Why did the boat stop?

When Meng Zhao was just confused, he saw that Lin Fu had already taken a boat to row towards the shore, and was about to negotiate with the group of boatmen who were roasting fire.

Shandong's boundary is the most difficult section to walk on, because it is the location of the river ridge and the source of the rivers in the north and south of the canal. Especially now it is a dry season, and the water flow in the river channel is smaller, resulting in the river banks on both sides being exposed.

When the boat reaches this section, the deepest part of the river reaches the waist of an adult, and it is no longer possible to drive normally. It is necessary to pull the fiber to pass through this section.

"Since it's Master Guan's ship, everything is easy to say!"

The leader of the boatman was very honest, but his small eyes revealed his cleverness. He looked up at the official ship in the river and immediately expressed his attitude.

Most of the boaters are nearby villagers. Whenever they reach the dry season, they will start to make a living here. However, disputes are inevitable in places with interests, and some good river sections have become the targets of competition among all parties, causing the boaters in some places to develop into "socies" like the underworld in Hong Kong.

They also look at the price of the ship. The price of the merchant ship will be higher, but they dare not make random bids for the official ship. They usually only make hard money.

"You will not be short of a penny. You can take the deposit first. If you do a good job, you will also be rewarded with money!" Lin Fu also doesn't care about this little money, and even if he handed over the money, he was refreshing and authentic.

The leader of the boatman looked like a honest man who was following the rules. His tanned face showed yellow teeth, and he immediately led his men to work hard.

The official ship is not too big, but the wood is very strong. Fortunately, the ship does not carry any cargo, and the overall weight is not too heavy.

More than a dozen boatmen and Lin Fu led a few people to help pull the fibers, and stepped forward step by step. The official boat slowly advanced through the shallow river channel, which seemed to be fast and slow, and it had to walk hundreds of meters before passing through this section of the river.

But I don’t know if it was because of poverty or because my clothes were worn out by the ropes. Several strong-bodied boatmen walked hard at the forefront with their upper body naked in this cold winter.

When Lin Fu saw their appearance, he felt secretly impressed and moved forward even harder.

It is actually not easy for anyone to live in this era. If it weren't for this, many ordinary people would not grit their teeth to support their sons to go to school and hope that a decent scholar who lives with a pen will be able to come out at home.

Lin Qingran kept standing on the deck, watching the group of boatmen wearing thin clothes in the cold winter pulling their legs hard, and couldn't help but sigh in my heart, and asked the two disciples behind me: "This canal is about to be completed. What do you two have any experience with the caching problems?"

In his opinion, from the analysis of economic interests, Zhu Di's move to the capital was not a cost-effective transaction.

The grain output of the northern provinces was insufficient and they could not be responsible for the capital and the royal family's needs, which made the Grand Canal the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal the lifeline of the Ming Dynasty.

However, after the Grand Canal and the Yellow River were connected, the Yellow River silt and flooding problems caused the court to spend huge amounts of money to maintain this fragile lifeline, which brought huge burden to the Ming Dynasty's finances.

If the imperial city of the Ming Dynasty is still in Nanjing, it will directly reduce the huge expenditure on maintaining this lifeline, and more effectively control the prosperous areas in Jiangnan, which can also increase radiation to Fujian and Guangdong.

However, this is a fact that it is finally possible. The disaster of the grain has become one of the stubborn diseases of the Ming Dynasty at present, and the rulers need to use their wisdom to solve this difficult problem.

Mengzhao and Wang Shiju heard Lin Qiran's inquiry and couldn't help but look at each other, knowing that the teacher was going to formally evaluate them. Mengzhao was not in a hurry to answer, but nodded gently at Wang Shiju with encouragement.

Wang Shiju adjusted his slightly nervous mood and then bowed and responded: "Teacher, I have always lived in Shuntian Mansion and have never experienced the canal. Now I have seen this situation and feel a lot of emotion. The disciples think that the disadvantages of the canal lies in the suffering of the canal slaughter soldiers! It is very difficult for them to transport grain from south to north. When my disciples saw that more than ten grain soldiers covered the Yellow River that day, they still couldn't sleep or eat!"

The Ming Dynasty's grain soldiers adopted the military system, with one general of the grain transport, one general of the joint supervision of the transportation, and more than a dozen generals. However, the generals did not have military positions, and one general directly led thousands of troops.

Due to the lack of personnel power, and the serious gangs and gangs within the canal soldiers were formed, and they transported hundreds of stones of grain, which made them like a ship of loose sand, and the canal soldiers had a difficult life.

Lin Xuran knew that this was indeed a problem, so he nodded gently and asked Meng Zhao again: "Tinglun, where are you?"

"Report to the teacher, I think the root cause lies in the load of the canal!" Meng Zhao had already stepped onto this canal for the second time and had already gained new experiences. He immediately bowed his hand respectfully and responded.

When Lin Weiran heard this answer, his eyes lit up slightly, and he asked unexpectedly: "Tinglun, your view is novel, why do you have this idea?"

"Disciple observes all the way and thinks all the time! Especially fighting for the river gate with Prince Yi, it makes the disciple feel enlightened. He thinks it is not that the canal is sick, but that there are too many ships coming and going. The reason is that there are too many rice and grain transported in the canal, which has exceeded the ability of the canal!" Meng Zhao showed a solemn expression on his face, and he answered seriously.

"Senior brother, this statement seems to be inappropriate!" Wang Shiqiao frowned slightly, questioning as he thought.

Meng Zhao smiled slightly, but asked with an example: "If this canal only transports a bucket of rice, do you think there will be so many disputes along the way?"

"No!" Wang Shiju thought for a moment, then shook his head slowly and said.

Meng Zhao smiled proudly and bowed respectfully to Lin Xuran: "Teacher, what's wrong with the students' thinking?"

If anyone in the world impresses him the most, it is the teacher in front of him. For example, this time he went south to rectify the salt administration, the salt method is simply a stroke of magic, which makes the salt ills easily resolved.

Similarly, if anyone can solve the stubborn disease of the grain, he knows that there is only the teacher in front of him, even the current prime minister Xu Jie does not have this ability.

"Your idea is very novel. You can indeed start by reducing the transportation volume of grain. I plan to do this when I return to Beijing this time, but this is ultimately a cure but not the root cause!" Lin Weiran nodded gently and said.

When Meng Zhao heard the next sentence, he knew that this was indeed not a fundamental solution, and he sighed in his heart.

"Teacher, the food rations of the people in the capital and the rice of the vassal kings in various parts of the north are fixed. The transportation volume of grain may not be reduced, right?" Wang Shiju, a native of Shuntian Prefecture, immediately proposed the flaws of this move.
Chapter completed!