Chapter 198 What I Saw
When did a dock of this size appear in Guanzhong?
And in Xinfeng, not far from Chang'an, His Majesty Li Er felt strange, as if the pier appeared out of thin air overnight, like a mirage that was unbelievable, but it really appeared in front of him. .
The carriage moved forward slowly, joining the busy flow of people on the shore.
Someone wanted to say hello and ask this group of people to get out of the way, but was intimidated by the aura of this group of people. The tall horses surrounding the carriage were of high quality and seemed to be somewhat better than the horses used by the elite cavalry of the Sixteenth Guards. The corners of the leather saddle are actually covered with brass ornaments. Not only is the long-handled saber hung on the saddle, but also a fine carved wood lacquer bow and leather quiver are inserted.
The sturdy men on horseback also wore another sword in their waist. Judging from the thickness of the scabbard, it was probably a horizontal sword made of good quality. The average sergeant could not use these swords after years of hard work.
This is not an ordinary bodyguard. There are many dignitaries in Guanzhong. Who knows which great god one might accidentally offend? It’s better to provoke less trouble...
As a result, others gave way to the carriage, which had several guards, and allowed it to move unimpeded to the dock.
His Majesty Li Er was very curious about this wharf. Although he knew it must be Fang Jun's handiwork, how did he build such a large wharf in such a short period of time and how did he gather so many merchants here? ?
He was about to get out of the car to see what was going on. It was horrifying that Li Junxian was not scared to death!
Li Junxian tried so hard to stop him and almost knelt down on the spot: "Your Majesty... Officer, you must not do it. There are so many people here. Who knows if there are people with ulterior motives mixed in? If anything happens, little Bai Bai Death cannot be forgiven!”
Although Princess Gaoyang was eager to get out of the car, she also knew that this place was dangerous and held His Majesty Li Er's hand without letting go.
His Majesty Li Er was helpless and had to give up. Looking up, I saw a stone arch bridge rising from the ground not far ahead, flying across both sides of the Weishui River, connecting the piers on both sides of the river.
It's just that this stone arch bridge was obviously just built not long ago and has not yet been completed. No one has ever passed by it.
His Majesty Li Er glanced around and saw an acquaintance at the bridgehead directing the craftsmen to work.
Whisper a few words to Li Junxian and order him to call the man over.
Li Junxian walked over, patted the man on the shoulder and said something. The man was stunned for a moment, then gave some instructions to the craftsmen around him, and then followed Li Junxian over.
The man looked curiously at the carriage, and His Majesty Li Er happened to lift the curtain and look at him. The man was stunned for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and then realized what he was doing. He was about to kneel down on one knee, but was stopped by Li Junxian.
His Majesty Li Er smiled gently and said: "If I remember correctly, you are Ren Zhongliu, a member of the Ministry of Industry, right? Well, this name has its own characteristics and is easy to remember, haha."
Ren Zhongliu was so excited that he almost lost his temper. His Majesty actually knew that he, a little foreign minister, was like him? Tears were about to come out, and he stammered: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, it is Wei Chen. His Majesty built the Lishan Villa the year before last, and Wei Chen was the head of the Department of Industry, and he had the honor to meet Tianyan..."
His Majesty Li Er waved his hand, indicating that he did not need to be polite, and asked: "Is this pier the work of Fang Jun?"
Ren Zhongliu nodded: "Your Majesty clearly knows that it is the handiwork of Fang Shilang."
His Majesty Li Er was noncommittal and said with a smile: "You really have a good way of making money. He used the money from the Ministry of Works for his own benefit. Fang Xuanling actually gave birth to a good son."
Ren Zhongliu was the only one who was stunned. Then he understood what His Majesty Li Er meant and said quickly: "Your Majesty mistakenly blamed the Chamberlain. He built this dock and goods yard and recruited thousands of victims. It took more than a month and tens of thousands of money. But not a single penny from the Ministry of Works was used. Although we, the officials from the Ministry of Works, also contributed, the house servants were all paid, and there was absolutely no act of pretense for personal gain. "
"Oh?"
His Majesty Li Er was quite surprised. Is Fang Jun really an upright and selfless person? Then he snorted and said: "But since you are officials of the Ministry of Industry, you should do your job well. If you do not do your job properly, do you really think that I am a Bodhisattva and will not punish you for your dereliction of duty?"
