When they returned to the inn, there were already stars everywhere. They couldn't sleep for a while, so Du Zhongxiao, Ouyang Xiu, Xiang Zong and the other two sat in the yard of the inn and chatted.

The evening breeze blew on his body, like a girl's hand, soft and fragrant. Everything around him was silent, and occasionally a few frog croaking sounds came.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the distant night sky, felt the breath of spring breeze, and sighed: "I became an official in Bozhou for several years, and then I arrived at Hedong Road. The Volcanic Army was on the border, and the weather was severely cold. This season was just now the ice was lifted. Although Zaoyang is remote, it is like the weather in the south of the Yangtze River. Spring is a good time."

Xiang Zong smiled and said, "It's a pity that there are no scenic spots to visit in Zaoyang County, otherwise we will delay one day tomorrow and accompany Yunzong to take a look around."

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "I came from a farmer's family, and my ancestors have made a living by farming for several generations. I passed the imperial examination and can be said to have jumped out of the farming family. Not only the people in my family, but even the local people are counting on shining their families and adding glory to the local area. I have been an official for nearly ten years and have not traveled around yet."

Xiang Zong came from a wealthy family and it was difficult to understand the mood of officials like Du Zhongxiao, who were born in poor families. Although Ouyang Xiu was poor in his childhood, he was a family of officials and could not understand them.

After a while of silence, Xiang Zong said: "The young man who was sentenced to the title of the 1980s has been transferred to various officials in recent years and has done a lot of things. Now when I come to Zaoyang, I will make this place a prosperous place just like when I was in Ye County. Our prefectures and counties will also make some achievements."

This is what Xiang Zong is most concerned about. Du Zhongxiao built a place like Tanglong Town, a place where he used money to build a land in Ruzhou, Tangzhou, and the Iron Supervisor. When he came to Zaoyang County, he would not have such dazzling political achievements, even if it was a little worse, the place would have infinite benefits.

Xiang Zong is an official, good at controlling stealing, stronger than the military, encourages farming and sericulture, and is not good at developing the local economy. When Du Zhongxiao came, he thought that relying on farming and farming, he could develop the local area, which would be of infinite benefit to his future career.

Ouyang Xiu told Xiang Zong: "Jun Zhang had never been to Ye County. When he saw it, he realized that Yunzong was good at managing finances and was unparalleled in the world. The court abolished the Laxian Xiang Army. As long as they did not complain and did not cause trouble, they would be good at governing the country. However, under Yunzong, the land and clothing were abundant, and the life of the Xiang Army was much better than before. The Iron Supervisor was richer than the land and farming, and there was no shortage of money and food every month. Even ordinary soldiers, food and clothing were better than that of ordinary county officials. That area is now extremely prosperous and rarely compared."

After hearing this, Xiang Zong hurriedly asked Du Zhongxiao: "Yun Judgment, I don't know what to do when I arrive in Zaoyang? I will never just open up land and farm."

Du Zhongxiao said: "There are countless idle fields here, the climate is mild and the water source is sufficient. I want to plant grass cotton. Tangzhou has been growing cotton for two years this year and has a wide range of seeds. I have also figured out how to plant cotton in this area. Grass cotton is far better than storing hemp. It is not only thin and strong, but also far more than the yield. Not to mention that the price is far above linen cloth now. Scarcity is expensive, and fine cloth is even more expensive than silk."

Xiang Zongjue said, "Crassic cotton? Can it be planted here in Suizhou?"

"Of course I can grow it. This kind of grass cotton is a thing that I like warm places and cannot lack water. Isn't it suitable for this place?"

Xiang Zong said: "I only heard that grass cotton is produced in the Western Regions and kapok in Lingnan is produced in the Sun, but I don't know what it looks like and what its habits are. If we can grow grass cotton widely, it is a way for local development."

