If you want to get rich, build roads first!

A well-built road can not only speed up circulation and facilitate commerce, but also strengthen the control of the central court over the localities. As a time-traveler from later generations, Zhao Zhen must not forget the god-like slogan of the Celestial Empire.

In the Song Dynasty, the most used to build roads was stones, and the most difficult thing was to find stones and transport stones, of course, digging roadbeds was not a simple job.

Based on this, Zhao Zhen thought of the artifact of cement in later generations, which is not only difficult to make, but also quite effective. So he got up and went to the prison and found Duan Xin, who was busy tinkering with gunpowder.

Seeing the emperor arrive, Duan Xin had to stop his experiment and hurriedly came to pick up the driver: "The emperor has arrived, Weichen has missed the distance, I hope the emperor will forgive the sin!" ”

"Aiqing, please get up quickly, you are still polite to me! Hehe......" Zhao Zhen said with a smile and helped Duan Xin up.

"Etiquette must not be abolished! I don't know what the official family is doing today? ”

"That's right, I know a kind of soil that becomes rock-solid when it comes into contact with water, and I want to find a ceramic talent from Aiqing to be in charge of this thing that I call 'cement'. Once this 'cement' research is successful, we can use it to build bridges, pave roads, or even build cities. Therefore, I need a craftsman who is good at porcelain firing, and I also have plans to build roads, and I will need a lot of gunpowder from Aiqing at that time, so Aiqing should prepare early! ”

"Don't worry, the ministers have finished reading the books you gave to the ministers before, and they are trying! The effect is not bad, several kinds of gunpowder have been figured out by the minister, and the minister will arrange the production as soon as possible. The craftsman you said, Lao Chen really has one, his name is Tao San, the minister only found out a few days ago, and he really has a hand in firing porcelain, Lao Chen will go to find it for you! ”

"Okay, when Aiqing gets the gunpowder out, you must tell me!" Zhao Zhen shouted loudly at Duan Xin who ran out. Although the power of ** is limited, according to the improved power of later research, it is still enough for the time being, and Zhao Zhen is still very interested in it.

After all, it is a person who came from the era of thermal weapons, and he has a special preference for firearms, maybe the firearms at this time are not as good as the bow and crossbow, but it does not hinder Zhao Zhen's love for gunpowder.

"Official, I found someone for you, see the emperor quickly!" After Duan Xin finished speaking to Zhao Zhen, he pulled the young man behind him again, urging him to come forward and salute.

"Grass...... Grass people, see ...... Your Majesty, long live my emperor...... Banzai! Tao San trembled and kowtowed to Zhao Zhen.

"Flatten! Don't panic, it's a great thing that I recruited you today, yes, don't you have an official body yet? Zhao Zhen said before he remembered that this person had just called himself a grass man, so he asked.

"Back to the emperor...... The grass people have no official status! Tao San replied cautiously.

Seeing this, Duan Xin said to Zhao Zhen: "Their family originally had a kiln factory, and they made a living by selling bricks and tiles, and their family was quite wealthy, but their father and son liked to specialize, but they neglected to operate. Not long ago, their family kiln factory was swallowed up by others, and his father felt ashamed of his ancestors, and became depressed, so he had to go out to work to support his family in order to cure the disease. It was also fate, the old minister happened to meet him, so he took him to the prison of Jiangzuo. Although he was young, he was very disciplined, and he had his unique views on porcelain firing, which was very rare. ”

"That's very good, since you don't have an official status, I don't know if you can read and write?" Zhao Zhen asked calmly.

"Back to the emperor, the grass people have been familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics since they were children, but they have no talent, and then they ...... with their father" Tao San said excitedly that he had read a lot of books at first, but he felt embarrassed when he said it.

"It's good to read and write, not everyone is suitable for the imperial examination, as long as you are willing to work hard, there will be a day when you are in any profession, you can rest assured! If the task I gave you this time is completed, I promise you that I will make you the Eighth Rank Dynasty Fenglang, do it well! ”

"Thank you, Emperor Longen! The grass people will never give up! Tao San knelt on the ground and slammed his head three times.

"This is a magical material I have sorted out, I call it 'cement', they are solid as a rock, the most critical part of the production process is firing, you take it to study and study. I declare in advance that these things will not be allowed to be spread without my permission, and I will also send reliable people to assist you, and you will have to be grieved for a while, and you will not be able to meet outsiders, even your family, in the process of developing 'cement', are you willing? ”

"The grass people are willing! The emperor can rest assured that he will not say anything about killing the grass people. Tao San accepted Zhao Zhen's request without hesitation, he also knew that this kind of opportunity was hard to come by, and it might just be like this once in a lifetime, and it should not be missed. Besides, he is a grass citizen, and he is not worried about what the emperor has to use.

Zhao Zhen gave Tao San some introductions to the production of cement in later generations, basically involving all the cement in later generations, although some can't be made now, it's always good to let him know first. Time is limited, Zhao Zhen plans to use the simplest one first, and first organize the national roads, which will be conducive to his follow-up plan.

