Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 198 Seeing

When did a wharf of this size appear in Guanzhong?
And in Xinfeng not far from Chang'an, His Majesty Li Er felt weird, as if this pier appeared out of thin air overnight, like a mirage, which made people unbelievable, but it really appeared in front of his eyes .

The carriage moved forward slowly, joining the busy flow of people on the bank.

Someone wanted to say hello to the group of people to get out of the way, but was overwhelmed by the momentum of the group.The guards around the carriage had a few tall horses of good breed, which seemed to be a bit better than the horses used by the sixteen guards' elite cavalry.The corners of the leather saddle are actually wrapped with brass ornaments. Not only is there a long-handled saber hanging on the saddle, but also a finely carved wooden lacquered bow and a leather quiver.

The burly men on horseback also wore another knife in their waist. Judging by the thickness of the scabbard, it was probably a horizontal knife made of high-quality material. The average sergeant didn't have to work hard for several years, but he couldn't move these guys.

This is not the guard of ordinary people, Guanzhong is full of dignitaries, who knows which god will be accidentally provoked?It's better not to provoke...

As a result, others gave way to the carriage with several guards, allowing it to drive unimpeded to the pier.

His Majesty Li Er is very curious about this wharf. Although he knows that Fang Jun must have written it, how did he build the big wharf here 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 happened. It was scary that Li Junxian was not scared to death!
Li Junxian tried hard to stop him, so he almost knelt down on the spot: "Your Majesty...you must not, there are so many people here, who knows if there are people with ulterior motives among them? Death cannot forgive the crime!"

Although Princess Gao Yang was eager to try and get out of the car, she also knew that this place was dangerous, so she held His Majesty Li Er's hand and did not let go.

His Majesty Li Er had no choice but to give up.Looking up, I saw a stone arch bridge rising not far in front, flying across the two banks of the Wei River, connecting the piers on both sides into one piece.

It's just that the stone arch bridge has obviously just been built and hasn't been completed yet, and no one has ever passed by it.

His Majesty Li Er swept his eyes and saw an acquaintance at the bridgehead directing the craftsmen to work.

Whisper a few words to Li Junxian and order him to call that person over.

Li Junxian walked over, patted the man on the shoulder, and said something.The man was taken aback for a moment, then ordered a few words to the craftsmen around him, and then followed Li Junxian over.

The man looked at the carriage curiously, and it happened that His Majesty Li Er raised the curtain to look at him.The man froze for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and then realized that he was about to kneel down on one knee, but was stopped by Li Junxian.

His Majesty Li Er smiled gently: "If I remember correctly, you are a member of the Ministry of Industry, Wailang Ren Zhongliu, right? Well, this name has its own characteristics and is easy to remember, haha."

Ren Zhongliu was so excited that he was on the verge of shaking his head. His Majesty actually knew that he was a little Yuanwailang?Tears were about to come out, and he stammered: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, it is this minister. The year before last, His Majesty built the Lishan Garden, and this minister was the head of the Ministry of Industry. It was an honor to meet Tianyan..."

His Majesty Li Er waved his hand, indicating that he doesn't need to be too polite, and asked: "The pier here is Fang Jun's handwriting?"

Ren Zhongliu nodded: "Your Majesty clearly learned that it was written by Fang Shilang."

His Majesty Li Er was noncommittal, and said with a nonchalant smile: "It's really a good way to make money. Taking the money from the Ministry of Industry for his own benefit, Fang Xuanling gave birth to a good son."

Ren Zhongliu was the only one who was astonished, and immediately understood what His Majesty Li Er meant, and quickly said: "Your Majesty made a mistake to blame the servant of the house. To build this wharf and goods yard, to requisition thousands of victims, it took more than a month and tens of thousands of money. But they didn’t use a single penny from the Ministry of Industry. Although our officials from the Ministry of Industry also contributed, the servants of the house were all paid, and there was absolutely no act of false publicity for personal gain.”

"Oh?"

His Majesty Li Er was quite surprised, is this Fang Jun really an upright and selfless person?Then he snorted and said: "But since you are an official of the Ministry of Industry, you should do your job well. If you don't do your job properly, you really think that I have the heart of a bodhisattva, and I won't punish you for negligence of duty?"

