Chapter 281 Cement = the most important weapon of the country
Indeed, since Li Shimin revealed his identity, he rarely comes to see Yang Fan alone.
Even when he came to see Yang Fan, he was at his residence in Chang'an City. Yang Laifu had long been sent to Junyangfang to manage Liuli, so he never saw Li Shimin again since then.
This is the greatest emperor of the Tang Dynasty!
Now that he has come to Junyangfang incognito, why doesn't Yang Laifu get excited?
Moreover, His Majesty the Emperor actually remembered the surname of a small steward. What an honor it is. It is simply a blessing acquired in nine lifetimes.
Yang Laifu suddenly burst into tears, and stammered quickly as he replied: "Your Majesty, it's been a long time, almost half a year! It's my honor to see Tianyan again... It's really an honor for me."
Li Shimin waved his hand, signaling Yang Laifu not to be too polite, and asked: "Why is it so lively here? Where are all the merchants from? Also, the city wall here is the masterpiece of Marquis Zhongyi?"
Yang Laifu quickly calmed down his excitement and said proudly: "Your Majesty, these people are farmers nearby and merchants who come to Junyangfang to buy goods;"
"This large area in front is where trading is located. Not only are there all kinds of daily necessities, but also various trades such as soap. As for this city wall, of course it was designed and built by the Young Master. As long as you guard the city gate, even if there are thousands of troops,
It is difficult for a horse to conquer Junyangfang."
Although Yang Laifu's tone was a bit coaxing, no one objected.
This place used to be a barren land, but in just half a year, Yang Fan made it so prosperous.
Especially the tall city wall, which was simply more majestic than the city wall of Chang'an City, made His Majesty Li Er jealous and greedy, and felt very uncomfortable.
But Princess Gaoyang became interested, and a voice like an oriole came from the car: "Manager Yang, why don't these people enter Junyang Square to conduct transactions?"
Hearing his voice but not seeing his person, Yang Laifu was a little hesitant, not sure whether he should answer or not.
Seeing that Yang Laifu didn't answer, the old eunuch Wang Huangui on the side darkened his face and reminded: "The speaker is Princess Gaoyang, who is also the future mistress of the Yang family. How dare you, a slave, ignore the mistress's questions?"
"Old slave has no status, please forgive me, Princess. Because there are glaze workshops and other places in Junchangfang that are not suitable for outsiders to approach, so transactions are conducted outside the city walls. Workers and permanent residents in Junyangfang are not allowed to enter or exit.
, unless approved by the young master and his wife." Yang Laifu replied quickly.
I was even more surprised. I didn't expect that His Majesty's most beloved daughter would actually come together.
What's more important is that this princess will be the real mistress of the Yang family in the future.
Even though the young master Yang Fan usually calls him Uncle Yang, Yang Laifu does not dare to rely on his old age and act arrogant in front of the future mistress.
Hearing Yang Laifu's words, Li Shimin asked with a smile but not a smile: "That mallet is so domineering, no wonder we have to waste people and money to build such a tall city wall..."
But the conversation soon changed: "It must have cost a lot of money to move so many huge stones. How many people and craftsmen died to build this city wall?"
Yang Laifu was a little surprised, but he quickly understood what Li Shimin meant and quickly explained: "Your Majesty mistakenly blamed our young master. Although the city wall is tall and strong, it does not waste people or money, and many people benefit because the materials are all
They use local materials and ask local people to do the work..."
It was okay not to explain. As soon as Yang Laifu explained, Li Shimin felt that this was an excuse for Yang Fan, and his tone became a little solemn:
"Do you think I am a three-year-old child? Such a tall city wall does not use huge rocks and does not kill people? Do you really think that I am a stupid and ignorant emperor?"
In fact, it's no wonder that Li Shimin thought so. Even Cheng Yaojin, Li Jing and others who came with him also thought Yang Laifu was lying.
From ancient times to the present, building city walls has been a major project that cost the people and money. In order to reduce the people's labor time, Li Shimin did not dare to build palaces and other projects even as an emperor.
Because these projects not only waste people and money, but also easily kill and injure people, thus damaging the emperor's reputation.
Now Yang Laifu says that building this tall city wall will not only benefit the people without wasting money, but will also benefit the people. This is simply nonsense.
Seeing the drastic change in Li Shimin's face, Yang Laifu quickly explained: "Your Majesty, please tell me clearly that no civilians were injured or killed in the construction of this city wall, because my young master created something called cement. Once the cement solidifies, it will be stronger than bluestone."
It’s hard. The entire city wall is made of cement, so of course it won’t waste people or money?”
His Majesty Li Er's eyes lit up, he was a little surprised and a little moved: "Is this true?"
"How dare I deceive Your Majesty?" Yang Laifu's eyes were firm and he nodded affirmatively.
His Majesty Li Er is a man of broad experience, and he quickly thought of the use of cement.
If there were such an artifact as cement, wouldn't it be easy to build city walls and cities in the future?
No matter how fierce those nomadic barbarians are, they can only stare blankly when faced with an impregnable city.
Thinking of this, Li Shimin no longer cared about danger or not and jumped out of the carriage.
Li Junxian complained secretly. Although he could guess the reason for Li Shimin's excitement, the emperor also paid too little attention to the occasion.
Now that the matter was a foregone conclusion and it was too late to stop it, Li Junxian had no choice but to order his subordinates to expand the scope of the warning.
Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin and others were generals who had experienced hundreds of battles, but they didn't think much about it.
In their opinion, this scene was like a small Ks compared to when Li Shimin led 3,000 Xuanjia troops to defeat Dou Jiande's 100,000 troops.
Li Shimin took the lead, followed closely by Li Jing and Cheng Yaojin, who strode to the bottom of the city wall not far from the city gate.
Li Shimin touched the strong city wall with his hand. It seemed a little awkward, but it was extremely hard.
Obviously the material is different from ordinary stones. This should be made of cement as Yang Laifu just said.
Li Shimin's eyes shone, he turned to Cheng Yaojin and said, "Yaojin, find something to try."
Of course Cheng Yaojin knew what Li Shimin meant. He looked around with his leopard head and soon found a vendor selling a big hammer.
He took out a certain amount of silver directly from his pocket, threw it into the merchant's arms, and carried the sledgehammer to the foot of the city wall.
Although Cheng Yaojin's strength has begun to decline due to his age, he has a strong back and strong physique. Generally speaking, five or six sergeants are really no match for him.
Therefore, the hammer in one hand was danced with great force, raised high above the head, and the muscles of both arms were bulging, which was obviously the result of exerting all one's strength.
Hearing a muffled bang, the hammer in Cheng Yaojin's hand was almost knocked out, and his hands instantly became numb.
Everyone looked down and saw that the city wall was intact, leaving only a small mark.
Cheng Yaojin was dumbfounded. He thought about how he had been troubled by a city wall when he stormed through thousands of troops with an axe.
Unbelieving, he spat on his palm a few times, then swung the sledgehammer again and kept hitting it with a bang. In the end, blood blisters appeared on his palm, but not a single crater was made.
Everyone suddenly became restless!
If cement is used to build a city, it will be impregnable and indestructible, and will keep all invading enemies at bay.
But Li Shimin knew that this kind of thing was made by that boy Yang Fan, and it would be useful to go to that boy.
So he turned to stare at Yang Laifu and asked eagerly: "Where is your young master now? Call him over quickly!"
Obviously, His Majesty Li Er has completely forgotten the purpose of coming to Junyangfang today.
However, Li Shimin never expected that Yang Fan did not come, but the sound of Cheng Yaojin smashing the city wall attracted the guards on duty at the city gate.