This simplest cement is to use a rock called marl, after high temperature calcination, grinding into powder, no other processes such as ingredients at all, and it happens that the reserves of this rock in Henan are quite rich, and they are among the best in the country. However, there is also a problem, that is, Zhao Zhen himself has never seen this kind of rock, after all, in the era in which he lived, this was no longer the mainstream cement making process. Therefore, he could only instruct Tao San to select samples found from various places for testing, which was a big project, and character was very important.

Coincidentally, Zhao Zhen thought that it would take a lot of time to find this ore, but he didn't expect Tao San to find out that he had inadvertently used this ore according to Zhao Zhen's description, and also made the so-called cement, but he didn't think of what this was used for, so he didn't delve into it. Now that I heard Zhao Zhen talk about this, I suddenly remembered.

Now that you know the ore, this is easy to do, as long as you send people to collect it, Zhao Zhen ordered that all the forbidden troops that were eliminated were changed to the first construction corps of the Great Song Dynasty, and these people were divided into three parts, one part went to mining, one part went to dig coal, and the rest were all ready to dig roadbed. In addition, the Song Dynasty's box army and township soldiers were almost all miscellaneous existences, and they could be recruited to be engineers, and there was no pressure on labor.

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" In the early days, the ministers shouted in unison.

Zhao Zhen rushed to the court, sat on the dragon chair, and said to the ministers: "Everyone, Aiqing, is flat!" If there is anything important today, please play it quickly. ”

"Your Majesty, the old minister has something to play, and the emperor ordered the old minister to reorganize the forbidden army has been basically completed, and the number of eliminated people is about 50,000. The conscription work is also in progress in various places, and there are also elite people recommended by various armies, thanks to the great victory in Yan'an at the beginning of the year, and the strong men of the people are also enthusiastically joining the army, and I believe that the number of people who are replenished by the forbidden army is safe. May I ask the emperor how to deal with the elimination of the forbidden army, there are many of them, and after a long time, the old minister is afraid of trouble! Yang Zongbao, who rarely goes to the court, appeared in the court today, and he was the first to stand up and report his work.

"Aiqing doesn't have to worry, I have already made arrangements, Aiqing went back and told those eliminated soldiers that they have now changed to the Great Song Construction Corps, the military salary remains the same, and the training in peacetime can focus on physical training."

"The old minister understands!" After Yang Zongbao finished speaking, he stepped back.

Seeing that the other ministers didn't have anything important to do, Zhao Zhen said to himself: "Since the ministers have nothing to say, then I will talk about it." I came by the will of heaven, and God told me that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. Maybe you will say that my Great Song Dynasty has official roads now, but those official roads are nothing in the eyes of the town, and I will let you see what the real road is. ”

"I now order that the construction plan of the first high-speed highway in the Great Song Dynasty has officially begun, and the eliminated forbidden army is divided into three parts, 10,000 will go to dig coal, 10,000 will mine, and the remaining 30,000 will start digging the road from Bianliang in Tokyo to Luoyang in Xijing. I will send someone to take care of all matters, and Yang Lao will go back to pacify the eliminated forbidden army, and I will reward them according to their performance. Shen Yu, a member of the promotion department, is fully responsible for the road repair from the Liupin Ministry of Labor, and all departments must cooperate closely. ”

"Obey the order!" Shen Yu hurriedly replied.

"Ministers, if you don't have anything important, just retreat! Shen Aiqing followed me to the Vertical Arch Palace. After Zhao Zhen announced his retreat, he beckoned to Shen Yu.

Seeing this, Shen Yu, who was looking puzzled, hurriedly followed Zhao Zhen and left.

"Shen Aiqing, come on, come on, look at the plan I wrote, I think that the road seriously restricts the development of our dynasty, and the repair of this road is not only convenient for the people to travel, but also conducive to strengthening the control of the local area, Aiqing should not be underestimated!" Zhao Zhen took his scribbled plan and said to Shen Yu: "This is the first road I planned, from Tokyo to Xijing Luoyang, let's call it East-West Avenue for the time being!" My requirement was that the pavement should be at least five paces wide, smooth and as straight as possible. When the road is dug up, I will give you a magical material that can be paved on the road to create a smooth slate-like pavement that is as hard as stone. Aiqing can imagine how beautiful it would be that the avenue from Tokyo to Saikyo would be like a whole smooth stone slab! ”

With Zhao Zhen's description, Shen Yu tried his best to make up for the picture described by Zhao Zhen, and felt that this project was indeed quite grandiose, maybe he could still go up to a merit monument or something, thinking about it, it was all going down.

"Eh, Aiqing, come back to your senses!" Zhao Zhen looked at the sluggish oracle and touched him.

"Your Majesty, let you laugh, Wechen was indeed attracted by the emperor's genius, you let Wechen preside over such a big project, Wechen is really grateful!" Shen Yu wiped his saliva and said embarrassedly.

"Aiqing, this is where to go, this is just the first step of my plan, my ultimate goal is to make all the cities of my Great Song Dynasty be able to build such a road. At that time, the imperial court will be able to dictate all places! ”

Then the two fell into a long conjecture together, and a satisfied smile appeared on their faces.