Some people might question whether 500 ships could transport 880,000 Dan of grain. Of course they could! There was no doubt about it!
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the development of our country's shipbuilding industry reached its peak. During the war to unify the southern part of China, Qin Shihuang organized a fleet that could transport 500,000 Dan of grain. With the technology at that time, they could build ships that could transport 50 to 60 tons of grain. One Dan was 50 kilograms. In other words, a ship during the Qin and Han Dynasties could carry more than 1,000 Dan of grain.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the second peak in China's shipbuilding history was the Dragon Boat that Emperor Yang of Sui rode. It was 4.5 feet tall and 200 feet long. The upper level had the main hall, the inner hall, and the east and west imperial halls. The middle two levels had 120 rooms with a capacity of more than 300 tons. Of course, it was even more impressive during the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty built a "Divine Boat" for Korea. It had a capacity of more than 1,500 tons. Some large ships could carry tens of thousands of Dan of grain and had a rudder that was 30 to 50 feet long.
Taiji Palace.
Although Li Er, who was sitting high above, was mentally prepared, he was still shocked by Li Xiaogong's "work report". His eyes were as wide as the others'. Fortunately, the courtiers' attention was not on him, otherwise, if the remonstrants saw his gaffe, he would definitely be "criticized" again.
"Ahem! This trip to the south was really fruitful! Xiao Gong and the soldiers have worked tirelessly across thousands of miles and have contributed to the country. They should be rewarded! "
Li Er recovered from his shock and praised with a face full of emotion.
"Your Majesty!"
As soon as Li Er finished speaking, Wei Zheng walked in front of him. The old man cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, "Congratulations to Commandery Prince Hejian for leading the fleet to the south. But there is still one thing that I don't understand. Where did you get these three hundred thousand taels of silver and fifty thousand kilograms of brass?"
Wei Zheng was not targeting anyone. He was just stating the facts. Grain, spices, and ivory were all fine. But the amount of brass and silver was too huge for him to understand. After all, which country would use these things for trade? It didn't make any sense no matter what!
After hearing Wei Zheng's question, the other ministers all cast doubtful glances at Li Xiaogong. However, Li Zexuan's heart skipped a beat. According to the information he had gathered, the 50,000 jin of brass and 300,000 taels of silver that Li Xiaogong had brought back were the "war reparations" that he had extorted from the Wo Nation. If this was revealed, Li Xiaogong would most likely be impeached.
Li Er's eyes darkened. Obviously, he also knew the inside story of the Japanese war. But now that Wei Zheng had asked in public, he could only watch Li Xiaogong's performance.
…
As soon as Li Er left with the civil and military officials, the docks by the Murky River immediately became lively. There were more than a thousand large ships, and they definitely could not all dock at the same time to unload their cargo, so they could only come in batches. At the very front were the 500 official ships of the Imperial Court.
Wu Di, the captain of Li Xiaogong's personal guard, came to Xiao Yu with a man who looked like a steward. He respectfully handed over a booklet and clasped his hands.
"Minister Xiao, this is the list of all the cargo on the official ship. He is the steward of the cabin, Yao Jing. If Minister Xiao has any questions, please ask me or steward Yao. We will tell you everything we know!"
"Well, okay. Thank you!"
Xiao Yu said politely and took the booklet. When he opened it, he was shocked.
"So … so much food? I'm afraid the granary of Chang 'an City can't hold it all! "
Hearing this, Yan Lide was very curious. He thought that the official ship of the Imperial Court had only brought a little silk and porcelain. At most, it could be exchanged for more than 100,000 jin of food. How could the granary of Chang 'an City not be able to hold it all?
"Shiwen (Xiao Yu's courtesy name), let me see how much food you have."
Then, Yan Lide eagerly came over and wanted to see what was on the booklet. When he saw the number on the booklet, his eyes widened and he exclaimed.
"This, this, this, eight hundred and eighty thousand jin!? So many jin of food, Taicang can't hold it all. It has to be transported to Hanjia Cang in Luoyang! "
The Taicang he was talking about was the largest granary in Chang 'an City. It was also the granary of the Imperial Family. Its main function was to provide for the Imperial Family's consumption, rewards, salaries of officials, military supplies, and government accounts. Although Taicang's main function was to serve the central government, it also had some positive functions. For example, every time there was a famine, Taicang would take out grain to replenish Changping Cang and suppress the price of grain. It would also sell some grain at a low price to help the victims.
However, Taicang's total storage was not very high. It could only store five hundred to six hundred jin of grain at most. Moreover, the autumn harvest had just passed, so there was even less space left in Taicang. That was why these two big shots of the Imperial Court sighed with emotion.
As for the Hanjia Cang that Yan Lide mentioned, it was the largest granary in the Tang Empire.
At the start of the Sui Dynasty, Chang 'an was built, but the Guanzhong region was unable to satisfy the needs of the Imperial Family, officials, and the central army. During the Daye Era, to satisfy the grain needs of Chang 'an, Emperor Yang built the Grand Canal. Later on, Yang Guang directly moved the capital to Luoyang.
After establishing Luoyang, Yang Guang first built Huiluo Cang as the 'national granary' in Luoyang. The entire Huiluo Cang City was a thousand meters from east to west, three hundred and thirty-five meters from north to south, and around seven hundred warehouses with a diameter of ten meters. Each warehouse could store four thousand jin of grain, and the entire city could store three million jin of grain.
As Huiluo Cang was built outside of Sui Tang Luoyang City, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in chaos. Li Mi took Huiluo Cang, and Luoyang City fell into a situation where there was no grain. Later on, Huiluo Cang became the focus of the war between Li Shimin and Wang Shichong. The warehouses outside the city were occupied, and Wang Shichong lost due to a severe lack of grain.
Later on, Li Shimin saw the disadvantages of having a granary outside the city, and he decided to build one within Luoyang City to prevent the same thing from happening. This granary that was carefully 'designed' by Li Shimin was Hanjia Cang. Not only did Hanjia Cang provide grain for Luoyang City, but it also acted as a transportation station between Guandong and Guanzhong. Later on, it slowly replaced the largest granary at that time, Luokou Cang, and became the largest granary in the world, with a total storage of close to six million jin!
"Indeed, first move 150 thousand jin of grain to Taicang, and the rest can only be transported to Luoyang along the Grand Canal! Lide, you take care of things here. I'll go to the palace to ask for a decree to send a portion of the official ships to Luoyang! "
Xiao Yu thought about it and decided to ask for Li Er's opinion. Otherwise, with so much grain, there would be no place to store it, and it would only benefit the rats.
…
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