called him Ah Liang, so that he didn't have to be formal.

He personally pulled Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jun in, and a young woman flashed out on the side, saluted everyone, and then pulled Zhuge Zhi in.

The young woman didn't even look older than Zhuge Zhi, estimated to be less than twenty years old. After the initial surprise, the Zhuge family quickly figured out that this was the new aunt.

Unexpectedly, just five months after Song Xin set up his own door, he married a wife and started a family. Zhuge Zhi vaguely asked about the other party's origin, and learned that it was the Chen family of Guangling Huaipu - that is, Chen Deng's family.

This Chen is Chen Qi's granddaughter and Chen Deng's niece, but his father is Chen Qi's concubine, and his status is not obvious. Song Xin originally had no foundation, and he was already very proud of such a local family willing to marry him, and he also knew that he was stained with the light of his original nephew.

After the Zhuge family sat down, the Song family also had two beautiful maids who came over to serve tea and soup, looking at their eyebrows and demeanor, and Song Xin's intimacy, I am afraid that although they are not concubines, at least they are also maids in the room.

Zhuge Liang didn't have jealousy in his heart, but he felt that his uncle lived a chic life, he and his eldest brother were still working hard every day, and they had no leisure at all.

On the contrary, Song Xin himself was a little ashamed, and when he chatted with his nephews, he pulled Zhuge Liang to explain.

said that these beautiful maids were all sent by Mrs. Gan, the concubine of General Zhengnan, more than half a year ago, when Ziyu left Guangling to go to Xudu on an errand, and there was no one at home to serve the eldest sister. Later, the Song family set up their own door, and these beautiful maids were also left, and Mrs. Gan sent a message saying that these were all given to the Song family.

Since they were all sent, Song Xin was not polite, he had already seen that two of them looked good, so he didn't hold back, and took pity on him for a few months before marrying his wife.

When Song Xin admitted these things, although he was a little embarrassed, his words and demeanor were more about seeking understanding. said that he was twenty-two years old, if it weren't for the three years of military disasters and running around without a fixed place, he would have married a wife a long time ago, how could he hold back if he hadn't touched a woman at this age.

These words should not have been said by the uncle and nephew, but Song Xin and the two eldest nephews are not much different in age, and now that they have separated from each other, they have no taboos, which is almost the same as the boy's dormitory after the lights are turned off.

Zhuge Liang was not interested in these things, he just keenly observed: even if the Song family became independent from the Zhuge family, Xuande Gong did not relax at all in his favor to the Song family.

Zhuge Liang frowned worriedly, and casually asked Song Xin a few words about official affairs. Song Xin also said that these months have been very easy, the work that Ke Cao is engaged in is easy to deal with, and he doesn't need to get oily and water, the family wealth left by Ziyu, and the rent of the three hundred farms transferred to the Song family are enough for him to spend, anyway, there are two sisters and brothers in the family plus a few maidservants.

There are a lot of 300 households in Zhuangke, and the imperial court has sealed a township marquis, and only 300 households have eaten.

Zhuge Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that the Song family will at least not embark on the road of greed, just rich idlers, so that's it.

After dealing with Song Xin, Zhuge Liang went to the back hall to meet Song.

When the Song family entered the door, Zhuge Liang and Zhuge were still young, one was six years old and the other was three years old, so their relationship with their stepmother was actually deeper than that of their eldest brother.

Especially Zhuge Jun, he was just one year old when his biological mother Zhang died, and he had no memory of his biological mother. Zhuge Liang still has some vague memories of his biological mother.

It is precisely because Zhuge Jun is the mother of the Song family, and women generally love their younger sons more, so Zhuge Jun was spoiled and wasted in his early years, and he is not as good as the eldest brother and the second brother. In the eyes of the Song family, Zhuge Liang is more like an eldest sister raising a younger brother, and Zhuge Jun is the real adopted son.

I haven't seen my relatives for three years, and there is nothing to repeat about all kinds of crying and attachment. After alleviating Song's longing, everyone sat down and put them on the table.

As soon as the Song family opened his mouth, he sighed: "Ah Liang, you can still call my mother today, this reunion can be relieved, in the future, you still have to call me Aunt Song according to the etiquette law, after all, the Song family has set up its own door." ”

Zhuge Liang chuckled in his heart, but he also knew that it was inevitable, so he hurriedly said that he received the order, and did not ask a word.

Seeing that he agreed, Song continued to say: "Actually, after the Shangyuan Festival at the beginning of the year, Sister Gan of the Xuande family came to me to sit here and mentioned the matter, saying that her daughter was three years old and wanted to ask me to come to the house from time to time to raise her.

Or she sent someone to bring her daughter every few days so that I could teach me to recognize some words and enlightenment. I wanted to refuse, but she said that she heard Xuande Gong say that my godson is well-giving, and I am afraid that it is rare in the world to be able to teach a great sage like Ah Jin and you.

