When the Lantern Festival arrived, the entire capital became a sea of ​​lanterns. At night, candlelight shone brightly. People happily carried lanterns and marched on the streets of the capital, standing at the highest point of the palace to watch. The entire capital was like dragons dancing. Such a prosperous scene, even Li Gang, who had tried his best to oppose lantern tours in the past, had to admit that it was indeed beautiful.

The lantern festival paid thousands of stakes of silver for the palace alone, and the wealthy households and the people in the capital were even more than ten thousand yuan. However, the excitement brought by this lantern tour was brought up several months later and was talked about by people. The merchants and people who made lanterns also made a small fortune. This mere ten thousand stake was undoubtedly worth spending.

After the lantern festival, the court began a normal morning court. After the first morning court, the emperor asked the eunuchs to summon Yuwen Kai, He Ti and Li Chun to the palace.

"I will meet the emperor, long live the emperor! Long live! Long live!"

"The three dear friends don't have to be too polite, get up." Looking at the three of them, Yang Yong said with a smile on his face.

"Long live thank you!" The three of them stood up and stood aside with their hands down. Among the three, Yuwen Kai was the oldest, over 50 years old. Due to the hard work, his hair and hair were all white. He Ti was second, just over 35 years old, and he was in the age of thirty-five. Li Chun was the youngest, just thirty years old.

Yuwen Kai has always been responsible for the supervision of large-scale buildings. Daxing City, Renshou Palace, and Luoyang City were all constructed by Yuwen Kai. Moreover, the Guangtong Canal, which is more than 300 miles from the east of Daxing City to Tongguan, was originally formed by Yuwen Kai, who led the water workers to dig canals and divert the Wei River to the Yellow River. He Ti was skilled in the construction of the government. In recent years, he built many practical tools. Li Chun was a master of bridges. Zhaozhou Bridge, which has existed for more than 1,400 years in later generations, is Li Chun's masterpiece. These three people can be said to be the leading buildings and water conservancy masters in the Sui Dynasty.

"Do you know what I meant to call you into the palace today?"

The three of them looked at each other and showed a hint of fanaticism on their faces. The emperor summoned them to the palace just after the New Year. Moreover, the three of them were both specialists in construction and water conservancy, so their intentions were naturally unspeakable.

"When you go back to the emperor, do you want to build the Grand Canal?" asked the youngest Li Chun.

The idea of ​​the Grand Canal did not start from the Sui Dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao used troops to the north and dug a series of canals. From the Hailuan River system, it could pass through the Yellow River, the Yanghe River, the Huaihe River, and the Xiegou to the Yangtze River. After crossing the river, it was from the rivers in the south of the Yangtze River to Hangzhou, forming the early Beijing-Hangzhou waterways.

The military competition between Wu and Wei often used territorial waters, and the Wo-water flowed into the Huai River, and then went from the Dongnihe River to Hefei, and then from the Nanxiang River, Chaohu Lake to the Yangtze River. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it had branches from Yangzhou to Yizheng. In the fourth year of Taihe (after 369), Huan Wen made a northern expedition and opened more than 300 miles of Huangong Gully west of Lushui to communicate with each other. The Han and Jishui River entered the Yellow River, and between the Yangtze River and the Han River. During the Western Jin Dynasty, Du Yu opened the canal from the Han River to the south and connected to Jiangling, and the Xiang River to the east.

Although the opening of these canals can only meet the needs of local navigation, it created many convenient conditions for the Grand Canal that connects the whole country. However, after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the Five Barbarians' invasion of China and frequent wars in the north, the canal project stopped.

In the early years of Kaihuang, when the national treasury was extremely difficult, Emperor Wen of Sui ordered the opening of the Guangtong Canal to connect the capital with the Yellow River waterway. After the Guangtong Canal was dug, it could not only meet the needs of grain and rice in the capital, but also transport the capital's properties. Since then, the grain transportation has been profitable and Guanzhong depends on it, so it is also called the Fumin Canal.

However, this canal of people enriching the people can only connect the properties on both sides of the Yellow River with the capital. To this day, as the economy in the south is becoming more and more prosperous, whether for economic or political reasons, a Grand Canal connecting the whole country is imperative. However, since Emperor Wen of Sui has been practicing rigorously and the project to develop the national Grand Canal was too large, Emperor Wen of Sui has never been determined, and he just tried his best to build official warehouses along the way to store grain for use when building the Grand Canal.

Now the task of excavating the Grand Canal has fallen on Yang Yong, and Yang Yong naturally took the initiative. Hearing Li Chun's question, Yang Yong nodded: "Yes, today, Xuan's three beloved ministers came here, indeed for the construction of the Grand Canal. I have decided to start building the Grand Canal from this year. I have selected three beloved ministers to be responsible. I hope that the three beloved ministers will not let down my high expectations."

