Chapter 350: The Sheepskin Raft

Zhou Yanru quickly washed his face, although he washed away the sleepiness, the indentations on his face were still there, which made people look a little funny.

"Master Xu, what kind of good thing is it? Did His Majesty send troops or silver? "The two things that Zhou Yanru is looking forward to the most now, one is to have more rescuers, and the other is more silver, only these two things, Zhou Yanru feels at ease.

"Hehe, jade rope, not these things, it is great news, but it was sent by Shi Kefa of Fugu County, he said in the letter, make a sheepskin raft with sheepskin, so, drift down the Yellow River, down the river, even if it is Fugu County, as long as a few days can go out of Shaanxi ......, after sending people to the sheepskin raft to put away, with a carriage, or a mule and horse to send the sheepskin raft upstream, you can continue to drift, in this way, the transfer of the victims, far more than shipbuilding, can quickly transport the victims out of Shaanxi...... Jade rope see for yourself. Xu Guangqi smiled, according to the statement mentioned in Shi Kefa's letter, he had two or three thousand sheep to make rafts for a disaster victim in Fugu County, and he could transfer all the victims out within 20 days, which made Xu Guangqi, who had been worried about transporting the victims, his eyes brighten, and his vision suddenly brightened.

"Really?" Zhou Yanru was surprised, then took the letter handed over by Xu Guangqi, and read it carefully, the more he looked at it, the more frightened he became, this method of transporting people on a sheepskin raft is indeed much more convenient and feasible than shipbuilding. Zhou Yanru read the letter and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Master Xu, if you follow what is said in this letter, make a raft out of livestock skins, and transport people on a raft, this is simply whimsical, if this matter is done, Shi Kefa should be the first to remember, it can be regarded as a solution to the big problem of immigration......" Zhou Yanru exclaimed, with some appreciation, some envy, a little jealousy, a trace of appreciation, Shi Kefa is also a member of the Donglin Party, Zuo Guangdou's apprentice, and he belongs to "a party", or the reserve of their Donglin Party, Zhou Yanru did not stand on the side of opposition in this matter, It's in favor. [The history of the raft is quite long, thousands of years old. 】

"Yes, yes, the jade rope is right, as soon as this law comes out, it is no longer difficult to transfer the victims, the only problem is to have enough livestock, just a Fugu County, it needs two or three thousand livestock, Shi Kefa said in the letter that he needs to buy more than two thousand new sheep, and hopes that we will allocate more than five thousand taels, one to solve the problem of transportation tools, and the other to solve part of the problem of food......" Although Xu Guangqi was talking about the problem, the smile on his face was still there, quite relaxed.

"Master Xu, this silver is a lot, a county is 5,000 taels, this Shaanxi, more than 80 states and counties, even if you can't sail in addition to some states and counties, I'm afraid that there are still 50 states and counties, just according to 50 states and counties, this is 250,000 taels of silver, if you want to transfer it quickly, you have to pay 400,000 taels of silver, this is a huge amount of money......" Zhou Yanru calculated an account slightly, and felt that he couldn't bear it, 500,000 taels of silver to buy livestock, this cost is too big, and the court will definitely not agree.

However, Zhou Yanru also thought of a person, a person who spends money lavishly, that is, the emperor, and then said: "Master Xu, otherwise, talk to Your Majesty, maybe Your Majesty will agree." "The emperor will get money, and he is willing to spend money, which is unanimously agreed by the government and the opposition. No, Xu Guangqi came out for disaster relief, and there were as many as 10 million taels of silver available for mobilization. This is simply a credit to Xu Guangqi, which makes many people look very red, but there is no way to blush, with so much money, the emperor must use his own people, who is the emperor's own people? That's the Imperial Party, this Xu Guangqi is one of the best figures in the Imperial Party, who doesn't need him to use?

Xu Guangqi thought for a moment and said, "Well, this matter really has to be reported to Your Majesty as soon as possible, and let Your Majesty transfer the money over, well, this will be written to Your Majesty." Xu Guangqi thought about it for a while and decided to implement it immediately.

