In the middle section of Dateng Gorge, Wujing City by the river, several steamships berthed beside the pier. Many coolies are transporting coal to the yard so that the ship can continue the next trip. While supervising the crew on the ship, they look at the new city in front of them.

The chaos in the past few years caused wars in the Datengxia area to be everywhere and shipping was seriously threatened. At that time, ships traveling between the north and south of Datengxia had to pass through this nearly 100-mile river valley.

The official army took a lot of effort to pacify the Dong Rebellion. During the quelling of the rebellion, Wujing, as the important place in the middle of Dateng Gorge, evolved from the most important military stronghold into a big city.

The word Wujing represents "Military Jing Rebellion", so Wujing City built on the mountain is stationed with a large number of official troops, with artillery guards in the city, and there are also official troops and water camps next to the dock by the river, with a large number of warships.

These include three steamships.

Coal from the upper reaches of Tanshui is stored in the dock coal yard to supply the needs of official warships and passing ships. However, because the amount of coal storage is not very abundant at present, there are relatively few steamships traveling to Datengxia.

This time, the fleet of steamships carrying the inspectors patrolling the Lingnan West Road returned to Guiping from Yongzhou, then entered Datengxia and went north to Yanzhou, and berthed through Wujing. They had to add coal in Wujing.

Because the upstream is strict, there are not many coal mines in Liu Erzhou area, and they are basically in a newly mined state and the coal output is insufficient. Therefore, in order to make up for the coal required by the fleet, most of the coal stored at Wujing Wharf is probably consumed.

This doesn't matter, I'm afraid I will miss the steamship that the inn was riding on.

The soldiers guarding the coal yard were discussing the amount of coal stored. Although there was a busy scene at the dock in front of them, their attention was focused on the river surface. Now that autumn is approaching, it is time for the letters from my hometown to arrive.

The postman came with letters and was in a downstream direction, so there was no need for a steamship, and it was in a downstream direction when the return journey was in a reverse direction. If the steamship was gone, it would take a little more time. For the soldiers, it would be bad to delay for several days.

The soldiers guarding Wujing came from the Tanzhou General Administration. They were far away from their hometown and had to stay in Wujing City in Dateng Gorge for more than a year. During this period, they could only contact their hometown by letters, so they were very concerned about whether the postal route was smooth.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army, the government opened postal routes to ensure that the garrison soldiers could communicate with their hometowns and alleviate their homesickness. For this reason, they did not hesitate to invest manpower and material resources to ensure that the letters were delivered every two months.

For many garrison soldiers, every two-month end is the most anticipated time. The letters from Tanzhou last month will arrive in Xunzhou through Guizhou and Liuzhou, including Wujing on the way.

The soldiers guarding Wujing read the letter, wrote a reply, and handed it over to the postman, took it back to the Tanzhou General Administration Office, and distributed it to the hometowns of each person.

Of course, the soldiers are basically illiterate, and they rely on the Chinese military clerk to read and write letters.

It was noon, and a shadow of sail appeared faintly on the upper river. The soldiers were excited, but they could not leave their posts without permission, so they asked a companion to wait at the dock.

The ships came were sailing ships, with five ships in total, but the banners they used to hold were different from those seen in the past.

"The pattern on this flag... doesn't seem to be a ship of Guiguan?"

"So what? Anyway, it's the official ship, coming from upstream, doesn't they all carry letters!"

As everyone was talking, their companions turned back from the dock and cheered from afar: "The letter has arrived, the letter has arrived!"

The good news made people happy, but some people were curious about the affiliation of these ships. When their companions returned to the coal yard, they asked, "Where did these ships come from? Why are the banners different?"

"Oh, I asked, these ships came from the South Central."

"South Central? Why did the ship from Nanzhong run here?"

......

"The ship from Nanzhong is here? The waterway is really open? It's really not easy!"

In the inn, Yuwen Weigan put down the information and looked at the assistant Liu Wenjing who came to report: "I remember that the entire survey of the waterway from the south to Lingnan was only completed at the beginning of the year, right?"

