In the carpenter's shed, neat planks and horizontal and vertical wooden buildings can be seen everywhere, and there are some parts that Gao Shaoyuan can't name at all, only the few radial objects that have been basically formed by the carpenters have made him roughly guess what these people made.

"Is it a carriage?" Gao Shaoyuan asked tentatively, still puzzled in his heart.

"This is no ordinary carriage...... But...... The four-wheeled carriage ......" Li *'s expectant look made Gao Shaoyuan even more puzzled.

Is a four-wheeled carriage different from a two-wheeled carriage on a regular day? Gao Shaoyuan secretly wondered in his heart, although he had never seen a four-wheeled carriage, but in Gao Shaoyuan's opinion, two more wheels did not make the carriage very different, even if ten wheels were added, the carriage would still be a carriage, and it would not become something else.

"I've already ordered seventy horses from Jingzhao Mansion at a high price......," Li* said with a grin.

"Oh?"

"This kind of carriage is pulled by four horses, and one ride can carry ten people at a time......"

"Oh?"

"I heard that those stone pavements in Jiedu Mansion were renovated by the tall people?"

"Yes!"

"Can you build a road like this for me?"

Gao Shaoyuan finally understood a little why Li * wanted to seconded himself over, and he smiled reservedly: "As long as someone has money, it doesn't take much effort to build such a road...... Do you want to repair in this camp? ”

Gao Shaoyuan was a little surprised, the inside of the camp should not be neat and beautiful, what are you doing to build a stone road?

"Definitely...... I want to ask Master Gao to build such a road for someone at the bottom of the mountain......"

"This way...... How long is it in total? ”

"About eighty miles ......"

Gao Shaoyuan almost fainted......

Yanzhou is only 80 miles away from Luzi Pass, and if a post station for raising horses is built in the middle of the section, four horses and a cart can pull ten people, and run 40 miles to change horses, and a full team can be transported from the old camp of Fenglin Mountain to the front line of Luzi Pass within three hours. As long as there are sixty horses, it is possible to ensure that the strength of a small squad can be quickly maneuvered between Luziguan and the old camp at any time. The remaining ten horses can also be allocated to Xifeng Minda to form a scout team.

China's topographical conditions and road traffic conditions were not suitable for horse-drawn carriages, and Li knew that he did not have the ambition to build a whole transportation network in an era of total backwardness. However, since he had to defend Luzi Pass, he had to ensure the supply of materials and the transfer of troops between the front and the rear of the old battalion no matter what. He wasn't worried about not being able to hold Luzi Pass, the terrain of that pass was dangerous, and as long as there were two teams of elite troops, it would not be a big problem to hold it. It's just that whether it is the rear supply of the defenders, the replenishment of troops, or the evacuation of wounded soldiers, a line of communication that can be quickly maneuvered.

Communication between the front and the rear must be kept open at all times, and timeliness must be ensured, and reinforcements and reinforcements must arrive overnight if needed. Not only did the four-wheeled carriage transport far outstrip the two-wheeled carriage, but it also effectively ensured that the soldiers' physical strength would not be exhausted during the eighty-mile journey. Therefore, although Lee* knew that he had taken this idea for granted, he still could not give up. Seventy horses cost a sky-high price of seven thousand yuan, Li Bin and Qin Gu both thought he was crazy, with these seven thousand yuan, it was enough to meet all the expenses of the entire Zhangwu army for a year, while Li *, spent this lot of money to buy only seventy horses.

Li Bin and Qin Gu did not understand military affairs, and thought that Li * bought horses to build a cavalry unit, but Li * himself did not have this delusion. With Yanzhou's current economic strength, it may not be able to afford 200 cavalry with the strength of Yanzhou, not to mention that cavalry is different from infantry, and it is absolutely impossible to do it without four or five years from training to actual combat. It is not that an infantryman can become a cavalryman by learning to ride a horse, but to learn to skillfully control a horse on horseback, he must go through one to two years of rigorous riding training, and be able to shoot a bow and arrow on horseback...... It's not just a matter of the upper lip touching the lower lip. All Li*'s current extravagant hopes for cavalry are only to be able to form a scout cavalry squad of about ten people to achieve reconnaissance of the enemy situation on the battlefield within a radius of ten miles.

However, from the point of view of defensive operations, Lee* insisted that a smooth and convenient line of logistics and supply was far more realistic and effective than a cavalry corps.

The road conditions of Yanxia Road were good a month ago, but as the weather warms up, the road will be greatly reduced in the efficiency of this traffic line, and the road conditions in the next few months, not to mention the passage of four-wheeled carriages, even the most ordinary two-wheeled vehicles will not be able to move an inch in the mud.

