At noon, Li Ye invited several important officials to have dinner at Xiao Zhangji Restaurant next to the gate of Dongshi. This is Zhang Ping's restaurant, in which Li Ye also invested 30%. It is already the largest restaurant in Dongshi, and is currently owned by Zhang Ping.
His father, Lao Zhang, is in charge of the business.
The business in the restaurant was very good, and it was still noisy and lively at noon. Li Ye led a few people into the restaurant through the side door and came to the private room in the backyard.
Soon, the bartender brought the steaming hot mutton soup first. Li Ye said with a smile: "It's cold, so let's drink a bowl of mutton soup to warm up first. Their mutton soup is excellent."
Liu Yan took a careful sip and said with a smile: "Put pepper in!"
Li Ye gave a thumbs up and said with a smile: "This is pepper imported from Nanyang. It has an excellent mutton smell. It also has onions and fennel from Gaochang. All the seasonings are just right. Plus the top-quality mutton from Qingzhou.
Then it was simmered on a low fire for two days, so Xiao Zhangji mutton soup became his signature dish, and regular diners have to order a bowl first."
Everyone drank a few sips and couldn't stop talking. Li Ye ordered more than a dozen side dishes, and also served mutton rice and a small pot of sake for each person.
"I heard that His Highness killed the rampant horse bandits in Hexi?" Li Bixiao asked.
Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Originally I didn't have time to take care of them, but they don't have any eyesight. If they insist on provoking me, I will kill them directly."
"With the horse bandits eliminated, Hexi will be much safer."
Li Ye pondered for a moment and said: "These horse bandits are the Uighur army. They should have come from the Juyanhai Sea. But what I find strange is that the north of the Juyanhai Sea is the territory of the Sijie tribe, and the Uighur forces are still thousands of miles away.
Besides, it’s so unreasonable why the Uighurs could appear in Hexi.”
Li Bi said: "That means something happened in the grassland. I'll go back and ask about it."
Li Ye nodded and asked again: "Is there any news from Tubo?"
"There's no news at all. Let's wait until spring next year!"
At this time, the food and wine were served. Li Ye poured himself a glass of wine, raised his glass and said with a smile: "You have worked hard these past few months, I would like to toast you all!"
After everyone had a drink, Liu Yan smiled and asked, "What did your Highness feel the most during your visit to Anxi this time?"
"The deepest feeling is that it is too far away, which is not conducive to our control. I have been thinking these days that I should build a Tangzhi Road, and then build a special large carriage to transport the army, ensuring that the army can be delivered to Liangzhou within ten days.
Deliver the army to Anxi within a month."
Li Mi thought for a while and said: "If it is not practical to build a road specifically and the amount of work is too large, I suggest that we just rebuild and expand the original official road. The effect is good, the amount of work is small, and it is easy to implement. What do you think, Your Highness?"
Li Ye said happily: "That's what I meant!"
At this time, Chen Huan smiled and said: "Your Highness, regarding Anxi, I would like to make a suggestion. We can build a large transit warehouse group in Jincheng County and Dunhuang County. The materials we transport to Anxi or the goods shipped out of Anxi can be transferred through
Warehouse, this can greatly reduce the time for materials to arrive in Anxi, and also reduce the transportation distance of each section."
Li Mi and Liu Yan praised in unison, "What a great idea! Your Highness, Chen Sima's plan is very good. I hope Your Highness can adopt it!"
In the view of Li Mi and Liu Yan, Chen Huan's transit warehouse plan was more realistic than the Tang Zhidao plan that King Qi had thought up in a hot head. They hoped that His Highness the King of Qi would adopt this plan and abandon the absurd Tang Zhidao plan.
Although Li Ye also readily stated that he would adopt the transit warehouse plan, he still insisted on his Tang Zhidao plan. He was very aware of the sense of isolation caused by this long distance. If this sense of isolation is not resolved, Anxi will drift away from the empire.
Besides, over time, they will eventually break away from the empire.
