Chang'an, Prime Minister's Mansion, Prime Minister, Qi Wangyu Wenming looked at the memorials of Bin Wang Yu and Wen Wen and the thick stack of Yewan Cao Canal planning, and felt a little headache. He really couldn't understand why his younger brother liked coal so much?

Steam pumps are very magical, but their disadvantages are also obvious, that is, the cost of use is too high and is limited by the supply of coal. Therefore, it is difficult to promote steam pumps in other places except for coal-producing mines such as Daye Iron Manufacturing Institute.

Daye Ironmaking Station, which produces more than 3 million jin of iron annually, has a high profit and can afford steam pumps, so you dig coal everywhere and look for iron ore. Want to promote steam pumps?

Yu Wenming rubbed his temples, but he really couldn't understand his brother's idea: In order to make profits from the coal in the north of Yecheng and the iron in the southeast, he had to build a Yewan Cao Canal. Will this trouble stir up civil unrest?

He once served as the Grand Historical Platform of Shannan Road and knew very well about Jingxiang. Because of his military use, he also knew Ye Wandao very well. He felt that although the feasibility of Yewan canal was very high, it was actually not very urgent.

There is no need at all.

The capital is in Chang'an. Even if the grain from Jingxiang is entered into the capital, it is still going to the Wuguan Road in the northwest. It is impossible to go to the Yewan Road in the northeast and then enter Guanzhong through Luoyang.

Although the cost of transporting Jingxiang grain through Wuguan Road is not low, the cost of traveling around Luoyang to Guanzhong is also not low. Therefore, even if the Yewan Cao Canal needs to be repaired, there is no need to repair it in the near future.

Not to mention that there have been constant wars in the past decade, the people of Jingzhou and Yuzhou need to rest and recuperate. It is indeed inappropriate to recruit people to serve labor in order to build the Yewan Cao Canal.

Yu Wenming could think of this problem, and Yu Wenwen, who suggested building the Yewan Cao Canal, also realized it, and gave a solution to this point in the memorial. Yu Wenwen believed that if possible, if the Yewan Cao Canal starts construction as soon as possible, it would bring rich benefits as soon as possible.

What are the returns?

Rapid promotion of steam pumps.

The topic turned to the steam pump. Yu Wenwen's plan made Yu Wenming incredible, that is, Yu Wenwen wanted to promote the use of steam pumps in Jingzhou and Yuzhou.

If so, a large amount of relatively cheap coal must be provided, a large coal mine is needed as the basis, and convenient transportation conditions (water transportation), otherwise everything will be empty talk.

The coal mines that are now being tried to mine in Pingding Mountain in the northern suburbs of Yecheng are said to have amazing reserves, and the coal mined can be easily transported to Xuanhu, Yuzhou, and the Rushui coastal areas by boat.

With relatively cheap coal, the use of steam pumps may be promoted, so it will be very beneficial to control floods in the Rushui coastal areas and build water conservancy facilities to irrigate more farmland.

Similarly, the Huaixi region downstream of Yuzhou and the Zhengzhou region upstream of Yuzhou can be promoted by obtaining relatively cheap coal from Pingdingshan.

However, the Jingzhou area west of Ye County cannot promote steam pumps because of the high cost of land transportation of coal.

If there is Yewan Cao Canal, the Fangcheng Pass, which is like a threshold, will no longer be an obstacle. Use canal ships to transport coal to the west, and cheap coal can be obtained in Jingzhou and even in Xiangzhou.

Then, with the help of steam pumps, existing water conservancy facilities in Jingxiang area can more effectively control floods, store water in the rainy season, release water in the dry season, irrigate more farmland, and achieve increased production and income.

In short, Yuwen Wen's plan took the opportunity of building the Yewan Cao Canal to stimulate the mining of Pingdingshan Coal Mine and at the same time stimulated the mining of Wuyang Iron Mine, so as to achieve a "coal-iron consortium" like the Daye Iron Manufacturing Institute.