I also said that I am more virtuous than Meng's mother, and now that the Song family has set up its own door, I have no children to teach, and the Liu family is willing to bundle up a hundred gold, begging me to teach its young daughter. I was so ashamed that I finally made excuses to shirk it.

said that although I have separated from Ah Jin, after all, there are still so many relatives of the Zhuge family who have not seen each other for many years, and I want to see them first, and then accept the invitation of the Liu family's Yanshi - so, I will repair the book and let you come to Guangling.

I also know that Ah Jin is worried, and I don't want your brother to be talked about before he goes out, and he will be said to be 'his mother first has to be the concubine of Xuande to ask for a daughter', and then you can be reused by Xuande Gong. I'm dragging my feet like this, just because I want to see you two brothers make a lot of achievements first, and then I want to find something to do on my own. ”

After Zhuge Liang heard this, he was greatly moved by the good intentions of the Song family, and he fully understood this concern.

Rao is Zhuge Liang is rational nature, and he also shed tears for his stepmother's little sacrifice, and said respectfully with a choked voice: "Mother don't worry, the child has made great achievements now, and he designed to help the eldest brother defeat his uncle's enemy when he was in Yuzhang."

This time he went to Guangling, and helped Xuande Gong to borrow the banner of Liu Yangzhou, and also helped the people of Guangling to control the water, which will benefit one party in the long run. In the future, the history books will clearly write that I, Zhuge Liang, am a soldier for the country, a man who controls the water and saves the people, and has nothing to do with the friendship that my mother taught the daughter of Xuande Gong. ”

The Song family is not very well informed about the news of the outside world, and she doesn't know what her son is doing this month, but now after listening to Zhuge Liang's personal report, she is very relieved: "Okay, even so, I am not short of these days, I will politely refuse to delay Sister Gan for a few months, and then agree to her invitation after you become famous."

Alas, in fact, I have always been weak-minded, and I know my own skills. Ah Jin and you have achieved such an achievement, what does it have to do with my teaching? They are all talented and self-taught, I will teach you some principles of life at most, where can I teach you from childhood to adulthood. was invited by Sister Gan, but don't mislead your children. ”

Zhuge Liang heard that his mother was still going to wait for a few months, and he was still a little uneasy in his heart, so he wanted to persuade again: "Why should my mother bother with these few months? If you want to wait, some things are far away - can my mother wait until I am famous and officially released, can I wait until Ah Jun is also officially released? He is only thirteen years old, and he is the one who has been most hurt by his mother since he was a child. ”

Zhuge Liang's original intention when he said this was to tell the Song family that he couldn't wait, and when he Zhuge Liang became famous, he might only have to wait a few months, but when Zhuge became famous, he would have to wait for at least five years, so forget it.

However, when these words were heard in Song's ears, he didn't care at all:

"It's okay, it's enough for you to become famous first, Ah Jun doesn't have to wait. I know best what my son is capable of. Ah Jun really can only rely on his stepmother's connections and his brother's prestige, and it is enough to be a rich idler, he doesn't have the ability to become famous on his own. ”

For a moment in Zhuge Liang's heart, he seemed to have suffered a critical blow, and he instinctively reacted with a wry smile: It turns out that his mother never expected Ah Jun to work hard to make a career with his true skills? Only my eldest brother and I need to keep working hard......

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang did not reject hard work, and quickly accepted his mother's request.

……

After meeting the Song family for the last time as his mother and uncle, Zhuge Liang also had everything on his mind. (I can see you in the future, but I won't call my mother, but Aunt Song)

He decided to do a good job of curing the water and make himself famous as soon as possible. Maybe after the deed is completed, the people of Guangling will build a pavilion and a monument for him by the canal.

At that time, the stepmother will be able to do her own thing without worrying about being chewed on her tongue.

Zhuge Liang can also be regarded as an extra layer of motivation to do the task at hand well.

Of course, the new fork of the canal was not built so quickly, and it was impossible to complete it in a month and a half, even if tens of thousands of people dug it.

However, it is relatively quick to dig a slightly narrower trial passage and test the usability of the gate.

In addition, in Zhuge Liang's planning, half of the mileage could have borrowed the original moat of Guangling City, but in fact, it was only a dozen miles to be dug, and the situation was much easier.

By the end of April, the gates of the north-south two-way fork have been completed, although the newly dug fork is not yet navigable, but it is completely possible to wait for this autumn harvest after the slack, the corresponding gate is closed, and the water is re-drained and the digging depth is widened.

