"Oh? Lord Changsun, please speak!" Although he hated this Yin man, Li Yan had to answer the other party's question. Li Shimin and civil and military officials also looked at the two of them.

"This cement is indeed magical, but I don't know how much it costs?" Changsun Wuji smiled slightly and asked the key point at once. Li Shimin and others who were still excited just now also calmed down and looked at Li Yan with a nervous look on their faces. This cement is good, but good things are generally very expensive. If the cost of cement is too high, it will be more than worth the loss.

Li Yan smiled slightly. As a later generation, he would not know the importance of the cost-effectiveness of goods. Although he did not understand the materials and labor costs of cement, Bai Qing, the head of the company, knew it very well. So Li Yan waved to Bai Qing and said, "Mr. Changsun asked, "Although I provided the method of firing cement, the specific operation was made by Bai Shucheng, so he would introduce it to everyone." Kong Yingda and others were hesitant when they heard that cement was invented by Li Yan. No wonder Li Yan was responsible for this matter.

Bai Qing's excited legs were trembling, and he walked to the scene tremblingly, saluting Li Shimin and all officials and said, "I will be the chief of the supervisor Bai Qing, long live my emperor, and see you all."

"Quickly flatten your body, how much does this cement cost?" Li Shimin asked anxiously.

"Your Majesty, the materials used in this cement are very ordinary and the prices are very cheap. It's just that calcining is very expensive and consumes fuel." When Bai Qing said this, he pointed to the standing cement board with his finger and said, "For example, the cement used in this cement board, the cost of cement plus sand and stone is about fifteen cents."

"Fifteen cents?" Li Shimin frowned. The price is not low. You should know that the current price of grain is only five cents per dou. If you want to build a cement road from Chang'an to Luoyang, it would probably cost at least four or five million yuan! And the Tang Dynasty only had a year of tax revenue, and all the cement roads were gone.

"Father, what Bai Shucheng said is the current cost. If cement is burned on a large scale in the future, the cost can be further reduced. I guess the Erchen will never exceed ten cents. And with the improvement of the process in the future, there is still room for price to decline." Li Yan stepped forward and promised, and his words were immediately approved by Bai Qing.

"If the price can be reduced to less than ten cents, even if my Tang Dynasty is fighting for deficits, it will still build the road. This is a holy exercise that will protect my Tang Dynasty forever!" Fang Xuanling could no longer hold it back and stood up excitedly and said.

After hearing what Fang Xuanling said, many long-term officials agreed and went forward to ask Li Shimin to issue an order, and the Ministry of Works was responsible for expanding the production of cement. Some cautious ministers did not object, but suggested that a few roads could be repaired first to see the effect. If it was feasible, it would not be too late to build them in large quantities.

Li Shimin was also in a dilemma. The treasury was not very wealthy. He had always wanted to find opportunities to conquer Goguryeo. Tubo was not peaceful. There was no need to know when a war would break out. Although the Tang Dynasty had a great family and had great business, money was needed everywhere. How could he not see the importance of the road? But if the Tang Dynasty fought for several years to build roads, it would be impossible to do anything at that time. Moreover, the Tang Dynasty would also take a defensive stance to the outside world. This was indeed a very painful thing for an emperor with strong ambitions.

After thinking for a long time, Li Shimin didn't make up his mind. Finally, he just said: "Cement must be expanded production and roads must be repaired, but this cost is still too high. Let me think about it for a few days!"

After Li Shimin finished speaking, he dispersed the court. This time, no one was asked to stay, so he took the imperial guards and returned to the palace. The civil and military officials below also dispersed, but some curious people were reluctant to leave and surrounded the cement workshop to see the cement production process, but for the sake of confidentiality, Li Yan invited them out.

It is easy for officials to deal with. Li Yan came forward and said that they would go out, and some people didn't even need to go there in person. When they heard that the cement workshop was to be kept confidential, they immediately went out consciously. However, not everyone had this kind of look. What was surprising was that this person was not a splash like Cheng Yaojin, but a third-rank civil servant wearing purple clothes.

