The road built by Cai Ji and others is four or five miles outside Shouchun City.

Before he reached the part of the road that had already been built, Cao Shuo saw that there was a long white line on the ground in front of Qian.

Needless to say, that line is the bluestone road built by Cai Ji and the people.

Seeing the road, Cao Shuo accelerated his speed and urged forward.

Cai Ji and others followed.

When he arrived at the road, Cao Shuo reined in his horse and looked at the end of the road that he could not see.

"How far has it been repaired?" Cao Shuo asked.

"Twenty or thirty miles." Cai Ji replied: "All of them are made of bluestone, and every stone has been polished. The polished stone slurry is all used to fill the gaps. ”

Looking down at the road under the horse's hooves, Cao Shuo nodded with satisfaction and said, "This road you have built is smooth. ”

"To be honest, I've never seen such a smooth road." Cai Ji said: "Bluestone roads are generally potholes, where will the road surface be smoothed? ”

"Have you ever been in a carriage?" Cao Shuo asked.

The crowd looked at each other, they had not been a box carriage for passengers, but they had ridden in a carriage loaded with goods.

"We've all been in carriages." Deng Zhan asked, "Why did Childe remember to ask this?" ”

"How does it feel to take the carriage on the bluestone road?" Cao Shuo asked again.

"Bumps." Deng Zhan said: "If I walk slowly, I would rather not sit in the carriage." ”

"The wooden wheels are crushing the ground, and if the potholes are uneven, it will be very bumpy." Cao Shuo said: "Even with such a smooth road, the carriage will still shake a little when walking on it. I'm still wondering if I'll be able to find rubber to wrap the wheels in the south. ”

"We haven't heard anything Childe say." Deng Zhan said: "I have traveled a lot of places, and I have never heard of such a thing as rubber. ”

"Have you ever been to the South Coast?" Cao Shuo asked with a smile.

"And the sea to the south?" Deng Zhan asked in amazement.

"After the land of Baiyue to the south, there is not only the sea, but also many islands on the sea." Cao Shuo said: "But those islands are not very large, and some of them should be rich in rubber ......."

When he said this, Cao Shuo was not very sure.

He had the impression that the origin of rubber should be in the Americas, and as for whether there was rubber in Asia, he really didn't know very well.

The only thing he knew was that in the era in which he had lived, Asia was an important producer of rubber.

But now, the era is 2,000 years apart, and many vegetation are distributed differently, and he is not very sure whether rubber will be found on the southeast coast.

Cao Shuo was unsure, but Deng Zhan and the others didn't know.

Zhu Ao even asked, "Childe, what is rubber?" ”

"It's a black thing." Cao Shuo said: "It is soft and soft when pinched, and the toughness is very good. If you put it on wheels, no matter how bad the ground is, it won't be as bumpy as a horse-drawn carriage today. ”

"Isn't the rubber that Childe is talking about as effective as craftsmen tying sackcloth to their wheels?" Cai Ji burst out a sentence.

"Do you remember the sackcloth that the craftsman tied to the wheels?" Cao Shuo asked with a grin.

"Childe said at the time that they had a lot of ideas." Cai Ji responded, and then said with an exaggerated expression: "I remember, Gongzi mentioned rubber once, but I didn't pay much attention to it at that time. ”

Walking along the newly opened road, Cao Shuo asked Cai Ji: "Is this road being built all the time?" ”

"Hui Gongzi, yes." Cai Ji said: "After I took over the construction of the road, I arranged for people to extend forward at all times. It is precisely because of this that he dared to promise that Childe would be able to complete it within a year or two. If you slack off a little, I'm afraid you won't be able to complete it in five or six years. ”

"Do you want to go to the place where the work is started?" Cai Ji asked.

"It's too far away, so I won't go today." Cao Shuo stopped, looked ahead, and said, "I'll tell Huo Wu to keep an eye on the road construction. Build three roads at the same time, and the roads will get farther and farther, and you won't have to run around all the time. There are still many roads that you need to build in the future, and if you are tired, I will arrest someone's servants. ”

"Childe really treats me as a servant!" Cai Ji smiled: "Fortunately, I am a person who realizes that when the soldiers are too busy, I will also come forward to help." ”

"Do you think I'll compliment you if you do too much?" Cao Shuo smiled slightly and said, "Stupid managers will do this like you." The real manager is to find the problem and tell the people below how to solve it. It's not like you have to do everything yourself. ”

"It's not that I don't understand what Childe said." Cai Ji said with a bitter face: "But I have never built a road, and I don't know the hard work of the soldiers and people. Helping them do it together, I will be more sympathetic to them when I build roads in the future......"

"Speaking of compassion, what do they eat?" Cao Shuo asked, "It's already cold, are you ready for winter clothes?" ”

"The diet is one meal of meat every three days." Cai Ji said: "The treasury is still taking care of us......

"The treasury is so poor that it can't get meat?" Cao Shuo asked.

"Not really." Cai Ji said: "They say that meat is expensive, and we don't have a standing army, so it's good to eat stew every three days." ”

"Then let someone from the treasury come to you for a month." Cao Shuo said: "Standing and talking without back pain, building roads is an easy task? How can you replenish your physical strength by eating one meal of meat in three days? ”

He instructed Deng Zhan: "Go back and pass on my order, General Cai must have a supply of meat every day." Not only meat has to be eaten, but also mutton every seven days and beef every month. Chicken, duck and fish can be served every day. ”

Cai Ji was stunned, he didn't expect Cao Shuo to attach so much importance to the diet of the soldiers and people who built the road.

Stunned for a moment, Cai Ji, who reacted, hurriedly clasped his fists and said to Cao Shuo: "Gongzi is so sympathetic to the road builders and people, we will definitely do our best to complete the road construction as soon as possible." ”

"Building roads is no easier than fighting." Cao Shuo said: "In addition to feeding and dressing them well, you also have to prepare some herbs at all times, and install a few doctors to accompany you." In case something happens, a doctor can handle it at any time. ”

"I've arranged it all." Cai Ji said: "To carry stones, it happens from time to time, and it is really not possible to travel without a doctor. ”

patted Cai Ji's arm, Cao Shuo said: "After following me for so long, you should know how to treat them if I lead people to build roads." ”

"I know." Cai Ji replied: "Don't worry, Childe, although building a road can't say that a person is not injured or killed, I will at least try my best to avoid this kind of thing." ”

PS: It's too much, I can't really write it, and I still have three chapters left to write after I got up......

(End of chapter)