Back at the inn, it was already full of stars. Unable to sleep for a while, Du Zhongxiao, Ouyang Xiu, and Xiang Zong sat in the courtyard of the post house chatting.

The evening breeze blew on her body, like a girl's hand, soft and fragrant. There was silence all around, and occasionally there were a few frogs chirping.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the distant night sky, felt the breath of the spring breeze, and sighed: "Since I became an official, I have been in Bozhou for a few years, and then I will arrive at Hedong Road." The Volcano Army is on the border, the weather is very cold, and the ice has just been thawed this season. Although Zaoyang is a remote place, it is like the weather in the south of the Yangtze River, and spring is really a good time. ”

Xiang Zong said with a smile: "It's a pity that Zaoyang County has no scenic spots, otherwise we will delay it for a day tomorrow and accompany Yun Juan to look around." ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "I was born in a farming family, and my ancestors have been farming for a living for generations. In the imperial examination, it can be said that he jumped out of the peasant gate, not only the people in my family, but even the local people, all count on the glorious lintel and add glory to the place. I've been an official for nearly ten years, and I haven't traveled to the mountains and rivers. ”

Xiang Zong was born in a wealthy family, and it is difficult to understand the state of mind of an official from a poor family like Du Zhongxiao. Although Ouyang Xiu was poor when he was young, he was an official eunuch after all, and he couldn't understand it either.

After being silent for a while, Xiang Zongdao: "The young man who was sentenced to the first place has been an official in various places in the past few years, and he has really done a lot of things. Now when you come to Zaoyang, you should also make it a rich place as you did when you were in Yexian. Our state and county officials have also made some achievements. ”

This is what Xiang Zong is most concerned about. Du Zhongxiao was in the Volcano Army, so he built Tanglong Town, a place like a place that was piled up with money, and went to Yingtian in Ruzhou, Tangzhou, and built an iron prison. When you come to Zaoyang County, not to mention such dazzling political achievements, even if it is worse, the local area will have infinite benefits.

Xiang Zong is an official, good at controlling thieves, stronger than the military, and is not good at persuading farmers to cultivate and develop the local economy. Du Zhongxiao came, and he thought that relying on the camp and field affairs would be able to develop the place, which would be of infinite benefit to his future career.

Ouyang Xiu said to Xiang Zong: "Junzhang has never been to Ye County, and when he saw it there, he knew that Yun Ju was good at financial management, and he was unparalleled in the world." The imperial court abolished the army of La Xianxiang, as long as they arrived in the place without resentment, and it was good governance if they did not make trouble. But under the rule of Yun Ju, the camp and field work were rich in food and clothing, and the life of the Xiangjun army was much better than before. The iron supervisor is more affluent than the camp and field work, there is no shortage of money and food every month, and even ordinary soldiers and soldiers have better food and clothing than ordinary county officials. That area is now extremely prosperous and rarely compared. ”

Xiang Zong listened to it and hurriedly asked Du Zhongxiao: "Yun Juan, I don't know what to do when I get to Zaoyang?" It's not just about farming. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are countless idle fields here, the climate is mild, and the water source is abundant, so I want to grow grass and cotton extensively. Tangzhou has been planting cotton for two years this year, and the seeds are widely available, and it has also explored ways to grow cotton in this area. Grass cotton is far better than stored hemp, not only light and strong, but also far more than the yield. Not to mention that the price is now far higher than that of linen, and the scarcity is expensive, and the fine cloth is even more expensive than silk. ”

Xiang Zongjue groaned: "Grass cotton? Can it be planted here in Suizhou? ”

"Of course you can. Grass and cotton are a thing that likes warm places, and there is no shortage of water, isn't it suitable for here? ”

Xiang Zongdao: "I only heard that grass cotton is produced in the Western Regions and kapok is produced in Lingnan, but I don't know what it looks like and what its habits are. If grass and cotton can be widely planted, it is a way for local development. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Another point, grass cotton and rice and wheat rotation, no disease, many benefits. Moreover, it can be staggered with rice and wheat when the farm is busy, which is the most convenient place for this vast and sparsely populated place. There are a lot of plants in this area, and if you build a factory, you will have everything. ”

