The Xicheng Canal runs from Jiangyin in the north to Wuxi in the south and connects to Taihu Lake in the south.This canal was excavated from the Song Dynasty, but after the Song Dynasty, commerce shrank, and ships took the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, from Zhenjiang to the Yangtze River, and few ships took the Xicheng Canal.At this time, both sides of the Xicheng Canal are very lively.In that year, the Northern Song Dynasty lost the sixteen states of Yanyun and the northern barrier, in order to resist the Liao iron cavalry, they dug a canal in Hebei and built a water Great Wall to prevent the Liao cavalry from breaking through into Hebei.This water Great Wall, to a certain extent, played a role in defending the Liao State from the south, but there is also a flaw, because the north is cold in winter, the canal will freeze, so every winter, the northern cavalry can easily collapse the water Great Wall, drive straight in, straight to Kaifeng.At this time, as the Qing army gathered in Jinling, the balance of power in Jiangnan changed.Zhu Yihai and Zhao Ming successively went on the defensive and began to build fortifications to prevent the Qing army from launching a counterattack.At this time, Zhu Yihai built Huanghua Pass in Qianqiuling, Tianmu Mountain, west of Hangzhou, near Lingshan in the northwest of Hangzhou, repaired Kuling Pass, stationed heavy troops in Wukang and Deqing, and urged Huaxing Artillery Casting Company to speed up the completion of thousands of flintlock pistols purchased by the Zhejiang army to deal with the possible counterattack of the Qing army.Zhu Yihai's Zhejiang, facing the threat of the Qing army, and the land east of Hudong occupied by Zhao Ming was the same.Wujin County can only be used as a stronghold, so that the Qing army does not dare to rush to the east of the lake, but it cannot completely block the Qing cavalry.In order to prevent the Qing army from encircling and advancing and the cavalry from breaking into the Susongchang area to plunder and destroy, Zhao Ming immediately decided to widen the Xicheng Canal and dig a water Great Wall to block the Qing army in the west of Taihu Lake.Soon after the end of the Battle of Wujin, Zhao Ming asked people to post notices, recruit young people, recruit people, and widen the canal.Originally, the people of Hudong thought that after the notice came out, they would have to wait for a year and a half to start construction, who knows, the notice was issued in the same month, there were thousands of people and troops, on the side of the canal to build a camp, and then saw the craftsmen began to survey, at the end of the month, the river was planted all over the red flag, lit firecrackers, beat gongs and drums.This made the gentry and people of Susong a little surprised, the efficiency of Donghai Town.Because Zhao Ming asked the Propaganda Department to carry out propaganda mobilization and inform the people that the Xicheng Canal can not only connect the Yangtze River and Taihu Lake, making the line as rich as Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, but also to prevent the Qing army from raiding and blocking the Qing cavalry to the west of the canal.This propaganda worked, and the government paid the people to work, so that the people actively participated in the widening of the canal.In addition, because Zhao Ming issued the order of "Returning to the Crown", forcing the people in the territory to cut their braids and burn their full clothes and hats, the Jiangdong gentry were afraid that they would retaliate against them after the Qing army came back, so the gentry enthusiastically contributed funds, and the elders of the clans also took the initiative to come forward and ask the young and strong people of all ethnic groups to come to help widen the canal.By the end of March, both sides of the canal were already in full swing, and they could be seen every day, and senior officials from Donghai Town came to inspect and urge the progress of the project.At noon on this day, most of the men and soldiers on the construction site were resting, waiting for a nap of two quarters of an hour before starting work.Zhao Ming was very sympathetic to the recruited people, did not pay the wages urgently, and also stipulated that he must rest for two quarters of an hour after lunch and dinner every day, and could not work for more than five hours a day, and strictly prohibited beating and scolding the people, but for those who cheated and cheated, they could deduct their wages, expel them from the camp, and hand over a sum of service money.The people deeply feel Zhao Ming's kindness, are working hard, the project started only in March, the widened river channel has been almost dug up, it will not be long before the old road is intercepted, after cleaning up the silt, the project can be completed.At this time, he ran over from the east and rode a few horses, went to the riverside construction site and grabbed the reins, and the first person turned over and jumped off the war horse, looking at the construction site.In the busy crowd, someone immediately found out that it was Zhao Dashuai who came.After yesterday's deliberations, Zhao Ming decided to stop the expedition to Liaodong first, and after managing the land of Su Song as solid as gold, he would go north to defeat the Manchu Qing sailors and the new army of the Zhenglan Banner.But soon after the discussion ended, Zhao Ming received an urgent letter from Xie Qian.In the letter, Xie Qian told Zhao Ming that after the Qing army captured Lushun, they killed thousands of tun households, and built a water village in Lushun, trained sailors, and often crossed the strait to attack Changshan Island, where Xie Qian was stationed, and bombarded the island with naval artillery, causing heavy casualties to the defenders.In addition, the Qing army appointed Li Guohan as the governor of Shandong, and transferred the Han army to help with the blue flag, sent troops from Qingzhou, attacked Laizhou along the way, and entered the territory of Dengzhou Prefecture, and the Donghai Zhentun army could only abandon the city and retreat into the mountains, and the Qing army after occupying Dengzhou Laizhou, built water villages and forts in Yantai, Weihai and other places, obviously wanted to cooperate with Lushun Port in Liaodong to establish a defense line to block the Bohai Strait.Now, Shandong's Donghai Town Tun Army is in a very passive situation, and it urgently needs Donghai Town to send troops to support, and Zhao Ming can't get out of it now."