"Don't worry, if the Grand Canal cannot be completed, I will all be punished by the emperor." The three of them had a fanatical look in their eyes. Such a Grand Canal is a feat that has never been seen in the ages. After digging the Guangtong Canal, Yuwen Kai hoped to have the opportunity to continue digging the canal. Unfortunately, the national strength of the Sui Dynasty did not allow it. He could only place his talents on the construction of the palaces of Daxing City and Renshou Palace. Although these palaces are considered major projects, they are completely incomparable to the Grand Canal. There are many people who have built cities in ancient times, but being able to dig the Grand Canal that connects the north and south can be said to be unprecedented.

Yuwen Kai was prepared for a long time. He took out the drawings from his arms and presented the Grand Canal to the emperor: "Prince, please see, this is the canal map that the Ministry of Works spent more than ten years to prepare."

Yang Yong raised his eyes and looked up at the picture, and saw the dense lines in the picture. During the period, the virtual and real were intertwined, making people dizzy at first sight. Yang Yong hurriedly said, "Yuwen Aiqing, I won't read the picture. You can report to me the sections you need to complete."

"Yes, when I go back to the emperor, I divided the Grand Canal into four main sections. The first section was named Tongji Canal. After the Tongji Canal is completed, the boats between the Yellow River and the Huai River can be unobstructed. If the emperor intends to tour the south, he can go straight to Yangzhou from the capital."

From the capital to Yangzhou, isn’t that the route Yang Guang went to Jiangnan in history? However, since this line can be used for the emperor to go to Jiangnan, it can also make the logistics nationwide smooth. After repairing it, it is not a bad idea to use it to go to Jiangnan by yourself. Why can Hongli, who claimed to be a stern old man in later generations, go to Jiangnan many times and be known as the romantic emperor? Yang Guang was considered a foolish monarch. Yang Yong thought in a little indignantly.

After a moment of silence, Yang Yong asked, "How long is this canal and how much manpower and material resources are needed?"

"When I go back to the emperor, the entire Guangtong Canal can be divided into three sections. In addition to the original rivers that can be used, the total mileage is estimated to be 2,000 miles. If 400,000 people are used, it will take about three years to complete it. The court will need to spend 4 million guan of silver and about 5 million grain."

"Required so much manpower?" Yang Yong was shocked. Both money and food were not a problem, but 400,000 manpower was too much, not to mention that this was not the whole of the Grand Canal. Last year, the Battle of Mayi was only more than 20,000 prisoners. Unless the country was destroyed in Goguryeo now, there would be so many slaves.

In fact, when Yang Guang built the Guang channel in history, it only took half a year. Construction started in March of the first year of Daye and was completed in August of the first year of Daye. However, two million manpower was used, and the price paid for rushing to work was even more amazing. In just half a year, the exhausted people reached 400,000 to 500,000.

Of course, Yang Yong would not take this kind of quick success and instant benefits. If it was like building Renshou Palace and Luoyang Palace, the money required would be at least doubled. The current financial resources of the court are not unaffordable. However, what Yang Yong had to do was not just build a Grand Canal. If it was invested in the Grand Canal, then it would not be done unless otherwise.

"Return to the emperor, Tongji Canal connects the three major water transports of the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Yangtze River. The river width standard formulated by the Ministry of Industry is twenty feet, and the depth can be used throughout the journey. Four hundred thousand civilians, and three years must not be missing." Yuwen Kai said firmly.

Yang Yong calculated and temporarily rejected the construction of Ji Canal first, and said, "Your dear, please tell me the other three sections."

"Yes, the second section is named Yongji Canal. Yongji Canal also starts from Luoyang, connecting to Zhuojun (now Beijing), with a total of more than 1,900 miles of canals, which is roughly equivalent to Tongji Canal. However, due to the water volume, the depth and width cannot be compared with Tongji Canal. The manpower and material resources are roughly 60% of the Tongji Canal. The third section is Shanyang Du Canal, which starts from Hancheng in the south and Shanyang County in the north, and goes straight to Yangzi Ferry of the Yangtze River from the Huaihe River to the Yangtze River. There are old canals available in this section, and only needs to be deepened and widened according to the standards of Tongji Canal. According to calculations, it only takes 100,000 manpower, and a one-year effort is enough. The fourth section is Jiangnan River Canal, which takes more than 800 miles from Jingkou to Yuhang, which requires more than 200,000 manpower, and three years of effort." I don't know how many years have been counted in Yuwen Kai's mind about the construction of the Grand Canal, and various data are simply blurted out.

These four sections of rivers combined have far exceeded the 3,500 miles that Yang Yong had originally thought, but reached 5,000 miles. The manpower and material resources required naturally exceeded the original estimate. If it was to be completed in five years, more than 500,000 people would be used every year. Now there are only more than 20,000 prisoners in the court. These prisoners are only able to complete the simplest Shanyang Du Canal in five years, which also requires that too many people will not die in their five years of hard work.

"In this way, Yuwen's Aiqing left the drawings. After the three Aiqing returned, he would first submit the memorial for the construction of the canal. I would hand it over to the department for discussion before deciding how to implement it."
Chapter completed!