"The king said, this waterway has been recorded in the "Shui Jing Zhu" and it is only necessary to complete the entire journey, but it is not that easy."

"Where is the map? Is there a map?" Yuwen Weigan wanted to look at the map and see the dangerous and dangerous waterway that his father had mentioned, but Liu Wenjing shook his head: "King, this map exceeds the scope of the responsibilities of the envoy, and the Ministry of War did not issue it when he set out."

"Uh...well."

Seeing Yuwen Weigan waved his hand, Liu Wenjing took a leave, walked outside the gate of the inn, looked at the winding river at the foot of the mountain, and then looked at the direction of the upstream, feeling a little moved.

During the Yuan and Wei dynasties, Li Daoyuan wrote "Shui Jing Zhu" to describe the world's water system, including rivers in the southwest region (South Central, Guizhou Central, and western Lingnan), the water of the pond flowing through Dateng Gorge, and the warm water upstream of the pond water are also recorded.

However, as a northerner, Li Daoyuan had been through the southwest region in the future, so the rivers recorded in "Shui Jing Zhu" were roughly accurate in the north, and almost all the waters to the southwest were missed.

Now, as the court gradually strengthened its control over Nanzhong, Qianzhong and Lingnan West Road, the emperor tried to survey the main rivers in the water system recorded in the "Shui Jing Zhu" in order to prepare for further development of shipping in the future.

After all, with steamships, you can enter areas that are inconvenient to reach by land by water, which can strengthen the connection between Nanzhong, Guizhou and Lingnan. Although it is a long-term plan, it is always a good thing.

Among them, it is very important to connect the warm water-tan water-xunshui (Yushui Xunzhou River Section)-Xijiang Waterway that can connect the Nanning Prefecture Office and the Guangzhou Prefecture Office.

Now, in order to avoid the taboo of "Wen", Wenshui has been renamed Nanpanshui. Nanpanshui flows through the Weicheng City, Nanning Prefecture, and then flows through the old nest of the Cuan family. It winds for thousands of miles among the mountains, flowing to the southeast, and enters the Lingnan area, which is the upper reaches of the Tanshui.

If this channel is opened and coal mines are mined in suitable places along the coast, ports and coal-added stations are set up to ensure the supply of coal, then ships departing from Guangzhou Fanyu can directly reach Weicheng, Nanning, in Weicheng.

Or enter the river and go upstream to Guizhou.

vice versa.

In order to survey this waterway, the technicians sent by the court took almost ten years and through thousands of difficulties to complete the survey at the beginning of this year. It is said that the waterway is more than 4,000 miles away from Weicheng in Nanning Prefecture to Fanyu in Guangzhou.

If a steamship goes upstream and travels a hundred miles a day, it will take as long as one and a half months to complete it.

It was about a month to go down the upstream.

There is another prerequisite for this, that is, to ensure that coal can be added along the way, and that it will not be intercepted by the barbarians along the coast halfway.

This waterway is surrounded by mountains and steep mountains and steep shoals, and a large number of barbarians occupying both sides of the river, which is easy to block it. I don’t know if there are coal mine veins along the way, so Liu Wenjing feels that the waterway from Nanning Prefecture to Guangzhou is similar to a junk rib.

However, the emperor still sent someone to survey. In Liu Wenjing's view, the purpose was to create a "good" prospect.

Let the court have confidence in the long-term development of Nanzhong and Lingnan, and at least make everyone feel that one day in the future, it will be as convenient to travel between Nanning and Guangzhou as it is to go from Chang'an to Yangzhou.

But, that day will probably be decades later?

Liu Wenjing retracted her thoughts and was about to turn back to the inn, but she saw thick smoke rolling downstream of the pond.

Three steamships were heading upstream. Liu Wenjing took out a thousand-mile mirror and looked at it. After seeing the banner clearly, she couldn't help but be stunned: Is it a caravan again?

He knew that the government not only used salt benefits to buy the lords of the cave along the Dateng Gorge, but also in Yanzhou and Liuzhou upstream, but most of the salt was not given for nothing, and the other party had to exchange for specialties.
Chapter completed!