Without solving the problem of road conditions, there is simply no room for implementation of Lee*'s basic strategy.

In this era, to build a hard-paved land transportation line, Lee* himself thinks he is talking nonsense.

But if this line of communication is only eighty miles. Maybe it's not impossible......

"May I ask your lordship, how many people and stones can your lord allocate to his subordinates?" Now that he understood that Li * was not talking nonsense, Gao Shaoyuan was simply happy, and he did not mean to dissuade Li * in the slightest, although he did not understand the meaning of doing so.

Li * scratched his head: "I don't have the stone now, but I can allocate you 3,000 yuan, you can purchase it yourself, Minfu...... I can draw out one hundred and fifty soldiers at the moment, as well as the homeless camp at the bottom of the mountain, and there are more than 200 people who have not yet been allocated to make a living, and if you count those over forty years old, there will be more than 500 people......

Five hundred? Such a large project was only given 500 laborers...... Gao Shaoyuan looked at Li * dumbfounded, making sure he wasn't joking, did this adult really understand what kind of project he was experiencing.

After thinking about it, Gao Shaoyuan asked again: "How wide is this road to be built?" ”

"Five to six paces wide – that's the least, it can't be narrower......" said Lee* without hesitation.

"How long does it take to complete the project?"

Li * thought for a moment and asked rhetorically, "How long does it take for Lord Gao?" ”

Gao Shaoyuan calculated carefully, and said slowly: "If the tools such as hammers and stone grinders are complete, the lowly position can build this road for adults within five years,...... If the tool needs to be built now, it's not ......"

Hearing this, Li*, who was full of ****** thoughts, suddenly fell to the ground as if he had fallen from mid-air, and said with a bitter face: "Will it take so long?" ”

Gao Shaoyuan glanced at him and said slowly: "My lord, you only give five hundred people to the lowly position, and there are no ready-made stones, this is already the shortest time - there is nowhere to buy stones, and they can only be collected and mined from everywhere. 500 people are throwing stones day and night, and each person can only smash 400 to 500 catties of stone every day, and they have to be crushed before they can be used...... In this way, it will take at least 10 to 20 days to use the stone for one mile of pavement, and five years for eighty miles of pavement is already very fast......"

Li * gritted his teeth: "If it were up to you, how many people and how long would it take to build this road?" ”

Gao Shaoyuan silently calculated in his heart, and said: "If the tools are complete, this project will take 3,000 people to work for two years, and 5,000 people to work for one year......"

Li * glared and said: "I want you to build this road to be as smooth and solid as the stone path in Jiedu Mansion, it will not be washed away by rain, and you will not be afraid of turning over the pulp, and the carriage can run on it at full speed at any time......"

"The lower officials have ...... province"

Gao Shaoyuan's face was serious, and there was no trace of wandering and uneasiness in his eyes, but he unexpectedly had a bit of a bland and calm taste.

Li * was a little uncomfortable by Gao Shaoyuan's gaze, and hesitated to speak: "Master Gao, what's wrong?" ”

Gao Shaoyuan shook his head: "No, it's better to work for relief than to let these people idle here...... It's just that spring ploughing is coming, and there is no need for people in the field? Building roads and bridges, although it is also good governance, always hurts the peasants, if the time is missed, it will involve a year's harvest, my lord...... If there is really not enough manpower, the lower officials suggest that this project should not be done well for the time being, although the current road surface is a little worse, but it has been walking like this for hundreds of years, and there is no inconvenience......

Li * only then understood what he was worried about, he smiled, patted Gao Shaoyuan's shoulder lightly, and said in a low voice: "Please rest assured, I will not do anything when the harvest is damaged and the farmers are harmed. Originally, I wanted to put all these laborers into the army's barracks, but there wasn't much for them to do for a while, so Master Gao didn't have to worry. I will make up for you the manpower you need month by month, and from this month onwards, I will be able to give you 500 laborers every month, and you can only build this road for me as quickly as possible, for a year...... Two years, I admit it, you just use three years, I can wait. ”

Li * did have the idea of dismantling the project just now, he was not Emperor Yang of Sui, and he did not have such financial and material resources, but he immediately thought of the convenience and economic benefits that this road would bring to the northern region of Yanzhou after it was repaired, and he did not have so much land at his disposal, so he gritted his teeth and decided to temporarily put aside the consideration of immediate interests, at least make a start for this project.

Everything has a beginning, and with a beginning, there is a future......

