Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 383: From Formula to Port Construction
What if Cangzhou also wants to build a port?
What does this mean? Shopkeeper Hua was stunned, his expression was as dull as it could be. But soon, his initial helpless expression disappeared without a trace, replaced by an ecstasy that was difficult to conceal. He stared at Zhang Shou with wide eyes, and even his voice trembled a little: "Dr. Zhang, are you kidding? Are you serious?"
Zhang Shou knew that what others were looking forward to the most was his serious answer, so he took it seriously. However, his reaction was to laugh and said, "Oh, Manager Hua, don't take it too seriously. I was just talking casually."
Shopkeeper Hua was almost choked to death by Zhang Shou's careless tone. How could he believe that Zhang Shou was just talking casually - especially when the other party asked him why the Hua family had never engaged in maritime trade, and then asked him the reason in detail, and after understanding everything clearly, he threw out such a question, saying that he didn't come prepared... Who would believe it!
At this moment, he took a deep breath in his heart, and then forced a smile and said, "Dr. Zhang, this is not something you can joke about."
"Actually, I'm not kidding. During these days, the teacher came over and discussed astronomy with me, and water management with me. He also gave me a question before, saying that I should use mathematics to calculate the siltation of the waterway on the east coast of Cangzhou. Since it involves the waterway, I calculated it to my heart's content before, and just now I just said something wrong and blurted out the word 'build a port'."
Using mathematics to calculate the sedimentation of the waterway on the east coast of Cangzhou? What the hell is this? Can mathematics be used in this way? Shopkeeper Hua's brows were already furrowed into big lumps, his face full of disbelief.
Zhang Shou knew that the other party would definitely have such a reaction. Since he chose to bring out Teacher Ge to take the blame again, he was prepared. He said calmly: "The Yellow River changed its course in the past and flowed into the sea from the Zhangwei Xinhe River. Later, it gradually moved south and flowed into the sea from the Huai River. The coastal area east of Cangzhou was less affected by the silt from the Yellow River entering the sea, but was more affected by the erosion of sea water and sea breeze, which is why it has become the coastline today."
"There are also people from the Imperial Observatory in Cangzhou who record the weather. There are fewer windy days in summer and winter along the coast of Cangzhou, but there are many windy days in autumn, accounting for one-fifth of the windy days throughout the year. There are even more strong winds in spring, accounting for half of the year. Such strong winds may cause the waves to carry mud and sand, leading to siltation in the waterway..."
As he was talking, Zhang Shou suddenly reached behind him, and Ah Liu, who seemed to have been dozing off just now, immediately opened his eyes, took off a small bag on his back with extremely fast speed, and took out pens, ink, paper... and a paperweight from it.
The pen was a goose feather pen, and the ink was in a porcelain bottle. He skillfully spread out the paper on the small table beside Zhang Shou, then pressed it with a paperweight, and then dipped the goose feather pen in the ink before handing it to Zhang Shou. The whole action was familiar and gentle, and Peanut, who was watching beside him, was amazed and wanted to help, but found that he could not help at all.
Shopkeeper Hua, who was standing by, just listened to Zhang Shou writing as he said in a very calm tone: "If mathematics is to play a role in calculating channel siltation, we must establish relevant models to simulate the movement of silt in strong winds and waves, so as to reflect the laws of silt movement and channel siltation. Of course, first we have to describe the changes in waves in strong winds."
"In the rectangular coordinate system, the dynamic spectrum equilibrium equation of waves is a/at N+a/ax Cx N+a/ay Cy N+a/aσ Cσ N+a/aθ Cθ N＝S/σ... and the mathematical expression of the sediment entrainment force under the combined force of waves and currents is (a(hs))/at+(a(hu s))/ax+(a(hv s))/ay+..."
“…”
Shopkeeper Hua watched Zhang Shou scribbling on the paper. Although he could see the symbols, he felt dizzy. He could not understand them. The more he read, the more drowsy he became. In the end, he even felt awe-inspiring as if he was reading a book in heaven. He did not understand any of the words Zhang Shou said, such as "wind increases water", "wind increases flow", "waves generate flow", etc.
Not only him, Xiao Huasheng also tried hard to identify the words written by Zhang Shou, and the more he read, the more stars appeared in front of his eyes. When he really couldn't bear it, he could only glance at Ah Liu next to him as if asking for help, and then gently pulled his sleeve and asked pitifully: "Sixth brother, do you understand?"
The next moment, he saw Ah Liu glance at him, as if to say, "Are you a fool?" Thinking of how Lao Xianyu had scolded him for not reading, he suddenly felt ashamed, but then he heard Ah Liu's voice.
