Chapter five hundred and thirtieth: Daming civilians working
It can be said that a group of people is divided into several parts. Some are smoothing the road ahead, some are stacking stones, and some are responsible for pouring cement on the road and smoothing it. Everything seems so orderly. At first glance, the road repairs look so...
Complex projects seemed to become extremely easy in the hands of these people.
At least in the eyes of Zhu Houzhao, Wang Yangming, Zhang Lun and others, they only felt that these people were able to repair a mile of road in one day with such an orderly advancement.
It can be said that if Li Huan hadn't brought them to see it with their own eyes, just based on what Li Huan told them, to be honest, they really wouldn't believe it.
You must know that even if it is a road like the official road, the court's expedition, labor, and repair of the official road cannot be so fast.
The most important thing is that the official road repaired by the imperial court in the past was to consolidate the ground. However, if such a road can be maintained for more than half a year after repair, it is good. However, after a few heavy rains, the official road may be damaged.
It will become muddy and even difficult to navigate.
Now looking at the repaired and extremely smooth road in front of them, and even the wet and even shiny road surface that had just been smoothed, and then looking at the road surface not far behind them that had become extremely solid, everyone couldn't help but have a feeling in their hearts.
Infinite emotion.
If the road surface in front of us is really as Li Huan said, once it solidifies in a few days, then these wet roads will be as hard as stones, the meaning contained in this can be imagined.
Taking a deep breath, Zhu Houzhao suppressed the excitement in his heart and looked at Li Huan and said tremblingly: "Li Qing, is all this true? After these things dry up, can they really become like those roads just now?"
Li Huan smiled and said, "If your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can find out by looking at it in a few days."
In fact, Zhu Houzhao did not doubt Li Huan's words. Such a big thing, and Li Huan mobilized an army to bring so many people here, is enough to prove that this matter cannot be false, and Li Huan will not be here.
This kind of thing deceives a lot of people.
It's just that this surprise was so shocking that even an emperor like Zhu Houzhao couldn't react for a while.
On the other hand, those on the side were staring intensely at the big men who were mixing cement not far away. To be precise, they were staring at the cement being mixed by those big men.
I heard Yang Yiqing say to Li Huan: "Mr. Qin, if Yang is not mistaken, if you want to repair such a rock-solid road, you will definitely not be able to do without the cement you just mentioned."
Li Huan couldn't help but look at Yang Yiqing with admiration, nodded slightly and said, "What Yang Bingbu said is true. If we want to repair this cement road, we must consume a lot of cement."
Yang Yiqing immediately said: "I don't know how much cement production is. If the imperial court wants to repair roads on a large scale, will there be enough cement to provide it?"
Everyone was a momentary hero, and they all obviously realized this, so when Yang Yiqing spoke, they all looked at Li Huan solemnly.
Li Huan chuckled and said, "You might as well come with me."
As he spoke, Li Huan led the group to a shed that had been built, and saw a large vat neatly stacked inside.
It is obviously impossible to make a sealed bag to hold cement in this era, but this does not trouble the craftsmen. These craftsmen directly choose a large vat as a container to hold cement.
The cost of making large vats is not high, and countless ones can be fired. The most important thing is that as long as you are careful to avoid breakage, these large vats can be reused. Supplemented by beeswax sealing, the sealing effect is excellent, even if
Simply place these large tanks filled with cement powder in heavy rain without worrying about the cement inside getting damp and condensing.
Everyone had seen that the cement was taken out of a large vat before. Now looking at the densely packed vat with no less than a thousand mouths in front of them, everyone couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. Just looking at this scale, at least it can prove something.
, that is, things like cement can be mass-produced on a large scale. Even if the cost is higher, compared with the roads that can be built as solid as a rock, the court is not unacceptable.
Wang Yangming stroked his beard, with a strange look on his face. He looked away from the big vat, took a deep breath, strode forward, bowed to the emperor and said: "Your Majesty, please, Your Majesty."
Allow the Ministry of Industry to start planning roads all over the world and start repairing the main roads all over the world in the shortest possible time.”
