A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"If Your Majesty wishes to accomplish a feat that will shake the world, you must address the problems of the vast majority of the people."

"I recently reviewed the official documents of the Ministry of Personnel and found that there is only one thing that can affect the livelihoods of more than half of the people in the country, and that is water."

"Farmers need water to grow crops; without water, the harvest will be drastically reduced."

"In severe droughts, crops may even fail completely. Therefore, I believe that solving the water shortage problem for the people in the north is an extremely important project."

"Ugh~"

Yang Guang chuckled strangely, pinched his thumb and forefinger together, and smoothed the small mustache at the corner of his mouth.

"What you say makes sense, my dear minister."

What plan do you have?

"I haven't thought of that yet."

Zhang Wei gave an awkward smile.

Yang Guang stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

"Zhang Qing, what do you think of the plan to divert water from the south to the north through a canal to irrigate the crops there?"

"What does Your Majesty mean?"

"Look," Yang Guang said, pointing to the map on the wall.

"If a canal were built running from north to south, passing through Hangzhou and reaching Nanjing in the south."

"The center is Luoyang, passing through Beiping, and extending north to the grasslands."

"It is 3500 kilometers long and connects the entire country from north to south with a canal."

"Water from the south is transported to the north through this canal, so the land in the north no longer has to fear drought, and it can also effectively alleviate the floods in the south, killing two birds with one stone."

"At that time, the world's grain production will increase dramatically."

"More importantly, it's about shipping. Since steam engines can power steam locomotives, can't they also power ships?"

"The carrying capacity of steamships is many times greater than that of locomotives. If this canal can be completed, a few ships can transport the provisions needed for 10 troops from the southernmost to the northernmost part of the Sui Dynasty."

Yang Guang became more and more excited as he spoke, pointing and gesturing at the map.

"Yes, it can transport troops and supplies. It can transport not only supplies but also troops."

"There is no need to lay railway tracks, and the passenger capacity of ships is much higher than that of steam cars, which greatly reduces costs."

"We need to build not only a north-south line, but also an east-west line like a railway."

"From Qinglai County in the east to Tuzhou in the west, it stretches 7000 kilometers. If it can be repaired, I will be able to bring the entire Tuzhou into the territory of the Great Sui Dynasty."

"I will be the emperor who rules the largest territory in history. In the annals of history, I will surely surpass the First Emperor and become the greatest emperor of all time, no, the greatest emperor of all time!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Your Majesty, the north-south route is manageable. With the current strength of the Sui Dynasty, it is not impossible to complete."

"However, although the east-west route can follow the old course of the Yellow River, once you leave Chang'an, the rest of the land is all Gobi Desert, sparsely populated and impossible to excavate!"

"If we forcibly begin the excavation, countless laborers will be conscripted, and countless people will die in the process. The strength of the Sui Dynasty will be greatly damaged. Your Majesty, you must not do this!"

Zhang Wei estimated that the Sui Dynasty now had a population of nearly 200 million, which was more than enough to build a 3500-kilometer canal.

After all, the canal had been excavated in the previous dynasty. If we just need to connect the canals from the previous dynasty, the actual length that needs to be built should be less than 2800 kilometers.

Given the current wealth and power of the Sui Dynasty, the construction of this canal will not shake its foundations.

But if it's about repairing something, the difficulty increases exponentially.

Especially after leaving Guanzhong, there are the Zheng Guo Canal built during the Qin Dynasty and the Bai Canal built during the Han Dynasty. Beyond Guanzhong, it is a bitterly cold land.

Beyond Liangzhou lies a barren wasteland.

It's obvious to anyone that mobilizing countless people to travel across mountains and rivers to the west of Liangzhou to dig a Grand Canal that stretches for thousands of kilometers is an impossible task.

"That's true, it's indeed difficult to use manpower for railway construction."

"Then let's build the north-south line first, and then build it together with the railway after the north-south line is completed."

Yang Guang nodded thoughtfully. Things should be done one at a time; one cannot be greedy and want more.

He didn't care at all about the human lives Zhang Wei mentioned.

Those are just numbers; he doesn't care.

The common people are like the grass on the ground; once cut, it will grow back in a few years, so there's nothing to cherish about them.

Zhang Wei's lips curled into a bitter smile. Even Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, prioritized the construction of railways within Liangzhou when building them.

Faced with the harsh environment outside Liangzhou, even Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, dared not make up his mind to build it.

His emperor not only wanted to directly mobilize manpower to repair it, but also wanted to dig an additional Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal project was far more extensive than laying railway tracks.

With the Grand Canal, there's no need to lay railway tracks anymore, but you can't forget the sheer scale of the project that built it!

"Your Majesty, shouldn't you reconsider this matter?"

"Is it sufficient to extend the canal only up to Liangzhou?"

"Outside of Liangzhou, there is only Gobi Desert, and no amount of water can fill it."

"Moreover, as far as I know, the whole world is high in the west and low in the east. As the saying goes, water flows downhill, so it will be difficult to divert the water there."

"Your Majesty might as well summon Lord Yuwen Kai for consultation. He is the current water conservancy expert and can certainly provide professional advice."

After Yang Guang summoned Yuwen Kai, Yuwen Kai immediately rejected the canal proposal.

"Your Majesty, we do not know who offered this plan, but that person and their entire family should be executed!"

Yuwen Kai said bluntly.

Isn't this just a ridiculous charade?!

You're just making things up on a whim, are you kidding me?!

Is something that could shake the very foundations of the world something to be joked about?!

The person who made that suggestion deserves to die!

Seriously, sometimes it's not bad people that's scary, it's stupid people.

It's not the cunning of bad people that's scary, but the sudden inspiration of fools.

"Lord Yuwen, please be careful with your words."

Zhang Wei gave Yuwen Kai a look, and Yuwen Kai immediately recognized the mastermind behind the incident—Yang Guang.

Yuwen Kai was stunned. What did he just say? He wanted to exterminate the emperor's entire family?

Is he really that brave?

Can the Yuwen family's nine generations of relatives still be saved?

Ancestors of the Yuwen family, it was Yuwen Kai who was unfilial!

"Your Majesty, please forgive me; I misspoke."

Yuwen Kai knelt down before Yang Guang, who personally helped him up. At this point, Yuwen Kai was not yet completely consumed by ambition or misled by Yuwen Huaji, and he was still able to listen to advice.

"My dear minister, please explain to me why this is unacceptable."

Yuwen Kai pulled over the map and talked on and on for several hours.

Yang Guang was actually very intelligent. If we only consider his talent and ability, he would rank among the top emperors in the entire history of China.

However, his cleverness backfired, and he fell victim to his own excessive intelligence.

Even though he had no in-depth knowledge of geography and hydrology, he still understood the flaws in Yuwen Kai's plan through his explanation.

"Very well, then let us do as you say and build the Grand Canal connecting the north and south."

"Let's abandon the Grand Canal for now and build some tributaries on the Yellow River, Wei River and other rivers to expand the water diversion range for the people."

After returning home, Yang Guang became increasingly depressed.

How can he surpass his father like this? How can he achieve a feat that surpasses three generations?!