Li Yan noticed this person from the beginning, and he knew each other, but because of his affection, he felt embarrassed to go up and drive him away. He thought that based on his identity as this person, he would leave consciously when he saw him driving him here, but unexpectedly, until the other officials left the cement workshop, the man still stood there with a smile.

Li Yan had no choice but to bite the bullet and walked forward, bowed to the ground and said, "I'm going to see Uncle Fang!" Although Li Yan was the prince, Fang Xuanling was an old man who conquered the world with Li Shimin. In private, Li Shimin was a peer-to-peer relationship with them, so as long as it was not a formal occasion, Li Yan called Fang Xuanling and other old ministers.

"Haha, Liu Huang is here to drive me out?" Fang Xuanling said with a smile.

Li Yan complained in his heart, since you know it, why are you still so ignorant? But these are just something you can think about in your heart, and he dare not say it in person.

"Uncle Fang is so serious. Of course, this place is kept confidential to others, but of course it is not necessary to you." Li Yan smiled in dishearteningly.

"Okay, Your Highness Liang, don't play your tricks in front of me." How could Li Yan hide his little thoughts from the eyes of his old official fox? The reason why he stayed here was of course because he had something to look for him, and Li Yan also vaguely guessed this.

Fang Xuanling thought about it for a while, and then said, "What does Your Highness Liang think about road construction?"

Li Yan was stunned. Unexpectedly, Fang Xuanling stayed to ask about road construction. This is not the same as cement. Cement is just a new thing that benefits the country and the people. He only gave it his merits but did not succeed, but road construction is different. This is a political affairs related to the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. Without Li Shimin's permission, he could not discuss the government affairs. Fang Xuanling has been in the court for so many years and will not even know this. So what does he mean by asking himself this way?

Li Yan couldn't guess what Fang Xuanling was thinking for a while. Fortunately, he reacted quickly. He was stunned for a moment and said hurriedly: "Uncle Fang, you are asking the wrong person. I am a idle person, how can I understand the affairs of the court?"

Fang Xuanling's bright eyes kept observing Li Yan's every move. Seeing Li Yan reacting so quickly, he secretly praised him. As the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, his skills of observing people were the basis for being an official. Since Li Yan recited the Three Character Classic in elementary school last time, Fang Xuanling had noticed Li Yan. After this time of direct or indirect contact, Fang Xuanling could conclude that among the scholars of Taizong, if you talk about talent and intelligence, almost no one can match Li Yan.

Unfortunately, Li Yan and Li Ke, the two most outstanding princes, had the royal blood of two dynasties, which was destined to be out of reach for the throne of the Tang Dynasty! Fang Xuanling thought of this and sighed in her heart. Although Li Shimin was still young and the crown prince had chosen it early, the performance of the crown prince in recent years has made many ministers dissatisfied. Li Shimin also had the idea of ​​Yi Chu. As one of the most important strategists under Li Shimin, Fang Xuanling was also worried about this problem.

Thinking of these troubles, Fang Xuanling was a little depressed, so he didn't want to circle around Li Yan anymore, so he said straight to the point: "Liulang, I have something important to discuss with you this time, so you don't care about it. Just say whatever you think. Just call me uncle, then today I will sell you an old man, let's just treat it as an elder and chat with younger generations. What do you think?"

After all this, Li Yan said what else could he say, and he had no grudges and resentment with Fang Xuanling. As the number one person in the dynasty, he also used some conspiracy to him. So Li Yan stopped beating him and said seriously: "Since my uncle said that, then I will talk about his own opinions."

Li Yan paused here and listened seriously at Fang Xuanling, so he continued: "Building roads is of course a century-old plan, so I won't say much about the importance of the road. With my uncle's years of experience as an official, I must see more clearly than anyone else. So I think that this road must be built, but this road cannot be built in one or two days, so I cannot be in a hurry. You can first build a few main roads in Jiannan or other important places, and then build it in large quantities after the time is ripe."