"Master Xu, however, I still think, should we first find some old craftsmen to ask, to see if this sheepskin raft is reliable or not, if there is a problem, wouldn't we be bullying?" Zhou Yanru is in favor of this matter, but he is still more cautious, although Shi Kefa is also a member of his Donglin Party, and he is a reserve army, but this kind of thing has to be careful, such a big thing, once something goes wrong, it is not as simple as ruining his future. ,

Xu Guangqi listened, thought for a while, and said: "There is no need to be afraid of the jade rope, I still trust Shi Kefa, Shi Ke Master is from Zuo Guangdou, he is a person who values faith and righteousness, and his words should be reliable, and he should not deceive the old man's ......, so that the old man will write first, Jade Rope, you send people to post some notices everywhere, just say that Si Nong Si is urgently recruiting some craftsmen who can make leather rafts, and there is a heavy reward, well, by the way, it is best to ask Lord Bi's governor Yamen to help, once this leather raft saves people is reliable, It's good that Fan Jiu's side immediately notifies the local governments and recruits craftsmen who can make leather rafts, and our agricultural department will use the money to buy livestock in various counties, and immediately start making leather rafts, and push this matter away as soon as possible, and it is best to smoothly transport all the victims away before October this year......" Xu Guangqi laid it out in one breath.

"Okay, Master Xu, then the jade rope will be done, by the way, Master Xu, do you want to give Shi Kefa's silver? How to reply to him? He also said in the letter that there was not enough food and hoped to help the victims he sent down downstream......" Zhou Yanru reminded.

Xu Guangqi patted his forehead and laughed at himself: "I almost forgot about this, and immediately replied to Shi Kefa, saying that the old man completely agreed with his method, five thousand taels, no, six thousand taels of silver, send someone to send it immediately, and the old man will also arrange for someone to send the food ......as much as possible, so that he can rest assured." Xu Guangqi was also generous, in a good mood, not five thousand taels, but six thousand taels, plus one thousand taels of silver, in the past, Xu Guangqi was not so lavish, but today is obviously different, with this good method, naturally have to be generous, which can be regarded as a reward for Shi Kefa for providing this idea.

Xu Guangqi is quite happy, according to Shi Kefa's method, it only takes more than ten days to transfer a large number of disaster victims in Fugu County, if you look at the whole of Shaanxi, transport all the disaster victims away, transport them out of Shaanxi, and transport them to Henan, two months should be enough, the disaster victims arrive in Henan, he is not afraid, Henan sailing, there is no problem, the consumption is not large, a large amount of grain can be transferred from the south more conveniently, even if the disaster victims eat for a year, he can afford it, the emperor prepared 10 million taels of silver for him. Now it's only the end of July, and it's two months to the end of September, so there's no problem at all, even if it's October, there are still twenty years to transport millions of victims.

……

In Xi'an, chickens and dogs jumped, and the officials searched everywhere for craftsmen who could make sheepskin rafts. In the frightened eyes of the people, finally a lot of "raft craftsmen" were collected, and then stuffed into the carriage, towards the Yamen of the Si Nong Division, this is the strict order of the governor of the master, as soon as possible, as soon as possible, must be absolutely as soon as possible to find a group of leather raft craftsmen to be sent to the Si Nong Division for use. Fortunately, Xi'an Mansion is also located on the riverside, and there are also many craftsmen who make leather rafts. [There should be more rafts in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and when they reach Weishui and the middle reaches of the Yellow River, it is difficult to say, I am not sure, but here, there are more rafts in the local area. 】

Zhou Yanru had just entered the Yamen of the Si Nong Division with his front foot, and before he could rest for a while, the back foot officials sent the craftsman who could make a raft over, and the speed could be described as fast.

Under Zhou Yanru's astonished gaze, the officials sent these craftsmen and left.

This group of craftsmen sat in the living room of the Si Nong Division in horror, panicked, I don't know what the official master was doing to arrest them, I heard that they were going to the Si Nong Division, and they were a lot more relieved, at least not to go to prison, what the Si Nong Division was doing, Shaanxi people basically knew that it was the yamen of the living Bodhisattva Xu Guangqi who saved his life.

Xu Guangqi was quite happy because he got a good way to quickly transport the victims, and the smile on his face never stopped, and when he came to the living room, he saw a group of plainly dressed craftsmen who were nervous, and said with a smile: "You don't need to be impatient, this official is Xu Guangqi, the immigrant of the Si Agricultural Division, you don't need to be afraid, looking for everyone, it's not to harm everyone, but to ask for help from our Agricultural Division." Xu Guangqi explained kindly, while Zhou Yanru stood aside silently, disdainful of explaining to these inferior people, Zhou Yanru looked down on these people the most. Because of the hot weather, this group of people exuded a sour smell, and he Zhou Yanru couldn't stand it, so he found a gap and quietly walked away.