Even in ordinary daily life, you can also use the saved labor to change careers to widen and repair the river - after Zhuge Liang's new gate is built, the boat can sail along the current in the estuary section, and all the slender men who originally pulled the fiber can be saved, and at this stage alone, Guangling and Huaiyin counties can each save 10,000 strong labor.

Let the 20,000 people who saved the province continue to dig the river, and the efficiency will definitely be very fast, and it can be done in a few months. Moreover, these are not agricultural populations in the first place, so there is no need to farm, and there is no delay in hiring them.

……

On April 22, the two construction sites in the east and west of Guangling City ushered in the personal inspection and acceptance of Liu Bei, the general of Zhengnan.

On each of the two bifurcated channels, there is a V-shaped wedged arched gate, which has been completed, which can be pushed open and closed by the bottom chute, and finally the mortise and tenon joint is fixed by mutual wedges.

Although a few days have passed since the 15th to 18th lunar calendar, when the tide is the highest, the tide is not too small.

When the tide was high that afternoon, Liu Bei personally stood on the embankment and watched, and saw that the new gate perfectly blocked the tide and ensured that the water level of the canal was always many feet higher than before.

All in all, the problem of seawater backing up into the canal and then into the sun, causing the lake to become salty, is a solution in principle.

Of course, to control the saline-alkali land, it must not be so fast, and it will take the following years of repeated irrigation and a complete change of water in Sheyangze several times.

Insist on always using light Huai River water to replenish water for the canal and Sheyangze, and do not use Yangtze River water with sea tides against the current. In this way, within a year or two, Sheyangze will be turned back into a freshwater lake, and in another three years or so, the land that has been slightly saline can be adjusted back by fresh water erosion and irrigation.

Fields with relatively serious salinity may not be cleaned by repeated irrigation with fresh water, and more acidic phosphate fertilizers will be applied in the future, such as by digging struvite phosphate fertilizer fields, which can be completely solved.

But that's all for later, and it won't be until at least three or five years later. Zhuge Liang still doesn't understand these at all, and now only Zhuge Jin in the world understands these junior high school and high school chemistry knowledge.

……

In any case, when Liu Bei saw that the canal boat could flow from a high place to a low place without a slender man, only relying on the water level drop. Moreover, the sea water brought by the Guangling tide was also blocked on the Yangtze River by the floodgates.

Just these two points of water control benefits are enough to shock Liu Bei.

As for whether the saline-alkali land can be treated well, how long it will take, and other long-term benefits, they are not worried at present, and the immediate benefits are huge enough.

Zhuge Liang can do this, then the long-term benefits he described will definitely be realized! Everyone was full of confidence.

And Chen Qun, who has always been in charge of this project, and other Guangling civil officials, after watching the first stage of acceptance, are also impressed.

"Sir can do this miraculously and benefit the people of one side from the harm of salt water, which is really immeasurable." Chen Qun praised from the bottom of his heart.

(Note: Infinite merit is not a word used by Buddha and Tao, but a local word, which is found in the Book of Han.) ）

Mi Zhu also echoed on the side: "I think these two gates to intercept the invasion of the sea tide might as well be called 'Zhuge Gate'." When a stele pavilion or ancestral temple is erected at the mouth of the canal, a good basalt boulder is selected, the stele is erected, and the merits of Zhuge Brothers Ze and the people are engraved with seals, just like the Shu people set up a stele for Li Bingshu. ”

Zhuge Liang hurriedly thanked: "Eh, don't dare to be, in fact, this idea is what my brother thinks, I'm just good at ingenuity, and I just surveyed and designed this idea." ”

Mi Zhu said with a funny smile: "In the next one, I only said that it is named Zhuge Gate, and the specific credit is shared, which is a matter between your brothers." ”

Zhuge Liang was thin-skinned, and he had to find a way to shirk it, when he suddenly saw a messenger galloping from the direction of Guangling City and rushing straight to this gate construction site.

The messenger immediately shouted to Liu Bei: "My lord, Sun Wei has returned from Xudu and brought the will of Zhuge Yimen to reward him. ”

As soon as these words came out, the audience suddenly exploded. Other workers and craftsmen, senior craftsmen, and river diggers who were originally watching the excitement from a distance, all showed admiration in their eyes.

"Zhuge Gong's family is a gentleman who benefits the people, just to promote such a person, there is hope for this Han Dynasty, there are too many pedanticies in the court who don't do personnel and eat mixed food!"

"It's really an eye-opener, I don't know if Zhuge Gong's family can come to Guangling to be officials."

Zhuge Liang was naturally even more excited in his heart, he was holding his breath this month, and he wanted to become famous as soon as possible, so that his mother would no longer have to worry about being chewed on his tongue in the first step of his career.

With a somewhat empty brain, he rode his horse back to the city with Liu Bei, ready to listen to the will, which was to be read to him, and then sent to Yuzhang to show his uncle and eldest brother.