Later generations used airplanes and trains to shorten the distance, but he couldn't do it now, so he had to use another method to shorten the journey time between Chang'an and Anxi as much as possible.
In the afternoon, Li Ye came to the Crossbow Courtyard of the Ordnance Department. The Ordnance Department and the Gunpowder and Firearms Department are both under the direct control of the Department of War.
There are three institutes under the Ordnance Department, the Sword Institute, the Crossbow Institute and the Armor Institute. Among them, the Crossbow Institute specializes in the research and development and manufacturing of crossbows, as well as the development of large-scale siege weapons.
But the outstanding craftsmen of the Nuyuan will also do other research. For example, the carriage Li Ye took to Anxi this time was made by the Nuyuan. After traveling for thousands of miles, it was actually intact, which shows its strong and durable quality.
Nuyuan is located in Xianyang County, covering an area of 100 acres. It consists of several large warehouses, more than a dozen buildings, and several large yards.
In fact, the Crossbow Academy is divided into two branches: the Crossbow Academy and the Throwing Academy. There are more than thirty outstanding craftsmen, hundreds of ordinary craftsmen, and thousands of apprentices.
The steward of the Nuyuan is called Wu Min. He was originally the chief of the Imperial Arms Supervision Bureau and is now a sixth-grade official.
After An Lushan's army invaded Guanzhong, a large number of craftsmen in military weapons supervision were lost, but they later gathered again, with 40% of them returning to the imperial court and 60% going to Helong Jiedufu.
His Royal Highness the King of Qi arrived, and Manager Wu hurriedly came out to greet him, "I'm sorry to see you, Your Highness!"
Li Ye waved his hand and said with a smile: "No need to be polite, I'm here to see the Wang family and his son, are they there?"
"In the!"
Manager Wu said repeatedly: "Your Highness, please come with me!"
Li Ye turned around and ordered his soldiers to drive the carriage into the crossbow yard. They arrived at the throwing yard. After a while, Manager Wu brought three craftsmen. The older one was about fifty years old and his name was Wang Pingchuan. The two young men were his two
The sons, Wang Shan and Wang Hai, are both about thirty years old.
Wang Pingchuan was the Imperial Ordnance Supervisor who was responsible for making the chassis of large-scale throwing weapons. He had been doing this for thirty years. Of course, he was also very good at building large carts. He also designed the special carriage to install the trebuchet.
The three carriages in Li Ye's house were built by Wang Pingchuan and his son and more than a dozen apprentices.
Of course Wang Pingchuan did not work behind closed doors. After Li Ye's carriage was built, he followed it on foot for more than a hundred miles, looking for problems inside.
"Meet your Highness, little man!"
Wang Pingchuan and his son quickly knelt down and kowtowed to Li Ye.
"No need to be polite, prince, please get up!"
Li Ye asked the father and son to stand up, pointed at the carriage and said with a smile: "This carriage accompanied me to Anxi Qiuci and back again. It has traveled thousands of miles. I think you must want to take a look."
Of course, this carriage was not the one Yang Yuhuan was riding in, but one of the other twenty carriages.
Wang Pingchuan was surprised and delighted, and quickly stepped forward to take a closer look. He simply got into the bottom of the carriage to take a closer look at the degree of wear and tear.
The two sons are also carefully checking the condition of the wheels.
After a while, Wang Pingchuan climbed out from under the car, bowed and said: "Excuse me, Your Highness, this big car should have gone on a mountain road!"
Li Ye nodded, "Cross the Altyn Mountains in Anxi and walk on the mountain road for two days."
Wang Pingchuan said with a smile: "The whole car is not seriously worn, but the wheels are slightly deformed. This is usually caused by climbing over mountains. A little repair is enough. However, this kind of iron-wheeled car is more comfortable on dirt roads, but it is more comfortable on hard rock roads.
It’s bumpier than a wooden wheel, but of course, the smooth stone road is also very comfortable.”
"Indeed!"
Li Ye smiled and said, "I have another important thing. Let's go to the lobby and discuss it in detail!"