Han Zaiyu was hiding in an abandoned private house outside the city, about five miles away from Chang'an City. It was surrounded by scattered private houses and endless vegetable fields. The various vegetables grown here supplied the needs of Chang'an City.
Han Zaiyu escaped in a hurry, without a money bag and without any money on him. However, for an assassin as skilled in martial arts as Han Zaiyu, it was easy to get some money.
However, Han Zaiyu didn't want to act rashly for the time being. There was little point in getting a few taels of money. If he got a hundred taels of silver, he would be watched. He simply waited and after the assassination was successful, he would rob a sum of money at once.
He didn't have to worry about eating, so he stole some steamed buns from other households to fill his stomach.
Tonight he is going to Qi Palace to check the situation. The information provided by his subordinates is very important. He can go down from the city wall. This is why he is hiding outside the city.
Han Zaiyu gnawed on the dry steamed buns in his hand, took another sip of water, and silently looked at the city wall in the distance. He was patiently waiting for nightfall.
News happens every day in Chang'an City. Yesterday, there was still talk about the demolition of the square wall. But today, another new thing happened. A new type of carriage appeared on the official road between Chang'an City and Han Chang'an City. It was very large.
It is very long, pulled by eight horses, and can accommodate 80 people at a time. For only three pennies, each person can ride from the Xi'an Gate of the Great Wall of Han Dynasty to the West and East Markets of Chang'an. It leaves intensively every morning.
Every morning, a large number of low-class people set out from Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty to make a living in Chang'an City and go to various restaurants and shops in Chang'an City. Every morning, there are tens of thousands of people on the official road, most of them riding donkeys and mules, and some
There are many oil-filled ox carts that pull people. A ride costs ten cents per trip, twenty cents for a round trip, and six hundred cents a month, which accounts for 20% of the average monthly income.
So many people would rather walk to save money on taking a bus.
At this time, the government's large carriage appeared, costing only two cents each time, which was of course much more cost-effective than the ten cents charged by a private ox cart. Every morning at a quarter of a hour, hundreds of large carriages set off from Han Chang'an City on time, loaded with goods.
The low-class people who had taken their portable lunch boxes staggered towards the West and East Markets of Chang'an.
Similarly, every evening, hundreds of large vehicles depart from the East and West cities of Chang'an and return to Chang'an City in Han Dynasty. Then every quarter of an hour or so, a large vehicle will depart on time to facilitate people who travel back and forth during normal times.
This is actually an official bus of the Tang Dynasty, mainly to solve the problems of walkers.
Of course, there was no shortage of buses in the Tang Dynasty. There were oil-walled buses all over the city, and they would stop when you waved. But they were private buses. They were not expensive in the city, but they were expensive from Han Chang'an City to Chang'an City.
A trip costs at least fifty cents, but it can be shared equally among five people. Each person only spends ten cents, but the lower class people still can't afford it.
So the government's large carriage appeared. Of course, this large carriage was not the copper-shaft iron-wheeled carriage invented by Wang Pingchuan, which was too expensive, but it was a wooden six-wheeled carriage made with the technology invented by Wang Pingchuan.
As we all know, since ancient times, people-carrying carriages have always had two wheels. Four-wheeled carriages have a problem of synchronous steering. Modern cars use differentials to solve this problem, but ancient carriages cannot. Four-wheeled carriages can only transport goods, not people.
, too bumpy.
The four-wheeled vehicle manufactured by Wang Pingchuan has the front two wheels mounted on one frame and the rear two wheels mounted on another frame. It is actually a combination of two two-wheeled vehicles. If it is a six-wheeled vehicle, it is a three-wheeled vehicle.
The combination of two-wheeled vehicles is just like a train, each carriage is independent, a very simple and ingenious method.
But in fact, this was an idea proposed by Li Ye. He was inspired by the connection of trains and freight fleets in later generations, and handed the idea to Wang Pingchuan, who was responsible for its implementation.
Although Li Ye had an idea, he was not a craftsman, and he did not know how to do it specifically. But after skilled craftsmen were inspired, they could find ways to turn Li Ye's idea into reality.
Wang Pingchuan is one such outstanding craftsman. He can understand Li Ye's idea and create it in reality.
Another one is shock absorption. Later generations used coil springs or leaf springs for shock absorption, which was not possible with the technology of the Tang Dynasty.