Ren Zhongliu got over the excitement when he first met His Majesty Li Er, and his mood calmed down. He said in a calm manner, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to learn from me. Although we help Fang Shilang build the warehouse, we are actually accumulating experience for the new construction method. Your Majesty Please see, this arch bridge was constructed [-] days ago, but the main body has been completed, and it will be completed in one month. After completion, [-] multi-wheeled carriages can pass on the bridge at the same time, and goods weighing [-] catties are not in danger. Danger of collapsing..."

His Majesty Li Er was shocked and moved: "Is this really true?"

"How dare you deceive His Majesty!"

His Majesty Li Er was really surprised.

Unexpectedly, Ren Zhongliu continued: "The construction of this bridge uses a new type of building material called cement. This cement is usually in the form of powder, and it solidifies quickly when exposed to water. It is as solid as a rock and indestructible! It is a pity that the process is too complicated. The output is very small. Fang Shilang said that if we wait until mass production is possible and use it to build city walls, then all the cities in our Tang Dynasty will be as solid as gold!"

His Majesty Li Er didn't care about the danger anymore, he lifted the curtain of the car and jumped down.

Li Junxian couldn't stop him, so he had to order the elite "Hundred Riders" to guard around.

His Majesty Li Er came to the bridge with strides, only to see that the skeleton of the whole bridge had begun to emerge, and workers were using suspenders to hoist stone slabs half a foot thick one by one to build.It's just that the stone slab is square and square, and it doesn't look like an ordinary stone, and iron bars can be vaguely seen at the fracture.

It should be made of the "cement" mentioned by Ren Zhongliu.

He waved at an elite "Hundred Cavalry" and ordered, "Smash it!"

The "Hundred Riders" elite with a strong back and a strong body, heard the words and strode over, looked around, and happened to see a worker not far away who was holding a hammer nailing a wooden pile, so he walked over and snatched it with his hands. Raising it above the head, the muscles in both arms stretched out, and they slammed down.

"Boom"

There was a muffled sound, and the "Hundred Riders" elite's arms went numb from the shock. Looking down, the stone slab was intact, except for a small crater where it was hit.

The "Hundred Riders" elite was a little dumbfounded, unbelieving, raised the sledgehammer again, and slammed it with a "boom, bang, bang".In the end, the entire arm was almost useless, and the stone slab was only cracked, and it was still not broken because of 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 anxiously, "Why is it difficult to mass-produce this thing?"

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 ground into powder with limestone, clay, gypsum, etc., and mixed into the kiln for calcination. The raw materials are easy to get. It’s just that the process of grinding it into powder is really not easy.”

His Majesty Li Er's breath is a bit heavy, and grinding is not easy, so it is necessary to increase the number of people. How can we abandon such excellent materials because of choking, and just use them to repair bridges and pave the ground?
That melon counselor really made trouble for himself!

His Majesty Li Er asked angrily: "Where is Fang Jun now?"

Ren Zhongliu was taken aback, he had never heard His Majesty Li Er call someone "that guy", and he didn't know if it was because he hated him to the core, or because he was so close that he didn't need ordinary etiquette...

"Fang Shilang is in the field, organizing people to build waterwheels."

"Water wheel? What is that?"

"A device by which water is raised from the ground to the heights to irrigate the fields."

"Take someone to see!"

His Majesty Li Er became interested. In the final analysis, he came out to breathe this time because he was disturbed by the "spring drought" inference of the Taishi Bureau. At this time, he heard that there is a device that can lift water from the ground to the high place, so he naturally went to have a look. .

"promise!"

Ren Zhongliu bowed to accept the order, and after instructing the craftsmen who repaired the bridge a few words, he found a barge at the pier and barged His Majesty Li Er and the "Hundred Riders" to the opposite bank.

Standing on the barge, looking at the boats and boats on both sides of the bank, and the densely packed booms, His Majesty Li Er was a little dazed.

"The boom seems to be able to lift heavy loads?"

"Exactly, Fang Shilang said, that's called... leverage, and it's very magical."

Ren Zhongliu explained in detail the principle of one side leverage.

His Majesty Li Er is very smart, he understands a little bit, and praised: "I really understand the truth. When lifting things, the longer the crossbar, the more energy-saving, but only Fang Jun applied this principle to the pier. Crooked talent!"

The corner of Ren Zhongliu's mouth twitched, is this still called "crooked talent"?Your Majesty, you are really prejudiced against Fang Shilang...

(End of this chapter)