Dashuai!"
A group of officials hurried over.Zhao Ming didn't wear an official uniform, but just wore a regular uniform, with a mesh on his head, and he was dressed normally.At this time, his eyes were carefully looking at the construction site, and many generals and colonels behind him were also watching and discussing.At this time, Zhao Ming saw someone coming, and pointed to the canal, "Mr.
Xu, how about the canal widening?"
How long will it be before the water can be released, and will the gunboats be allowed in?
”The person who came was Xu Fuyuan, who was originally appointed and transferred by the management officials, but this right was actually in the central government, and he only had the right to help Zhao Ming's suggestion, and this time he and Zhao Ming's suggestion, the imperial court had not yet approved it, so Zhao Ming found him a new job to urge the Xicheng Canal to widen."
Returning to the great handsome, the widened river channel is almost completed.However, the old channel still needs to be cleared of silt, and the lowly government plans to start intercepting the old channel next month, draining the water, and then start dredging, which is estimated to be completed by the end of the year at the latest, when gunboats will definitely be able to pass. ”Xu Fuyuan replied cautiously.Zhao Ming frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and suddenly said, "Can the widened river be widened and deepened to ensure that the ships can pass, and then release the water to shorten the construction period." ”To intercept the old road, it also needs to be drained, and the silt is not easy to clean, which must be time-consuming.Now Zhao Ming desperately hopes that the project can be completed as soon as possible, so that he can draw out his troops to support Xie Qian, otherwise the results of the original northward journey will be annihilated by the Qing army one by one.Zhao Ming frowned when he saw Xu Fuyuan, although he was anxious, he also knew that the project could not be changed if it was changed, so he said: "Ben Shuai is just making a suggestion, if it can't be changed and the effect cannot be achieved, then forget it." ”Xu Fuyuan hurriedly hugged his fists and said: "The lowly position will let people intercept the old road now, and at the same time let people continue to widen and deepen the new road, and when the old road is successfully intercepted, the water will be drained, and the soil between the new road and the old road will be dug up, and the water can be injected."
However, in this way, the old road is muddy, and it is certainly impossible to carry large ships, so the ships can only move close to the new road. ”Zhao Ming nodded with satisfaction, "It's okay, just do it."
In addition, the excavated soil was built into a long wall on the east bank. ”On the east bank of the canal, Zhao Ming was instructing his subordinates, and on the west bank of the canal, in a forest, several Qing army scouts were also looking at both sides of the canal, carefully drawing drawings.Zhao Ming widened the Xicheng Canal, such a big project, the Qing army will naturally pay attention to it, and Mandahai sent a lot of scouts to spy on it.At this time, the Qing army scout finished drawing the drawings and was the first person, so he immediately instructed his subordinates: "You continue to monitor, I will go back and report to the prince!"
”"Wow!"
Several scouts hurriedly saluted, and the first one took a hat and quietly left the woods and headed west.On the east coast, Zhao Ming looked at the construction site and put forward his own intentions, with only one purpose, that is, to shorten the construction period.At this time, Ding Weiyue galloped over, turned over and dismounted, clasped his fists and saluted: "Handsome, Fu Shangrui has arrived in Suzhou!"
said that there was a will to be transmitted, and asked the marshal to go back to receive the order. ”Zhao Ming frowned slightly when he heard this, and waved his hand: "Recognize people and entertain people, and Ben Shuai will come back in two days." ”(Thank you for your support, ask for a monthly pass, recommend, subscribe) ()