Chapter 114 Mint Awell, Danish Ambassador's Careful Thoughts
While Valeria started researching compressed food according to His Majesty's ideas, Avel was living a leisurely life.
The work of the mint has been going on for several years, and there is nothing to mention. Recently, Aweil has been paying attention to the brick smelting factory next to it.
As time goes by, even the brick factory is no longer as crude as before. Factory sheds have been erected, giving workers a better place to rest, and the equipment will not get wet when it rains.
The good news from my brother is that the nobles have won a great victory!
The Transportation Bureau was forced to stop asking the nobles for money. At the same time, the Parliament issued a decree requiring tolls to be collected on nationally paved roads across counties, across the country, and across states.
Is the country going to pave roads?
Avel looked puzzled.
Then he inquired about it, and what surprised him was that the road paving was planned by Vorontsov, the Minister of General Affairs of the Privy Council, and the Transportation Bureau was responsible for the specific implementation, and the material used turned out to be this red brick?
"Filpovich, bring me your bricks."
I have been seeing this nobleman recently, and nothing happened. Philpovich is no longer as afraid of this nobleman as he was at first.
"Yes, noble lord."
Filpovich and some workers moved out some red bricks and showed them to Avel.
Avel dismounted and walked over to take a look, then spread the red bricks on the ground, glued them together with some wet mud from the river, and then the prancing horse stepped on them.
When I looked back, I saw that the bricks had been scattered and looked out of shape.
Avel shook his head and asked Philpovich:
"Filpovich, do you know how to pave a road with red bricks?"
Philpovich shook his head and said: "Sir, we don't know. The Transportation Bureau should know about this. After all, the red bricks are sold to the Transportation Bureau."
Avel smiled and disagreed. He had seen adhesives abroad. Although it was stronger than river mud, it could not withstand being trampled in large quantities for a long time.
The Privy Council actually wants to pave the road with red bricks. I have to say, is the Minister of General Affairs a fool of himself?
Fortunately, the nobles strictly protested against this matter, so the Transportation Bureau's plan to take money from the nobles failed.
Two days later, his brother Astero wrote a letter asking him to go back and meet an officer of the Caspian Fleet who had returned to Moscow. Although Avel was reluctant, he went anyway.
That night, he rested in St. Petersburg. Since the noble officer had to stay in Moscow for a while, he was not in a hurry.
The next day, I rode back slowly.
Avel was unwilling to ride in a carriage unless he was in a hurry, because he believed that riding a horse would show off his heroic demeanor.
But not long after he started on the road, Avel felt something strange.
He was walking on a road that is often taken from St. Petersburg to Moscow. In winter, it is a snowfield, and the horse-drawn sleigh can go more smoothly.
But it was not winter now. Avel not only saw a place being hammered, but he walked over and took a look and found a large number of red bricks piled up not far away.
Avel couldn't help but be surprised.
In his opinion, paving the road with red bricks was a stupid idea, but the Privy Council did it?
Moreover, he did it on the common road from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Isn't Vorontsov afraid that His Majesty will blame him if he sees it?
Avel was about to walk over and take a closer look when a man in black uniform suddenly walked up and shouted:
"What are you doing? Go away. Watching is not allowed here!"
Avel was stunned for a moment, then anger surged on his face. He glanced at the man coldly and said proudly:
"My name is Avel, from the Varogiev family."
Avel thought that he didn’t need to say too much, it was enough to say this. As long as he was in Moscow, no one had heard of the Varogiev family. However, the man just glanced at him and continued:
"Go away! The Privy Council has ordered that no one is allowed to watch, no matter who you are."
The voice is still arrogant.
There were even more uniformed people surrounding us.
When Avel saw one of them, he couldn't help but be stunned, because he knew that one of the men in black uniforms was from the Yusupov family.
So, these people in uniform are all nobles? Or even boyar nobles?
Avel left silently, but after walking a little further, he glanced here.
When he first approached, he saw several craftsmen laying bricks on the planed area. Not only did he not recognize the strange tools, he even did not recognize the gray-white sticky substance smeared between the two red bricks.
.
After Avel left, the aristocratic son of the Yusupov family started joking with the others. He was from the Yusupov family, and the others were from the Transportation Bureau.
In fact, the rules of the Privy Council are not that strict, and nothing will be revealed just by taking a look.