Even if the road cannot be built in the near future, the process is always an opportunity to accumulate experience and talents, and there will be many detours when building hard roads in the future.

After thinking about it, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "How many tools do you need, list them one by one." ”

Gao Shaoyuan said: "Stone grinding is easy to do, and three hundred sledgehammers are indispensable......

"Three hundred?" Lee* suddenly felt dizzy.

"Hmm...... This is the early stage, and there will be more people in the future, and there will always be a thousand hammers to be enough......" Gao Shaoyuan counted with his fingers.

Li * began to regret his decision again, and after a while he asked, "Before the hammer and other tools are ready, can Master Gao lead the laborers to collect the stones?" ”

He decided that instead of working hard to make iron hammers, it was better to go to nearby states and counties to buy them - anyway, the iron hammers used afterwards were just used as raw materials for the blacksmith team, and he had no place to open iron mines now, and the money spent on buying iron hammers would eventually be returned to the furnace to become other iron tools, and he would not suffer a loss......

Gao Shaoyuan nodded, and then asked with a little surprise: "Monthly salary...... Five-run? ”

Li * still has no concept of money, but he also knows that Wuguan money is already a lot, that is, in the army, he has been a team officer for two and a half months, and he felt slightly strange when he saw Gao Shaoyuan's expression, thinking that Gao Shaoyuan felt less; It's right to think about it, after all, it's a person from the Gao family's compound, and he's used to seeing the world, so this money is indeed a bit shabby.

He pondered for a moment and decided to increase the size, after all, he is a rare engineering talent in this era.

"Ten pennies! Master Gao, as long as you can build this road to the satisfaction of the camp, I will give you a salary of ten yuan a month......"

Speaking of this, Li * said to Gao Shaoyuan with a little embarrassment: "Master Gao, you can also see that there are not many rich people in the lower ranks, and this is the highest, no matter how high the remuneration is, it is not impossible to get it, but now the money is really tight, buying horses, seeds, farm tools, cattle, and the clothes, armor and weapons on my soldiers cost money, to tell you the truth, the secretary of my battalion has to complain to me every day, and if there are more, we can't afford it......"

Seeing that Li * misunderstood, Gao Shaoyuan hurriedly said: "The lower official didn't mean that, the lower official wanted to ask, and the monthly salary of five hanging money a month should be verified with the inspection inspection, don't make a difference......"

Only then did Li * realize that he had made a mistake, he scratched his head and smiled awkwardly: "...... I see......"

Gao Shaoyuan thought for a while, and asked with a little expectation on his face: "The inspection party just said...... Ten pennies? ”

Li *'s face suddenly turned bitter melon color, this county master from the Gao family's compound is also an official of the county family's court, how can he be so tasteless, he actually beat the snake with the stick, he is not polite at all.

Helpless, he had to respond sullenly: "Hmm...... Ten hanging money! ”

The last three words seem to be squeezed out of his teeth, in fact, he doesn't care much about giving more money, to paraphrase the 21st century, what is the most valuable in this era? Talent! It's just that this person is not out of grade, and he has to verify the five hangs, and he is afraid that he will write a blank check - although he will never know what a blank check is, he casually said a ten hangings, and this guy actually followed the price unceremoniously......

It seems that he is really not suitable for bargaining......

Li * regrets that he didn't talk about a girlfriend when he was a big boss in his time, and if he had a girlfriend, his current bargaining level might not be worse than Liu Heng's.

Looking at Gao Shaoyuan's expression full of joy, Li * suddenly floated into a mischievous mood, and he smiled and said: "The money left and right were all taken out of your own treasury, and they were all surnamed Gao, and now they are still giving you a few hundred hangings surnamed Gao, which is just a drop in the bucket!" ”

Gao Shaoyuan's face suddenly became complicated,

He no longer looked at Li *, arched his hand and turned around and walked away, took two steps, stopped and turned his head to look directly into Li *'s eyes, and said in a loud voice: "Xia Guan doesn't know what the Gao family's silver treasury is, this money is earned by Xia Guan from the hands of adults, every article is clean and innocent, and has nothing to do with the Gao family......

……

Chen Shutong forced himself to finish his official duties with unhappiness, and handed over the errand to Qin Gu, who was basically his junior boss, and then Shi Shiran returned home, and his face tensed as soon as he entered the house.

"Where's Da Lang?" After changing his clothes, he entered the second hall and sat down, took a sip of the tea brought by the servant, and asked casually.

"The eldest prince is studying in the study......" the old servant who looked like a butler said cautiously.

"Hmph, what book is he reading, isn't he settling accounts again-philistine!" Chen Shu snorted and scolded.

