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Zheng Zhilong's stay on Chongming Island was always a major threat to the Yangtze River waterway and the Suzhou, Songjiang and Changzhou regions.
The Qin navy could still rely on the coastal artillery and mines on Jingjiang Island for defense, but as for sending the navy to drive out Zheng Zhilong, it would probably be like throwing a meat bun at a dog, and there would be no return.
Under such circumstances, Qin Mu could only send Hui Dengxiang to lead an army of 10,000 to defend Jiading, Taicang, and Songjiang Prefecture. These places were the most fierce places for resistance against the Qing army, and now they are under the rule of Qin.
On the boat back to Jinling, Qin Mu, Yang Shen, Gu Jun'en, Du Yinxi, Song Xiance, Tan Qiubai and others were having a drink and chatting in the boat cabin. The river was vast and blue, the autumn scenery was just right, and the floating clouds were leisurely.
Teams of grain ships came from upstream, transporting food, fodder and weapons to Huai'an. Seeing the royal flag on Qin Mu's ship from afar, there were always bursts of excited cheers from the grain ships.
Yang Shen put down his wine glass and said, "King of Qin, I think it is not appropriate to send only Prime Minister Hui Deng's 10,000 troops. When the Tartars occupied Jiangnan, the prefectures and counties such as Jiading, Taicang, and Songjiang Prefecture were the places where the resistance was the most intense. Jiading was also massacred by Li Chengdong, and many gentry and wealthy families in various prefectures and counties were also killed and looted, which had a major impact on local farming and weaving."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Yang Qing, if you have anything to say, please speak frankly."
"King of Qin, you should now send a capable official to inspect the Songjiang Prefecture area, check the land and people's livelihood, distribute the land that is not in the yellow book to the people, and restore people's livelihood as soon as possible, so as to set an example for the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.
In addition, Songjiang Prefecture is a major producer of cotton cloth. It is already mid-September and the weather will soon turn cold. The winter clothing for hundreds of thousands of our soldiers is in urgent need. Therefore, I believe that it is urgent to restore the textile industry in Songjiang Prefecture. "
Yang Shen's words immediately attracted Qin Mu's great attention. In terms of military supplies, they can be divided into three categories: weapons, food, and clothing. None of these three categories can be missing.
In terms of weapons, the Qin army had won a series of great victories since the Eastern Expedition and had seized a large number of weapons, so there was no need to worry about shortages for the time being.
In terms of food and fodder, in Jiangxi and Huguang alone, grain production increased greatly due to the promotion of many new crops, so ensuring the supply of the army was no problem.
The only problem was that the supply of military cloth was tight because the textile industry in Jiangxi and Huguang was not very developed. Even the queen Yang Zhi had to weave cloth herself, hoping to set an example and promote the textile industry in Huguang.
So Yang Shen's words hit the nail on the head.
Songjiang Prefecture governed three counties: Huating, Qingpu and Shanghai, with the prefecture seat located in Huating. Since Huang Daopo brought back advanced textile technology from Hainan during the Yuan Dynasty, Songjiang Prefecture has been the country's most important cotton cloth producing area, with a reputation of "clothing the world".
Starting from the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Songjiang Prefecture was required to add 300,000 pieces of military cloth to the autumn grain every year. The amount of military cloth undertaken by Songjiang Prefecture accounted for more than half of the total military cloth used by the Ming Dynasty.
To solve the problem of supplying clothing to the Qin army, it was undoubtedly correct to start from Songjiang Prefecture.
Qin Mu asked, "Who do you think should be sent as the governor of Songjiang Prefecture?"
"I am willing to go."
"I am willing to go."
Gu Jun'en, Yu Dayou, Yang Shen and others expressed their willingness to tour Songjiang Prefecture.
In fact, this was not a good job, so Songjiang Prefecture was to be used as a pilot for the entire Jiangnan region. In addition to pacifying the people and restoring farming and weaving, the government also had to re-measure the land, investigate and punish officials who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and distribute the land.
These things are all interconnected. If they are not handled properly, they will cause adverse effects and may even affect the governance of the entire Jiangnan region.
Of course, if the affair is done well, the credit will naturally be great.
Qin Mu thought about it and finally chose Yang Shen, the Minister of Dali Temple, to be the governor of Songjiang Prefecture: "Mr. Yang, it was you who proposed the issue of military cloth, so you will be the one to inspect Songjiang Prefecture. You can take your time to survey the land, but the textile business must be resumed as soon as possible to meet military needs."
Yang Shen stood up and bowed, saying, "I obey your command."
"There is no time to lose. Yang Qing does not need to return to Jinling. Go to Songjiang right now to learn about the local situation first. I will have Jinling send the necessary officials to Songjiang Prefecture as soon as possible to join Yang Qing."
"I will definitely fulfill my mission."
After sending Yang Shen away, Qin Mu returned to Jinling at noon the next day. He did not enter the city immediately, but went to the Longjiang Shipyard outside the city to check.
The Qinhuai River is the moat of Jinling City to the west. The Qinhuai River and the Yangtze River form an angle, and the area within the angle is called Longjiang Pass. Longjiang Shipyard is located in Longjiang Pass, adjacent to the Qinhuai River to the east and the Yangtze River to the west.
