jdhmnovel Chapter 908: Xu Xian sleeping with a snake is a story, but the snake crawling into bed in Liaodong i
Chapter 908: Xu Xian sleeping with a snake is a story, but the snake crawling into bed in Liaodong i
"This is a water bubble?"
Zhu Biao stared blankly at the small patch of ice that had been carved out in front of him.
The ice surface wasn't very large, about three feet square.
However, within this small patch of ice was an enormous tower. Two strong soldiers wielded pickaxes and dug for a long time, but they couldn't dig out the roots.
Li Shanchang stroked his beard without saying a word, while Yang Shaofeng's face was gloomy as he kicked the broken ice under his feet.
I used to only hear Hu Weiyong talk about how difficult it was to deal with water blisters and tower heads.
Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I realize just how deadly this thing really is.
After a long silence, Li Shanchang finally asked, "What happens after the ice thaws in the spring?"
Hu Weiyong replied with a bitter face, "Even after the ice thaws in the spring, it won't be much better."
"When I first came to Liaodong, I also thought that as long as I was willing to put in the hard work, I could dig this thing out."
"Later we discovered that the roots of this thing were very deep and the tops on the ground were extremely sturdy. If we didn't use livestock to forcibly pull it apart first, we could only dig it up little by little by people and then clear it out."
At this point, Hu Weiyong's face became even more bitter: "It's actually easy to plow the pagoda with livestock, but the problem is that there's a lot of mud at the bottom of these puddles, and the livestock are very likely to get hoove rots after going down there."
"And there's something even more troublesome: the snakes, insects, rats, and ants of Liaodong."
"Because there aren't enough brick houses that people can live in, the relocated people have to live in shacks first."
"Sometimes those snakes can even crawl into the quilt and sleep next to people, resulting in quite a few injuries and deaths."
The snake crawled into the quilt, not that Xu Xian slept with a snake.
Xu Xian sleeping with a snake is romantic, but the snake crawling into bed in Liaodong is a real accident that can actually kill people.
Yang Shaofeng looked around.
A small puddle.
Two small puddles.
Within sight, there were more than a dozen small puddles that had already frozen over.
Hu Weiyong continued to complain to Zhu Biao: "Besides the water puddles, towers, and snakes, insects, rats and ants, the jackals, wolves, tigers and leopards that are everywhere in Liaodong are even more deadly."
"People dared not go out alone, or even go to work in the fields alone."
"Left with no other choice, I went to the garrison stationed in Liaodong and asked the soldiers there to go out and hunt those wild beasts."
"But……"
"But those wild beasts can run faster than people. If they see something is wrong, they will hide. They will turn around and take revenge on the people and the soldiers of the garrison."
With a long and gloomy expression, Hu Weiyong could only sigh and say, "Liaodong has fertile soil and plenty of minerals, but it will take lives to fill it, and it may take several decades."
As Hu Weiyong finished speaking, Zhu Biao, Li Shanchang, Yang Shaofeng, and the other officials fell silent once again.
Everyone present understood that what Hu Weiyong was talking about was only the surface issue.
What is truly hidden underwater, and what even human efforts might not be able to fill in properly, is the harsh climate of Liaodong, and the continuous droughts and floods.
Even drought, which seems to be the easiest problem to solve, is not a major issue that can be resolved simply by using a water pump.
Because the steel of the Ming Dynasty could not withstand the severe cold of Liaodong.
Even a little water in the water press is enough to damage it.
Compared to drought, flooding seems to be more deadly.
In particular, the ice jams during the spring can destroy river embankments and houses, drown people and livestock, and then trigger epidemics.
After a long silence, Zhu Biao sighed with a dark face, then turned his gaze to Yang Shaofeng: "Brother-in-law?"
Yang Shaofeng was completely numb.
Miscalculated.
Unexpectedly, the environment in Liaodong was several times, even ten or a hundred times, worse than that of China in the early days of the People's Republic.
In the early days of the People's Republic of China, at least we had a few tractors provided by the Soviet Union, and later we were able to manufacture various tractors ourselves.
Could the Ming Dynasty even manufacture a hammer now?
Yes, it can make hammers, pickaxes, and shovels.
The only thing they can't do is manufacture tractors.
Given such a messed-up reality, anyone in charge would have to force people in bit by bit to fill the gaps.
"Let's transfer people from Ningyang and Dengzhou."
"First, let the people from the Geology Institute survey suitable places for people to live, and then let the craftsmen from Ningyang start firing bricks."
"At the very least, we must solve the housing problem for the people."
"In addition, we also need to mobilize the many garrisons in Liaodong to wipe out those tigers, leopards, jackals, bears and the like."
"Oh, and also, Dengzhou University should be able to find a way to develop some new types of machinery specifically for land reclamation in Liaodong."
Yang Shaofeng slowly explained the solutions he could think of, while also thinking about the machines he had seen or heard of.
Rotary tillers should be a good thing.
Although there was no tractor for traction, a steam engine, after some modifications, should be able to make do.
However, steam engines are not exactly lightweight. With a simple wheeled structure, they would probably easily get stuck in puddles, requiring people to dig and lift them out.
Tracked vehicles might be better, but can the steel materials of the Ming Dynasty support them?
Diesel engines seem like a promising technology, but the question is whether the Ming Dynasty can actually develop one?
Yang Shaofeng became more and more confused as he thought about it, while Hu Weiyong became more and more excited as he listened.
What did I hear?
Craftsmen from Ningyang County.
Students at Denju University.
The artisans and students that the Emperor and His Highness have been trying to plunder for years without success are now being sent to Liaodong by Yang the Madman on his own initiative?
Otherwise, I, Lao Hu, should kowtow to him, otherwise I won't be able to sleep soundly!
Li Shanchang glanced at Hu Weiyong.
Yang the Madman only casually plucked a couple of wools, and you're already so excited about it.
Even I, an old man, feel ashamed!
Ha~te!
Li Shanchang was internally cursing Hu Weiyong, but his face remained calm as he looked at Zhu Biao and Yang Shaofeng and said, "The method proposed by the Prince Consort is correct."
“If we just blindly reclaim wasteland and build settlements like Hu Buzheng did before, we will end up going down the wrong path.”
"but……"
Li Shanchang changed the subject, saying, "The methods proposed by the Prince Consort may allow the people to live in peace, but they may not necessarily allow them to make money."
"If we want to attract more people to work in Liaodong, we cannot simply rely on the national treasury to allocate funds to Liaodong."
"We still need to find a way to make money for the people and attract them to move to Liaodong on their own initiative."
"Just like what the Prince Consort did back in Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture."
Hu Weiyong nodded repeatedly, not bothering to dwell on Li Shanchang's words that he had gone astray. "Prime Minister Li is right. The reason I invited Your Highness and the Prince Consort to Liaodong was to ask the Prince Consort to come up with a way to help the people of Liaodong become rich."
What?
You said that I summoned Yang the Madman to Liaodong so that he could see the miserable state of those officials and gentry in Jiangnan?
I never said that!
Besides, that was Hu Weiyong's idea before the twelfth lunar month, what does it have to do with the current Hu Weiyong?