When these craftsmen heard that it was Lord Xu of the Si Nong Division, they immediately knelt down and kowtowed, this is the living Bodhisattva of Shaanxi, the living Bodhisattva of countless living people

"The grass people knock on the living Bodhisattva......" When a craftsman heard that it was Xu Guangqi, he was not afraid, his hands and feet were not shaking, he knelt down and kowtowed, and the ground was slammed, very sincere. ,

"The grass people knock to see the living bodhisattva......"

These craftsmen kowtowed to Xu Guangqi first, for no other reason, Xu Guangqi's Si Nong Si Yamen, is a special life-saving Yamen, it is said that to transport all the affected victims to the south to enclose the lake to make fields, to the south of the Yangtze River to open up the land of fish and rice, this has become a matter of word of mouth among the people, has become a matter of discussion among the people, and has become the expectations of the people at the bottom, no one can say when they will suffer a disaster, if there is a person who cares about himself when he suffers a disaster and gives himself a way to live, then, is also grateful to him, and the simple people gradually regard Xu Guangqi as a living bodhisattva.

Xu Guangqi hurriedly helped these people up, and said: "Everyone, please get up, please get up, the immigrants were sent by His Majesty, and the officials are also immigrants for His Majesty, you want to thank you, and thank Your Majesty......" Xu Guangqi hurriedly excused himself.

"The grass people thank the Holy Son of Heaven for his kindness, thank the Holy Son of Heaven......" The person who took the lead in kowtowing was not ambiguous, and immediately turned his head and kowtowed to the sky of the gate, calling the Holy Son of Heaven, extremely pious.

All the craftsmen also followed, turned around and kowtowed to the sky of the gate, in order to thank the Holy Son of Heaven, and the scene was extremely serious and pious, so that the clerks and immigration officers present were embarrassed.

Xu Guangqi looked straight at it and sighed, whoever is really good to the people, the people will be good to whom, this is not wrong

Those craftsmen kowtowed, and basically they were not nervous, since they were doing things for the Son of Heaven, it was a good thing, and they were willing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is something I want to ask you about this time, and everyone just needs to tell the truth." Xu Guangqi personally met with this group of people, just to find out and confirm the feasibility of using a raft as a boat, Xu Guangqi was born on the beach, and he had never seen a boat, but he didn't know much about the use of a raft as a boat in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.

"The living Bodhisattva just asks, the grass people must have something to say, the Holy Son of Heaven treats us people well, and we ordinary people are willing to do their best to repay the kindness of the Holy Son of Heaven." A somewhat knowledgeable craftsman said.

"Hehe, don't call the living Bodhisattva, it's better to simply call Lord Xu, hehe......, the official wants to ask, on the Yellow River, is it feasible to replace boats with rafts?" Xu Guangqi asked.

"Lord Xu, is this the thing? This is certain, since ancient times, people on both sides of the Yellow River have crossed the river with rafts, and it is definitely okay to use rafts as boats, but after all, rafts are not boat ......, it is relatively simple to float along the river, if you want to go upstream, it ......is difficult to .......

"Oh, is that so? That's good, the official asked again, how is the raft made? Xu Guangqi asked as he asked the clerk to quickly record it. As for returning to the upstream, you can take the land route and use horse-drawn carts, mules and horses to transport the raft upstream, Xu Guangqi is not very afraid of this.

"Back to Lord Xu's words, this raft is easy to make, cowhide, sheepskin can be made, we countrymen call it' Pai ', when doing it, to peel off the whole sheep, or cow skin, can not be damaged a little, this requires a little effort, and then take off the fur, blow to make the leather tire expand, and then pour some clear oil, salt, water into it, and then the head and tail of the leather tire, the limbs are trapped to dry, until the color of the leather tire to transparent yellow, the skin bag is done, and then tie a frame with ash wood, tie the finished leather tire on the wooden frame, this raft, it is done...... "This craftsman simply introduced the process.

Xu Guangqi listened carefully and asked, "How many animal tires are tied into a raft?" And how is it arranged? ”

"Back to Lord Xu's words, generally, we make rafts, are a raft tied to thirteen leather tires, four before and after, five in the middle, in this way, this raft is quite reliable, sit up, more stable than the boat, even if it is a large raft to transport goods, you can tie a lot ......of rafts together, even if it is to transport tens of thousands of catties of things, it is okay, floating down from the upstream, three or four hundred miles a day...... "This craftsman is very familiar with rafts, That's right.

"Oh, that's right, that's good, how many people can an average raft carry?" Xu Guangqi, who has a scientific spirit, is very sensitive to these delicate things and asks questions quite carefully. Traveling three or four hundred miles a day, from Fugu County to Shaanxi, it is only four or five days, Shi Kefa's statement is completely reliable. Xu Guangqi was relieved a lot. ,

"If you go back to Lord Xu, it is not a problem to carry five or six, and the river in Xi'an is quite stable, so when there are many people, it is okay to carry two more, but if it is too fast, it is better to have fewer people, so it is safer......" This craftsman really knows everything, and he has no words.