If you leave the city from Dinghuai Gate in the west, you will arrive at the huge Longjiang Shipyard not far after crossing the Qinhuai River.
Han Zanzhou, the former eunuch guarding Nanjing, hurried out of the city. During the Hongguang period, Qin Mu ordered him to collect all the information related to the Longjiang Shipyard. When Qin Mu was building a navy in Yueyang, a lot of technical information was provided by Han Zanzhou. Naturally, he knew the Longjiang Shipyard like the back of his hand.
After the grand ceremony, Han Zanzhou led Qin Mu and his party of more than 100 people into the Longjiang Shipyard. As they walked, he said, "King Qin, the Baochuan Shipyard was originally 138 meters wide from east to west and 354 meters long from north to south. There were seven ponds dug on the west side of the shipyard that led into the Longjiang River."
The Longjiang River that Han Zanzhou mentioned is a branch of the Yangtze River, which is sandwiched between a river island and the main river. The shipyard's Zuotang is connected to the Longjiang River, and the name of the shipyard comes from this.
From Han Zanzhou's introduction, we know that the shipyard was originally very large, about one mile wide from east to west and about two miles long from north to south, but now the entire shipyard has been basically abandoned. Everywhere Qin Mu and his party passed, there were dilapidated houses that had been in disrepair for many years. There were weeds and tobacco in front of and behind the houses. Some places had even been turned into farmland or occupied as private residences.
Han Zanzhou put a lot of effort into the shipyard. Facing the large pieces of broken walls and ruins, he can still tell the details of the past: "In addition to the shipyard's supervisory office and the assistant command hall, which are specially used to make sails for seagoing ships, there are also seven workshops including the carpentry workshop, paint workshop, twisting workshop, iron workshop, sail workshop, rope workshop, cable workshop, and material inspection shop.
The shipyard located in the northeast of the factory alone has 60 houses in 10 rows. The shipyard's supervisors include the fifth-rank officials of the Ministry of Works, as well as the assistants, supervisors, supervisors, and assistants. There are nearly 100 junior team leaders such as the wing chiefs and the first workers.
The shipbuilding craftsmen were divided into four groups, each of which was divided into ten groups. Each group had a group leader who managed the ten groups. The first group was divided into ship wood, shuttle, oar, and rope craftsmen; the second group was divided into ship wood, iron, and cable craftsmen; the third group was the boat craftsmen; and the fourth group was divided into palm and sail craftsmen.
The craftsmen in the four quarters had no permanent property, and most of them made their living by sailing. The original regulations stipulated that those who had boats should register with the division according to the size of the boats, and keep records of them so that they could be dispatched by the division, and other government offices could not arbitrarily transfer them. In addition, there were also internal official supervisors, imperial horse supervisors, material keepers, night watchmen, bridge workers, and other personnel. "
When Han Zanzhou said this, he found that Qin Mu frowned slightly. His heart skipped a beat and he didn't know what he had said wrong. He couldn't help but feel extremely anxious.
He had joined Qin Mu very early on, but he seldom had the opportunity to show himself in front of Qin Mu. Now he finally made some progress in the shipyard matter, but if he messed it up, he would hardly have the chance to stand out again in the future.
"King Qin..."
The reason why Qin Mu frowned was because he heard that the shipyard had a lot of work to do and a large number of people, so the investment must be huge. "It's okay, go on."
"Yes, Prince Qin, the Longjiang Shipyard was basically dormant after the Yongle Dynasty. During the Hongzhi period, it was divided into the front and rear factories. During the Jiajing period, due to the invasion of Japanese pirates along the coast, the court had to build ships to resist the Japanese pirates, and the Longjiang Shipyard had been greatly restored.
But after the Japanese pirates were pacified, the shipyard was abandoned again. It has been nearly a hundred years since then. After Hongguang moved south, he also wanted to build a navy to strengthen the river defense, but due to tight budget, he failed to make a plan. "Please look, King Qin, that is the dock of the shipyard."
Qin Mu looked in the direction Han Zanzhou pointed, and saw seven docks running east-west. Each dock was about a hundred meters wide and a mile long, like seven huge rivers leading directly to the Longjiang River.
The water in the pond is clear and blue, reflecting the sky and clouds. Weeds grow on both sides of the pond and wild birds fly. In the past, countless craftsmen worked here, and the scene was in full swing. One after another, huge ships that shocked the world entered the Yangtze River from these ponds and headed for the sea, forming a huge fleet, sailing across the ocean and making a name for themselves.
The comparison between the past and the present makes people feel extremely emotional.
Han Zanzhou continued, "King Qin, in order to meet the needs of shipbuilding, lacquer gardens, tung gardens, palm gardens and other gardens were opened in Zhongshan, and nearly 100,000 trees were planted. Since the Jiajing period, the shipyard stopped building ships, and the nearly 100,000 trees planted have grown into towering trees after a hundred years."
"Oh? Let's go take a look together." Qin Mu was naturally happy to hear that. With such timber resources, he could invest less in rebuilding the shipyard.
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Please give me a monthly ticket!
Please give me a monthly ticket!
.(To be continued..)
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