After all, she came from a family of military generals, and Qing Mulan had already realised the advantages of hot air balloons in military use.
Whether for attack or defence, hot air balloons paired with grenades were absolutely devastating weapons.
At the very least, they could be used as observation platforms to monitor the enemy’s every move.
No wonder Jin Feng repeatedly emphasised secrecy when leaving the city.
Such a lethal weapon truly needed to be kept secret.
“Old Eagle has not been doing this for just one day. He knows who can use it and who cannot,” Jin Feng said. “As for you, you are carefree all day long, so do not let anything slip.”
“Rest assured, sir. Even if you beat me to death, I would not say a word,” Qing Mulan replied. “But even if Lord Wei and I say nothing, and the hunters say nothing, such a huge cloth bag floating in the sky can be seen from more than ten li away. If it leaks out, do not blame me.”
“You have reminded me…”
Hearing this, Jin Feng could not help but frown slightly. When Old Eagle usually trained with hot air balloon flights, he always chose places where there were few people.
There were not many people around Yulei Mountain either, due to years of flooding.
But next, the places they needed to survey did not have many such locations left.
Jin Feng did not have a particularly good solution for this either.
“Forget it. In the future, we will try to survey at dawn. If that really does not work, we will climb mountains to observe.”
The hot air balloon was one of Jin Feng’s greatest trump cards and could not be exposed lightly.
Moreover, the most important part of this project was around Dujiangyan, and that area had already been clearly surveyed. Other places could be surveyed using the old methods.
Over the next few days, the group went on to survey other surrounding areas, and only then returned to Xichuan City.
“Why did you come back so quickly? How did the survey go?”
Although the Ninth Princess had never been involved in water conservancy, she knew this was a major project and had thought the two of them would need a long time to survey.
They came back in just a few days, which made the Ninth Princess somewhat doubt whether Wei Dadong had taken the survey seriously.
“All the survey results are here.”
Wei Dadong took out a thick stack of draft paper from his bundle and placed it on the table.
The draft paper showed detailed topographic maps, clearly marking where channels needed to be dug and where dams needed to be built.
The Ninth Princess carefully flipped through the maps for a while and slowly said, “The survey is very thorough. How did you manage this in just a few days?”
“I naturally have my methods,” Jin Feng said with a smile. “As for what those methods are, do not ask. I can guarantee that these geomancy maps are real, drawn stroke by stroke after Lord Wei and I personally surveyed the sites.”
“I can testify to that,” Qing Mulan said. “We exhausted four horses in these few days.”
“You have worked hard.”
The Ninth Princess did not pursue Jin Feng’s methods further, but smiled and looked at Wei Dadong.
“Not hard at all, not hard at all,” Wei Dadong quickly waved his hands. “As long as it is to find a way for the people to survive, this humble official would be willing even to be worked to death like a warhorse.”
“Then what does Lord Wei think of the survey results? Does the method the gentleman mentioned work?”
“It does work, but…”
“But what?”
“But this project is simply too large, far larger than I imagined!”
Wei Dadong picked up a map and pointed in the direction of Yulei Mountain. “Mister Jin not only wants to cut through Yulei Mountain and build a Bao… Bao Ping Kou. Sir, that is what it is called, right?”
“Yes,” Jin Feng nodded. “I plan to call this entire project Dujiangyan. In addition to Bao Ping Kou, there are also Feisha Weir and the Fish Mouth for water diversion.”
As he spoke, he took out a brush and wrote the words Feisha Weir and Fish Mouth on the map.
“Your Highness, Mister Jin not only wants to build Dujiangyan, but also to build artificial channels on the eastern side of Yulei Mountain, diverting the river water that flows through Bao Ping Kou to the eastern side into the Jiangan River, Zouma River, Baitiao River, and Qingbai River.”
Wei Dadong pointed at the map, found the locations of several rivers, and showed them to the Ninth Princess.
“The Jiangan River, Zouma River, and Baitiao River are manageable, as they are not far from Yulei Mountain. But the Qingbai River is far away, and it will probably require the construction of dozens of li of channels. That would require too much manpower.”
Wei Dadong frowned.
“Lord Wei, you are mistaken. I do not only intend to build around Dujiangyan. There are other places as well.”
Jin Feng took a new map from the shelf in the study. “All these places marked in red must be built.”
“This… this…”
Wei Dadong was so shocked that he could not speak.
Only after a long while did he calm down. He stared at the map for a moment and said in disbelief, “Sir, if you build so many canals at the same time, I am afraid more than half of Sichuan and Shu will have to be mobilised.”
The canals marked by Jin Feng covered almost more than half of the Sichuan Basin. Altogether, they were far larger than the project around Dujiangyan.
“Lord Wei, given the situation this year, if the people are not put to work, what will they eat in winter?”
The Ninth Princess said, “As I have said before, you only need to see whether the gentleman’s plan is feasible. As for money and grain, the gentleman and I will find a way.”
The disaster area this time was too large. Almost all of Sichuan and Shu were affected.
The northern mountainous areas were relatively better off, with higher terrain and rainwater quickly draining to the southeast.
Moreover, there was game and fungi in the mountains. If it really came to it, there were also more edible tree roots.
The most severe area was still the basin in the central and southern parts of Sichuan and Shu. The people relied almost entirely on farming for food. Without grain, they could only starve.
Winter had only passed a small part of its course. Without relief, who knew how many people would starve to death.
In addition to building canals, Jin Feng also planned to build roads in the northern mountainous areas.
In short, as many people as could be mobilised would be mobilised.
“This humble official will take a look.”
Hearing this, Wei Dadong picked up the new map.
The new map was entirely marked with canals, all built on flat terrain. Their main function was to connect water systems across various regions. The workload was relatively large, but there were no major construction difficulties or bottlenecks.
Wei Dadong finished looking through it quickly and nodded slightly. “It is feasible.”
“Then build it.”
The Ninth Princess slapped the table and made the decision.
The benefits of developing water conservancy were too many. During floods, it could discharge water to prevent flooding. In normal times, it could store water. During drought seasons, the stored river water could be used to irrigate farmland.
In fact, she and Jin Feng had already discussed this plan before. Bringing Wei Dadong here was merely to confirm it once more.
While Jin Feng and Wei Dadong were surveying the Dujiangyan waters, the Ninth Princess and Qing Xin Yao were not idle either.
At this point, all the grain from the nobles had already reached the Ninth Princess. Over these few days, the grain had been transported to surrounding areas, centred on Xichuan City.
The escort guards, merchant guilds, and money house clerks travelling with them had all made preparations. Once they received the Ninth Princess’s orders, they immediately took action.
The areas around Xichuan City, which had previously been filled with starving corpses, suddenly burst into boundless vitality within just a few days.
Construction sites could be seen everywhere.
Some were building brick kilns for Jin Feng, some were repairing roads and building bridges, and others were constructing canals.
The people of Sichuan and Shu were the most capable of enduring hardship. They were not afraid of dirt or fatigue, only of not having enough to eat.
Without the need for escort guards to supervise, the people worked very consciously, afraid that the guards would think they were slacking off and drive them away.
Toward Jin Feng, who was willing to extend them grain on credit and charge only extremely low interest, they felt genuine gratitude from the bottom of their hearts.
