During the Later Han Dynasty, Yu Xu, who strongly opposed General Deng Zhao's proposal to abandon Liangzhou, served as the governor of Wudu to resist the Qiang people.

He personally presided over the water transportation project of Qishan Road.

This project started in Ju County and ended in Xiabian. It involved burning stones and wood for dozens of miles and opening a canal channel. Eventually, water transportation was facilitated and more than 40 million yuan was saved every year.

The entire Wudu also benefited from this. From about 10,000 households, the number of residents increased to 40,000 in two or three years.

When the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty led the Northern Expedition to Longyou, he personally surveyed a circle of places once governed by Yu Xu.

Then he wrote a letter to the little fat man, the Emperor of Han Dynasty:

Five hundred miles from Qishan to Ju County, there are tens of thousands of households. Looking at the hills and ruins, I believe it is Yin.

This means that in the five hundred miles from Qishan to Ju County, there are tens of thousands of households. Just by looking at the graves along the way, I can tell how wealthy they were back then.

After the Han Dynasty acquired Longyou, the Han Dynasty wanted to strengthen the connection between Longyou and Hanzhong, and the Xinghan Society wanted to increase the transportation volume to Longyou.

The two hit it off immediately. Xinghan would provide technology, food and money, and the Han would provide people. They vigorously developed and maintained the Qishan Road, while at the same time widening the waterway and clearing the blockages.

Because of the professional team like Nanxiang Engineering Team, the quality and speed of construction have improved greatly compared to Yu Xu's time.

Over the years, the road surface of Qishan Mountain has not only become much wider, but also much smoother, and the ships plying the waterway have become increasingly busy.

Along the entire Qishan Road, not only enough post offices have been built, but there are even many guesthouses to provide food and accommodation for business travelers.

According to the usual practice in previous years, the Qishan Road from Hanzhong to Longyou will not start to get busy until March.

But this year there are some exceptions. It has only entered February, and the number of transport horse teams on Qishan Road has already begun to increase.

The bells on the Yunnan horses’ necks kept jingling, echoing melodiously on the Qishan Road.

The end of Qishan Road is Qishan Mountain.

The Qishan Mountains are located on the north side of the West Han River, overlooking the West Han River, stretching for more than 60 miles, with beautiful mountains and towering peaks, controlling the throat of Shu and Longyou.

There is Lucheng City, wooden gate roads and other dangerous places here.

The Western Han River passes through the Qinling Mountains in Wudu County, where it leaves the mountains and enters the plains.

This location was named Kawakou in later generations, which means the exit for Sichuan people.

At this pass, a mountain of earth stands abruptly, as if flying in mid-air, which is particularly eye-catching. This is Qishan Fort.

On the top of the mountain directly opposite Qishan Fort, there are various forts built using the Qishan Mountains, forming an angle with Qishan Fort.

Exiting Kawakou is Xi County.

It can be said that if the army comes from Hanzhong, Qishan Fort not only has a favorable location, but also has the support of the people and people in Xi County.

If not for the surprise during the first Northern Expedition and the support of the engineering battalion under King Feng Gui, Qishan Fort would not have been a problem at all.

This is also one of the reasons why Old Demon Zhuge has been lingering in Xi County during the Battle of Longyou.

Xixian County can not only support the army heading north, but can also turn back at any time via Qishan Fort to support Wudu to prevent the Wei army from entering Wudu via the old route from Sanguan and cutting off the retreat of the Northern Expedition army.

Although the water volume of the Western Han River in February is not too large, it is enough for boating.

Li Ming stood on the bow of the boat, looking at the Qishan Fort two hundred steps away, like a crouching tiger, eyeing the Western Han River and the Qishan Road.

Although he knew that the people watching from Qishan Fort were Han soldiers, Li Ming still felt a heavy sense of depression in his heart.

Another person walked out of the cabin, it was Ma Tian who he had met in Hanzhong.

He stood behind Li Ming and said with emotion: "What a dangerous place!"

Li Ming looked at the hilltop opposite Qishan Fort without looking back and said:

"I don't know how the prime minister conquered such a dangerous place when he went to Long?"

"I heard that at that time, the Wei thieves had no idea that the Prime Minister would lead the army northward. In addition, Governor Feng was well prepared, so they captured it."

Governor Feng?

Li Ming was silent.

Along the way, I heard too much news about Governor Feng.

More news than I had heard in previous years.

Because as the bottom floor of the Li family's big house, he didn't need to worry so much before.

