I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 893 Kunling Tour Guide Liu Baotou

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji went to the edge of the well to look, but they couldn't see what was going on.

Liu turned his head over and explained to them.

He pointed to a sealed cement pool and said, "This is a water reservoir that leads directly to the culvert. The water from the culvert flows here, accumulates, and the excess flows back to the culvert from the outlet."

There is a tool next to the reservoir, a cast iron cylinder with a cement block at the bottom.

Above the cylinder is a wooden water outlet, which hangs downward.

The cylinder is thick at the top and thin at the bottom. The pressure handle connected to the center of the cylinder is about 20 to 30 centimeters long. It is made of iron and polished to a bright shine. It must have been used frequently.

Liu pointed at it and said, "This is a water well. If you press it hard a few times, the water in the reservoir will be pumped up and flow into this stone trough, and then divided into the two stone pools. People drink from this one, and livestock drink from that one.

Just drink as much as you can, and don’t waste it.”

"I can't see what this culvert looks like." Shen Wanxiang squatted on the ground, looking left and right.

Wang Yongji simply lay on the ground, looking left and right.

"You can't see it here. This place is hot and dry. Water on the surface will disappear after a while, so the water must be hidden underground." Liu Baotou said, "Two years ago, when I was on a caravan and passed by Gaochang Chiting Post, I saw a construction team building a culvert."

Shen Wanxiang asked in surprise: "Liu Baotou, have you seen the construction of the underground canal with your own eyes?"

"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes."

"Then please tell us about it."

"Building a culvert is actually very simple. Just build a straight road, plant shelterbelts on both sides, and dig a two- to three-meter-deep pit six or seven meters outside the shelterbelt. Then put the cement round pipes that have been made long ago in it. Each section is about three meters long and one meter thick. Spread it on the ground and connect them one by one."

"Six or seven meters away. Is that so far?"

"Yes, I was also curious at the time. Why is it so far away? The construction team said that when the shelterbelt grows taller, the roots underground will spread out in all directions, and they are worried that it will affect the water pipes, so they have to be farther away."

"Oh, Liu Baotou, please continue."

"Anyway, thick cement pipes are laid on both sides of the straight road. I heard from a fellow villager in the construction team that every few dozen miles, a pipeline will be laid under the straight road to connect the underground channels on both sides.

My fellow villager was a scholar. In the third year of the Wanli reign, he studied for two years at the Chang'an Institute of Technology in Xi'an and then changed his career to become a civil engineer.

He told me that laying pipes is the simplest thing, the key lies in the water source and water usage.

Water storage usually involves building pools high up in the Tianshan Mountains to collect the flowing spring water, which then flows down. In some places where there is no spring water, or if there is not enough spring water, deep wells need to be dug.

My fellow villager said that the imperial court transferred two groups of capable people from other places.

A group of people specialize in finding water. They go around everywhere and, based on the terrain and the surrounding vegetation, they can determine whether there is underground water, or a lot of water.

They took a tool and poked here and there. They dug out the soil from the ground and smelled it to know how much water there was.

After finding the right spot, another group of people started to show their skills. It is said that the group of people were transferred from Sichuan and are good at digging wells, tens or hundreds of meters deep. "

As Liu Baotou spoke, he was groping in his pocket for a cigarette box. Wang Fengmeng, who was sitting next to him and listening, took out a pack of Changan brand cigarettes and handed it to Liu Baotou.

Liu Baotou's eyes lit up and he took out a cigarette without hesitation.

Wang Yongji took out one without hesitation and put it in his mouth.

Wang Fengmeng put away the cigarette and put it back into his pocket.

Liu Baotou used a lighter to light Wang Yongji's cigarette first, and then lit his own. The two of them exhaled a cloud of green smoke almost at the same time.

After taking a few puffs and satisfying his craving, Liu Baotou continued.

"That's how the water comes from. My fellow villager said that half of Kunling's water comes from the Tianshan Mountains, and the other half comes from wells.

Gansu is more troublesome. The snow on the Qilian Mountains is not as much as that on the Tianshan Mountains. It can only solve a quarter of the water supply. The rest depends on digging deep wells. "

Liu took a deep breath, waited for a few seconds, and slowly exhaled a long string of smoke rings.

"Another thing is water. We built underground canals along both sides of the straight road. One is to provide drinking water for the merchants and livestock passing by, and the other is to nourish the protective forests on both sides of the straight road.