Hearing this, Xu Guangqi's brows furrowed, this is a little different from what Shi Kefa said, Shi Kefa means that a leather tire carries a person, but in fact, it should be two leather tires carrying a person, and when it is more, it is also a half-leather tire carrying a person, which is a little different than Shi Kefa's statement.

"What if you want to carry a person in a leather tire? Will it work? Xu Guangqi asked with some concern, if a leather tire cannot carry a person, then the speed of transporting the victims will be affected.

The craftsman thought for a while and said: "If you go back to Lord Xu, generally in places where the river level is gentle, a few adults and a few children, to say, a leather tire carrying a person, it is barely tried, but if it is over the rapids and rapids, it is more dangerous, once the waves are too big, it will overturn the people on the raft." The craftsman thought about it and gave the answer.

Xu Guangqi listened, his brows relaxed slightly, this problem is not very big, it is only a small problem, a leather tire can't carry a person, so increase the amount of leather tires, at most, it will cost more money.

"I see, then, how long does it generally take for a raft to go from slaughtering a sheep to making a raft?" This key issue is also Xu Guangqi's greatest concern, and he probably knows that the manufacture of some leathers generally takes a long time.

"Back to the adult's words, killing sheep and skinning, it doesn't take much effort, the key is to expose the time to the sun for a long time, generally, a good leather tire, need to be exposed to the sun for a month, can make a good leather tire, other rafts, this does not take time to ......" the raft craftsman said knowingly.

"A month?" Xu Guangqi asked in disappointment, a month was too long, and he couldn't afford to wait. How much food do the victims have to eat in a month? Then he asked, "Can't you spend less time in the sun?" "One month is just too much. He Xu Guangqi couldn't afford to wait.

The craftsman lowered his head, thought for a moment, and said, "My lord, but you want to use this raft to transport the victims?" ”

"Exactly, this official is going to use these rafts to transport the victims, the Yellow River is not easy to sail, I heard that the rafts can easily transport people, so I specially recruited you here." Xu Guangqi's face was originally smiling, but now, he is anxious again.

The raft craftsman heard that the living Bodhisattva Xu was going to use the raft to save people, and his eyebrows were also happy, and he said: "Since the adults are using the raft to save lives, the grass people don't dare to tell lies to the adults, if it is to use the raft for decades, it must be sunned for a month, but now the sun in Shaanxi is getting bigger and bigger day by day, such a big sun, it doesn't need to be basked for a month, about twenty days is enough, if the adults are just disaster relief victims, this is easy to do, and it is okay to bask for ten days, but, This kind of raft will not take long to break, it is better to use it for a long time after it has been dried...... "This craftsman heard that the raft was used to relieve the people, and immediately gave Xu Guangqi advice.

"Really?" Xu Guangqi was overjoyed again. If he had to spend a month drying the raft, he couldn't afford to wait, and it was too much of a delay, if it was only ten days, he could accept it.

"Back to the adult, this is absolutely possible, although ten days of drying is not as long as thirty days of drying, but if the adult is the disaster victim, do not need to use it for decades, it is no problem, adults do not believe it can ask other people, they are all raft ......"

When the other craftsmen heard this, they immediately chimed in.

"yes...... Leather tires, as long as they are dried, if they can be dried for a month, it is the best, now, the sun is big, it is no problem to sun for 20 days, if adults are still in a hurry, it is almost the same for 10 days......"

"Yes, on this day, I'm afraid that I don't want twenty days, half a month is enough...... it's okay to spend a few days in the sun, and I don't think it's a problem for ten days......"

……

A group of craftsmen on the question of how many days to dry the skin tire, to discuss, some say 30 days, some say 20 days, some say 15 days, anyway, the conclusion is that the sun in Shaanxi is now big, it has not rained for a few months, half a month, can withstand the previous years for a month, it is really not good, it can be used for ten days......

Xu Guangqi was happy and sighed, he didn't expect that the drought in Shaanxi would have a useful side, which could shorten the leather tires that originally needed to be dried for a month to half a ......month, and the good and bad things did not seem to be absolute.

[Book friends said that the promotion of this book was not done well, admitting that it was not done well, otaku basically did not promote this book, if you are interested and able to book friends, you can help otaku publicize it, grateful. In addition, the QQ group number: 127593523. 】