Ouyang Xiu said with a smile: "No matter where you go, you have to build a factory. Although it is profitable to build a factory, it uses too many people, and it is only afraid of abandoning the fields. ”

Du Zhongxiao looked at Ouyang Xiu and said with a smile: "Long Tu, if you don't build a factory, how can the iron supervisor make so many farm tools?" With those farm tools, a husband used to only plant 50 acres, but now what is the difficulty of 100 acres? What is the foundation of agriculture and what is the end cannot be simply discussed. If there is a shortage of food and clothing, the people should naturally be persuaded to farm. But now, in terms of the world, how many places are there that are really short of food? If there is no catastrophe, most of them will be abundant. It is nothing more than that there are many garrisons and officials in Kaifeng Prefecture, and they need to be transferred from other places. There are also three roads along the border, because of the border defense, food is needed. Therefore, what is lacking in the world is not money and grain, but a way to facilitate the transportation of money and grain. ”

Xiang Zongdao: "We want to build a railway." When the railroad is repaired, the world will transfer grain, so why worry about not being abundant. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Now there are many places in the world with surplus grain, one is Jianghuai and Zhejiang, so Bianshui and Caoyun are the lifeblood of the capital." There is another place, which is the area of Yizhou. It has been a country of abundance since ancient times, with a large population, fertile land, and abundant money and food. ”

Ouyang Xiudao: "If the railway can be repaired to Yizhou, it will be amazing!" ”

Du Zhongxiao laughed when he heard this: "How is it possible! The difficulty of the Shu Road is difficult to go to the blue sky, and the power of the world cannot be repaired there. Nevertheless, it is much more convenient to lay a railway in a suitable place for road construction. ”

How can the technology of this era pave the railway into Sichuan, this is simply impossible. It is very rare to be able to pave to Xiangzhou and communicate with the Sichuan Basin with the help of the Han River and the Yangtze River.

Leaving this topic aside, Du Zhongxiao said: "The most important thing now is to build the railway to Xiangzhou." As long as you get there, the north side is connected to Kaifeng Mansion, and it becomes a trunk road. Don't just look at Xiangzhou, this road connects the Han River, the Huai River, the Ru River, and connects the Bianhe River to Kaifeng Prefecture, and the water and land radiate to the whole country. Where this road is close, the future is bright. Zaoyang has muddy water to Xiangzhou, which is also convenient, which is incomparable to Suizhou. That's why the camp is here. ”

Even if the railway was built, water transportation was still important in this era, especially for grain and other comprehensive materials. The biggest role of the railway is to connect many lines of communication, thus forming a transportation network. As for what will happen in the future, it is not something that Du Zhongxiao considers.

In the spring of this year, the Khitan attacked the party in a big way, and the two countries were still fighting fiercely. The army of the Song Dynasty was tired, there was a shortage of food on the border, and there was no fighting spirit up and down, so they just sat on the mountain and watched the tiger fight. The fact that this kind of great opportunity was missed shows the weakness of the military. At this time, either attack the party with the Khitan and share the benefits, or increase troops in Yanbian to contain the Khitan, how can there be any reason to sit idly by.

At the same time, Quang Nam Nong Chi Gao broke with Jiaozhi. Last year, Jiaozhi sent troops to recruit and returned. Nong Zhigao took advantage of the victory to integrate the surrounding forces and slowly grew bigger, which has already exposed his ambition to attack the Song Dynasty in the north.

The Khitan and party wars in the north, and Nong Zhigao in the south are ready to go, which is exactly the situation where chaos is about to start. According to Du Zhongxiao's memory, this is the last chance to fight for feats, and it must not be missed.

In the end, it is the establishment of the Xiang Army, how is it also the army, last year the camp was built as an iron supervisor, and the next two years will be the training. Once you have an opportunity, you can make meritorious contributions with soldiers in your hands.

The focus of the camp shifted to the area around Suizhou in Xiangzhou, and instead of turning the army into a civilian citizen, it was in the form of a military cantonment, while clearing the wasteland and training the troops. It is not as good as Ruzhou in Tangzhou, close to Jinghu Lake, although there are no big battles, there are a lot of small chaos, and it can barely train troops. When the opportunity comes, you can make a difference.

。 vertex