The third most important thing is to dispatch water resources.”

"Dispatch water resources." Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji silently recited the word.

"Yes, my fellow villager said that Kunling is very short of water, so we must use water efficiently and make every drop of water count.

All the water flowing down from the Tianshan Mountains should be collected. Deep wells should be dug evenly from underground water in various places, so as not to fleece every sheep.

These precious waters are collected together and flow to various places through underground channels. Try not to evaporate on the way. What's the word? Burn or boil? No, oh, I think it's steaming. Don't evaporate on the way."

The cigarette in Liu Baotou's hand was about to burn his fingers, so he reluctantly put it out on the ground.

"The water flows everywhere, how to use it is also a big problem. However, the imperial court has placed the Kunling Construction Corps' agricultural reclamation corps and agricultural and pastoral corps on both sides of the straight road."

How come the Kunling Construction Corps appeared?

After hearing Shen Wanxiang's question while grabbing his hair, Wang Fengmeng explained, "Since our Ming Dynasty expanded its territory on the western frontier, we have continued to use the previous reclamation model.

However, the previous agricultural reclamation bureau or agricultural and animal husbandry group was not suitable for these places in the west. After all, the people here had been away from the king for a long time and were wild and unruly. They had to be restrained and educated in order to keep themselves in line.

So the emperor issued an edict to change the western reclamation model to a corps system, no longer a semi-militarized system as before, but a full militarization system with divisions, regiments, battalions, and companies, and to use military law to restrain the people who surrendered. "

"Understood, Liu Baotou, please continue."

Liu Baotou glanced at Shen Wanxiang, Wang Yongji and Wang Fengmeng. These three people were indeed not ordinary people.

They were heading east, and I was heading east too, so it was just right for them to travel together.

Although this straight road is already very easy to drive on, who wouldn’t want a little more safety?

When you go out, safety comes first!

Liu Baotou immediately perked up and continued, "Both sides of the straight road are the Kunling Construction Corps, and the allocation of water will be arranged. When the time comes, each division, regiment, battalion, and company will release water according to the pre-assigned schedule.

You see, on both sides of the straight road, the north is mostly pastoral areas, and the south is mostly cotton and wheat fields.

I once heard an old scholar from the Northwest Agricultural Science Institute say at Tiemenguan Post Station that Kunling is actually a treasure land. As long as there is enough water, the yield of rice, wheat, cotton and soybeans will be higher than that of other places, and the quality will be better than that of other places. This is actually a treasure land.”

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji nodded in agreement.

"National economy and people's livelihood have always been the most important thing for the Wanli Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor has always said that only when people live and work in peace and contentment can there be long-term stability.

If the warehouse is solid, you will know etiquette; if you have enough food and clothing, you will know honor and disgrace.

Your Majesty's words are so insightful!"

Shen Wanxiang turned around and asked, "Liu Baotou, what are you peddling?"

"We, the supply and marketing cooperative, sell daily necessities for the people. We sell cotton cloth, tea, Chinese patent medicine, sugar and other goods from Lanzhou. We sell pepper, cumin, fur and other goods from Shule.

Bulk goods are transported by large caravans with hundreds of camels, while small caravans like ours only transport emergency supplies.

A few days ago, there was an epidemic in Kushan, and the governors of the three borders mobilized medicines from various places. When the Gansu and Shaanxi provincial governments received urgent reports, they urgently transferred a batch of epidemic medicines and mobilized large and small transport teams to transport them westward.

Our Sixth Caravan was originally responsible for the transportation of civilian supplies in Qinghai, and half of the personnel were mobilized to go west. We handed over the medicine to the Governor's Office in Wancheng, and we can't go back empty-handed, since we are here now."

Liu pointed at the camel lying outside the straw shed to rest and said, "We were ordered to take some supplies back to Lanzhou. We don't know what they are, but we know there is wax from the Governor's Office on them, and we will hand them over directly to the Gansu Provincial Government."

It was about the same time, so the two groups packed up and set off together, naturally traveling together.

Liu Baotou continued to talk about the situation in Kunling Province.

"Everything else is easy, except for the inconvenience of transportation. Kunling is a vast land with few people, and it is extremely dry.

That huge sand dune over there is thousands of miles in radius, and it is very dangerous to enter it. Whether going north or south, east or west, you have to go around it, which is a huge waste of time.