"I'm not Grand Tutor Ge or Lu Sanlang, how can I possibly understand?"
Manager Hua was immediately moved. He knew Lu Sanlang. He was once one of the most famous dandies in the capital. Now he was the head of Jiuzhang Hall and a prodigal son praised by the emperor himself. But from the tone of his voice, how could he be compared with Old Master Ge? Just as he was thinking this, he heard Zhang Shou curse without even raising his head.
"A-Liu, if Teacher Ge hears you putting him and Lu Sanlang on the same level, he will glare at you to death!"
Ah Liu raised his lips and said nonchalantly, "Old Master Ge is very generous. He said that his greatest hope is to surpass his teacher. Last time, he told me that he hopes the young master can surpass him in the future, and that Lu Sanlang can surpass the young master in the future."
Zhang Shou suddenly burst into laughter. He put down his pen and handed two sheets of paper filled with formulas to Shopkeeper Hua. Seeing that Hua took them with a stiff face, he said calmly, "This is what my teacher and I calculated. In summary, the amount of sediment discharged by the Yellow River into the sea is completely different in drought years and flood years. The impact on the waterway east of the Cangzhou coast..."
After hearing Zhang Shou's long speech, Shopkeeper Hua felt like he was living a year in a day. For the first time, he regretted questioning someone's professional field. In summary? These four words sound easy to understand, but the question is what did Zhang Shou say before to reach such a conclusion!
After waiting for Zhang Shou to finish, he finally felt relieved when he heard that it was the silt from the offshore waves that was more likely to cause siltation in the channel, and that it was the siltation in the outer channel. He immediately forced a smile and said carefully, "Dr. Zhang, I understand what you said. Will the construction of the Cangzhou port be successful?"
Before he could finish asking whether the siltation of the channel would affect the construction of the port, Zhang Shou's eyes lit up and he said with a smile: "Oh? Shopkeeper Hua, you understand? Then this dynamic equilibrium equation..."
Peanut looked at Shopkeeper Hua, who looked pale under Zhang Shou's eloquent speech, with pity. Seeing the young man behind him couldn't help but wipe his sweat, he couldn't help but think to himself, if Shopkeeper Hua was dumber and just admitted that he didn't understand, would he not have to endure this bombardment of terrifying mathematical knowledge? However, he thought again and couldn't help but sigh.
If Manager Hua had not said that he understood just now, but instead said that he did not understand... perhaps Zhang Shou would have explained it even more clearly, right?
After going through the baptism of the complex equation explanation again, Manager Hua finally understood why this young man could take on the position of Imperial College Doctor. Because Zhang Shou really likes to teach others! This time, he saw an opportunity and frankly admitted his poor talent. Then he asked in a sincere tone whether it was possible to build a port in Cangzhou.
This time, Zhang Shou finally spoke, and his answer was very direct: "Cangzhou is close to the Grand Canal, and there is a Jianhe River that flows directly into the sea. In terms of geography and hydrology, although it is not as good as Tianjin, it is not far behind. As for the siltation of the waterway, as long as it is not a huge ship with a capacity of 10,000 tons, it is actually not a problem. But the biggest problem now is... the court has no money!"
The young man behind Shopkeeper Hua was almost dumbfounded. The court has no money... Why are you saying that the court has no money? Are you kidding me? The shopkeeper must be furious! However, when he turned his head to look at Shopkeeper Hua, he was surprised to find that the shopkeeper was not angry at all. His face was even filled with some kind of surprise that he could not understand at all!
"It's not surprising that the court can't allocate money and grain for the time being. After all, the world is so big that money is needed everywhere. The emperor is already the most frugal emperor in history. In addition, the ministers often block it. We can empathize with these difficulties."
Shopkeeper Hua's words were very nice. Seeing Zhang Shou smiled and didn't respond to his words, he tried to probe: "The Hua family can contact those merchants in Suzhou. In fact, everyone has a heart to serve the country..."
Seeing Zhang Shou just smiling without saying anything, he knew that his excuse was not very clever, so he just made up his mind and said directly: "To the north of Suzhou, Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture are also close to the sea, but there are many sandbanks to the east of Yangzhou Prefecture, which is not conducive to sea transportation. And Huai'an Prefecture has complex hydrology because the Yellow River takes the Huai River to flow into the sea. Haizhou is a port, but it is not connected to the canal..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Shou said with a smile: "If it is Haizhou, it is also possible to go from Huai'an to Andong, and then from the Hongze Lake waterway to Lianhe River, right?"
