Lingqu Canal.

The Lingqu Canal flows from east to west, connecting the Haiyang River to the east of Xing'an County (the source of the Xiangjiang River, flowing from south to north) and the Dayong River to the west of Xing'an County (the source of the Lijiang River, flowing from north to south). It is one of the oldest canals in the world.

Because Lingqu Canal was built in 214 BC by Qin Shihuang in order to attack Nanyue. Its purpose was to transport food and supplies to the troops on the front line, which is the same as building the Great Wall as a bridgehead for attacking the grassland.

After the Lingqu Canal was built, food and supplies could be transported by boat from Xianyang (later Chang'an, now Xi'an) to Guangdong.

You would never have thought that our ancestors more than 2,000 years ago were able to connect the north and the south through inland rivers, which also laid the foundation for our land area.

Zhang Zhe looked at the water flow of the Lingqu Canal, frowned and asked, "The flow of this small river is not as strong as the flow of our Buddhist treasure. Can we really sail on it?"

"Of course you can!" Chen Gu said with a smile.

The water flow of Lingqu Canal is indeed not large, otherwise it would not be called Lingqu Canal, but should be called Linghe.

Although the water flow of Lingqu Canal is not large, it has a complete water conservancy project, namely the steep gate.

A steep gate, or doumen, is a building on the South and North Canals that is used to raise the water level, store water for navigation, and function as a ship lock.

For example, when Chen Gu and his men's boats entered the water tank filled with water, they only needed to open the sluice gate to release the water, and the water level in the tank would be the same as that downstream, so the boats could sail out smoothly.

On the contrary, if the boat is going upstream, it is necessary to first drive the boat into the water trough, then close the sluice gate to store water and raise the water level to the same level as the upstream, and then the boat can be driven out.

For details, you can refer to how ships navigate through the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.

"Write about the steep gate of Lingqu Canal in the military log and daily notes. After we return to Chongqing, we must carefully sort out the rivers in the territory. As long as there is a need for navigation, we should consider building such a steep gate." Chen Gu said to Zhang Zhe.

Zhang Zhe nodded excitedly, and while recording, he said, "The Dacao River in the Buddhist Treasure also needs to have such a steep gate built. However, it seems that it will cost a lot to build such a steep gate. There are so many large and small rivers in the territory, and it will probably cost a lot of money to build steep gates for them all."

"Money is earned to be spent. You can't bring it with you when you are born and you can't take it with you when you die. Why keep it if you don't spend it? If you have money, repair it faster. If you don't have money, take your time and repair it bit by bit. Once it's repaired, it can be used for thousands of years. If you spread it out over annual expenses, there won't be much left." Chen Gu said with a smile.

This kind of thing will benefit the present and future generations, so you should do more within your ability. Your descendants will remember you for your kindness even after you die.

The Lingqu Canal connects to the Pearl River to the south and to the Xiangjiang River to the north. Starting from the Lingqu Canal, whether going north or south, you are going downstream, so the speed is very fast.

It was just that not many boats could be collected near Lingqu Canal that slowed down Chen Gu's marching speed. Along the way, Chen Gu forced people to buy various boats along the river to supplement the army. Finally, three days later, all the boats were replaced with large sailing ships. With full force, they arrived at Dongting Lake in just two days.

Another day later, we finally arrived outside Wuhan.

At this time, outside the city of Wuhan, 25,000 main troops of the Huaxia Tribe, 25,000 vassal troops, and 20,000 joint defense team security troops had gathered. Together with the 10,000 main troops brought by Chen Gu, the Huaxia Tribe's strength also reached nearly 100,000.

The chief general was Lao Piao, while Yunhua garrisoned Jingzhou with 5,000 main forces and 5,000 vassal troops.

In addition, Zheng Ming led the General Staff, and Lao Nian brought the Jinyiwei and the Intelligence Department and also rushed over. The 10,000 main forces and 20,000 joint defense teams in Chongqing were brought by these two people.

"Hello, leader!" Several people went to the dock to greet Chen Gu, and saluted after meeting. Chen Gu returned the salute and said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work. The situation is very good for my Huaxia Department at the moment. I hope you will continue to work hard to take Wuhan and then go down the Yangtze River!"

"How dare you not risk your life!" Several people answered in unison, with Lao Piao's voice being the loudest.

On the Wuhan city wall, Qing Gui put down his telescope and sighed, "It was said that the bandit chief was only a teenager. Seeing him today, I'm afraid he is less than 20 years old. I never thought that my Qing Dynasty would suffer such a great loss at the hands of such a little guy."

"Although this boy is young, he has a very vicious mind. He was born an executioner and his methods are cruel. Several high-ranking officials in our Qing Dynasty have died at his hands." Hongfeng said with a gloomy face.

Jilakan gave a bitter smile and said, "The bandit army is already strong, and now the bandit chief has brought reinforcements. The situation is worrying!"

"Hmph, what are you afraid of? If an enemy comes, we will fight him with our generals; if a flood comes, we will block it with our earth. No matter how powerful the enemy army is, I have a hundred thousand troops in Wuhan city. Can't we defend it?" Hongfeng snorted coldly and said.

"Don't be careless!" Fu Chang frowned and said, "When the enemy army came out of the mountains, there were only a thousand soldiers, but they were able to capture cities and strongholds and conquer the entire Sichuan in more than half a year. How could they be ordinary people? Wuhan is the last barrier of our Qing Dynasty, and we must not lose it!"

Everyone else fell silent.

The Qing court had a total of only more than 800,000 troops. The troops in the north were completely immobile. The troops in the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan in the south had already been eliminated by Chen Gu. The troops in Guangdong had to suppress the local areas and guard against the direction of Guangxi, so they dared not move rashly.

Pirates are rampant in Fujian and cannot be mobilized either.

Almost all the troops from the other provinces are here. The only ones that can be mobilized are those from the capital, Shengjing, Xi'an General's Mansion and Ningxia General's Mansion.

The troops of the Xi'an General's Mansion must be in Hanzhong to guard the Guangyuan direction. The Ningxia General's Mansion is too far away, and the capital has already mobilized 50,000 people.

Such a huge imperial court was actually facing a situation where its military forces were stretched to the limit.

It’s not that Jiaqing didn’t train new troops, but the various departments of the court were bloated, corruption was rampant among officials, and efficiency was very low. It took a year to build a single cannon, let alone train new troops.

The so-called new troops cannot be relied upon for the time being. Not to mention the new troops, even the combat effectiveness of the old soldiers is equally low.

This situation made Qinggui and others feel very sad.

The various ills of the court were so deep-rooted that they were difficult to reverse. They had no way to solve these problems. Their only hope was that Jiaqing would come to his senses, show iron-blooded methods, and slaughter a group of officials. Only then would there be hope of turning the tide.

However, Jiaqing was a kind and weak person, so it was very difficult for him to stand up.

Chen Gu glanced at the city wall and couldn't help but smile. The fate of the Qing Dynasty was already determined, and it all depended on how he wanted to reap the rewards.

It is unlikely to swallow it all in one go. For the time being, the best we can do is divide the area by the river. After taking Wuhan, the area south of the Yangtze River must be taken over.

(End of this chapter)