I Build an Aircraft Carrier in the Ming Dynasty

Yongxing's fiscal revenue in the 18th year is estimated to be 1.2 trillion yuan.

The total GDP is about 12 trillion yuan, and the per capita annual income is 15,000 yuan.

(The data in the previous article is a bit unreasonable. From now on, this data will be used to benchmark future generations. The data is too complicated and I have collapsed. Don’t take it seriously.)

Of the 1.2 trillion, 200 billion was invested in agricultural construction.

Among them, the most important one is the construction of water conservancy projects.

The land that has not been cultivated today is basically for one reason: it is far away from water sources.

Water is the source of all things, and even drought-tolerant plants need water.

Of the 200 billion, 150 billion was used to build water conservancy projects.

There are super-large projects such as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, and there are also medium-sized projects such as regulating the Huaihe River.

But there are more small-scale water canal constructions all over the country.

Nanxiong is a small basin in the mountains.

Theoretically, Nanxiong has about one million acres of cultivated land.

However, the cultivated land area in Nanxiong today is only 400,000 acres, and the development level is less than half.

The reason for this is lack of water.

The lack of water in cultivated land does not mean that Nanxiong is short of water. The main reason is that the rainy season and the dry season are too distinct.

During the rainy season, heavy rains fall for several months, and the water rushes to Beijiang, merges into the Pearl River, and finally flows into the sea.

In the dry season, there is no rain for several months.

It is actually very easy to solve this problem. There are several places in Nanxiong's jurisdiction that are suitable for building reservoirs.

We just need to build more reservoirs to intercept the water in the rainy season, and then open the gates to release the water in the dry season.

In this way, water for farmland is ensured and electricity can be generated incidentally.

In March, construction began on the Kongjiang Reservoir in northern Guangdong.

Kongjiang Reservoir is a natural reservoir, but its water storage capacity is average.

As long as a high enough dam is built, the water storage capacity of the reservoir can be greatly increased.

Along with the Kongjiang Reservoir, construction of the city’s irrigation canals was started.

Establish a reasonable irrigation network to maximize the use of water resources.

After establishing this network, land that is not suitable for cultivation can be turned into fertile farmland.

"I would rather die than become an official in Dahua."

Nanxiong Chief Guo Xian looked at the huge construction team and sighed with emotion.

In the previous dynasties, how could the imperial court pay attention to a place like Nanxiong that was so indifferent.

But now, even in such a quiet place, the court has invested huge sums of money and launched such a large-scale project.

Guo Xian estimates that after the project is completed, Nanxiong's cultivated land area will at least double and agricultural income will at least double.

Moreover, this can also stimulate other industries.

In short, during his tenure, Nanxiong's economy will undergo earth-shaking changes, and this will definitely be credited to him, and his promotion will be appropriate.

The imperial court helped him solve his biggest trouble. He only needed to be responsible for the specific execution according to the order, and he could get credit by ensuring that nothing went wrong.

This kind of official is too relaxed.

Small water conservancy projects like Nanxiong are also in full swing in other parts of Dahua.

At the same time, some other irrigation projects are also underway.

For example, the construction of karez in Tubo was massive.

Many people know about the Great Wall and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, but they don’t know what a karez is.

But in fact, the karez and those two projects were merged into the three major projects in ancient China.

Its scale, role and significance cannot be underestimated.

Qanat is a special desert irrigation system commonly found in Turpan and Hami.

Qanat can take advantage of the slope of the hillside to cleverly guide underground water to the surface for irrigation.

Karez does not require power, can naturally drain water, and has less evaporation. It is simple to construct and easy to manage.

For areas such as Turpan, it is the most suitable irrigation facility.

In the past, people of all dynasties and generations would dig karez voluntarily, but this spontaneous behavior had the disadvantage of low efficiency.

This time, the Dahua court sent a professional guidance team to systematically plan nearly 10,000 karats, which would cover a wider area of ​​cultivated land and achieve higher utilization rates of water resources.

According to estimates, upon completion of this project, the area of ​​cultivated land and grain production in the region will increase significantly, and the per capita income will directly increase by at least 50%.

Moreover, turning this area into a granary can also reduce some of Dahua's burdens.

Previously, the food production here could not keep up with the population growth, and it had always been necessary to rely on railways to transport food from the Central Plains.

After this area is built into a granary, these expenses can be saved.

In Hebei, a well drilling team works in the field.

They are digging deep wells.

Hebei is short of water, but there is no shortage of groundwater.

It's just that the groundwater is very deep, and people in the past couldn't use it.

This is not a problem for Dahua. Dahua's strategy is to dig deep wells in this area and then install pumps to solve the water shortage problem in the area.

Drilling a well has never been an easy task. In the traditional way of drilling a well, if you want to drill it deep, the well head must be large. If it is too small, people cannot work underground.

If the wellhead is too large, the project volume will be very large, the cost will be huge, and the gain will not be worth the loss. It will also cause great damage to the ground surface.

It is bad, and it will also cause greater safety hazards.

Moreover, this depth is also very limited. If it exceeds more than ten meters, breathing and lighting are problems.

If it were an individual household in rural areas digging a well, it would be great to be able to drill a well as deep as five or six meters. There is no need to count on deep wells.

At this time, the power of the state is needed.

The Imperial Court of Dahua sent a professional team and brought professional well-drilling machinery.

This kind of well drilling machine allows people to dig very small wells without having to dig wells. The damage to the ground surface can also be minimized.

When the well was being dug, the people in the village came to watch.

I saw the twist-like drill bit going down, and after a roar, the drill bit came up.

Those concave parts are covered with sand and gravel. With a slight flick, the sand and gravel are thrown away, and the drill bit enters the well again. This is repeated, drilling deeper and deeper.

"It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable. What the hell is this? How can you dig up the mud?"

The old man in the village was puzzled.

"Good guy, look at how long it extends. It's at least seven or eight feet long. From now on, we won't have to worry about running out of water when farming."

The prime-age labor force was very happy. They didn't care how it dug a well. They only saw that it could bring huge benefits to themselves and reduce the pressure to support their families.

And those children stared at the well-drilling machine for several days.

Among them, there are also some people who have the dream of becoming a well drilling machine operator in the future.

Deep wells are dug, cement ditches are built, and a granary is born.