What's more, King Feng Gui didn't bother much at all in the plains of Shu.

What he was tossing was Hanzhong, Nanzhong, Yuexun, Longyou, Liangzhou...

Li Ming, who had been staying in a rural manor in Guanghan County, naturally received information from King Feng Gui, which was filtered layer by layer.

It wasn't until he walked out of the Li family's manor that he understood what the title "Feng Jishi" meant.

Perhaps it was when we reached the pass that we started to slow down. Looking ahead, we saw that all the boats were in the water.

Even the Qishan Road land road next to it was really lively with people neighing and horses screaming.

"Boatman, how long will it take for this to pass?"

Martin is a man who can relax his figure. Along the way, he squatted on the bow of the boat several times and chatted with the boatmen.

The boatman was a wrinkled man from Badong County. I heard that the late emperor even transported grain to the army when he conquered Wu.

Later, the late emperor was defeated, the boatmen lost their jobs, and the whole family almost couldn't survive.

Fortunately, there were contacts between the Han Dynasty and Wu State again, so in the end, he did not sell his whole family to the rich manor.

Later, Wu State transported coarse sugar to the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty transported woolen materials to the Wu State. There were more and more exchanges, and the life of the boatmen also improved.

Originally, he wanted to give the boat to his son to take charge of, but he didn't know that after Xinghan learned that his boating skills were good, he offered him a big price that he couldn't refuse, so that he could sail the boat again.

But this time, he was not sailing his own ship, but the ship of the Xinghan Society.

And it is no longer from Badong County to Jingzhou, but to and from the Western Han River.

In the past few years, he not only worked with others to explore the waterways of the Western Han River, but also sometimes tested new ships.

I heard that this new ship was made by the Prime Minister himself and was called a stray horse, but I don’t know if that’s true.

As for what I do most on weekdays, I take some novices and teach them how to sail in rapids.

He was a little tired, but by the end of the year, the money and food he had received in one year could compare to what he had earned in the previous six or seven years combined.

The most important thing is that as long as he works for three years, his family can send a child to Longyou or Yuexi, where there are schools where the child can learn to read.

As I look forward to the day, my waist straightens unconsciously and my voice becomes louder:

"Sir, this year is no better than in previous years! Ever since I started sailing here, I have never seen so many boats in February."

"At most, they are just people from the government who are anxious to travel between Longshang and Hanzhong. How is it like now? Not to mention those horse teams on the road."

"Last year, when there were the most cavalry teams on this road, they were not even half as many as they are now..."

Among the apprentices brought by the boatman, there are two young men who are literate. I heard that they also studied in school.

At that time, he was often asked about the difference between the large river waterway from Shu to Jingzhou and the water of Western Han Dynasty.

Then at the end of last year, the two young men said that they were going to Badong County to learn from others how to sail on the river.

As for why they came to learn how to sail after entering the school, the boatman was also very surprised.

Later I found out that this was said to be an arrangement by the headmaster of the school.

As long as they learn to sail on the river, they will have the opportunity to serve as captains in the army.

This is especially enviable to boatmen.

Same people but different fates!

They are all sailors, so they can only be yelled at by others.

Others will have the opportunity to become generals.

The boatman thought, if his grandson really could enter the school, would he have such an opportunity?

With this in mind, the boatman often got close to the two young men.

He didn't know what a mountain chief was, but because of the relationship between the two young men, he also knew how to call those knowledgeable people sir.

Just from this title, he felt that he was also tainted with the aura of knowledge.

Hearing the boatman's chattering, Martin and Li Ming looked at each other, with a look of worry in their eyes.

It stands to reason that compared to land transportation, water transportation not only has a larger transportation volume, but also has a few times or even nearly ten times the loss.

However, not only is the time to start water transportation earlier than last year, but the number of horse teams has also increased dramatically, which can only explain one problem:

Liangzhou's food problem is probably far more than what the rumors say.

I just don’t know whether the rumored King Feng Gui, who is unparalleled in making money, is able to solve the food problem in Liangzhou?

With this in mind, I waited under the Qishan Fort for a day and finally passed the Qishan Pass and arrived at Xi County.

From the dangerous mountains to the plains, the vision suddenly becomes clearer.

But without the obstruction of the Qinling Mountains, there is still a lot of chill in Longyou in February.

Although Longyou was not as severe as Liangzhou in the white disaster last winter, it was also affected.
To be continued...