Ren Zhongliu overcame the excitement when he first met His Majesty Li Er, calmed down, and said calmly: "Please tell me, Your Majesty, although we are helping the house servant to build the goods yard, we are actually accumulating experience for new construction methods. Your Majesty Look, this arch The bridge will be under construction until the 15th, but the main body has been completed and will be completed in another month. After completion, twenty multi-wheeled carriages can pass on the bridge at the same time, and there is no danger of collapse of goods weighing 100,000 kilograms... ”
His Majesty Li Er was horrified and moved: "Is this true?"
"How dare you deceive Your Majesty!"
His Majesty Li Er was really shocked.
Unexpectedly, Ren Zhongliu continued: "The construction of this bridge uses a new type of building material called cement. This cement is usually in powder form and solidifies quickly when exposed to water. It is as solid as a rock and indestructible! Unfortunately, the process is too complicated. The output is very small. The Fang Shilang said that if we wait until mass production can be used to build city walls, all the cities in our Tang Dynasty will be impregnable."
His Majesty Li Er no longer cared about danger. He lifted the car curtain and jumped out.
Li Junxian was unable to stop him, so he had to order the elite "Hundred Cavalry" to be on guard.
His Majesty Li Er strode to the bridge and saw that the skeleton of the entire bridge had begun to appear, and workers were using suspenders to hoist the half-foot-thick stone slabs one by one to build them. It's just that the stone slab is square and square, and it doesn't look like an ordinary stone. Iron bars are vaguely visible at the fracture.
It should be made of the "cement" that Ren Zhongliu said.
He waved to an elite "Hundred Cavalry" and ordered: "Smash it!"
The "Hundred Cavalry" elites were strong and strong. Hearing the words, he strode over and looked around. He happened to see a worker not far away holding a hammer to hammer a wooden pile. He walked over and grabbed it with his hands, holding it high. He raised it above his head, the muscles in his arms rose up, and he slammed it down.
"Boom"
There was a muffled sound, and the "Hundred Cavalry" elite was shaken so hard that his arms were numb. He looked down and saw that the stone slab was intact, except for a small crater where it was hit.
The elite "Hundred Cavalry" were a little dumbfounded and did not believe in evil. They raised the sledgehammer again and smashed it with "bang bang bang". In the end, the entire arm was almost useless, and the stone slab was only cracked, but it remained unbroken due to the iron bars.
His Majesty Li Er is not calm anymore!
If such a material is used to build a city wall, it will be as solid as gold and indestructible as Fang Jun said!
Turning around and staring at Ren Zhongliu, he asked urgently: "Why is this thing so difficult to mass-produce?"
Ren Zhongliu has been hanging out with Fang Jun these days, and he knows the details of cement very well. He explained: "This material is made of limestone, clay, gypsum and other materials ground into powder, mixed into a kiln for calcination. The raw materials are easy to obtain, It’s just that the process of grinding it into powder is not easy.”
His Majesty Li Er's breathing is a bit heavy. Grinding is not easy, so we need more manpower. How can we abandon eating because of choking and abandon such excellent materials and just use them to build bridges and pave the ground?
As expected, that melon is specifically trying to cause trouble for himself!
His Majesty Li Er asked angrily: "Where is Fang Jun now?"
Ren Zhongliu was startled. He had never heard His Majesty Li Er call a person "that guy". He didn't know whether he hated him to the core, or was so close that he didn't need ordinary etiquette...
"The house servant is in the field, organizing people to build a waterwheel."
"Waterwheel? What is that?"
"A device used to lift water from the ground to a high place to irrigate farmland."
"Take someone to see it!"
His Majesty Li Er became interested. After all, he came out to get some fresh air this time because he was upset by the "spring drought" inference from the Taishi Bureau. At this time, he heard that there was a device that could lift water from the ground to a high place, so naturally he wanted to take a look. .
"No!"
Ren Zhongliu bowed to accept the order, gave a few instructions to the craftsmen repairing the bridge, and then found a barge at the dock to barge His Majesty Li Er and "Hundred Cavalry" to the other side.
Standing on the barge, looking at the boats on both sides of the bank and the densely packed booms, His Majesty Li Er felt a little confused.
"The boom seems to be able to lift heavy goods?"
"Exactly, Fang Shilang said, it's called... leverage, it's very magical like four ounces of lifting a thousand pounds."
Ren Zhongliu explained in detail the principle of side leverage.
His Majesty Li Er is very smart and understands everything. He praised: "You really understand this principle. When lifting things, the longer the crossbar, the easier it is to lift things. But only Fang Jun applied this principle to the dock, which is pretty good." Crooked talent! ”
Ren Zhongliu twitched the corner of his mouth, is this still called a "crooked talent"? Your Majesty, you are really prejudiced against the Chamberlain...(End of Chapter)