No need for Wang Yangming to explain, everyone knows that with magic tools like cement, the roads in the world must be renovated.
At this time, Li Huan smiled and said: "Everyone, Li has ordered people to build ten mines for firing cement. These ten mines are near the capital, and the cement produced can support the construction of two cement mines at the same time.
For cement roads, considering the cost, provinces such as the North and the South should find nearby mines and build cement plants on site, so as to reduce the cost of cement and avoid the cost of transporting cement from north to south."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard Li Huan's words, and several ministers in charge of the cabinet had smiles on their faces. Yang Yiqing stroked his beard and laughed loudly: "If every province opens a few cement plants, then there will be countless.
Within a few years, my Ming Dynasty will surely have such solid roads everywhere."
Convenient and smooth roads may seem inconspicuous, but anyone who is not a fool knows their importance. Whether it is transporting troops, horses, food and grass, or attacking people's daily travel, etc., without the existence of roads, everything will be difficult to move.
Zhu Houzhao's eyes fell on Li Huan and said: "Li Qing, in your opinion, how should we carry out road repairs in the Ming Dynasty?"
Li Huan had obviously thought about it for a long time, so after hearing Zhu Houzhao's question, he just pondered for a moment and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I would like to ask Your Majesty to set up a new road construction bureau in the Ministry of Works to coordinate the planning of our roads for the whole world.
Regarding the repair, some accidents may occur during the road construction process. I ask your majesty to allow the construction of the Beijing-Tianjin Road. The imperial court will dispatch capable officials to supervise the construction of the road from the capital to Tianjin Wei. This road is only a hundred miles long and can be built as wide as four feet.
Official road, in order to accumulate experience in road construction."
After listening to Li Huan's words, several people showed approval on their faces, but Wang Yangming said with a little surprise: "Isn't the four-foot-wide road too wide? Now the official road from the capital to Tianjin Wei is only
It is only one foot and five feet wide. It is more than doubled in width at once. Not to mention the doubling of the amount of work, just to build this four foot wide road, the silver cost for one mile has quadrupled. That is to say
, one mile will cost about four hundred taels of silver."
Yang Tinghe on the side stroked his beard and said: "It is about a hundred miles from the capital to Tianjin Wei. In other words, to build this road, the imperial court will have to allocate at least about 50,000 taels of silver."
After such a calculation, everyone couldn't help but feel nervous. This was just the road from the capital to Tianjin Wei. Such a road that did not include Taiyuan actually cost 50,000 taels of silver.
Of course, this amount of silver is indeed not much compared to the wealth accumulated by the imperial treasury today, but there are too many roads that need to be built within the Ming Dynasty. Not to mention other things, at least from the capital to the southeast, northwest and several directions.
At least a few main roads that run through the Ming Dynasty must be built. Apart from these main roads, roads must also be built between provinces, prefectures and even counties. If you calculate it this way, I am afraid it will be one hundred thousand miles of cement roads.
I can't stop it.
Li Huan chuckled and said: "It's only four feet wide. The big trucks of our Ming Dynasty can only accommodate two carriages running parallel in one direction. Such two-way four lanes are barely enough. Even in the future
If necessary, the road will be widened."
Zhu Fu, who was stroking his beard at the side, couldn't help but murmured softly after hearing the words: "How is this possible? Our Ming Dynasty has never had such a wide road. The four feet is unprecedented. If it is widened in the future, it will be incredible."
Li Huan didn't pay attention to Zhu Fu's sigh, but his eyes fell on Zhu Houzhao.
As the emperor, Zhu Houzhao noticed Li Huan's gaze. Out of his habitual trust in Li Huan, Zhu Houzhao just pondered for a moment and nodded slightly: "Okay, in that case, then as Li Qing said, then
The cabinet allocates money, and the Ministry of Industry assigns a group of officials to start building the Beijing-Tianjin Road. I hope that in three months, we can take a horse-drawn carriage from the capital to Tianjin Wei smoothly."
Now that the emperor has made up his mind, and as Li Huan said, it is not that there are no roads. If the roads are wider, vehicle traffic will naturally be more convenient, but the cost of building roads will be higher.