But smart craftsmen naturally have their own solution, which is a double-decker carriage. The inner carriage is actually suspended from the outer carriage with iron hooks.
But this secret was not invented by Wang Pingchuan, but by Feilong. It was actually invented by the Song Dynasty and transplanted to the Tang Dynasty by Feilong. Li Ye also knew this method, but Feilong beat him to it.
But this idea was also implemented by Wang Pingchuan. In the second year of Tianbao, Wang Pingchuan took over from his father and became the chief craftsman of the weapons supervision vehicle.
Feilong gave him a simple drawing, and he spent a year studying it before building a carriage with a suspended carriage for the palace.
When they arrived at Li Ye's place, Wang Pingchuan made further improvements under Li Ye's suggestion. A layer of cork was filled between the two compartments to replace the original leather, which greatly reduced the shaking of the compartment.
The large carriage that appeared between Han Chang'an and Chang'an City greatly facilitated the passage of lower-class people, but it also had a big flaw. It was not a suspended carriage, so it was bumpy.
Of course, if the road surface is a smooth stone road, the bumpiness can be greatly reduced.
And another drawback is that it is hot and crowded, and the smell is unpleasant. They are crowded together like sardine cans. The only way is to separate the men's and women's carriages, otherwise women will not dare to sit.
Therefore, although private oil-walled cars are expensive, there are still people riding them. Five people can rent a car, which is spacious and comfortable. More importantly, the fares for stewards or shopkeepers can be reimbursed, so there is no need to squeeze into the official carriages.
At this time, a new Cao River was being excavated to connect Han Chang'an City and Chang'an City, running parallel to the old Cao River. At the same time, docks were being built, which separated the incoming and outgoing rivers and turned the two Cao Rivers into one-way lines.
The government carriages were made of wood, and the axles and wheels were so worn that they required major repairs and replacements after running for three months, so they were only operated in winter.
After spring, when the ice and snow melt, the public transportation is replaced by boats. A fleet of twenty passenger ships is pulled by a dozen healthy oxen. Each boat holds twenty people, and a fleet has four hundred people. Three
Ten fleets set off one after another, transporting 12,000 people to Chang'an City. The fare was reduced to two cents per person. This was an out-and-out public transport ship.
Han Zaiyu hid in an abandoned house outside Dongcheng and waited for darkness. Little did he know that his target was leading a dozen officials to experience riding a large carriage.
The best way to win over the people is to comply with public opinion and effectively improve the lives of the lower class people. Canceling the curfew and demolishing the walls is to comply with the public opinion. Li Ye grew up in Yonghefang. He knows the great pain that the curfew system has caused to the lower class people, such as ordinary people.
We can only find things to do nearby, and if we go to distant places to work, we may not be able to get back in time at night.
The purpose of large carriages is to effectively improve the lives of lower-class people, reduce the fatigue of walking, and provide convenience to the people at the lowest price.
Li Ye led the officials to sit in a large carriage and set off from the Western Market to Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty.
Along the way, my body was bumpy and prone to motion sickness. Fortunately, the journey was not far and I arrived at my destination in less than half an hour.
The big carriage shook all the way and finally arrived at Xi'an Gate. Everyone got off the carriage one after another. Wang Wei was not in good health and suffered from motion sickness. He squatted aside and vomited. Several of his subordinates patted him on the back.
"How about it?"
Li Ye asked with a smile: "How do you feel about the big carriage? Do you have any ideas?"
Liu Yan looked pale and shook his head with palpitations, "It's just this once, I really don't want to sit there a second time."
Except for Duan Xiushi, all the officials were so upset that they felt chest tight and short of breath, and could not even speak.
Li Ye said to everyone: "I didn't know that there were two to three hundred thousand people living in Chang'an City of the Han Dynasty before. It was only after I inspected that I realized that there were so many people living there.
Most of them live in Chang'an and live in poverty. Although we can't change their lives, at least we can do something.
In addition to large vehicles, we need to improve the road surface. Currently, this road is famous for being covered with mud on rainy days and soil on sunny days. I decided to pave this road with bricks. We demolished the walls of the workshop and got a lot of bricks and stones, which are just for use.
Don’t wait until after the Chinese New Year to pave the road. It’s best to start today, flatten and compact the road, and then lay the bricks. It should be completed within a month.”
After a pause, Li Ye said again: "Let's go to the city and see if we can solve any other problems."