12dz Chapter 766: Satisfaction of vanity.
Chapter 766: Satisfaction of vanity.
Ye Kun scratched his head and said with a smile:
"You are also very smart. For example, you are not as good as us in climbing trees. You are also good at eating coconuts, but we are not."
He Liqing laughed loudly, his vanity greatly satisfied.
Ye Kun suggested to He Liqing: "Your people don't work hard, you need to make them work harder."
He Liqing nodded, and displayed the power of a clan leader, shouting and directing everyone to work.
With the right tools and enough manpower, the work can be done quickly.
The canal, which was more than 20 miles long, was initially opened in 15 days.
But the river is very narrow and only small boats can pass through.
He Liqing took a small boat through the rainforest and experienced it for himself. He was so excited that he scratched his ears and shouted loudly.
The Ninth Prince asked, "Father, what is He Liqing talking about?"
"He was saying that he was thankful to the Han Emperor for opening up the rainforest. It will be very convenient for him to visit his grandmother's house in the future." Ye Kun spoke without hesitation.
The Ninth Prince didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "So Father, you can also understand the native language."
Ye Kun rolled his eyes: "You know I don't understand, but you still ask?"
Everyone around laughed when they heard this.
He Liqing returned to Ye Kun's side and clasped his fists and said:
"The Emperor of the Han Dynasty is truly amazing. Our ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years, but they didn't know how to dig a small river through the rainforest.
When our people were crossing the rain forest, many of them fell into the swamp and drowned, and some were eaten by pythons. Now that we have the river, we are no longer afraid. "
Ye Kun was surprised: "Is the python in the rain forest so powerful?"
He Liqing nodded: "Of course they are powerful. We are in the rain forest and we are most afraid of pythons. There are two pythons in the Laolongtan not far from the canal. They can even swallow elephants."
"Is it an exaggeration?" Ye Kun laughed.
As the saying goes, "human greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant." Ye Kun has never seen a python that can swallow an elephant.
Wen Axiu followed Ye Kun and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, don't laugh. It is recorded in ancient Chinese books that pythons over ten feet long are called anacondas. Anacondas over thirty feet long can swallow elephants. Anacondas over a hundred feet long can swallow red ants..."
Ye Kun was curious: "What is a red ant?"
"Red ants specialize in eating elephants. They are a kind of giant beast in legends."
"Look, our teacher Wen is still very knowledgeable. He knows everything from ancient times to the present, both in China and abroad."
Ye Kun exclaimed in admiration, and said to He Liqing: "Can we find the giant python in the Old Longtan you mentioned? If we can find it, we will kill it!"
He Liqing was startled: "We can find it, but the python is very powerful, we'd better not provoke it."
Ye Kun smiled and said, "No matter how powerful the python is, it's just a worm. Don't worry, we can definitely handle it."
He Liqing rolled his eyes and said, "Then I will prepare some bait and take you to see the python tomorrow morning."
Ye Kun nodded and asked He Liqing to prepare.
He Liqing left first with several of his assistants.
Ye Kun led everyone to garrison at the northern end of the Rainforest Canal to discuss the issue of widening and extending the canal.
Building an island is the same as building a mainland. First of all, you need transportation conditions.
Wen Axiu said: "Now that the canal is open, there are rainforests on both sides, and the space is too small. The canal needs to be widened further, and the rainforests on both sides need to be cleared to leave at least 100 meters, so that ventilation is facilitated and there is an open view.
Otherwise, some natives may hide in the rainforests on both sides and shoot arrows from behind, which is difficult for us to prevent. Maybe there are pythons hiding in the rainforests, and we can't find them.
Clearing the rainforest along the canal will also eliminate mosquitoes and improve the health and safety of people traveling on the canal.”
Ye Kun agreed with Wen Axiu's statement: "That's right, the rainforests on both sides of the canal need to be cleared. It's just that the difficulty is a bit great..."
It is really difficult to remove plants in tropical areas.
It's hot and rainy here, and if you throw any plant here, it will grow into a dense forest in a few months.
The big banyan trees in the rain forest each cover more than one acre of land.
The bigger the tree crown, the bigger the roots.
Even if you assign a hundred people to clean a large banyan tree in one day, it may not be possible.
A technician said, "Your Majesty, when we were building the Yunmian Highway, we used the method of spreading salt, which killed large areas of trees and thorns. I see that we can try it here."
It is close to the sea, so it is easy to make salt.
The salt used for weeding does not need to be refined, just dry it in the sun.
Ye Kun smiled and said, "It seems that this is the only way. Arrange personnel immediately to add a few salt drying fields on the seashore, dry more coarse salt, and scatter it in large quantities along both sides of the canal.
But we should not stop widening the canal. We cannot wait for the coarse salt. We have to do it step by step."
Everyone nodded.
The interpreter stretched out his hand and pointed to the north: "Go north over a small mountain range, and there is a large river valley not far away. Beyond the river valley are the several indigenous tribes that He Liqing mentioned."
Just as Ye Kun was about to answer, he suddenly saw a group of natives emerging from the distant mountains, waving their arms and shouting as they rushed over.
Some of the natives were holding crude weapons or simple bows and arrows.
Lu Kaijiang shouted: "The barbarians are attacking, everyone prepare for battle!"
The hundreds of soldiers present immediately protected Ye Kun.
The shield soldiers in front were fully armored and holding spears, ready for battle.
The musketeers in the second row had already raised their muskets and were looking calmly at the natives in the distance.
Ye Kun was not in a hurry. He took out his telescope to check the enemy situation.
The number of natives increased to about 1,500.
They were all in dishevel and covered their bodies with animal skins or leaves.
There was a mess of oil paint on his face.
Ye Kun watched for a moment and ordered, "Don't shoot. Wait until they get closer."
The weapons in the hands of the natives posed no threat to Ye Kun at all.
Gradually, the natives were approaching.
The natives in front began to shoot arrows.
The simple bows and arrows, with a range of less than 100 meters, were blocked by the shield soldiers in front of Ye Kun.
Lu Kaijiang shouted: "Your Majesty, please shoot! We can't just stand there and get beaten!"
Ye Kun nodded: "Kill the archers in front!"
Bang, bang, bang!
A volley of musket fire filled the air, and the native archers fell to the ground one after another.
The natives in the rear, still reckless, continued to charge forward.
Lu Kaijiang waved his hand and said, "Keep shooting, and wipe out this group of savages!"
The gunshots became more frequent and deafening.
Half of the natives who rushed up fell down in a blink of an eye.
The remaining half, seeing that the situation was not good, retreated in a hurry.
"Come after me!"
Lu Kaijiang urged his horse and charged out first.
More than thirty cavalrymen followed Lu Kaijiang, encircling the natives from both sides and cutting off their retreat.
The interpreter shouted: "Get down, surrender, and you won't die!"
The natives understood, dropped their weapons, and squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands.
In less than half an hour of fighting, Ye Kun declared a complete victory.
More than 400 healthy natives were captured at the scene, all of them trembling with fear.
Ye Kun called the interpreter: "Ask them, who is the boss here?"