"Yes, but no." Shopkeeper Hua didn't expect Zhang Shou to be so familiar with the geography of Jiangnan. He knew he couldn't hide it anymore, so he said directly, "Although salt is not a monopoly nowadays, the quality of Huai salt is famous throughout the southeast. Rich people need the best quality Huai salt, and even use salt to bathe. Therefore, Huai'an is full of merchants of all kinds, and Su merchants don't have much advantage."
After all, you Suzhou merchants have enemies everywhere? It's not that bad, you will be bullied like this once you leave this prefecture?
No matter how Zhang Shou thought about it, he felt that this matter was a bit strange, and his doubts were clearly revealed in his eyes.
In response to his question, Manager Hua simply gave up and exposed his shortcomings: "Grandpa Taizu opposed Liujiagang in the past, and later told people that Suzhou and Songjiang accounted for half of the country's financial resources, so Suzhou has always been the target of public criticism in the southeast. Everyone says that Suzhou is not favored by Grandpa Taizu... But in fact, this is not the case at all!"
"If we take this literally, then doesn't Grandpa Taizu also dislike Songjiang?"
Although Shopkeeper Hua stopped talking at this point, Zhang Shou still found it a little funny. However, he didn't want to pursue some distant history, so he just narrowed his eyes and said lightly: "Speaking of which, it's too expensive to transport Suzhou silk to Cangzhou via the canal and then go out to sea, right?"
Shopkeeper Hua hurriedly raised his voice and said, "We can afford the extra cost..."
It's better than being choked by those damn profiteers, buying at a low price, and then sending it out to sea to sell at a high price! If it really doesn't work... He thought of the dilemma of surplus manpower that Cangzhou would have to face in the future, took a deep breath, and said word by word: "In the future, we can send all the silk to Cangzhou, recruit a group of weavers in Cangzhou, and then send the finished products out to sea!"
Zhang Shou immediately laughed: "Instead of sending silk all the way from Suzhou, and then hiring local workers to weave it into silk and sell it, why not plant trees in Cangzhou and raise tussah silkworms? Although tussah silkworms are not as good as mulberry silkworms, their low price is also their advantage. Of course, if you think it is profitable to transport finished silk, it is fine to send it from Suzhou to Cangzhou."
Shopkeeper Hua had only said that out of spite, but now he heaved a sigh of relief.
You know, many people in Suzhou make a living by weaving silk. If we really transfer silk weaving to Cangzhou, even if it is only a small part, the situation in Suzhou will definitely be more terrifying than the previous scene in Cangzhou - because there are more people in Suzhou, once there are too many unemployed people, it will be chaos! As for whether Songjiang will change because of the new textile machines... who cares if they live or die!
He agreed without thinking, but when he was about to discuss the funding, Zhang Shou said with a half-smile, "The court is short of money, but it's not much, and there are many people who want to give money to the court. Just yesterday, a big silk merchant from Luzhou came from afar to ask if I have a new loom that can be used for silk weaving."
Seeing that Shopkeeper Hua was immediately nervous, Zhang Shou smiled and said, "Silk weaving is different from cotton weaving, so the machines are of course different. I also hope to make a machine that doubles the efficiency, but unfortunately, it can't be achieved overnight."
Hearing this, the clerk behind Shopkeeper Hua felt relieved, thinking that Suzhou would not have such a mess as Cangzhou in the short term, but Shopkeeper Hua would not be so relaxed. Sure enough, what Zhang Shou said immediately afterwards completely confirmed his premonition.
"I heard that Cangzhou might open a port, and that person patted his chest on behalf of the merchants in Luzhou who run Lu silk business, saying that they would definitely do their best to donate money to help."
Shopkeeper Hua immediately pinched his palms with his fingernails to remind himself that this was as it should be, and he didn't need to be discouraged or panic. He tried his best to maintain the most stable and decent smile, and said calmly: "So that's how it is. Northern merchants have been controlled by the chaos in Tianjin for a long time."
He stole a glance at Zhang Shou, and did not continue to ask about the reaction in Tianjin, etc., but went straight to the point and said: "In this case, I can represent the Jiangsu merchants and undertake 30% of all the expenses for the construction of Cangzhou Port. Please, Dr. Zhang, please make a request for me!"
The 30% share was something he had just rethought in his mind. It could not only guarantee the corresponding voice and share, but also not easily stimulate other northern merchants. More importantly, it could show the support and determination of the Su merchants to those in the court behind Zhang Shou who supported the construction of Cangzhou Port! As for his self-willed decision... Haha, God knows how many years the elders in the clan have been busy trying to break through the sea route!