Even they themselves knew nothing about the sticky stuff, except that it was shipped from Moscow.
As for the reason they drove Avel away, they all saw that he was a nobleman. When it came to raising money, except for the Yusupov family, who still kept a low profile and was ordered by Daliye not to make any noise, the nobles did not make any money, no matter how much they paid.
The children of the Yusupov family, who had suffered a lot of blood, and the people in the Transportation Bureau did not like the noble children.
Naturally, if you can give me a color, give me a color.
Avel was riding a horse with a gloomy look on his face. The Yusupov family was a top noble, and he could not be regarded as a serf. It would be too rude to treat him like this when meeting nobles.
Then Avel sneered, because the road paved with red bricks was very long and ten meters wide. Such a big move would not go unnoticed when His Majesty and the Queen drove back to St. Petersburg.
And before His Majesty returns, this place will definitely be trampled beyond recognition. When His Majesty comes to investigate, what about the Privy Council, and those who were supposed to be from the Transportation Bureau just now will all be punished.
Thinking of this, Avel's mood suddenly improved.
He even laughed when he saw that on some sections of the road, after the bricks were laid, sticky objects were still pressed on them.
When Avel returned to Moscow, he didn't even bother to shake his head, because it was the same situation all the way.
After returning to Moscow, Avel did not go back immediately. Instead, he changed into a carriage and drove around in Moscow. He found that there were places where this kind of work was not seen, and there were other places, especially river transportation.
, this kind of construction is everywhere.
"Crazy, must be crazy!"
Avel was really dumbfounded, and then shuddered. The Privy Council dared to do this in Moscow. Among the information he inquired about, there were cases across counties, across Grad, and across states. Isn’t that such a confusing thing?
Has it been launched nationwide?
Avel immediately returned to the mansion without thinking too much.
The first time they saw their brother Astero, the two brothers seemed to have a tacit understanding and said at the same time:
"The Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications is in big trouble!"
The news of paving the road with red bricks spread quickly, and soon it spread throughout the aristocratic circle. The nobles were all gloating about the misfortune and were waiting to see the day Vorontsov was deposed. Some nobles had even started operations and couldn't wait. I want to see entering the Privy Council.
The news soon reached Peter's ears. When he heard red bricks being laid under the cement, Peter was stunned for a moment.
I frowned and looked back at my memory of the cement road. It seemed that there was no such thing as laying bricks under the cement.
Peter remembers setting up a base dividing line on the road section to be paved. Because the cement is soft, gravel and pebbles are added in some places for hardening treatment. Moreover, the cement cannot directly contact the soil. A layer of gravel must be separated, and finally the road surface is compacted. flat.
Peter frowned and found the backup copy of the decree submitted to him by the Privy Council. Under his order, all documents submitted to him must now be made in duplicate. One copy is stamped and presented to the institution for execution, and the other is Keep for your records.
No matter what the outside world says, paving cement roads is a major plan for the country. If you want to be rich, you must build roads first. For Russia, with its huge territory and the upcoming Seven Years War, it is far more than just being rich.
When cement roads spread all over Russia's main traffic arteries, Peter believed that whether it was transporting food, weapons or troops, the speed would be much faster than water transport, and it could almost ignore the seasons.
After sitting in the office for a while, Peter quickly found the documents presented by the Privy Council. They were all sorted into categories, and then Peter pulled out Vorontsov's.
Indeed, a document was uploaded, I did read it, and stamped it.
But when Peter looked at it again, he couldn't help frowning and said to the herald: "Go and ask the Minister of General Affairs to come over."
Vorontsov came quickly, looking full of energy and obviously immersed in the sense of accomplishment of doing practical things.
Peter threw the documents presented by Vorontsov to him again and said:
"Minister of General Affairs, your idea of laying red bricks under cement is good, but this approach should not be carried out outside Moscow and St. Petersburg."
Vorontsov said with some confusion: "Your Majesty, why? Wouldn't laying red bricks be more conducive to the smoothness and solidity of the road surface?"
Peter was a little speechless, and first said:
"Have you considered the feelings of Duke Dalière in your consumption of red bricks?"
If Daleye knew that Vorontsov was using red bricks so extravagantly, he would definitely scold Vorontsov behind his back.
When it comes to national affairs, Peter doesn't take Dalia's feelings into consideration very much, but this approach is unnecessary.