The Chen family is also a prestigious family in Yanzhou, Chen Shutong belongs to the three-room family in the clan, his status in the family is not high, and he has no fame in the imperial examination. Fortunately, this is in the fifth generation, if it is more than a hundred years later, an official like him is not allowed to serve as a pro-people official.

However, Chen Shutong has a strong sense of self-esteem, he has no fame, and he is already very aggrieved, so he expects his son to study hard to find a career in the system, so that he can raise his eyebrows in the clan and in front of others.

He has never taken a concubine in his life, only one of the original partners has stayed with him so far, and there are only one son, one daughter and two children under his knees, his daughter Chen Su has been smart and studious since she was a child, and she was originally just teaching her the basic reading materials of women in the old era such as filial piety and female commandments, but this girl came and went and became proficient in all the nine classics and six arts, and even Chen Shutong himself was a little dumbfounded. Now everyone in Yanzhou City knows that there is a talented girl in the Chen family, but because of the status of the family, the higher ones disdain to propose to him, and the lower ones are afraid of the famous name of the talented woman Chen and dare not come to the door to ask for marriage.

However, what made Chen Shutong even more anxious was his son Chen Zhe, this beast and his sister were diametrically opposed, not to mention that he had no achievements in studying, and he liked to fiddle with abacus and chips the most in his life, and opened two grain shops in Dongcheng at a young age, and actually built a branch in Xicheng a year ago. However, this Chen Zhe has actually made a grain business prosperous, and now he has the posture of the first merchant in Yanzhou City, and he is only in his early twenties at the moment.

This is the five generations, Shinong industry and commerce, business is the end of all products, and the social status is low. Chen Shutong has no fame and status, and has suffered a lot, and now his son is not good at studying here, so he actually fiddles with the way of business, although since Chen Zhe started to do business, the family is quite supportive, and life has gradually become more comfortable, but Chen Shutong still feels extremely depressed, and almost every time he sees his son, he will severely scold a few words. It's just that his wife Chen Liang feels sorry for her son and blindly protects him, which makes him helpless.

At this time, in the study, Chen Zhe, who was dark-skinned and handsome, was bargaining with a guy with an obscene appearance but wearing a military uniform.

“…… Without this reason, the price of grain on the market is 60 wen and 1 stone, and it is still shelled, and Chen Shao's side will cost 130 wen, which is more than doubled. We also know that we have to make your account profitable, but there must also be a limit, not to double the profit at once, and it is not like that, which grain number in the world does this business? ”

The person who spoke had yellow teeth, and he was foaming at the mouth, but Chen Zhe had a calm face, listened to him with a smile, and said slowly: "First, Liu Juntou said that sixty wen and one stone is the official price, and only the official warehouse puts grain at this price, but Liu Juntou knows that now the official warehouse does not release grain at all, and most of the grain prices on the market range from 90 wen to 100 wen, and we only sell 80 wen and one stone, which is already the cheapest in this Yanzhou city......

“…… Second, what Liu Juntou wanted to buy was not shelled grain, but planted grain, which was the seed of the land. The price of seeds is much higher than the price of grain, this is a truth that everyone in the world understands, if the military leader is greedy, he can spend 90 wen and 100 wen to buy grain from other families, but the grain is bought back and planted and cannot grow crops, and there will be no harvest in the next year. If there is a shortage of grain today, seeds will be even more scarce, Bianzhou has Huainan grain supply, the price of grain is the lowest, the price of seeds is also the lowest, about 120 Wen 1 stone, Luoyang is higher than this, 125 Wen, Hebei and the price of our number is the same, 130 Wen; The most expensive in Guan, the price of one stone of grain in Jingzhao Mansion is one hundred and forty-five Wen. From Yanzhou to Bianzhou, thousands of miles away, how much is this freight? Guishang originally wanted to buy seeds from Guanzhong, and the military head was familiar with the market in Yanzhou, so he came to find the younger brother, and the younger brother naturally would not embarrass the military leader, let alone let Guishang spend too much. It's just that the head of the army can't harm the little brother, this business is not profitable, the little brother doesn't care, and he has made good friends like Liu Juntou and Zhou Yuyan. It's just that the head of the army has to be kind, and you can't ask the younger brother to fold the capital, right? Otherwise, next year, where will the military leader go to buy these 130 Wen 1 stone seeds? ”

Chen Zhe smiled and spoke calmly, not like talking about business again, but like a strategist analyzing the pros and cons of his lord in detail......

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Li Ning is really handsome, come on China, for the sake of the Olympics, let's count the votes......