But these are not problems. Who makes the imperial court richer than ever before? So much money is hoarded in the treasury. To be honest, everyone is a little anxious.
There is no meaning in piling up money there. Only by letting this money circulate can you create value and become the core and top figure of the Ming Empire. This simple truth is still clear.
By building roads and circulating money in the treasury, it would be a driving force for the development of the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't it?
Several people reluctantly inspected the large vat filled with cement, and then set foot on the cement road back to the capital.
After getting off the concrete road, the carriage once again walked on the bumpy road, and the carriage began to bump and shake violently.
At this time, Zhu Houzhao, Wang Yangming, and Li Huan were sitting in the carriage, their bodies swaying slightly with the shaking of the carriage.
Although the cultivation of the three people will not be affected at all, one thing I have to admit is that after walking on the smooth cement road and then walking on the loess official road, it feels like a sky.
underground.
Zhu Houzhao said directly to Li Huan: "Li Qing, since you said that several cement burning plants have been set up near the capital, and the cement produced is enough to build two roads at the same time, one of which is the Beijing-Tianjin Road, then the rest
Let’s use the cement to build the roads in the capital.”
Roads in other places can be postponed for a while, but roads near the capital must be built immediately.
Wang Yangming also nodded repeatedly. The capital was the best place after all. It was the center of the Ming Dynasty. It was not good that roads in other places had begun to be built. As a result, the roads near the capital and even in the capital were still muddy and dilapidated.
Li Huan smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, road planning is a matter for the imperial court. I only need to provide sufficient cement. As for road construction, your Majesty should ask the Chief Assistant Wang."
It seemed that he did not expect that Li Huan would directly blame the matter on himself, but Wang Yangming had to admit that Li Huan was not wrong.
This kind of thing is really the responsibility of the cabinet. Immediately, Wang Yangming said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, don't worry, as long as Qin Guogong can provide enough cement, then I will definitely order people to move the capital and nearby areas in the shortest possible time.
All roads have been repaired with cement."
At the end of September of the tenth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty
A recruitment notice was posted by various local governments in the shortest possible time. The notice was very clear that it was recruiting young and strong laborers to build roads.
If it were in the past, the common people would have lamented over and over again when they saw such a notice posted by the court. However, after the changes in the past few years, whenever the court carried out any major projects, it would definitely provide money and food to the laborers.
Serve as wages.
From a handful of applicants at the beginning to a large number of applicants today, it only took a few years. It can be said that the people's views on the recruitment of labor by the imperial court have undergone earth-shaking changes.
In the past, once you served in the army, you would probably ruin your family, but now if you can be selected, you will not only take care of food and housing, but also money and food. A strong laborer's monthly income can be enough to support a family of several people.
This time, the imperial court posted a notice to recruit a large number of young people to build roads. It can be said that as soon as the notice was posted, a large number of applicants gathered.
Although the emperor gave a time limit of three months for the construction of the Beijing-Tianjin Road, the idea of the cabinet was whether the Beijing-Tianjin Road could be built within one month.
The way to speed up the process is actually very simple. After all, this is human work. As long as the scale of labor is increased, the speed will naturally be greatly improved.
After all, anyone who is not a fool can figure out the method of dividing a road into several sections and starting construction at the same time. The Beijing-Tianjin Road is only more than a hundred miles long. If it is divided into four or five sections, each section is actually only twenty or thirty miles long.
Just miles away.
Li Huan was able to build a six-mile road with a hundred people in just three days. Although the Beijing-Tianjin Road was four feet wide and the amount of work was several times that of Li Huan's one-foot-wide road, then they could
Recruiting thousands of people and relying on the huge crowds of people to build the Beijing-Tianjin Road in the shortest possible time.
Of course, the cabinet has another level of consideration. Everyone knows that the reason why the Beijing-Tianjin Road is built first is actually to use the Beijing-Tianjin Road as a test. As long as the Beijing-Tianjin Road is completed, then the court will definitely be able to build the Beijing-Tianjin Road.
In the process, he thoroughly mastered the method of road construction.