Peter said:
"In Moscow and St. Petersburg, you can mix crushed stones and gravel around the red bricks, but the main ones are red bricks. In other places, don't use red bricks. Instead, use gravel and gravel combined with cement. The original cement Once solidified, it becomes very strong and can be used for a long time.”
Gravel...gravel...
Vorontsov's eyes lit up.
He used red bricks as the foundation, on the one hand to make it stronger, and on the other hand to prevent the cement from becoming uneven as much as possible after setting. This was the result of his personal observation.
But he didn't expect that gravel and gravel could also be used. In this way, if feasible, the cost could indeed be greatly reduced.
Vorontsov immediately accepted the order and said: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
At the same time, some ambassadors to Russia also saw these strange things going on in Russia.
Some of these ambassadors bribed nobles, and some had other sources of information. They soon learned that all of this came from orders from the Privy Council.
This order seems to have spread throughout Russia.
Ambassadors are stationed in Russia and are always very concerned about the decrees coming from the Privy Council or other upper-level bodies. This is one of their responsibilities.
On this day, the Austrian minister Count Bernis, the Prussian ambassador Madefield, the French ambassador Brett Yin, the British ambassador Keith, and the Danish ambassador Count Linell all gathered together.
In addition to these ambassadors, there is also a new face, Sir Charles Hanbury William, who is also the British ambassador.
When the previous ambassador leaves and a new ambassador arrives, as a rule, a high-level dance will be held to bid farewell to the departing ambassador and welcome the new ambassador.
British Ambassador Keith is about to leave, but she actually doesn't want to leave.
If Keith was full of reluctance when he first took office, even during the reign of the Russian Empress Elizabeth, he carried out routine work in Russia and was lackluster.
But since the two emperors co-ruled, Russia seemed to have received the attention of the Holy Mother. Even though Peter III was idle and indifferent to government affairs, all kinds of changes still happened in Russia.
Opening elementary schools, middle schools, and universities, setting up orphanages, opening newspapers abroad, etc. These changes almost have nothing to do with diplomacy, but they involve Keith's attention.
Especially recently in this barbaric place.
No, it can no longer be called barbaric. Madam Vivian's fashion event has been praised by France, and it has become popular in Europe. In terms of literature, the serialization of the "Exploring the Eucalyptus" series is a must-read for him every time.
During the period of Queen Yoon Elizabeth, this had never changed.
Judging from the fact that Emperor Peter received the Holy Enlightenment twice, perhaps the Virgin Mary really sowed the seeds of good luck to Russia.
In this place that has begun to escape from barbarism, a special school for girls has recently appeared. I heard that a hospital has also begun to be built. One by one, Keith wants to stay and see more changes.
Especially the newly built hospital, Keith went to see it with curiosity. Although it was not completed yet, the beds, ventilation and other arrangements inside were eye-opening to Keith.
Keith wrote to George II:
"His Majesty the Great King, Russia attaches great importance to health. It is unimaginable. I went to visit their hospital. Although it is still under construction, in terms of scale and setting, it is already full of expectations."
"I hope Britain can learn from Russia in this regard."
However, before Keith received a reply, the new ambassador had already arrived.
Sir Charles was a witty and knowledgeable man who had traveled to most of Europe's capitals. Keith exchanged views with Sir Charles on Russian hospitals, and the two expressed a surprising agreement.
They all hope that Britain can follow Russia. At least in this place that was once considered barbaric and backward, there will be no stench everywhere, which would be surprising in other places.
Subsequently, Keith's farewell party and Charles' arrival party began.
The dance is scheduled for eight o'clock in the evening, along with the banquet.
At the banquet, several ambassadors were chatting and laughing, eating and drinking freely, and more attention was focused on Sir Charles.
Then the Danish ambassador started a topic of great interest.
Count Linel, who had once been unable to hold his head up in front of his colleagues because he was beaten violently by Peter III, took the time to start mocking.
"Minister of General Affairs Vorontsov is deeply trusted by Emperor Peter III, but Vorontsov has really gone crazy recently and actually paved roads with red bricks everywhere in Russia. I think it is better to call him 'Minister of Red Bricks'."
Linel wanted to call Peter Red Brick Emperor, but he didn't dare. He very much expected his colleagues to give Peter this nickname.