I heard from an old friend that Kunling is rich in cotton and soybeans, especially cotton, which is all high-quality long-staple cotton, better than the cotton in Shaanxi and Gansu, not to mention the cotton in Shanghai and Jiangbei.

But it can’t be transported out.”

"Indeed, the transportation capacity of the straight road is still a bit poor. Only by opening the railway can this big problem be alleviated."

"That's right, we must have a railway." Liu slapped his thigh and said happily.

Shen Wanxiang was surprised, "Liu Baotou also knows about railways?"

“Of course I know. At the beginning of the year, the railway was opened to Xi’an. I happened to be with a caravan delivering a batch of goods to Xi’an, and I had the honor of participating in the opening ceremony.

My goodness, when the train started moving, it was puffing and shaking the ground, and many people were scared and screaming. My goodness, the momentum was so great that even thousands of cows and horses running together could not compare to it. "

Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji looked at each other and asked happily: "The railway has been built to Xi'an so quickly!"

"It should be the Zhengxi Railway."

"Zhengzhou-Xi'an Railway?" Liu thought for a moment and nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, yes, the railway from Zhengzhou to Xi'an.

I heard that Zhengzhou has four railways, one to Xi'an, one to Weihai in Shandong, one to Huai'an in Jiangsu, and another one that goes directly from the capital to Wuchang in Huguang, passing through here.

My goodness, there is smoke coming out of Zhengzhou!"

Shen Wanxiang continued to ask: "Have all four railways been completed?"

“It seems that they have all been repaired.”

"like?"

Liu Baotou chuckled, "I was just watching the excitement in Xi'an, I didn't even go to Tongguan. I heard it from others. Some people said that all the roads have been repaired. But some people said that there seems to be one road that has not been repaired.

I'm not sure either.

Everyone said that the court should continue to build the railway westward, through Lanzhou and Hexi, all the way to Shule and Kushan. "

"Yes, we will definitely continue to repair it to the west."

Liu Baotou added: "But when I was watching the fun in Xi'an, I met an old acquaintance from Shanxi. He often travels to other places and Xi'an. I have known him for 20 to 30 years, and I didn't expect to run into him in Xi'an.

He said that the imperial court built railways outside the border very quickly.

"Outside the pass?" Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji looked at each other, "Southern desert area?"

"Mo Nan? I don't know either. I heard from that old friend that there is a railway in the capital that goes directly north to Chengde City, then one turns northeast and the other goes northwest. The northwest one splits into two after reaching Yulong City (Erenhot).

One road continues northwards, reaching Hening on the grassland. The other turns west, following the Muli Post Road from the Yuan Dynasty, all the way to Jinshan, which is the north of Luntai, called Keduoduo.

"Kobdo." Wang Fengmeng added.

"Yes, it's Kovdo."

Wang Fengmeng smiled faintly, "I fought there. The main forces of the Wala tribes were annihilated in that area."

Liu raised his head and looked at him in admiration. He didn't expect that he was a hero.

Shen Wanxiang continued to ask: "Mo Nan, oh, is the railway outside the pass being built very quickly?"

"Fast. My old friend from Shanxi often goes to Kouwai. He said that the construction is so fast. There is a lot of land and few people there. It is a plateau, so there are not many rugged ravines.

I heard that the Ministry of War sent six railway engineering regiments there, with nearly 20,000 people, to work in sections, repairing the railway much faster than in the Central Plains."

"That's fast. The terrain in the Central Plains is complex, and we have to consider farmland, canals, tombs, houses, and build bridges across rivers. We also have to stay within a certain distance from towns and cities, and take a detour.

In the south of the desert, apart from the bad environment and the inconvenience of living, there is nothing else to worry about. Just keep repairing along the old road."

Liu raised his head and said longingly: "We are looking forward to the railway being built to Gansu and Kunling. We who run caravans and horse caravans know best what convenient transportation means.

My old friend from Shanxi was handling goods in Tianjin five days ago. He took a train and changed trains twice in Beijing and Zhengzhou, and arrived in Xi'an on the fifth day.

My goodness, it’s thousands of miles. Even the ancients said that the Speedy Guardian who could travel a thousand miles a day wasn’t that amazing! "

"Look!" Liu pointed to a place about ten miles south of the straight road. Everyone followed his finger and looked into the distance across the golden wheat fields.

What happened?
(End of this chapter)