Li Yan said very tactfully. Fang Xuanling was very enthusiastic about road construction just now and his attitude was very radical. He even said that he would have to build the road even after several years of deficit. Of course, Li Yan was a little strange. In theory, Fang Xuanling's steadyness should not be so radical. What's even more strange is that his statement has received support from many people.

"Haha, it seems that my nephew thinks I'm too radical, right?" Fang Xuanling of course heard the subtle voice of Li Yan, but was not angry at all, but said with a smile.

"I don't dare!" Li Yan hurriedly bowed and bowed. Although he said he didn't dare, his meaning was exactly the opposite.

"Oh! Actually, I don't know that this matter is too urgent, but for my country, I have to hurry!" Fang Xuanling suddenly sighed and said something that shocked Li Yan.

"What do you say about uncle?" After being shocked, Li Yan was in a mess. Now it was the tenth year of Zhenguan. It was the time when the country was prosperous and all industries were prosperous. It was even called the "Zhenguan Governance" by later generations. It was one of the famous prosperous times in history. I have never heard of anything that could threaten the country and country of the Tang Dynasty?

"Does Liulang know Your Majesty's ambition?" Fang Xuanling did not answer Li Yan's question, but instead asked another question that Li Yan couldn't touch it.

"This..." Li Yan hesitated for a moment, and suddenly realized that although he was Li Shimin's son, if he knew Li Shimin, he was really not as good as Fang Xuanling. After all, he was the number one important official under the emperor's father. His prince had not seen Li Shimin for ten days and half a month, and Fang Xuanling was with him almost every day to discuss matters.

"Your Majesty is a great lord, and it is not inferior to the Qin Emperor and Han Wu!" Fang Xuanling said this, his tone turned high-pitched. "His greatest wish is to wipe out all the powerful enemies around the Tang Dynasty in his lifetime and leave a peaceful and prosperous era for you descendants. Now the Turks have been destroyed, the northern grasslands are in chaos, and Tuyuhun has been pacified. Only Goguryeo in the southeast has not yet been conquered. Although Tubo has become increasingly powerful in the past two years, in the heart of Emperor Taizong, the one who wants to conquer the most is Goguryeo. Goguryeo took advantage of the civil strife in the Central Plains and occupied Liaodong. During the past few conquests, Emperor Yang of Sui returned without success. Instead, hundreds of thousands of Han men died in Liaodong. Whenever he talked about this, Your Majesty sighed... "

Fang Xuanling is worthy of being the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty and is very clear about Li Shimin's idea. Under his explanation, Li Yan also understood the reason why Fang Xuanling urgently wanted to build a road. It turned out that there were no strong enemies outside the Tang Dynasty and the country was very stable. Li Shimin also wanted to conquer Goguryeo. Although Fang Xuanling and Li Jing both opposed it, they could not change the decision made by Li Shimin.

Just when Fang Xuanling felt helpless, Li Yan suddenly invented cement, which made Fang Xuanling's inspiration. He thought that if the roads of the country were built on a large scale, it would definitely cost a lot of money. Even the treasury of the Tang Dynasty could not provide extra money and grain to support the large-scale war. This could not only greatly improve the traffic conditions of the Tang Dynasty, but also delay the conquest of Goguryeo. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone. After all, road construction cannot be completed in one year or two years. In addition, the time for building roads to accumulate strength after building roads, seven or eight years have passed. By then, maybe Li Shimin has changed his mind. It is precisely because of this plan that he actively supports road construction.

Politics is indeed the most complicated thing in the world, and there is no simple person in politics! After listening to Fang Xuanling's explanation, Li Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart, it was a very simple thing, but when it came to Fang Xuanling and others, it became extremely complicated. Who would have thought that building a road would involve the conquest of Goguryeo?

{Piaotian Literature www.piaotian.net Thank you for your support, your support is our greatest motivation}
Chapter completed!