Daye Ironmaking Institute provides sufficient and cheap coal and iron to benefit the surrounding areas. A large number of iron farm tools can help the people clear up land, and the promotion of steam pumps has made existing water conservancy facilities more wings and irrigated more farmland.

The Pingdingshan Coal Mine and Wuyang Iron Mine are only more than a hundred miles away from each other, and are centered on Yecheng at the eastern end of Yewandao. If it can be used, then the future increase in production and income in Jingxiang and Yuzhou will not be a daydream.

At the same time, if the Yewan canal is repaired, it means that Yewandao's transportation capacity will be greatly enhanced. At that time, whether in the Henan area in the east or the Jingxiang area in the west, if a famine occurs, the grain on the other side will be easily transported to emergency rescue.

This is also the main function of Yewan Cao Canal.

As the ruling Yu Wenming, of course, was attracted by this beautiful prospect, but the question was how to achieve the excavation of Yewan Cao Canal and the large-scale mining of Pingdingshan Coal Mine and Wuyang Iron Mine while maintaining the people's livelihood?

Thinking of this, Yu Wenming sighed, picked up his brother's memorial and looked at it again.

If you want to avoid large-scale labor levies due to people's livelihood, then hire workers to dig the Yewan Cao Canal and use hire workers to expand the mining of coal and iron ore. In other words, the government spends money and grain to hire people, and does not need to recruit people to serve labor.

So where does the money and grain hired by the government come from? Such a grand project costs not a small amount. The court has to spend money everywhere, and there is not so much spare money to build a canal that is not urgently needed.

The solution Yuwen Wen gave is to think about salt profit.

In other words, the successful experience of the Guangzhou General Administration using "Kaizhongfa" to build the plank road in the Zhenyangxia canal can now be learned from the construction of Yewan Cao Canal.

When the people's power was not abused as much as possible, the government used Hedong salt profit to exchange for the enthusiastic "investment" among the people in order to obtain a large amount of grain and hired young men to complete the construction of the Yewan Cao Canal.

At the same time, the expansion of Pingdingshan Coal Mine and Wuyang Iron Mine was completed.

Such a complex operation has high requirements for administration, and Yu Wenming is not very optimistic about this, but Yu Wenwen has given a new solution, that is, to establish the "Yewan Transportation Department" and implement a full responsibility system.

The Yewan Transportation Department has one transfer envoy and several deputy envoys. They are first responsible for the construction of the Yewan Grain Canal. After it is completed, they are responsible for the operation of the Yewan Grain Canal.

If the Chinese law is implemented, the Transport Department must also be in charge of specific affairs, and the responsibilities must be clearly distinguished. If there are any mistakes, the Transport and Deputy Envoy cannot escape.

A smelting and coal mining agency similar to the Daye Iron Manufacturing Institute was established to be responsible for mining Pingdingshan Coal Mine and Wuyang Iron Mine, connecting it with railways, and using the "coke ironmaking process" of the Daye Iron Manufacturing Institute to significantly increase iron production.

Then, a large amount of coal and iron products were sold, using part of the profit and the toll collected by the canal to maintain the operation of the canal.

This plan is a bit complicated to implement, but it has a lesson in success, which made Yu Wenming quite moved. However, he still finds it difficult to understand why Yu Wen Wen is so persistent in pursuing coal.

If Yuwen Wen really did what he did, the court would have to set up a new official office and official position. Will it lead to a large number of redundant staff in the future?

When Yu Wenming thought of this, he thought of the exams that were about to start at the same time in various places.

Redundant staff? If you keep going like this, it seems that there are not enough officials...

A knock on the door came, and the assistant officer reported outside the door that the person had arrived. Yu Wenming put away his thoughts and replied, "Let them come in."

Yuwen Wen's attention is now focused on inexplicable things, which is good for Yu Wenming. It is a good opportunity for him to focus his younger brother on somewhere so that he can make that decision.
Chapter completed!