Du Zhongxiao said: "There is another thing, grass cotton and rice and wheat are planted in rotation, so there are no diseases, which are many benefits. Moreover, it can be staggered from rice and wheat during busy farming, which is most convenient for this place to be vast and sparsely populated. If there are too many plants in this area, you will have everything if you build a factory."

Ouyang Xiu smiled and said, "No matter where the fortune judgment goes, you have to build a factory. Although building a factory makes money, it uses too many people, so you are afraid of abandoning the land."

Du Zhongxiao looked at Ouyang Xiu and smiled and said, "Longtu, if the factory is not built, how could the Iron Supervisor make so many agricultural tools? With those agricultural tools, a man used to plant only fifty acres, but now what is difficult is it to grow a hundred acres now? What is the basis of agriculture and workers and what is the end? It cannot be simply discussed. If there is a shortage of food and people are not well-fed, they should naturally encourage farming. But now, in the world, how many places are really short of food? If there is no major disaster, most of them will be abundant. It is nothing more than the large number of troops and officials in Kaifeng Prefecture, and they need to be transported from other places. There are also three routes along the border, because they need food to be prevented from the border. Therefore, what the world lacks is not money and grain, but a way to facilitate transportation of money and grain."

Xiang Zong said: "We need to build a railway. When the railway is built, the world will be adjusted for food, so why worry about not being sufficient."

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "Now there are many surplus grains in the world, one is the Jianghuai and Zhejiang, so the Bian River canal transport is the lifeline of the capital. There is another area in Yizhou. It has been a country of Tianfu since ancient times, with a large population, fertile land, and abundant money and grain."

Ouyang Xiu said: "If the railway can be built to Yizhou, it would be amazing!"

Du Zhongxiao laughed at the hearing: "How is it possible! The road to Shu is more difficult than climbing to the sky. If you gather the power of the world, you cannot build the railway there. Even so, it is much more convenient to pave the railway in a suitable place to build the road."

How could the technology of this era be able to pave the railway into Sichuan? This is simply impossible. It is already very rare to be able to pave it to Xiangzhou and communicate with the Sichuan Basin with the help of the Han River and the Yangtze River.

This topic was revealed, and Du Zhongxiao said: "The most important thing now is to build the railway to Xiangzhou. As long as you get there, the north connects Kaifeng Prefecture and becomes a main road. Don't just look at Xiangzhou. This road connects the Han River, Huai River, Ru River, and Kaifeng Prefecture and then connects the Bian River. It radiates from east, west, south, north and north to the country. The future is promising. There is a bright future in Zaoyang to Xiangzhou, which is also convenient, which is incomparable to Suizhou. This is why the land camp is located here."

Even if the railway is built, water transportation in this era is still important, especially for large-scale materials such as grain. The biggest function of the railway is to connect many transportation lines to form a transportation network. As for what will happen in the future, it is not something Du Zhongxiao is considering.

This spring, the Khitan attacked Dangxiang in a large-scale attack, and the two countries were still fighting fiercely. The Song Dynasty army was tired, with food shortages on the border, and had no desire to fight, so they just sat on the mountain to watch the tiger fight. This great opportunity was missed, which shows how weak the military power was. At this time, either attack Dangxiang with the Khitan and share the benefits, or increase troops in Yanbian to restrain the Khitan, so there is no reason to sit idly.

At the same time, Guangnan Nong Zhigao broke up with Jiaozhi. Last year, Jiaozhi sent troops to conquer, but he was defeated. Nong Zhigao took advantage of the victory to integrate the surrounding forces and slowly grew up, which had exposed his ambition to attack Song from the north.

The Khitan and Dangxiang battle in the north and the Nongzhigao in the south were ready to go, which was a situation where chaos was about to begin. In the memory of Du Zhongxiao, this was the last opportunity to fight for military achievements and must not be missed.

The Yingtian who arrived at Jingxi Road was organized by the Xiang army, and it was also an army. Last year, the Yingtian Railway Supervision was established, and in the next two years, we would have to train troops. Once we had the opportunity and had the troops in our hands, we could make achievements.
Chapter completed!