Chapter 72 Construction of a comprehensive university begins
Yiningfang has been very lively recently. A large number of unfinished houses have been cleared and bulldozed. More than 3,000 slaves were transferred from Tuyuhun and other places on the grassland to lay foundations in full swing. At the Weihe Workshop, under the guidance of Li Zhiyun, twelve buildings were designed.
Brick kilns with different shapes produce an average of 100,000 pieces of bricks every day.
Clay is mixed with yellow sand to build red bricks, and tall buildings rise from the ground.
The newly designed heavy cable pulley set lifted the bluestone slab of more than 700 kilograms, and the top was installed under the guidance of the craftsmen. Below were the slave workers coming and going with no end in sight, as well as the imperial guards who shuttled and supervised.
Because it was building a comprehensive university, Sun Simiao, Kong Yingda and others would come over from time to time to check on the progress. By the way, they said that His Majesty the Emperor is really awesome and the Weihe Workshop is really awesome. The Ministry of Civil Affairs also often sends people over to calculate the cost of such infrastructure construction.
How much.
This time, the emperor used his own internal funds to build the university without asking for a dime from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which really attracted praise from the literati both inside and outside the court. His Majesty the Emperor longs for literature and education, and yet he is so generous. A good emperor has nothing to say, he must be a good emperor!
In the Weihe workshop, a new batch of construction craftsmen who were transformed by the emperor took the blueprints and directed the slaves to carry stones, red bricks, and wood. In terms of manpower, the solution was almost the same as the raw materials.
The emperor is rich all over the world, and the mountains and forests are his property. To build a house, you just need to find people to mine stones and cut wood. It is definitely not possible to use your own people, as it will be a waste of money and people. But there is no problem if you use slaves instead, they will die anyway.
They were not from the Tang Dynasty. Besides, the emperor later took the money from internal funds and did not take any money from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, so the courtiers had nothing to say.
Dang Dang Dang Dang!
"After work, it's time to eat!"
As the gongs and drums sounded, the slaves crowded into the canteen under the open-air tent.
"Everyone line up, hold your bowl and hurry up. Don't cut in the queue. Get in line and don't cut in the queue. Take your bowl and hurry up..." The craftsman held an iron trumpet and shouted to the slaves.
This group of slaves were all highly domesticated, could understand Chinese, and were relatively sensible and obedient, so they were selected to build the university. Under the arrangements of the craftsmen and the imperial guards, the slaves lined up in long lines and held hands.
Get the bowl quickly and wait for the meal.
Cui Mingan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, came over and saw the ragged slaves and couldn't help crying.
The scholar Yuwen asked: "Why is Cui Shangshu weeping?"
You are not a distressed slave, are you?
"I feel sorry for these people." Cui Minqian said with tears in his eyes: "They actually sacrificed their lives for the cultural and educational cause of the Tang Dynasty. They really... I cried to death..."
Yuwen Rutong: "..."
The slaves held their rice bowls, squatted on the ground, and gulped down the food. Some were not used to it, so they grabbed it with their hands and ate it. The Yuwen scholar was very satisfied with the look.
"That's very good. His Majesty said that if you are not active in eating, you have a problem with your thinking."
The meal was short, and after the meal, the guards brought several buckets of water for the slaves to drink.
Then the gongs and drums sounded.
"Work begins!"
The slaves followed one after another and continued to work. Everything was so orderly and harmonious.
Of course, sometimes less harmonious things happened, such as slaves who couldn't stand working day and night and wanted to resist. However, under the suppression of the Praetorian Guards, peace was quickly restored.
In general, when everything has become settled, there are some things that the slaves cannot refuse if they want to, let alone solve them by resisting. The swords of the Tang people have always been unspeakable in front of them.
Reasonable indiscriminate killing.
"Blue sky~"
"Green lake~"
One slave began to sing about the vast grasslands they once had, and the other slaves felt inspired and remembered together.
"That's our home~!"
"Hey......"
"What are they singing?" Cui Mingan asked puzzledly.
Yuwen Rutong said: "From what the supervisor said, it seems that these slaves made up their own tunes and sang their own songs."
"Home?" Cui Minqian sneered, "How can they have a home?"
"Yeah, I don't understand either. Where did they come from?"
Singing songs seemed to gain strength, and the slaves no longer felt miserable when working. They carried stones on their backs, wood on their backs on their backs, and bricks on their backs. In short, everything seemed so harmonious.
Li Zhiyun only took the time to visit the construction site once, and then told Azhen to lead people to supervise the slaves to prevent them from escaping and causing trouble.
The construction of a comprehensive university has begun, and Li Zhiyun has temporarily put an end to his worries. He had not built it before because he didn't have enough money, and he didn't have time to take care of it. Now, in the past two years, he has decided to develop internal affairs well and will not build any more in a short time.
External expansion.
In this case, it is natural to put the construction of universities on the agenda.
Very reasonable.
In addition to internal infrastructure construction, Shanshan was also growing cotton. Li Zhiyun sent a message to Luo Shixin, asking him to pay attention to this matter. In addition, Li Daoxuan, the governor of Fuqi, also received the emperor's order to train troops in the plateau area.
Strive to adapt to the local climate environment as soon as possible.
Tubo is not a big threat now, but it will definitely be big in the future. After all, there are not many people in that area who can fight, and the empire currently has no way to interfere in that area. It can only train its troops and wait for the opportunity, and then attack directly!
Weihe Workshop.
Taking advantage of the recent slowdown in government affairs, Li Zhiyun came to the Weihe Workshop and personally instructed the craftsmen in the production of water-powered spinning machines, water-powered looms and other technologies. In addition, there was also the steam engine technology that he had always been concerned about.
However, it is a pity that when the craftsmen faced the steam engine drawings given by the emperor, they were very confused and did not understand what the emperor drew. No matter how Li Zhiyun explained, they all said, "I can't do it."
This made Li Zhiyun very tired and speechless at the same time.
Is it that difficult to understand?
Well, he admitted that because of forcibly lighting up the technology tree, many craftsmen actually did not understand the theory at all, which caused them to get stuck when advancing.
Dudududu!
The coal stove was boiling water, and the lid of the kettle was rattling with steam.
"Did you see it?" Li Zhiyun said to a circle of craftsmen: "This is what I call the foundation of the steam engine, steam!"
The craftsmen looked at each other and shook their heads.
We don't understand.
Li Zhiyun: "..."
He shouldn't have too much hope. Sure enough, he still doesn't have enough technical skills.
"Forget it, I will teach you to start with the cylinder. Your first step does not need to be to understand how it moves. Your first step is to learn how to make a qualified cylinder."
A craftsman hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, I have no idea what your Majesty is talking about."
"Yes, Your Majesty, we are confused about the steam engine and don't understand it at all."
"What's the use of a little steam energy?"
Listening to the discussions among the craftsmen, Li Zhiyun sighed, "That's enough, everyone should be more serious."
"Yes." Everyone quickly handed over.
Li Zhiyun spent some time telling the craftsmen the standards and procedures for making cylinders so that they could understand them.
Perhaps, they should not be taught theory. Li Zhiyun suddenly thought this way in his mind. Teaching theory to them is sometimes of little use, because there is no accumulation in the first place, not to mention the time is short.
In this case, it is better to just start the training and get it done, let them accumulate experience in practice, let them become familiar with it, and let them slowly understand this technology.
Of course, this is the last option, and it is also the last option.