How could Chongzhen not know the drought in the north? The governors from Shanxi and Shaanxi sent a memorial half a month ago to inform the situation there.

Fortunately, I harvested potatoes and sweet potatoes for a season. Even if the situation was bad, it would definitely not be as hungry as those of the previous years.

Liu Hongjian asked about the canal that had been built for more than half a year, and Chongzhen summoned Fan Jingwen, the Minister of Works.

The experience of the former prime minister made Fan Jingwen more cautious and waited for Chongzhen to ask about politics.

"Reported to the emperor, I am ordered to supervise the construction of a canal in the north. Now a section of Yanghe River west of Shuntian Prefecture has been opened to water, benefiting Shenjingbao, Shaling, Jiajiaying and other towns.

The canals in Shanxi, Shandong, Shaanxi and Henan are still under construction. It is expected that Shanxi and Shaanxi will need two months to open up water at the earliest, two and a half months, and the Henan... will also be until late November at the earliest."

Fan Jingwen paused for a moment when he said this and lowered his head.

"Hmph, I want to give money to the money and people. More than half a year has passed, why do I have to wait for another three months? If you ask me to wait for three months, what will the people do? Cough cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough-cough

Chongzhen was so angry that he started coughing again.

No wonder Chongzhen got angry. If he really suffered another three months of severe drought, he would probably have no harvest this year.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty! I am willing to receive the punishment!" Fan Jingwen was furious when he saw Chongzhen, and immediately fell to apologize.

The court had its own money. In order to deal with the likely severe drought in the north for several consecutive years, Chongzhen built a canal more than half a year ago.

Over the past six months, the Ministry of Works has supervised the four places to recruit more than 2 million people to strengthen their lives. Even more than 100,000 prisoners from Zuo Liangyu's bandit army were taken to become strong men, and the money cost more than 14 million taels.

In the end, he only had the water on the west side of Shuntian Prefecture. Even though Fan Jingwen had difficulties in his heart, he was not embarrassed to say it.

"Your Majesty, please calm your breath, please calm your breath. I have said that you have been so many times. Don't be angry all the time. Your body will never be tossed again." Liu Hongjian stood up and patted Chongzhen on the back.

A few words made the corners of his mouth twitch when Fan Jingwen, the Minister of Works, said that there were tens of thousands of court officials in the world. Who dared to scold the emperor in front of him? He even went to beat the emperor, so he was desperate?

Only the prince of Anguo dared to do this. Alas, why don’t we have such a good life? Fan Jingwen knelt on the ground and didn’t dare to breathe.

"Mr. Fan, isn't this king telling you that you only report the consequences without explaining the reason? Are you asking for trouble yourself?

Tell the emperor quickly, why is the cause of the slow progress of the canal supervision?” Liu Hongjian saw that Chongzhen no longer coughed but had a gloomy face and did not speak, and immediately signaled to Fan Jingwen, thinking that this guy was really inconsistent with the truth.

"Your Majesty, most of the canals in the four northern provinces have entered the final stage, but... the construction of these last few steps is very difficult..." Chongzhen did not speak, and Fan Jingwen did not dare to get up, just kneeled on the ground to explain the reason.

It turns out that the most difficult thing in building a canal is not the canal itself. After all, there were no other things in the ancients, but there were many people working. In order to get a full meal, people in many places were willing to work hard even if they didn’t have wages.

The biggest difficulty of a canal is the junction between the canal and the river channel. There was no reinforced concrete from later generations in ancient times, and the risk of building a dam was extremely high. If it was not properly operated, it would likely cause floods.

The Yanghe River on the west side of Shuntian Prefecture is not bad, with a small runoff. It can be handled by more people, but it is not so easy to deal with in the other three places.

The Fen River and Yi River in the mountains are all big rivers, and the Wei River and Han River in Shaanxi are also quite flowing, and the terrain is complex and mountainous.

And the rivers and mountains are even more difficult. The Fen River and Wei River are both the sons of this river. The Yellow River passes through the center of these two provinces!

The Yellow River at this time is not a mother-like river praised by later generations. If the people in the mountains and mountains have no name for the Yellow River, they will probably be called the King of Hell River and the River of Life.

The Yellow River has a lot of silt and sand, which accumulates in the riverbed year after year. In order to prevent floods, prefectures and counties around the Yellow River have to repair the embankments upwards almost every year.

The Yellow River River bed is getting higher and higher, but the stability of the embankment will become worse and worse. Once a heavy rainstorm occurs, a yellow dragon will sway its tail and millions of people will be poisoned.

Later generations said:

The rolling Yellow River flows eastward, the waves wash away all the fields, and the work is empty after a year, but the Yellow River is still there, and it is swinging its tail several times.

This is obvious.

After listening to Fan Jingwen's explanation, Liu Hongjian roughly understood the real difficulty of the canal, dam entrance!

As long as the construction of the dam entrance can be solved, the canal can benefit the people as soon as possible.

Liu Hongjian is not a person who waits for death. God doesn’t give him face, so he will earn it himself.

But how can we make the dam mouth stable? Reinforced concrete? This thing doesn't have it.

Wait? No? I can make it!

Liu Hongjian slapped his head. It was really smart but was mistaken for intelligence. I was not fighting alone when I came to the Ming Dynasty, not alone!

Thinking of this, Liu Hongjian, regardless of Chongzhen and Fan Jingwen were by his side, immediately took out a book from his waist like a magic trick - "Basics of Heavy Industry".

Under the surprised eyes of the two, they began to turn the pages of the book, page 27, the production process of cement!

"Finished! Your Majesty, I have found a way to deal with it!" Liu Hongjian was overjoyed.

No wonder cement manufacturing is so high in the book, the heavy industry foundation, cement is the foundation among the foundation.

Chongzhen and Fan Jingwen looked surprised and thought to himself that this man was crazy about being crazy. You can find a way to build a dam by just flipping through a book. What would it take to do so many Hanlins?

There are thousands of scholars all over the world, and no minister in the court reads all the books. If there are good ways to deal with the books, how could those skilled craftsmen in the Ministry of Works not know?

"Your Majesty, as long as you develop this object, the problem of dam is no problem!" Liu Hongjian was stunned when he saw the two of them, and then said confidently.

"What book is this? Can you trust even if you have typos?" Chongzhen took the book and saw that he wrote two of them incorrectly in seven words of the cement production process. This thing can be believed. I believe you, it's a joke!

"Special, designated, designated, designated, and you will show me when I don't believe me. When I go back, I will show you. I am leaving. I want to do black technology!" Liu Hongjian discovered the new world, so he didn't even bother to explain the great use of cement to an uncle and an uncle.

Facts are better than words, and everything will be clear when it is done.

It was not only the dam that made Liu Hongjian so excited. If this thing was made, plus the steel from the steel workshop, the steel bars could also be solved.

Wouldn't that mean that I no longer have to live in a wooden house?

In the past, I always felt that the steel jungle in later generations was depressing, but in the Ming Dynasty, there were all wooden houses everywhere. At first, I felt that it was simple and elegant, and I felt bored as I looked at it.

Because of load-bearing problems, wooden houses cannot be built too high. They are all woody and are extremely easy to cause fires. Once a fire occurs, they often burn a street.

The reason is very simple. The whole street is full of wood. When the wind blows, it’s just a fire dragon dancing wildly!

I want to build the highest house in the Ming Dynasty and become a real estate tycoon. I want to build ten of him, and no more than one hundred properties can earn 100 million.
Chapter completed!